Saying Goodbye to the Laputa Asagaya's Science Fiction Film Festival with 'Espy'!

Signage for Espy (1974) at the Laputa Asagaya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Well, I couldn't resist. On the last night of the Laputa Asagaya's Science Fiction Film Festival (Friday, March 10), I just had to go one last time, taking in the final screening of 1974's Espy (as well as that of the film festival itself) in 35mm. Naturally, they screened the same print, so the same flaws remained, though it was still quite watchable. 

I had a lot of fun watching, just like I did a few days ago, but knowing it was the very last screening of the film program was a real downer. In fact, when I left theater after the movie, the poster you see in the above photo was already taken down. Sigh.

I should also mention that tokusatsu music played in the theater lobby before the screening, and, for about 10 minutes before each movie started, tokusatsu-themed music was piped into the theater itself. The lobby always seemed to be playing music from Goke Body Snatcher from Hell (1968), while the theater would always play the theme from Varan the Unbelievable (1958), among other selections. The choice of Varan music was a bit head-scratching, as that wasn't one of the featured films. Anyway, it was fun stuff.

I sure won't miss battling late-night trains in and around Shinjuku to get to and from the theater, but I certainly will miss everything else about it. I'm really glad I caught each movie on the program at least once -- and even catching Goke and Espy twice! As you can imagine, I'd say those were my two favorites of all nine titles. 

Many thanks to the Laputa Asagaya for hosting one heck of a sci-fi film festival!