A selection of films from current American Film Institute (AFI) series, scary enough for Halloween!
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Friday, October 31, 9:00 PM
A surprise hit in 2004 and an enduring cult item since, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s «rom-zom-com» — a romantic comedy, with zombies, that is — remains one of the best examples of the horror-comedy hybrid genre. Dumped by his girlfriend, slacker appliance salesman Pegg is so down in the dumps that he fails to notice the zombie plague taking over his London neighborhood until one pops up in his backyard. Fortunately, he and his couch-potato flatmate Nick Frost prove to be ace zombie dispatchers, and round up their remaining loved ones to make a final stand at their local pub, the Winchester.
DIR/SCR Edgar Wright; SCR Simon Pegg; PROD Nira Park. UK/France, 2004, color, 99 min. RATED R
ROSEMARY’S BABY
Fri, Oct 31, 11:00; Tue, Nov 4, 7:15
Suffering from both a difficult pregnancy and a deteriorating psychological condition, Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) believes that the strange doings in her chic New York apartment building may be the work of a secret Satanic cult among her otherwise normal-seeming neighbors. Her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) tells her it’s all in her mind, while older neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Best Supporting Actress Oscar® winner Ruth Gordon) take an increasingly intrusive interest in her health and comfort. But what if Rosemary’s terrifying dream — where she was drugged, incapacitated and ravaged by a demon — wasn’t a dream at all? Roman Polanski’s landmark horror film was produced by B-movie impresario William Castle, who makes a Hitchcockian cameo outside the phone booth as Rosemary frantically tries to reach her obstetrician. DIR/SCR Roman Polanski, from the novel by Ira Levin; PROD William Castle. US, 1968, color, 136 min, 35mm. RATED R
SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)
Fri, Oct 31, 3:00; Wed, Nov 5, 9:30
Adapting Washington Irving’s classic short story for the big screen, filmmaker Tim Burton brings his trademark eccentricities to this visually lush gothic fairy tale, its style an homage to classic Hammer horror films. Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane, an unorthodox New York City detective sent to investigate a series of strange murders that have taken place in the upstate town of Sleepy Hollow. All the victims were found decapitated, after traveling along a road deep in the surrounding forest. Local legend claims it’s the work of the Headless Horseman, the murderous ghost of a Hessian mercenary. The logic-loving Crane isn’t having it, and intends to find the real murderer. With Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee and Christina Ricci.
DIR Tim Burton; SCR Kevin Yagher, Andrew Kevin Walker, from the story by Washington Irving; PROD Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder. US/Germany, 1999, color, 105 min, 35mm. RATED R
FRANKENWEENIE (2012)
Fri, Oct 31, 5:10; Mon, Nov 3, 5:00; Wed, Nov 5, 5:00
Adapted from Tim Burton’s 1984 live action short film, this feature-length quirky homage to Universal’s classic FRANKENSTEIN films and the 1950s’ creature features of Burton’s youth is lovingly rendered in black-and-white stop-motion animation. When science-loving kid Victor Frankenstein’s faithful pup Sparky dies, he devises a plan to reanimate his canine companion. But when his stitched-up pooch gets loose, chaos and paranoia break out in the sleepy suburb of New Holland. Featuring the voices of Burton regulars Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau and Winona Ryder, plus Martin Short and Charlie Tahan.
DIR/PROD Tim Burton; SCR John August, from an original idea by Tim Burton; PROD Allison Abbate. US, 2012, b&w/color, 87 min, 35mm. RATED PG
BEETLEJUICE
Fri, Oct 31, 7:00; Tue, Nov 4, 8:45; Thu, Nov 6, 9:30
A recently deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) struggles to adjust to their new afterlives, not to mention the invasion of their beloved New England home, after a brash New York couple (Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones) and their teenage goth daughter (Winona Ryder) move in. Too nice to be effective at haunting their own house and scaring away the interlopers, the ghost couple turns to the ghoulish Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a freelance «bio-exorcist» whose aggressive tactics and overreaching create an even bigger mess. Keaton is brilliant as the madcap and frightful Beetlejuice; director Tim Burton established himself as a quirky box office force with this left-field comedy hit.
