Film Screening 16th August, 2002

Poster for The Mothman Prophecies

The Mothman Prophecies 

8:00 PM, 16th August, 2002

  • M
  • 119 mins
  • 2002
  • Mark Pellington
  • Richard Hatem
  • Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Debra Messing

Starring Richard Gere, this horror flick has been widely anticipated by horror buffs worldwide. Gere plays a reporter who investigates his wife's peculiar death, one of a series of bizarre events in a small town in western Virginia. The events are characterized by the appearance of strange beings and incidences of psychic visions centring around a being known as... The Mothman. Directed by Mark Pellington, of Arlington Road fame, this horror/thriller promises to be a real goose pimple raiser and is based on a potent combination of actual fact, urban legend and Hollywood effects.

Z

Poster for Thir13en Ghosts

Thir13en Ghosts 

10:00 PM, 16th August, 2002

  • MA
  • 91 mins
  • 2001
  • Steve Beck
  • Neal Stevens, Richard D'Ovidio
  • Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth

Have you ever dreamt that an estranged, and particularly wealthy, relative died and left everything to you? The arthouse mansion, hefty sums of cash, weird antiques, creepy lawyers, a basement filled with the ghosts of serial killers... come on, nothing's perfect! Funnily enough, this happens to the Kriticos family, Arthur (Shaloub) and Kathy (mmm, Shannon Elizabeth).
Thir13en Ghosts is a revisit of the 1960 William Castle (The House on Haunted Hill, Straight Jacket) horror classic with the less hip and trendy, but easier to spell, name 13 Ghosts. While very similar in plot device and development, the original was aimed at more of a family audience than this revisit. This one focuses its energy on whoop-ass creature effects, rather than the family-oriented gimmicks of the original - for which viewers where given coloured goggles, giving them choice to see (blue) or not see (red) the ghosts as they wished. Hands down, Thir13en Ghosts has the most imaginative, creative and well-implemented creature effects I have ever seen. They may make you jump occasionally, they'll probably make you squirm, but they will definitely have you watching closely in morbid fascination.
Odds are most people will have made up their minds whether this is a film for them the instant they saw the words 'ghosts' and 'serial killers' in one sentence. In all honesty, anyone that goes to see Thir13en Ghosts for its heartfelt story deserves everything they get, and everyone there for the ghosts will love it.

Adam Gould