Five unmissable Scalarama screenings
Annual movie celebration Scalarama (aka Scaladonia north of the border) returns this September to “fill the land with cinemas.” Here are five Scottish screenings that caught our eye
The Beast
KinoKlub pay tribute to Walerian Borowczyk, the ingenius Polish animator who turned softcore surrealist. In its 97 minutes runtime, this preposterous gothic riff on Beauty and the Beast engages with topics of bestiality, paedophilia, masturbation, and incest, yet also manages to be deeply poetic. Quite an achievement, and the perfect Scalarama movie.
VHS Trash Fest
VHS Trash Fest takes over Summerhall for two nights with a tasty line-up of VHS-era horror. Things kick off on Friday with Brian Yuzna’s fiercely political body horror Society, in which an all-American boy realises his perfect family has a dark and yucky secret.
On Saturday night, you’ll find a double bill of Clive Barker’s surreal Nightbreed and infamous Video Nasty slasher The Burning, which offered early roles to Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter. Screening entirely from VHS with original trailers.
Oxide Ghosts: The Brass Eye Tapes
Brass Eye director Michael Cumming – who helmed all six episodes of the legendary comedy – has created a film about Chris Morris’s seminal tabloid news satire using hours of unseen footage from his personal archive. Described as “part documentary, part artwork,” Oxide Ghosts promises to provide a rare glimpse into Morris's extraordinary working practices.
17 Sep, CCA Glasgow, 7pm & 9pm
Mad Max: ‘What a lovely day!’
Take a trip to George Miller's post apocalyptic Australia, where nomadic tribes fight for precious gasoline and survival while dressed like they’re heading to the Marquis de Sade’s birthday party. All four of Miller’s Mad Max films are screening over two nights, and each has its own flavour, from the cheap-o exploitation original to the gorgeous wasteland opera that is Fury Road. Luxuriate in their drum-tight storytelling, breakneck editing and breathtaking action.
20 & 28 Sep, Grosvenor Cinema, 8.45pm
Borscht Diez
Glasgow Short Film Festival presents a programme of the wildly inventive films of Miami collective Borscht, who are described as “an open-source filmmaking collective dedicated to articulating the voices of the New Miami and its idiosyncratic culture.” As part of this epic showcase of gonzo imagination expect films featuring Japanese Bunraku puppetry, fake found footage and lizard obsessions.