Sunday, June 14th, 2026
Sacrilegious Cinema: Menagerie of Madness erects a long awaited double feature to exalt African American (horror) cinema once again in honor of Juneteenth later in the week, delving into irrevocable dread flung at the black populace from all angles- ranging from overt to subtle nuances woven into various forms of prejudice based on race alone- the harsh reality for most (if not all) members apart of this heritage. Joining me to discuss the dangers of discrimination this week is the lovely Samara Hex Di’Angelo, confronting colonialism, institutionalized racism, benevolent prejudice, amidst a sea of other issues under the optics of religion, spirituality, psychology and cultural mechanisms unveiling the frightening plight posed against the community at large.
At 8PM, traverse the plantations of the Mississippi Delta amidst the Jim Crow era, and meet twin brothers- Smoke and Stack (expertly embodied by Michael B. Jordan)- in return to their hometown in search of new beginnings only to discover a foreboding force waiting for them beneath a veil of darkness. Ryan Coogler’s Academy Award-winning SINNERS (2025) yields a Southern Gothic masterpiece critiquing colonialism and its vicious ramifications on its cyclical siphoning, preying upon oppressed minorities- focusing on the parasitism profiting from the rampant exploitation of black communities, utilizing vampirism as an allegory to demonstrate the bloodthirsty nature of white society’s systematic subjugation of people of color, effectively eradicating identity through theft and appropriation. In a narrative vein not dissimilar to From Dusk Till Dawn, and loosely inspired by the paranoia land isolationism of Carpenter’s The Thing, Coogler weaves threads of an unnerving atmosphere, feeling almost palpable in its rich history, reflected in wardrobe, setting, score and stunning cinematography and special effects, displaying a strong sense of world building, pairing real life issues under a guise of sizzling supernatural power lurking just below the threshold. Sinners examines Jungian duality through binary oppositions, juxtaposing segregation with integration, north versus the south, a war among faiths, as well as the Smokestack twins representation pertaining to two sides of the same spectrum. Culture and music play a huge role in human connection, taking root in identity and ancestry, allowing echoes of the past to be immortalized. Sinners analysis of religion and spirituality showcase a perversion of the cloth, inverting Christian iconography conveying its innate ability in being weaponized in the wrong hands, often in an attempt to cultivate conformity, offering salvation in exchange for slavery in conquest to steal shards of the soul in a heretic hive mind. 
Then, at 10:30PM, we dissect the terror of benevolent prejudice in Jordan Peele’s pivotal GET OUT (2017), based on his own experiences with institutionalized racism, extending itself as a universal albeit tragic reality for the black community. Daniel Kaluuya delivers a chilling performance in this seminole tale of bigotry in an unlikely backdrop- taking place in upstate New York and focusing on a Democratic family as opposed to the stereotypical southern setting with the usual suspects, exploring various shades of discrimination, shying away from the conspicuous and delving into a much more insidious adversary.
Slide into The Sunken Place, trapped as a shell of oneself within the confines of your own skin, a Pavlovian prisoner, utilizing this mechanism as a conditioning technique to lull the victim into submission, while the oppressor profits off their body.
Chris Washington reluctantly accompanies his girlfriend Rose Armitage to meet her wealthy liberal relatives- but despite the veneer of acceptance something is deeply wrong within the fabric of the family tree- exposing an effort to compensate for an underlying white guilt, increasingly eager to indulge a performative activism rather than entertain genuine altruism.
However, these uncomfortable interactions are but a prelude to the more sinister intentions at large, with a quest for power and exploitation of a marginalized class, reducing their race to nothing more than a fashion trend to usher in assimilation instead of segregation, endowing themselves with an air of superiority to their fellow prejudiced counterparts in their fetishization of black culture, thereby disenfranchising the community in a different, though equally harmful manner-stripping away their identities, delegating them to a subhuman commodity for their consumption-two toxic mindsets presenting as opposing sides of the same tyrannical coin. Much like Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Stepford Wives (1975) demonstrate a feminist lens, Get Out wields one illuminating racism, even in the most unlikely of places, revealing its poisonous prevalence regardless of location, even transcending that of time. 
FREE popcorn included with a mandatory purchase- no cover charge with a 1 drink (or snack) minimum from the bar.
(Movie nights offer psychological insight accompanied by behind the scenes information and observations by your horror hostess).