The seasons turn, the skies get darker sooner, and Maine movie lovers turn to their local theaters for warmth, fun, and some Halloween-time chills. Okay, and maybe an offbeat musical indie and some scandalous classic Italian cinema. At least that’s what’s in store for the Maine movie scene for the next few weeks, as we run down the best movie bets playing through Nov. 2.
Monday, Space, 534 Congress St., space538.org
I worked in video stores for 25 years, closing out my career behind the counter at Portland’s late, great Videoport in 2015 as that once-indispensable industry flickered out for good. So this sprawling documentary love letter to the video store as cultural force, community hub, and haven for overeducated, underemployed film freaks was basically made for me.
But anybody pining for nights spent wandering the aisles and running your fingers longingly over dusty VHS and DVD cases should equally enjoy this celebration of the idiosyncratic bustle and physical media hustle that was the American video rental store from director Alex Ross Perry (“Her Small,” “V/H/S/Halloween”), another former video clerk made good. (Oh, and thanks to an act of stunning generosity by Videoport owner Bill Duggan, Videoport’s entire film library can be still enjoyed for free at the Portland Public Library.)
‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’
Wednesday and Saturday, Kinonik, 121 Cassidy Point Dr., kinonik.org
Maine’s premiere preservationists of film on film, Kinonik is bringing out its precious 16mm print of this 1954 Universal monster classic just in time for some old school Halloween fun. We all know the story: explorers accidentally discover an Amazonian Gill Man; Gill Man falls for dishy swimmer Julia Adams; things do not go well for anybody. The still-stunning creature design as the Gill Man (swimmer Ricou Browning, cast because he could hold his breath a long time) inspired generations of moviegoers to weirdly sympathize with this lovelorn creature, so much so that famed director Guillermo del Toro turned his love letter to mismatched, underwater, inter-species longing into the Best Picture winning “The Shape of Water” some 60 years later.
Wednesday, Nickelodeon Cinemas, 1 Temple St., patriotcinemas.com/movie-theatres/maine/portland/nickelodeon-6
It’s always an act of public service when a local theater books this legendary 1979 horror classic right around Halloween, so here’s to the Nick. Director John Carpenter’s scruffy indie flick about silent killer Michael Myers stalking his home town years after being locked away remains one of the most assured and influential horror movies in cinema history. Basically spawning an entire “slasher” genre, Carpenter’s film (with its spare, spine-vibrating piano score, also by Carpenter) has been endlessly imitated, sequelized, rebooted, and then rebooted again, but the classic remains, yes, a classic, and watching it on the big screen as Halloween itself approaches is one of the season’s chief joys.
Thursday, October 30th, State Theatre, 609 Congress St., statetheatreportland.com/
Speaking of Halloween and all things wonderful and spooky (and wonderfully spooky), this annual anthology of Maine-made horror and dark fiction short films has been a local institution for 15 years running. The creation of a group of Maine filmmakers, Damnationland was designed as a yearly showcase for some of the best and most daring Maine directors, writers, and actors, all of whom spend their time and talents trying to scare the pants off of us. A night at Damnationland is invariably a rollercoaster, each successive short offering up a glimpse into the weird and wonderful things rattling around in the heads of Maine’s most inventive moviemaking talents. This year’s murderers row of all-Maine filmmaking talents include the likes of Nic Robes, Lucas Kachadorian, Ashley Jolly, Brit Martin, Jedidiah Allen, Elijah Allen, Mariah Larocque, Brandon White, Amirhossien Rokni and Jeannette Berman. As ever, Damnationland is a vital part of the Maine Halloween landscape, so steel yourself and take the trip.
Thursday, The Hill Arts, 76 Congress St., www.thehillarts.me/
The Brothers Gold (twins Ari and Ethan) are the musician sons of famous Beat poet Herbert Gold. After their 99-year-old dad misses a scheduled meeting at a favorite San Francisco haunt, the concerned duo, guitars in tow, make a restless and eventful journey to their father’s apartment.
Shot all in one take and improvised by the brothers—impromptu songs, sibling bickering, unexpected encounters (with Weezer’s Brian Bell and SF Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen Martin, among others) and all—this one of a kind film has been compared to the likes of “Before Sunrise” and “Once,” which is all the recommendation I need. Executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the film is presented by the Maine Jewish Film Festival.
Sunday, PMA Films, 7 Congress Sq., portlandmuseum.org/films
For the brave and the bold, PMA Films’ screening of this infamous, still shocking, often nauseating 1975 film from equally scandalous director Pier Paolo Pasolini comes along at a, let’s call it, apt time in world history. Adapted from a novel by the also infamous Marquis de Sade, Pasolini depicts the approach of fascism to WWII-era Italy, where a cabal of oligarchs hole up in a secluded mansion with a captive group of helpless boys and girls.
What ensues is both an allegory for the true, depraved soullessness of fascism and the heedlessly rich and a visceral, genuinely almost unwatchable two-hour endurance test for even the most hardened film fans. Is it a masterpiece? An abomination? A warning? A sick joke? Why not all four.
Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and his cat.