Halloween is being marked at Daylesford’s Phoenix Cinema as a way to explore how filmmakers use fear, atmosphere and the supernatural to explore the world in which we live.
Horror enables filmmakers to delve into fear, mortality, sexuality, social anxiety, politics, and the darker side of human nature.
So, for engrossing suspense, The Hunt for Red October rings all the bells. Chocka with suspense, it features a Soviet Russian submariner who may or may not be aiming nuclear missiles at New York or Washington.
The plot is labyrinthine. Imagine the Soviets asking the U.S. to destroy a rogue submariner? With Sean Connery as the captain of the sub, being tracked by the dogged Alex Baldwin, the film is replete with surprises. It screens at 4.15pm on 16 October and at 1.45pm on 17 October.
Avengers:Endgame is seen by the BBC’s critic as three engrossing hours following on from Infinity Wars. And it comes after a 10-year build-up. Without revealing too much, the critic said,”…when I got to the end credits I really felt like I’d gotten everything I wanted…”
It screens at 7pm on 16 and 18 October.
Want to be really scared? Resident Evil does it. Wonderful special effects, which have made some of the audience scream, but the gore and horror are leavened with humour.
The original on Sony PlayStation in 1996 was broadly praised for its cinematic atmosphere. Now, we have a doctor on a transplant mission, entwined in a who-knows-what bizarre exercise. One critic defines it as good, clean horror fun, if by clean and fun you mean bloody and terrifying.
Resident Evil is showing at 7pm on 17 October, 4.30pm on 18 October, 7pm on 19 October, 7pm on. 23 October, and 2pm on 2 November.
A fairytale story of a beautiful young woman and her one true love, Princess Bride centres on his search to save her after a long separation. But they have to fight the evil kingdom Florin to be together.
Reviewers fund it to be a deft, intelligent combination of swashbuckling romance, a film with everything, even pirates and a real-life giant. It screens at 4.30pm on 19 October, 11am on 1 November.
Wildwood is an epic fantasy that takes its audience into a secret, dangerously alive world. A girl on a desperate mission to save her baby brother must go through
a forbidden forest full of endearing allies, enchanting creatures and frightening adversaries. An entire realm hangs in the balance.
It’s on at 7pm on 24 and 25 October, 1.45 26 October and 4.15 on 29 and 30 October.
Wildwood is also the first of five films to be screened on Halloween Sunday, 31 October. The 10.30 am screening of Wildwood will be followed at 1.15 by Kiara and the Sun.
Based on the bestselling novel by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, it introduces us to Kiara, an artificial friend who seeks a perfect home. She pals up with Josie, who has a fraught relationship with her mother after a great loss. Kiara brings a sense of healing through her innocent loyalty and sense of wonder.
Then, at 4pm, The Lost Boys follows two brothers who move with their mother to a small town in northern California. The younger one pals up with a two comic-book nerds, while his angst-ridden brother falls for a local girl who is in thrall to Kiefer Sutherland, who heads a gang of vampires. Can the younger brother save his sibling and sweetheart from the undead?
This is followed by a double feature: the 30th anniversary showing of Scream at 6.30 and An American Werewolf in London at 8.35.
A killer is loose in Scream and a town is terrified. Some fans have seen this film 100 times, delighting in its blend of horror and comedy. Great direction by the late Wes Craven, with a top-line cast. Horror would never have existed without this film, said one commentator.
Two American students backpacking through Britain are attacked by a big wolf, killing one of them. The survivor has nightmares in which he becomes a werewolf.
This one goes for the jugular with frenetic direction.
An extended edition of the classic The Exorcist, the first major blockbuster in horror film history, will be shown at 7pm on 30 October. Its cultural impact cannot be overstated.
An eight-year-old girl encounters a sinister entity that looks and sounds just like her mother in the new release Other Mommy. It shows at 4.30 on 23, 24 and 25 October.
Away from horror films, the widely praised biopic Oasis-Don’t Look Back in Anger is on at 7pm on 1 November. Praised for being well crafted, it charts Liam and Noel Gallagher’s triumphant reunion tour. Unapologetically uplifting it captures the experiences and emotions of fans across the world, with unique backstage and onstage access.
The highly popular Coyote vs. Acme continues on 9 and 10 October, while Digger, Heart of the Beast and The Weight are still showing, as are children’s films, such as Shaun the Sheep:The Beast of Foggy Bottom and Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie.
Tickets and information from Phoenix.
