It was a hot and humid Tuesday night in Little Rock, the sun hadn’t quite set yet. A group of middle-aged patrons entered the well air-conditioned Ron Robinson Theater, perhaps to escape the heat. But as they entered the theater, it’s was like a time warp. There was soft psychedelic lighting on the walls. The screen played old 1960s adverts reminding the audience to visit the concession stand and purchase an ice-cold cola and a rotisserie wiener, a reminder that felt 60 years too late. The retro atmosphere the Ron Robinson had created a fun and nostalgic experience.
The theater was about halfway filled. Everyone was congregating, laughing amongst themselves as if they already knew one another. In fact, most of them did. Over the past few years, Ron Robinson has built quite the tight knit community by hosting a summer film series dubbed Terror Tuesdays. On these hot summer nights, audiences are treated to some of the best and some of the more cheese-filled classic horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, from “Night of the Living Dead” to “The Screaming Skull.” Tonight’s film was one of the more campy productions, the 1953 science fiction cult classic “Cat-Women of the Moon,” the classic tale of astronauts landing on the moon only to discover a civilization of vivacious vixens under the lunar surface.
This summer’s series was the first time since the pandemic that audiences could return to the theater and experience these classics in person. While most of the world’s theaters shut down during covid-19 pandemic, Ron Robinson found a way to actually grow its community. It went virtual, allowing people to livestream movies in the comfort and safety of their own homes. The series was actually extended beyond the summer and lasted throughout most of the pandemic. There were a few bells and whistles that were added during this period that would make these virtual screenings stand out over other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
The first gimmick that Ron Robinson added was a feature called “Bingoflix,” where people could get a virtual randomized bingo card and play along with each week’s movie. The card’s boxes were filled with a variety of fun cliche scenarios such as “slow motion car explosion” and “unnecessary jump scare,” and audiences could mark off the box as that specific scenario happened in the movie. As an added bonus, whenever anyone would complete a bingo, they could email their card to Ron Robinson and win a free ticket to a future in-person screening. And now, finally, people are redeeming their free tickets to attend this summer’s screenings.
Another important gimmick during the pandemic that helped the success of this film series was ingeniously simple, having a chat box in the bottom right corner of the screen. This allowed people the option to talk during the movie without being obnoxiously distracting. The weekly audience banter quickly evolved into riffing on some of the more campy movies like “Hell Comes to Frogtown” with its cheap costumes and over-the-top acting. The use of this chat feature somehow added a new level of original engagement. It made the screenings more fun, which was desperately needed during the pandemic. It also encouraged the same people to come back week after week, letting them hang out with their new movie buddies, making the whole experience its own form of social media interaction.
There was no talking during tonight’s screening of “Cat-Women of the Moon.” But everyone in the crowd was laughing in unison as giant moon spiders, dangling obviously on fishing wire, attacked the astronauts. After the movie, most of the crowd stuck around in the lobby so they could finally put faces to the screen names they had befriended over the past two years. One couple had even driven all the way from Russellville to watch old, cheap B horror pictures with their friends. The jokes, the mockery, and the camaraderie continued for quite sometime. There were hugs and handshakes as the crowd slowly started to dissipate out of the theater and back into the Arkansas heat.
One unexpected new feature that was added this year was the inclusion of movie trailers for forthcoming screenings. Seeing the trailer for “Plan 9 From Outer Space” really helped set the mood for the evening. It also informed the audience that they’ve expanded the series with Extra-Terrestrial Thursdays, focusing on all things alien-related. There is a four-person programming team that selects these movies and themes for the screenings.
On Tuesday, CALS will screen Roger Corman’s comedy horror “A Bucket of Blood” (1959), a low budget gem that has acquired a cult following and is considered by some critics to be Corman’s best film. Set in the West Coast beatnik culture of the late ’50s, the film doubles as an art world satire. Other forthcoming films include 1959’s “The Wasp Woman” (Aug. 23); 1963’s “The Terror” (Aug. 30), “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” (Sept. 6) and “Spider Baby” (Sept. 13).
Tickets are $7 and can be bought in person or online through the Central Arkansas Library System website.
Al Topich covers the Arkansas film community.