Screenings at the Li-scary

It seems weird for a library to encourage screaming, but that’s the risk the downtown Nashville Public Library is taking with its month-long series of free horror-movie screenings—a cryptload of cult classics selected by resident cinephile Bill Chamberlain and the Popular Materials staff. First up is John Hancock’s atmospheric 1971 shocker about a disturbed woman (Zohra Lampert) whose paranoid delusions may be neither; coming weeks will feature the murderous comedy Clue, the Hammer-horror yarn Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Richard Blackburn’s little-seen vampire fantasy Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural, and Mario Bava’s bloodcurdling witchcraft thriller Black Sunday. Best of all, library staffer Clint Tatum has gathered taped personal introductions from filmmakers and scholars for most of the films: Hancock, who also directed Bang the Drum Slowly, does the honors tonight. To be projected from DVD on the big screen, free and open to the public.
Thu., Oct. 2, 5:30 p.m., 2008