Psychotronic Films Warehoused in New Home

It's been a roller coaster of a year for the Washington Psychotronic Film Society. But Dr. Schlock & friends have finally found a new (and hopefully stable) home at The Warehouse, where they'll take up weekly residence beginning March 17. For those who haven't been following the play-by-play of the whole saga, let's recap. First, WPFS lost its longtime home when Dr. Dremo's finally met with the inevitable and went condo. After spending much of last year in a temporary stint at the Arlington Cinema 'n' Drafthouse's restaurant next door, the Old Arlington Grill, they picked up stakes again for a more central (and Metro-accessible) location on this side of the river at The Meeting Place. But the group's off-kilter cinematic aesthetic offended the delicate sensibilities of the bar's regular happy-hour crowd, who found the screening of R-rated films in a bar to be one step over the line. We guess some people are actually offended by cannibal sodomy; who knew The Meeting Place was the FCC's watering hole of choice?

Homeless again, the non-profit — which screens films for free and requests but a $2 donation for an evening of deliriously demented entertainment — went in search of a new venue where their brand of film might be less likely to offend. That venue has turned out to be Warehouse Theater, according to an announcement over the weekend. Sounds to us like an excellent match, with the Warehouse's longstanding commitment to cutting edge art and WPFS's long history of celebrating the somewhat outsider art of the low-budget B- C- and D-movie.

Warehouse has been threatening to close for almost two years now, but in a recent conversation with DCist, owner-operator Molly Ruppert laid out plans for additional weekly events in the space starting this spring.

WPFS has three films scheduled already, starting with the 1970s spoof film American Raspberries (think Kentucky Fried Movie, only perhaps more tasteless, and with cameos by Kinky Friedman and familiar cult film face Warren Oates) on March 17, in what is sure to be a great party welcoming them back. This is followed on March 24 by Mistress of the Apes, which is pretty much exactly what the title describes. Then, on March 31, a rare screening of Blood Car, a 2007 flick about an automobile that runs on an alternative fuel: human blood. Gotta love how B-movies can effectively distill an entire plot into a two-word title.

WPFS screenings are on Tuesdays starting March 17 at 8 p.m. at the Warehouse Theater. They promise "rare eye-candy and groovy tunes" before the screening and "cheap prizes" after. Free, $2 donation suggested.