William Castle-esque and cigar-chomping producer Lawrence Woosley heads to Key West, Florida to launch his latest cinematic creation: a B-movie extravaganza called Mant! But he finds the thrills of his monster-populated film competing with the chills of the Cuban Missile Crisis taking place nearby.

Matinee is Joe Dante’s (Gremlins) celebration of all things trash and low budget. John Goodman stars as a schlock-horror director in this loving homage to kitsch auteur William Castle, which also acts a prescient parody of the escapist potential of B-movies in difficult political times.