Little shop of horrors

If you are in Helsinki and into weird movies you can´t afford to miss out on paying a visit to Pieni Leffakauppa! The name says it all (= small movie store) and yet hides its light under a bushel. Not bigger than a two-room apartment the place is crammed up to the ceiling with tons of DVDs, Blu-Rays and VHS cassettes, both new and used. They also sell some merchandise, like film shirts and posters.

Deep in the bowels of Pieni Leffakauppa

The focus is definitely on everything NOT mainstream. German silent movies, American horror classics, Japanese weirdness, Mexican wrestler flicks, Italian gore/splatter, 70ties sleaze, film noir, cartoon series and every genre that could possibly end on -exploitation, as long as it is legal, odds are high that you will find whatever you´re looking for right there. The variety of their supply is really amazing and I could easily spend a fortune in that place if I only had one.

A couple of years back I was very much into movies, preferably those of the obscure and/or gruesome kind. Then I somehow lost my interest a bit along the way (in fact, for no particular reason) until I heard about an upcoming movie festival called Night Visions - Maximum Halloween 3011.

The news gave me a long-lost but familiar thrill and I searched the interwebs for more info. I found out that the festival is the oldest and biggest in Finland focusing on horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and cult cinema. It takes place even twice a year with the Spring edition being in April and the Autumn edition being in the end of October, ergo nicely and fittingly close to Halloween. Night Visions is held over five continuous days and - take notice, all you geeks and freaks! - runs from this week´s Wednesday (26.10) until Sunday (30.10).

Scene of the crime will be the cinema MAXIM (with very few exceptions) in the city center and you will get your movie tickets directly there or in...yes, Pieni Leffakauppa.

With my renewed interest in film I was of course pleased as punch that I could
tappaa kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla. Not only would I get my ticket, I would also get to check out that little movie store. And checking out is what I did now already twice, as mentioned above the place really is incredible and if you are a true movie nerd you have to see it for yourself - seeing is believing!
Didn´t get the ticket though. An institution devoted to the cause like them sells of course, almost needless to say, only the yölippu (= night ticket). Between Saturday and Sunday a helluva lot of movies will be shown, the first starting at 3.30pm, the last starting(!) at 9am(!!) the next morning (!!!). So if you have both the guts and the Geld, you are in for a real trick and treat. I must say that 45 Euro are fair but a bit steep for me at the moment, so my only flick of choice is "The Whisperer in Darkness", the screen adaption of a H.P. Lovecraft short story which I coincidently read again just recently. Bought my ticket at Maxim a couple of days ago and on Friday evening they will have "The Whisperer" on their silver screen. Can´t wait to see it! 


Make sure to check out:


Pieni Leffakauppa
Night Visions Festival
Cinema Maxim (all pages also in English)

SONGS FOR TODAY:

William Shatner - Lucy in the sky with diamonds


Leonard Nimoy - Highly illogical