Horrors! It's a fright fest in two theaters

Horrors! It’s a fright fest in two theaters

By Susan King

July 31, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The American Cinematheque’s programming philosophy for its annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror & Science Fiction is simple and direct: “something old, something new, something borrowed and something really gory,” says programmer Dennis Bartok.

The sixth annual festival, at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica through Aug. 12 and kicking off Thursday at the Egyptian Theatre with the 25th anniversary screening of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” includes such oldies as “Jaws” and “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” and blood-and-guts fests like “Re-Animator” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

This year marks the first time the festival will take place concurrently at the Egyptian and in its new Westside home at the Aero. Several films from the past five festivals will be screening at the Aero.

“Audiences over there are constantly asking us to show them,” Bartok says. “They have never seen ‘A Clockwork Orange’ over there, or ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 70mm.”

Among the highlights:

Boris Karloff tribute: The Cinematheque has often showcased the horror films of Karloff, but Bartok thought the time was right for a retrospective of the actor’s movies, since this is the 70th anniversary of both James Whale’s “Bride of Frankenstein” -- which many consider the best horror film produced by Universal during the 1930s -- and “The Raven.” Among the films screening today at the Aero and Friday, Saturday and Aug. 11 at the Egyptian are Whale’s “Frankenstein” as well as “The Mask of Fu Manchu” and “Bedlam.”

Veteran horror director Curtis Harrington (“Games,” “Night Tide”) will be on hand at today’s screening of “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein” and at Saturday’s double bill of “Bride of Frankenstein” and “The Raven” (directed by Lew Landers) at the Egyptian. Harrington became friends with director Whale in the 1940s as a teenager.

“He had a very modest view of his own work,” Harrington recalls. “Horror films were always a poor stepchild [to critics]. That is why James Whale never received any critical acclaim other than saying ‘Frankenstein’ was a big hit. It is only in retrospect we see how marvelously crafted his work was and how individual he was. His films have a personal imprint.”

“Colossus: The Forbin Project”: Actor Eric Braeden (Victor Newman from the CBS daytime drama “The Young and the Restless”) will appear Aug. 12 at the Egyptian to discuss his experience making the 1970 sci-fi cult classic.

Despite good reviews, the film about a supercomputer with a mind of its own didn’t catch on with audiences.

“It was the beginning of a recession in Hollywood,” Braeden says. Still, contemporary directors always talk to him about the film’s influence.

“When we were filming ‘Titanic,’ at the end of a scene, James Cameron said to me, ‘Never.’ I said, ‘What do you mean by “never”?’ He said, ‘Don’t you remember the last line in “Colossus” ’ “? Braeden also remembers a contract director at Universal who was a constant hanger-on at Stage 12. The fascinated young observer was Steven Spielberg.

“The Return of the Living Dead”: On tap for Aug. 13 at the Egyptian is a cast and crew reunion marking the 20th anniversary of the horror comedy that Bartok describes as a “real underground” film when it was released in 1985. But “Living Dead” has gained such a following among hard-core horror fans that it has directly influenced contemporary horror/comedies such as “Shaun of the Dead.”

“Dune”: Both the Aero (Aug. 12) and the Egyptian (Aug. 19) will screen David Lynch’s ambitious 1984 version of Frank Herbert’s epic novel.

A festival of fantasy, horror and sci-fi

Where: American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

When: At the Aero through Aug. 12; Friday through Aug. 21 at the Egyptian

Price: $6 to $9

Contact: (323) 466-FILM or www.americancinematheque.com

Schedule

At the Aero

Today: “Frankenstein,” “Bride of Frankenstein,” 5 p.m.

Thursday: “2001: A Space Odyssey,” 7:30 p.m.; also Aug. 7 at 5 p.m.

Friday: “The Shining,” 7:30 p.m.

Saturday: “A Clockwork Orange,” 7:30 p.m.