Matinee (1993)

A small-time film promoter releases a kitschy horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Jerico (story), Charles S. Haas (story),

Stars:

John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Goodman	...	Lawrence Woolsey
Cathy Moriarty	...	Ruth Corday / Carole
Simon Fenton	...	Gene Loomis
Omri Katz	...	Stan
Lisa Jakub	...	Sandra
Kellie Martin	...	Sherry
Jesse Lee Soffer	...	Dennis Loomis (as Jesse Lee)
Lucinda Jenney	...	Anne Loomis
James Villemaire	...	Harvey Starkweather
Robert Picardo	...	Howard the Theater Manager
Jesse White	...	Mr. Spector
Dick Miller	...	Herb Denning
John Sayles	...	Bob
David Clennon	...	Jack
Lucy Butler	...	Rhonda

Storyline

A showman introduces a small coastal town to a unique movie experience and capitalises on the Cuban Missile crisis hysteria with a kitschy horror extravaganza combining film effects, stage props and actors in rubber suits in this salute to the B-movie.

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Plot Keywords:

cuban missile crisis | b movie | nurse costume | florida | coming of age | 

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Taglines:

Lawrence Woolsey presents the end of civilization as we know it. Make that... Proudly Presents!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language, and for mild violence and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Matiné

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$9,532,895 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Renfield Productions, Falcon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Villemaire plays the hood named Harvey Starkweather. The name comes from Charles Starkweatherr, a real-life serial killer of that time.

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Goofs

When the two boys are playing the record player and the hurriedly remove the arm from the record, the audio from the record is still heard moments later.

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Quotes

General Ankrum: [referring to the giant creature climbing the building] What in creation do you call that thing?
Ruth Corday: Bill...

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Crazy Credits

After the credits are complete, we are treated to a quick snippet from "MANT" with the Cathy Moriarty character pining, "Oh, Bill".

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Connections

References Killers from Space (1954)

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Soundtracks

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
Written by Hugo Peretti, Albert Stanton, George David Weiss
& Luigi Creatore
(based on a song by Solomon Linda and Paul Campbell)
Performed by The Tokens
Courtesy of the RCA Records label of BMG Music

User Reviews

Memorable and funny

This movie explores the marketing and the premier of a B-movie horror flick by a virtual one-man studio (remember American International?) in, of all places Key West during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I think this was intended to be a vehicle for John Goodman as the B-movie "impresario" Lawrence Woolsey (great casting!), with Cathy Moriarty also excellently cast as the jaded B-movie starlet and Woolsey's companion. Simon Fenton plays a young, wide-eyed, horror movie addict who is also a military kid, whose father has just been assigned to the naval blockade around Cuba. The cast also includes Dick Miller from the Gremlin series, and many other B-movies since the 1950's including the original Shop of Horrors.

Matinee is quirky, and the "movie within a movie," called "Mant" (half man, half ant), is about a silly accidental "mutation" of a man into a rather large insect The movie contains a good sampling of all the plot devices (on screen and off screen) used in these sorts of movies. The now-hilarious atomic horrors depicted in "Mant" are juxtaposed against the real-life horrors of the nuclear missile crisis, with interesting effect.

Matinee also offers a lot of not-so-subtle counterpoints between the atmosphere and common wisdom of the era (anybody remember Civil Defense drills? Bomb shelters? The "four" basic food groups?), and its stark comparison to what we know/think today. When this movie was made, the cold war was just over, and a look back to the pervasive feel throughout the 50's and 60's and its worrying about the "bomb" and anti-commie lingo makes the people of this era look supremely paranoid and silly, until one thinks about how even this has changed since the movie was made (think post 9-11: who's silly and paranoid now?).

The movie is enjoyable on many levels, although I feel the comparisons between the 60's and "today" could have been made a bit more subtle. As a counterpoint, my wife, who was never a fan of the horror movie genre, dislikes this movie--she also disliked "Ed Wood" for the same reason.

All in all, it's a wonderful movie that I'm glad to have in my VHS collection.