Home

Around Town: Black cinema, Sidney Lumet, monster movies and more

06.10.11

Halloween is coming early to the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre and Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theater.

Director John Landis looks at monsters in the movies Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at the Egyptian. The director of 1978’s “Animal House,” the influential 1981 horror film “An American Werewolf in London” and Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video “Thriller” has written a book, “Monsters in the Movies.” Landis opens the monster mash with two pre-code classics: 1933’s “Island of Lost Souls,” based on H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, and Rouben Mamoulian’s visually striking 1931 version of “ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” for which Fredric March won his first lead actor Oscar in the dual role. Landis will appear in person at the screening. On tap for Saturday is a Frankenstein triple bill: 1931’s “Frankenstein,” 1935’s superior sequel “Bride of Frankenstein” and the underrated 1939 “Son of Frankenstein.” The retrospective concludes Sunday evening with two black-and-white ghost chillers: Jack Clayton’s 1961 “The Innocents,” based on Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” and Robert Wise’s “The Haunting.” http://www.americancinematheque.com

Source: Los Angeles Times