DIR Tim Burton; SCR Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, from the story by McDowell and Larry Wilson; PROD Michael Bender, Richard Hashimoto, Larry Wilson. US, 1988, color, 92 min, 35mm. RATED PG
THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG
SILENT FILM — Live musical accompaniment by Not So Silent Cinema
Sat, Nov 1, 3:00
A killer stalks a London neighborhood, murdering fair-haired lovelies every Tuesday night for the past several months and leaving behind a mysterious calling card signed «The Avenger.» Could it be Ivor Novello, the spooky new tenant at the local rooming house? Hitchcock’s first thriller, while not the first movie he directed, was the first one he considered to bear his artistic signature. (It’s also the first in which Hitchcock appears in a cameo, which would became a standard practice.) DIR/SCR Alfred Hitchcock; SCR Eliot Stannard, based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes; PROD Michael Balcon, Carlyle Blackwell. UK, 1927, b&w, 68 min. NOT RATED
VAMPYR
SILENT FILM — Live musical accompaniment by Gary Lucas
Tickets $15/$12 AFI Members
Sat, Nov 1, 5:00
Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer’s singular horror film traces a young man’s dawning realization that the mysterious doings in the village of Courtempierre in fact have a supernatural
explanation — a withered old crone of a vampire is preying upon the local populace. Inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla.” DIR/SCR/PROD Carl Theodor Dreyer; SCR Christen Jul, from “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu; PROD Julian West. Germany/France, 1932, b&w, 75 min. German intertitles with English subtitles. NOT RATED
NOSFERATU
NOSFERATU (1922) [Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens]
SILENT FILM — Live musical accompaniment by Not So Silent Cinema
Tickets $20/$18 AFI Members
Sat, Nov 1, 7:30
Casting a long and terrifying shadow over the genre, German silent film master F. W. Murnau’s uncredited appropriation of Bram Stoker’s «Dracula» set the standard for all vampire flicks to come. Max Schreck’s monstrous Count Orlok is singularly frightening, repulsive and beastly, where Bela Lugosi was courtly and Christopher Lee seductive. DIR F. W. Murnau; SCR Henrik Galeen, from the novel «Dracula» by Bram Stoker; PROD Enrico Dieckmann, Albin Grau. Germany, 1922, b&w/hand-tinted color, 85 min. NOT RATED
DRACULA (1931) Spanish language version
SILENT FILM — Live musical accompaniment by Gary Lucas
Tickets $15/$12 AFI Members
Sat, Nov 1, 9:30
Horror aficionados have long sung the praises of Universal’s 1931 Spanish language version of DRACULA, shot simultaneously and on the same sets as Tod Browning’s celebrated English-language original starring Bela Lugosi. Directed by George Melford and starring Carlos Villarías as the vampire “Conde Drácula,” this version boasts a better-sustained atmosphere of eeriness throughout, stronger continuity (perhaps due to it running a half hour longer than the Browning version) and much more erotic charge between Drácula and his comely victims, notably Lupita Tovar as Eva (Mina in the original) Seward. DIR George Melford; SCR Baltasar Fernández Cué, from the novel by Bram Stoker and the play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston; PROD Carl Laemmle, Jr. US, 1931, b&w, 104 min. In Spanish and Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
CORPSE BRIDE
Sat, Nov 1, 11:30 a.m.; Tue, Nov 4, 5:00; Thu, Nov 6, 5:00
Tim Burton returned to stop-motion animation with this macabre Victorian-era romance based on a Russian folktale. Johnny Depp is Victor, a bumbling shy guy betrothed to Victoria (Emily Watson) in an arranged marriage. Against all odds, the two actually fall in love, but Victor’s nerves get the better of him and he flees. Alone in the woods to practice his vows, he accidentally becomes engaged to the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter) and is dragged down into the underworld for their wedding. Caught between the two women, Victor must choose his one true love. Longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman provided the score and the film’s songs. DIR/PROD Tim Burton; DIR Mike Johnson; SCR John August, Caroline Thompson, Pamela Pettler; PROD Allison Abbate. UK/US, 2005, color, 77 min, 35mm. RATED PG
Screened with:
VINCENT (1982)
Tim Burton’s directorial debut was this mirthfully macabre stop-motion animation about a little boy named Vincent Malloy who, like his famous namesake, is drawn to the dark side of life. Narrated by Vincent Price. Price described the film as «the most gratifying thing that ever happened. It was immortality — better than a star on Hollywood Boulevard.» DIR/SCR Tim Burton; PROD Rick Heinrichs. US, 1982, b&w, 6 min. RATED G
And:
FRANKENWEENIE (1984)
Originally planned to be paired with a re-release of PINOCCHIO, this early effort by Tim Burton was deemed too scary for kids, leading the filmmaker to exit the studio and strike out on his own path. Suburban parents Ben and Susan Frankenstein (Daniel Stern and Shelley Duvall) lovingly support their young son Victor’s passion for home movies, often starring his bull terrier, Sparky. After Sparky is hit by a car and killed, the grieving Victor devises a plan to bring him back from the dead, inspired by a school science project dissecting a frog. But with the frisky pup now stitched up and running around, what will the neighbors think? DIR Tim Burton; SCR Leonard Ripps, from an original idea by Tim Burton; PROD Julie Hickson. US, 1984, color/b&w, 29 min. RATED PG
THE HAUNTING (1963)
Sun, Nov 16, 11:30 a.m.; Mon, Nov 17, 4:45; Wed, Nov 19, 4:20; Thu, Nov 20, 9:30
«Scandal, murder, insanity, suicide…the history of Hill House had everything I wanted. It was an evil house from the beginning…a house that was born bad.» Robert Wise’s iconic haunted house film, based on Shirley Jackson’s novel «The Haunting of Hill House,» still sets the standard for atmospheric fright-making, inducing the viewer to imagine more than what’s shown. A team of paranormal activity investigators, including anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), two psychics — the brassy, lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom) and shy, retiring Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris), a powerful, but highly suggestible, empath — and the mansion’s potential heir, playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn), sets up camp in the house, the first guests the house has had in years. But will they become the house’s latest victims?
DIR/PROD Robert Wise; SCR Nelson Gidding, from the novel «The Haunting of Hill House» by Shirley Jackson. US/UK, 1963, b&w, 112 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
THE SPINE-TINGLING CENTENNIAL OF WILLIAM CASTLE!
ROSEMARY’S BABY
Fri, Oct 31, 11:00; Tue, Nov 4, 7:15
Suffering from both a difficult pregnancy and a deteriorating psychological condition, Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) believes that the strange doings in her chic New York apartment building may be the work of a secret Satanic cult among her otherwise normal-seeming neighbors. Her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) tells her it’s all in her mind, while older neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Best Supporting Actress Oscar® winner Ruth Gordon) take an increasingly intrusive interest in her health and comfort. But what if Rosemary’s terrifying dream — where she was drugged, incapacitated and ravaged by a demon — wasn’t a dream at all? Roman Polanski’s landmark horror film was produced by B-movie impresario William Castle, who makes a Hitchcockian cameo outside the phone booth as Rosemary frantically tries to reach her obstetrician.
DIR/SCR Roman Polanski, from the novel by Ira Levin; PROD William Castle. US, 1968, color, 136 min, 35mm. RATED R
