- B-Movies & Bad Science
June 23, 2009 - GHOSTBUSTERS 25th Anniversary Premiere Event
May 27, 2009 - Masters of Horror Drive-In Series
May 15, 2009 - Fangoria’s Midnite Madness Double Feature with special guests!!!
May 8, 2009
Written by 
B-Movies & Bad Science
On Sunday, June 28th, the Natural History Museum kicks off a series that promises to be fun & entertaining for the whole family.Join members of the Museum's history and science departments for a lighthearted exploration of the "science" behind Hollywood's creature features. You'll discover what makes these creatures and plots implausible off screen, and see some of their "real life" counterparts from the Museum's collection!
June 28th @ 2:00 PM
Screening The Monster That Challenged the World in which an earthquake in the Salton Sea lets loose a horde of angry mollusks and after the movie, stick around for a lively and light-hearted discussion about the movie with Lindsey Groves, Malacology Collection Manager.
July 5th @ 2:00 PM
Screening The Beginning of the End (1957), which finds gargantuan grasshoppers terrorizing the streets, but Entomology Curator Brian Brown is on hand to settle your nerves.
July 26th @ 2:00 PM
Screening The Flying Serpent (1946) where you'll bear witness to Aztec god Quetzalcoatl wreaking havoc after resuscitation by an evil archaeologist. Anthropology Curatorial Assistant Jennifer Saracino illuminates the impossibilities of that scenario, but also reveal cool Aztec facts.
Admission:
Adult - $9
Seniors (62+) - $6.50
Children 13 through 17 - $6.50
Children 5 through 12 - $2
Children under 5 - FREE
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(213) 763-DINO
GHOSTBUSTERS 25th Anniversary Premiere Event
FANGORIA is calling YOU to a GHOSTBUSTERS 25th
Anniversary Premiere Event!
Fire up those Proton Packs!
FANGORIA ENTERTAINMENT, SONY PICTURES, SCREENING SERVICES GROUP, and ATARI are calling YOU to a GHOSTBUSTERS 25th Anniversary Blu-ray Premiere!
Fans will be among the first (and possibly only) to experience the high-def version of this timeless classic on the big screen at this EXCLUSIVE (and FREE) GHOSTBUSTERS Blu-ray Premiere. We’ll be screening the high-def movie in its entirety, along with all of the Blu-ray bonus features - all in the company of SURPRISE CELEBRITY GUESTS!
While waiting in line, a SONY video crew will be available for fans to record their “job applications” for www.GhostbustersIsHiring.com and FANGORIA readers will be able to be among the first to play Atari’s GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME!
WHEN: Wednesday, June 3 @ Midnight (line up starts at 9PM)
WHERE: Ticket PICK UP at 8760 Wilshire (Press check in and line start at 9 PM) - Corner of Wilshire and Willaman
COST: FREE!
FANGORIA’s MIDNITE MADNESS SCREENING AT THE FINE ARTS THEATRE
8556 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, 90211
Phone: (310) 360-0455
One block west of La Cienega
The GHOSTBUSTERS Blu-ray Disc oozes with special features and interactivity including Slimer Mode, a picture-in-picture graphical viewing experience and a featurette on the refurbishing of Ecto-1. Atari’s GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME contains an all-new adventure from the film’s original writers Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Directed by Ivan Reitman, the sci-fi blockbuster comedy stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson.
GhostbustersIsHiring.com is a fun, visually engaging new Web site that offers worldwide fans the chance to become the “next” Ghostbuster. “Candidates” are asked to submit video “job applications” showing if they have what it takes to be a part of the Ghostbusters gang. The pieces are then uploaded to GhostbustersIsHiring.com. One lucky “winning” candidate will be featured on the site as well as on the GHOSTBUSTERS BD-Live bonus material. Visitors can also fill out an online application for a chance to win a trip next year to Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego.
***ATARI’S GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME, based on the smash hit motion picture franchise, is penned by original GHOSTBUSTERS writers and stars Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and reunites many of the original cast members to recapture the unique blend of humour and fright that established Ghostbusters as a pop culture sensation. The game’s launch on 16 June 2009 coincides with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s worldwide debut of the original motion picture on Blu-ray Disc(tm).
