Everything about Weird Wednesday, the monthly secret film series at Southside Preservation Hall run by Fort Worth Community Cinema, goes against how movie marketing is supposed to work.
For starters, it’s held on Wednesday nights instead of a primetime Friday or Saturday evening, and no one in the audience knows what the movie will be — except for the genre — until someone presses “play” on the projector.
Plus, if anyone did know, these movies aren’t the kind of stuff that would produce multimillion-dollar box-office returns in a single night. We’re talking about flicks like Frankenhooker; Cannibal, the Musical; and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
Going against cinema traditions has been a lucrative move for the monthly film series, but founder and curator Greg TeGantvoort isn’t doing it to make a buck. He has a genuine love for sharing the kinds of films that he and his crew find with his growing audience of regular attendees, delivering something unique to and absent from Fort Worth’s film community.
“We’re creating something Fort Worth has never seen and never had,” TeGantvoort said. “You used to have to drive out to Oak Cliff to see anything close. We’re satisfying a big gap Fort Worth had here.”
On January 7, Weird Wednesday will hold its 50th screening for what’s sure to be a packed house of raving film fans who do more than sit in silence at some of the most bizarre movies ever committed to celluloid. The crowds always make some kind of collective noise during almost every frame of every movie, creating one of the most dynamic filmgoing experiences you can see in any theater.
Courtesy of Weird Wednesday
“We’re trying to make sure you know you are surrounded by likeminded individuals,” TeGantvoort said. “They are loud and rowdy. They like to boo, cheer, hiss, and get loud with the movie. It’s more akin to watching a wrestling match.”
Weird Wednesday started four years ago when TeGantvoort ran programming for the Isis Theater on the North Side. It wasn’t just a way to do a unique secret screening event. Weird Wednesday is also a way to give local artists a place to sell their wares and works before the movie.
“Watching a Weird Wednesday show is like wandering into a flea market crossed with a Halloween Etsy store and then being surprised by an obscure and/or super-bizarre movie” said artist, cartoonist, and author David DeGrand, who sells his books and work at the night market and designs the grisly and cartoony posters for every month’s screening. “It’s the most fun game of roulette you could imagine.”
The night market before every movie is often just as packed as the main event.
“Weird Wednesday is different from most typical comic-cons and art markets in that it’s the only one I can think of that caters to those specifically looking for horror-themed items and people that are super-into the whole cult movie thing,” DeGrand said. “I’ve been a fan of that stuff for as long as I can remember, and aside from going to super-expensive shows like Texas Frightmare Weekend, I can’t think of any other event, especially locally, where you can go shopping for weird and creepy handmade products from awesome local artists.”
Seven months after its founding, TeGantvoort wanted to do bigger and badder movies that he says the Isis was afraid to screen. He found the Southside Preservation Hall’s main gathering place would make for a great screening room. Weird Wednesday raises money for the historic building with donation-based admissions.
TeGantvoort really wanted to go big with his first Weird Wednesday show outside of the Isis. The series started at Southside with The Greasy Stranger, an extreme, absurdist gross-out comedy about a serial-killing stranger who greases himself up before racking up his kill count. The bizarre bits and cartoonish dialogue sometimes feel like the filmmaker is daring the audience to walk out before the final credits. And that’s probably the most grounded part of the movie.
“I figured if the Hall is cool with us showing that,” TeGantvoort added, “they’ll let us do anything.”
The surprises don’t just happen on the big screen. TeGrantvoort and his crew also work to bring in film experts and notable names connected to the secret movies. Weird Wednesday has become a partner with Cowtown Classics, which has helped bring in special guests like Rudy Ray “Dolemite” Moore. The screening series even features work from local filmmakers like Bret McCormick (The Abomination) and Tyler Russell (The Hem, which was shot at Southside Preservation Hall).
Troma film empire founder and filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman, best known for the Toxic Avenger series, even includes Weird Wednesday on his annual Texas appearance tour showing his latest and greatest gore-or comedies and adventure flicks.
TeGrantvoort “goes out of his way to pick movies that he thinks most of the people in the room have not seen,” said Sheila McArdle, who has been going to Weird Wednesdays since her first screening, Hell Comes to Frogtown, two years ago. “They’re usually pretty obscure, like the one they just did with Spice World. Even Spice World turned the whole room into a lightshow during the theme.”
So how will TeGantvoort possibly top the last 49 screenings of bizarre classics? That’s easy. He’s keeping it a bigger secret, except that it will definitely be one of the weirdest things he’s ever screened for the biggest possible audience he can fit in the place.
“For the first time, we’re not telling anyone the genre of the movie,” TeGantvoort said. “We’re just like, ‘Hey, prepare for a weird movie.’ It’s technically appropriate for all ages. It’s definitely going to be one of the weirdest, most baffling movies we’ve ever screened, but it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun.”
