Hocus Pocus, The Wicker Man, Last House on the Left, The Mummy, selected for Enzian’s Halloween programming in October.
By Jacob Engels
The East Orlando Post loves Enzian Theater & Eden Bar just about as much as we love Halloween! So, it was great to see an email earlier this week from the wonderful Valerie Cisneros announcing Enzian’s October programming. Some of my favorite horror films of all time are part of this list and I can only imagine the yummy pumpkin ales and Halloween goodies that Eden Bar will have!
Henry Maldonado, Enzian President, says, “At Enzian, we love celebrating Halloween because there’s no thrill quite like experiencing a scary film with your friends and family by your side. As always, we have something for everyone, from the 1932 version of THE MUMMY to THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE to HOCUS POCUS. After each film, come to Eden Bar to talk about it with your fellow movie-goers over great food and drinks!”
If you can’t find a film that you want to see on this list, you should just tap out & let the zombies EAT YOUR BRAINS.
Wednesday Fright Pitcher Show: HOCUS POCUS (1993)
Wednesday, October 1st | FREE at 8PM
You’re in for a devil of a time when three outlandishly wild witches – Bette Midler (The First Wives Club), Sarah Jessica Parker (TV’s Sex and the City) and Kathy Najimy (The Wedding Planner) – return from 17th century Salem after they are accidentally conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters! It’s a night full of zany fun and comic chaos once the tricky 300-year-old trio sets out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth – but first they must get their act together and outwit three kids and a talking cat! Loaded with bewitching laughs, HOCUS POCUS is an outrageously wild comedy that’s sure to entertain everyone.
Wednesday Fright Pitcher Show: PUMPKINHEAD (1988)
Wednesday, October 8th| FREE at 8PM
A group of city kids go into the country to relax. While there, one of them is involved in a biking accident that takes the life of the son of the local storekeeper. In a fit of rage, the storekeeper has a witch unleash an unstoppable demon called “Pumpkinhead” to kill the group. When he realizes he’s gone too far, the storekeeper attempts to save the kids, but is continually afflicted by visions of peoples’ deaths through the eyes of the monster.
Popcorn Flick in the Park: THE MUMMY (1932)
Thursday, October 9th| FREE in Central Park at 8PM
Noted cinematographer Karl Freund (Metropolis, Dracula) made his directorial debut in Boris Karloff’s second greatest horror role as The Mummy. Buried alive for trying to restore life to his great love, it is he who is accidentally revived by an overeager archaeologist. Moody and foreboding, this tragic tale of love lost over the centuries moves ceaselessly forward towards its inevitable destiny.
Cult Classics: ARMY OF DARKNESS (1993)
Tuesday, October 14th | Only $5 at 9:30PM
This wildly stylish and deliriously imaginative sequel to the cult classics Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 continues the misadventures of the reluctant hero, Ash (Campbell), as he, along with a chainsaw, a sawed-off shotgun and a 1970s Oldsmobile, are mysteriously sent back to medieval times to retrieve “The Book of the Dead,” battle netherworld demons and more. Laced with director Raimi’s trademark seizure-inducing camera work, hysterically gruesome special effects and black-humored violence, the film succeeds on all levels as we follow Ash’s exploits as he attempts to get back to modern times and his job at S-Mart (“Shop smart—shop S-mart”).
Wednesday Fright Pitcher Show: THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)
Wednesday, October 15th | FREE at 8PM
Vincent Price camps it up in one of the few horror films which successfully marries laughs and shivers. Doctors are being murdered in a bizarre manner: bats, bees, killer frog masks, etc., which represents the nine Biblical plagues. Joseph Cotten and Terry-Thomas are just two of the victims on whom Price seeks vengeance for his disfigurement and his wife’s death. The Art Deco sets give the film a stylish look.
Saturday Matinee Classics: GODZILLA: THE JAPANESE ORIGINAL (1954)
Saturday, October 18th | 12 Noon, $8/$5, 60th Anniversary Restoration!
Widely considered the best monster movie of the sci-fi loving 1950s, GODZILLA: THE JAPANESE ORIGINAL returns! This 60th-anniversary restoration features scenes deleted from versions previously screened in the United States and coincides with a new Hollywood remake. H-bomb testing stirs a 400-foot sea dragon who terrorizes Tokyo like a fire-breathing King Kong, crushing trains and swatting down fighter planes. The monster is rendered in “suitmation” by special-effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya, and the added scenes showcase the performance of the monster’s human costar, Takashi Shimura, who portrayed the leader of Akira Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI later that year.
Midnight Movies: THE WICKER MAN: FINAL CUT (1973)
Saturday, October 18th| 11:59PM, $10/$7.50, 40th Anniversary Restoration!
When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But this pastoral community, led by the strange Lord Summerisle (a brilliant performance by the legendary Christopher Lee), is not what it seems as the devout Christian detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cult’s ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face-to-face with the horror of The Wicker Man?
