The Gothique Film Society presents The Terror Strikes (1958) and Night of the Bloody Apes (1972)

About The Gothique Film Society presents The Terror Strikes (1958) and Night of the Bloody Apes (1972)

Founded in 1966, the Gothique Film Society specialises in double bills ‘for the connoisseur of the macabre’.

For our opening show we are delighted to present two films on 35mm, courtesy of the Cinema Museum’s extensive collection. It’s lovely to wheel out the ‘old technology’ from time to time!

The Terror Strikes is the UK release title of War of the Colossal Beast, the sequel to the surprise hit The Amazing Colossal Man. At the finale of that film our tragic hero, Colonel Glenn Manning, was last seen being shot and dramatically falling off the Hoover Dam. However, there’s nothing like a good return at the box-office to bring the ‘dead’ back to life, and so we now discover that he survived the fall!

The clue is that cattle are being eaten, though how a giant man can wander around unseen isn’t fully explained. Anyway, Glenn’s sister gets wind of this and is determined to track him down. Naturally, the Army are not far behind!

Night of the Bloody Apes is the English-language ‘re-working’ of the Mexican chiller La Horripilante bestia humana (“The Horrible Man-Beast”).

The son of a famous scientist develops a rare form of leukaemia that medical science is unable to treat – so the scientist decides to transplant the heart of a gorilla into his son. I’m sure this makes at least some kind of sense as the film unspools, but, as the Mexican and English titles indicate, the operation does not proceed quite as smoothly as the scientist expects!

It’s all wonderfully over the top – and amazing to think this received a wide theatrical release in the UK in 1974-1975. How times have changed!

Doors open at 18.00 for a 19.00 start.

Refreshments will be available in the licensed cafe/bar.