The fifth session of Chicago’s best-loved midnight movies series began this past Saturday at Facets Multi-Media. Dubbed Night School, the series is intended to be educational as well as entertaining, because each film is introduced in a 20 to 30 minute lecture by a knowledgeable Facets employee who then leads a Q&A after the movie is over. Most cinephiles are more than willing to linger at 2:00am to join others in a lively, intelligent discussion, and the open atmosphere encourages the free flow of different viewpoints and ideas about the film. This summer, the midnight series will last ten weeks, and, of all the sessions of Night School, Session 5 is truly unique. Part of my job here at Facets is to help my colleague Phil Morehart coordinate Night School, and Phil is always thinking of ways to make the series entertaining and different from typical midnight movie programs. For this session, Phil has come up with something that no other midnight movie series has ever done—at least not in Chicago.

This series is called the Guest Hosts Session because not only were the majority of films programmed by non-employees but they will also be introduced to the audience by non-employees. Of the ten guest hosts, nine are Night School fans, local film instructors, or other knowledgeable presenters who will introduce the film they selected with a mini-lecture and then hang around to lead the Q&A afterward. Chicago is a real movie town, and nothing proves that more than the sheer number of scholars, historians, cinephiles, and avid movie buffs that frequent Facets and other alternative venues. Giving these knowledgeable folks an opportunity to select and present a movie not only invigorates Night School and meets Facets’ educational agenda but also expands the general discourse on cinema. In the current climate, too much of the “buzz” surrounding cinema is trite gossip propagated by various media outlets or shallow reviews by movie critics interested in giving their personal opinion in a snarky style only they find amusing. Night School has succeeded in introducing a variety of offbeat, classic, and downright unusual films to audiences eager to learn more about what they don’t know and willing to share what they do.

'SPIDER BABY' HAS A STRANGE CAST, INCLUDING MANTAN MORELAND AND LON CHANEY, JR., THOUGH THIS IS ONLY A PROMOTIONAL IMAGE. NO SCENE LIKE THIS OCCURS IN THE FILM.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Guest Hosts Session is that all of the presenters are doing it for the love of cinema. That’s a nice way of saying that Facets is not able to pay them anything for the time and effort they are putting into their presentations. Their only compensation is the Facets staff’s undying gratitude. At a reception held at Facets to kick off this session, I interviewed some of the Guest Hosts about Night School and their reasons for volunteering to present. What I discovered is that the love of movies by the true cinephile knows no bounds.

Writer Jason Coffman, who sees more movies than anyone else I know, kicked off the Guest Hosts Session last Saturday with a lecture titled “Pam Grier, Switchblade Sisters, and Spider Babies: An Introduction to Jack Hill.” Jason offered an overview of exploitation auteur Jack Hill before a screening of Spider Baby (1964), and in the discussion afterward, the point was made that this obscure film bears a resemblance to Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The storyline about a family of cannibals living in an old dark house is now a familiar one, right down to Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses. Making connections from the past to the present helped everyone appreciate Spider Baby beyond the level of surface entertainment.

One of Night School’s most devoted fans, Jason volunteered to present a movie “to see what being on the other side of the podium was like,” and he chose the little-known Spider Baby in particular because he found it to be an unusual combination of genres. Because he has attended regularly since the first session over a year ago, I asked Jason for some highlights of the other four sessions. He selected Lew Ojeda’s presentation of Lady Terminator in Session 4 as one of the best because Lew opened his lecture with a hilarious short film in which he impersonated Mama Terminator griping to her ungrateful offspring, Lady Terminator and Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Lew, his home-made short film, and Lady Terminator simply brought the house down that night.

PRINCE FROM 'UNDER THE CHERRY MOON': WOW! I REALLY MISS THE '80s.

