Psychotronic Cinema

Hosted by The Cinema Society of Kingston: on Wednesday evenings in May, join us for a b-movie film series hosted by writer/collector Barry Yuen.  You can view the poster exhibit, Your Guide to Psychotronic Cinema in our upper lobby.

• May 8: Time Bandits (1981)
• May 15: Viva Las Vegas (1964)
• May 22: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
• May 29: Grindhouse Double Bill: Kill, Baby… Kill! (1966) & Coffy (1973)

Michael Weldon created the term “Psychotronic” when he put together a self-published weekly movie guide that he circulated locally, later turning it into a full-sized magazine.  The term “Psychotronic” was originally intended to cover his 2 main interests in film:  Horror (the “Psycho” part) and Science Fiction (which usually contained  a lot of “Electronic” gadgetry).  He would expand the definition to include other types of genre films, like rock and roll movies (which would include movies with Elvis and The Beatles), juvenile delinquent movies, blaxploitation movies,  counterculture movies, women in prison movies, Hercules movies, spaghetti western movies, kung fu movies and just generally anything outside of the mainstream.  “Psychotronic” movies continue to be made to this day, although with much larger budgets, and very often achieving a greater amount of respectability (for example, the films of David Lynch) than they did in the past.  The Psychotronic creed definitely believes in the auteur theory, with attention given to the work of inept auteurs who somehow managed to create a body of work such as Ed Wood Jr., Andy Milligan,  Al Adamson, and Jesse Franco (though some would argue that Franco is a genius, but I don’t agree).  But it’s not all about movies that are badly made.  Consider also the innovative, sometimes dazzling work of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, David Cronenberg, George Romero, John Carpenter,  Wes Craven, William Castle, Roger Corman, and others.

The quote, “This movie’s a bit strange, isn’t it?” was overheard from someone who was watching SUSPIRIA while tripping on acid, a prospect so frightening that I would never even consider it, since the movie is already a case study in sensory overload even without any stimulants.