Liz OhanesianIf you spend as much time on Tumblr as we do, then you might have noticed that your dashboard has been looking pretty spooky lately with gifs from vintage horror movies and electronic music with a decidedly creepy edge. So, when we heard about Cinefamily's Erotique Fantastique Masquerade, a vampire-themed music and film event held nowhere near Halloween, we were pleasantly surprised.
The event coincided with the Fairfax Avenue theater's tribute to Jean Rollin, the French director of fantastique films like Requiem for a Vampire. Thursday night's masquerade revolved around his first feature-length film, Le Viol du Vampire. For this screening, which was co-presented by Finders Keepers Records and B-Music, the two-part film was, as Cinefamily proprietor Hadrian Belove said in his intro, “re-vamped.” This shortened version of Le Viol du Vampire was scored live by Demdike Stare and Anworth Kirk. The former has been getting a bit of buzz online lately (this interview from The Quietus is well worth a read). The live score bridged the past and the present, moving from noise and ambient to a subtle Fantastic Planet funk during the first part of the film and then heading ever so carefully into industrial territory during the second half.
Credit: Liz Ohanesian
But Rollin accompanied by a live score was only part of the reason we were there. All guests were asked to come in costume, on account of the fact that the event was a masquerade. While only a few dressed in full vampiric splendor, many of us did comply by showing up with at least a mask. For those who came dressed for an ordinary night at the movies, local crafters Paw-Paw Club (who take part in Cinefamily's Pajama Party series) were out on the patio armed with unadorned silver masks and lots of glitter.
Dressed in ruffled black with her hair pulled back into a black wrap, Geneva Jacuzzi brought her minimal synth tunes to the Cinefamily stage after an intermission. She cast a blood red shadow onto the movie screen, which boasted video of haunting, expressive eyes. In fitting with the theme of the night, she performed “Dracula,” from her old band Bubonic Plague. Jacuzzi was a perfect fit for the night.
Credit: Liz Ohanesian
TheKilling Spree DJs, including BLKRAINBW, aka Sarah Toon, who was featured in this year's “Best of LA People Issue,” provided the tunes. There's a reason why we're currently big fans of the crew responsible for the monthly party at Medusa Lounge. They're as well-suited for spinning inside a movie theater as they are for a club, mixing atmospheric and dance floor-friendly sounds. They also have a knack for balancing the past and the present in their sets, mixing together newer artists with older tracks that came out of the more experimental electronic scenes of the 1980s and '90s. (Heads up, the next Killing Spree party is Friday, June 10 and will feature a live set from Butterclock with oOoOO, as well as an oOoOO DJ set.)
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