Tri-Star Trash

Cinema

Vol. 1, Issue 1, February 2024.

 Cookeville’s Celebration of Schlocky Celluloid

Tri-Star Trash Cinema

Feb. 26, 2024

Welcome! In This Issue...

Thanks for attending the mistakes. If you’re interested in Promotional Flyer 2
inaugural meeting of Tri-Star participating in the creation of a Objective: Entertainment 3
Trash Cinema! Our goal is to not future issue, please let Jake Why The Dark Power? 4
only provide you with an know, either in-person, on Lash La-Who? 5
enjoyable filmgoing experience, Facebook, or at Posters-a-Plenty 8
but to also supply you with jaketibbs34@gmail.com. A Primer on Belews Creek, NC 9
locally-crafted supplemental Featured Artist: Eddie Street 11
material. Keep in mind, this is Featured Artist: Ben Harmon 13
not a professional publication! Jake’s B-Movie Rec 15
It’s a labor of love that will Jake’s Reading Rec 16
inevitably feature Next Time... 17
inconsistencies and About the Contributors 18

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 Objective: Entertainment
My Goals for Tri-Star Trash
Cinema
I often hear cineastes remark that nothing help, though, and as such, here are several
compares to watching a great film in the goals you can help us meet for successful
company of others. I respectfully disagree; screenings.
the pinnacle of the film-viewing Be present with the audience! Please don’t
experience is being forced to band be hooked on your phone.
together and power through a self- This is a screening, not a Rifftrax recording
flagellation of garbage scavenged straight session. We doubt you’re as consistently
from the celluloid gutter. Whether we’re funny as Mike Nelson.
talking long-time favorites of trash cinema Treat this space with respect. We can only
like Edward D. Wood Junior’s Plan 9 From use it as long as we can maintain it.
Outer Space (1959), newer cult favorites Spread the word! Bring a friend!
such as David A. Prior’s Deadly Prey (1987), Thank you so much for joining us tonight at
underseen treats like Jim Wynorski’s the Putnam County Library. I pray we can
Sorceress (1995), or anything from the generate enough interest to pursue further
endless filmography of Jess Franco, there’s screenings of B-pictures, because like I said,
just something special about productions there’s nothing like suffering alongside
made on the industry’s edge (or, as Orson friends.
Welles put it, “the suburbs of the cinema”). Jacob T. H. Tibbs
Through Tri-Star Trash Cinema (formerly Founder
titled the Broad St. B-Movie Society), we
hope to provide you with memorable
experiences of watching such schlock
alongside like-minded individuals. Our
screenings will rely on physical media, as
that guarantees the highest-quality audio,
picture, and financial kickback for the cast
and crew. We also hope to foster a sense
of comradery through these shared
experiences of schlock. Accomplishing this
requires your

