As an (early) Halloween special, Donkeyskin Presents a triple-bill of disturbing, strange (& newly restored) underground films from the California of the fifteen years after the start of Gay Liberation Movement; challenging both the optimism of that movement, and the sunny reputation of California itself through DIY films, either shot on video or Super-8, that are like nothing you will have seen before.

Ken Camp’s Highway Hypnosis (1985) and Shock Video (1985) both reflect on the prevalence of gay serial killers, while James Robert Baker’s Mouse Klub Konfidential (1975) plays with and subverts the family-friendly imagery of a certain iconic Hollywood mouse. Both filmmakers were friends and sometimes lovers. Camp stars in Baker’s film, and began working on Shock Video around that same period.

With descriptions courtesy of Muscle Distribution, the three films are:

Mouse Klub Konfidential

1975, dir. James Robert Baker

United States English 15m 1.33:1 Super 8

The shocking life of M*useketeer-turned-gay bondage pornographer Buddy Wilson (Ken Camp) is exposed in this UCLA Project One student film by future videomaker (Blonde Death) and novelist (Tim & Pete, Boy Wonder) James Robert Baker. Are Wilson and his degenerate films merely an aberration, or is there more to “the happiest place on Earth” than meets the eye?

Unseen since its controversial inclusion in the second-ever San Francisco Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival in 1978, Mouse Klub Konfidential is a hilarious satire of Fred Halsted, America, and a certain cartoon mouse that’s long been credited as causing none other than conservative film critic and talk radio host Michael Medved to abandon his dreams of filmmaking. And we can all be grateful for that.

New 4K restoration from the recently-uncovered original Super 8 and 16mm film elements.

Highway Hypnosis

1984, dir. Ken Camp

United States English 63m 1.33:1 SD Video

“Take a spin with the Freeway Killer”

The Los Angeles Freeway Killer (Leonard Lumpkin) takes a drive to Las Vegas—and back. This video by Ken Camp (As the World Burns) is both trancelike and troubling, taking the viewer across the desert of California, through Nevada, and into “the frightening zone where lay the genetic codes and memories that make us all killers.”

Unseen since its 1984 premiere at West Hollywood’s EZTV Video Gallery, Ken Camp’s Highway Hypnosis is a disturbing meditation on the eroticism of violence and a major work of both narrative video art and queer horror.

New digital preservation from the original 3/4” tape master.

Shock Video

1985, dir. Ken Camp

United States English 12m 1.33:1 Super 8

Constructed from footage shot for his as-of-yet unfinished Super 8 horror feature After the Comet, Ken Camp’s Shock Video is a disturbing reflection of the filmmaker’s time living in San Francisco during the latter half of the 1970s—a period that saw not only the blossoming of gay liberation, but the Patricia Hearst kidnapping, the Jonestown mass suicide, a series of bombings committed by the New World Liberation Front, the assassination of Harvey Milk, and multiple gay serial killers like the Doodler and the Freeway Killer.

Originally assembled and transferred to video for screenings at Los Angeles DJ and promoter Jim Van Tyne’s legendary Theoretical parties, Camp views Shock Video as being both something of a trailer for After the Comet and its own distinct work.

New 4K restoration from the original Super 8 camera reversal.

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If you have any questions, please contact me via DM to @Donkeyskinpresents on instagram, or via the contact page on this site.

Content notes: This is a 18+ event, and may be upsetting to some adult viewers. Please be aware all three films have a disturbing vibe, concern adult themes (murder; sex, inc. BDSM etc.). The first film features explicit sexual content, and the last two feature violent images, and flashing sequences. For any further info, get in touch.

Tickets: Full price is £6, and open concession is £5, but if you want to come and can't afford the concession rate please contact me using the methods above. No questions asked.

Location: Cinema room of Northern Market, 12 Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3ED WHAT 3 WORDS: ///gently.proof.divisions. Travel information to the venue can be found here: Google Maps.

Timings: doors will open 19:30. Introduction will start around 19: 45 or when people are settled. The film will begin 10 minutes later and be finished around 21:30. Total running time is 90 minutes.

Accessibility:

• There is a staircase at the front entrance to the venue on Great George Street; and there is an accessible entrance with a platform lift via the rear entrance on Alexander Street. There is an automatic door open button on the left-hand side of the door which can be operated by a single wheelchair user. Alexander Street is cobbled.

• There is level access throughout the venue except for seating in the Cinema Room, and a raised decking at one end of the venue. The floor is Yorkshire Stone flags, they are level but not smooth.

• There is a mixture of stools, benches and chairs, and tables at various
  heights. Stools and benches are moveable.

• The bar and food service counters are 1.2 metres tall.

• There are segregated toilets and an accessible toilet towards the back of the venue.