Another devoted Night School fan, music writer Andrew Horton, is presenting pop star Prince’s first directorial effort in a lecture titled “A Self-Caressing Twerp of Dubious Provenance: The Agony and Ecstasy of Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon (1986).” He acknowledged that he loves coming to Night School and wanted “to give back by participating.” Andrew, along with several other Guest Hosts, noted that the strength of Facets’ midnight movies is the diverse selection of movies. Participants tend to choose personal favorites that are cinematically interesting and should be cult classics but haven’t quite made it to that status. Andrew called them “underdog cult classics” and pointed out that the quirky film selection prevents Night School from becoming like every other midnight movie series. Andrew selected Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One introduced by Amy Boyd in the first Night School session as one of his favorites because the dreamlike nature of the film’s fractured narrative lent itself to the midnight hour—an original observation about the movie that I had not thought of but readily agreed with.

Film instructor and classic movie expert Stephen Reginald selected Theodora Goes Wild (1936) to screen with his presentation “Mourning into Dancing: From Queen of the Weepies to Icon of Screwball Comedy,” which will focus on star Irene Dunne. Stephen has taught several film classes at Facets, including an extremely popular course on Carole Lombard, and later this summer he will teach a six-week class on Claudette Colbert. He agreed with several Guest Hosts who revealed that they wanted to participate in Night School because of the opportunity to share “a movie I love with others.” I think Stephen’s reason for presenting speaks to the nature of cinephiles who like to share favorite films with those who will automatically “get” the cinematic value of them. I have seen Night School audience members stand around the lobby at 2:30am to discuss movies and hurriedly scribble down titles suggested to them by others. Stephen pointed out the diversity of these Night School devotees—from retirees to college kids to every age in between—as another reason why it is fun to participate. Video artist and media instructor Sharon Mooney, who is presenting “My Cat Could Eat a Whole Watermelon: On the Road with Rubin and Ed (1991)” piggybacked on Stephen’s points by remarking on the open dialogue that occurs among the diverse members of the audience. It is an environment that she called truly “educational.”

Music and film scholar Terence Hannum is looking forward to presenting “Open the Gate: Heavy Metal as a Gateway to Ritual & Satanic Panic in The Gate (1987),” because he likes the idea of delving deeply into a topic he finds of interest. Each presenter is required to offer a bibliography on their topic, which is included on the Night School syllabus. Terrence’s bibliography included one of this session’s most interesting reference sources—Tipper Gore’s Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society!

Michelle Zaladonis, the only Facets employee to participate this session, is presenting “The Good, the Bad, and the Django (1966)” to shed light on lesser-known Italian westerns. She chose to be a part of Night School because, as an employee and fan of the series, she was struck by the sheer creativity that most hosts have brought to their introductions. Whether incorporating performance art into the intros, giving away home-made movie-star trading cards, composing an original score to a silent film, or digging up the obscure background information, Facets Night School hosts go to great lengths to present their film selections in the best possible light. All for the love of cinema!

If you visit Chicago over the summer, please stop by and share in Night School 5: The Guest Hosts Session. For $5 per movie, you can see the following:

June 12
“The Good, the Bad and the Django.” Facets employee Michelle Zaladonis dives into the underrated spaghetti western Django.

June 19
“Mourning into Dancing: From Queen of the Weepies to Icon of Screwball Comedy.”
Scholar Steven Reginald looks at Theodora Goes Wild.

June 26
“Advertising, Wonder Foods & Other Nasty Businesses: The Stuff Behind The Stuff. Filmmaker Maria Gigante dissects the media manipulations of The Stuff.

July 10
“Neverseen: The Mystery at the Center of Teeth.” Louisville arts programmer Tracy Heightchew chews on the teen body-horror of Teeth.

July 17
“Open the Gate: Heavy Metal as a Gateway to Ritual & the Satanic Panic in The Gate is presented by musician Terrence Hannum.

July 24
“Slightly Scarlet: My Sister Is a Kleptomaniac. Projectionist Julian Antos reflects on the underrated Technicolor noir, Slightly Scarlet.

July 31
“Reform School Girls: Frivolous, or Meditation on Modern Correctional Challenges?
Attorney Katherine Anthony puts the lock-down on Reform School Girls.

August 7
“A Self-Caressing Twerp of Dubious Provenance: The Agony and Ecstasy of Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon” is offered by music writer/studio engineer Andrew Horton.

August 14
“My Cat Could Eat a Whole Watermelon: On the Road with Rubin and Ed.” Video artist/DePaul media instructor Sharon Mooney looks inside the warped road movie Rubin and Ed.