Wednesday Fright Pitcher Show: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)
Wednesday, October 22nd | FREE at 8PM
In 1972, master of horror Wes Craven wrote and directed this groundbreaking film that shocked the world and launched his career. Shot from a frighteningly realistic point of view, every scene is more gruesome than the last. When two young girls, Mari Collingwood and Phyllis Stone, head to a concert in the city, four psychotic prison escapees kidnap them with the intention of driving off to another state. But in an ironic twist, their car breaks down in front of Mari’s house. After the girls are forced into the woods where they are tortured and left to die, the gang unknowingly heads to Mari’s house posing as salesmen. Mari’s parents soon uncover their daughter’s fate and the true identity of these guests – and take bloody revenge. It’s a terrifying assault on the senses originally banned in Australia and the UK.
Midnight Movies: ALIENS (1986)
Saturday, October 25th| 11:59PM, $10/$7.50
Fifty seven years after Ellen Ripley survived her disastrous ordeal, her escape vessel is recovered after drifting across the galaxy as she slept in cryogenic stasis. Back on earth, nobody believed her story about the “Aliens” on the planet LV-426. After the “Company” orders the colony on LV-426 to investigate, however, all communication with the colony is lost. The Company enlists Ripley to aid a team of tough, rugged space marines on a rescue mission to the now partially terraformed planet to find out if there are aliens or survivors. As the mission unfolds, Ripley will be forced to come to grips with her worst nightmare, but even as she does, she finds that the worst is yet to come.
Peanut Butter Matinee/Kids’ Halloween Party: Wallace & Gromit in THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (2005)
Sunday, October 26th | 11AM party/1:00 PM film, Party & Film $15, Film Only $8/$5
Bring the entire family for a costume party featuring Wallace & Gromit in THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (85 min). Join Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, as they set out to discover the mystery that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest in this family friendly comedy.
Before sitting down to enjoy the film, dress your ghouls in costume and join us for a delicious spooktacular lunch, games, and fun the whole family will enjoy!
Cult Classics: RINGU (1998)
Tuesday, October 28th | Only $5 at 9:30PM
A grainy, enigmatic videotape has the power to kill people seven days after they watch it. This brilliant premise fueled the 2002 Hollywood hit THE RING, but before that it conquered Japan in RINGU, Hideo Nakata’s quietly unsettling study in terror. Fans of the U.S. version will find a less elaborate storyline and more primal fear in the original; the basic plot, however, still has a worried reporter (Nanako Matsushima) tracking down the meaning of the video—and, having watched it herself, she has only a week to work. The film’s calm, economical style actually adds to the creeping sense of dread throughout, and the hair-curling set-pieces stand out in contrast. Like an old photograph of something evil, RINGU has the strange-but-familiar power to unnerve. Guaranteed, its effect will linger for at least seven days. Longer… if you’re lucky.
Wednesday Fright Pitcher Show: THE EXORCIST (1973)
Wednesday, October 29th | FREE at 8PM
Arguably the scariest motion picture ever made, William Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST was unleashed on an unsuspecting American public in 1973. The film quickly became a nationwide sensation, leading to religious boycotts, fainting, and a huge box office return. Oscar® nominee Linda Blair beat out hundreds of other child actors to land the role of Regan MacNeil, a 12-year-old who is possessed by the devil. After exhausting all other practical options, Regan’s mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), acknowledges the supernatural nature of her daughter’s condition and recruits Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to stage an exorcism. Aided by the mysterious Jesuit exorcist Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), Father Damien must confront not only the supernatural phenomena in front of him, but also his own inadequate faith and displaced guilt over his mother’s recent death. Friedkin brings William Peter Blatty’s Oscar®-winning script to shocking life by establishing a realistic, everyday tone before allowing the terror to creep in. The performances of Burstyn and Miller further help to ground the supernatural events. Like THE GODFATHER before it and JAWS shortly after, the breakout success of THE EXORCIST helped to transform Hollywood into the blockbuster behemoth of American culture.
Midnight Movies: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
Friday, October 31st | 11:59PM, $10/$7.50, 40th Anniversary Restoration!
A disturbing and mesmerizing saga of gore, flesh, mayhem, and violence, this influential horror classic by Tobe Hooper was inspired by the exploits of real-life killer cannibal, Edward Gein. An idyllic summer afternoon drive becomes a nightmare for a group of young people when they take a wrong turn in the Texas badlands. They end up terrorized by a family of inbred cannibals, the most menacing of which is a huge, chainsaw-wielding maniac wearing a human-skin mask.
To get full details on all the prices and events for Halloween at the Enzian Theater, click here!
Jacob Engels, is the Founder of East Orlando Post & Seminole County Post. He is a seasoned political operative who has led numerous statewide political groups and has worked on several high-profile local, statewide, and national races. Jacob has been interviewed on national television & radio programs, with his work having been featured in the Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald and other publications nationwide. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