In addition to Aykroyd and Ramis, original Ghostbusters Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson lend their voices and in-game likenesses to the original story set two years after GHOSTBUSTERS II, with Manhattan once again overrun by ghosts and supernatural forces. The player joins up as a new recruit with the original team, testing a variety of unique equipment and gadgets, to track, wrangle and trap this wide range of awe-inspiring phantasms in an all new funny and frightening battle to save New York City from its latest paranormal plague.
For more information about GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME please visit www.ghostbustersgame.com.
Masters of Horror Drive-In Series
The Steve Allen Theater & Hollywood MobMov present
MASTERS OF HORROR DRIVE-IN SERIES
Every Friday night at 8pm in the parking lot
Tickets $8 per Person
- or -
for $30 reserve a parking space in the drive-in and get admission for as many bodies fit in the car!
Following the sold-out drive in series from last year, we are proud to announce a new series that features some of the greatest minds in horror. Each of them will appear in person for a screening of their Masters of Horror episode followed by a Q&A and a screening of one of their feature films! All of these directors have done at least one episode for the award winning series Showtime’s Masters of Horror.
Drive in technology provided by Eric Kurland and Hollywood MobMov
Friday, May 15th @ 8:00 PM
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT
Co-Director Ernest R. Dickerson in person!
Screening with Ernest R. Dickerson’s Masters of Horror episode, “The V Word”
Two rowdy teenage boys break into an old mortuary looking for a good time, only to find themselves stalked by the owner who is a very real vampire.
Friday, May 22nd @ 8:00 PM
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Director Tobe Hooper in person!
Screening with Tobe Hooper’s M.O.H. episode, “Dance of the Dead”
A post-apocalyptic world where re-animated corpses of former friends and enemies dance on stage for the entertainment of the few that survived a nuclear holocaust. Naďve young Peggy learns the truth of the dangerous world and the sacrifices that were made to guarantee her survival.
Friday, May 29th @ 8:00 PM
Phantasm 2
Writer/Director Don Coscarelli & actor Angus Scrimm in person!
Screening with Don Coscarelli’s M.O.H. episode, “Incident On and Off a Mountain Road”
Ellen, a young woman is abducted by “Moonface,“ a deformed and demented serial killer. But Ellen isn’t what she seems… trained for survival and combat with every available means.
Friday, June 5th @ 8:00 PM
KING OF THE ANTS
Director Stuart Gordon in person!
Screening with Stuart Gordon’s Masters of Horror episode, “The Black Cat”
Set in 1840 Philadelphia, Edgar Allan Poe, struggling with alcoholism, writer’s block and a lack of cash, is tormented by his wife Virginia’s black cat that will either destroy his life or inspire him to write one of his most famous stories.
Friday, June 12th @ 8:00 PM
Suspiria
plus
Phantom of the Paradise
Actress Jessica Harper in person!
THE STEVE ALLEN THEATER
Center for Inquiry-West
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
Two blocks west of Vermont—Plenty of FREE parking in the rear.
Fangoria’s Midnite Madness Double Feature with special guests!!!
Fangoria’s Midnite Madness is a new film series at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
This Saturday, May 9th is a special double feature with loads of special guests.
Starting at 10:00 PM (Note: earlier start time) is Laid to Rest - A terrifying story of a young girl who wakes up in a casket with a traumatic head injury and no memory of her identity. She realizes she was abducted by a Deranged Serial Murderer and in an isolated rural town she must survive the night and outsmart the technologically inclined killer who is hellbent on finishing what he started. (90 min)
Then at Midnight, it is Lightning Bug - A young boy who longs to escape the misery of his childhood. A gifted, self-taught, special effects make-up artist, Green dreams of going to Hollywood to make his own monsters. But the real demons of Green’s life threaten to hold him back. (97 min)
Scheduled to appear:
Scott Licina, VP of Fangoria
Robert Hall (Director, Writer, F/X guru)
Bobbi Sue Luther (LAID TO REST, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS)
Kevin Gage (LAID TO REST, LIGHTNING BUG)
Lucas Till (LAID TO RESTT, LIGHTNING BUG)
Lena Heady (Sarah Connor on TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
Look for more information about upcoming films in the Fangoria’s Midnight Madness series as well as an incredible array of horror, fantasy, and science fiction movies playing this month in the Film Radar Horror Fan newsletter coming soon to an inbox near you.
A Month of Friday the 13ths: Carnival of Souls
Today we feature the atmospheric cult classic, CARNIVAL OF SOULS.
Joost Presents: A Month of Friday the 13ths
Thirteen classic movies to scare the crap out of you.
