MERMAID LEGEND (18)
Toshiharu Ikeda, 1984, Japan
After a woman is framed for the murder of her fisherman husband, she seeks out a bloody revenge on the corrupt businessmen responsible.
Elemental and mythic, Mermaid Legend exudes a lyrical melancholia for the dying way of life of seafaring fishermen and divers. Set in a coastal fishing hamlet, Toshiharu Ikeda’s eco thriller finds the incursive grasp of industrialization and corporate greed encroaching on natural realms.
Screening 40 years after it was completed, MERMAID LEGEND is a rare exploitation cult movie that before 2024 had never played any film festival outside of its native Japan or ever released in any format internationally. From the late Toshiharu Ikeda, director of Evil Dead Trap (1988) comes a tale of powerful vengeance.
This screening will be introduced by Jasper Sharp - critic, author, filmmaker and independent scholar specialising in Japanese cinema.
109 mins, Cert: 18
Fri 31st Jan - 7pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
£8.50 Book tickets
Toshiharu Ikeda, 1984, Japan
After a woman is framed for the murder of her fisherman husband, she seeks out a bloody revenge on the corrupt businessmen responsible.
Elemental and mythic, Mermaid Legend exudes a lyrical melancholia for the dying way of life of seafaring fishermen and divers. Set in a coastal fishing hamlet, Toshiharu Ikeda’s eco thriller finds the incursive grasp of industrialization and corporate greed encroaching on natural realms.
Screening 40 years after it was completed, MERMAID LEGEND is a rare exploitation cult movie that before 2024 had never played any film festival outside of its native Japan or ever released in any format internationally. From the late Toshiharu Ikeda, director of Evil Dead Trap (1988) comes a tale of powerful vengeance.
This screening will be introduced by Jasper Sharp - critic, author, filmmaker and independent scholar specialising in Japanese cinema.
109 mins, Cert: 18
Fri 31st Jan - 7pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
£8.50 Book tickets
DOOR (18)
Banmei Takahashi, 1988, Japan
Yasuko, a housewife, lives in an urban high-rise apartment with her husband Satoru and her son Takuto. Annoyed by spam calls and door-to-door salesmen, Yasuko slams the door on a salesman’s hand when he tries to squeeze a flyer through the apartment’s chained front door. He leaves, but the next day, her nightmare starts.
A rarely screened stone-cold yuppie nightmare classic and proto-J horror - described as ‘Chantal Akerman doing Repulsion’ (Elric Kane, PCP Podcast).
95 mins, Cert: 18
Fri 31st Jan - 9.30pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
£8.50 Book tickets
Banmei Takahashi, 1988, Japan
Yasuko, a housewife, lives in an urban high-rise apartment with her husband Satoru and her son Takuto. Annoyed by spam calls and door-to-door salesmen, Yasuko slams the door on a salesman’s hand when he tries to squeeze a flyer through the apartment’s chained front door. He leaves, but the next day, her nightmare starts.
A rarely screened stone-cold yuppie nightmare classic and proto-J horror - described as ‘Chantal Akerman doing Repulsion’ (Elric Kane, PCP Podcast).
95 mins, Cert: 18
Fri 31st Jan - 9.30pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
£8.50 Book tickets
Digital
︎
Valentines Day at The Nickel:
KILLER SWEETHEARTS:
A TOXIC DOUBLE FEATURE
7pm: GUN CRAZY (X)
Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, USA
Presented on 16mm
A horned-up, pulpy, razor-sharp B-movie noir masterpiece, and favourite of Martin Scorsese.
Bart Tare is an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, he meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, on Starr’s behest, they embark on a crime spree for cash.
87 mins, Cert: PG (originally X)
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8.45pm: VIDEO MIXTAPE
9.15pm: BLONDE DEATH (18)
James Dillinger, 1984, USA
Presented on VHS
Shot for $2000 on video by “James Dillinger” (aka author James Robert Baker) BLONDE DEATH is a savage blast of underground anarchy.
The story follows the transformation of Tammy Lynn Beaverdorf (Sara Lee Wade) from bubbly teen to death-tripping speed freak—an in-your-face rampage of sex, drugs, and violence that climaxes with scenes that were secretly filmed inside Disneyland. Satiric, subversive, and gleefully enraged, BLONDE DEATH is an essential chapter of queer cinema history.
98 mins, Cert: 18
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This screening will be introduced by Dominic Hicks and programme notes will be provided.
Fri 14th Feb - 7pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
Book tickets
KILLER SWEETHEARTS:
A TOXIC DOUBLE FEATURE
7pm: GUN CRAZY (X)
Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, USA
Presented on 16mm
A horned-up, pulpy, razor-sharp B-movie noir masterpiece, and favourite of Martin Scorsese.
Bart Tare is an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, he meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, on Starr’s behest, they embark on a crime spree for cash.
87 mins, Cert: PG (originally X)
8.45pm: VIDEO MIXTAPE
9.15pm: BLONDE DEATH (18)
James Dillinger, 1984, USA
Presented on VHS
Shot for $2000 on video by “James Dillinger” (aka author James Robert Baker) BLONDE DEATH is a savage blast of underground anarchy.
The story follows the transformation of Tammy Lynn Beaverdorf (Sara Lee Wade) from bubbly teen to death-tripping speed freak—an in-your-face rampage of sex, drugs, and violence that climaxes with scenes that were secretly filmed inside Disneyland. Satiric, subversive, and gleefully enraged, BLONDE DEATH is an essential chapter of queer cinema history.
98 mins, Cert: 18
This screening will be introduced by Dominic Hicks and programme notes will be provided.
Fri 14th Feb - 7pm
75 Dean Street, W1D 3PU
Book tickets