Dallas Cinemania to bring classic films back to the forefront

by Alex Bentley

A screening of Zombi 2 will kick off the series on Thursday, October 30 at the Angelika Dallas.

Classic movie buffs, who occasionally get a bone thrown to them by the midnight shows at the Inwood, are about to have another outlet when Dallas Cinemania, a new repertory cinema series, kicks off on Thursday, October 30 at the Angelika Film Center Dallas. Tickets will be sold upstairs for $8/each (cash only), which is actually cheaper than a normal evening screening at the Angelika.

The first film, just in time for Halloween, is an original 35mm print of Zombi 2 (alternately known as just Zombie, among other names), arguably the most well-known movie from Italian horror film director Lucio Fulci. If that's not enough to entice you, the film is famous for two scenes: One in which a zombie fights a real tiger shark, and another in which a nubile female has her eye slowly and painfully punctured by a splintered piece of wood.

I interviewed Erich Scholz, the man behind Dallas Cinemania, to find out how he came up with the idea of the film series and what he hopes will come of it.

Pegasus News: Why did you want to start Dallas Cinemania in the first place?

Scholz: I was actually in bed recovering from surgery this past summer. After about a week of lying around, I wanted to get out and see a classic film on the big screen -- like the USA Film Festival used to show 10 years ago, but there isn't anything like that in Dallas these days. So I got on the phone and started calling up film distributors I looked up on the 'net. I called up the Angelika, who's been really supportive and helpful. All this turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but here we are.

Pegasus News: Why did you choose Zombi 2 as the first film?

Scholz: It's Halloween. I'm a horror buff, especially Italian horror movies. Zombi 2 is a real crowd-pleaser. Especially the scene with the zombie fighting the shark underwater. It must be seen to be believed. Totally worth the price of admission alone.

Pegasus News: How often will you show films and what other films do you have planned?

Scholz: We're planning on showing a film a month, usually the last Thursday of the month. Unfortunately the last Thursday of November and December are Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I had to adjust that. Hopefully we'll have Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain on November 20th -- provided I can work a deal out with the distributors -- and Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs on December 18th. Both those movies are crazy -- especially The Holy Mountain. I've also got other films lined up for the new year but I'll keep that under wraps for now. By the way, I strongly urge people to come out early. I've put together a selection of vintage trailers to show before the films that I think everyone will get a kick out of.

Pegasus News: Why should film fans support Dallas Cinemania?

Scholz: I guess I just want to say that I hope film fans come out and support this because I think Dallas really needs a decent repertory cinema scene. I think we've got the "indie" thing sewn up with the USA Film Festival and AFI Dallas but classic films are often neglected or relegated to DVD. These movies need to be experienced on the big screen with a crowd, and the more people that show up will allow Dallas Cinemania to be more ambitious with programming in the future. Plus, celluloid as a medium is slowly getting phased out. This might be the last time you'll get a chance to see these films in a theater setting, which I think is a real shame.

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