Written by Friday the 13th: Uncut (1980) (Blu-ray )
After the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, producer/director Sean Cunningham decided to rip it off, according to screenwriter Victor Miller. In doing so, they, along with make-up artist Tom Savini, created a pop culture sensation that returned more than 70 times its budget at the box office. Unknowingly, they were starting a horror movie franchise that would create more sequels and earn more money than its inspiration.
Friday the 13th opens in 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake in New Jersey. A young couple of counselors sneak off to have sex in an attic and are killed. We flash-forward a couple of decades to present day, Friday, June 13, and meet Annie, whose vocals all sound dubbed. She is heading to Camp Crystal Lake, which is being re-opened, to work as a cook. She meets some townsfolk who warn her the camp is haunted. A truck driver informs her a young boy drowned and a young couple was murdered.
Other counselors are arriving and work to help Steve, the new owner, spruce up the place. He has some errands to run and leaves the camp in his truck. Annie gets picked up hitchhiking, but we never see the driver. When they pass the camp, Annie realizes she is in trouble. She jumps out of the car and is chased into the woods, but there’s no escape and she gets her throat slit.
Back at the camp, the counselors do what comes natural to young people when their supervisor is away: they soak up some sun, get high, and have sex. As horror fans know, this means, to quote Thunderdome’s Dr. Dealgood, “dyin’ time’s here.” No doubt to the delight of many male viewers, Marcie runs around in a tight, pink top and no bra, so it’s natural for her to sneak off with Jack (Kevin Bacon). You expect them to get killed during sex, but it is revealed Ned is dead in the bunk above. It’s a good twist on expectations and creates suspense. As the movie progresses, the characters get isolated and start dropping like flies. Alice is the last person standing and eventually battles with the killer. I was surprised to learn the killer’s identity and was impressed that it was cleverer than I expected.
Albeit a bit dopey and amateurish, Friday the 13th is a good time for those who like chills and thrills and is an undeniable landmark in the history of cinema. Along with Halloween, Hitchcock’s Psycho is also an influence in its music and story, and there’s a nod to Carrie at the end. The packaging states, “This unrated version contains 10 seconds of footage different from the original R-rated version.” I don’t know what has been added, but I believe the movie would still get no worse than an R in this condition. Nearly 30 years later, it might be too slow and not gory enough for modern movie watchers.
The Blu-ray has been released to coincide with the remake, but not much was done to prepare the movie for high definition, which is presented in 1080p with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. There’s a lot of grain throughout, especially in dimly lit scenes and during a freeze frame that zooms in on the image. The colors are muted, the blacks can barely be called that, and the details aren’t in sharp focus. On the plus side, the picture looks clean and free of dirt and defect.
In regards to the audio, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 didn’t offer much. The music sounds like it’s been remixed and is too loud, which contrasts with the low levels for the dialogue. The front speakers do almost all the work as the surround offers very little beyond faint ambiance. I’d recommend going with the Dolby Digital Mono as it creates a more authentic experience.
There are a lot of special features for F13 fans. Peter Bracke, author of Crystal Lake Memories, and interview clips with cast and crew are edited together to create the commentary track, which sounds like it was recorded close to the 20th anniversary of the movie.
A number of special features are presented in HD. The highlight is the film’s original trailer. It is very evocative as the narrator counts down the bodies. A reunion of cast and crew from Kentucky’s 2008 “Scare Fest” contains anecdotes about the movie and lets fans who haven’t gotten a life ask questions. What looks to have been recorded at the same time is “Fresh Cuts: New Tales from Friday the 13th.” Composer Harry Manfriedi claims the “chi chi chi” sound on the soundtrack is actually “ki ki ki” to represent “kill,” but I don’t hear it. The movie clips used here are letterboxed, which begs the question why they aren’t on main feature. “The Man Behind the Legacy” is an interview shot at Cunningham’s home and he’s done well for himself. Something called “Lost Tales from Camp Blood Pt 1” is some vignette where Jason kills some a couple in their home. It’s terrible and utterly pointless.
Presented in standard definition and likely from a previous DVD release is “The Friday the 13th Chronicles,” which covers some of the same ground from other extras, and “Secrets Galore Behind the Gore.” It’s comical that they always inform the viewer that the clips shown are from Friday the 13th. They may have been from a larger feature about the franchise.
