Fury, Omen, Damned…
The Film Society of Lincoln Center offers New Yorkers a unique alternative to crowded multiplexes this Thanksgiving weekend with an 11-film showcase of some of the movies’ best brats, prats, prodigal sons and demon-possessed daughters in Problem Child: A Cinematic Display of Bad Behavior.
Beginning Black Friday and running through November 30th at the Walter Reade Theater, the series explores the dark strain of bizarre human behavior Hollywood has attributed to kids. Several hallmarks of the horror and thriller genres return to the big-screen, including new prints of The Fury and The Other and rare looks at several classic-era highlights: The Bad Seed, The Children’s Hour, Compulsion, The Exorcist, Tomorrow, the World!, Village of the Damned, and more.
Problem Child presents work by directors William Wyler, Jack Clayton, Richard Fleischer, Brian De Palma; actors Gregory Peck, Orson Welles, Faye Dunaway, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine; and writers William Peter Blatty, Lillian Hellman and Truman Capote, among many others.
The series will open on Friday, Nov. 28th with a 12:30 p.m. screening of Mommie Dearest (1981), Frank Perry’s camp biopic of actress Joan Crawford’s abusive relationship with her daughter Christine. Richard Donner’s atmospheric classic The Omen (1976) follows at 3:30 p.m., starring Gregory Peck as an American diplomat whose son turns out to be the antichrist.
Actress Amy Irving provides an additional series highlight by introducing and discussing Brian De Palma’s 1978 sci-fi chiller The Fury – in which she played the telepathically gifted teen Gillian – Sunday, November 30th at 3:30 p.m.
Single screening tickets for Problem Child: A Cinematic Display of Bad Behavior are $11; $7 for Film Society members, students and children (6-12, accompanied by an adult); and $8 for seniors (62+). They are available at both the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at www.filmlinc.com. A series pass admitting one person to a total of five titles in the series can be purchased at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only) for $40; $30 for Film Society members.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday, Nov. 28th
12:30 Mommie Dearest, 129m
3:00 The Omen, 111m
5:10 The Innocents, 100m
7:10 The Children’s Hour, 107m
9:20 The Exorcist, 132m
Saturday, Nov. 29th
1:30 The Bad Seed, 129m
4:00 Tomorrow, the World!, 86m
5:45 Compulsion, 103m
7:50 Village of the Damned, 77m
9:30 Mommie Dearest
Sunday, Nov. 30th
1:30 The Innocents
3:30 The Fury, 118m
6:15 The Other, 108m
8:30 The Omen
Source: The Film Society of Lincoln Center
