Start the Halloween celebration with the LankerSCREAM Festival of Fright: a weekend of theatrical performances, cinema, dance on film, and classic animation honoring creative artists working in the horror genre.
The LankerSCREAM Festival of Fright spotlights filmmakers such as horror movie producer William Castle, and Max Fleischer, animator and creator of Betty Boop.
The festival will also showcase some of Los Angeles’s most creative emerging artists and film scholars who will offer insight and differing perspectives on the films. The LankerSCREAM Festival of Fright screamings begins Wednesday, October 9 through Saturday, October 12, 2024 at DCA’s Lankershim Arts Center (LNK) in North Hollywood.
All festival events are free and open to the public, but due to limited space, reservations are highly recommended.
Produced by DCA’s Performing Arts Division and NoHo Micro Cinema.
LankerScream Festival of Fright Schedule:
SAINTS OF POE
Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
Presented by DCA and the Interact Theatre Company
This play reading delves into the dark, inner world of Edgar Allan Poe, where horror is a distinctly human experience—a relentless force within ordinary people that compels them toward hubris, revenge, rage, and despair. Interact Theatre Company brings Poe’s chilling tales to life through three masterful pieces that blur the line between victim and villain, leaving us haunted and introspective, as we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the shadows. Click here to reserve your tickets!
CASTLEMANIA! THE WILLIAM CASTLE RETRPSPECTIVE: THE TIGER
Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 p.m.)
Presented by DCA and NoHo Micro Cinema Directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, performances by Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn, Columbia Pictures,1959, 83 min.
Followed by a conversation with horror critic, filmmaker, and co-host of the Midnight Mass podcast, Michael Varrati, in a post-film discussion, moderated by festival co-producer Jorge Aparicio from NoHo Micro Cinema.
Horror icon Vincent Price stars as an obsessed pathologist who discovers a parasitic creature called a “tingler”, which grows on the spinal cords of people and feeds on fear, and who must find a way to prevent it from causing deadly havoc when it escapes… and it will escape! It’s meta-horror meets melodrama with deliciously droll performances by Price and Evelyn. Considered by film scholars to be Castle’s magnum opus, the film was presented in “Percepto,” a promotion that Castle sold as the “newest and most startling gimmick on the screen!” This in-theater immersive experience featured random seats that buzzed the behinds of select audience members in specially rigged theater seats, and we will be presenting as such. In the words of the film’s poster: When the screen screams you’ll scream too… if you value your life! Click here to reserve your tickets!
CASTLEMANIA! THE WILLIAM CASTLE RETROSPECTIVE: HOMICIDAL
Friday, October 11, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 p.m.)
Presented by DCA and NoHo Micro Cinema Directed by William Castle, written by Robb White, performances by Glenn Corbett and Joan Marshall (as “Jean Arless”), Columbia Pictures, 1961, 83 min.
Followed by a conversation with Sean Abley, author of Queer Horror, moderated by festival co-producer Jorge Aparicio from NoHo Micro Cinema.
A sleepy town is rocked by the brutal murder of a justice of the peace, which uncovers a lurid fight over a family inheritance. Castle marketed the movie with a “fright break” stunt so anyone too scared to see the shocking ending would exit the theater and follow a yellow streak on the theater floor to the Coward’s Corner photo opportunity in the lobby. We encourage patrons to take pictures at our own Coward’s Corner, but not before enjoying the entirety of this killer mix of camp, queerness, and macabre comedy — with a twist you have to see to believe. Click here to reserve your tickets!
BETTY BOOP’S HALLOWEEN PARTY
Saturday, October 12, 2024, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Presented by DCA and NoHo Micro Cinema
Boop-oop-a-doop your way into The Lankershim Arts Center in the morning with a Halloween themed Saturday Morning Cartoon Café celebrating some of the Fleischer Studio’s best spooky toons featuring the iconic Betty Boop and Friends. We will have two showings in our screening room upstairs and Betty Boop’s Halloween Party downstairs: Free milk and cereal for the kiddies with complimentary freshly made coffee and cappuccinos whipped by our guest barista for the grown-ups; arts and crafts; selfie spots; and music. Customs are encouraged. Click here to reserve your tickets!
DANCE IN THE CITY
Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 6:00 p.m.
Inspired by William Castle
Dance on Film Event
Presented by DCA and LADWC The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Performing Arts Division (PERF), in collaboration with Los Angeles Dance Worker Coalition (LADWC), presents the 2024 dance on-film commission awardees. Seven artists–Brandon Maxwell, Diamondback Annie, Ibuki Kuramochi, Jennifer Rose, Kate Coleman, Kevin Zambrano, and Precious Ellis–were commissioned to create new works as part of the 2024 Dance in the City, formerly named Dance in the Districts. Emerging artists were commissioned to create video works influenced or inspired by the 1950s and 1960s gimmick thriller films of William Castle. Click here to reserve your tickets!
CASTLEMANIA! THE WILLIAM CASTLE RETROSPECTIVE: STRAIGHT-JACKET
Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:30 p.m.)
Presented by DCA and NoHo Micro Cinema Directed by William Castle, written by Robert Bloch, performances by Joan Crawford and Diane Baker, Columbia Pictures, 1964, 93 min.
Followed by a conversation with comedy writers and co-hosts of the Mama needs a Movie podcast, Anne Rieman and Ryan Perez, moderated by festival co-producer Jorge Aparicio from NoHo Micro Cinema.
Screen legend Joan Crawford stars as Lucy Harbin, a newly released murderess who served 20 years for a grisly crime of passion. Now reunited with her daughter and her brother’s family, her life is back to normal… or is it? When a spate of ax murders mysteriously start occurring, all eyes are on Lucy. Written by the screenwriter of Psycho, this is Castle’s foray into the psycho-biddy genre, with Castle capitalizing on Joan Crawford’s newfound popularity as a horror icon. Click here to reserve your tickets!
Questions? Please refer to the LNK’s Instagram account: @dca_lnk or call: (818) 301-6120.
