Halloween Films- The American Scream / A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

 Films, Halloween
Oct 312015
 

Thinking of staying in this Halloween? You can still enjoy the spirit of Halloween from the comfort of your home, courtesy of two films currently streaming on Netflix.

The first, The American Scream, is the story of three families in Fairhaven, Massachussetts and their personal quests to turn their homes into Halloween haunted houses. The perfectionism and creativity of the attraction creators combined with the support and help of their families, make for an incredibly touching film with plenty of humor mixed in. It’s also a portrait of the community, and it’s a joy to see people come out in large numbers to see the finished work on Halloween.

Part love story, part vampire film, part Western, Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut feature, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, takes place in the fictional, often seemingly deserted Bad City in Iran (it was shot in California). With its ghostly oil rigs and a mysterious pit full of dead bodies, it’s also a place with a lot of bad things going on beyond just the local vampire. The Girl spends her nights wandering around town doling out justice and interacting with the troubled locals. One night she ends up making a connection with a young gardener who has done some bad things himself. Although less a traditional horror movie and more a surreal look at isolation and loneliness with horror themes, it is also beautifully shot with a great soundtrack.

Halloween in Los Angeles 2015

 Halloween, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Halloween
Oct 242015
 

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Halloween is a big deal in Los Angeles with tons of fun things to do. Here are a few suggestions-

Haunted Attractions

Running until Halloween is the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park. It has five attractions this year including a maze, the House of Shadows, and a Trick or Treat “experience” ($30 for the hayride or $43 for all attractions)

Dark Harbor on the Queen Mary provides haunted horror with monsters and mazes on the boat until Nov. 1st ($20 for “happy haunting hour” or $24 and up depending on extras)

A unique take on being scared is The Alone Experience. After signing a waiver that says you can get wet, be touched, painted on- you are immersed in a 45 minute walk through (and at times crawl through) alone. This review will give you more of an idea of what the experience is like. Running through Nov.1st. ($50)

If women’s issues frighten you there is KillJoy’s Kastle: A Lesbian Feminist Haunted House based on the Christian hell house.  An un-dead Valerie Solanas splits you into groups and gives an introduction to what you are in for followed by a feminist zombie folk sing-a-long in the courtyard. Afterwards a crazed women’s studies major leads you on a tour through various rooms filled with “gender-queer apparitions, ball-busting butches, and never-married, happy-as-hell spinsters” among many other frights.  Get there by 8:30pm to guarantee entrance. It runs from Oct.23-25, and Oct. 28-30 (free)

The amusement parks also have Halloween themes –Knott’s Scary Farm, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights and Six Flags Fright Fest will all work hard to scare you.

Horror Movies

Electric Dusk Drive-In is showing Rosemary’s Baby on Oct. 24th ($9 for astroturf, $13 for your car)

Starting Tuesday (10/27) on the roof of the Montalban Theater in Hollywood Rooftop Film Club is showing movies with a horror theme including The Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street, Psycho, Friday the 13th and on Halloween, Beetlejuice ($17)

The Wiltern is showing An American Werewolf in London, The Cabin in the Woods, The Descent and Demons for their pre-Halloween bash, Wiltern Night of Horror. There will also be a costume contest and dance party. ($30)

Oct.30th the New Beverly Cinema has a horror triple feature- Curse of the Demon (1957), Carnival of Souls (1962), and Night of the Living Dead (1968) all for $8

On Halloween (10/31)

West Hollywood’s Halloween Carnaval is a huge free event with a large part of Santa Monica Blvd closed to traffic for costumed chaos. This year’s theme is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are also six stages of live music and entertainment if the bars and people watching are not enough.

