My colleagues at Facets Multi-Media and I are gearing up for another session of Night School, our truly unique and downright odd midnight movie series that is unlike any other alternative film series in the city. The next session starts this coming Saturday, February 6, at midnight and runs through March 27.

Facets Night School is special for two reasons. First, each film is presented with a brief introduction by a Facets staff member or associate. These introductions range from well-researched, lecture-style commentaries to witty, informative chats to performance pieces in which our creative staff members engage the audience in a bit of theater. In an earlier post, I noted that my colleague Lew Ojeda jumped out of a giant paper cake to begin his introduction to Eat the Rich, but he also played a deranged priest to open the silent movie Haxan, after which Brian Elza, Bruce Neal, Dave Saradin, and Chris Cowgill performed a live heavy-metal score to accompany the movie. Though completely the opposite in approach, Michael Smith’s introduction to Guillermo del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone opened all our eyes to the subtle riches of the film in his down-to-earth lecture style that is truly insightful but never pretentious or dully academic. One of my favorite midnight movie gimmicks was the brainstorm of presenter Amy Boyd, who selected the original Hitcher to introduce for our all-horror session. Amy crafted a few dozen bloody fingers (fake, of course) to insert into real packages of French fries that she bought at a nearby fast-food restaurant. We helped her pass them out to amused audience members as they entered the theater. If you have seen the film, you get the relevance of her inspired give-away. I am sure William Castle was smiling down on her that night.

KICKING OFF NIGHT SCHOOL WITH 'LADY TERMINATOR'

The second reason for our reputation for originality is the selection of films, which is diverse to say the least. In true democratic style, presenters select their own movies, so that no single person’s tastes or ideas dominate the schedule. The variety makes it difficult to describe the quintessence of Night School, except to say that the series thrives on the expertise and interests of the presenters. For example, the person who handles press for Facets, Patrick Ogle, is our zombie-film aficionado. Each session, he digs up (no pun intended) a zombie movie to please the zombie-philes in our wonderfully peculiar but devoted audience. Movie zombies have now become the unofficial mascots of Facets Night School, and we feel compelled to show a zombie flick in each session. Phil Morehart, my partner in crime in the marketing department, has been mining the 1980s for interesting films that have somehow fallen off the radar, such as Over the Edge and The Elephant Man. Dan Mucha, who runs the Facets DVD label, is a true Anglophile, which is evident in his past selections of Quadrophenia and Don’t Look Now. My selections are generally the oldest movies on the schedule, because in my opinion, a forgotten or offbeat classic rounds out each session nicely and adds a different mix to our audiences. Even when we tried to plan a session with an overall theme—last October’s all-horror program—the selections were so varied that no two presentations were remotely alike, so that the breadth of the genre was represented. It was akin to taking a history of horror class but much more fun.

MY SELECTION FOR NIGHT SCHOOL

None of our wacky high jinks would be possible without the support of our regular audience of crazed cinephiles and insomniac intellectuals. Not only do they show up at midnight to see our films, but they listen patiently to our introductions, and many hang around for the post-film Q&As that begin around 2:00 am. We have the coolest audiences in the city. Sometimes, people who are not regulars will come for a specific movie, as when a group of suburban dads showed up with their sons to see Dawn of the Dead. We loved them because they plunked down over $100 for popcorn and snacks without batting an eyelash.

Below is the schedule for Night School 2010, Session 1. I included the lecture titles that not only reveal the focus of the introductions but something of the personalities of the presenters.

On February 6, Lew Ojeda kicks off Night School with “Lady Terminator and the Golden Age of Indonesian Exploitation Films.” Lady Terminator, a 1989 action film from H. Tjut Djalil, seems to be attracting a lot of attention in the press surrounding Night School. Both The Onion and National Public Radio are doing stories about the film and Lew’s introduction, probably because James Cameron has been in the news so much lately, and this film blatantly and joyfully rips off his best-known film. In a plot only cult movie fans could love, a female reporter is transformed into the title character while scuba diving for ancient artifacts in the ocean. Apparently, she was diving in an area famous for its artifacts of the South Seas Queen, a goddess with a voracious appetite for sex. When the reporter emerges from the sea, she is not only wearing black leather and packing a gun, she is hellbent on revenge.

