Cinephiles and moviegoers have flocked to the National Film and Sound Archive for their monthly dose of the silver screen frights and delights in the Cult Classics series. Luring viewers in is Venus Mantrap, a local artist and performer who kicked the series off in May this year as an exploration of 1970s, ’80s and ‘90s horror-adjacent cinema.

As the year draws to a close so does the beloved fright night feature with the last instalment promising to be a night to remember in Prom Night at the NFSA: Carrie Special Screening at the NFSA on 16 December. Wanting to celebrate with the loyal audience, affectionately known as repeat offenders, Venus decided the last event of the season had to be a party.

“I thought it’s prom season or formal season as we call it here and Carrie is so beloved, people love the Stephen King book and the Brian De Palma adaptation is quintessential horror; it straddles the drama of adolescence, the horror of adolescence and the humour of adolescence really expertly,” says Venus. “It’s referenced endlessly. A lot of people of know about the pig’s blood in the rafters or they understand the terminology ‘dirty pillows’ but a lot of people have never actually seen the film.”

Returning to Arc Cinema next year, the 2024 Cult Classics line-up has just been released with viewers bound to be delighted. Kicking off in February with the steamy thriller Fatal Attraction (1987), the season celebrates a few anniversaries with Ghostbusters (November) and The Terminator (December) both turning 40. Also celebrating four decades of haunting audiences is genre-defining A Nightmare on Elm Street (August). Venus says the filmmaker, Wes Craven, is a good example of the ideas and themes they want to explore through the series.

“A movie like A Nightmare on Elm Street, which is so single-handedly responsible for traumatising a generation of youth by unleashing that bogeyman on us; it’s funny, it’s frightening and that idea of the artist’s hand at play it’s so innovative – the production design, makeup, special effects. It is so disgusting at times, it is nauseating, but that’s why we love it and the dialogue, it’s so hammy.

“I think that’s where the remake and so many contemporary films take a misstep, is that you can’t feel them, you can’t touch them or sense them in any way, shape, or form. Something like A Nightmare on Elm Street and the franchise and films that came after, especially in the ‘80s and ‘90s just had that playful quality and you can see that creative problem-solving taking place in front of you,” says Venus.

Part of the vision for the series was to look at the craft of the pieces and the artist’s handiwork. The films explored this year have covered a range of interesting concepts and showcased the artistry in pre-CGI special effects. Venus says there is a certain visceral response they feel to seeing these flicks on the big screen.

“Contemporary cinema leaves me feeling a little flat; it doesn’t get my pulse racing, a lot of computer-generated images to me feel like we’re watching cartoons and I feel really detached,” Venus says.

Understanding some of the films being screened might look dated or fake, Venus says they are amazing to watch and to see the innovation that took place through the filmmaking process. Last month’s screening of An American Werewolf in London opened up a conversation relating to more modern craft.

“Someone after the movie likened the transformation of David to the artwork of Patricia Piccinni, so those correlations and those insights have been really interesting.”

Ahead of each screening, Venus introduces each film to provide some context into the significant part it holds in cinematic history. This could be a milestone birthday, the filmography it sits within, or the themes and how they related to the time it was made and the present.

“The ideas being unpacked in a movie like Robocop, which you can take on one level as a shoot ‘em up action film, but in the context of here and now, when we screened that everyone is talking about AI. In that point in time, the conversation was about the writers’ strike in Hollywood.”

Autumn at Cult Classics hosts a Season of the Witch miniseries featuring the 2018 reimagining of Susprisa, the iconic teen flick The Craft (1996), and a 35mm film screening of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), the oldest film to be featured in the series. Other highlights include 35mm screenings of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Natural Born Killers (1994) and this writer’s personal favourite horror movie, the 1986 remake of The Fly.

“It’s harrowing, it’s a horror film or science fiction or drama or romance, whatever genre you want to watch to attach to it that you can’t help but feel affected by, not just grossed out by. I think this happens with a lot of Cronenberg films, you never stop thinking about them, they get under the skin,” says Venus.

Along with the introduction, some of the movies feature a pre-show performance. Venus says not everyone has one but so far it has been more often than not. The performance speaks in some way to the movie being screened.

“For Videodrome, I had an amazing prop from NFSA collection; an old television with a static that I used onstage. I don’t like to always watch the films in the lead-up to the screening because I also like to be surprised. It’s often funny during the performances and then getting into the audience to watch and then going ‘Oh, I was wearing something similar’. There are all these details that I actively try to weave in and then there’s things that just haphazardly end up being part of the show anyway,” smiles Venus.

Although some of the flicks bombed at the box office, over the years many have developed a cult following with their own communities. The series is a way to gather this community in a welcoming space because often it is a solo journey when exploring this content.

“There’s something absolutely indescribable sometimes about this theatre filling with people to either see the film for the first time or to watch it for the 20th time. Everyone comes away from it learning new things, seeing new things, experiencing a new way to look at it.

“My favourite thing is when people are coming to films that I think everyone must have seen at some point in their life and they’re seeing it for the first time. The magic of seeing something made in 1983 for the first time in 2023 in a cinema with a big robust audience is so cool.”

While all the films celebrate the filmmakers, storylines, special effects or boundary-pushing, they also stand the test of time because they portray a good sense of humour.

“You’re not necessarily picking up on the witty dialogue, puns or jokes if you’re watching these alone, but suddenly you’re in an audience who are erupting in laughter and you’re like ‘Oh yeah, that is hilarious’,” smiles Venus.

For better or worse, horror was a staple in the Mantrap household. They recall although it terrified them, it was also compelling. Despite many sleepless nights, Venus kept coming back to the scary movies, saying horror is something they have always loved to confront.

“I think it’s a good question for everyone to ask themselves, why they’re drawn to horror? I think a big part of it is we as audiences put ourselves in these positions where you are sweating or you stop breathing or you react to the jump scare because you’re confronting fear in a controlled environment.”

When it comes to the scary stuff, there is a lot to unpack. According to Venus, when the audience leaves they are keen to talk through something they have just seen on the screen.

“Often, I find myself in the midst of watching something with an audience, that I have designed and curated and thinking ‘Oh gosh, why did I think this was a good idea?’ Inevitably it always is. People always leave with questions or conversing with the people they came with or striking up conversations with strangers.”

Catch the final Cult Classics for 2023 in Prom Night at the NFSA: Carrie Special Screening on Friday 16 December 6pm; nfsa.gov.au

Keep up with Venus Mantrap via instagram.com/the_venus_mantrap

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