Evil Dead I & II Double-Feature (R)
Wednesday, October 28
Follow the baddest chainsaw-wielding, zombie-slaying, motherfucker named Ashley in this back-to-back screening of two of the best cult horror movies of all time! Sam Raimi’s classic lost-in-the-woods bloodbath follows Ash and co. as they battle evil spirits summoned through a reading of the Necronomicon, or Book of the Dead. Drinking game ideas include — shots: for every new shade of projectile blood spewage. Slam it: any time someone trips over their own feet. Waterfall: the duration of one newly deceased’s dance routine. $15, 6:30pm, Alamo Drafthouse Park North, 618 NW Loop 410, drafthouse.com
Scream (R)
Thursday, October 29
Wes Craven is dead! Long live Wes Craven! The master of horror that bestowed upon us such time-honored films as The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, The People Under The Stairs, The Serpent and the Rainbow and the Nightmare on Elm Street series, has only recently shuffled off this mortal coil, but his masterful eye for the despicable and macabre will be a treasure for decades to come. Until we, too, are fresh flesh rotting in the dirt. $10.50, 7:30pm, Alamo Drafthouse Stone Oak & Westlakes, 618 NW Loop 410 (Park North), 1255 SW Loop 410 (Westlakes), drafthouse.com
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (R)
Thursday, October 29
Destined to be a cult-classic, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a zombie response-vehicle for Canadian Tyler Labine and hilarious Texan Alan Tudyk (Death at a Funeral; A Knight’s Tale), who has been so convincing as an Englishman in his past films that I had him Simon Pegg-ed, positively, as a member of the British Empire. There will be a costume contest as well, so wear your worst. Free, 21+, 8:30pm, Freetail Taproom, 2000 S. Presa St., freetailbrewing.com
Hocus Pocus
Friday, October 30
Between the prodigious cleavage of The Divine Ms. M and the idiotic sex appeal of 20-something Carrie Bradshaw, Hocus Pocus is one of my personal favorite Halloween movies — and it’s safe for the kids, too. Also starring Thora Birch, long before her career-defining roles in American Beauty and Ghost World, and that one ill-advised Limp Bizkit video. Free, 6pm, Dignowity Park, slabcinema.com
Night of the Living Dead (R)
Friday, October 30
“They’re coming to get you, Barbra! Look … there comes one of them now!” Hailed as, possibly, the greatest zombie movie of all time, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was not only groundbreaking upon its 1968 release for its realistic violence: throat-ripping, teeth-gnashing and flesh-masticating, but, for its portrayal of a black man (Ben Jones) saving all these dumbass crackers from, not only the living dead, but themselves and their sheltered prejudices. Free, 6pm, Villa Finale, 401 King William, villafinale.org
Ghostbusters
Saturday, October 31
Penned by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (who is criminally under represented in most comedic discussion), Ghostbusters is another film that will satisfy the kids with its surface-level simplicity and digest-able plot, but is packed with enough brilliant quips and asides from Dr. Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray but originally intended for John Belushi or John Candy — pour out, like, two or three 40s and a couple-a fifths), to go over the wee ones’ heads and still tickle the more advanced, arthritic funny bones. Free, 6pm, Travis Park, 301 E Travis St., slabcinema.com
Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing/Quote-Along
Saturday, October 31
Despite its permanent-resident status at Drafthouses the country over, Tim Curry’s inimitable roll of the sweetest transvestite with the deepest mean streak is one for the ages, and go-go cages. Susan Sarandon’s rendition, alongside mute, Frank-N-Furter-built Adonis, “Rocky,” of “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me,” could bring any red-blooded American male’s blood to a cauldron-level boil (via beefcake Rocky, or the innocently, luscious Janet – Ms. Weiss, if you’re nasty). $14, 9:30pm, Alamo Drafthouse Stone Oak, 22806 US Hwy @281 North, drafthouse.com
Army of Darkness (R)
Saturday, October 31
The third installation in the Evil Dead trilogy, and the second offering from writer-director Sam Raimi after the original two’s ascension into classic cult-status, Army of Darkness takes place in the Middle Ages and pulls from such luminary literature as A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by none other than San Antonio-devotee Mark Twain, and Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Originally titled The Medieval Dead, Army of Darkness begins with Ash — our formidable, shotgun-wielding, chainsaw-appendaged hero — doing the time warp back to 1300 AD, only to be captured and held by King Arthur, whose subjects fear Ash’s “boom-stick.” In order to return to modern day — the glorious Nineteen-hundred and ninety-two — Ash must first retrieve the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and recite a three-word magical phrase. Having forgotten the last word necessary to release the Book of the Dead and return Ash to the time of parachute-pants and rat-tails, he unearths the Army of Darkness — “Deadites” — who attempt to destroy all living creatures, unless the people can unite under Ash’s lead and banish the Army of Darkness back to Hell. $10.50, 9:30pm, Alamo Drafthouse Park North, 618 NW Loop 410, drafthouse.com
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