Phil attends the special screenig of THE CRAFT hosted by Peachers Christ at the Castro Theatre-July 13, 2013

The "Summer of Peaches" continued this past Saturday as our favorite drag queen superstar Peaches Christ returned to the Castro Theatre for another cinematic extravaganza! After last month's screening of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2: FREDDY'S REVENGE, I was super excited for this month's screening of the 1996 bewitching classic THE CRAFT. Upon arriving at the historic Castro Theatre, the line for the 8pm screening was insane. It went all the way around the block! I soon discovered that the show was completely sold out! Yup, I knew it was going to be one fun-filled night!

The crowd was in party mode that night. They were wild, they were rambunctious, they were hanging from the balcony! Upon entering the theatre, the lobby was already packed with people lining up for popcorn and snacks! There were two bar locations: one in the lobby off to the side and the other was upstairs in the mezzanine. There was a Peaches Christ merchandise table with cool tee shirts, hoodies, and 8x10 pics her. They also had on sale her debut film ALL ABOUT EVIL (directed under his real name Joshua Grannell) which yours truly bought, so look for my review of that film in the very near future! About 8pm, I settled down in my seat and waited with anticipation for the pre-show to begin.

As soon as the lights dimmed, there was a humongous roar from the audience that almost deafening! Then our hostess Peaches Christ came out on stage, decked out in a very sexy school girl outfit. She greeted the rowdy audience and thanked them all for coming out to the show. She said that this was THE screening that she was looking forward to because it's that last show that the real fans come out for, and boy was she right! The audience yelled and screamed back with enthusiasm. And then, the pre-show THE CRAFT OF DRAG finally began!

Sharon, Peaches, Alaska, and Honey strike a pose.

This was very exciting! In the pre-show, Peaches bids farewell to San Francisco and travels to her new home: Los Angeles! There she goes to a private school where she meets its outcasts: Sharon Needles (RuPaul's Drag Race season four winner), Alaska Thunderfuck (season five finalist and Sharon's real life boyfriend), and Honey Mahogany (this past season's RuPaul's Drag Race contestant). The reason they're outcasts is because some of the kids say they're witches, and for a while now, they have been seeking out their fourth member of their convent. With the arrival of Peaches, the invoke the spirit of Tranon! Then came the witches' infamous chant, "Now is the time! This is the hour! Drag is our magic! Drag is our power!" It was awesome!!

This was one of Peaches' biggest productions ever! The show was very elaborate! There were the traditional cardboard background sets (which are timeless), but there were numerous dancers and dance numbers complete with our ladies lip syncing to numerous songs from the film's soundtrack, beautiful costumes, numerous cast members, set changes, and one hilarious and outstanding script! Taking it all in was just so overwhelming! I couldn't believe what I was watching! The entire cast was superb! Honey and Alaska were great in the show, and Peaches was just fabolous as always, but the star of the night was undoubtedly Sharon. She literally stole the show with her wit, humor and her sexy good looks, but performance was just outstanding! I can't wait to see her again!

After the amazing pre-show was over (it ran for well over an hour, which is one of the longest pre-shows I have ever attended), the audience rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation!! Peaches called out the cast and had them all do one last bow. Then she had a surprise for the fans of THE CRAFT. She called from the audience the director of the film Andrew Fleming! Wow!! What a surprise this was!! She and Sharon did a little interview with him and was very funny. Afterwards, it was time to watch the film!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1996)

THE CRAFT centers on a troubled teenage girl named Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney), whose family has moved from San Francisco to LA. At her new school, she befriends a group of girls that are rumored to be witches: Nancy (Fairuza Balk), Bonnie (Neve Campbell), and Rochelle (Rachel True). As it turns out, the girls really are witches, and have been waiting for Sarah to complete their coven. They worship a powerful deity named "Manon" and soon, all four girls begin to display amazing magical powers. However, things begin to go awry as the girls begin to use their newly acquired powers against all those who have angered them. This does not sit well with Sarah, who must stop Nancy who is drunk on power and has gone insane.

It's been awhile since I've the movie, and I totally forgot how awesome the film was. I was a big time Robin Tunney fan and I used to watch all her films. At the time Neve Campbell was a big time TV star thanks to the WB show Party of Five. In December of that same year, she would blow up big time thanks to a little slasher film called SCREAM. Fairuza Balk would later appear in films like THE WATERBOY, AMERICAN HISTORY X, and ALMOST FAMOUS. The film was distributed to theaters by Columbia Pictures on May 3, 1996. It grossed $55.6 million dollars on a budget of only $15 million! Back then that was a lot of money!

What an incredible night!! Once again Peaches outdid herself with this event! However, next month's event is the ever popular SHOWGIRLS screening, so you know that it's gonna be crazy!! Tickets are on sale for that event, so buy them now before it sells out!! And if you are interested in becoming a fan of Peaches Christ, or want to view her upcoming shows, visit her website at www.peacheschrist.com. Also follow Peaches on Facebook and Twitter!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!