Movies of Peculiar Interest
The Washington Psychotronic Film Society is dedicated to the appreciation and defense of: Independent, cutting-edge, student, experimental, anime, off-beat, underground, obscure, super-8, low-budget, classic, forgotten, must-see, and just about anything on film.
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Greetings! We (this includes you) are the Washington Psychotronic Film Society, a group of cinema devotees who meet on a regular basis,
screening Films of Peculiar Interest. The term "Psychotronic" was first used by Michael Weldon to brand his publications, and later his retail store.
He took it from the movie The Psychotronic Man. By 'peculiar interest', we usually mean films that are obscure or underappreciated for one reason or another.
Experimental films, cat videos, low-budget-no-distribution visions that deranged directors had to get out of their systems, long-forgotten films
that have been sitting in studio vaults, shot-on-video horrors made by film school graduates who will never find jobs in Hollywood, 8mm home movies
we found at Goodwill - all these and more qualify. Mostly, we're just the good, but annoying, friend who thinks you have to see something we just saw.
Sometimes it will change your life. Always, it's a good time. In 1989, Melanie Scott wondered aloud if there was demand for screenings of these types of films. Someone said yes. Melanie asked Michael Weldon if she could use his brand, and he said yes. Just like that, the DMV had a way for cinema geeks and other miscreants to congregate and discuss the things that they were working on, or found important, or just wanted to see. 36 years later, that's still happening. Eternal thanks to:
Join our mailing list (We do not give away or sell our mailing list to anyone).
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Mature Subject Matter for Immature Adults (Ages 18+) No Cover - All screenings are free, but a donation to help cover our expenses is suggested DON'T MISS OUT, ARRIVE EARLY!
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Schedule for May / June 2025
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Monday, May 5, 8:00 PM |
WPFS wrestles with the implications: Santo vs. the Riders of Terror (a.k.a. Santo Contra los Jinetes del Terror)
1970, Mexico
Directed by: RENÉ CARDONA (Santa, Night of the Bloody Apes, The Bat Woman, Santo in the Treasure of Dracula, The Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy, Doctor of Doom, The Living Idol, Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy, The Panther Women, La Llorona, She-Wolves of the Ring) Screenplay: JESÚS MURCIELAGO VELÁZQUEZ (She-Wolves of the Ring, The Shadow of the Bat) and RENÉ CARDONAWhen a group of lepers escape from their asylum, they fall under the influence of a band of outlaws who are terrorizing a small western town. The desperate sheriff has no choice but to call on the only man who can help—legendary wrestling superhero Santo! | |
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Monday, May 12, 8:00 PM |
WPFS doesn’t pay tariffs: Perdita Durango (a.k.a. Dance with the Devil)
1997, Spain | Mexico
Directed by: ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA (The Oxford Murders, The Bar, The Day of the Beast, Witching and Bitching, The Last Circus, Ferpect Crime, Common Wealth, Mutant Action, Eight Hundred Bullets, Venicephrenia) Screenplay: ÁLEX DE LA IGLESIA BARRY GIFFORD (Lost Highway, novel “Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula”) JORGE GUERRICAECHEVARRÍA (Cell 211, Live Flesh, The Oxford Murders, The Bar, The Day of the Beast, Witching and Bitching, Ferpect Crime, Common Wealth, Mutant Action, Eight Hundred Bullets, Venicephrenia) and DAVID TRUEBA (Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed, Two Much)¡Ay, caramba! ROSIE PEREZ (White Men Can't Jump, Pineapple Express, Do the Right Thing, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is Perdita Durango, a woman headed to Mexico to scatter her sister’s ashes, hooks up with coked-up Santeria charlatan/bank robber JAVIER BARDEM (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall, Dune: Parts One & Two, Mother!, The Little Mermaid) on a trip to Las Vegas to deliver refrigerated human fetuses. And along the way they do some kidnapping, rape, human sacrifice, and cannibalism while dodging arrogant DEA agent JAMES GANDOLFINI (The Sopranos, The Mexican, Crimson Tide). | |
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Monday, May 19, 8:00 PM |
WPFS gets turned into a newt: Poison for the Fairies (a.k.a. Veneno para las Hadas)
1986, Mexico
Written and directed by: CARLOS ENRIQUE TABOADA (Even the Wind Is Afraid, Darker Than Night, The Book of Stone)Imagination is the gateway to terror. Orphan Verónica has grown up fascinated by tales of vengeful witches told by her superstitious nanny. She gradually convinces wealthy new transfer student Flavia that she herself is a witch, taking credit for strange occurrences and threatening to punish Flavia if she doesn’t do as she is told. As their childish games grow more sinister, Flavia grows desperate to protect herself and her family. | |
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Monday, May 26, 8:00 PM |
WPFS is where East meets West: The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (a.k.a. 七金屍 [cat gam si] “seven golden corpses”)
