Fright School at Facets Multi-Media

The Return of Fright School
Fright School, Facets midnight-movie horror series, returns for a third year. The series begins September 30, 2011. Films will be screened every Friday and Saturday night at midnight through October 29.

Fright School is a great way to learn about all types of horror films, from exploitation to classic. Films are introduced by local film experts with Q & A afterwards. It’s a crash course on the horror genre. Plus, there are raffles, prizes, and other give-a-ways. Admission is only $5, free for Facets members.

Fright School schedule 

Facets Multi-Media is located at 1517 West Fullerton. For more information, please visit their Web site.

I Walked With A Zombie to be Screened October 15
Stephen Reginald, aka The Classic Movie Man will present producer Val Lewton’s horror classic on Saturday, October 15, 2011 as part of the Facets Multi-Media “Fright School.” Directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People 1942), I Walked With A Zombie was the second collaboration between the producer and director and supposedly Tourneur’s favorite of all his films.

Jane Eyre in the West Indies
Set in the West Indies, Zombie feels like a contemporary version of Jane Eyre. Frances Dee plays Betsy Connell, a young nurse who leaves her native Canada to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon), the sick wife of wealthy businessman, Paul Holland (Tom Conway). Holland runs a sugar plantation on the island of Saint Sebastian and lives at Fort Holland with his mother and half-brother, Wesley Rand (James Ellison). On the island, Betsy discovers the conflict between the voodoo beliefs of the island’s natives and the small white community of medical workers and officials that have settled there. Believing that her employer’s wife may be a zombie, she brings the woman to a voodoo ceremony hoping they will have a cure for her condition. Betsy’s bold action sets in motion a series of events, which reveal family secrets and the mystery behind Jessica’s “sickness.”

Literate Horror
Producer Val Lewton was tasked with creating a horror unit at the RKO studios to rival Universal. Universal hit box office gold with horror hits like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolf Man. Instead of copying Universal’s movie monsters, Lewton created horror films that combined literate scripts with believable characters and seemingly plausible plots. These elements, plus good production values, intensified the suspense and packed movie houses throughout the 1940s. I Walked With A Zombie was Lewton’s second horror film at RKO and one of his very best.