Special 10th anniversary edition of our annual series recreating the matinees of yesteryear, presenting weekly episodes of a complete movie serial, each paired with a classic (but secret) feature film – all on 16mm film.

This year, we reprised the serial from our very first series a decade before, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940, 12 episodes). Ming the Merciless has somehow survived disintegration and now wages deadly biological warfare against the people of Earth! Flash Gordon and his steadfast friends Dr. Zarkov and Dale Arden rocket to Planet Mongo to find a cure for the Purple Death...and defeat Ming once and for all! The third and final Flash Gordon serial — released as the real world slid inexorably into World War II and the Holocaust — is an action-packed, rapidly-paced classic that easily “deserves to rank alongside its two predecessors as one of the most entertaining and imaginative serials ever made” (Jerry Blake).

The feature films followed themes, which changed bi-weekly (rather than monthly). Jan. 6 & 13: Alien Invasion ('50s sci-fi); Jan. 20 & 27: Swashbuckling Heroes (Oscar-worthy adventures); Feb. 3 & 10: Very Bad Deals (dark cult classics about hubris); Feb. 17 & 24: Twisted Intrigues (hidden agendas, from two European masters); Mar. 3 & 10: Atomic Monsters (best-of-breed radioactive mutants); and Mar. 14 & 24: Widescreen Thrills (rare 16mm cinemascope prints).