The Sci-Fi Center shows not-so-classic horror, science fiction movies

William Powell sure knows how to sell a movie -- "The Beast of Yucca Flats," for instance, which was the feature being shown last Saturday night in the screening room of Powell's comic shop, The Sci-Fi Center.

"I think it's possibly the worst movie I've ever put on screen," Powell says, "and I think that says a lot."

OK, the film does begin with a nonsensical and out-of-place scene, and the melodramatic voiceover narration does sound like it was written by Joe Friday from "Dragnet," and it does appear that every single line of dialogue was dubbed in later.

But, on the upside, Sarah Davis and Kacy Chalker, in their guise as "The Vamp Girls," are entertaining audience members with trivia questions and prizes of ramen noodles and cherry Pop-Tarts. And, hey, the movie's running time is only 54 minutes, so there's that.

But even if the crowd tonight is sparse -- only a half-dozen people -- Powell is still happy to have presented them with an offbeat, inexpensive entertainment option that can't be found anywhere else in town.

Just about every Saturday night -- as well as many Saturday afternoons and whenever else there's filmic fodder to be viewed -- Powell runs classic and not-so-classic genre films in a screening room at the back of his store at 900 E. Karen Ave., Suite D-202.

Powell started the moviegoing adjunct to his comics business in 2007 and figures he has shown more than 300 movies, mostly of the sci-fi and horror varieties, in the retrofitted screening room.

It's certainly one of the best moviegoing deals in town. Admission is five bucks, a bag of popcorn will set you back $2 and a can of soda costs $1, and the atmosphere -- a casual but potent blend of family basement, college dorm room and downtown grindhouse -- is free.

In a theatergoing universe in which midnight movies long ago were dealt a fatal blow by DVD and home video, Powell's screening room is one of the few places left in town where fans of offbeat films can gather to luxuriate in their communal love of sci-fi, horror, Japanese horror, blaxploitation, B-movie and other out-of-the-mainstream film genres.

Powell is adamant that the venue -- which is stocked with about 60 secondhand theater seats and a few rows of folding chairs -- be referred to as a "screening room."

"We're not a theater. The word 'theater' is banned," he says. "We don't want people to come and expect it to be a really pretty place."

The screening room, and the films Powell shows there, serve, first, as loss leaders to bring people into his comics shop -- people who might then, Powell figures, leave with a comic book or two and even become regular customers.

But the screening room and Powell's weekly cinematic offerings also are labors of love for Powell, 37, who has been a fan of sci-fi and horror movies since forever.

"Even if we don't have a 30-foot screen, it's still bigger than (watching) at home," Powell says. "And, you meet people who you never would have if you had not come here."

Don't misunderstand: The screening room's cinematic fare also moves beyond the bad ("The Wasp Woman" ) and the cheesy ("Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"). Presentations have included, for example, Alexander Korda's 1936 production of "Things to Come" (screenplay by H.G. Wells, based on his novel) and the original, Keanu Reeves-less "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

There have been genre classics such as "The Evil Dead" and "Army of Darkness" shown. And there have been movies that once were actual midnight movies, such as David Lynch's "Eraserhead," for fans who never had the chance to see them on a big screen.

Powell even has presented a few recent movies that were difficult to catch elsewhere in town, including "Human Centipede 2," which, he says, had eight showings at his shop.

"It's a place for people to come together and watch the classics," says Rick Mendoza, a customer and fan who now occasionally works at The Sci-Fi Center (call 792-4335 -- it's 792-GEEK -- or go online at www.thescificenter.com).

During a recent Saturday night double-feature of the 1973 made-for-TV movie "Satan's School for Girls" and a bizarre 1998 low-budgeter called "The Necro Files," the two -- that's right, just two -- audience members felt free enough to laugh out loud and even offer a few comments, discussing the films in real time a la "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Faye Schwartzer, who caught last weekend's presentation of "The Beast of Yucca Flats," stops by so often that she has a favorite seat (good view of the screen, but far enough away from the projection system to not hear its white-noise whine).

What was the first movie she saw there? "I don't remember. I've seen so many," she says. "But the most memorable one was 'Blacula,' only because it was really funny. I even made up a drinking game (for it), if we could drink in here."

What's the appeal of seeing a film here? "It's just, most of the time, the people are nice, and people like to talk about the movie afterwards, sometimes," she says. "Also, I'm not a big drinker, so I don't really like going to the bars, and this is something to do to get out of the house."

Saturday's screening of "The Beast of Yucca Flats" also marked the next step of the screening room's evolution: Powell says he plans to create monthly "Vegas Fright Night" events with The Vamp Girls as hosts.

Davis said she and Chalker -- who, in their Vamp Girls personae are known as Sarah and Kacy Vamp -- created The Vamp Girls about five months ago.

"We're models, and we do spokesmodeling and fashion shows and things like that," she says.

"The Beast of Yucca Flats" served as a sort of rehearsal for the monthly events, which Powell hopes to kick off early next year. For Powell, it will be just another way of spreading the gospel of sci-fi and horror cinema to a wider audience and offer valley moviegoers with a taste for something different an off-the-beaten-path entertainment option.

Oh, and for what it's worth: "The Beast of Yucca Flats" turned out to be exactly as bad as Powell said.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.