4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2013 EDITOR NIALL SHANNON | > ntertainment JESSE LAM photo A psychopathic clown laughs maniacally, surrounded by his gruesome work, in one of several horrific displays on show at Fright Nights Fright Nights freak-fest chills Playland’s Fright Nights returns to terrify the brave or the foolish By JESSE LAM OO! The annual Fright Nights at Playland have returned, com- plete with crazed clowns, weep- ing ghosts and mad doctors. With Halloween coming up, Langara students looking for a fright can check out the haunted houses in Playland, as the six each have a theme to scare those who dare to walk in. The Hollywood Horrors house had horror and slasher movies being the focus of the show. Thrill-seeker Marion Wickstrom said she liked the show. “You’ve got Freddy Krueger in there, and you’ve got Jason in there. Silence of the Lambs,” said Wickstrom. “It’s all stuff you’re familiar with.” Eden Legasbo, another Fright Nights attendee, had other thoughts. “It was predictable,” said Legasbo. “T feel like that everyone was taking a break, and the actors were just like ‘whatever.” Horror House Darkness also gained mixed reviews, as this haunted house featuring flashing strobe lights creates the feeling the room may be closing in on you, making it claustrophobic. “That room with all the rooms flash- ing with strobe lights, it had a lot of pop-up scares,” said Legasbo. Wickstrom disagreed. “Darkness was a really, really long lineup and a bit of a disappointment after the long line- up.” If you suffer from a phobia of clowns, Car-N-Evil could be your worst night- mare. This house isn’t a place for jug- gling clown acts; rather, they jump out from nowhere making attempts to grab you. The new haunted house this year is Fear, which showcases classic fears, such as being buried alive, heights, scary animals and even mad dentists. For the classic haunted house expe- rience, people may enjoy Haunted Mansion, with the fictional back-story of lunatic Dr. Luther Van Horn welcom- ing people to his home and his story of his wife Nora, accompanied by screams and moans of ghosts and other undead creatures. A favourite at this year’s Fright Nights is Asylum, acorrding to horror fan Amika Prasad, who claimed she didn’t scare easily, but thought it was very well done. “The atmosphere, man, it’s definitely the atmosphere,” said Prasad. “It’s a perfect mix of creepiness of being in an asylum plus the claustrophobia of ev- erything being so close.” Asylum features a series of operat- ing tables, rooms covered in blood, and of course a lot of mental patients look- ing for people’s help. Besides the horror houses, Playland also has the more traditional rides for people to enjoy, including the 55-year- old Coaster in the dark, plus 11 more rides. The Fright Nights exhibition runs until Nov. 2, with general admission- tickets ranging from $25 to $35 as well as $50 to $70 for an express pass. Horror in the city 1 Dunbar Haunted House: 8934 Shaughnessy Tickets: $10 2 FlyOver Halloween 999 Canada PI. At Canada Place Tickets $16.95 3 Halloween Ball Telus Science World 1455 Quebec St. Tickets: $60 4 Chinatown Haunted House 578 Carrall St. $10 for Students Cult film returns Resurgence of grindhouse films speaks to a moderate culture, says Langara club By NADIM ROBERTS that panned Roberto Rodriguez’s Machete sequel, Machete Kills, it still came fourth at the box office over the long weekend, raking in almost $4 million. Tickets sold out for last Thursday night’s first screening at the Scotia- bank Theatre. Lead Danny Trejo returns as detec- tive-turned-spy Machete, enlisted by the President (played by Charlie Sheen) to stop a missile aimed at Washington, D.C. According to Ernest Mathijs, profes- sor of film studies at UBC and co-au- thor of 100 Cult Films, films like this are “immune to reviews.” “They never got good reviews, and that was part of the pride of the audi- ence,” said Mathijs. The films Mathijs is referring to are part of a genre of film called grind- house. The heyday of grindhouse films was the ‘60s and ‘70s, when changing de- mographics in inner cities, coupled with a more culturally permissive cli- mate, forced theaters to offer movie- goers something they couldn’t find by turning on the TV. What they couldn’t find on TV was sex, violence and sa- dism. “It was something dangerous and that you were not supposed to watch. It stood high-up on the shelf in the video store and it was late-night after your curfew,” said Mathijs. Films like Machete Kills are consid- ered homages to this genre of cinema and continue the tradition of sleaze and bloodshed that grindhouse is known for. Damian Sandoval, one of the found- ers of a new student club called New Noise that plans on having bimonthly film screenings on campus, believes that films like Machete Kills are symp- tomatic of something deeper in soci- ety. “Our society is so moderate when it comes to our day-to-day lives,” says Sandoval. “We are only free to indulge our wildest fantasies and obsessions as long as they aren’t politically subver- sive.” Another member of the club, Amy Widmer, classifies grindhouse as “ac- tion films for the alternative crowd.” “This is definitely not your Michael Bay action film,” says Widmer. Di early reviews from critics Murder mystery delights public Metro’s adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery play keeps the audience in suspense By JENNY PENG precarious love triangle sweeps Av: an English manor one week- end and sends detectives fishing for clues after a playboy doctor is mys- teriously murdered. Metro Theatre’s adaptation of Ag- atha Christie’s The Hollow sees Sir Henry and Lady Angkatell’s weekend getaway turn bloody when invited guest Dr. John Cristow is found dead on the living room floor. Cristow, a selfish, neurotic woman- izer played by Joshua Knight, happens to be a troublemaker in many other characters’ lives, giving them all a mo- tive to kill him. With a set of suspects, Inspector Colquhoun and his partner Detective Sergeant Penny struggle to get evidence from a thick web of family dysfunction. Cristow’s dull, shallow wife seems too naive to have killed Cristow, though she often complains of being mistreat- ed by her husband. And then there is Cristow’s mistress Veronica Craye, who declares, “If I can’t have you, John, nobody else can!” in her last appearance with him. All eyes are on Edward Angkatell, who notoriously despises Cristow for stealing the heart of his beloved Henrietta. Lady Angkatell appears calm, even delighted by the novelty of the scene. It is the contradiction of emotions and odd family dynamics that draws the audience in. Audience member John Humphreys praised the cast, especially Inspector Colquhoun (Eric O’Connor) and Lady Angkatell (Alison Schamberger). However, Humphreys said the light- ing seemed “to go bright and soft for no particular reason.” The Hollow runs until Oct. 26 at the Metro Theatre. Student tickets are $22. JENNY PENG photo Alison Schamberger (Lady Angkatell), left, rehearses with Marie Strom (Gerda Cristow) before the premiere