May 17 & 18, 2002 |
American Cinematheque Presents... The Lovecraft Quartet: An In Person Tribute to Stuart Gordon
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Compiled by Dennis Bartok. Special Thanks to: Stuart Gordon; Chela Johnson/LIONS GATE FILMS; Brian Yuzna; Charles Band/FULL MOON; Ken Kramer; Latanya Taylor/MGM-UA. . Tickets available 30 days in advance. SCHEDULE (by series) SCHEDULE (by date) TICKETS/DIRECTIONS Sold out programs will be indicated here if sold out 24 hours in advance of screening date. |
"I’ve always
suffered from terrible nightmares, but I never seem to have them while I’m shooting a
horror movie. I think it must be because everything is being expressed all day long!"
-- Stuart Gordon In many ways they’re the Odd Couple of modern horror films: reclusive, brilliantly imaginative writer H.P. Lovecraft, who created a phantasmagorical universe filled with malevolent gods and demons in stories like The Dunwich Horror and From Beyond before his early death in 1937; and gregarious, Chicago-born filmmaker Stuart Gordon, who was once thrown out of the University of Wisconsin for staging a nude, psychedelicized version of "Peter Pan"-! Before it premiered as a midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985, few could have predicted that Gordon’s first Lovecraft adaptation, the mind-bending RE-ANIMATOR, would prove to be such a scream-inducing success, and help kick-start both Gordon’s career and a renewed interest in Lovecraft’s work. Prior to his career as a filmmaker, Gordon was best known for his work as a stage director, founding the acclaimed Organic Theater, which premiered David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity In Chicago. Since RE-ANIMATOR, Gordon has directed a series of highly entertaining genre films such as DOLLS, FORTRESS and SPACE TRUCKERS, along with three more Lovecraft adaptations: FROM BEYOND, CASTLE FREAK, and his latest movie, the delirious DAGON, soon to be released on DVD by Lions Gate Films. We’re very pleased to welcome director Stuart Gordon in-person to the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian for the U.S. Premiere of his latest film, DAGON! Friday, May 17 – 7:30 PM Double-Feature -- Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton In-Person! RE-ANIMATOR, 1985, Empire Pictures, 86 min. Adapted from the H.P. Lovecraft tale Herbert West, this mind-bending, darkly funny horror thriller was a breakout hit, establishing newcomer director Stuart Gordon as a force to be reckoned with. Impetuous researcher Jeffrey Combs develops a serum that can bring back the dead, something that his new roommate, Bruce Abbott, hadn’t exactly bargained for. Delivers on every front with laughs, shocks and genuine shivers escalating until the outrageous gore-drenched finale. With Barbara Crampton, David Gale. FROM BEYOND, 1986, MGM/UA, 85 min. Dir. Stuart Gordon. Jeffrey Combs, Ted Sorel, and Barbara Crampton are plunged into a terrifying alternate universe when an ambitious scientist decides to forcibly evolve Man’s sixth sense organ. This opens up the gate to another dimension, mutating human beings and unleashing monstrous creatures from the netherworld. A wildly imaginative romp through a gleefully cruel horror wonderland. With Ken Foree. Discussion BETWEEN films with director Stuart Gordon, actors Jeffrey Combs & Bruce Abbott and actress Barbara Crampton (schedules permitting). Saturday, May 18 – 6:30 PM Double-Feature -- Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton In-Person! U.S. Premiere! DAGON, 2002, Lions Gate, 95 min. Stuart Gordon returns with this ridiculously entertaining fish-zombie spectacular, starring Ezra Godden as a neurotic American tourist who gets trapped in a gloomy Spanish village where all the residents just happen to worship the ancient Philistine sea-god Dagon! Co-starring lovely, Barbara Steele-lookalike Macarena Gomez as a wheelchair-bound demon-princess, and the late, great Francisco Rabal (in his last performance) as a local lunatic. Based on Lovecraft’s first published story, DAGON was originally planned as the follow-up to RE-ANIMATOR. CASTLE FREAK, 1995, Full Moon, 95 min. Dir. Stuart Gordon. Based on Lovecraft’s story The Outsider, CASTLE FREAK is an ultra-creepy, we’ve just-inherited-a-ghoul-infested-Italian-villa flick, starring RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND alumni Jeffrey Combs as a well-meaning father, haunted by the tragic death of his young son, with Barbara Crampton as his equally devastated wife. A surprisingly somber film about guilt and repression from director Gordon, but still packed with his trademark mixture of far-out gore and black humor. Discussion following with director Stuart Gordon. CASTLE FREAK stars Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton will NOT be able to appear as was originally announced. (schedules permitting). |