THIS IMAGERY FROM 'DAY OF THE DEAD' SEEMS A PERVERTED HOMAGE TO COCTEAU'S 'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST'

On my night to present, February 13, I am introducing one of my favorite Robert Mitchum movies with a lecture titled “Strap Your Hands ‘cross My Engines: Driving ‘Thunder Road.” One of the benefits of participating in Night School for me is that I get to indulge my passion for Robert Mitchum and introduce his ultra-cool persona to younger generations who may have heard of Mitchum but know nothing of his larger-than-life career. Last year, I presented Night of the Hunter, which went over so well that this time around, I am introducing Thunder Road, his 1957 drama about a melancholy bootlegger with one foot in the grave.

Patrick Ogle adds Day of the Dead to his resume of zombie flicks on February 20 when he talks about “Zombies, Humanity, and George Romero’s Third Zombie Classic.” Some horror fans claim that this 1985 film is an overlooked masterwork; others remain disappointed because Romero had to pare down his original concept and compromise his vision. Day is the third film of his original trilogy and follows the efforts of a scientific team engaged in a last-ditch effort to control the zombie outbreak that has taken over the world. My favorite part of the film is the updated version of the mad scientist, Dr. Logan, who creates a zombie in his lab named Bub.

Currently, the hottest new wave in cinema is considered to be the filmmaking of South Korea, particularly their re-interpretations of established genres. On February 27, Michael Smith presents “Korean Cult Craziness: The Mind-Blowing Genre Hybrid of Save the Green Planet.” The film follows the inexplicable exploits of a man who believes that aliens are about to attack Earth, and he is the only one who can prevent them. His quest to save the planet begins when he kidnaps a powerful executive whom he believes to be a top ranking extraterrestrial. He imprisons the exec in his basement, where he proceeds to torture him. The storyline matters less the unique blend of genre conventions that plays with viewer expectations.

On March 6, Chris Damen presents a funny film but offers a serious introduction titled “The Comedy of Terror: Team America World Police.” The 2004 film from the gang behind South Park features of cast of marionettes in a  send-up of action-movie conventions, but Chris offers a thought-provoking perspective about movies in the post 9/11 era that will make you see this film differently.

Lauren Whalen shifts gears entirely on March 13 when she presents “Anti-Heroes, Heroin and High School,” her perspective on the 2006 indie film Brick. Joseph Gordon Levitt of this year’s 500 Days of Summer stars as a high school student who comes across the dead body of his girlfriend in a storm drain. He takes it upon himself to solve her murder, which leads him through the close-knit circles of various high school cliques. Brick enjoyed a strong critical response when it was released, with many comparing it to film noir. The film doesn’t follow the visual conventions of noir very convincingly, but the protagonist’s quest through various layers of society to which he himself is an outsider mirrors the narrative structure of the hard-boiled detective tale.

ISABELA SARLI IN 'FUEGO'

Lew Ojeda returns on March 20 for “Argentine Fire: Fuego and the Erotic Cinema of Armando Bo.” Bo was an Argentine actor during the classic era of the 1940s before turning to the other side of the screen to direct, produce, and script his own low-budget films during the 1960s and 1970s.  He was famous for his erotic productions, and  he is credited for including the first nude scene in an Argentine film (El trueno entre las hojas). Fuego stars Bo and Isabela Sarli, his real-life wife, in the story of an insatiable woman who destroys the lives of those around her with her infidelities.

Phil Morehart wraps up Night School, Session 1 with “I Am Not an Animal! The Real Story Behind The Elephant Man” on March 27. David Lynch’s early film Eraserhead often shows up in the schedules of midnight movie series, but Phil prefers to go with the less obvious choices from directors associated with midnight movies. Nominated for eight Oscars, The Elephant Man was a commercial success in 1980, but it seems to have been forgotten in the wake of Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive. The film stars John Hurt in the title role, which reminded me of how big a star Hurt was in 1980. At the time, he was more acclaimed than costar Anthony Hopkins. The great British cinematographer Freddie Francis lensed Elephant Man in black and white, which was a daring choice for Lynch then, just as it would be now.

So, let us know what you think of the selections; if there is a film you want to recommend for future Night School schedules, we will definitely consider it. And, if you live in the Chicago area, please stop by for an evening or two of cinephilia for the low, low price of $5.00. It’s the best bargain in town.