Congratulations! As many of you know, you all recently became owners of your very own copies of the newest Wesleyan Film Series calendar! (Hint: check your Wesbox.)
Celebrate with us by coming out for the first half of our Halloween lineup, continued next week to adapt to this year’s awkward placement of the 31st on a Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday we’re starting off with back-to-back cult 80s horror, and on Saturday we’ll visit the vault of Universal’s best monsters for classic sci-fi/horror. Don’t forget about Wednesday night either: Wes Anderson can be scary in his own way.
2012. USA. Dir: Wes Anderson. With Bruce Willis, Bill Murray. 95 min. Wednesday, Oct. 24. 8 p.m. $5.
Anderson’s most recent release, set in 1960s New England, celebrates the magic of childhood summers. Two young lovebirds run away together, planning to take refuge in the wilderness and hide from the authority figures trying to track them down. The film’s treatment of young love—and the inevitable result of growing up—blends whimsical humor with the dramatic and the surreal as only Anderson can, making it one of his most acclaimed works to date.
1981. France/W. Germany. Dir: Andrzej ŻZuławski. With Isabelle Adjani. 123 min.
Thursday, Oct. 25. 8 p.m. FREE.
An intense and disturbing exploration of a woman’s entanglement with a monstrous force, “Possession” moves between genres, combining the best of drama, horror, and suspense. A husband returns home from a mysterious mission to discover that something is different about his wife, although it takes him some time and terror to uncover the depths of her secret life.
1981. USA. Dir: Sam Raimi. With Bruce Campbell. 85 min.
Friday, Oct. 26. 8 p.m. $5.
Five college students drive out to an isolated cabin in the hills of Tennessee for Spring Break, where they come across a book of incantations bound in human flesh—what could possibly go wrong? Gruesome and horrifying enough to earn it an NC-17 rating, this cult classic about demonic possession still manages to mix dark humor in with its terror.
1933. USA. Dir: James Whale. With Claude Rains. 71 min.
Saturday, Oct. 27. 8 p.m. FREE.
One of the favorites among Universal’s monsters, “The Invisible Man” combines the best of classic horror and sci-fi with stunning and groundbreaking visual effects. Brilliant chemist Dr. Jack Griffin (Rains) finally unlocks the secret of invisibility, but his concoction has the side-effect of making him an unbalanced, maniacal killer. Throw in a young woman with a soft spot for the scientist, set it in a sleepy English village, and you have a creepy and at times touching portrayal of a troubled man, a worthy follow-up to Whale’s best-known work, Frankenstein.