Tag Archives: bristol

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That damn gang and their stupid cocaine

Last Thursday, at The Cuban in Bristol, we showed our first film of 2014, Miami Connection, to a crowd over 180 people. 

Our fifth film overall, this was by far our largest: our previous largest screening had been to ‘just’ 110 people. With over 150 advance tickets sold for Miami Connection, this is hopefully a sign of things to come for 2014. Bristol has developed a taste for bad cinema, and we’re the guys with the menu.

I (Tim) kicked off with a brief welcome, before handing over to a couple of reps from the Travelling Light Theatre Company, the charity we were sponsoring for this screening. After a short video briefly outlining what they do, co-founder Ti introduced the film itself.

With a video explaining who Miami Connection writer, star, and all round awesome guy, YK Kim actually is, the audience was well prepared for the awful, awful majesty of what was to follow.

From my vantage point at the back, the audience reaction was unparalleled. Quite how many knew what they had let themselves in for, I don’t know. But I do know that many, many people went home with their lives changed after this event. Battling back tears of joy, I heard one audience member say with disbelief, “I am SO GLAD I came”.

This is what Bristol Bad Film Club is about. We didn’t start the club to make money, we started the club so we could travel through time. No, wait, that was the DeLorean. We started the club to watch bad films and have a good time. Watching a bad film on your own is OK. Watching a bad film in a group is immense. Watching a film in a group, with a drink and some food, and a great setting is the best.

One of the highlights of the evening was the visceral reaction to the trailer for what we have coming next. A custom-made teaser trailer made by Gaby Staniszewska delivered exactly what we needed. A resounding YES at the first glimpse of, followed by more recognition at the second glimpse.

Because, in February, we are, finally, showing…

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“Gentlemen, it’s time to spread the word. And the word is… ‘bad movies’.”

As well as using social media to spread the word of our screenings, we’ve also been reaching out to and receiving a wave of good will from some of Bristol’s biggest magazines, websites and radio stations.

Bristol Magazine headline

When we first started the Bristol Bad Film Club, our first problem was – how do we let people know that we even exist? In this day and age, the answer is generally social media, so our first step was setting up a Facebook and Twitter account.

This was all well and good, but we soon realised that we wanted to let people that might not be online know about who we are and what we were attempting to do. As one of us is an online editor, we wrote a series of press releases which we then sent out to the likes of the Bristol Post, Guide 2 Bristol and Bristol 24/7. Anything to get a couple of column inches or a passing mention.

The response we got was beyond anything we ever hoped for.

The Bristol Post put us on the cover on their weekend magazine and both Guide 2 Bristol and Bristol 24/7 ran articles on us. All of them were instrumental in building buzz for our first screening.

Now, ahead of our fourth (Starcrash), we’ve even been getting requests for interviews.

This month, co-founder Tim was featured in the ‘Bristol Lives’ section of Clifton Life Magazine, while the both of us were interviewed for Bristol’s biggest monthly magazine – Bristol Magazine (see below for both interviews).

We’ve also been invited numerous times on to BBC Radio Bristol to plug our shows and are very grateful to Laura Rawlings, Phil Hammond and Martin Evans for having us on.

Local movie podcast The Bioscopist has even had us on twice! Clearly we have the perfect faces for radio…

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A look back at Troll 2 and Best Worst Movie

Back at the end of August, with one sell out screening under our belt, and a fast-selling-out second screening imminent, we put our minds to Hallowe’en, and what horrifically bad horror films could be shown.

Troll 2 leapt out as the obvious choice, (and because EVERYBODY had asked us to screen it) but we wanted to do something special. Discovering the child star of Troll 2 had made a documentary about the film (Best Worst Movie) and that successful double bills had been held of them both at venues around the world, we decided to gamble a little on whether a double bill would go down well with the bad film fans of Bristol.

It was a gamble that paid off. With an outside venue that held around 80 we were set for a fine Sunday evening of excruciating entertainment: 90 minutes of inexplicably deluded cinema followed by 90 minutes of endearingly frank, warm-humoured cinema. It was going to be great.

And then a few days before the screening, the news broke that the “worst storm of the last two decades” was going to hit. That night. Perfect. Would this decimate our audience? Would it keep people away? We were, after all, “outside” (albeit covered and heated).

In short, no. The bad-film-loving good people of Bristol braved what turned out to be just “a lot of rain” to enjoy the evening’s entertainment. And oh my goooooood, what entertainment. Troll 2 is deliriously bad, making little sense, with ‘actors’ who seem like they have never read anything before ever. Best Worst Movie reveals the troubled production and self-deluded director, whose insane decisions are the reason for most of the film’s awfulness.

