What’s Screening: October 27 – November 2

~ Lincoln Spector

Once again, almost everything in Bay Area vintage cinema is horror. But there’s a new comedy that has no zombies or vampires.

New films opening theatrically

A- The Persian Version (2023), Sebastopol, Opera Plaza, and various multiplexes. Starts Friday

Along with her desire to make movies, Leila’s sex life causes problems between her and her whole Iranian immigrant family. This mostly comic story follows the family and this particularly wild daughter. But then her mother has her own strange career, running a New York City real estate company. There are serious moments, but most of The Persian Version is as wild as the colors that makes the film a joy to watch.

Theatrical revivals

A- Night of the Living Dead (1968), Balboa, Friday, 7:30pm

16mm! This is fear without compromise. The slow, nearly unstoppable ghouls were shockingly gruesome in 1968 (sequels and imitations renamed them zombies). Decades later, the shock is gone, yet the dread and fear remain, made less spectacular but more emotionally gripping by the black and white photography. Night of the Living Dead is scary, effective, occasionally funny, and at times quite gross. It can be viewed as a satire of capitalism, a commentary on American racial issues, or simply one of the scariest horror films ever made. I have no idea if the new music will make it better or worse.

B+ Halloween (1978), New Parkway, Saturday, 12:00 noon

John Carpenter made a very good low-budget thriller that started a very bad genre: the slasher movie – also known as the dead teenager flick. An escaped psycho racks up several kills on the scariest night of the year. Yes, the story is absurd – the murderer seems capable of getting into any place and sneaking up on anyone. Carpenter and co-screenwriter Debra Hill took time to let us get to know these teenagers, and that makes all the difference. By the time the killer goes after the mature, responsible girl (Jamie Lee Curtis), you’re really scared.

B+ The Lost Boys (1987), New Parkway, 8:50pm

This clever and funny teenage vampire movie was shot in Santa Cruz, and is clearly set there (even though they give the town another name). So, you have the undead partying in the summer nights on the beach and the boardwalk, all dealing with teenage angst. But then, what do you do when peer pressure tells you to become an immortal bloodsucker? Hey, all the cool kids are doing it! A lot of fun in a horror movie that refuses to take itself seriously. It’s even occasionally scary.

B+ The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Halloween Edition, 1975), Balboa, 9:00pm

In the unlikely situation that you don’t know anything about this film, read this.

Double Bill
֍ The Black Cat (1934), Stanford, Saturday & Sunday, 4:50, 7:30
֍ The Black Cat (1932), Stanford, Saturday & Sunday, 6:05, 8:45

B+ The Black Cat; 35mm! A newlywed couple get stuck in a surprisingly modern haunted castle. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi want to kill each other. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.
C+ The Mummy; 35mm! Don’t get confused this with the much better version starring Brendan Fraser. Boris Karloff wants to drag a woman back into ancient times. Flat and not very scary.

B- What We Do in the Shadows (2016), New Parkway, 6:30pm

This vampire mockumentary is funny and promising: An unseen documentary camera crew follow the afterlives of four vampires who share a house in a modern city. They argue about household chores, go out looking for victims, and talk directly into the camera about their undead existence. But the basic idea begins to wear out around the half-way point. The jokes are still funny, but they come farther apart. Read my full review.

Continuing engagements

Movies I can’t review

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Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.