NOT QUITE MIDNIGHT

This November at the Drexel, Not Quite Midnight kicks off on November 2 with Frank Henenlotter’s grindhouse classic, Basket Case! Duane Bradley is a strange young man. He wanders the filthy streets of Times Square, his aw-shucks small-town sensibility clashing with the junkies, pimps, and hookers plying their trades late into the night. Duane has come to the Big Apple on a mission. Who is he seeking revenge on? What is in the enormous basket he insists on carrying with him? And why does the basket randomly begin screaming? Basket Case is one of the great sleaze epics, capturing New York City as it was rotting away in the early 1980s. Henenlotter, through dark alleys and dingy NYC clubs, follows Duane as he descends further and further into madness with every murder he helps to commit. Financed with Henenlotter’s life savings, Basket Case became a 42nd Street hit, recouping Henenlotter’s investment and winding up as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection in 2017.

Tommy Wiseau’s The Room screens November 9. If you have not experienced The Room at the Drexel, you don’t know what you’re missing. The loyal fans have created their own live experience à la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They’re always excited to indoctrinate newbies into the cult of Wiseau. A Drexel tradition for 15 years, The Room is a gonzo masterpiece.

Faye Dunaway tears up the screen as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, screening November 16. Based on Christina Crawford’s autobiography, Mommie Dearest explores the traumatic relationship Christina shared with her screen legend mother. Though derided upon release in 1981, the film (while campy at times) is far from the disaster critics labeled it as. Dunaway is terrific as the selfish, vain acting icon who is torn between wanting to be a mother and finding herself stifled by the responsibilities of being a parent. Capable of both genuine affection and cruelty, Crawford struggles to embrace her maternal side, forcing Christina to mature before her time and eventually confront her mother. Mara Hobel, as the young Christina, holds her own against Dunaway, delivering something rare: a genuinely great performance from a child actor.

Finally, just as the winter chill begins to move in, we present The Great Silence, the underseen snowbound Spaghetti Western, on November 23. Directed by Sergio Corbucci (the man behind the original Django), the film stars legendary French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence, a mute gunslinger who comes to the aid of a group of poor villagers in the mountains of Utah. Armed with a Mauser C96, Silence faces off against a band of ruthless bounty hunters led by Loco, played by the always compelling Klaus Kinski. Cold to the bone, The Great Silence is hands-down one of the best Spaghetti Westerns ever made, easily standing alongside the terrific films from Sergio Leone. The film is brutal and bleak, featuring two magnificent performances from Trintignant and Kinski, and breathtaking work from cinematographer Silvano Ippoliti.