GIRL TRASH: CELEBRATING THE GODDESSES OF EXPLOITATION CINEMA
A double bill celebrating B-Movie women (each film is approx 1 hour long)!
LIMBO (1999)
A woman makes a descent into hell after she kills a man she met on a one-night stand.
Our first GIRL TRASH GODDESS of the night, Tina Krause, is an unstoppable B-Movie warrior from the fringes of film, appearing in more than 155 direct-to-video projects over the last three decades – starting with LOVE IS A STRANGER (1994) and continuing through a DIY rental library of micro-budget horror and erotic spoofs (sometimes both at once). An accidental film star, Krause was scouted at a horror convention she attended with her sister before becoming a key collaborator in W.A.V.E. Productions, the New Jersey ‘custom video movie studio’ that indulged its audience’s perverse desires by making them movies on demand.
LIMBO (1999) is Krause’s directing and screenwriting debut, presenting 3 days in the life of a young woman as she deals with identity issues, sexist mouth-breathers, and supernatural manifestations. Shot and edited on video, LIMBO combines video collage with dream-like horror, resulting in a slice of avant-garde cinema that’s very wonderfully not at all what you’d expect from the star of THE FAPPENING (2015) and GIFTWRAPPED AND GUTTED (2019).
ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958)
After an alien encounter, a wealthy socialite grows to a giant size and goes after her cheating husband.
Our second B-Movie GIRL TRASH GODDESS Allison Hayes started out as a concert pianist, then began winning beauty pageants before turning to acting. Groomed by the studio system for a career in B-Movies, Hayes made strong-minded women her specialism in early-career films like CHICAGO SYNDICATE and COUNT THREE AND PRAY (both 1955). Her signature toughness found a natural home in the wild frontiers of Westerns, both at the movies and later on TV. Sadly, complex health issues ended Hayes’ career prematurely, leaving ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN her most totemic performance.
Shot on a low budget over 8 days, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN delivers exactly what you’d hope from one of the best titles in exploitation cinema. This kitsch classic rises above its meagre ambitions by giving title character Nancy Archer (played by Hayes) a complex, messy back story, devoid of the saintly/sexless demeanour given most women in 1950s science fiction: Nancy drinks too much, loves the wrong man, and is determined to get her murderous revenge, even if that means ripping the roof off.
Polite notice: We are showing LIMBO and ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN with subtitles from the best available digital sources. LIMBO was restored from its original S-VHS tape: please approach the technical quality of the material with love, awe and empathy.
/// GIRL TRASH celebrates the femme filmmakers of trash and exploitation cinema, hosted by Zodiac Film Club and Token Homo. All films are served with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets from £3.50 + fees. Adults 18+ only. Follow @zodiacfilmclub and @tokenhomo on Instagram for info and updates. Please contact the venue for access information. ///
