She Likes to Watch

“Evil Dead,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” mix with friendlier fare

More cinematic scares are in store for audiences this week, along with a black-and-white classic and a family-friendly science fiction blockbuster.

This week’s movie calendar kicks off tonight with a special screening of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

It’s a fundraiser for the Five Cities Chapter of Quota International, a service organization dedicated to helping deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech-impaired people as well as disadvantaged women and children.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill A Mockingbird” stars Gregory Peck as a principled small-town lawyer in the Depression-era South. Assigned to defend a black man accused of rape, he fights against prejudice at the risk of harm to himself and his family.

Peck won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his inspiring performance as Atticus Finch.

Admission is $20 and includes the movie, soda, popcorn and a raffle ticket. Generous souls who purchase a $100 “VIP ticket” will receive 20 raffle tickets, chocolate truffles and something called “personal waitperson service.” Sounds ritzy.

According to Quota, proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit “mini home makeovers” for folks in the Five Cities areas.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” will be shown tonight at the Fair Oaks Theatre, 1007 E Grand Ave. in Arroyo Grande. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

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See the movie that launched Sam Raimi’s directing career and made Bruce Campbell a B-movie icon tonight when “The Evil Dead” shows in San Luis Obispo.

In “Evil Dead,” five friends head to an isolated cabin in the Tennessee woods. They find and play a tape containing incantations from an ancient text known as The Book of the Dead, unleashing forces of unspeakable evil.

Big mistake. One by one, the terrified teens turn into bloodthirsty zombies — leaving hapless Ash (Campbell) to fend them off.

The first in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy, this low-budget horror film earned cult classic status for its graphic gore and off-beat humor. Although it’s arguably inferior to sequel “Evil Dead II,” “The Evil Dead” still packs some pretty effective punches — including an “tree rape” scene that I can’t watch without squirming.

“The Evil Dead” plays at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50.

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On Thursday, the Young Professionals Networking Group hosts a charity screening of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

When several people encounter strange lights, sounds and other phenomena, they find themselves drawn to a single place: Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming.

The faithful include two government researchers (Francois Truffaut and Bob Balaban), a single mom (Melinda Dillan) and her toddler, and a lineman (Richard Dreyfuss) so obsessed with his UFO encounter that he carves mountains in his mashed potatoes.

Steven Spielberg’s surprisingly warm movie was a smash success back in 1977, raking in $116.4 million in North America alone. Don’t miss the chance to see this sci-fi favorite on the big screen.

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Palm Theatre. Tickets are $10, include a raffle for hotel stays, spa treatments, food and wine, and benefit the Food Bank of San Luis Obispo County.

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Friday turns freaky with a screening of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” at the Palm Theatre.

A terrifying figure is haunting the dreams of the denizens of Elm Street: a ragged, badly scarred man with razor blades for fingers.

Years ago, serial killer Fred Krueger was cornered by an angry mob of parents and burned alive. Now Freddy’s back and looking for revenge on the children whose parents who drove him to his death.

When her friends start dying in their sleep, 15-year-old Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) realizes she must stay awake in order to stay alive.

Like “Friday the 13th,” Wes Craven’s “Nightmare” is considered a slasher classic. Keep your eyes peeled for young Johnny Depp, who appears as Glen Lantz, one of the kids being stalked by the spectral Freddy.

Catch “A Nightmare on Elm Street” at 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Palm Theatre. Tickets are $7.50.

Last week, I raved about Neil Patrick Harris as a cute, cuddly supervillain on “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”

Well, folks, I have another Neil Patrick Harris sighting to share with you.

“Doogie Howser, M.D.” is back, and he’s hawking Old Spice deodorant.

That’s right. Harris has joined B-movie god Bruce Campbell as a spokesman for Old Spice, a division of Procter & Gamble. In this TV ad, he recommends Pro-Strength Old Spice as a cure “against the torment of wetness and excessive body odor.”

If you can’t trust a former make-believe doctor, who can you trust?

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Naturally, I can’t stop myself from sharing a little Bruce Campbell with y’all.

Here, the “Evil Dead” star talks about that ever-elusive quality, experience …

And serenades some fine ladies with a piano lounge version of “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Be still, my beating heart.

They just don’t make ‘em like “Army of Darkness” anymore.

Directed by Sam Raimi, it’s the final film in the funny, gory “Evil Dead” trilogy.

In “The Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead II,” unsuspecting kids stumble upon an abandoned cabin in the woods and unleash an unholy power.

When the long-suffering Ash (Bruce Campbell) tries to stop the evil forces, however, he gets sucked into a time vortex and deposited in 1300 AD.

“Army” picks up where “Evil Dead II” left off, as Ash — hailed as the “Hero from the Skies” — is forced to defend humankind from a horde of decaying corpses.

