September 18, 19 & 20: THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS with the legendary TED V. MIKELS in person!

Thursday September 18: THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS and BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS at 9:15 PM with your hostess PEACHES CHRIST!

Friday September 19: THE CORPSE GRINDERS and THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS at MIDNIGHT

Saturday September 20: THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS and BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS at MIDNIGHT

The Clay Theater Returns to the Grindhouse: A Celebration of the Films

of Ted V. Mikels!
With Ted V. Mikels, documentarian Kevin Sean Michaels and Shanti in person!

Ted V. Mikels is an American filmmaker and has been producing independent films for over half a century. Famous for his eccentric home life (he once lived with a harem in a castle with secret passageways), promotional gimmicks (he was known for having nurses and ambulances on hand to assist "scared-to-death" moviegoers), and creating The Astro-Zombies, one of the first slasher films, Mikels is now considered a pioneering master of low-budget movie making. Mikels' film The Doll Squad not only inspired the television series Charlie's Angels, but many years later was cited by Quentiin Tarantino as one the many influences for KILL BILL. Mikels in the subject of a new biography called, Film Alchemy: The Independent Cinema of Ted V. Mikels as well as the new documentary, The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels. Don't miss your chance to meet one of cinema's greatest showman, Ted V. Mikels!

The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels

2008
Directed by Kevin Sean Michaels
Starring Ted V. Mikels, Tura Satana, Francine York
Narrated by John Waters

Cult icon John Waters (Director of PINK FLAMINGOS, HAIRSPRAY) narrates THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS, a new documentary by Kevin Sean Michaels (VAMPIRA: THE MOVIE), a rollicking look at the independent cinema and film pioneering of Ted V. Mikels, who has been producing films for over 60 years. Way before limited-budget action films became termed as "grindhouse," Ted was wowing audiences with his own special brand of guts, gore, humor, violence and most of all — style. THE CORPSE GRINDERS 1 + 2, THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, 10 VIOLENT WOMEN, MISSION: KILLFAST, THE BLACK KLANSMAN, THE DOLL SQUAD, THE WORM EATERS and GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS are some of Ted's films that have made their cinematic mark. Ted also reveals the secrets of his success and gives a rare inside look into his studio, editing facilities and home. Ted shares stories of the trials and tribulations making it in the movie business, the essence of showmanship, and the days of living in a giant "castle" mansion with a harem of women. New interviews include screen legend Tura Satana (Russ Meyer's FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL! KILL! and Ted Mikels' ASTRO-ZOMBIES and THE DOLL SQUAD) plus actors that have worked with Ted on his new feature film DEMON HAUNT as well as his other productions.

"Vampira: The Movie director Kevin Sean Michaels explores the remarkable career of independent cinema pioneer Ted V. Mikels in this documentary that manages to squeeze sixty years of cinematic innovation into one informative and entertaining film. Interviews with various actors who have worked with Mikels over the years highlight just what a formidable creative force he truly is." --Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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The Corpse Grinders

1971
Directed by Ted V. Mikels
Starring Sanford Mitchell, J. Byron Foster, Sean Kenney, Monika Kelly
& Warren Ball

The Corpse Grinders has become a perennial cult favorite by eccentric producer, director, writer and editor, Ted V. Mikels. Human bodies are fed into a bone crunching meat grinder, mashed into a bloody pulp, poured into cans and shipped out to market as Lotus Cat Food. Unsuspecting pet owners are being attacked and killed by felines driven into blood lust by their newly acquired taste for human flesh. The corpse-grinding cat food moguls have been running low on dead bodies and are on the lookout for fresh meat. Enter Angie, a nubile young nurse whose cat is acting up after eating out of Lotus cans. Angie comes to the factory looking for answers and is abruptly taken to the blood-soaked conveyor belt that feeds the insatiable grinder.

When the movie opened in 1971, Ted V. Mikels had a gimmick to reel in audiences in the style of William Castle. "We had certificates that people had to sign to get into the theater." Ted remembers. "We had a nurse taking blood pressure. We had theaters build a corpse grinding machine in a lot of locations. We had an ambulance out in front of the theater with flashing lights. We did everything that you could do to promote a movie."
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Blood Orgy of The She Devils

1972
Directed by Ted V. Mikels
Starring Lila Zaborin, Victor Izay, Tom Pace, Leslie McRae & William Bagdad

Blood Orgy Of The She-Devils opens with a human sacrifice and builds relentlessly to a climactic bloodbath. Producer/director Ted V. Mikels (Corpse Grinders, Doll Squad, Astro-Zombies) delivers his trademark banquet of beautiful babes topped off with a sadistic ritual stoning of a witch. Filmed on location in Mikels' infamous castle home, with flashback scenes of witch-burnings, torture and executions, this 1972 production features a cameo appearance by the director as a vicious "witch finder" for the Inquisition. A coven of near-naked witches are driven into a wild orgiastic killing frenzy by throbbing native drums. Bound on the blood-splattered altar, the terrified screams of struggling male captives go unheard as razor sharp spears plunge into their hearts. Queen Mara, whose dark power hails from Lucifer himself, has unleashed her reign of terror, hell-bent on avenging centuries of witch-burnings. The authorities are baffled as the brutal homicides multiply. When psychic Professor Helford and his team of exorcists zero in on Queen Mara's castle, all the demonic forces of Satan are unleashed in a final cataclysmic clash of good and evil.

Says Ted V. Mikels of the initial San Francisco screenings over 35 years ago: "I had to go into San Francisco and fight with the newspapers because they would not print the title 'Blood Orgy of the She Devils'! They would call it 'She Devils' or anything else but 'Blood Orgy of the She Devils'. I went there in person to talk to the editor of the newspaper and said, look, this is nothing but a campy little witchcraft picture! People remember 'Blood Orgy' now because when it returned to San Francisco they used to play it at midnight shows like 'Rocky Horror'."

--film notes by Kevin Sean Michaels.

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