A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

CAT PEOPLE (1942)

Monday, October 6, 7 pm

Directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton. This 1942 supernatural mystery stars Simone Simon as Irena, a newly married fashion illustrator from Serbia who becomes convinced she is the descendant of an ancient tribe who can transform into panthers. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993, Cat People relies on quiet, tense suggestion instead of shock, creating mood of ever-threatening terror that lurks in the beautifully shadowed sets.

VAMPYR (1932)

Monday, October 13, 7 pm

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc). Loosely adapted from Sheridan Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly, Vampyr follows a young man, obsessed with the occult, who finds himself drawn to an eerie village that is plagued by a vampire curse. One of the earliest horror movies to feature sound, Vampyr is a chilling and surreal tale featuring experimental cinematography and innovative use of shadows and light. A landmark film everyone should see on the big screen.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943)

Monday, October 20, 7 pm

Directed by Mark Robson and produced by Val Lewton. This underseen horror-noir stars Kim Hunter as a young woman who leaves her boarding school to track down her missing sister (Jean Brooks) in 1940s Greenwich Village. Along the way she meets her sister’s secret husband and a mysterious psychiatrist who claims the woman sought his help to escape a Satanic cult. Foreboding, chilling, and far bleaker than most films from the ‘40s, The Seventh Victim has slowly developed a cult following over the years, attracting fans with its subtle lesbian subtext, oppressive atmosphere, and grim existentialist view of life.

FREAKS (1932)

Monday, October 27, 7 pm

Directed by Tod Browning (1931’s Dracula). This pre-Code horror tells a story of betrayal and revenge set in a traveling French circus. Beautiful trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) sets her sights on sideshow dwarf Hans (Harry Earles), determined to marry and murder the man for his inheritance. When Hans’ freakshow friends learn of the scheme, they plot to take down Cleopatra and her circus strongman lover Hans. A flop upon its release, Freaks was met with incredible controversy stemming from Browning’s decision to use people with real disabilities. Though accused of exploiting the disabled, Browning’s affection and support for his gang comes through in the film, his tale functioning as a morality play that criticizes a class structure that would rather hide disabled individuals rather than see them as human.