Dir. James Goldstone , 1977. This high-speed suspense yarn stars Timothy Bottoms as a terrorist determined to turn America's amusement parks into battlefields. The tension mounts as affable safety inspector George Segal attempts to track down the saboteur, building to an explosive climax. Co-starring Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda, this Jennings Lang production takes viewers on a wild ride filled with crazy twists and hairpin turns.

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May 31st - Kansas City Bomber

Dir. Jerrold Freedman , 1972. Famed sexpot Raquel Welch stars as K.C. Carr, a divorced mother of two with dreams of roller derby stardom. But skating glory doesn't come easy: Pressures in and out of the rink take their toll on K.C.'s career and personal life. Fast-paced and gritty, this film offers an unflinching look at the often grueling and sometimes bleak professional circuit of a major 1970s sport. Helena Kallianiotes turns in a solid performance as K.C.'s rival.

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Gotham Girls Roller Derby will be in attendance at this screening promoting their upcoming season!

Hooting and Hollering during the films roller derby scenes strongly encouraged!

June 7th - The Funhouse

Dir. Tobe Hooper, 1981. Teenage fun begets terror when two young couples spend the night inside a creepy carnival funhouse, where even the most harmless of objects can take on a distorted and sinister glare. Things really heat up when the kids play witness to a brutal murder at the hands of a disfigured killer who traps them inside with no way out and forces them to relive their waking nightmare. Kevin Conway, Sylvia Miles, Elizabeth Berridge star.

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June 14th - Carnival of Souls. Hosted by Vlad & Creighton of Ghoul A-Go-Go.

Dir. Herk Harvey, 1962. While on her way to take a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is haunted by a bizarre apparition. It compels her to an abandoned lakeside pavilion, beginning an eerie and macabre chain of events. Herk Harvey's macabre masterpiece has gained a huge cult following.

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The film will be prececed by a brand new episode of Ghoul A-Go-Go.

June 21st - No screening. Mermaid Parade.

June 28th - Coney Island Films

An evening of short films from yesterday and today all about Coney Island! Films to be announced.

July 5th - Freaks

Dir. Tod Browning, 1932. Director Tod Browning cast authentic circus folk (many who performed at Coney Island), not actors, in this Greek tragedy about sideshow "freaks." Normal-sized trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) marries diminutive Hans (Harry Earles) with plans to poison him, take his inheritance and marry the brute Hercules (Henry Victor). When the freaks uncover Cleopatra's scheme and Hercules forces himself on an innocent girl, they gang up on the two miscreants. Wallace Ford also stars.

July 12th - Night Of The Living Dead

Dir. George A. Romero, 1968. Director George Romero's low-budget horror classic continues to inspire heebie-jeebies, in part because of the randomness of the zombies' targets. As dead bodies return to life and feast on human flesh, young Barbara (Judith O'Dea) joins a group of survivors in a farmhouse hoping to protect themselves from the hordes of advancing zombies.

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July 19th- Roustabout

Dir. John Rich, 1964. On the mend after a motorcycle accident, leather-clad singer Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) takes up with a gaggle of carnies. With his guitar and bike in ruins, Charlie shacks up with traveling-circus owner Maggie Morgan (Barbara Stanwyck) -- but falls for the carnival foreman's daughter (Joan Freeman). The legendary Edith Head designed the costumes for the film, which features early cameos by Raquel Welch and Teri Garr.

Come dressed as Elvis get in free!

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July 26th - Taxi Driver

Dir. Martin Scorsese,1976. Mentally unstable Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) drives a nocturnal cab through the sleaziest streets of pregentrified New York City and befriends a child hooker (Jodie Foster). Along the way, the morally righteous Bickle slowly loses his mind, turning into a well-armed, homicidal vigilante. De Niro, director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader create a violently prophetic, gripping vision of urban decay and insanity.

