October 24th - Vamp Fest starts at 11am (Doors at 10am) Sword Fest begins at 7pm (Doors at 6pm)
All 6 Films Presented on 35MM Film!!! - Vamp Fest - Twilight part 2, Lost Boys, Blade & Near Dark / Sword Fest- Excalibur and Sword Sorcerer starting at 7pm.
Tickets on Sale Now! https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/palaceonjames/7304/event/1478515
$40 for Vamp fest /$25 for Sword Fest /$50 for the Entire day.
Single movie tickets will be available for purchase at the door only and will be cash only.
VAMP FEST: Screening this specific lineup of vampire films (all on 35mm film prints) offers a fascinating journey through the evolution of cinematic horror, romance, and style across three distinct decades. Your marathon kicks off with two masterpieces from 1987 that approach the mythos from polar opposite directions. Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys captures the ultimate peak of 1980s MTV pop-culture, blending a neon-drenched, synth-heavy California aesthetic with a rebellious, rock-and-roll vampire gang. In stark contrast, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark strips away all the glamorous Hollywood glitter, instead reimagining the vampire coven as a gritty, nomadic family of outlaws drifting across the sun-baked American Midwest in a dust-covered, neo-Western nightmare. Together, these two classics perfectly illustrate how the exact same monster can be used to tell completely different stories about youth, family, and alienation.
Moving forward into the next eras, your screening highlights how the genre transitioned into high-octane action and sweeping romantic melodrama. Stephen Norrington’s Blade (1998) redefines the creature feature for the turn of the millennium, infusing the mythos with industrial techno beats, leather trench coats, and slick, martial-arts-heavy superhero action that paved the way for modern comic book cinema. Finally, Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) shifts the focus entirely to a melancholic, blue-tinted world of young-adult fantasy, exploring the deep emotional agony of heartbreak, ancient vampire royalty, and the introduction of rival shape-shifters. Watching all four movies back-to-back will give your audience a thrilling look at how vampires transformed from terrifying leather-clad punks and highway killers into leather-clad superhero hunters and sparkling symbols of eternal romance.
SWORD FEST: SWORD Fest erupts onto the screen with a double feature of epic high-fantasy violence, strictly preserved in its ultimate visual format: authentic 35mm film prints. The marathon delivers a glorious clash of cinematic tones, bridging the gap between high-art mythmaking and unapologetic B-movie spectacle. The celluloid presentation brings a tangible, organic warmth to the experience, mimicking the exact grain structure and flicker that audiences fell in love with during the golden age of 1980s fantasy. Experiencing these towering tales of broadswords and black magic projected from physical film strips elevates the event into a time-capsule celebration of practical filmmaking, complete with whirring projectors, rich color saturation, and deep shadows that digital formats simply cannot replicate.
The lineup charges forward with John Boorman's Excalibur (1981), an operatic, visually intoxicating masterpiece that stands as one of the definitive retelling of the Arthurian legends. Boorman uses glowing neon-green armor, fog-drenched landscapes, and a booming classical soundtrack to craft an intense, dreamlike atmosphere that feels deeply ancient and mythical. This high-brow epic pairs perfectly with Albert Pyun's cult favorite The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), a wildly entertaining, high-octane adventure packed with triple-bladed firing swords, snake demons, and relentless execution-style fight choreography. Together on 35mm, these two classics capture the absolute pinnacle of early-80s fantasy cinema, transporting your audience straight into an unforgettable realm of blood, steel, and sorcery.
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