Our next screening, Starcrash, amazingly (and unfortunately for those who weren’t quick enough) sold out within eight days. But for the disappointed ones who didn’t manage to get a ticket, rest assured: our future venues are getting bigger. So, get your friends to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and bring them along to a future screening. As ever, our first post-Starcrash screening will be announced on the night of that screening, so keep an eye on our site and social media on the 21st for the lowdown on the next screening to avoid disappointment. Because, believe me, our next screening is going to be AWFUL. And by awful I mean AMAZING.

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Samurai Cop screening. “I want bigger.”

Last night at The Island – the old police station in Broadmead – over 100 bad film fans sat down next to the jail cells to enjoy our sophomore screening: SAMURAI COP.

Made in 1989 by Amir Shervan, Samurai Cop is a film that just keeps on giving. And for the vast majority of the audience (me included), this was a gift that was being unwrapped in all its awful, aweful glory for the very first time. And OH MY GOD it was glorious. The remastered version has just been released by Epoch Cinema, and I can’t recommend picking up a copy enough.

Welcoming the audience – an audience that was nearly double that of the Club’s first screening in August, of Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space – was oddly less nerve-wracking than the first time. Funny how that works out.  At that first screening we raised over £200 for Awamu, and that is thanks to the paying audience who came to enjoy the awfulness.

David Fells, founder and director of the Whiteladies Picture House Campaign talked about the project’s fundraising efforts, and the progress being made. Proceeds from this screening are going directly to the group. (We’ll let you know how much was raised from this screening once we’ve crunched the numbers.)

Timon introduced the film itself – of the two of us, he had seen it, loved it, and was insistent this be an early screener. Now I see why… He teased out details to look out for in the film itself – wigs falling off, black underwear, uncomfortably long love scenes – so that we could better enjoy the masterpiece to follow…

It’s a pure joy to be part of over 100 people laughing along to a truly terrible film. It’s a great thing to know there are fans out there wanting more of the same. Next month is a Hallowe’en special. And it’s going to be very special indeed…

See you at the next one.
-Tim

Previous Screenings

SOLD OUT: SAMURAI COP (1989) – 18th September 2013: The Island (The Old Police Station), Broadmead

Imagine a low-budget version of Lethal Weapon where Mel Gibson spends most of his time being racist to the Japanese, attempts to sleep with anything that moves and walks around in his pants a lot. That’s Samurai Cop, but it really is so much more than that…

Described as “both the best and the worst action film ever”, Samurai Cop is an unintentionally hilarious action film that sees San Diego cop Joe ‘Samurai’ Marshall dispatched to stop the drug-trafficking Yakuza cartel – The Katana Gang. Continue reading SOLD OUT: SAMURAI COP (1989) – 18th September 2013: The Island (The Old Police Station), Broadmead →

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“Visits? That would indicate visitors…”

Last night, at The Lansdown in Clifton, The Bristol Bad Film Club held its first ever screening – and by all accounts, it was a complete success!

Ed Wood’s anti-classic Plan 9 From Outer Space, often called the worst film ever made, was received incredibly well, selling out four days before the screening. There were even people turning up at the door hoping for last minute seats.

For a first screening of a never-before-tried venture, in the middle of the quietest month of the year, it was humbling to have such an incredible response.

We mentioned some names at the screening, but wanted to make a more public note of appreciation and thanks to several people without whom the evening could not have been possible.

Kerry Bradshaw of The Magic Lantern Film Club and James Ewen of CineMe, who provided some invaluable advice in the early stages of planning the BBFC.

Elliot Jay Stocks, who designed our fantastic logo, proudly emblazoned on our T-shirts last night.

The staff at The Lansdown, for making us feel so welcome.

And of course Dr Mark Bould, a lecturer in film at the University of the West of England, who was our guest for the evening, and gave an insightful and enlightening talk before the film. Enhancing the viewing with tidbits about the film, we are indebted to Mark for taking time out to talk about this film – on his birthday no less! –  and for doing a Q&A afterwards.

It turned the evening from a simple film screening into a fuller, more satisfying, evening.

And finally, to the audience who came – you really made our night.

You showed us that Bristol has a thirst for bad films and by coming you supported Awamu, the charity for the evening, to whom all profits from the screening will be going.

Watch this space for details of our next screening, coming very, very soon. We have exciting things on the horizon, and we hope you can all join us.