It’s no coincidence that this week’s screening was an homage to the genre of film we’ve studied for the last three months. This was a fun movie to watch, a good way to start the week. Matinee, directed by Joe Dante in 1993 and starring John Goodman, is a sort of theatrical retelling of the gimmick film. Lawrence Woolsey, John Goodman’s character, is opening his new movie Mant, and decides to tour small town theaters promoting the film as the ultimate scary movie. Although this may not be the best time to try and truly scare an already atomic-anxietied Florida, Woolsey sees this as a business opportunity and makes the best of shaky circumstances. While this film may appear as a just light-hearted movie about the bygone antics of sci-fi/horror B-movies, there’s actually a lot more to it. Matinee covers a range of topics within its hour and 39 minutes, ultimately acting as an accessible example of the gimmick film. There’s no question that this is a comedy, I think it’d be hard to make a film about B-movies of this sort without it being humorous, but it also addresses the fear of nuclear war and the atmosphere people were living in at the time. Gene’s dream sequence really caught me off guard, while it wasn’t outright scary it was definitely a bit shocking for the tone of the movie up until then. But that scene served to both ground Matinee in its atomic time period and give a sense to what inspired a lot of B-movies during the time. Watching a 50’s/60’s B-movie now, a human turning into a monster due to radiation could be mistaken for an elaborate plot device and not the actual fear of radiation poisoning people felt during that time. It’s a great way to use current anxieties to scare people, you can still see it in the forms our present-day monsters. Whenever I used to watch retro sci-fi movies with my parents as a kid I’d always receive a lecture on nuclear anxiety from my dad so there’s a shortened version from me to you.

a mix between Them! and The Fly

Our big topic of topic of the week focused around gimmick films and transforming the movie experience into a variety show; where you get to experience everything but the taste of the film. The gimmick film allowed filmmakers, largely low budget, to test out new cinematic innovations as a way to both boost the movie industry as well as create a more immersive cinematic experience. Some innovations sound more elaborate, like Smell-O-Vison or Hypno-vison, while others are simpler, like actors running through the aisles or props thrown in the crowd. Matinee’s Woolsey character relies heavily on gimmick to promote his movie and is based off William Castle, the ringleader of gimmick. Some of the stunts listed in the reading, “Collective Screams: William Castle and the Gimmick Film” are crazy, what really made me laugh was that Castle took out a life insurance policy for the audience’s possible death from fright.

I liked Matinee, it put a smile on my face. But it also made me really miss my job (I work at the theater in Hornell), especially the scene where Woolsey is showing Dennis the theater through his own eyes. I had to stop in to talk to my boss the other day and I can’t remember the last time there weren’t upcoming movie posters hanging on the walls :(. Most of our movies we get are big-budget blockbuster types; where the money is at. But I can’t express how much I would love to be able to experience a gimmick film like we learned about this week, man I would happily work during it (I’d even try to keep my mouth shut about the mess).

had to break out my “uniform”