Halloween calls to mind dark shadows, flickering light, and a lot of campy scares that are built for entertainment.
That kind of dark fun is the spirit behind The Playhouse of Horrors Halloween Film Festival. They are showing not six movies but six nights of movies - all of them creepy-crawly for the mind or the funnybone.
Some are thrillers, some are chucklers, all of them are horrors.
Each night of the festival is a double feature. The pairings were made by Prince George Playhouse staff and their associates as they tried to assemble a spooktacular salad of cinematic screams in the classic style. You'll get some Steven King content, some madcap Rocky Horror audience participation, some golden age gasps, and even a little bit of gore.
"We want to screen films that aren't easily available," said Matt Russell, one of the organizers of the festival. "You generally can't get these on Netflix, some of them haven't been in theatres in forever, so if you want to see them on a big screen, now is your chance."
Russell said the horror film festival crawled out of the swamps of their minds a few years ago. Last year's event was a successful test, so it encouraged them to expand and add effort to the experience.
"It even took some convincing for me," Russell said.
"At first I thought, what's so great about this? Seeing movies I've seen 20 times already? But it really changes things when you watch on a really big screen with really good sound. It feels like you're seeing it with new eyes, when it's with other people sharing the experience and the conditions are really theatrical."
By theatrical, Russell means the razzmatazz of live drama. Yes, these are movies, but the confines are in the city's venerable theatrical showhouse so it begs for some extra elements. One of the favourites from last year comes again in the form of Adam Harasimiuk. The local actor will reprise his role as creepy emcee, each night of this festival. He will tailor his mastery of the ceremonies to each movie pairing.
The shows will unfurl like this:
Oct. 21: 7:30 p.m. House of Wax ,
10 p.m. Young Frankenstein.
Oct. 22: 7:30 p.m. Horror of Dracula, 10 p.m. Suspiria.
Oct. 23: 7:30 p.m. The Fly, 10 p.m. The Shining.
Oct. 28: 7:30 p.m. Prom Night, 10 p.m. Scream.
Oct. 29: 10:30 p.m. The Monster Squad, midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Oct. 30: 7:30 p.m. The Babadook,
10 p.m. The Witch.
During this year's festival, feedback will be actively gathered. The early success and imaginable potential of this event convinced the playhouse team to invest in brand new projection equipment and other capital improvements that will make the audience enjoyment grow and add a forward-moving legacy for future Playhouse activities, like all sorts of other film events.
"We can't compete with Famous Players, and we don't want to, but watching movies is a good use of this space, a good place to see certain films in a certain atmosphere," Russell said.
"If we get a strong idea for a certain film or a certain theme, we will do our best to bring that in. Right now we are playing on nostalgia - films you know about or maybe have heard about, but can't get in the usual ways these days."
Admission is, at most, $15 each or the Monster Pack for $75.60 to get you into all 12 films. There are further discounts for students and groups.
Tickets are available now through Central Interior Tickets, 3540 Opie Cres., or online anytime.
