Of all the holiday movie traditions, it might be that of Halloween that has given us in the film world the most joy over the years. Christmas has some winners, of course, but is often bogged down by moralizing, sappiness, or commercialism. Thanksgiving and New Year’s barely have enough films between them to constitute a tradition. But Halloween movies — like the holiday that inspires them — tend to get dressed up in an outrageous variety, from cartoony ghoulishness to leave-the-lights-on dread. At its best, it’s the holiday where normal goes out the window, and what comes back in is a topsy-turvy reflection — funny or disturbing — of our secret selves.
This week, a few area theaters are offering up Halloween treats, giving viewers a chance to get away from the small screens and catch a few fright night classics as they were meant to be seen: in the dark.
Stock up on the mini Snickers bars and rediscover one of these favorites.
∎ Of course, no October would be complete without at least one viewing of The Witches, director Nicolas Roeg’s 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel — and this week, we get two. The story of a young boy who uncovers a witch’s convention at the hotel he is staying at while on vacation with his grandmother, Roeg’s film has proved (rightfully) to have real staying power. With a pitch-perfect blend of caring and scaring, Roeg — helped along by Anjelica Huston as the head witch, and the practical effects of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop — managed to craft a child-centric film that is still just as popular with the adults those children have grown up to be.
It shows Saturday, 10 a.m., at Amherst Cinema as part of the Family Films Series, and then crosses the bridge for a free show in Northampton on the evening of Wednesday the 28th.
Presented by the Cinema Northampton group, The Witches screens at 7 p.m. at the Academy of Music.
∎ Not to be outdone, other theaters are climbing on the Halloween train as well. On Friday and Saturday nights in Shelburne Falls, Pothole Pictures presents An American Werewolf in London, a film that helped reinvigorate the horror genre by staying scary while it spoofed its own genre’s tics. Directed by John Landis, who would go on to direct Michael Jackson’s horror-inspired Thriller video just two years later, it laid the groundwork for the self-aware horror films that rose to popularity in the years to follow.
∎ And at Cinemark Hadley and its sister theaters in the Springfield area, the 1931 film Dracula is the subject of an unusual double feature this week: it turns out that when the original film, starring Bela Lugosi, was being shot, a Spanish-language version was being shot at night with a different cast. The double-header runs Sunday and Wednesday; check your local theater for listings.
Also this week: Doomed, screening on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Bing Arts Center in Springfield, is a film that’s light on the horror but big on the costumes. A documentary about the production of B-movie king Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four — depending on who you believe, it was either a superhero movie so bad it was shelved or a movie that was made to secure rights, but was never meant to be released — director Marty Langford’s film tracks the improbable popularity of what was by any measure a true turkey. Today, it remains a bootleg favorite at many of the Comic-Cons around the country, including, perhaps the Bing’s own — the theater will host its third annual Comic-Con from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday; attendees can get into the 8 p.m. Doomed screening for free with their ticket stubs.•
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.
