Catch some classic thrills at ‘Thrill Fest’
August is on its way out, but there’s still time to catch some classic thrills and chills thanks to Ayala Malls Cinemas’ annual “Thrill Fest: The Ghost Month Classic Film Series.” Four classics, all celebrating milestone anniversaries, and having recently received the remastering treatment to look brighter and sharper for modern theaters, make their way to participating Ayala Malls Cinemas, and best of all, at a reduced price of P200-250.
You have until the Aug. 27 to catch the two most recent films “Interview with the Vampire” and “Gremlins.” From Aug. 28 to Sept. 3, “The Towering Inferno” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” will be featured.
‘Interview with the Vampire’
The 1994 adaptation of the Anne Rice novel that kicked off her best-selling series “The Vampire Chronicles” has a screenplay penned by Rice herself. In the director’s chair is the estimable Neil Jordan, a novelist himself, then fresh off of the acclaim from his neo-noir “The Crying Game,” whose star, Stephen Rea, he brings over here.
And what a cast! Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, a young Thandiwe Newton and Helen McCrory, and the screen debut of Kirsten Dunst. Famously, Rice was against the casting of Cruise as her favorite character, Lestat de Lioncourt, but changed her tune after seeing his performance in the finished film, even putting out a full-page ad in the papers to apologize.
Delirious photography by Philippe Rousselot and a sumptuous score by Elliot Goldenthal. Production and costume design over a period of some 300 years? Swoon.
‘Gremlins’
Joe Dante directs a script by Chris Columbus (“Home Alone”) in a film executive produced by Steven Spielberg. This movie stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Corey Feldman, Judge Reinhold, even a young Jonathan Banks!
But who are we kidding? The real star (and seed of a merchandise/toy explosion) is the super-cute “mogwai” named Gizmo, who absolutely cannot get wet and cannot be fed after midnight, lest some hijinks ensue. And they do ensue, as gremlins take over a small town. Horror comedies rarely work, but this one is one of the best.
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
Wes Craven’s 1984 horror introduced audiences to Freddie Krueger (Robert Englund) and launched a franchise that has lasted decades. A young Johnny Depp, horror legend Lin Shaye, and star Heather Langenkamp are featured in the dreamy tale of a teenager beset with terrible nightmares that begin to invade reality, dealing her (and the audience) a descent into madness and terror.
‘The Towering Inferno’
A ridiculously stacked cast in this disaster movie from 1974 that was considered the disaster movie of its time: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, OJ Simpson (!), and Robert Vaughan, among others. With a score by John Williams, “The Towering Inferno” depicts the chaos when a fire starts on 81st floor of a skyscraper, and everyone tries desperately to either put it out, or make it out alive.
Tickets are available at sureseats.com.
