Can we bring back the midnight movie?

If anyone here at the slammer is too young to remember the midnight movie circuit, please go back in time thirty years to the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge Massachusetts and then continue reading. For the rest if you I pose the question, can we revive the midnight movie tradition in today's digital world? I say, yes we can!

For years after the invention of video players, many of us have had movie nights with friends (in my case, bad movie nights) in a way to share our film obsessions and keep the social aspect of seeing a movie then discussing it afterwards, just like we did in the cinema lobbies and nearby cafés in days gone by. I don't know why this couldn't be expanded by local theatres, art galleries, coffee shops and bookstores to add a little income by showing films at midnight on Saturdays with discussions to follow.

I think enough time has past for the idea to be nostalgic and enough people are tired of Facebook interactions taking place of live ones to be very appealing. After establishing an audience with more known and more recent films would create buzz and interest to allow the revival of those important cult classics shown and themed min festivals. Imagine being able to see the latest Herzog doc with his Fata Morgana! Like the original midnight movie concept, it would take time, maybe a couple years even to make it a phenomena again, but not impossible.

The days of sold out Rocky Horror Picture Show presentations may be over, but we can still share our film history and obsessions as well as helping create a new crop of film buffs by giving them a way to see, explore, discover and discuss some of the most bizarre, controversial and interesting films of all time. I wonder if there will be fist fights after showings of the original Wicker Man over wether or not the cop deserves his fate, just like when I first saw at the Orson Welles. Let's hope so.