It’s the end of an era for local cult movie aficionados: tonight, at the stroke of midnight, local entertainer/mortician/bad motherfucker J. Cannibal is throwing his thirteenth and final Feast of Flesh. For the past decade or so, the FoF has been an annual (or, in its heyday, semi-annual) celebration of everything a certain cross-section of the population loves: loud rock & roll, naked ladies, and mindless carnage, preferably at the same time. And while it’s sad that there will be no future Feasts, Mr. Cannibal seems committed to going out with a bang.

For the uninitiated, the typical Feast of Flesh program is as follows: a local band, usually of a psychobilly, horror-punk, or doom metal bent, opens the festivities with a raucous set from the Coolidge’s main stage. After that come two or three horror-themed stripteases from Black Cat Burlesque, the troupe that Cannibal helps run with his wife, Mary Widow. Once the assorted undergarments and body parts are swept off the stage, Cannibal invites the best-dressed zombies in attendance to shuffle up from the audience to compete for prizes in a costume contest. Finally, the crowd settles down for a classic film of the undead.

And what a film: for this final Feast, Cannibal has tracked down an ultra-rare 35mm print of Peter Jackson’s first film, the notorious cult classic BAD TASTE. LORD OF THE RINGS fans may want to leave their elf ears at home for this one – Jackson packs in all of the vomit-eating, sheep-torpedoing, and amateur brain surgery so sorely lacking in Tolkien’s novels. The night will also feature the triumphant return of local favorites Reverend Glasseye, who will be playing their first set in seven years. It will be sad to say goodbye the the Feast of Flesh after all these years – but if zombie movies have taught us anything, it’s that death is not the end.

J CANNIBAL’S FEAST OF FLESH XIII

featuring BAD TASTE (1987) dir. Peter Jackson [91 min.]

Friday, October 10, 11:59 PM

Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446)

$12