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August 2nd - Barbarella

Dir. Roger Vadim, 1968. Jane Fonda stars as the shapely 41st century space traveler dispatched to apprehend missing scientist Durand Durand (Milo O'Shea), whose latest handiwork threatens to bring evil back to the galaxy. En route, Barbarella discovers the joys of celestial sex and experiences kinky misadventures with a mélange of bizarre characters. Fans of sci-fi kitsch will treasure the camp classic, which heaps on the psychedelic scenery with gaudy aplomb.

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August 9th - industrial TELEVISION presents a night of BAD Cinema!

Bad Trailers:
Deadly weapons, Godmonster of Indian flats,
Kiss me quick, Night call nurses, UFO: target earth, Journey to the beginning of time, Beast of the yellow night, Psycho a-go-go, Confessions of a psycho cat, Wham-Bam-Thank you Spaceman...
Bad Shorts:
"Sex Ed for trainables"; "Girl in a cage"; "Sudden Birth"; "Crippled masters"...

August 16th - P.P.S. (Prostitutes Protective Society)

Dir. Barry Mahon, 1966. P.P.S. (that's short for Prostitutes Protective Society), hookers go head to head with members of the mob to protect their Times Square turf. See Times Square in all of it's 60's glory! See naked women! See tough guy mobsters! See really bad acting! Come laugh with us at this campy classic!

Sponsored by Something Weird Video.

August 23rd - The Wiz

Dir. Sidney Lumet, 1978. The funky "Ease on Down the Road" is among the hummable tunes in Motown's lavish interpretation of L. Frank Baum's ageless tale. When bashful Harlem schoolteacher Dorothy (Diana Ross) exits a family gathering to search for lost pooch Toto, she's caught in a blizzard and transported to the magical land of Oz. Ross' stellar supporting cast includes Michael Jackson, funnyman Nipsey Russell, the incomparable Lena Horne and Richard Pryor as the Wiz. Many scenes in this film were shot in Coney Island!

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August 30th - Little Fugitive

Dir. Joanna Lipper, 2006. Set in the present, Little Fugitive is a remake of Morris Engel's 1953 award-winning classic. A practical joke goes too far when Joey, age six, is tricked into thinking he killed his twelve-year-old brother, Lenny. Starring Nicolas Salgado, David Castro, Peter Dinklage, Brendan Sexton III, Justina Machado, Lois Smith, Sophie Dahl, Austin Carpenter and Raquel Castro.

Q+A with Director/Writer Joanna Lipper after the screening.

Photo by Daymion Mardel

September 6th - Carnival of Blood

Dir. Leonard Kirtman, 1970. A lunatic on the loose turns Coney Island into a CARNIVAL OF BLOOD as he rids the world of hilariously annoying women via gory murders in the splatter style of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Investigating the bloodshed are Dan, a gung-ho district-attorney-in-training, and his reluctant finacee, Laura. But — oops! — Laura turns out to be just as annoying as the victims and by the time Dan discovers a teddy bear filled with human entrails (!), Laura is riding the Wonder Wheel with the psycho killer who not only has a false face, but a weird mommy complex: "I have to kill you. Mommy, I have to..." A strange little sickie, CARNIVAL OF BLOOD also stars Burt Young (you know, Paulie in the Rocky movies) as a hunchback named Gimpy.

A great time capsule of 1970 Coney Island. Come see it where it was shot!

Sponsored by Something Weird Video

Watch the Trailer

September 13th - The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari with Live Piano Accompaniest Liz Magnes

Dir. Robert Wiene, 1920. In this silent, classic example of early German expressionism, this cinematic landmark relates the stylized tale of a Dr. Caligari, a fairground showman who hypnotizes an innocent villager--turning him into a sleepwalking "zombie"--and compels him to carry out fiendish murders. Inarguably a landmark in world cinema, Robert Weine's one-of-a-kind thriller features fantastical, heavily stylized sets, antirealist acting, and evocative subjective camerawork.

September 26 - 28
8TH ANNUAL CONEY ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL