As one swift look at our calendar indicates, this weekend you may as well just sleep in costume since there are so many (pre) Halloween parties around it is almost, well, scary.
Alternatively though (and this option is starting to seem more and more appealing to me) you can go the route of being scared in the dark, as you did when you were 7. Now, 30 Days of Night (which Jason reviewed yesterday) is playing, and “Saw IV” is coming out and Hostel 2 is out on DVD and you probably already netflixed “Rosemary’s baby” for the umpteenth time but there are several “this weekend only” movies you may want to consider not missing.
1. As I mentioned in the Free Movies guide American City Diner is Playing “Psycho” on Friday. A classic.
2. The delightfully named “Transylvanian Concubines” are hosting special pre-Halloween midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at The UMD University Mall Theaters. There will also be a special Halloween night show starting at 9 pm.
It costs 5 bucks to go. And, yes, costumes are encouraged. Just be aware, that no matter what, Tim Curry will still look better than you in fishnets.
3. AFI Silver is, of course, pulling out all the stops starting with the Friday Screening of “Nosferatu, A Symphony Of Horror a 1922 silent classic with The Baltimore ensemble Silent Orchestra accompaniment.
Perfect date night if we ever saw one.
and then over the course of the whole weekend (check schedules here) they will play 2 horror classics recently remade (the originals were better)
The Wicker Man (on a rare 35 mm print), a supremely creepy neo-paganism frolic, set on a remote Scottish isle where not only something wicked is around every corner, and things are not as they seem, but also features Christopher Lee at his most regally creepy (as Lord Summerisle) and Britt Ekland at her most nubile (before Peter Sellers got to her) performing a seduction dance on the poor, puritan Sargent Howie who doesn’t even know what’s coming.
and of course
the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre the little horror movie that could and did spawn all the “torture cinema” of today. Leatherface remains one of the scariest killers of all time, and Tobe Hopper’s erratic, naturalistic camera approach may be almost too much to handle on the big screen.
and finally.
4. The Kennedy Center is celebrating the day of Halloween with a 1925 Showing of The Phantom of the Opera (this would be the Phantom BEFORE Andrew Lloyd Weber got his clammy hands on him) with live musical accompaniment by organist (genius choice!) Ray Brubacher.
And since nothing is perfect,
Movies we wish we could see on the big screen (and through a loosely knit scarf) this week include:
the original “halloween”
“rosemary’s baby”
any 80s stephen king adaptations
and Carrie (because Piper Laurie IS the scariest villain of all time)
one of the best double features i saw in college was Nosferatu on Halloween, followed by Shadow of the Vampire
mmm Willem Dafoe
October 25, 2007 at 12:21 pmI once saw Willem Dafoe at Chateau Marmont Hotel in NY (we were having baby fries, as one does in LA). Fred Durst was there too. We were sort of hoping Willem would kill him and do us all a favor.
October 25, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Trip Bannister will hold a midnight screening of Cuba Gooding Jr’s cringe fest “Boat Trip” on friday night, followed by hot smoke takedowns at SP.
October 25, 2007 at 11:49 am