Terror In The Aisles Transforms Friday into Horror/Comedy Gold
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 20, 2011 8:40PM
October in Chicago is always crammed to the Skydeck with movies we want to watch. Besides numerous festivals, the month features a predictable and welcome glut of horror movies as in the run up to Halloween, that most cinematically generous of holidays. Tomorrow night's Terror in the Aisles program was on our calendar already, but after undergoing a recent transformation, we're even more tempted. The triple feature which comedy-heavy horror became a beast of a quadruple bill with the addition of a screening of An American Werewolf in London and an appearance by its star, David Naughton.
Special effects legend Rick Baker took home the very first Academy Award for best makeup for turning Naughton into a wolf on camera, eschewing the coy cutaways for a justifiably famous, mind-blowing sequence of shots that was about as good as it got before the CGI effects revolution. Naughton was also attempting a career transformation as well, from the star of a short-lived disco television show to the big time. His star turn opposite the beautiful Jenny Agutter comes close to getting upstaged by Griffin Dunne's performance as his sardonic, increasingly decomposed best friend. Director John Landis' film is a little thin on plot, but in its balance of comedic tone (this is, after all, the film he made between Blues Brothers and Trading Places) with a spooky vibe peppered with the right number of jumps and jolts, make it one of our favorites.
It's a satisfying concoction when the proportions are right, and Landis' film has influenced a generation of films, not the least of which is 2004's Shaun of the Dead, also on Friday night's bill. The frights continue with indie zombie comedy Dance of the Dead and the gory fun of the Argento-helmed horror-movie-within-a-horror-movie Demons. We'd also recommend getting there early to catch the always-fun collection of horror movie trailers and shorts.
Terror in the Aisles takes place at the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave., on Friday, Oct. 20. Doors are at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online, but you can get $2 off admission at the door if you come dressed as a zombie.