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 Why The Dark Power?
Justifying Our Inaugural Screening
One of the best things about B-movies is
that the well never runs dry. Because of
their abundance across both cinematic
history and the globe, there were endless
options to choose from when considering
the first film to be featured in Tri-Star
Trash Cinema. Several films were
considered, such as Donald Farmer’s
Cookeville-based production Scream
Dream (1989), but following a period of
contemplation, Phil Smoot’s The Dark
Power (1985) revealed itself as the ideal
candidate.
Primarily, The Dark Power is tonight’s film
because it’s consistently entertaining.
Plenty of B-movies have great moments,
but it can be difficult to find one that is
devoid of rough patches. Despite the fact
that the undead natives don’t appear until
the third act, DP maintains watchability
through scenes that always give the
viewer something to chew on, from the
presence of Poverty Row western star
Lash LaRue to the abundance of
(seemingly) random movie posters
frequently in-frame to the shameless
replication of cinematography from Sam
Raimi’s The Evil Dead to the comically
overdone racist roommate character. That
third act is something special, though,
with delightfully charming makeup and a
tremendous sense of fun. Another
element of DP worth
noting is its place in history as quality regional
cinema. For those that are unaware, regional
films are those that are made completely
outside of both the mainstream system as
well as the normalized understanding of
independent films. Regional pictures are very
low-budget, feature mostly average Joes
among the cast and crew, and are filmed in
small towns instead of major industry hubs
like Los Angeles or New York. These humble
elements lend a level of charm, and I’d even
argue realism, to DP. Many regional films of
the 1980s were shot on video (SOV for short)
instead of film, producing an image and audio
quality that is lacking to say the least. This isn’t
to say SOV films are without merit, as the
aforementioned Scream Dream and Nick
Millard’s Crazy Fat Ethel II (1987) are both fun
examples of the format, but SOV pictures are
undeniably acquired tastes. DP sidestepped
this issue by being shot on 16 mm film, which
has been brought to vivid life in Kino Lorber’s
4K restoration.
Lastly, we had to consider runtime. Because
we only have 105 minutes to use the
screening room, that makes certain films
ineligible from the get-go. Luckily, DP clocks in
at 82 minutes. While I would’ve loved to
squeeze in a Tex Avery animated short or a
few grindhouse trailers before the film, our
narrow window of time simply doesn’t allow
for any margin of error.
I hope you enjoy DP as much as I do; it’s a
humble and satisfying experience of VHS
horror. Here’s to enjoying more similar movies
together.
Jacob T. H. Tibbs
Founder
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 Lash La-Who?
Lash LaRue: B-Picture Star
Younger generations may be surprised to
learn that iceberg of western icons goes
much deeper than the likes of John Wayne
and Clint Eastwood. From the genre’s
inception in the silent era to the early days
of television, many a name was made by
riding in the saddle onscreen, including
the likes of Tom Mix, Nick Adams, and The
Dark Power‘s own Lash LaRue. Besides
having an incredible name primed for
display on a poster (though his first name
was in actuality Alfred), LaRue was also
blessed with talent in the use of whips
and lassos, pulling off tricks that could
bring any rodeo crowd to their feet.
LaRue’s career almost took a very
different direction from the beginning;
following an audition at Warner Bros., the
studio informed him that while he did
have talent, he looked too much like
Warner Bros. big-name Humphrey Bogart,
and thus they passed on him.
LaRue would go on to receive work with the
"Poverty Row” studios. These kept LaRue quite
busy, with 1947 alone featuring a whopping
ten film roles. What these pictures lacked in
budget, they made up for in entertainment,
with fun flicks like Ron Ormond’s King of the
Bullwhip (1950) showcasing LaRue’s talent and
offering a vision of the American West that
served as an alternative to the big-budget
takes seen in the major studio films of John
Ford and Howard Hawks. LaRue’s stardom
extended beyond the big screen, being
featured in his very own comic series ( first
published by the real Captain Marvel’s own
Fawcett Comics and later by Charlon Comics),
one that sold ridiculously well. LaRue often
attended screenings of his own films, showing
off his roping abilities in front of adoring
audiences.
As the years went by, LaRue’s career stalled
alongside that of the Poverty Row studios that
made his name, with his time as a full-time
actor concluding in 1952. Between 1953 and
1984, LaRue appeared sporadically on
television while only making four film
appearances. One of these movies, the
pornographic Hard on the Trail (1972), featured
LaRue as the antagonist. He didn’t appear in
any sexual scenes and wasn’t even aware of
the film’s true intentions until its release.
Feeling betrayed, LaRue sought absolution and
spent the next decade as a missionary.
The eighties proved to be something of a
career resurgence for Lash, perhaps driven by
nostalgic filmmakers hoping to see their
childhood hero onscreen once again.
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 Lash La-Who?
From 1984 to 1990, LaRue made six film
appearances, two of which were directed
by Phil Smoot: Alien Outlaw and The Dark
Power. The latter film’s utilization of LaRue
gives the picture a metatextual angle, as
the elderly, washed-up cowboy is drawn
into conflict with demon-possessed
natives (something of a twist on the
cowboys and Indians trope). In a sense,
LaRue is forced to put down the walking
dead that is the frontier subgenre once
and for all, reestablishing the status quo
of settler supremacy within the North
Carolina setting.
Lash LaRue would star in a few more films
before officially retiring in 1990 and
passing away in 1996 at the age of 78.
While he will never be mentioned in the
same league as a Randolph Scott or Roy
Rogers, Lash deserves recognition among
fans of the western for his enjoyable
screen presence and unique talents.
Here’s to you, Mr. LaRue.
Jacob T. H. Tibbs
Founder

