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Now Playing at the Packard Campus (October 17 – 19, 2019)

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The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.

Thursday, October 17 (7:30 p.m.)
I Am Legend (Warner Bros., 2007)
This post-apocalyptic tale follows the seemingly last man on Earth as he struggles to survive while fending off the infected survivors of a devastating vampiric plague. A brilliant scientist, who raced to discover a cure for the man-made virus as humanity came crumbling down all around him, Robert Neville (Will Smith) was inexplicably immune to the highly contagious superbug. Now the entire population of New York City — and perhaps the world — has been transformed into carnivorous bloodsuckers that fear the light and live solely to spread their contagion to any remaining living creature that crosses their path. Based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, the book was previously adapted for the screen in 1964 The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and the 1971 Charlton Heston action film The Omega Man. Rated PG-13. 35mm archival film print. 101 min.

Friday, October 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Onibaba (Toho/Criterion, 1964)
Deep within the wind-swept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a lonely, desperate existence. Forced to murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for grain, they dump the corpses down a deep, dark hole and live off of their meager spoils. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from the skirmishes, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio’s tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals the trio’s horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, Kaneto Shindo’s chilling folktale Onibaba is a singular cinematic experience. In Japanese with English subtitles. Unrated but contains material more suited for adults. 35mm film print courtesy of Janus Films. 103 min.

Poltergeist (MGM/UA, 1982)

Saturday, October 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Poltergeist (MGM/UA, 1982)
A close-knit family in a California suburb find their lives upended when their home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct their younger daughter. Steven Spielberg wrote and produced this classic horror film that was directed by Toby Hooper and stars Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins and Heather O’Rourke. The film was a critical and box office success with Vincent Canby of The New York Times calling it “a marvelously spooky ghost story with extraordinary technical effects that were often eerie and beautiful but also occasionally vividly gruesome.” Poltergeist was nominated for three Oscars and won the 1983 Saturn Award for Best Horror or Thriller Film.  Rated PG. 35mm archival film print. 114 min.

For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: //www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/

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