New Capitol Theatre Series Presents Envelope-Pushing Films

Dave Huffman, former marketing director for the locally based Cleveland Cinemas, has always had a love for “weird films.” And while he no longer does marketing for Cleveland Cinemas, he still does some consulting for them and recently launched a new film program dubbed WTF Wednesdays at the Capitol Theatre. The program brings cult classics (and the occasional new release) to the theater on the last Wednesday of the month.

“Cleveland Cinemas used to do show these types of films as Late Shift movies,” says Huffman via phone. “The theater gave it another try after the pandemic, but the whole industry has changed a lot, and it wasn’t quite the same response, but [the Capitol’s horror marathon] 12 Hours of Terror still does really well. And someone else at Cleveland Cinemas is working some other unique programming.”

For Huffman, WTF Wednesdays will offer a chance to see the kind of extreme films that don’t generally make it to the cineplex.

“I want to show movies that push the envelope and movies you wouldn’t necessarily want to watch sitting next to your mom” he says. “I originally thought it might be out-there horror movies or strange films. Society, which screens on May 28, was fresh in my mind because of [last year’s Oscar-nominated] The Substance. Society is classic body horror from the ’80s. It has some great practical effects. There might be some new films that I’ll pepper in there if it makes sense for it. But for now, they’ll be retro-y cult titles.”

Based on the manga by Hideo Yamamoto, Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer: The Digitally Restored Director’s Cut, which screens at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, follows the exploits of Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a notoriously sadistic yakuza enforcer whose search for his boss’s killer leads to an encounter with an assassin known as Ichi (Nao Ohmori).

“I think the same year that Ichi came out, Miike had five or six other films that came out,” says Huffman. “He’s extremely prolific. This one is really really violent and makes you very uncomfortable. It’ll make you squirm in your seat.”

So far, Huffman has booked the series into June and hopes there is enough of an audience to continue.

“There are decent advance tickets for Ichi and I think Society will do well too,” he says. “ I always say that horror movies and comedies are the ones you need to see in the theater with an audience. It’s a communal audience you never get at home. With both Ichi and Society, which is kind of a slow burn that gets weird, you want to see them with an audience.”

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This article appears in Apr 10-23, 2025.