Crappy monsters, a blood-soaked trail of samurai slaughter and a new contender for Worst Film Ever Made

After taking shelter in a spooky old mansion, a bunch of partying teens discover a ouija board and decide to spend the night. As you do. A warlock promptly pops up bent on sacrificing them to revive his bride. This he sets out to achieve by unleashing a shitload of crappy monsters: muck-men, small reptilian demons, giant spiders, an arachnid woman, an octopus-like creature with electric tentacles, a skeletal witch, a Grim Reaper statue, a vampiric boy in a monk’s habit, and a large group of zombies.

Recently restored in 4K, dire 1986 horror Spookies achieved cult status largely as a result of its unavailability. One reviewer described it as “a go-for-broke 1980s horror buffet that offers some surprisingly good monster effects and some unsurprisingly abysmal acting and writing.”

Now it’s back on the big screen to delight Bristol audiences as a pre-Halloween treat from the Bristol Bad Film Club. Spookies is showing at the Bristol Improv Theatre on October 28. Inevitably, tickets are already sold out, but you can join the queue for returns here.

The Club then decamps from its regular venue to the Watershed on November 3, joining forces with the nationwide BFI Japan 2021: 100 Years of Japanese Cinema season and rebranding itself temporarily as the Bristol Bushido Film Club for a screening of Robert Houston’s cut’n’shut Samuarai slasher Shogun Assassin with a live score by DJ Cheeba.

The US poster for Shogun Assassin

For the uninitiated, this 1980 cult feast of ultraviolence was cobbled together from the first two films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series. The official synopsis summarises the plot thusly: “When the wife of the Shogun’s Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.” Once again, this one is already sold out, but you can join the waiting list for tickets here.

If you’re quick, you can still actually purchase tickets for the Bristol Bad Film Club’s next screening of shame. And this one promises to be a real treat for connoisseurs of crap. Indeed, Ryan’s Babe has generated such a buzz that it’s even been described as “Canada’s The Room“. Low praise, indeed.

It helps that little is actually known about Ryan’s Babe, beyond the fact that it was actually shot more than two decades ago and only recently came to the attention of bad film enthusiasts. Vice has become something of a cheerleader, commenting: “There are countless baffling moments throughout and I would say I’m not summarizing them to avoid spoilers, but really it’s because I can’t offer a coherent synopsis. Suffice it to say, by the end of the movie, neither myself nor any of my friends had any idea who Ryan’s babe was. And I haven’t even touched on the film’s constant farcical technical blunders.”

It’s showing at the Improv Theatre on November 25. Tickets are available here, but are likely to sell out very quickly indeed.

Main pic: Spookies