Dirt Dog Cinema

It’s October! Our favorite time of year for movies! As always, the Dirt Dogs have 31 days of horror films lined up, the bar is stocked, and we’re digging out the Halloween decorations. 

So far, week one has been a success, featuring everything from a 1960s black & white Hitchcockian mystery to a brand-spankin’ new jump scare ass blaster. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to: 

We screened the 1981 creature feature Boogens for our opening night extravaganza. Our signature cocktail for the evening, a vegan gin matcha sour with cranberry bitters, was created to resemble the film’s titular monster. We’ll let you be the judge of whether we succeeded or not.

For an early 80s b-grade monster flick, Boogens kicked ass. We were surprised that the ladies were just as corny and horny as the dudes- a fun anomaly for its time, and you can’t beat a random old hermit running into a tunnel and yelling: “BOOGENS!” 

On Sunday, we made a trip out to the cinema to see the newly released film Smile. While probably not for everyone, the Dirt Dogs enjoyed this bleak examination of trauma featuring Kevin Bacon’s daughter, Sosie Bacon, in the lead role. Smile sticks to a familiar horror formula reminiscent of late-90s / early-2000s films such as Ringu or Final Destination, wherein characters find themselves the subject of a curse and must solve a puzzle to escape their inevitable demise. It Follows is also an appropriate comparator. Jump scares abound, so if that’s not your thing you might hate this one; however, in our opinion the shocks weren’t cheap like your average PG-13 fare from the early 2000s. The acting was solid and it’s surprisingly dark for a widely released horror film. Check it out if you feel like making a trip to the theater this October. 

As we settled into the work week, it was time to pay our dues with a few selections that had “potential dud” written all over ‘em. 1962’s Burn Witch Burn (aka Night of the Eagle) leaned into the interesting premise of married women utilizing witchcraft to propel their husband’s professional success. Yes, very outdated, we get it. Random horror from the 60s can be tedious and boring, but Burn Witch Burn clipped along at a decent pace and kept us guessing along the way. Despite a litany of men yelling at “hysterical broads,” we’d suggest adding this one to your early 60s horror playlist. 

Hellbent (2004) is billed as the first gay slasher. The lack of budget was obvious from the get go; however, the film is charming enough that the flaws and lack of resources become easy to ignore rather quickly. The gore effects are surprisingly badass and the quartet of likable, buff, queer bros out for night of Halloween fun amidst a flurry of brutal murders really carried this one over this finish line (though we can’t vouch for the soundtrack- eek- very much of a time and place).

The Wolf of Snow Hollow was better than it had any right to be for a horror-comedy in the werewolf subgenre. Sure, it had its flaws, but at 84 minutes, this thing had just enough gore and comedy to make for a fun watch on a random weeknight. 

Tonight is VHS night! We’re screening the somewhat obscure 1976 film Massacre at Central High, rented from our favorite local non-profit video store Movie Madness. If you live in Portland, OR and you don’t frequent Movie Madness.. Fuck yourself and get your ass down there. 

Tomorrow is Hellraiser night! Please dark lord, let this reimagining not suck as hard as the last 8 entries in the franchise..