Another title for this week might have been ‘from the ridiculous to the sublime’. If the newsletter author had his way, No.6 would be showing all 30+ Carry Ons in chronological order – could there be a better document of the evolution of British cultural norms and mores from the 50s to the 70s? Of course, the satirical targets of Carry On Screaming! are primarily American, namely two of the most popular TV series of the time, The Addams Family and the Munsters, but with a distinctly British Gothic twist. The Wicker Man (it feels like we’ve written a whole book on this film in the last year) is no less a barometer of its times, linking in-vogue hippy beliefs to old-style paganism, with a ‘healthy’ dollop of sex and sadism thrown in. It all adds up to our wildest Halloween yet.
Here is this week’s timetable. Bar opens at 6pm for the 7pm screenings.
Cult Classic: Carry On Screaming!
Thursday 31st October at 7pm
If you want to avoid those hordes of pesky kids seeking a sugar rush this Halloween, you can take refuge at No.6 as we celebrate with Cult Classic: Carry On Screaming!. This was the peak Carry On period, bookended by Cleo and Up The Khyber, and strikes the perfect balance between the early satirical humour and the later over-reliance on coarseness. Featuring the sole appearance in the series of Harry H Corbett as the would-be Holmesian police sergeant and backed up by a host of regulars – Williams, Butterworth, Sims, Dale, Hawtrey – this is comedy heaven. And, as every teenage boy who watched this on TV in the 70s knows, Fenella Fielding is smokin’ - literally! There will also be a chance to win a bar voucher with our cheeky little Carry On quiz which will on the tables in the bar.
The Wicker Man
Friday 1st November at 7pm
Along with Witchfinder General and Blood On Satan’s Claw, The Wicker Man is the third of the Great British Horrors rooted in folk mythology and the menace lurking – like the darkness on the edge of David Lynch’s all-American small towns – just beneath the placidity of British village life. Edward Woodward is the policeman arriving on the Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl and finds a lot more than he bargained for, and none of it particularly appealing to his puritanical sensibilities. On the surface a bit Hammeresque (not least due to the presence of Christopher Lee) but offering a somewhat deeper cut into the nature of horror and fear and its links to everyday life.
Up Next Week:
The Outrun, The Substance, The Count Of Monte Cristo, Back to the Future
Coming Soon:
The following week sees our presentations move distinctly upmarket compared to the raunchy comedy and lurid horror we’ve served up this week. Not that we’re saying one is better than the other, but we’ll be getting all literary next time out with two films based on classic novels, one modern and one older. Not a stone’s throw from Summerisle, on the Orkneys in fact, Amy Liptrot returned home after rehab and reflected on her experiences in the best-selling book The Outrun, now filmed and starring Saoirse Ronan and Saskia Reeves. Meanwhile we also present the latest screen rendition of Alexandre Dumas’ classic The Count Of Monte Cristo, a lavish French production that does full justice to the famous action-adventure tale.
