Former SBS Movie Show presenter and cult film revolutionary Jaimie Leonarder prepares to unleash lashings of incongruous frivolity at Beyond the Valley of the Spool Snatchers. Featuring as part of the 2009 Adelaide Fringe Festival and screening at the Mercury Cinema, over six days Spool Snatchers will deliver doses of krazy Kung-Fu, off-beat screen sirens, wacked out wrestling, propaganda gone wrong and many other far-out celluloid obscurities that will leave eyes bulging and jaws dropping.

In the film-buff’s world, Jaimie Leonarder may be likened to Robin Hood. Since early teenage years Leonarder alias Jay Katz, has had a passion for liberating cult-classic, foreign, bizarro and rare cinematic gems. Like a senile old man Leonarder, with the help of wife Aspasia, has taken to bringing back forgotten titles from beyond the brink and screening these riches to whomever will watch.  As a teen, a screening of Ed Wood’s infamous (now more famous) Plan 9 from Outer Space cultured a seed of interest in forgotten or neglected films. This seed germinated into a proactive move to seek out 16mm prints of films of a similar nature. From the early days of screening these prints in the family living room, Leonarder now has one of the most comprehensive collections around.

He now runs the distinguished Mu Mesons Archives, which in comparison, makes Plan 9 seem like a relatively-well produced film. The archives have an active fan base, website, radio show and regular screenings. Spool Snatchers is a just taste of what the archives hold.

But it is not all free-falling cult action. He also has a more serious goal. Like a true anthropologist, Leonarder is seriously interested in capturing the mentality of the filmmakers and the audience that were intended to receive it. This is evident in one of his screenings, entitled Mental Hygiene; it’s a series of seriously outdated educational shorts. Like a bizarre time capsule, its political correctness gone wrong. Other must sees include: Unmasked: The Secret World of Pro Wrestling-from the oddities of Japanese Bath House Wrestling to Puerto Rico barbed wire matches and Freaks, Geeks and (Almost) X Rated Peaks 2- a series of transgressive shorts of 2-3 minutes in length (obviously geared towards us Gen Y kids).

With a style similar to Crispin Glover, Leonarder will present each of his films personally and be on hand to answer any questions. Always the showman and equally inspirational he is not just interested in presenting to a group of film geeks, but the general public at large. Like some mind-altering drug he hopes that these films will open the eyes of non-believers that may only suckle on the teat of mainstream distributors. And as he assures me, the best way to show these films is with a lot of people watching.

While Leonarder will present his this unique program, Adelaide’s own cult guru, filmmaker and Trasharama creator Richard “Dick” Dale will take over to showcase two Grindhouse double features. Expect to see such ridiculous titles as Santo and Captain America vs. Spiderman (yes, as in the Santo that appears on that god-awful loop at Burp!). This film fits into a truly wonderful niche of films known as the “Turkish remake”. Wanting to capitalise on the sensation of Hollywood films, Turkish film companies in the 70s tried to nock off some of Hollywood’s biggest successes. Other Turkish Remakes that didn’t quite hit the mark include Turkish Wizard of Oz, Turkish Superman, Turkish E.T. and Turkish Star Wars. This movie contains some pretty good action and one unforgettable scene involving a carnivorous rat with a taste for human eyeballs. Others include: Hong Kong horror comedy Kung Fu Cannibals and 83 cm Filipino exploitation star Weng Weng getting his freak on in The Impossible Kid, a Bond movie I’m sure you’ve never seen.

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE SPOOL SNATCHERS, be sure to make it part of your essential survival guide to the mad cinematic months of February & March and this gosh-darn infernal heat!

Bettchya didn’t expect that from a silver-haired, timber-voiced film critic. Where were you David Stratton?

 

---

 

Beyond the Valley of the Spool Snatchers consists of 7 separately sold screenings spanning between  March 1-10 2009. Details outline below.

Beyond the Valley of the Spool Snatchers

Where: MERCURY CINEMA – 13 MORPHETT STREET , ADELAIDE 5000
When: 4-5, 7-8 Mar at 8pm
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
How much: FringeBENEFITS $14.00*/ Adult $18.00/ Conc. $16.00

Tickets can be purchased online here.

Grindhouse Double Features

Where: MERCURY CINEMA – 13 MORPHETT STREET , ADELAIDE 5000
When: 1, 9-10 Mar at 8pm
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
How much: FringeBENEFITS $12.00*/ Adult $14.00/ Conc. $12.00

Tickets can be purchased online here.

For more information check out page 42 in the 2009 Fringe guide.