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 Lash La-Who?
Lash LaRue Feature Filmography

1944: Christmas Holiday

1945: The Master Key, Lady on a Train, Song
of Old Wyoming
1946: Caravan Trail, Wild West
1947: Law of the Lash (his first lead role),
Border Feud, Pioneer Justice, Heartaches,
Ghost Town Renegades, Stage to Mesa City,
Return of the Lash, The Fighting Vigilantes,
Cheyenne Takes Over
1948: The Enchanted Valley, Dead Man’s
Gold, Mark of the Lash, Frontier Revenge
1949: Outlaw Country, Son of Billy the Kid,
Son of a Bad Man
1950: The Daltons’ Women, King of the
Bullwhip
1951: The Thundering Trail, The Vanishing
Outpost Lash’s Sidekick
1952: The Black Lash, The Frontier Phantom
Al St. John was a comedy actor from the
1963: Please Don’t Touch Me
silent era that managed to keep his career
1969: Lanton Mills
alive in the talkies through his persona of
1972: Hard on the Trail (pornographic film)
“Fuzzy.” Fuzzy appeared in many Lash
1984: Chain Gang
LaRue films as a sidekick to our beloved
1985: The Dark Power, Alien Outlaw (also
hero. St. John’s signature character would
directed by The Dark Power’s Phil Smoot)
also appear alongside Buster Crabbe in a
1986: Stagecoach (remake of the John Ford
plethora of low-budget westerns.
classic starring members of the country
Reportedly, St. John was a rather
supergroup The Highwaymen).
respectable box office draw in post-WWII
1989: Escape
Europe. Perhaps the people just needed a
1990: Pair of Aces
laugh, and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s
nephew (nepotism accusations are
inevitable) was willing to supply them in
spades.

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 Posters-a-Plenty
Easter Eggs? Set Dressing? Nonsense?
A particularly memorable element of The
Dark Power is the frequent appearance of There are several posters beyond those listed
movie posters within the characters’ home. below, but their relegation to the background
When it comes to integrating film posters made it difficult for me to guess their identity.
into a movie, the filmmakers typically have a One resembled Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl”
reason. For instance, Wes Craven featured a while another may have been a Los Angeles
torn poster of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) Lakers poster. I couldn’t be sure, though, so I
in The Hills Have Eyes as a way of announcing didn’t include them on the list.
himself as the true vision of terror and not Movies
just a crowd-pleasing blockbuster. Sam The Godfather (1972)
Raimi did something similar with The Evil Young Frankenstein (1974)
Dead (1981) with a poster of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
aforementioned Craven picture. During my The Blues Brothers (1980)
first viewing of The Dark Power, I couldn’t get Celebrities/Musical Acts
over how many movie posters were visible. John Lennon with Yoko Ono
Surely there was intention by director Phil Clark Gable
Smoot in terms of their placement. Well... I Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
can’t find anything online or in the bonus Marilyn Monroe
feature interviews for the Kino Lorber Blu- The Pretenders
Ray that Smoot did that say anything about Jacob T. H. Tibbs
this. My suspicions, though, are that the Founder
film’s crew went to a store and bought
whatever posters were on sale so that they
could make the set seem more “pop” (the
Elvira poster fits right in, though). The
inclusion of posters for incredibly popular
musical acts seem to confirm this theory, so
either Smoot has the most generic taste
ever or the set decorators made the best of
what they had access to (they're lucky
Disney didn't complain about the
abundance of Mickey Mouse plushies being
featured). Whatever the motive, it‘s surreal
to watch a Toltec zombie overpower a
woman while a poster of Marlon Brando as
Vito Corleone looks on.