Street Food Cinema is showing Shaun of the Dead at Exposition Park

The Aero Theater in Santa Monica is showing The Shining

Cinespia is showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery ($25)

El Capitan is showing The Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D (it’s pretty magical when it snows in the theater) through Nov 1

One of the more expensive options is Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Live with Danny Elfman at the Hollywood Bowl. Elfman is playing with the orchestra as the film is shown and the Bowl will be decorated like Halloween Town (as of this writing cheapest tickets available were $80)

The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock is having a Haunted House in a former library with local high school students doing the scaring ($10)

The Well is hosting a Halloween party at the Figueroa Hotel with a long list of musical performers on 3 stages ($40)

The Ace Hotel Downtown is having a Black & White Ball for Halloween with DJs Daniel T, Peanut Butter Wolf, And Vitto and Druzzi. Tarot readings, aura photography and more. Black and white attire required. ($25)

Los Angeles Halloween and Day of the Dead Events 2014

 Day of the Dead, Halloween, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Halloween
Oct 302014
 

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Things to do in Los Angeles this weekend (10/30-11/2/14) for Halloween and Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)-

Thursday

Lucha VaVoom: Night of the Vampire– Mexican masked wrestling and burlesque with a Halloween theme

Thursday and Friday

It’s the last two days of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park which also includes a haunted house, maze and sideshow

The Mondrian Hotel is hosting Strange and Unusual: An Interactive Experience for the Recently Deceased- a Beetlejuice themed party complete with recreated sets from the film

Friday (Halloween)

The biggest event of the night is the West Hollywood Annual Halloween Carnival– over 500,000 people are expected to attend

At Crawloween, an event sponsored by ACME Hospitality group, all five of their downtown bars Library Bar, Sixth Street Tavern, Beelman’s Pub, Spring St. Bar and King Eddy Saloon are having differently themed parties, candy and $4 cocktails (including one called the Skullsplitter, a hangover predictor if ever there was one)

Cinefamily is hosting a “Childhood Haunts” Halloween party with scary video compilations, a midnight ghost story, drinks, dancing and more

LACMA Costume Ball: The Living Museum where people dress as works of art and enjoy DJs, food and drink, late night gallery walks and live horror installations

Friday and Saturday

Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton is at the Nokia Theater

Saturday

Día de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever Cemetery is Los Angeles’ biggest Day of the Dead event and has altars, face painting, food and live entertainment including La Santa Cecilia

Grand Park is having a Dia de Los Muertos party as well with music, altars, and dancers

Thursday through Sunday

Dark Harbor on the Queen Mary in Long Beach has mazes, monsters, rides, live entertainment and of course food and drink-

Olvera Street has numerous Día de los Muertos events

The Purge:Breakout requires you and your group to solve puzzles and clues to escape or be purged

Alone: An Existential Haunting is not the usual haunted house experience- it describes itself as a “site-specific, immersive and artistic exploration of fear, loneliness and self preservation” which you must go through, you guessed it- alone

Also- through November 8th at the Mountainview Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, Unbound Productions presents Wicked Lit- classic horror literature is transformed into an immersive theater experience

The Nutcracker in Los Angeles 2013

 Christmas, Dance, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Halloween, Performances
Dec 122013
 

The Terracotta Nutcracker

Options for the holiday classic- The Nutcracker include:

December 12-15th:

December 13-15th:

  • The Terracotta Nutcracker at the Pasadena Civic is a unique take on the classic

December 14-22nd:

December 15th:

  • The Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker at The Wiltern

Los Angeles Halloween Events 2013

 Halloween, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Halloween
Oct 312013
 

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Things to do in Los Angeles for Halloween-

Or maybe just some food and drinks!

Films to Watch- Room 237

 Films, Halloween, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Halloween, Video and Film
Oct 262013
 

dannyshining

The Shining is playing at LA State Historic Park tonight (10/26).

If you love The Shining, it is also worth watching Room 237, now on Netflix. It is filled with interesting theories on the potential meaning of the images used in the film.  Different interviewees suggest it could be about the Holocaust or Native American genocide or even Kubrick’s confession to taking part in the faking of the moon landing.  It’s a fascinating new look into an already captivating movie.

Halloween Events in Los Angeles 2013

 Halloween, Holiday Guides, Los Angeles Events, Los Angeles Halloween
Oct 242013
 

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Things to do for Halloween in Los Angeles this weekend-

  • Looking for something more hardcore- there’s The Alone Experience– they suggest wearing clothes that can get wet and dirty
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