1974, UK | Hong Kong
Directed by: ROY WARD BAKER (A Night to Remember, Quatermass and the Pit, Moon Zero Two, The Anniversary, The Vampire Lovers, The Monster Club, Don’t Bother to Knock, Asylum, Scars of Dracula, The Vault of Horror) Screenplay: DON HOUGHTON (Dracula A.D. 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Take the High Road, Doctor Who)You got your Hammer in my Shaw Bros.! Dracula winds up in China somehow, as does PETER CUSHING (Star Wars, Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein, The Hound of the Baskervilles) as persistent Drac-stalker Prof. Van Helsing, teaming up with a family of kung-fu titans who don't bother with wood stakes in dealing with obnoxious vampires. They just slam their fists in and rip out their hearts! | |
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Monday, June 2, 8:00 PM |
WPFS loves Lucy: Lured
1947, USA
Directed by: DOUGLAS SIRK (Imitation of Life, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind) Screenplay: LEO ROSTEN (story: The Dark Corner, Where Danger Lives, All Through the Night)There’s a killer on the loose, luring victims with personal column ads and taunting the police with poems! When her friend goes missing, smart-mouthed taxi dancer LUCILLE BALL (I Love Lucy) agrees to go undercover as bait. But complications arise when she gets engaged to nightclub owner GEORGE SANDERS (Rebecca, All About Eve, A Shot in the Dark, Village of the Damned). | |
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Monday, June 9, 8:00 PM |
WPFS wants a prenup: Ben & Arthur
2002, USA
Written, directed, and produced by: SAM MRAOVICHA pair of gay men, one hot, one not, plan to get married, but are threatened by a religious fanatic brother who plots to murder them after being ostracized from his church. In the meantime we’ll be treated to a janky go-go boy audition, a wrestling match with a gun-toting ex-wife, a crayon drawing of Jesus, a cardboard cross, the palm trees of Vermont, and a naked writer-director-producer-editor. | |
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Monday, June 16, 8:00 PM |
WPFS goes bang!, zoom!, straight to the moon: Nothing Lasts Forever
1984, USA
Written and directed by: TOM SCHILLER (Saturday Night Live)Having failed a drawing test, sham-pianist and would-be artist ZACH GALLIGAN (Gremlins, Gremlins 2, Waxwork) is assigned to direct traffic in NYC's Holland Tunnel, takes a bus trip to the moon, and falls in love with soulmate luna hula dancer LAUREN TOM (Futurama, The Joy Luck Club, King of the Hill, Andi Mack, Bad Santa). Never nationally released in theaters or on home media. With SAM JAFFE (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Ben-Hur, Battle Beyond the Stars, The Dunwich Horror), BILL MURRAY (???), IMOGENE COCA (National Lampoon's Vacation, Your Show of Shows), DAN AYKROYD (Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live), comedian MORT SAHL, singer ANITA ELLIS (Gilda), and singer EDDIE FISHER (“Anytime”, “Tell Me Why”, “I’m Yours”, “Wish You Were Here”) | |
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Monday, June 23, 8:00 PM |
WPFS fights a yeast invasion: Gentleman Broncos
2009, USA
Directed by: JARED HESS (Napoleon Dynamite, The Minecraft Movie, Nacho Libre, Thelma the Unicorn) Screenplay: JARED HESS and JERUSHA HESS (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Thelma the Unicorn)Yeast Lords: The Bronco Years is the epic tale of Bronco (SAM ROCKWELL, Moon) and his quest to reclaim his stolen gonad from an evil mad scientist who commands an army of cyclopses, written by aspiring sci-fi author Benjamin. After attending a writer’s camp, Benjamin finds his magnum opus plagiarized by his hero, famous novelist Ronald Chevalier (JERMAINE CLEMENT, Flight of the Conchords), and also comes to regret selling the film rights to his scheming fellow camp attendees. | |
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Monday, June 30, 8:00 PM |
WPFS bears a charmed life: Scotland, PA
2001, USA | Canada
Written and directed by: BILLY MORRISSETTEJoe "Mac" McBeth and his wife Pat, tired of flipping burgers at Duncan's Cafe, envision life as owners of the restaurant. How to accomplish this? Kill Duncan and make it look like a robbery! But they soon find forces internal and external threatening to tear everything apart. Starring JAMES LE GROS (Drugstore Cowboy, Living in Oblivion, Point Break, Ally McBeal), MAURA TIERNEY (ER, NewsRadio, Liar Liar, Beautiful Boy, Semi-Pro), CHRISTOPHER WALKEN (The Deer Hunter, Batman Returns, The Dead Zone, Pulp Fiction), JAMES REBHORN (Scent of a Woman, The Game, Independence Day, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Meet the Parents, Carlito’s Way), TOM GUIRY (The Sandlot, Mystic River, The Black Donnellys), AMY SMART (The Butterfly Effect, Crank, Road Trip, Just Friends, Starsky & Hutch, Varsity Blues), and ANDY DICK (NewsRadio, Inspector Gadget, Employee of the Month). | |
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This page is sponsored by TRASH PALACE!
For all of your Psychotronic movie needs, please check out trashpalace.com for a huge selection of rare movies on videotape, cult movie DVD's, hard-to-find movie soundtracks on CD and LP, original exploitation movie posters, stills and lobby-cards, books, mags, toys & crap!! |
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