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.

The mid-1990s: When dinosaurs roamed the earth

Kids love dinosaurs.

Kids love carnage.

So when Hollywood decided to make a movie based on Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel, it was pretty much a sure bet that kids (and their parents) would absolutely adore “Jurassic Park.”

The SLO Rewind series kicks off tonight with a special screening of “Jurassic Park.”

When a bio research company creates an amusement park populated with cloned dinosaurs, InGen CEO John Hammond(Richard Attenborough) brings in a trio of scientists to check out the new attraction.

At first the experts — paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Satler (Laura Dern) and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) — are thrilled by the dino zoo, dubbed Jurassic Park. It’s a marvelous place, a treat for animal lovers and history buffs alike. But is it safe?

The scientists’ doubts find ground when a tropical storm hits and the park loses power. Suddenly, the adults — and Hammond’s grandchildren — find themselves at the mercy of wild prehistoric critters in a modern playground.

An instant classic when it was released in 1993, “Jurassic Park” is a fast-paced theme park ride with plenty of creature features, jumpy moments and what were, for the time, groundbreaking special effects. The movie may have aged some, given advances in technology, but it remains solid entertainment.

“Jurassic Park” plays tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Fremont theater, 1025 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.

Doors open at 7 p.m., but I’d advise moviegoers to get there early. Even this vast ’40s-era movie palace has a tendency to fill up quickly when there’s a good flick.

Tickets are $7.50.

*Never let it be said that dinosaurs are dumb animals. These clever carnivores eat the lawyer and Newman from “Seinfeld,” but let the nice kids and adults escape. (Oops! Was that a plot spoiler?!?)

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Meanwhile, could a fourth “Jurassic Park” movie be in the works?

In May, Laura Dern told TV Guide magazine that the fourth installment in the dino-centric series “is happening.”

“It isn’t just speculation,” she said in a much-quoted interview. “It’s a while away, but my understanding is it’s happening and my character is very involved. I know (director) Steven Spielberg is looking forward to getting it together over the next year.”

Making another “Jurassic Park” movie would be difficult following the death of special effects wizard Stan Winston in June. And it’s unsure whether movie producers could snag the original cast, now that they’re all busy pursuing their separate careers. (Okay, maybe not Jeff Goldblum. His “Raines” TV series was dismal.)

Neill skipped “The Lost World” but appeared in “Jurassic Park 3.” Would he be up for another adventure? That’s anyone’s guess.

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The SLO Rewind series continues next month with the following films:

• “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (Oct. 14)
• “Space Balls” (Oct. 28)
• “Independence Day” (Nov. 18)
• “Ghostbusters” (Dec. 2)
• “Starship Troopers” (Jan. 27)

Just days before the 4th of July, business owners are worried that shark sightings will hurt sales on their busiest week of the summer.

Sound like recent news from Avila Beach and Pismo? Well, yeah. But it was also an integral part of the plot for “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg’s first really big movie, which ironically will be shown locally on the big screen July 10.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might accuse the Fremont of staging the recent sightings to promote the movie. But I have a feeling the movie will do just fine without shark sightings. (It has grossed about $475 million, after all.)

“Jaws” starred Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw and a large and menacing mechanical fish named Bruce. The script was adapted from a book by Peter Benchley, who later admitted his novel helped fuel erroneous beliefs about the great white shark.

“We knew so little back then and have learned so much since, that I couldn’t possibly write the same story today,” he wrote in his 2002 book “Shark Trouble.”

The most common misperception about sharks, Benchley said in one interview, is that they are man-eaters that target humans for consumption. Most human great white victims, Benchley said, are mistaken for typical shark prey.

“Jaws” is, of course, often quoted by movie geeks. A few of the best lines (thanks to IMDB.com):

From Quint: “I’ll find him for three, but I’ll catch him, and kill him, for ten.”

From the mayor: “Martin, it’s all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, “Huh? What?” You yell shark, we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.”

From Brody: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

–Pat P.