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Underground filmmaker John Michael McCarthy will make an auteur’s journey to Indiana this weekend, screening three of his movies on consecutive nights in association with the Indianapolis-based Dead Formats VHS Convention & Media Swap.
McCarthy, known as a pioneer of independent film in Memphis, Tennessee, will attend a Thursday showing of 1997’s “The Sore Losers” at the Back Door bar in Bloomington. On Friday, McCarthy will attend a screening of 1995’s “Teenage Tupelo” at Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie in Indianapolis.
His visit will culminate with a 30th-anniversary screening of 1994’s “Damselvis, Daughter of Helvis” following the fifth annual Dead Formats event on Saturday.
Dead Formats organizer Noelle Huffman arranged McCarthy’s retrospective run, and she qualifies as a fan of over-the-top gore and absurdist humor in his work. Huffman’s collection of memorabilia includes the white leather hot pants and fringed motorcycle jacket “Damselvis” star Sherry Lynn Garris wore in the movie.
Huffman said she appreciates McCarthy’s legacy of crafting extreme stories on miniscule budgets. “Damselvis” was shot and edited on video. The reported budget for “Teenage Tupelo” was $12,000.
“There’s something very inspirational about making something out of nothing,” Huffman said.
Dead Formats is another do-it-yourself story. The one-day marketplace for vintage VHS and Beta tapes, Laserdiscs, vinyl records, audio cassettes, movie posters and more was staged at Black Circle Music Bar, 2201 E. 46th St., in previous years.
Saturday’s event is scheduled as the first public gathering at a new, larger venue owned by Black Circle Music Bar proprietor Jesse Rice. Black Circle Audio, 3317 E. 10th St., will host Dead Formats.
Huffman said the event has outgrown Black Circle Music Bar. This year’s edition of Dead Formats will feature nearly 40 vendors from more than 12 states. The convention is scheduled 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
An alum of Indianapolis Metropolitan High School and Indiana University, Huffman said McCarthy and other underground filmmakers set an example for taking risks—such as organizing a convention for obsolete media formats.
“I think it took me way too long in life to realize that you shouldn’t stop yourself from making things and doing things because you’re worried they’re not going to be good enough or live up to the expectations you have based on the art you really admire and you love,” said Huffman, 34. “Filmmakers like [McCarthy] don’t hold themselves back, and they don’t talk themselves out of things.”
The roster of special guests at Dead Formats and the after-party screening of “Damselvis” includes cult actress Erin Brown (billed as “Misty Mundae” earlier in her career) and filmmaker Hugh Gallagher.
Garage rock musician Paul Woodard, also known as Poli Sci Clone, will perform songs at the 8 p.m. after-party. Woodard appears in McCarthy’s “The Sore Losers,” “Teenage Tupelo” and “Damselvis.”
On the topic of garage rock, McCarthy made two music videos with the Hives in 2004.
Huffman said she collects “things that have physical forms” because she’s interested in fandom communities of yesteryear as well as the rush of finding things she didn’t previously know existed.
“Finding something that speaks the language of the stuff that you love … there’s certainly something really exciting about that,” she said.
“Dead Formats V”
- When: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Where: Black Circle Audio, 3317 E. 10th St.
- Admission: $5
- Info: Visit instagram.com/deadformats_vhscon.
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