Double Feature

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Watch out: we’ve got the most hellzapoppin’, gonzorific, take-no-prisoners gizmopalooza ever unleashed! A sequel so insanely over the top that it serves as the ultimate mic drop for our favorite two film franchise. Yep, Joe Dante’s little monster masterpiece multiplies the madness, moving the mayhem to the big city as the mischievous munchies overrun a state-of-the-art new building. Featuring Christopher Lee as Doctor Catheter, Jon Glover as a Ted Turner-like media mogul, a scene-stealing Dick Miller and gloriously outlandish practical effects designed by the great Rick Baker, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is pure anarchic energy exploding on screen and one of the most unconventional studio pictures ever.

“This uninhibited and uproarious monster bash, directed by Joe Dante, is more quick-witted and ironic than the original; it sets forth a savvy, slaphappy agenda before the opening credits and follows it straight through to the end, and even beyond.” – Michael Sragow, New Yorker

“Gremlins 2: The New Batch speaks to the gleeful hell-raising monster in each of us, and it speaks with much more verve, cleverness and good humor than the film on which it is based. Add this to the very short list of sequels that neatly surpass their predecessors.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Freaked

This manic, mile-a-minute monster mashup of Forrest J. Ackerman & Alfred E. Neuman lands more laughs-per-scene than any other movie of the ‘90s. It’s also certainly the sole film to feature a flashback by a common household hammer. Fresh off their MTV sketch show The Idiot Box, Tom Stern & Alex “Bill S. Preston, Esq.” Winter somehow convinced 20^th Century Fox to bankroll a twelve million dollar freakblast, a film later deemed “too weird” for general consumption and dumped into only two theaters before finding a large cult following on video cassette and cable tv. When a vain former-child-star (Winter), his best friend (Blossom’s Michael Stoyanov) and an outspoken activist (Encino Man’s Megan Ward) stumble across a mysterious sideshow in South America, they soon find themselves part of the grotesque festivities, transformed into hideous mutant freekz at the hands of the demented proprietor (Randy Quaid). Jam-packed with anarchic pop-culture insanity filling every frame, plus jaw-dropping makeup effects by Screaming Mad George, this gut-busting takeoff on Tod Browning’s Freaks finds room to add memorable turns by Mr. T, John Hawkes, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Keanu Reeves as fellow monstrosities