Widescreen Film Festival offers frights and freaks

By Lesley Nickus
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

Beginning Oct. 27 and ending Oct. 31, the Film and Electronic Arts Department, with support from Panavision, will be hosting the Widescreen Film Festival at the Carpenter Center and University Theater. Students will also have a chance to meet Wes Craven, director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" trilogy, as well as listen to guest speakers Patricia McCormack and James Curtis.

On Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. in the Carpenter Center, there will be a screening of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," written and directed by Wes Craven. A classic horror film, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" follows the infamous villain Freddy Kreuger while he stalks his victims through dreams. Following the film will be a question and answer session with Craven himself, where fans can ask him burning questions and gain insight into the man behind the nightmare.

Thursday in the University Theater will be a double feature staring at 7:30 p.m. with "Blow Up," Michaelangelo Antonioni's first English film about a photographer who unknowingly takes pictures of what he believes to be a murder and the chaos that ensues.

Following "Blow Up" is Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" at 9:45 p.m. "The Virgin Spring" follows a series of violent crimes set in the times of forests and fortresses. "The Virgin Spring" will also be shown in the University Theater.

Friday marks the beginning of a six-movie marathon at 1 p.m. in the University Theater. "Diabolique," the story of a precisely planned murder, will be playing, followed by "Repulsion," a psychological horror film about a manicurist who becomes a recluse in her London apartment. Later that night at 8 p.m., the Carpenter Performing Arts Center will play host to "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," one of the later films of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series. The highlight of the evening will be a midnight-to-dawn screening of the "Scream" trilogy in the University Theater.

On Saturday, the University Theater will be showing "The Bad Seed," which is the story of the daughter of a serial killer who is raised by adoptive parents who believe their child to be good but discover that she has inherited tendencies of her biological mother. Stick around after the 1 p.m. movie to see special guest speaker and star of "The Bad Seed," Patricia McCormack.

After "The Bad Seed" will be the classic black-and-white version of "Beauty and the Beast." The highlight of the evening will occur at 8:00 p.m. in the Carpenter Center, where a special screening of the silent film "Nosferatu," will be shown, accompanied by an 88-piece live orchestra. Since this is a special event, general admission is $15 ($10 for students).

"Frankenstein" will kick of Sunday's line up at the Carptener Center at 11 a.m., just in time for Halloween. After the movie guest speaker James Curtis, the man who wrote the biography of James Whale, the director of "Frankenstein," will be on-hand to give a special presentation. After Curtis' speech, the Carpenter Center will show "War of the Worlds," the film adaptation of the popular H.G.Wells novel about Martians. The last of the films being featured will be "Don't Look Now," shown at 2:50 p.m. "Don't Look Now" is about a couple mourning over the death of their child who move to Venice to restore an old church surrounded by death and supernatural elements.

Tickets will be $8 ($6 for students) for each showing, with the exception of "Nosferatu," or a pass for the whole event is available for $60 ($40 for students). Tickets are available through the Carpenter Center by calling (562) 985-7000 or visiting www.widescreenfilmfestival.org and clicking the ticket info link. The Web site also offers extensive information about the movies being played.