It started with a “bad movie night” at Three Roads Brewing. Now Zack Kowalski will curate a series of B-movies at High Street Theatre, running through the end of August. 

“[They] liked how I hosted events and asked if there was anything I’d like to do in town,” Kowalski explains about how his “bad movie night” project started. “I had hosted private events at my home several times with friends and enjoyed watching bad movies, so we came up with the idea to do a bad movie night at the brewery.” 

This was about two years ago, after he served as a host for a bingo night at Three Roads. 

“At that same time I had also gotten involved with the Habitat for Humanity program. I use the Three Roads Brewery bad movie nights to share information about how Habitat works, it’s mission and correct misinformation as well.” 

This spring, members of the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts staff brought up the idea of Kowalski curating a series for High Street, which they manage. Over the next few months, discussions went on and plans were put in place. 

Attack of the B-movies

The series starts off this Friday, July 28 with Army of Darkness, a campy 1992 horror film from the popular Evil Dead franchise. Ash, the hardware store clerk who battled demons unleashed by a book (the Necronomicon) in Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, finds himself transported to 1300 A.D. where he must battle an entire Army of Darkness to retrieve the Necronomicon and set the world right. 

One week later, on Friday, August 4, movie goers can take a trip to the 41st century with 1975’s Barbarella. The sci-fi film starring a young Jane Fonda, involves a 41st century astronaut who tries to stop Durand Durand, an evil scientist. The film is more widely known as the inspiration for the name of 80s pop band Duran Duran. 

Then on Friday, August 18, the B-movies wrap up as a football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo to save Earth in 1980’s Flash Gordon, featuring a soundtrack by Queen.

Schedules, film trailers, and details about the ratings can be found on the LCVA website and Facebook page, or by scanning the QR on the exterior of the theatre. High Street Theatre film programs are made possible in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, North Street Press Club, Global Lancers International Film Festival, Virginia Children’s Book Festival, Farmville Pride, and AllTogetherLancers.

Just a reminder that admission is always free for High Street movies. Children under 12 (under 17 for R-rated films) must be accompanied by a responsible guardian. High Street Theatre is located at 102 High Street in Farmville.