The Samurai Cinema Slaughter of ‘74 (The Deuce Notebook)

In early 2014, the programmers of the monthly film series The Deuce contacted Chris and asked if he would pick a film to introduce at the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn. The only caveats: it had to be available to screen on 35mm and it had to be a film that played in one of the grindhouses on 42nd Street back in the day. Chris chose a ‘70s soul cinema rarity - Henry Hathaway’s HANGUP (aka SUPER DUDE) - and the screening was so successful that he was invited back six more times over the next five years (NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER in 2015, MESSIAH OF EVIL and SEX AND VIOLENCE in 2016, KILLERS ON WHEELS in 2017, TEEN LUST in 2018, and HELL'S ANGELS '69 in 2019). By then, Grady was also hosting Deuce shows at the Nitehawk (QUEEN BOXER in 2018, RAW FORCE in 2019), but after COVID-19 shut everything down in 2020, the Deuce guys started a Mubi Notebook as a way to keep the brand alive until the monthly screenings could reconvene. Both Chris and Grady were recruited to contribute essays to the journal, and the first one was posted on July 27, 2021: The Samurai Cinema Slaughter of ‘74 by Chris. Enjoy!