AGFA Triple Ripper
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
For the past three years, the American Genre Film Archive have hosted the AGFA Triple Ripper at the Mahoning. For this, their fourth consecutive year on the lot, they've added a new twist to the night by keeping the titles to all three films a mystery.
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
For the past three years, the American Genre Film Archive have hosted the AGFA Triple Ripper at the Mahoning. For this, their fourth consecutive year on the lot, they've added a new twist to the night by keeping the titles to all three films a mystery.
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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
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| Show poster designed by Andrew Kern |
We were given hints on what each of the movies would be.
- Film #1 is a shocking Asian horror flick.
- Film #2 is a rare 80's punk / new wave raver.
- Film #3 features female barbarian badassery.
On Friday night, we learned that the third film of the night was going to be replaced due to an issue with obtaining the 35mm print, but the replacement would also be a barbarian film. And, of course, all three movies would be shown from original 35mm prints.
I was joined in the front row by my friends Zack (and his pup Elvira) and Johnny. Our friend Wayne stopped by in a getup that included a hot dog hat, a hamburger shirt, and baked bean socks with his trademark fish flip flops to show us his idea for a special concession item for the weekend.
AGFA always shows a lot of wild trailers and bumps at the Triple Ripper, including the bizarre Jaws 2 trailer that was hacked at some point by a random projectionist. I recorded it and uploaded it to YouTube at Triple Ripper II, so I didn't bother to film it again this year. I did take a few pictures though that I've cropped and organized above. The ones that caught my eye were a commercial for Chuck Wagon dog food for a promotion in which you could win your dog's weight in gold, a trailer for America 3000 which I own on VHS, and another trailer for a movie for a 1990 film called A Nymphoid Barbarian In Dinosaur Hell which is a title that just begs to be seen.
One of the 35mm bumps was a commercial from the early 80's for a waterpark called Wet N Wild Waterworld in Anthony, TX. This caught my eye for a few reasons. First of all, this place is still in business today. It's about 20 miles north of El Paso where I spent a few months when I was working for Nestle. Second, a part of the commercial shows the arcade where you can see a Pac Man and Tempest cabinet with a Mata Hari pinball machine in the background. Last but not least, I saw a digitized version of this same exact commercial while I was browsing on eBay for 35mm prints. In fact, the seller still has it available as of the time of this write up.
Seems like a pretty cool place.
Anyway, onto the movies.
The first film was a truly bizarre Hong Kong wuxia flick from 1982 called Human Lanterns. It's the story of a twisted lantern maker who works in secret to fan the flames of a feud between two martial arts experts while he captures the women in their lives to acquire the key ingredient in his award winning lanterns. This was absolutely twisted from start to finish, and it might be the best movie that I've ever seen at an AGFA event. It's definitely not for everybody, but if you're a fan of kung fu and Silence Of The Lambs, this is one you need to see.
There was a 35mm screening of The Flowers between the first and second films of the night. This is a rare Dutch animated short from 1967 by Rupert van der Linden. It's a surreal and beautiful cartoon. I wasn't able to find a video of it anywhere online, so this might have been the only opportunity that I'll ever have to see it.
The second feature length feature of the night was a 1982 British concert film called Urgh! A Music War. Seeing this on 35mm at the Mahoning was a pretty special experience. I have pretty eclectic tastes in music but if I had to pick a single genre and period to call my favorite, it would be late 70's and early 80's new wave, which is exactly what this was.
This isn't a documentary... just one performance after another from performers like The Police, Wall Of Voodoo, Toyah Willcox, John Cooper Clarke, OMD, Chelsea, Oingo Boingo, Echo & The Bunnymen, Jools Holland, XTC, Klaus Nomi, Athletico Spizz 80, The Go-Go’s, Dead Kennedys, Steel Pulse, Gary Numan, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Magazine, Surf Punks, The Members, Au Pairs, The Cramps, Invisible Sex, Pere Ubu, Devo, The Alley Cats, John Otway, Gang Of Four, 999, The Fleshtones, X, Skafish, Splodgenessabounds, UB40, and Klaus Nomi. I had heard of this before, but never watched or listened to it, so it was pretty incredible to have had the opportunity to see it for the first time on 35mm at the drive-in.
The final movie of the night was the 1982 Lucio Fulci dark fantasy film Conquest. This spot was originally meant to be for the 1984 Italian post-apocalyptic film She, but there was some issue with the print that caused it to be replaced.
I was getting a pretty drowsy by this point of the night, so I can't really give you much of an opinion or details on the plot other than to say that it's kind of a sci-fi/barbarian flick. I'm going to have to circle back and check this out another time.
And that's a wrap on the AGFA Triple Ripper IV. I've been to all four of these, and the only one that I think was better than this year's event was the first one from 2022. All three of the films were enjoyable, and there were thankfully no uncomfortable movies like we had in the first film of last year's Triple Ripper. I kind of like the mystery format that they did this year, and I hope they keep it going in 2026.
And that's a wrap on the AGFA Triple Ripper IV. I've been to all four of these, and the only one that I think was better than this year's event was the first one from 2022. All three of the films were enjoyable, and there were thankfully no uncomfortable movies like we had in the first film of last year's Triple Ripper. I kind of like the mystery format that they did this year, and I hope they keep it going in 2026.
