Erotic film lovers are in for a cinematic treat this summer as the 4-Star Theater presents a limited June series showcasing historic adult films by famed filmmakers. The adults-only screenings run June 3rd, 10th, and 17th at the 4-Star Theater in San Francisco’s Richmond district. Tickets on sale now for $15. Presented in collaboration with long-running gay distributor BIJOU and adult film streaming platform PinkLabel.TV.

June 3rd – Peter de Rome’s The Destroying Angel

The adult film series kicks off June 3rd with Peter de Rome’s 1976 horror-porn, The Destroying Angel, recently remastered from a 16mm transfer. Acclaimed ’70s avant-garde erotic filmmaker Peter de Rome and narrative porn masters Hand in Hand Films bring a balanced measure of storyline, emotion, and steamy sex to this classic gay horror/porn hybrid, which is artful, campy, and haunting. Loosely based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, the film focuses on Caswell Campbell, a priest in training on sabbatical, torn between the call of the cloth and his pent-up lust. Religious repression leads to internal – and physical – fragmentation as Caswell repeatedly glimpses his sexually ravenous doppelgänger and is drawn into a bizarre underworld of psychedelic supernatural sex, with rough and kinky action and surreal, stylized sex scenes abounding!

Expressive photography and trippy editing from Hand in Hand founders Jack Deveau and Robert Alvarez and excellent music selections enhance the film’s atmosphere, and it culminates “in a nerve-shattering climax of frenzied emotion” (Torso Magazine). A one-of-a-kind film that you truly have to see to believe!

June 10th – Maria Beatty Retrospective

On June 10th, the lesbian centerpiece of the series will showcase a retrospective of three films by famed fetish filmmaker Maria Beatty: The Elegant Spanking (1995), Ecstasy in Berlin, 1926 (2004), and Spit and Ashes (2019). This one-night only screening is hosted by the Bay Area’s very own lesbian vampire Annie Rose Malamet, a film writer versed in horror and adult genres, and hostess of the “Girls, Guts, & Giallo” podcast.

Nouveau and sleekly produced, The Elegant Spanking is the story of a unique lesbian S&M relationship between a mistress and her maid. Enter their fantasy: a seductive chain of nostalgically hot images, shocking, amusing and dripping with sexual perversion. This ‘post-modern romantic subversion’ shows fetish, fantasy and role-playing, mutual female masturbation, bare-bottom spanking, spike heel and foot worship in a totally new and classic approach to lesbian S&M erotica. One fetish sequence after another sucks you in on a tide, pulls you along in a climactic ride into the dream sequence finale.

Decadent and luminous, Ecstasy in Berlin, 1926 was hailed as a new achievement of erotica upon its release. A golden Weimar beauty slips a needle into her creamy thigh, and while in her euphoria slips into erotic fantasy. She drifts through a variety of exotic experiences, all made possible by her dazzling submission and her partner’s absolute command. She dreams of being strictly corseted, whipped, and bound, and leads to a glowing, graphic climax. Both delicately sensual and sexually intense, it conveys all the dangerous rewards of passion indulged. To relish Ecstasy is to experience the delirious, consuming, and glorious fever of obsession itself. Music by Nick Holmes.

Spit and Ashes is a reimagining of the historical violence waged against women by patriarchal forces in the name of religion, medicine and family. The High Priestess embodies the wild, sexual and grotesque – the untamable hunger of female desire and the ultimate threat to male power. The Midwife is the spirit of all women who sought knowledge and agency over their own bodies and paid for their agency with their lives. Through a series of erotic and brutal rituals these women come together to reclaim their bodies and prepare for the fight ahead. Starring Sadie Lune and Dion De Rossi, with Daniel Maszkowicz. “Best Feature” Winner of the 2022 Golden Raincoat Awards.

A Venezuelan filmmaker who directs, acts, and produces, Maria Beatty’s films are often made in black and white and explore various aspects of female sexuality, including BDSM and fetishism. Inspired by expressionist German cinema, French surrealism and American film noir, Maria Beatty is renowned for her profound explorations of female sexuality, fantasy, fetish, and BDSM.

June 17th – Arch Brown’s Pier Groups

Closing the series on June 17th is Arch Brown’s 1979 Pier Groups, a newly remastered from VHS. This historically significant classic focuses on sex at LGBTQ landmark the NYC piers, which served as a popular gay cruising locale and queer congregating space until its demolition. The film predicts the fate of the piers in its premise: a presumably straight engineer (Johnny Kovacs) is sent to inspect them for a demolition company. His neighbor, well-endowed Keith Anthoni (star of Catching Up), is also headed to the piers, but for a day of freewheeling sexual adventures. As Kovacs attempts to do his job, he continuously observes the ever-present hookups of Anthoni and countless other clones (with heavy emphasis on oral). The anonymous encounters – raunchy, tender, enthusiastic – build up to a kinky, climactic foursome with a touch of bondage! Kovacs’ reaction to the sexual activity all around him is ambiguous – at times quietly comedic, but also lending the film a constant air of intrigue. The film’s nuanced tonal range also encompasses the fun and excitement of cruising and an anticipatory wistfulness brought in by its awareness of the impermanence of its setting.

Beautiful photography of the now-gone piers makes up the majority of this outstandingly classic, capturing and immortalizing a particular time and place in gay culture. A hot and horny cast and exciting soundtrack (featuring original music by David Earnest, who also scored Brown’s The Night Before, along with exceptionally inspired and well-placed song selections) cap off this true gem of a film!

Mark your calendars and get your tickets to enjoy these classic, erotic landmark films on the big screen like never before!

Calendar Details
Run times:
June 3rd – Peter de Rome’s The Destroying Angel
June 10th – Maria Beatty Retrospective (The Elegant Spanking, Ecstasy in Berlin, 1926, and Spit and Ashes)
June 17th – Arch Brown’s Pier Groups
All shows at 8:00PM

$15, 18+ only
4-Star Theater
2200 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121

Tickets available here:
>> Destroying Angel Ticket Link
>> Maria Beatty Retrospective with Host Annie Rose Malamet Ticket Link
>> PIER GROUPS Ticket Link

Adults-only summer film series offers historic highlights in erotic cinema! Enjoy remastered classic gay films by Peter de Rome and Arch Brown, and lesbian fetish films by Maria Beatty. Co-Presented by BIJOU Video and PinkLabel.TV.