Considering the better technical capabilities don’t offer much to the presentation, I would recommend buying the new DVD version instead of the Blu-ray. If it’s already in your collection, it’s not worth a double dip unless your F13 devotion is high and you have to own the new extras.
A Month of Friday the 13ths: Shock
Today we feature SHOCK, the tale of a psychologically distraught woman who is committed to a private sanitarium run by Vincent Price.
Joost Presents: A Month of Friday the 13ths
Thirteen classic movies to scare the crap out of you.
A Month of Friday the 13ths: The Little Shop of Horrors
Today we feature Roger Corman’s black comedy about a boy and his man eating plant, The Little Shop of Horrors. Watch for a young Jack Nicholson in a minor role.
Joost Presents: A Month of Friday the 13ths
Thirteen classic movies to scare the crap out of you.
A Month of Friday the 13ths: Night of the Living Dead
In celebration of Friday the 13th, Joost presents thirteen classic horror movies to scare the crap out of you…
Night of the Living Dead
Little Shop of Horrors
Shock
Carnival of Souls
I Bury the Living
The Devil Bat
White Zombie
Dementia 13
Bride of the Monster
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Virus
Attack of the Giant Leeches
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
We will feature a film a day on the Horror Fan blog, if you are the impatient type you can go to Joost to see any of these films and more!
http://www.joost.com/024qa4q/t/Joost-Presents-A-Month-of-Friday-the-13th
First up is George Romero’s 1968 seminal zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead.
Lesbian Vampires make out at The Silent Movie Theatre
This February, head over to The Silent Movie Theatre on Fridays at midnight for one of the most enduring subgenres of the horror film which stretches from the glory days of Hammer in the sixties and seventies to the many direct-to-dvd entries of today. The folks at Cinefamily sum up perfectly the appeal of these films.
“With their eternal youth and slinky good looks, hypnotic stares, and penchant for killer hickies, vampires are already the most erotic creatures in the horror menagerie. So what’s sexier than a vampire? A lesbian vampire! Sapphic lust and blood-sucking seduction have been working together for centuries—Carmila, the iconic gothic-era female vampire story, actually predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by 25 years. We still love our vampyros lesbos, a great excuse to lend an air of aristocratic sophisticaion to girls getting it on with each other whilst sleeping all day, and partying all night. Let’s hear it for boobs, blood, and blood on boobs!“
THE LINEUP
February 6th
THE HUNGER
If you thought you knew the limits of director Tony Scott’s delirious stylistic excess (Domino, Beverly Hills Cops 2, Revenge, Top Gun)—an orgy of television commercial visual design matched with the minimum of required narrative coherence, then you haven’t seen his debut film. At the time of its release, The Hunger was met with critical derision and commercial failure, but time has made it a cult classic. Smoked with seduction and soaked in stylization, The Hunger features an egregiously sexy lesbian love scene so steamy that even the film’s negative reviews had to acknowledge the power of sultry sirens Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon “making it” while covered only in what would soon become some of Scott’s signature visual elements: hazy interiors, gauzy eyelines, blowing sheets. The film is also one of the early touchstones of Goth culture, with its hot-pale-chicks-with-‘80s-haircuts, romanticized bloodsucking, and appearances by both David Bowie (in a supporting role) and Bauhaus (performing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” in the nightclub opening).
Dir. Tony Scott, 1983, 35mm, 97 min.
Tickets - $10
February 13th
VAMPYRES
The most savage girl-on-girl vampire movie ever, Vampyres usually gets tagged as British horror even though it was directed by José Larraz, the mad Spaniard who stunned ‘70s audiences with potent visions of carnal violence like The Coming Of Sin and Black Candles. Two incredibly sexy women living in a remote English estate (later used in The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Frank-N-Furter’s castle) drain their victims’ blood after bouts of wild sex and leave the bodies in staged car accidents, but when one insatiable man comes their way along with a nearby couple camping out in an RV, the stakes get considerably higher. Packed with a ridiculous amount of nudity and blood as well as a strong poetic streak and a purposefully baffling framing story, this sinfully entertaining cult classic drips with dank, dingy English atmosphere and just keeps getting better with age.
Dir. José Ramón Larraz, 1974, 35mm, 87 min.
