What Happened with Late Nite Grindhouse and What is to Become of it?

Because I’m a fan of musical accompaniment in storytelling, I’d recommend hitting play on the track below to accompany your reading.

[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEcoOyN4bA” loop=”1″ rel=”0″ showsearch=”0″ showinfo=”0″]

Hopefully, if you are reading this, you know about our Late Nite Grindhouse program. Late Nite Grindhouse was a crazy idea I had of solely showing horror, cult and genre cinema theatrically at midnight. Being located in St. Louis, Missouri was a tough thing for a film fanatic of genre cinema. I would see theaters in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and New York or a college town like Austin, Texas – courtesy of the terrific Alamo Drafthouse – get these great repertory films that would show theatrically. I wanted in on that. I figured, that I would work with a theater that shared the same dream I had of celebrating film. Granted, I wanted to show a specific type of film but I was also wanting to build a community. No matter where you’re located, horror fans are those that strive and learn off of a community of like-minded people. Yes, we can be socially awkward but given the outlet, we can overcome that hurdle. Also, I wanted to not just show mainstream horror films, I wanted to show stuff that some horror fans either have never heard of or that have had the chance to see it on their televisions at home. Armed with a Do-It-Yourself attitude, I started pursuing local theaters. I knew that many theaters in this city are part of corporate chains, so that knocked out a majority of prospects. Hell, I knew that even Landmark Theaters didn’t book from a local level. A friend of mine recommended the Hi-Pointe Theatre. They used to be owned by Landmark but at the time they were recommended, they were operating independently. I saw that the Hi-Pointe Theatre was showing a midnight presentation of Black Dynamite. Since I wanted to see the film, I decided that I would go and see if I could talk to someone there about my idea of midnight lunacy. I met Brian Ross that night and the rest is history.

I won’t bore you with the filmography of the Late Nite Grindhouse program but I will say that I still cannot believe some of the films that we have shown. From May 2010 to December 2015, we showed 61 films and our 5 year celebration show where there were 2 hours of 35mm film trailers shown – courtesy of our friends, Grindhouse Releasing. Out of those 61 films, 27 of those were presented via 35mm. I was happy that I chose the Hi-Pointe Theatre because when I started there, they had two 35mm projectors – which gave them the option to run a film reel to reel. Even when they upgraded to digital projection, they kept the two 35mm film projectors. They consciously made the decision to make sure that they could show any damn format they wanted. I knew that the Hi-Pointe and I were soulmates because they must have respected film to keep 35mm projectors in the booth. To this day, they rarely get to use these projectors but the fact that they can, means the world to myself and any film fan around. Over the 5 year tenure, we showed Fulci, Bava, Argento along with Miami Connection, Pieces, Return of the Living Dead and many more. Many attendees were seeing the films for the very first time. On a personal level, I felt that I was actually doing something that contributed to film education. Why? I could see it. I could physically see people coming back because they were trusting my programming and they knew that they would be something worth seeing. Sure, not everyone liked Beyond the Black Rainbow. Sure, we have had walkouts on films but they still respected what we were doing.

Over the past year or so, things were changing behind the scenes at the Hi-Pointe. They built a second screen, called the Backlot, which would give them more flexibility to show more films and hold longer engagements. I was happy because I knew the amount of stress that one screen could have on a theater. I also noticed that LNGH wasn’t getting a lot of visual support by the theater, but I was okay with that because this really is one of those word of mouth things. Also, I know decisions were being made by someone I briefly met and not by the people I considered family for the five years of Late Nite Grindhouse’s existence at the Hi-Pointe.

On November 30th, I was told that there was pressure to re-evaluate the program. While I can’t say I was completely shocked, I still felt stung. Brian, Joe & Joe (those awesome dudes you saw in the lobby, concession and the box office) and I did see a slight decline in attendance over the past year or two. However, it was more or less attributed to the “off-season” months. I will fully admit that some of my promotion might not have been as strong as it should have been in 2015 as well. That’s when I made the call on the LNGH Facebook page. I wanted to be honest with the attendees and supporters of Late Nite Grindhouse and tell them we were under threat. Our last show at the Hi-Pointe Theatre was December 11th and 12th with a presentation of John Carpenter’s They Live, which was bumped up a week to avoid double booking with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, giving me less time to process that “re-evaluation”. I wanted to show the film as a memorial to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who passed on earlier that year and was someone who not only meant a lot to me but I think he meant a lot to some of the attendees of our program. We had what I thought was a great turnout – 204 people attended between the two nights. However, when I started walking down the theater aisle on Saturday, December 12th, the thought entered my brain that this might be the last show. I might be doing this for the last time. I might be having my last conversations with some of the people that I have met and conversed with in the lobby before and after the films. These thoughts further permeated my brain as I grabbed the microphone to present the film. While I made a similar announcement the night before on being up in the air of Late Nite Grindhouse’s continuation. The concept of finality hit me hard as I was trying to go through my regular spiel prior to the film. My friend, Doug Wicker, took a photo (which is below) that seems to capture some of my somber demeanor.

I believe I said something to the effect that I didn’t know what was going to happen after that weekend but I was happy and grateful for what the program accomplished. Honestly, it was a bit of a blur and I cannot remember what was said. I remember that the air in the room felt deflated when I announced Late Nite Grindhouse’s uncertainty. I didn’t want to take away the joy of seeing a John Carpenter film on the big screen – as the film gods intended – so I tried to cut it short. However, in case this was the last Late Nite Grindhouse show, I wanted a memento. I decided that I would take a picture of the audience using my cellphone. I wish it was a bit more planned because I don’t think it’s a great picture but I was glad that I did it.

I remember that there was a guy that came up to me during the film asking what needs to happen to make the program continue. He was persistent but I was helpless. The reason I was helpless was because I didn’t exactly know what the person who was deciding the fate of the program needed to see to prove this program as a fruitful venture. I just hoped that we had enough people show up to have her second-guess her decision. However, it seemed that her mind had already been made up prior to the December show. Only 9 days into the new year, I received word while at a concert (The Lion’s Daughter’s Album Release Show, check out their new album ASAP), that the powers that be at the Hi-Pointe decided that they didn’t see Late Nite Grindhouse as a path they wanted to venture down any longer. Luckily, I had people reach out to me stating that the Moolah Theatre would love to be the host of Late Nite Grindhouse once the threat of the program was made public. So, I decided to pursue the Moolah and within a couple of weeks, the decision was made.

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I’m happy to announce that the Moolah Theatre is now the new home of Late Nite Grindhouse.

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The Moolah Theatre located at 3821 Lindell Blvd in St. Louis, Missouri. I actually first visited the theater just a few weeks ago and I think the regular patrons are going to dig the new venue – especially the bar which will be open prior to our LNGH shows and AFTER the show. The staff at Moolah seems very enthusiastic about the program and their love of cinema is very apparent. More details, like our first film that we will be showing, are still being worked on. I want to make sure that we have enough time to promote and really show the Moolah what our audience is capable of. I hope to get a premiere date soon. As soon as it is booked, we will post it on DTB, our Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram and LNGH’s Facebook page as well.

Many thanks to Brian Ross for taking a chance on me over 5 years ago, it was greatly appreciated. You taught me so much and I’m going to miss our 1am conversations. To the Joes, I’m going to miss our conversations and bonding in the lobby. You guys are family to me. Also, I want to thank Stacey Robinson (Moolah’s DEAD ZONE) for connecting me to the Moolah so we can work out this arrangement. It means a lot.

Most of all, thank you LNGH attendees for your support over the past 5 years. You guys and gals are truly the best.