The stars were out for the world premiere of Cave Women On Mars at the Heights Theatre. Okay, so it wasn't Mann's Chinese Theatre and the stars didn't attract paparazzi, but it was a delightful night at the movies.
By chance, I caught the blurb in Friday's StarTribune. Not knowing exactly what we were in for, I took my 15 year-old wannabe filmmaker and a couple of his friends. We settled into our seats (third row from front) while Harvey Gustafson warmed up the near-capacity crowd on the Wurlitzer Organ.
The movie delivered on it's promise of cheesy sci-fi. The special effects were "special," the women's costumes were skimpy, and the people of Mars spoke English. Flash Gordon meets Xena: Warrior Princess, while channelling Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The audience ate it up. How much was the movie itself and how much was the experience of being part of an animated audience? I don't know, and I don't care. Taken together, it was a great moviegoing experience. I'm glad I was able to share it with my son.
Afterwards, in the lobby, there was cake and an opportunity to mingle with the film's cast and crew. The director, Chris Mihm, was selling and signing copies of the DVD. Iinteresting business model: I bet they made more money off DVD sales than they did at the box office.
The boys and I had a nice conversation with the wife of star Josh Craig, congratulated the director, and spoke briefly with three of the actresses and the costume designer. Emily Fradenburgh, who played the deliciously evil Gorga, recognized me as the guy who was sitting up front laughing so much. Hey, we all play our parts, no matter how small.
How much did the teenagers like it? On the car ride back to St. Paul, one of them actually thanked me for bringing him along.
Take a moment and check out the trailer and these production photos.
Blurb from the Shadow Creek Studios' website:
"Cave Women on Mars" is the third retro-styled film from writer/director Christopher R. Mihm and co-conspirator Josh Craig. The film is a full-on space epic in the 1950's mold chronicling the discovery of beautiful, primitive, matriarchal warrior women during the first manned mission to the red planet. The movie promises adventure, romance and era-appropriate excitement! The film, if rated, would garner a PG for romantic situations, mild violence & language and some scary (to little kids, anyway) situations.
2 comments:
Sounds like a blast to me. (A working Wurlitzer, huh? IMpressive.)
Yep, the Wurlitzer was working just fine. It has a mechanism that raises and lowers the console and organist. Up for show, down to get out of the way of the screen. Pretty cool.
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