Sat. Jul. 27 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

1hr 32min | R | Comedy/Sci-fi | USA 

The Senate’s 4th annual Hot, Sweaty & Weird summer series continues with a countercultural hit, ready-made to feed your hunger for cult sci-fi and oddball satire! 

It's a film that combines punk rock attitude, car repossession, and extraterrestrial activity in the trunk of a 1964 Chevy Malibu.

Which means it can only be Alex Cox’s incomparable black comedy Repo Man, starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton. Released without much hope or support by Universal, this critically lauded film was initially little seen. But thanks to an eccentric tone and killer soundtrack, it soon garnered a devoted fan base through video rentals and television reruns. 

So cut off your sleeves, tell that crappy job to shove it, and get to the Senate for this quirky and pulpy takedown of the Reagan era through the lens of Atomic Age science fiction! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Sat. Jul. 20 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

1hr 23min | NR | Exploitation/Comedy | USA 

It’s summer at the Senate and we’re once again getting Hot, Sweaty & Weird with a series of flicks to satisfy your burning desire for schlock and subculture, camp and cult! 

First up is Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, the grandmama of “sexploitation” films from writer/director/producer and consummate boundary pusher, Russ Meyer—hailed as the “best movie ever made” by director John Waters (Hairspray, Pink Flamingos).

This low budget masterpiece follows the violent exploits of three go-go dancers/sports car enthusiasts led by the terrifying and shockingly busty speed demon, Varla (Tura Santana).  

Originally dismissed by the film critics, this boldly bad and brazenly bawdy film has since been reevaluated as a sneaky satire with cheeky humor and quotable dialogue; its b-movie aesthetics and production values elevated by its subversive and still relevant takes on sexuality and gender. 

Don’t miss it! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Sat. Aug. 5 in the Senate Coney Lot  

Doors – 8:00 PM 

Film – Dusk 

Tickets – FREE 

1hr 37min | NR | Horror | USA 

We’re once again heading outside this summer for a FREE film screening in the Senate Coney Lot!

Just like last year concessions and bathrooms inside the theater are open, and you’ll have to be sure to bring your own chair. 

And, for the third year running we’re going to play the mother of all zombie flicks, Night of the Living Dead. It's a movie—much like an ambling, undead monster out for brains — that will never get old, thanks to a tense script and iconic, boundary smashing imagery.   

Most horror flicks have tended to lose their terrifying luster as the genre pushes ever onward into the realm of guts and gore, but Night of the Living Dead remains a frightening experience that will make you wonder if they really are, “coming to get you” whether your name is Barbara or not. 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Polyester (1981)  

Sat. Jul. 15 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets – $6 

1hr 26min | R| Comedy/Satire | USA 

Summer is here, which means the Senate is once again getting Hot, Sweaty, and Weird. Our cult film series begins this year with a classic that has a decidedly . . . funky reputation. 

Prepare your eyes, ears, and—yes—YOUR NOSE for John Waters’ Polyester, presented in Odorama!  

You'll gasp. You’ll guffaw. You may even be scandalized by the sounds and sights on screen. But your mind won’t believe your sniffer as your nostrils collide with this, the most astoundingly aromatic gimmick to ever invade the unsuspecting schnozzolas of moviegoers anywhere. 

Don’t miss it! Sniff it!

(By “it,” of course, we mean the scratch and sniff card given to the first 100 patrons through the door, allowing them to “smell” the action on screen.) 

In keeping with its goofy marketing ploy Polyester is a sleazy comedy with ridiculous characters and a low-brow sensibility, starring Divine, the unmatched (drag) queen of garish flamboyance. Sure, we can’t deny it, this is an outrageous and crass piece of trashy cinema, but it is also a witty satire. (No, really, it is.) Lampooning the dramatic excess of the suburban melodramas of 1950s Hollywood, it tells a story of infidelity, murder, strange sexual addictions, and anti-social teenage angst.  And it does it all with a cheesy organ soundtrack right out of a daytime soap and a visual style that crudely apes the king of 50s melodrama, Douglas Sirk.  

It’s one of John Waters’ best. Cheap and gaudy, but also thoughtful and remarkably crowd-pleasing. We hope to see you there! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue