Experience “The Art of Exploitation” in LA, BAD BIOLOGY DVD party in NJ

By Michael Gingold

Cultra Video and Temple of Schlock are hosting a night that Los Angeles-area horror and exploitation fans will want to catch this Friday, February 12. This week’s installment of the “Art of Exploitation” series will showcase a trio of cult films from the ’70s, including a pair by notorious B-meister Andy Milligan—one of which is his highest-budgeted feature, the vampire thriller THE BODY BENEATH.

The show, which takes place at LA’s Silent Movie Theatre (611 North Fairfax Avenue) as part of the Cinefamily program, begins at 8 p.m. with Milligan’s 1973 feature FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET, which plunges the audience deep into the excesses of early-’70s Times Square. Porn veterans Harry Reems and Laura Cannon star; the 35mm print being shown is three minutes longer than the version currently out from Something Weird Video.

Following at 9:45 p.m. is THE BODY BENEATH, originally released in 1970 and also on 35mm. While many of the director’s genre flicks were set in Victorian England but shot on Long Island, this tale of a Catholic priest who’s also a bloodsucker was actually lensed in the UK. The triple feature is rounded out with a non-Milligan mystery feature, a “sexy ’70s slasher flick” that is currently unavailable on disc. Tickets for the whole show are just $10; for info on this and other “Art of Exploitation” presentations, check out the Cinefamily site here and the Temple of Schlock blog here.

Across the country in Secaucus, New Jersey, the RareFlix store (210 Meadowlands Parkway) is hosting a signing party for Media Blasters’ DVD release (under the Shriek Show banner) of Frank Henenlotter’s twisted new feature BAD BIOLOGY this Saturday, Feb. 13 from 1-3 p.m. Henenlotter, who also gave us the BASKET CASE trilogy, BRAIN DAMAGE and FRANKENHOOKER, will be on hand along with “The Girls of BAD BIOLOGY”: Beverly Bonner (a veteran of the first BASKET), Tina Krause from WITCHOUSE 3, BLOODLETTING and many more, IN SEARCH OF LOVECRAFT’s Rachael Robbins, Vicky Wiese and others. Check out a video promo below, and for directions to the store, click here.