Nathaniel BellFriday, Oct. 26
It's Fogtober at the Nuart this month. The Fog, John Carpenter's 1980 follow-up to his smash hit Halloween, returns to theaters for a one-week run in a brand-new 4K digital restoration. Beautiful seaside locations (the film was shot along the California coast) highlight this thickly atmospheric, occasionally gruesome exercise in supernatural suspense. Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A.; Fri., Oct. 26-Thu., Nov. 1, various showtimes; $9-$12. (310) 473-8530, landmarktheatres.com.
The Vampire Bat; Credit: UCLA Film & TV Archive
Saturday, Oct. 27
The UCLA Film & Television Archive hosts a fundraising gala on Saturday evening, with all proceeds benefiting the archive's invaluable preservation work. Cocktail hour starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:30. Guest speakers include actresses Victoria Riskin, daughter of scream queen Fay Wray, and Ileana Douglas, granddaughter of actor Melvyn Douglas; archive director Jan-Christopher Horak; Mark Rosenthal of Raleigh Enterprises; and Marty Cooper, the archive's board chair. The evening, which kicks off the series “Down & Dirty in Gower Gulch,” concludes with a special 9 p.m. screening of recently restored The Vampire Bat, a 1933 Poverty Row chiller starring the magnificently menacing Lionel Atwill. Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave., Hollywood; Sun., Oct. 27, 9 p.m.; $10 (screening only). (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu.
Sunday, Oct. 28
The Alex Film Society hosts a richly deserved tribute to Vincent Price, whose macabre roles earned him a legion of fans. House of Wax, the film that unofficially launched his career as a horror icon, will be screened in a 2-D, 35mm print. Film historian David Del Valle (author of Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign and Six Reels Under) will pay homage to his late friend. There will be a reception at 5:30 displaying several pieces from the Vincent Price Art Museum, and Victoria Price (Vincent's daughter) will contribute a prerecorded video introduction. Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale; Sun., Oct. 28, 7 p.m.; $12-$17. (818) 243-2539; alextheatre.org.
Ganja & Hess; Credit: Kino Lorber
Monday, Oct. 29
The Aero will screen a new DCP of Bill Gunn's altogether extraordinary independent genre exercise Ganja & Hess, co-presented by Ava Duvernay's ARRAY Releasing. A remarkable hybrid of blaxploitation and unconventional horror grammar, Gunn's 1973 exploration of vampirism-as–African-American–allegory was repurposed by Spike Lee as Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. There will be a postscreening discussion with special guests TBA. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Mon., Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m.; $20. (323) 466-3456, americancinemathequecalendar.com.
Vampyr; Credit: Janus
Wednesday, Oct. 31
L.A. Opera Off Grand presents a screening of Vampyr, Carl Th. Dreyer's 1932 masterwork, which features some of the most startling mise-en-scene in horror cinema. Composer Joby Talbot has prepared a new score for chamber orchestra and singers, which will be performed live under the baton of Matthew Aucoin. This cinema/opera mashup will have its world premiere at the Ace Hotel, followed by a Halloween afterparty with music and cash bar. The Theatre at Ace Hotel, 933 S. Broadway, downtown; Wed., Oct. 31, 8 p.m.; ticket prices vary. (213) 972-8001, laopera.org/season/1819-season-la-opera-season/vampyr/.
Credit: Wiki
Walt Disney Concert Hall gets in on the Halloween celebration with a screening of F.W. Murnau's German Expressionist classic Nosferatu (the unofficial first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula), set to the live music of organist Clark Wilson. A pre-concert talk with Alan Chapman is open to all ticket holders. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown; Wed., Oct. 31, 8 p.m.; ticket prices vary. (213) 972-7300, laphil.com. —Nathaniel Bell
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.