Film News: Screams On The Big Screen

A Guide To Halloween Film Happenings Around Town

\ Oct 29, 2015

4 min read

Music with bite

On Thursday, Oct. 29, the CCA Cinematheque in Santa Fe (1050 Old Pecos Trail) will welcome Invincible Czars to town to put their unique musical stamp on a silent film masterpiece, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. The very next night (Friday, Oct. 30), the band will truck on down to Albuquerque to do the same thing at Guild Cinema (3405 Central NE). The 1922 film, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is notable for the creepy central performance by Max Schreck and remains one of the hallmarks of bloodsucking cinema. The Austin-based Invincible Czars produces original instrumental “mini symphonies” that fuse “rock, classical music, loungey grooves, spacey klezmer, country shuffles and circusy polka.” The group has become famous for their live original scores to silent movies. The concert/screening will start at 7pm both nights. Tickets at CCA are $12 general admission and $10 students. Tickets at Guild are $8 for all. For more info on the screenings, go to ccasantafe.org/cinematheque#/ or guildcinema.com. For more details on the band, go to invincibleczars.com.

Don’t forget the dead

If you’re more interested in Day of the Dead than Halloween, the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fouth Street SW) is showing the documentary Food for the Ancestors on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7pm. The film explores the Indo-Hispanic tradition of Day of the Dead, honoring the memories of loved ones and ancestors as it is carried out in the Mexican state of Puebla. Dance, artwork, pottery, weaving and, of course, cooking are all part of the celebration. The film is written and hosted by famed food writer Bruce Kraig. This is a free event, but seating is limited, so you need to pick up your tickets starting at 6pm.

More Monsters

Guild Cinema keeps the Halloween happenings going with a Saturday/Sunday (Oct. 31/Nov. 1) matinee of the 1948 comedy flick Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The screening is sponsored by Albuquerque Film Club and starts at 1pm on both days. Tickets are a just $5. The film finds comic duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello running into a host of Universal Studios’ monsters—including Bela Lugosi’s Dracula.

Lugosi’s appearance leads into Guild’s other weekend event, a Halloween homage to the actor and icon featuring three “lost” films. Saturday and Sunday evenings will showcase 1936’s spooky mystery Phantom Ship (5:45pm), 1932’s atmospheric chiller White Zombie (7:15pm) and 1943’s Poverty Row monster movie The Ape Man (8:45pm). All three films will be presented on rare 16mm and 35mm prints. A mere $7 gets you into one, two or all three films.

Halloween treats

Alibi Midnight Movie Madness is jumping on the seasonal bandwagon with its presentation of Tales of Halloween on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30 and 31—also at Guild Cinema. This anthology features 10 short films from a variety of well-known genre directors including Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II-IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera), Lucky McKee (May), Neil Marshall (The Descent), Dave Parker (The Dead Hate the Living!), Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider!) and more. The film starts at 10:30pm both nights. Tickets are $8 general admission and $6 students.

Free frights

The South Broadway Cultural Center (1025 Broadway SE) is offering a fun, all-ages event on Saturday with a screening of the 2012 monster hit Hotel Transylvania. The sequel is in theaters now, so this is a great opportunity to revisit the original animated hit directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (“Dexter’s Laboratory”). The film concerns overprotective single father Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) as he opens a lavish resort hotel for monsters. The event starts at 11am with a craft activity for kids, allowing them to cut out and color their own Halloween masks. The film screening will take place from noon to 1:30pm. Tickets and popcorn are free. Talk about a treat!

Creepy KiMo

The historic KiMo Theatre in Downtown is getting into the spirit of the season with its Halloween 2015 Fright Night. The venerable venue will play the “Director’s Extended Cut” of William Friedkin’s 1973 supernatural masterpiece The Exorcist at 2 and 6pm. Tickets are $8 general admission and $6 students/seniors. In between screenings the theater will host the Haunted KiMo Tour, starting at 4:30pm. Unfortunately, that limited annual event is already booked up. So if you don’t already have tickets, you’re not getting in. Either way, it’s a great place to spend Halloween. You can get your film tickets in advance.