Although some folks claim that “Army” isn’t as funny or gory as its “Evil Dead” predecessors, I have to disagree. It’s got slapstick comedy, am oh-so-quotable script, and a simply priceless storyline: a 20th century supermarket clerk battling zombies in the Middle Ages.

Did “Evil Dead” inspire a hit comic book series? I think not.

So listen up, you primitive screwheads. Here are just a few reasons that “Army of Darkness” totally rules.

Bruce Campbell

It’s common knowledge that Sam Raimi tortures his actors.

As Campbell details in his autobiography, “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor,” he endured vicious heat and cold, uncomfortable makeup and props, and ridiculously difficult fight scenes to make “Army of Darkness.”

Campbell survived — somehow — to become a B-movie superstar.

The Oldsmobile

As faithful fans know, Sam’s 1973 Oldsmobile Delta shows up in nearly every Raimi film, from “The Evil Dead” to “Spider-Man.”

Here, the car known as “The Classic” falls out of the sky to land — thud! — in 12th century England. (Or the Mojave Desert. Your call.)

The boomstick

Only a badass like Ash would battle the undead with a 12-gauge shotgun and a chainsaw. As he tells the so-called “primitive screwheads” of medieval times, this double-barreled Remington is S-Mart’s “top of the line.”

“That’s right,” Ash says, “this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It’s got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger.”

In short, it’s the perfect weapon for a time traveler with ‘tude.

S-Mart

How many horror movies feature endorsements for a fictional supermarket chain? To my knowledge, just this one.

A word to developers: If you build an S-Mart in my neighborhood, I’ll totally shop there. Like, every day.

Mini-Ash

When Ash stumbles into a haunted windmill, he smashes a mirror and unleashes mean, miniature versions of himself. The little guys wage a Liliputian battle on poor Ash.

Giggling incessantly, they stab him, shoot at him, dump a bucket of porridge on his head and tie him up a la “Gulliver’s Travels.”

I still cringe every time poor Ash bangs his noggin on a low-hanging beam.

Evil Ash

If you thought the mini-Ashes were nasty, check out the dude sprouting out of our hero’s shoulder.

Evil Ash survives a chainsaw attack, burial and a shotgun blast to the face to create the titular Army of Darkness and lead them in battle.

The Ladies

Bridget Fonda makes a brief cameo as Linda, Ash’s ill-fated girlfriend.

But the main babe is Embeth Davidtz, who went on to star in “Schindler’s List,” “Mansfield Park” and “Bridget Jone’s Diary.” Here, she plays a medieval honey who later transforms into a nasty hag.

“Give me some sugar, baby.”

The Necronomicon Ex Mortis

“Inked in human blood and bound in human flesh it was never meant for the world of the living. The book awoke something in the woods, something evil.”

The title, loosely translated, means the Book of the Dead.

In “Army of Darkness,” it’s up to Ash to reopen the book, recite a magic phrase and drive back the evil forces. Predictably, he screws it up.

Clatto Verata Nicto

When a wise sage tells Ash to utter the magic words “Clatto verata nicto,” he’s making a direct reference to a science fiction classic.

In “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” the alien visitor, Klaatu, tells a woman to repeat the phrase “Klaatu barada nikto” to his robot.

The Deadites

It’s no coincidence that these undead warriors resemble the sword-swinging skeletons in “Jason and the Argonauts.”

They combine Stooges-style physical comedy with gross special effects. Ray Harryhausen, eat your heart out.

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“Army of Darkness” plays tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Showtimes are 7 and 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are $7.50.

As far as cult classics go, “Evil Dead 2″ was a watershed.

Following 1981’s “The Evil Dead,” Sam Raimi’s gruesome and frequently hilarious flick made mammoth-chinned Bruce Campbell a B-movie icon.

It wedded shotgun and chainsaw as the deadliest pair to ever hit the big screen.

It gave hope to poverty-stricken film students everywhere with lint in their pockets and gore on their minds.

Most importantly, Raimi’s mixture of Stooges-style stunts, oddball dialogue and gross, low-budget special effects cemented the comedy-horror genre.

Without Raimi and George Romero, there’d be no “Shaun of the Dead.” And that, dear readers, would be a sad, sad day for humanity.

Lucky for us, “Evil Dead 2″ is playing tonight at The Fremont theater, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.

The screening starts at 7:30 p.m., following a half-hour trivia contest with prizes.
Tickets are $7.50.

If you don’t make the screening, rent this one. You’ll remember how great it really is.

For moviegoers who like their entertainment zombie-free, however, the Fremont will screen Leonard Bernstein’s classic musical, “West Side Story,” on Jan. 15.

– Sarah L.

(”Evil Dead 2″ image courtesy of MovieWeb.com.)