First, a story.
Back in 1992, I went to a 20th anniversary midnight screening of director John Watersâ infamous cult film âPink Flamingosâ at Portlandâs late, deeply lamented Movies on Exchange Street. In the scattered but eager audience was a young couple, presumably thinking a date night at one of the most inescapably outrageous and offensive movies of all time was a good idea. Barely into the film (and certainly long before âthat sceneâ that Waters aficionados have burned into our brains), the couple fled the theater, something that, while understandable at any John Waters screening, was perplexing at a celebratory midnight showing. (Although no doubt Waters would have been pleased.) After all, some movies practically dare you to walk out.

Screening cult films is just one niche The Apohadion endeavors to fill. Photo by Greg Jamie
And thatâs where âThundercrack!â comes in. Screening at the Apohadion Theater on Monday, July 22, this 1975 horror comedy may not be as well-known as Watersâ legendarily outrageous films like âPink Flamingos,â âPolyesterâ (with its scratch-and-sniff cards) or âDesperate Living,â but itâs not for lack of trying. Cited as an influence on the shock cinema of Waters and others, âThundercrack!â emerged from the fecund imaginations of experimental filmmakers Curt McDowell and George Kuchar, who teamed up to bring forth a truly bonkers hybrid of horror, Hollywood melodrama, comedy and, well, pornography. (Like âPink Flamingos,â âThundercrack!â incorporates unsimulated sex â of various types â into its deliberately transgressive mix.) Like Watersâ work, Kuchar and McDowellâs movie â shot on a shoestring on scratchy black-and-white 35mm â is a genre-defying, button-pushing, borderline unpalatable act of cinematic aggression against any brave suckers willing to subject themselves to its grubby charms.
â âCult filmâ gets thrown around a lot as a term â with, like, Cinemagic showing âCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonâ and calling it a cult film or something â but this is the real deal.â Thatâs the Apohadionâs Greg Jamie, whoâs turned the Bayside venue into a much-welcome hotspot for Portland moviegoers looking for cinematic adventure. Says Jamie proudly, âWe like imagining Apohadion as a sort of cult art-house cinema one night, a noise show spot the next night, a folk venue the next night. Showing a two-and-a-half-hour, black-and-white, mid-â70s oddball horror-comedy-underground-porno written by and starring a legend in experimental film just seemed like the best way to say how weâre feeling in Portland in the middle of tourist season.â
Gauntlet thrown.

Marion Eaton is the mistress of the manor in âThundercrack!â The Thomas Bros. Film Studio/IMDB
âThundercrack!â follows the template of the creaky âold dark houseâ horror classic, with a creepy (and obviously fake) mansion, a stormy night, a creepy mistress of the manor (wild-eyed Marion Eaton, channeling Joan Crawford at her most indescribably bananas), several carloads of unsuspecting travelers seeking shelter, deep dark secrets and lots of random encounters by candlelight. Toss in an amorous gorilla and hardcore scenes (where the actors continue to spout screenwriter Kucharâs absurdly purple dialogue throughout), and some serious gross-out elements just for the heck of it, and thatâs almost enough to encompass the scabrous 1970s lunacy that is âThundercrack!â
So why would anyone go see such a film (even if itâs screening not at midnight but the more reasonable hour of 7:30 p.m.)? Well, for one thing, there are those of us who seek out the fringes, knowing that thatâs the only place where underground, experimental, subversive or otherwise marginalized filmmakers are left alone to bring their stories to glorious, often shocking life. For another, as Jamie says, George Kuchar (who appears in the film as the gorilla-loving weirdo, Bing) is no joke, his boundary-busting films held in high regard in critical and historical circles. At least by those brave enough to seek out Kuchar classics with titles like âHold Me While Iâm Naked,â which was listed at No. 52 in a 2000 Village Voice criticsâ poll of the 100 best films of the 20th century.
âThis one fits in with what weâre trying to do at Apohadion for film, I think,â says Jamie. âI got into George Kuchar in college when I took an experimental film class. Since then, I occasionally got to see Kuchar films at Anthology Film Archives when I lived in New York, but I hadnât heard of âThundercrackâ âtil kind of recently.â And while â due to time constraints or timidity â Jamie admits he hasnât had a chance to screen âThundercrack!â for himself just yet, heâs still thrilled to inflict its entire, 159-minute running time on the rest of us.
âLook,â confides Jamie, âIâm screening this one sight unseen. I got a copy of it (the unedited 40th anniversary Synapse release) and I feel like the right thing to do is share it with as big a group as possible. Itâs gonna be offensive.â Agreeing that the screening is part of the Apohadionâs efforts to âkeep Portland weird,â Jamie says, âMaybe itâs too late, but letâs try to tip the scales when we can.â
So thatâs a warning â and, you know, an enticement. At least for those of us who delight in turning over cinematic rocks to see what lives down there.
âThundercrack!â will screen on Monday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. at The Apohadion Theater (www.theapohadiontheater.com). Tickets are $8, and you have to be at least 18 to get in. Seriously.
Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.
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