In 1993 when this film came out, 1962 just seemed like another time that as a teenager I just couldn’t wrap my head around. While the kids in Matinee were excited about these giant monster films, I could sort of relate, as I was getting into horror myself, but instead of atomic bugs, I was getting into the slasher heavy hitters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. So a film about kids spending most of their time at a movie theater was something I could relate to easily, and as I got older I simply continued to appreciate the film more as I consumed more films from the past and grew to appreciate filmmakers like Val Lewton, William Castle, Roger Corman, and Lloyd Kaufman, the guys who knew how to turn a cheap film into an event experience through a variety of marketing gimmicks. The idea of ambulances being staged outside a theater because audience members may faint or having people in costume lunge at unsuspecting guests. These innovators make going to the movie theater an experience even if the movie wasn’t all that great … and now 30 years after the release of Matinee, I find myself bitten by the bug of nostalgia. I can’t help but miss how I used to consume movies, either spending an entire day at the multiplex sneaking into R rated films or hitting the video store and grabbing a bunch of videos to watch with friends. Now we have streaming, and it just isn’t the same. The movie theaters may not have the sticky floors that we all hated, and to be fair I do like the stadium seating, but it’s just not the way it used to be, and with ticket prices skyrocketing along with crazy rates at the concession stands, well, it isn’t too hard to understand why people want to believe the theater experience is dying.
I don’t mean to be so bleak, especially when Matinee is far from being a downer; instead it is a charming love letter to a time where as a kid things would have been so simple, but for adults the terror of an atomic missile strike kept many parents in fear. Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) is your typical kid, but with his father being in the military his family bounces around a lot, and while his father is deployed he feels the need to be “the man of the house” and look after his mom and his little brother. This new deployment has them brought down to the Florida Keys, and at the worst time imaginable, during “he Cold War, and when the Russians are threatening to drop atomic bombs on the States. We see how the kids are prepping with bombing drills and folks around town are emptying out the store shelves (a scene oddly reminiscent to when the COVID panic recently struck and the nation was in a panic over toilet paper). Gene is eager to simply just leave the base and find his sanctuary at the local theater and just watch movies all day. It’s at the movies he happens to run into one of his idols, Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), who has come to town to premiere his new film, a B-monster movie called MANT, and he’s going to be presenting the film in what he calls “Atomic Vision”.
Along the way Gene finds himself a new best friend in Stan (Omri Katz), who is having a bit of girl trouble (though the trouble is mostly in the form of the girl’s greaser-punk ex-boyfriend). Gene also finds young love as well in Sandra (Lisa Jakub), who is the daughter of some extremely progressive parents, and she has a bit of a rebellious streak in her. The filmmakers could easily have made this a film about doom and gloom and the notion of death being at their doorstep at any moment, but instead they went with this charming little coming-of-age story that cares more about being sweet and endearing above everything else. Heck, even the “bad guy” in this isn’t so bad.
For me it is the relationship that blossoms between Woolsey and Gene that I enjoy the most. Gene is basically living out every geeky kid’s fantasy, getting a peek behind the curtain and watching how his hero works. Woolsey is very much a character inspired by William Castle and a little Roger Corman in the way that they were producers that were big on making a spectacle out of their films that they would tour around the country. Woolsey is supposed to be a bit of a con man, but that’s mostly things we see in the background. Above everything he’s about the showmanship and about the experience for the audience. We see this in action from the moment you reach the theater with the giant ant legs emerging from the marquee, to the sensational effects viewers have while watching the film. Joe Dante injects so much love into these sequences at the theater that it isn’t hard to imagine he was reliving his experiences from the past. This gets into the production design being so on point. All the made up posters hanging in the theater look perfect … the kids’ bedrooms are even loaded with so much detail that it’s as though they found a room preserved from the time period and opened it up just for this film.
Then there is the movie within the movie, MANT, The story of a man named Bill (Mark McCracken, who is bit by a mutant ant and ends up becoming half-man, half-ant and all terror as the Mant. The character starts by terrorizing his wife Carole (Cathy Moriarty, who does double duty in the film also playing Woolsey’s girlfriend) and eventually the entire town. Dante does a fantastic job at creating the perfect B-monster movie that is equal parts cheesy and a hell of a lot of fun. The creature FX look great, partially a man-in-suit which for me gave the MANT film a lot of its charm. This is something I would have wanted to watch and would love to experience it in Woolsey’s Atomic Vision with the shock seats, the smoke machines, and all the other goodies he had in store. This would have been the ultimate movie-going experience.
Everything about this film feels authentic and is filled with so much love for the time period and the love of movies. It’s hard to be impartial about this, because I feel that same love for movies, and while I didn’t grow up in the 60s, I totally understand that yearning for looking back at a time when things weren’t so complicated, and as a kid you only had to worry about being home before curfew. This may not be my favorite film by Joe Dante (to be fair, he has numerous great films; Gremlins and Explorers are my personal favorites), but it is obvious this is his most personal project.