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 A Primer on Belews Creek, NC
The Setting of The Dark Power
undeveloped lands but there are also some
newer subdivisions and lake houses. Most
folks who live in Belews Creek drive into
towns like Walkertown and Kernersville or
a bit further to Winston-Salem or
Greensboro to shop and work.”
I appreciate this response from
Wrong_Clue9641. Knowing that the area
features a heavy polluter (one that
numerous residents have linked their
health problems to) accentuates the
One of the highlights of regional cinema is motivations for vengeance found in The
the showcase of small-town America. Rather Dark Power’s antagonistic indigenous
than showing off any of the world’s major zombies. Settlers came, saw, and
cities, these humble productions cobble conquered both the original residents and,
together locations in the area that virtually through technological growth, the land
the entire cast and crew reside in. In the itself. Perhaps pollution contributed to the
case of The Dark Power, that community is Toltec resurrection, even.
Belews Creek, North Carolina.
I took to the subreddit r/NorthCarolina to
ask for a resident of the state to give me a
general rundown of the community; user
Wrong_Clue9641 provided an informative
response. Here’s what they told me.
“Belews Creek isn’t really a town, it’s a rural
community in northeast Forsyth County that
touches Guilford, Rockingham, and Stokes
counties. The creek itself is actually
dammed up into a large lake that’s used to
cool a coal-fired power plant. Some
longtime residents have suffered health
issues believed to have been caused by the
power plant. It used to be an isolated area
with farms and a few country stores. There
are still several farms and large tracts of

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 A Primer on Belews Creek, NC
Hometown Hero
The town’s most notable resident, beyond
anyone featured in our beloved The Dark
Power, was Jester Hairston. Hairston’s name
may not be familiar, but his work certainly
is. In a career of music and film spanning
nearly seventy years, Hairston lent his
talents to such pictures as Sullivan’s Travels
(1941), The Alamo (1960), To Kill a
Mockingbird (1962), The Lilies of the Field
(1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Finian’s
Rainbow (1968), The Last Tycoon (1976), and
Being John Malkovich (1999). Hairston was
afforded the enviable opportunity of
working with an absolute murderer’s row of
directors, including Preston Sturges, Francis
Ford Coppola, Elia Kazan (I'd be remiss not
to suggest you look into Orson Welles's
comments on Kazan), and Spike Jonze.
Jacob T. H. Tibbs
Founder

Above: Hairston shaking hands with

Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

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Featured Artist: Eddie Street

Eddie’s take on Lash LaRue as Ranger Girard in The Dark Power.

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Featured Artist: Eddie Street

