July Cult Night: Better Off Dead and Fright Night | Rivoli Theatre and Pizzeria
You’re so cool, Cult Movie Night!
Join us on Saturday, July 26th as our Summer of ‘85 series continues with two cult movie favorites, as chosen by the Riv Cvlt Club! First up is John Cusack as lovesick sad sack Lane Meyer in the surreal suburban classic Better off Dead, followed by the original nightmare-next-door vampire thriller, Fright Night!
As always, we’ll have specialty cocktails, cult movie night buttons, plus pre-show video entertainment loaded with cult film facts, video clips and other cultural artifacts related to the evening’s films, including a hefting helping of our two favorite vans: Van Halen & Van Helsing!
Smooth talking ski bullies and undead yuppies are closing in on your door….so grab your tickets now before it’s too late!
Doors: 5pm
Cult Movie Night pre show entertainment: 5:30pm
6pm
Better off Dead (1985)
Directed by Savage Steve Holland
PG
For teenage Lane Meyer (John Cusack), there is only one thing that matters in life: his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss). Much to the displeasure of his parents, Lane seems to have given up planning for life after high school, content in the knowledge that he and Beth will be together forever. But when Beth ditches him for the uber-douche captain of the school ski team, Lane begins to question if life after Beth is a life worth living. Luckily for Lane, he’s caught the eye of his new neighbor Monique (Diane Franklin), a saxophone-playing French exchange student with zest for broken down ‘67 Camaros. Will Lane continue his Beth-obsessed spiral, or can Lane pull it together and life isn’t so bad after all?
Based on the real life of writer/director “Savage” Steve Holland (who was only 25 at the time of filming), Better Off Dead sets itself apart from the other comedies of the 1980s by adding layers of surreal black comedy to an otherwise boilerplate plot. With help from legendary animator Bill Kopp, Holland portrays the world through the heightened reality of a teenager, where everyone around you feels insane and life would be a lot better if it were more like MTV.
Featuring murderous paperboys, home-cooked nightmares, handsome bullies and a dancing hamburger that sounds suspiciously like David Lee Roth, Better Off Dead remains one of the strangest (and funniest) teenage comedies ever made!
8pm
Fright Night (1985)
Directed by Tom Holland
R
Rather than focus on his homework or his girlfriend, teenage dweeb Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) spends his time obsessing over a late night horror show known as “Fright Night.” So it’s no surprise to his mother that when handsome recluse Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) moves in next-door, Charly becomes immediately convinced his new neighbor is of the undead persuasion. Prone to an overactive imagination, it’s also no surprise that nobody believes him. Soon enough the bodies begin to pile up, and Charlie has no choice but to turn to the only person who could possibly help: washed up television host (and self-proclaimed vampire killer) Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell).
A love letter to the Hammer Horror films of the ‘50s and ‘60s, Fright Night was the clear winner of our Cvlt Club’s Summer of ‘85 vote and with good reason. Originally conceived by writer/director Tom Holland as a mash-up of Dracula and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” Fright Night is full of fantastic performances, jaw-dropping practical effects and monstrous transformations that continue to inspire horror filmmaking to this day.
40 years after its release, Fright Night is still one of the best vampire movies ever made, a crowd-pleasing slice of suburban gothic that stays with you long after the lights come up. Like that tagline says: “If you love being scared, it’ll be the night of your life.”