Scare Tactics: The Haunting & Repulsion at the Paramount

Everyone loves a good scare; girls love to scream and cover their eyes, and guys love to put their arm around their girl for “protection.” So if you missed Tuesday’s Frankenstein double bill, you might want to think about asking that special someone to the Paramount Theater tonight.

Sure, it’s nowhere near Halloween (as that 103-degree sun will tell you), but you might not know it once you slip into the Paramount’s cool air conditioned-ness. This Wednesday, you can get your scream on by checking out a couple of old school scary movies—The Haunting plays at 7pm, and if that’s not enough for you, stick around and (for no extra charge!) check out Roman Polanski’s Repulsion at 9:20. (If you’re busy, you get a second chance on Thursday—though be forewarned that the order of the pictures is reversed.)

Before you get all “I’ve seen that movie and it wasn’t very good,” you should know, we’re not talking about the 1999 The Haunting with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Owen Wilson. That movie was a poor remake, and certainly unworthy of the hallowed Paramount’s silver screen. No, this is the 1965 original, in glorious black and white. Considered by many to be a benchmark in the horror genre, this is the kind of scary movie that doesn’t involve a serial killer or a vampire—it’s just spooky stuff happening to regular people. See what used to scare people, and see if perhaps those goosebumps you get on your arm aren't really just from the A/C.

Still not spooked? Want more? Repulsion should give your nerves a jangle. Polanski’s first English language film stars a 20-year-old Catherine Deneuve as a sexually repressed young woman battling paranoia and possible hallucinations in her own apartment. It’s creepy and claustrophobic, and will certainly leave you relieved to be back out in the 90-degree evening. It may not be October, but you’ll walk out shivering anyway.