Sunday, October 24, 2010

Haunted Films at Haunted Places!



Date: October 31 (Sunday, Halloween)
Time: 7:30
Movie: "Haunted Silent Shorts"

GHOULA is working with the EPFC's Filmmobile to present a series of free outdoor screenings every Sunday in October at a different haunted site. Each evening will consist of a "haunted" movie, guest speaker, a discussion of the location's ghost(s), and maybe some other activities. (Don't forget to bring a chair.)

(Note: GHOULA and the EPFC Filmmobile will only disclose the actual location 24 hours before showtime. So, check out their facebook page for the exact directions to this screening, or just check out the GHOULA site the day before.)

This Sunday's bill will feature selected shorts from the silent era pulled from the EPFC's own collection of films.

Oct. 24th's Screening


It takes more than a little rain to keep these Phantom film fans from our screenings. After being shut down because of last week's rain, this determined group (about 40 people) wasn't going to let it happen again. After a brief presentation about the Griffith Park Curse by author Michael Imlay, and a discussion of the park's many ghosts, the movie played (outdoors) amidst the trees as the the rain drizzled, and the coyotes circled the group. Cheap thrills were then had, in the climax of the film, when a skeleton (plastic) appeared next to the screen. Luckily the evening festivities ended just as the rain started to pour.

The ghosts said to haunt this city park are numerous. From men on horseback to women dressed in white. It is said that these are the oldest ghost stories in Los Angeles with sighting dating back to the 1800's. And even today, it is said that there are so many sightings still, that the ranger's office has a special form just for ghostly encounters.


GHOULA's youngest sinister cinephile.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Sunday's Secret Screening Location!


Location: The entrance to Griffith Park
@ Los Feliz Blvd. & Fern Dell Dr. (map)
(also where an ancient burial ground is said to be)

Come out for our fourth (really the third) free outdoor screening tomorrow (Sun, 0ct 24, @7:30pm) and see "House on Haunted Hill" (the 1959 original) at the base of the actual haunted hill of the title. Also, hear about this local landmark's dark history (and ghost stories) from Michael Imlay, author of the upcoming book "The Feliz Curse: An Early Los Angeles Tale of Ghosts, Greed and Griffith Park."

Note: There is no parking on Los Feliz Blvd or Fern Dell Dr, so try the other neighborhood streets in the area.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Haunted Films at Haunted Places





Date
: October 24 (Sunday)
Time: 7:30
Movie: "House on Haunted Hill" (1959)
Location: The original Haunted Hill

GHOULA is working with the EPFC's Filmmobile to present a series of free outdoor screenings every Sunday in October at a different haunted site. Each evening will consist of a "haunted" movie, guest speaker, a discussion of the location's ghost(s), and maybe some other activities. (Don't forget to bring a chair.)

(Note: GHOULA and the EPFC Filmmobile will only disclose the actual location 24 hours before showtime. So, check out their facebook page for the exact directions to this screening, or just check out the GHOULA site the day before.)

This Sunday's movie, "House on Haunted Hill" (1959) is the first of William Castle's Horror "gimmick films." When it was originally screened, a plastic skeleton (sometimes an inflatable skeleton) was hoisted over the audience in effort to scare the patrons. Most of the time, people just threw popcorn at it (but had fun all the same). This trick would later be employed at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (it's debatable whether it works any better there).

Check this site 24 hours before this event to get directions to the haunted location of this screening.

The last "Haunted Films at Haunted Places" will feature....

October 31th, "Haunted Silent Shorts" @ a haunted 1920's hotel.