GETAWAY NIGHTMARES: Race with the Devil (1975) + Who Can K*ll a Child (1976)
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16MM Screening
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“A near-exact cross between Rosemary’s Baby, Duel, and The Parallax View, Race With The Devil…gets by on engaging drive-in goofiness.” — Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club
“[Who Can K*ll a Child is] a completely unheralded classic of bleak 1970s horror cinema.” — Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
RACE WITH THE DEVIL (dir. Jack Starrett, 1975)
Made in the wake of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, director Jack Starrett’s Race with the Devil cross-pollinates several of the decade’s most reliable exploitation modes (carsploitation, Satanic paranoia, and the road movie) into one of the more delirious genre mashups of the 1970s. When two couples set out on vacation in a decked-out RV (a rolling symbol of domestic comfort and material excess) their all-American road trip takes a sharp turn after they witness a human sacrifice in the Texas wilderness. What follows is a high-speed descent into conspiracy, suspicion, and creeping dread, as every roadside stop, small-town detour, and passing stranger begins to feel like part of something larger…and far more sinister. Praised by film critic Robin Wood for its genre fusion and “efficient and exciting” execution, this sun-drenched drive-in classic transforms open roads and desert landscapes into sites of mounting paranoia, culminating in one of the decade’s most chilling finales.
Format: 16mm
Print Note: We present Race with the Devil in its original theatrical version on a rare Eastman print, still boasting nice color with only minimal fade. Print courtesy of Exhumed Films.
WHO CAN K*ll A CHILD (dir. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador , 1976)
Woefully overlooked and a bona fide subject for further rediscovery, Spanish horror filmmaker Narciso Ibáñez Serrador directed only two major features across a career largely devoted to television, but each left a lasting mark. Made in the dying days of the Franco regime, Who Can K*ll a Child? follows an English couple, expecting their first child, as they arrive on a sun-bleached Mediterranean island in search of rest, only to find the streets eerily deserted, save for clusters of children who seem to share some private, unspoken knowledge. Drawing from The Birds, Village of the Damned, and the sociological horrors of George A. Romero, Serrador transmutes childhood innocence into a source of mounting dread, building toward a conclusion where the film’s title ceases to be rhetorical and becomes a moral abyss. Widely regarded as one of the defining achievements of Spanish horror, it’s not hard to see why.
Format: 16mm
Print Note: We present Who Can K*ll a Child? in the rarely screened American International Pictures U.S. release version, retitled Island of the Damned. While the original English export version features predominantly English-language dialogue with some Spanish, this AIP version dubs all dialogue into English. This rare Eastman print is faded, though it still retains traces of its original color. Print courtesy of Exhumed Films.
SCHEDULE
Introduction / Trailers: 7:30 PM
Race With the Devil (1975): 7:45 PM
Intermission (15 minutes): 9:15 PM
Who Can K*ll A Child (1976): 9:30 PM
End of Show: 11:20 PM
GOODIES
Many thanks to graphic designer Chris Garofalo of Quiltface Studios for designing the event poster! Don’t forget to claim yours.
Also, thank you to Rough Cut Fan Club for supplying Race with the Devil-themed shirts to be raffled off.
TICKETS
Adults: $20
Senior/Student/Military/Veteran: $18
Members: $16
Designer/Director/Visionary Members: Free
bout
“A near-exact cross between Rosemary’s Baby, Duel, and The Parallax View, Race With The Devil…gets by on engaging drive-in goofiness.” — Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club
“[Who Can K*ll a Child is] a completely unheralded classic of bleak 1970s horror cinema.” — Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
RACE WITH THE DEVIL (dir. Jack Starrett, 1975)
Made in the wake of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, director Jack Starrett’s Race with the Devil cross-pollinates several of the decade’s most reliable exploitation modes (carsploitation, Satanic paranoia, and the road movie) into one of the more delirious genre mashups of the 1970s. When two couples set out on vacation in a decked-out RV (a rolling symbol of domestic comfort and material excess) their all-American road trip takes a sharp turn after they witness a human sacrifice in the Texas wilderness. What follows is a high-speed descent into conspiracy, suspicion, and creeping dread, as every roadside stop, small-town detour, and passing stranger begins to feel like part of something larger…and far more sinister. Praised by film critic Robin Wood for its genre fusion and “efficient and exciting” execution, this sun-drenched drive-in classic transforms open roads and desert landscapes into sites of mounting paranoia, culminating in one of the decade’s most chilling finales.
Format: 16mm
Print Note: We present Race with the Devil in its original theatrical version on a rare Eastman print, still boasting nice color with only minimal fade. Print courtesy of Exhumed Films.
WHO CAN K*ll A CHILD (dir. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador , 1976)
Woefully overlooked and a bona fide subject for further rediscovery, Spanish horror filmmaker Narciso Ibáñez Serrador directed only two major features across a career largely devoted to television, but each left a lasting mark. Made in the dying days of the Franco regime, Who Can K*ll a Child? follows an English couple, expecting their first child, as they arrive on a sun-bleached Mediterranean island in search of rest, only to find the streets eerily deserted, save for clusters of children who seem to share some private, unspoken knowledge. Drawing from The Birds, Village of the Damned, and the sociological horrors of George A. Romero, Serrador transmutes childhood innocence into a source of mounting dread, building toward a conclusion where the film’s title ceases to be rhetorical and becomes a moral abyss. Widely regarded as one of the defining achievements of Spanish horror, it’s not hard to see why.
Format: 16mm
Print Note: We present Who Can K*ll a Child? in the rarely screened American International Pictures U.S. release version, retitled Island of the Damned. While the original English export version features predominantly English-language dialogue with some Spanish, this AIP version dubs all dialogue into English. This rare Eastman print is faded, though it still retains traces of its original color. Print courtesy of Exhumed Films.
SCHEDULE
Introduction / Trailers: 7:30 PM
Race With the Devil (1975): 7:45 PM
Intermission (15 minutes): 9:15 PM
Who Can K*ll A Child (1976): 9:30 PM
End of Show: 11:20 PM
GOODIES
Many thanks to graphic designer Chris Garofalo of Quiltface Studios for designing the event poster! Don’t forget to claim yours.
Also, thank you to Rough Cut Fan Club for supplying Race with the Devil-themed shirts to be raffled off.
TICKETS
Adults: $20
Senior/Student/Military/Veteran: $18
Members: $16
Designer/Director/Visionary Members: Free
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Host or PublisherThe Colonial Theatre
