Pete's weekend movie round-up: New Moon alternatives—The House of the Devil and Black Dynamite

Two killer retro movies highlight the cinema scene this weekend

Pete Crooks

No, I have not seen New Moon. Haven't even seen Twilight. Haven't read the books. So I can't help you if you're trying to decide whether or not you should plunk down $10 on New Moon or not, but I imagine you already know. Hope all the Twilight-ers have fun this weekend.

Now let's get to the good stuff.

I saw a genuinely creepy horror film the other night that I absolutely loved. It's called The House of the Devil, and it opens today at the Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco, so if you're in the mood for dinner and a moie in the city, check it out. The beauty of this 2009 release is that its set in the late 1970s or early 1980s and looks like it was shot in the golden age of low budget horror movies (Halloween, The Amityville Horror, etc.) Director Ti West, who also wrote and edited, spins together lots of horror film cliches—satanic cults, the baby sitter alone in the house, etc.— and slowly simmers the tension into potboiler proportions, and then unleashes all hell. This is one of those little movies that will deservedly earn cult classic status in the next 10 years.

Speaking of the early 1980s, the Piedmont Theatre is showing Raiders of the Lost Ark all weekend. It's a perfect popcorn movie for a rainy day, and deserves to be seen on a big screen.

Let me crank back the clock another decade and mention that my pal Will the Thrill Viharo is hosting a special midnight screening of the dynamite blaxploitation pic, Black Dynamite, at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on Saturday. This is cool on so many levels, don't even get me started. I love this throwback film, not a spoof, but a loving homage to the black action B-pics of the early 1970s (Superfly, Foxy Brown, Shaft's Big Score!).

In the Tri-Valley, the Vine Cinema is still plugging along and showing better films on its two screens than its 20-screen competitor down the street. This weekend they have 2009's best film so far, A Serious Man by the Coen Brothers, as well as the acclaimed An Education. The Vine is also showing the 49ers/Packers game on Sunday morning.