The Best of Off Beat Cinema

Off Beat Cinema has been astounding and thrilling late night television audiences in northern New York state, southern Ontario, and beyond for a remarkable 15 years now. Indeed, Off Beat Cinema remains one of the only after hours cult movie shows on the air in the spirit of late night TV of years gone by, those creature features and b-movie extravaganzas hosted by colourful characters such as Vampira, Elvira, and Chuck the Security Guard. Off Beat Cinema is the domain of three beatnik hepcats, Maxwell Truth (Eddy Dobosiewicz), Bird (Tony Billoni), and the Mysterious Zelda (Constance McEwen), who host the program out of their own groovy environment, The Hungry Ear Coffeehouse – “It’s a mad pad, dad!” Each week, they present an appropriately hip, far-out film, along with their own way-gone commentary, zany antics, and special guests to round out the proceedings. To celebrate ten years of late night transmissions from the heart of darkness (espresso, that is), in 2003 the cats compiled The Best of Off Beat Cinemaon DVD. Nocturnal viewers can now enjoy a taste of Off Beat Cinema at their leisure, and relive some of the show’s more memorable (and just plain silly) moments.

At a generous 98 minutes, The Best of Off Beat Cinema DVD offers an entertaining selection of bizarre film clips, trailers, and highlights from the program, including special celebrity guests and musical performances. Sure, Off Beat Cinema is wacky and dumb – in fact, Bird comments that the host segments are like one long outtake, and Zelda laughs that “The Best of Off Beat Cinema is an oxymoron” – but it’s all in good fun. Unlike Mystery Science Theatre 3000, however, Off Beat Cinema doesn’t just exist to parody the films on screen. The viewer gets the sense that the show is done with some genuine affection for the content, and a cultivated appreciation of unusual and low budget film. Without a doubt, a lot of Off Beat Cinema’s programming is truly laughable monster movie schlock and juvenile delinquent exploitation fare, but among the trash such as The Killer Shrews, Reefer Madness, and The Giant Gila Monster, you’ll also discover veritable film classics such as The Third Man, The Blue Angel, and Nosferatu on the schedule. Their motto is, “The good, the bad, and the foreign”, and that about sums it up. From the highbrow to the gutter, it’s all there for your viewing pleasure. If you can stay up until the wee hours, that is…

As for the DVD, it is a treat for any aficionado of hip film and music. You don’t have to even know about Off Beat Cinema to enjoy it. Opening with a clip from Plan 9 From Outer Space (I’m a fan already!), the content of the DVD is subdivided into several sections: Troubled Teens, Celebrities and Guests, Musical Guests, David Kane, Monsters, and Behind the Scenes. These segments are pretty self-explanatory, alternating original material with film sequences and trailers. Troubled Teens offers up some great moments in J.D. and exploitation flicks, mining tarnished gold from such titles as High School Caesar, Beat Girl, and Eegah!. Monsters similarly presents some unforgettable lowlights from horror thrillers like Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Brainiac, and the more chilling Night of the Living Dead and The Satanic Rites of Dracula. Off Beat Cinema has hosted some serious celebrities and musical talent over the years, and a few of the personalities and bands appearing on the DVD include Lauren Bacall (!), Doc Severinsen, Jim Rose, Pete Best (original drummer for The Beatles), 10, 000 Maniacs, and The Goo Goo Dolls. David Kane, who provides the moody jazz-inflected music for Off Beat Cinema, is given some airtime, and live footage from one of his David Kane’s Them Jazzbeards shows is included.

If that’s not enough, the folks at Off Beat Cinema also create their own weird and strange short videos, a few of which are preserved here for posterity. “Maxwell’s House” (clever title!) is a pseudo art film short, capturing host Maxwell Truth at home, sitting with bongos on his lap, while all sorts of art school clichés are worked into the mix, a truly “out there” existentialist beat odyssey! And don’t miss “R-U a Boy or R-U a Girl?”, by Maxwell Truth & The Denizens of the Dark” – a real music video, shot on an Off Beat Cinema budget! There are many other hilarious and enjoyable moments on the DVD, some painful comedic stabs, and a lot of cool movie clips. It really summarizes what Off Beat Cinema is all about, a place deep in the heart of Saturday night, “Where the coffee’s always hot, and the movies are oh, so cool.” Can you dig it, Daddy-o?

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This review originally appeared in Vol. 1, Issue #21, “A Tribute to Late Night Television”