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Featured Artist: Ben Harmon

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Featured Artist: Ben Harmon

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 Jake’s B-Movie Rec
Jean Rollin’s Zombie Lake (1981) more straightforward fun like Overlord, Dead
Snow, or Shock Waves. This is the very Eurosleaze
This was a slapdash job by Jean Rollin meant to version, and by the unique criteria of that
salvage a near-death project following the subgenre, it delivers. This was my first time
departure of Jess Franco. The cracks in the watching a Jean Rollin film (shocking, I know)
production are extremely visible, but Zombie and I look forward to seeing more. The feel was
Lake features plenty of that distinctly dreamy very similar to Franco while also being decidedly
Eurosleaze flavor that I love so much. I'd argue different. Fun Fact: Zombie Lake, like many
that the majority of this subgenre's appeal lies in European exploitation films of the time, had
memorable moments rather than the overall “alternate clothing sequences” intended to
film, and Zombie Lake has some very good substitute any nudity-heavy scene so the movie
moments. Rollin's images of the Nazi zombies could be broadcast on television at some point.
rising from the lake are certainly effective, as are These sequences are staged identically to those
the scenes where the creatures prey on skinny- in the finished product and offer a unique look
dipping women. No one will argue that the plot into what seems like an alternate universe.
is "good", but there are good ideas. The threat of These can be seen on the DVD and Blu-Ray
fascism isn't something that can be swept under releases of the film.
a rug; it must be wiped out completely or else
make its return. This fact is what the French
villagers, led by Jess Franco regular Howard
Vernon, must reckon with over the course of the
film. It's easy to see why this story resonated
with the talent involved. Jess Franco had lived
through dictatorial Spain, which had only
recently become democratic. The script was co-
written by the Spanish Julian Esteban, and I think
it's safe to say that was on his mind.
Furthermore, the other co-writer, Frenchman
Marius Lesoeur, as well as director Jean Rollin,
lived through Nazi-occupied France. Sure,
Zombie Lake doesn't tackle this topic in the most
narratively-sound fashion, but the theme does
permeate. Many viewers are far too harsh on
this film, and I assume they must be expecting

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 Jake’s Reading Rec
Making Movies with Orson Welles by
Gary Graver and Andrew J. Rausch
Every B-movie fan should know the name Gary
Graver, a filmmaker with a career unlike any
other. Graver served as Orson Welles’s right-
hand man from 1970 to 1985, playing a part in
every Welles project in that span and growing
incredibly close to the cinematic titan. Primarily,
he served as cinematographer, shooting the
masterful The Other Side of the Wind (a movie he
gave his all to see completed), the excellent F for
Fake, the documentary Filming Othello, and the
myriad of unfinished projects Welles left behind,
like Moby Dick, Orson Welles’s Magic Show, and
Filming The Trial. These credits alone make
Graver a fascinating figure, but it’s the parallel
direction of his career that elevated him to
further heights in my mind. Working with Welles
in this period often meant financial hardship, so
Graver made ends meet by working on B-movies
(shooting pictures for such genre titans as Al
Adamson, Fred Olen Ray, and Jim Wynorski) and
softcore adult films. By the time he passed away
in 2006, Graver had 164 credits as
cinematographer and 81 as director. This wild
career is wonderfully documented in Making
Movies with Orson Welles, written by Graver with
Andrew J. Rausch. I was entranced by the man’s
story and any cinephile will be too.

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 Next Time...

See Quetzcoatl wreak havoc in Larry Cohen’s 1982 cult

classic Q: The Winged Serpent, featuring excellent stop-
motion effects and starring Academy Award nominee
Candy Clark and Kung Fu and Kill Bill’s David Carradine.
Stay tuned fpr updates!
Homework: Which film
earned Candy Clark her
Need a laugh? Look
Oscar nomination? up what killed David
Bonus points if you have Carradine.
actually seen it.

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 About the Contributors

Jacob T. H. Tibbs, born in 1999, grew up

in Dunlap, Tennessee before moving to
Cookeville in 2017, where he has resided
ever since. Graduating with his B.S. in
Secondary Education (2020) and M. A. in Eddie Street is an Overton County
Library Science (2022), Jacob is currently resident and high school art teacher
employed as a Freshman English with a lifelong passion for science fiction,
instructor, a position he has held since fantasy, and B-movies. Eddie is a
March 2021. Beyond his obvious love for Tennessee Tech alumnus (1999) and
film, Jacob enjoys collecting recyclable enjoys partaking in drawing, painting,
litter on his daily walks and fawning over and 3D printing. His artistic influences
his feline companion Mao (named after include a myriad of comic book artists.
the Cantonese word for “cat”, not the
Chinese political figure of the twentieth
century).

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 About the Contributors

Ben Harmon is a Tennessee Tech

alumnus (2021) currently residing in
Chattanooga, TN. He partakes in both
digital and traditional art as a hobby,
and it’s a challenge to find someone
more versed in the Halloween
franchise than Mr. Harmon.

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