News from Slackerwood: Oh, the horror
Filed under: Horror, News From Slackerwood
It may seem like just another autumn weekend to you, with slow box-office appeal. For me, this is the weekend between film festivals. I've finished recuperating from and writing about Fantastic Fest, and now I'm gearing up to cover Austin Film Festival for Cinematical next week. Right now, I get to slow down a little and see movies in wide release. Maybe I'll finally get to see The Corpse Bride this weekend.
The Corpse Bride reminds me that Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, and Halloween-themed movies are starting to pop up in Austin theaters. I'll be out of town for the holiday this year, which is why I keep forgetting. I love to see the ideas that theaters come up with for Halloween film programming, and this year seems particularly inspired. Here are some of the horror film-related events planned around Austin:
- Alamo Drafthouse is celebrating Halloween with several Sunday-night dinner-and-movie events centering around classic horror films. The Wolfman Gypsy Feast on Oct. 16 features The Wolf Man (1941), the Franken Feast on Oct. 23 features the Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff (and a surprise "electrifying" dessert), and the Dracula Romanian Feast on Oct. 30 features the Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. Fortunately, these are safely non-gory horror movies that should be fun to watch while eating. I found out last year while watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre that graphic horror movies and dinner don't often mix well.
- Free scary midnight movies: The long-running Weird Wednesday series at Alamo Drafthouse Downtown is focusing on horror movies this month. The Oct. 19 movie is Demon Witch Child, a 1975 Exorcist ripoff. The Oct. 26 movie is Velvet Vampire, which Alamo describes as an "aquarian sex-vampire epic." There's a reason why these movies are at midnight and have free admission.
- The Sinus Show is getting into the Halloween spirit, too. This month, the comedy team will be performing their shtick around The Lost Boys, that oh-so-Eighties vampire film with Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Kiefer Sutherland. The Sinus Show guys have also planned a "Halloween Choose Your Own Adventure Night" on Friday, Oct. 28, in which audience members are invited to bring in movies for the Sinus Show guys to mock. They'll also host a costume contest and a bobbing-for-Schlitz contest.
- Joe Bob Briggs, my favorite horror-film and drive-in writer, will be in town next weekend. He's moderating a panel at Austin Film Festival about writing science-fiction and horror film scripts. He's also hosting a documentary about horror moviemaking, Horror Business, playing at Alamo Lake Creek next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22. The last time I went to a Joe Bob Briggs movie event in Austin it was sold out, so get tickets early if you're interested.
- Austin Film Society is hosting a screening of Secuestro Express, a Venezuelan kidnapping/road trip film produced by Austinite Elizabeth Avellan (who produces many of Robert Rodriguez's movies), on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Avellan and director Jonathan Jakubowicz will be in attendance. The AFS site describes this movie as "a brutal, digital-video adrenaline rush ... like Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting colliding with Mario Bava's punishing 1974 film, Rabid Dogs."
- AFS also starts its new Essential Cinema Series next week, "Southern Uprising: Recent Korean Cinema." The series, which will take place on Tuesday nights through Nov. 22, focuses on Korean films from the past 10 years. The first film, screening on Oct. 18, is Painted Fire, a 2002 film about a struggling artist.
- Screen Door Jesus opens today at the Arbor Great Hills theater. The feature film is about a small-town's reaction when a picture of Jesus appears on, yes, a screen door. The film was shot in the Austin/Lockhart/Bastrop area. Director Kirk Davis and cast members will attend screenings at the Arbor this weekend.
- Alamo Drafthouse Downtown will show the documentary 24 Hours on Craigslist next Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 18-19. The documentary is exactly what the title promises: the filmmakers track ads on the original Bay Area Craigslist for a single day, interviewing people placing personal ads, help wanted ads, for sale ads ... if you've ever spent some time reading Craigslist, you know it's going to be a lot more bizarre than it sounds.
- The Austin Movie Show was a staple of the now-defunct Austin Music Network. The regular show now airs on cable channel 15 on Sundays at 6 pm. They've also established a Film Tournament 2.0, which will feature short films submitted to the show, starting October 16 at 9 pm.
- Free indoor movie: The new Union Cinematheque is back with another classic film: Nights of Cabiria, the 1957 Fellini film that was later the inspiration for Sweet Charity. This version contains a restored sequence that was originally cut. See it Monday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 pm at the Texas Union Theatre.
- Free outdoor movie: You can see Spy Kids 3-D from the comfort of your car, or bring a blanket or lawn chair to watch it outside. The movie will screen at 7:30 pm on Friday, Oct. 21 at Roger Beasley Mazda South, with free 3-D glasses and snacks available. Details are on the Rolling Roadshow site. Bring donations of dog and cat food for the Austin Humane Society.
- Free coffeehouse movies: Cafe Mundi showed Shaolin Soccer last week, so naturally this week they're following it up with another hilarious Stephen Chow film, Kung Fu Hustle, on Monday, Oct. 17 at 8 pm. Spider House is showing the cult musical Little Shop of Horrors on Thurday, Oct. 20.
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