Bringing scares, libations and a whole lot of fun

October means autumn. October means pumpkins and squash. Most of all, October means scaring the crap out of yourself on a continual basis knowing that once you pass Halloween, your girlfriend would rather watch Elf than Night of the Living Dead.

Although Oregon has myriad haunted mazes and fun corn labyrinths to wander around and get you scared silly, some of us would rather watch a scary movie with friends, pizza and beer.

Laurelhurst Theater brings you four movies that will help you get your scary movie fix, cheaply. Yes, you already missed week one, but there are three more weeks and three more classic terrifying movies to come: Poltergeist, Poltergeist 2, and Lifeforce.

First, for your consideration, Poltergeist. Released in 1982, Poltergeist tells the story of the Freeling family and their encounter with a not-so-friendly ghost that has been talking to their daughter via static on their TV. The ghost then proceeds to abduct the child by sucking her into the television and hold her hostage. Once the parents save their daughter, the ghost gets pissed and runs amok in the house. While this movie doesn’t seem outwardly scary, there’s a definite creep factor that lingers throughout the flick and a rather disturbing scene involving a muddy pit and some skeletons.

The story continues in Poltergeist 2 (1986) where we’re given a back-story as to why this child-loving ghost is targeting poor Carol Anne Freeling, the girl who got abducted in the first flick. Apparently they moved into a house built over a cavern that is a cult leader’s resting place. Now the ghost of the demonic cult leader is hanging around where the family decided to plop down.

The final offering of the month is Lifeforce, a 1985 film based on a 1976 novel entitled Space Vampires. A group of astronauts go in search of Halley’s Comet and discover a two-mile-long space ship that has been “sucked dry” of life. The few living beings they discover are taken aboard and brought back to Earth.

Unfortunately, they brought back space vampires that end up turning a large portion of London’s population into zombies. Now the crew has to try and stop them from spreading across the world in an orgy of blood, biting and zombieness.

Laurelhurst Theater is a great place to bring a group of friends and watch a great movie, for cheap, while sampling some delicious food and cheap beverages. Every month has a theme, and a new feature film every week.

While the Halloween season starts early in the month and quickly dissipates once the festive day ends, there are enough activities to keep your Halloween spirit for far longer. Between the amount of Nightmare Before Christmas tattoos, zombie-themed movies and those god-awful Twilight books, the Halloween spirit is year-round. Cheap, first rate classics and good ol’ beer and pizza ensure a fun time at the movies.