A+E

Comedian Evan Vest is holed up at Savage Henry Comedy Club for one of his curated movie screenings. This evening’s fare happens to be one of the worst films ever made, a movie so baffling and terrible that an entire cult industry has cropped up over the last two decades since its release. I am of course talking about director Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, a true classic buttressed as much by the sheer oddness of Wiseau’s presence as it is by the bizarreness of the flick. He lives in this movie, his presence is everywhere and no, this is not meant as a compliment. The show starts at 9 p.m. and there is no cover.

Gotta hand it to the Arcata Theatre Lounge, which has managed to stump the band this week by doing the unthinkable and putting on a cult horror film from the ’80s that I haven’t seen, nor heard of. Kudos, this is usually a Jeopardy category with which I have the same comfort as a daily commute. The flick is called Chopping Mall and from what I’ve gathered from the trailer, it’s an anti-capitalist parable that pits teens against the killer robotic security forces in the galleria of a shopping mall, in the liminal spaces of the after-shopping hours. If you're curious, it’s the same drill as before. Doors at 6 p.m., $5 to get in, $9 to leave with a poster.

Here’s a treat for movie buffs and fans of local history. The original 1919 version of the film The Valley of the Giants, which was filmed on location in Humboldt County and lost for 90 years, is showing now in Eureka for the first time since 1919 at the Eureka Theater, Friday, Nov. 3, and Saturday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. ($20). There will be a live music score and sound effects performed by SqueezeBug. The special showing is a benefit for the Eureka Heritage Society.

When you hear of an Ennio Morricone score accompanying a wide-brimmed hat wearing, Scotch whisky-guzzling anti-hero, you probably don’t immediately think of the frozen north and a cosmic horror beyond reckoning. That’s OK because I sure do. John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece The Thing is possibly the greatest practical-effects sci-fi horror flick ever made. If you don’t yet know, come over to the Arcata Theatre Lounge after 6 p.m. and before 7:30 p.m., drop down $5 (or $9 if you want to leave with a poster) and see what I mean. This one gets under your skin.

Movie night! Two features but you have to pick one because the 7:30 p.m. showtimes clash. The Arcata Theatre Lounge is playing Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which is a certified kult klassic. Get there a bit earlier if you want to snag a seat, and 6 p.m. is a good time to settle in for the pre-show and raffle. Just $5 gets you inside, but $9 gets the same and you leave with a poster. Over at the Miniplex, there’s a remix of the classic dystopian anime Akira with a new, live spun soundtrack courtesy of DJ Pandemonium Jones. This one should be interesting, although I can’t imagine how to re-track this film. I was so obsessed with the original soundtrack that it was the house music for my truck for nearly a year. I trust in our DJ, though. He’s good.

It’s midweek in the beginning of the spooky month, so why not go and catch a big
screen presentation of a slightly macabre and murderous musical? I am talking about the 1986 Frank Oz-directed iteration of The Little Shop of Horrors, starring Rick Moranis as the nebbish florist Seymour, who finds himself in thrall with a man-eating flower whose hunger drives the silly plot to a romantic end. If nothing else, you can appreciate Steve Martin’s scene-stealing role as a viciously cruel dentist and enjoy a moment of culture shock from seeing a time in history when Americans had enough access to dentistry that they could universally joke about the more sadistic aspects of the trade rather than bemoan the lack of care my generation enjoys. My last dental experience was nearly 20 years ago, when I paid someone at a dental college $200 to split and yank out an impacted wisdom tooth sans anesthesia. Thankfully, there was a liquor store in the same parking lot. Showtime is 7:30 p.m., at Arcata Theatre Lounge, it’s $5 to get in and $9 to leave with a poster. Viva.

We are on the cusp of spooky season with October imminent and many favorite classic and soon-to-be classic horror and Halloween films set to dominate TV networks and streaming services. But how wicked would it be to watch them on the big screen with a group of like-minded fans? We’re in luck. Ferndale Repertory Theatre is transforming its live theater space to a movie house for the Spooky Movie Series getting underway this Saturday, Sept. 30, with The Invisible Man (1933), starring Claude Rains, showing at 7 p.m. ($10, $5 students/seniors).
Concessions are available and other movies in the series are Bram Stoker's Dracula, Frankenstein, Ghostbusters and Friday the 13th. P.S.: The ATL is killing it in October with its movie lineup, too — we’ll get to that next week.