Attack of the Killer-B Movies

This trio of deadly B-movies at their biggest, baddest and most brilliant are brought to life by an intrepid acting ensemble, and ‘streamlined’ by SF playwright Sean Owens (Best Comic Playwright, SF Weekly). Two weekends each–and all three deftly handled by a fearless stable of actors. Equal parts camp and cunning, each of these film classics exudes lurid excess, as well as astute insights on the taboos and terrors of its era, balancing the satiric with the sensational, the cliché and the clever.

Beginning with the Hitchcock classic, The Birds, this ominous tale of avian invasion ripples with undercurrents of feminism, as willful gadabout Melanie Daniels pursues a ‘lovebird’ relationship with enterprising lawyer Mitch Brenner, while the quiet town of Bodega Bay takes notice. It’s Mitch’s mother, Lydia who rules the roost–but before feathers can fly, an aerial assault pits the hapless household against a squadron of starlings. Michelle Talgarow directs.

Next, Maxwell Anderson’s cult classic The Bad Seed finally gets the spanking it deserves. Pandemonium reigns as Christine Penmark, devoted wife and mother, gradually discovers the dark side of her insufferably sweet 10-year old daughter Rhoda, played by Sean Owens. Christine grows more alarmed when little Claude, the winner of the school’s coveted penmanship medal, tragically drowns and his medal mysteriously vanishes. Can a criminologist, a mystery writer and a Freud-fixated, nosy neighbor discover the moral decay festering behind little Rhoda’s radiant smile? Jim Fourniadis directs.

Finally, it takes a ragtag team of scofflaws to alert their sleepy town to the gelatinous dangers that a fallen meteor has unleashed. Brooding teen Steve Andrews interrupts a hot date with good girl Janie Johnson to chase the oozing, formless horror that’s gobbling up the community in The Blob. Sean Owens directs.