This film contains explicit depictions of sexual violence and psychological abuse that many will find deeply distressing. No one under the age of 17 will be admitted.
Acclaimed Italian poet, writer, playwright, actor, and director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s controversial final film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) relocates the Marquis de Sade’s infamous 1785 novel Les 120 Journées de Sodome – which he wrote while he was imprisoned in the Bastille – to the final days of Mussolini’s Nazi-backed Salò Republic, where four Fascist elites imprison a group of boys and girls and subject them to escalating acts of psychological and physical torment. A bold exploration of how authoritarian power strips away humanity and turns bodies into commodities, the film’s unflinching and clinical style forces audiences to confront the terrifying logic behind the kind of oppression that can become normalized through bureaucratically-imposed obedience and fear.
Completed at a moment of political volatility in Italy, Salò emerged as one of the most daring anti-fascist works ever committed to film. Just weeks before the film’s release, Pasolini was murdered under circumstances that are still widely questioned. While officially labeled as a random act, a long-standing theory suggests his provocative art and activism, culminating in this scandalous cinematic work, placed him in extremely dangerous territory. Whatever the truth may be, Salò remains Pasolini’s final declaration that art must not look away from cruelty or corruption, and that silencing the artist is often the first agenda of oppressive power. Half a century later, the film and its legacy stand as a landmark in the fight against censorship, underscoring how essential it is to defend the voices that dare to confront and expose injustice.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom will be presented in its original Italian soundtrack, with English subtitles.
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Cinematic Void is closing our their year at The Frida Cinema by presenting a special 30th anniversary screening of the The Day Of The Beast, putting the “antichrist” in “Christmas”!
The story revolves around a Basque Roman Catholic priest dedicated to committing as many sins as possible, a death metal salesman from Carabanchel, and the Italian host of a TV show on the occult. These go on a literal “trip” through Christmas-time Madrid to hunt for and prevent the reincarnation of the Antichrist.
Director Álex de la Iglesia balances slapstick comedy and supernatural mayhem with ease, making The Day of the Beast is a gonzo cult classic that filled with crowd-pleasing holiday cheer.
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The second film presented by Cinematic Void as part of this year’s January Giallo at The Frida is a free screening of A Hyena In The Safe, now with a brand new 4K restoration courtesy of Celluloid Dreams!
One safe. Six keys. Six robbers, each expecting their cut of a diamond heist when they finally meet to divide their spoils after months in hiding. But before they can open the safe that guards their glittering hoard, they are mysteriously killed, one by one. With fear and suspicion growing among the shrinking group of survivors, it becomes clear that one of them is trying to take all the diamonds for themselves!
Thank you to Celluloid Dreams for letting us present this beautifully restored version, bringing the film in high definition to the big screen for the first time!
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Cinematic Void is back to invade The Frida Cinema with their annual January Giallo festivities, and this time they’ve presenting Mario Bava’s 1971 proto-Slasher A Bay Of Blood!
The story follows an elderly heiress that is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.
Few films in the Giallo canon cut as deep as A Bay Of Blood. Often cited as a major influence on Friday the 13th and a dozen other slashers, it’s Bava’s most cold-blooded (red-blooded?) masterpiece. Don’t miss your chance to see this newly restored cult classic on the silver screen!
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Nothing Gold is back at The Frida Cinema to present a very special screening of director Takashi Yamazki’s 2023 Kaiju masterpiece Godzilla Minus One!
In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror.
In collaboration with Toho, Nothing Gold will be releasing a limited edition Godzilla collection at the screening. Come check out their Godzilla popup shop and the award winning movie!
This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.
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Natalie Erika James’ haunted house film Relic was near the top of our list of movies to play in 2020, but regretfully never made it to the big screen here. As part of our Lost Films Of Covid series, we are finally able to make good on that idea!
When a daughter and granddaughter return to their family home to care for an aging matriarch, they discover that the real terror isn’t what lurks in the walls—it’s what’s slipping away inside them.
Anchored by powerful performances from Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, and Bella Heathcote, Relic turns decay and dementia into a slow, aching metaphor for inheritance and love. Five years later after its initial release, it stands as one of the most affecting horror films of its era.
Thank you to our friends at Filmbot for their support in presenting this amazing series.
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Michael Powell’s (of the iconic directorial duo Powell & Pressburger) deeply disturbing Peeping Tom is coming to The Frida Cinema in a brand new restoration from Rialto Pictures!
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he’s making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
When Peeping Tom premiered in 1960, British critics savaged it. The film was immediately branded “vile,” “depraved,” and “disgusting.” 55 years later, it’s one of the most influential (and cleverly shot) thrillers ever made.
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Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude’s new “adaptation” of Dracula is coming to The Frida Cinema!
A Dracula film made in modern day Transylvania? What does it contain? Well…a vampire hunt. Oh, and zombies and Dracula crashing a strike. Also…a science-fiction story about Vlad the Impaler coming back. An adaptation of the first Romanian vampire novella. A love story. A montage film reusing a classic vampire film. A vulgar folktale. Oh, and did we mention it’s three hours long?
While not a “straightforward” adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Jude’s take is a bold, satirical, and multi-layered deconstruction of the Dracula myth. Are you ready for the big screen event of the year*?
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Celebrate 40 years of mad science and midnight movie mayhem as we present encores of Stuart Gordon’s cult classic Re-Animator in a brand new 4K restoration!
When brilliant but deranged medical student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs, in a career-defining performance) discovers a serum that brings the dead back to life, his experiments spiral from groundbreaking to grotesque. Soon, morgues overflow, limbs twitch, and body parts revolt in one of the most deliriously gory and darkly hilarious horror films ever made.
Re-Animator is the gold standard for splatter horror and shouldn’t be missed on the big screen!
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Fifty years after Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre shocked the world and forever changed the face of global cinema and popular culture, Chain Reactions charts the film’s profound impact and lasting influence on five great artists–Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama.
Through early memories, sensory experiences, and childhood trauma, the film creates a dynamic dialogue between contemporary footage and never-before-seen outtakes and delving into personal impressions triggered by distinct audiovisual formats (16mm, 35mm, VHS, digital), Chain Reactions goes to the heart of how a scruffy, no-budget independent film wormed its way into our collective nightmares and permanently altered the zeitgeist.
Pair this up before or after our screenings of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre during our Halloween Hangover Weekend series for the ultimate deep dive into the 70s horror phenomenon!
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