Video
Matinee is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The ultra-high-definition image presentation is arrived at with an HEVC codec at an average of 85-90 mbps It never drops out of the 80’s. The film was shot on 35mm, so is native 4K. If you have the kind of love that Joe Dante has for the classic monster era, you are going to love one specific upgrade that this UHD/HDR presentation provides. When you go into the kid’s room he has his walls and shelves covered with vintage memorabilia, and for the first time you really get to see them with wonderful clarity, from the lobby cards and movie stills to the vintage toys. The room is a shrine to a bygone era, and now it’s there to examine in full detail. The color is somewhat tinted in its saturation to give it that period-piece look, and it comes through organic and atmospheric. The black & white of the film within the film, Mant, has wonderful contrast that brings you back to those monochrome glory days. The colors are clear. The reds appear to shine through best from the seats in the theatre to character lipstick. Black levels are strong, particularly in the theater scenes where you have wonderful contrast between what is projected on the screen and the colorful world of 1962. Colors really peak with the atomic explosions that are delivered in color. You get bright oranges, reds, and yellows here. Close-ups of John Goodman reveal wonderful texture, from his cheap suits to his cigar. You’ll love the new presentation.
Audio
The Dolby Atmos audio presentation defaults to 7.1. Anything more would ruin the atmosphere of the original film. It would be a mistake to try to expand the audio field. The dialog and the wonderful Goldsmith score come through just fine. There’s no distortion, and a clean audio presentation is all I’m looking for here. The subs come into play, of course, during those dramatic atomic explosions and when the kid amps up Goodman’s equipment to 11 and rocks the theater. All of that now has a new dynamic for fans of the film. There’s a couple of noticeable expansions with the surround. The copter at the film’s end does a nice movement from our front to our rear just before the credits roll.
Audio Commentary with critics Drew McWeeney and Eric Vespe: This is a fairly light but informative commentary where the critics that are obvious fans of the film and Joe Dante’s films discuss their personal anecdotes on the film. For fans of the film, this is worth listening to. It has that vibe like you are sitting in the room with them just talking about one of your favorite films.
Special Features
The extras are found on the two included Blu-ray discs. One contains the film in HD and some features, while the second gives you another batch of bonus features. This also allows for the UHD disc to make use of the entire bandwidth for just the film.
Florida Daydream: (10:39) Actress Kellie Martin discusses her experience making the film from the auditions to the impact after filming.
Cold War Thing: (13:14) Actor David Clennon discusses his experience on the film and growing up during the Cold War.
Master of the Matinee: (20:28) An interview with Joe Dante about the process of making the film.
The Leading Lady: (12:01) Actress Cathy Moriarty discusses her experience making the film.
ManTastic: The Making of Mant: (25:11) A fun discussion about the creature design for the Mant as well as insight from the man beneath the mask. They get into how this was really a love letter to the monster films of the past.
Out of the Bunker: (16:16) An interview with Lisa Jakub about her experience with the film.
Making a Monster Theater: (15:33) An interview with the production designer about creating an old movie palace on a soundstage.
The Monster Mix: (11:37) This was one of my favorite features. It is a discussion with the film’s editor about how much nostalgia for the 60s played into the film, not just the Cuban Missile Crisis, but the movies and that period of time and being a kid.
Lights! Camera! Reunion!: (21:12) This is an interview with the film’s director of photography John Hora, and it might be the most in depth about what it was like making the film. For future filmmakers out there, this is one of the features I highly recommend checking out.
Paranoia In Ant Vision: (32:36) This is another interview with Joe Dante about the film, but this one seems to touch on what made this film more personal for him. Another great feature worth checking out.
Vintage Making Of Featurette: (4:27) This is one of the generic behind-the-scenes looks that was used to help promote the film.
Behind the Scenes Footage: (8:20) This is some raw recorded footage from the making of the film. This gives a better and more unfiltered look at how films were made. I’m a geek for this kind of stuff, so I really enjoyed this little extra.
Deleted and Extended Scenes: (2:21) Really there is nothing to get excited about here; it’s just a little extra from a few scenes that you can understand why it was cut.
Still Gallery
Final Thoughts:
As you can tell, there are a lot of extras to keep you busy for hours. Shout Factory really went out of their way to give fans something special with this release. Shout Factory really delivered on this release, and this is one fans should be extremely happy with. This is a film that the whole family can enjoy. This is one of my favorite John Goodman performances and is simply a film I can put on any time and enjoy. Is it my own personal nostalgia about my time visiting the movie theater? Possibly, but this movie just makes me smile from start to finish. This one I highly recommend to the cinema lover in your life, it may not be “perfect”, but it perfectly captures what the experience of going to the movies should be like … as a side note I highly recommend pairing this with The Majestic as a double feature.
Parts of this review were written by Gino Sassani
