October Movie Meetup!

One September afternoon, I happened to be checking out the movie offerings at Landmark Movie Theater for the next month. I found the Landmark would be showing the original version of a different classic horror movie each Saturday of October. 

One of my most vivid memories growing up is being at my grandmother’s house, holding a pillow over my eyes as I watched Dracula turn into vapor and slide into the room through the crack under the door. Oh my! I thought, no one is safe from Dracula. Now here was my chance to see that movie again as an adult and even eat some popcorn while it played on the big screen. Would it be as scary as I remembered it? 

My next thought was that I am sure some Villagers would also like to revisit these scary movies. It turned out to be true. Each Saturday afternoon in October, I went to the lobby of Landmark Theater and met up with whoever showed up eager to test their bravery. Each person bought their ticket and chose a seat. Some wanted to sit in the very back row, some in the center of the audience with lots of protection around them, and others were daring enough to sit just a few rows from the screen where they had a perfect view of every monster. 

First there was the movie “Dracula.” It was the original 1931 version of the masterpiece of its genre. Although he did not turn into vapor, he still could access every room as a bat. The following Saturday, we watched “Frankenstein” as a mad scientist who tampered with life and death. Next up was Boris Karloff’s famous “The Mummy.” He played the legendary Im-Ho-Tep. I still remember the close-up of his face, staring out at us in the audience. And we finished by viewing the 1954 film, “The Creature of the Black Lagoon,” in which the characters explored the Amazon River and found a missing link to humankind.

After each showing, our group of brave moviegoers would visit a restaurant establishment in the area. First up was the Vroman’s Wine Bar; next was El Portal for sharing a quesadilla with guacamole dip and chips. Then we visited the Star Leaf next door for cocktails and appetizers after both of the last two movies. While there, we discussed our childhood memories of the films and compared them with the newer versions released. We were surprised that local Carl Laemmle produced all the films, and that we had actually viewed them at a former Laemmle Theater. 

Each weekend, we headed home afterward knowing that the monsters we had seen on screen would not be visiting us in our dreams. As one moviegoer said, “The movies may have been filmed with horror and had given us some shivers, but they also included some tacky comedy.”

All in all, it was a fun way to get together with friends, see a movie, munch on some buttery popcorn, and enjoy a discussion afterward.