Tickets - $10
February 20th
THE VELVET VAMPIRE
Dune buggies, rattlesnakes and hippies aren’t common staples of your average vampire movie, but then again, there’s never been anything like this outrageous desert paean to bloodsucking and partner-swapping. Incredibly, this arty answer to Hammer’s same-sex fang flicks was one of the earlier releases from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, who ruled ‘70s drive-ins. Michael Blodgett (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls’ Lance Rocke, R.I.P.) is caught between his vapid, vanilla girlfriend (Sherry Miles) and the smokin’ hot exhibitionist/art gallery devotee Diane (Celeste Yarnall), but soon it looks like he might be out of the picture once the two ladies develop eyes for each other. Directed by fascinating Corman protegee Stephanie Rothman and laced with a psych music score, this endearing, rare cult item remains best experienced on the big screen in all its gaudy, color-coded glory.
Dir. Stephanie Rothman, 1971, 35mm, 80 min.
Tickets - $10
February 27th
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS
Surrealist Belgian director Harry Kumel conjures up a dark, magical brew, spilling over with haunting imagery and chimeric plot twists. This kinky fairy tale revolves around ethereal vampiress Delphine Seyrig (Last Year at Marienbad), whose world-weary persona resembles Marlene Dietrich after lingering in a sarcophagus a few years too many. Recently married Stefan (Dark Shadows’ John Karlen) and Valerie find themselves staying at a deserted, off-season hotel along with the traveling Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Seyrig) and her beautiful sapphic companion. Soon Bathory sets her sights on seducing Valerie away from her brutal, belt-whipping husband, who has more than a few nasty skeletons tucked away in his closet. Intoxicatingly erotic, haunting, creepy, and even hilarious, this ravishing mixture of art house elegance and blood-spraying horror is like no other; at the very least, you’ll never look at a glass punchbowl the same way again.
Dir. Harry Kumel, 1971, 35mm, 87 min.
Tickets - $10
Modern silent horror film opens Friday at the Laemmle Grande 4-Plex
PROMETHEUS TRIUMPHANT: A FUGUE IN THE KEY OF FLESH is an intriguing looking modern day silent horror film opening Friday, January, 23rd at the Laemmle Grande 4-Plex.
The filmmakers will participate in Q&A’s after the 9:10 screenings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 23rd, 24th and 25th. Q&A’s will be moderated by film critic Gregory Weinkauf.
Prometheus Triumphant Trailer
In emulation of silent gothic classics like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Prometheus Triumphant: a Fugue in the Key of Flesh presents a revolutionary step backwards into film history. Using today’s most sophisticated digital filmmaking technology, directors Jim Towns and Mike McKown have seamlessly re-created a period of film long lost; where ghoulish figures lurked across broken vistas in sumptuous black and white and Guignol-esque tales were told with but a look and a gesture (and an occasional title card). When his small hamlet of Birzirkenstadt is ravaged by a deadly plague, the young and rebellious Doctor Janick reveals a radical cure. But his revolutionary theories about life and death label him a heretic and he is rewarded with banishment. As Janick disappears into the wild his secret love Esmeralda succumbs to the deadly disease, the superstitious doctor is helpless to cure her. Enter a mysterious masked figure known only as the Creator who snatches Esmeralda’s body from its grave and begins to conduct weird experiments; their object: to bring her back from death’s cold embrace.
Pre-order the DVD. To be released March 10th.
All Night Horror Show This Saturday at the New Beverly
The schedule for the October 18 All Night Horror Show has been announced.
It will feature Dario Argento’s rarely screened Creepers (the US theatrical cut of Phenomena!), The House on Sorority Row (25th Anniversary!), the award winning short In The Wall, Lucio Fulci’s Zombie (the Italian gut muncher!), Piranha II: The Spawning (FLYING piranha!), Teenage Mother (the live birth exploitation classic!), The Power (unjustly overlooked 80s aztec doll terror!), and the New Bev return of the ultimate crowd pleaser: RAW FORCE! Plus, be prepared for a SUPER TOP SECRET hit surprise! Schedule subject to change.
All films are presented in glorious 35mm! All proceeds go towards New Bev upgrades & repairs!
Admission is only $20! Tickets available NOW at the New Beverly box office or online through PayPal. Box office purchases are cash only.
There will also be holding a raffle! Win dvds and other special prizes, including the chance to program your very own midnight screening! (subject to title availability) Raffle tickets are $1 each and are available NOW at the New Bev box office!
This event is a fundraiser for the New Beverly so if you are a fan of exploitation and horror films, I recommend going as this will help keep this LA institution going strong.
