Capital Celluloid 2023 — Day 299: Fri Oct 27

The Wasp Woman (Corman, 1959) + Beserk! (O’Connolly, 1967): Cinema Museum, 7pm

Cinema Museum introduction: Founded in 1966, the Gothique Film Society specialises in double bills ‘for the connoisseur of the macabre’. The Wasp Woman opens our ‘Ladies’ Night’ double bill with the elusive search for an anti-aging cream. Cosmetics company Janice Starlin Enterprises is facing a down-turn in its fortunes, with boss Janice Starlin no longer the young ‘poster-girl’ she used to be. But then, a scientist turns up with a formula, based on royal jelly taken from wasps, that he maintains will retard the aging process. Janice is intrigued… Produced and directed by legendary ‘B’ movie maverick Roger Corman, this ‘cheap and cheerful’ film takes the search for eternal youth to a whole new level. Would you be tempted??

The legendary Joan Crawford then takes centre-stage in Berserk, in which she takes a typically domineering role as a circus co-owner and ringmaster. A series of gruesome murders start plaguing the circus – and then Joan’s precocious young daughter, having been expelled from school, shows up. The mother-daughter conflict must have seemed like an echo of Joan’s real life: Indeed, producer Herman Cohen had wanted Joan’s own daughter, Christina, to play her on-screen daughter. But Joan refused this request, and Judy Geeson stepped in. Gothique favourite Michael Gough makes a welcome appearance as the circus’ co-owner, while Diana Dors has a cameo as a member of the circus company. But it’s the tightrope walker, played by handsome, muscular Ty Hardin, who really gets Joan all steamed up! Both films will be presented on 35mm film

Here (and above) is the trailer for Beserk!