Welcome To Halloween Town

The beast within…

ust why people are so drawn to Halloween lies not just in the comic thrills and spills but, lurking beneath the ghostly sheets, the opportunity to explore the dark side of human nature.

Beyond the scary monsters and super creeps of popular entertainment, the real fear lies within our own psyches.

And what people are capable of inflicting upon others.

It’s a theme that’s at the heart of all the fun and singalong games of the Greystones Film Club’s upcoming happy Halloween trio of Frankenweenie, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Rocky Horror Picture, each working as a release valve for our deep-seated fears. By making us laugh. Hard.

Here’s the lowdown of the Greystones Film Club’s Halloween line-up at The Whale…

Frankenweenie (USA/UK/12A/87mins)
Having become something of a surprise cash cow for Disney in the early noughties – a VIP position that would lead to his downfall from cult king, thanks to ugly ‘re-imaginings’ of such classics as Alice In Wonderland (2010) and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (2005) – Tim Burton got to revisit an early 1984 short with the kind of budget and stop-motion skulduggery that had made The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) such a favourite.

As the title pretty much reveals, this is all about a little boy who brings his beloved dog back to life through a little Frankenstein fire and lightning fury, the magic turning to tragic before finding its way back to magic again by the closing credits. Sort of. Screening at The Whale on Sunday, October 29th at 1pm, details here.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (USA/12A/76mins)
As a not-exactly up and coming young Disney animator in the early 1980s, Tim Burton had big plans for his three-page poem all about the king of Halloween Town becoming obsessed with all things Santa, but the Mickey Mouse management ultimately deemed the project “too weird”. It was only when Burton found fame and box-office fortune with Beetlejuice (1988) and Batman (1989) that Disney changed its mind.

And one of the most loved Halloween movies of all time was born, Burton’s delightful, twisted, dark and yet uplighting tale tapping into both the mischief of All Hollow’s Eve and the sugar-coated sweetness of Christmas.

The fact that director Henry Selick – first involved with the project back when he and Burton were young Disney drawing desk jockeys – managed to pull together such an ambitious stop-motion project (using 20 sound studios, and a crew of over 120) and yet make it feel homemade deserve recognition too. Screening at The Whale on Sunday, October 29th at 4.30pm, details here.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (UK/12A/100mins)
It might just be the furry freak mother of all cult movies, and it’s one that still has the power to make old professors leap out of their wheelchairs and dance.

First hitting the big screen on August 14th 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a deliciously trashy and deliriously silly stage musical all about giving in to your sexual fantasies. And then heading back to space rather than face any consequences.

Tim Curry has rarely been better as the suspenders-toting alien transvestite who’s playing the mad scientist lord of the manor to an array of kooks when all-American couple Brad and Janet who knock on the door one rainy night after they get lost with a flat tire.

What follows is a series of bonkers song and dance routines that have the couple doubting their sanity, and their sanctity, whilst the tran of the house knows that the party might be coming to an end…

In truth, the plot doesn’t really matter – and doesn’t really make sense. What does matter is the fun that everyone is having up on that screen (including a young Susan Sarandon as Janet). And, of course, the fun you’re going to have off-screen too. Screening at 8pm – details here.

You can find out more about the Greystones Film Club right about here, and about The Whale’s upcoming goodies right over here.