‘Bad Movie Night’ on a really, really big screen: ODU planetarium shows cheesy sci-fi on 48-foot dome
The fat little man in a red suit is coming to Hampton Roads — sort of.
“Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is playing Dec. 3 at Old Dominion University’s Michael and Kimthanh Lê Digital Theater and Planetarium.
The 1964 film stars John Call as Santa Claus, who is kidnapped by martians in an attempt to let children on Mars be free and have fun. One frustrated martian, Voldar, played by Vincent Beck, thinks the plan is destined to fail and exclaims “All this trouble over a fat little man in a red suit!”
The screening is part of the planetarium’s “Bad Movie Night” series, a monthly selection of cheesy science fiction movies from the 1950s and 1960s in the university’s new planetarium theater, under a 48-foot dome.
Movies are played the first Friday of each month on a $900,000, dual-laser system that projects images on the dome in 4K.
Doors open at 6 p.m., trivia starts at 6:30 and the movie starts at 7.
Tickets are $3 and seating is first-come, first-served. No food or drinks other than water are allowed.
The university has been hosting the series since 2015, said planetarium director Justin Mason. He and other faculty wanted a new, noneducational way to draw people to the new planetarium, which opened in the spring.
A student worker came up with the the idea of showing notoriously bad movies.
Previous showings have included the 1959 film “Teenagers from Outer Space” and 1962 film “Eegah.”
“Some of those movies are so bad, they’re good,” Mason said before mentioning the 1957 film “Plan 9 from Outer Space.” In the movie, evil aliens devise a plan to attack Earth. “It’s one of those movies that’s kind of critically acclaimed to be the worst movie of all time.”
In “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” cemetery headstones are visibly made from cardboard and the string suspending a flying saucer is visible. In other movies they’ve screened, the acting was over the top, he said.
Trivia focuses on science topics related to the movies.
Prizes include little meteorites and toys, Mason said.
Turnout has been around 15 to 30 people, he said. They averaged 60 to 80 prior to the pandemic. They could only hold 100 people in the old planetarium but the new one can hold around 116. They’d like to hit 80 again now that people are more comfortable with sitting in a theater for a long period of time.
Half or more of the audience includes people that come back monthly, Mason said.
“We try to find ones that reach that sweet spot,” he said. “It’s so bad that it’s just kind of fun to watch again.”
Visit www.tinyurl.com/ODUBadMovieNight for a full list of shows.
Saleen Martin, 757-446-2027, saleen.martin@pilotonline.com
If you go
When: Doors open at 6 p.m.; trivia at 6:30; movie at 7
Where: Michael and Kimthanh Lê Digital Theater and Planetarium, Old Dominion University, 4501 Elkhorn Ave., Norfolk
Tickets: $3
COVID Requirements — Details: Masks that fully cover the nose/mouth are required, regardless of vaccination status; planetarium@odu.edu, www.tinyurl.com/ODUBadMovies or 757-683-3865
