“Amazon Women on the Moon” is his favorite. As a kid, Neil Pearlmutter used to go to the video store and pick up crazy odd films that his parents had no idea he was watching. He says that the movie is hysterical and it’s even better now. His wife thinks he has a very immature sense of humor.

Neil Pearlmutter has a fascination with “B” Horror movies from the 80’s, maybe because his parents brought him along to movies they went to see including horror movies that scarred him as a child…in a good way…in a way that kept him thinking about them, or maybe because he loves the technical aspects and campiness of “B” Horror movies. It engulfed him and he eventually created a cult group in October of 2012. It’s called “Cult Film Series at Roxy 14” and it’s become much more surprising and rewarding to him than anyone could have ever expected.

Mr. Pearlmutter delineates Horror cultists as a wonderful kind of people. They are caring, supportive, non-judging, and unsurprised by any secret you may be hiding from the world. “They’re well adjusted people”, he comments. Interesting, why you wonder? Well, Mr. Pearlmutter continues, “It probably has something to do with the aspects of the genre.” Although, he adds that Horror cultists stick their noses up in the air at Comedy and Sci-Fi cultists who do the same to Horror cultists, and yet somehow they all get along within the Roxy 14 house. Actually, they more than just get along, they’ve become family.

Mr. Pearlmutter looks forward to seeing his cult family bi-monthly (sometimes 3 times if a month has 5 weeks) over the movies, over the popcorn, maybe even over the special guests. There are people who share their lives with each other and open up for the first time. This group is invested in each other and Mr. Pearlmutter knows everyone. He stands at the door to greet the attendees as they all walk in and they schmooze, catch each other up on what’s transpired since the last cult night. Mr. Pearlmutter mentions Michael with special affection, “I know all about his job, his church, and his mom.” He goes on to say, “I’m his biggest fan” he says, “He came in 1st place for our Halloween costume contest. He dressed up as ‘The Greatest American Hero’”. Apparently, Michael is known to dress up for each specific movie that’s being shown. It adds some color to an already festive night and knowing how much it means to Michael and the rest of the gang it makes Mr. Pearlmutter appreciate the film nights that much more.

Michael appeared in the contest 2 Halloweens ago but didn’t win 1st prize (which could be something like a signed one sheet poster of “Annabelle”). He dressed up as Gene Wilder’s “Willy Wonka”, NOT Johnny Depp’s. That’s the other thing about the community, they have a Facebook page of 1,000 plus followers that’s brimming with communication and comments (https://www.facebook.com/Roxy14CULT/). You’ll probably find people trashing a remake that’s announced such as “Big Trouble, Little China”. Mr. Pearlmutter says, “You wouldn’t want to see a remake of “The Wizard of Oz”, would you? Sure there’ve been prequels and sequels but no remakes!” You’ll also find people selling Freddy Kruger merchandise and the like.

Before each screening, Mr. Pearlmutter gets up and likes to present fun facts of the film and “tries to keep his spiel short”. He asks if there are newcomers and welcomes them. There’s a professional Hollywood background actor who sometimes gives a behind the scenes comment about her experience working on the film such as, “I was an extra in ‘Howard the Duck’ and I remember Leah Thompson was really nice to me!’” After the double feature, people congregate outside for a few minutes before going home to patiently or impatiently await the next cult gathering.

Mr. Pearlmutter has scheduled special guests such as Producer Michael C. Gross of “Ghostbusters” and “Heavy Metal” who visited twice, William Katt from “The Greatest American Hero”, and Barbara Crampton of 80’s Horror film fame, who happens to live in the area as well. He invites the special guests out and buys them a great meal and introduces them to some local wine. Producer Michael C. Gross passed away a year and a half ago. Mr. Pearlmutter announced it to the group and like a family, the group reminisced about him and posted pictures. Grieving together “was a cathartic thing”, he mentioned.

The Cult in Cult Film Series seemed to be so unoriginal. After some thought, Mr. Pearlmutter made CULT an acronym for Classic Underground Lost Treasures. The Cult Film Series is as unique as it is meaningful. The bonded community’s next gathering is May 4th showing “Natural Born Killers” and “True Romance” for only $10. There’s a Cult Film Series banner on the Roxy 14 in Santa Rosa’s website (http://www.sregmovies.com/loc_roxy14) where you can click on the schedule and be provided with more information.