They do make them like they used to.
Moviegoers who still miss -- or missed altogether -- the late-late double features at lost cinemas like the TLA and the Harwan are sure to savor "Midnight Show," an uber-indie film now being shot in South Jersey.
Conceived by executive producer Newt Wallen as a hit parade of trailers for the cult movies he and his friends have always wanted to see, "Midnight Show" includes previews for retro-futuro cinematic Tastykakes with titles like "Crab Monster from Terror Beach."
"The idea was for everyone to do a fake drive-in, grindhouse trailer," says Wallen, of Cherry Hill, who scouted locations for the recent Andrew W. K. music video shoot in Maple Shade and environs.
One of the forces behind the web series Underbelly, Wallen says his advice to his "Midnight Show" collaborators was "free your mind and do something fun."
Thus "Midnight Show" will include a trailer for a disco/sci-fi fantasia entitled "Planet Mirrorball," directed by Steve Carino, of Bellmawr, with scenes shot in a Sewell garage.
"Imagine if George Lucas really went ape on the whole 'Star Wars' thing," Carino says, "and merged that together with the disco thing."
Another trailer, "Her Time of the Month" (shooting continues Friday in Hammonton) offers a sneak peek at "a '70s female revenge movie," says Wallen.
And as for "Attack of the Robot Nazi," what more does a film fan need to know?
The creators of the individual trailers within "Midnight Show" are honoring a sub-genre of moviegoing that's fading to black as consumers of cinematic content increasingly shift their focus from big to little screens. Says Wallen, "it's a love letter to a night at the movies."