FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 23, 2022
MEDIA CONTACTS
Charles Coleman, charles@facets.org
Paul Gonter, paul@facets.org
WATCH OFFBEAT HOLIDAY FAVORITES AT FACETS THIS DECEMBER WITH SPECIAL FILM SERIES, DOUBLE FEATURES, & FILM TRIVIA
Press Release
CHICAGO— FACETS is pleased to announce part of our December holiday season programming for this year: two double features, a film series, accompanied by a special screening and trivia night. Films in the programs running throughout December give audiences almost a full month of offbeat films to enjoy with friends, family, and loved ones during the holiday season. The screenings kick off on Friday, December 9th with our Naughty List double feature, with Dial Code Santa Claus and Silent Night, Deadly Night. On Friday, December 16, join us for the opening of the second annual Holiday Detour film series, which continues on December 17, 18, and 31. Our monthly film trivia series is back on Thursday, December 29, with a special free trivia at 7:00 pm and screening at 9:00 pm. Ending out the month is the Twisted Fairy Tales double feature on Friday, December 30.
All screenings and events take place at FACETS (1517 W. Fullerton). Tickets can be purchased in advance through FACETS’ website and are $12 for individual tickets and $15 for double feature ticket bundles. FACETS Members get 15% off their ticket purchases with a proof of valid membership.
Tickets can be purchased on FACETS‘ website here.
NAUGHTY LIST: DOUBLE FEATURE
Screening Dec 9, 2022
Friday, December 9, 2022, FACETS and Groovy Doom round up some of the most deranged killer Santas with Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) at 7pm and Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) at 9pm to spatter the halls this holiday season, with giveaways and preshows celebrating Christmas horror.
Horror cinema’s first homicidal Santa appeared in beloved Amicus anthology Tales from the Crypt (1972). Silent Night, Deadly Night saw the public take notice of this sinister trend. Parents and film critics were outraged when the film’s TV ads brought yuletide terror into family rooms across the nation. This condemnation solidified the film’s success and led to four increasingly bizarre sequels, plus a remake starring Malcolm McDowell. The first installment cuts deepest as a wholesome teen, conditioned by past holiday traumas and a warped religious upbringing, succumbs to an impulse to punish the naughty.
Home Alone precursor Dial Code Santa Claus is another deep dive into childhood trauma, but this time the kid is a full-blooded hero who battles a vengeful lunatic dressed as Père Nöel. Kris Kringle’s naughty counterpart continues to terrorize abroad and at home. In Finland, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) is a mind-blowing remix of Christmas folklore; in the Netherlands, Sint (2010) is a wild spectacle with a Sinterklaas zombie who rides a spectral mare across the rooftops of Amsterdam; and, in TV series American Horror Story/Stories, Ian McShane and Danny Trejo play Saint Nick slashers. The notorious list-maker and trespasser is an inspired addition to moralist and home invasion horror.
This event is presented in partnership with Bill Van Ryn, creator of Groovy Doom and fanzine Drive-In Asylum, who explores classic eras of horror, sci-fi, cult, and exploitation films through vintage newspaper ads. This double feature of Silent Night, Deadly Night and Dial Code Santa Claus includes brand new animated ad galleries created by Bill to celebrate subversive holiday cinema.
This double feature is co-programmed by John McDevitt and Groovy Doom.
DOUBLE FEATURE
Dial Code Santa Claus – Dec 9 @ 7:00 pm
Silent Night, Deadly Night – Dec 9 @ 9:00 pm
HOLIDAY DETOUR: FILM SERIES
Screenings Dec 16-18 & 31, 2022
From classic noir, to screwball comedy, to gangster thrillers, we’re here to mix up your December viewing with films that use their seasonal setting and a bit of genre flare to challenge the holiday canon.
Holiday classics are adored for a reason, but for those of us who revel in an unexpected spin on this time of year, films that embrace a festive backdrop can use it to add a fun layer of plot complexity. The films in this series tackle Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve differently than their contemporaries and might just become your new holiday viewing tradition.
David Cronenberg’s unforgettable, star-studded mob thriller Eastern Promises (2007) kicks the series off on a crime-fueled Christmas note. Continuing this theme is a double feature of cult neo-noir Blast of Silence (1961) about a lonely hitman on a job in NYC, and The Silent Partner (1978) which finds Elliott Gould and Christopher Plummer stuck in a game of cat-and-mouse. Bringing a bit of screwball comedy to the series is Hollywood power couple Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig’s second writing collaboration, Mistress America (2016), about a college freshman who meets her soon to be stepsister with an endearingly naïve zest for life. Closing out the series is Hype Williams’ neon-drenched crime thriller Belly (1998) starring rappers Nas and DMX as one concocts a plan to leave the life he’s always known on New Year’s Eve 2000.
This film series was programmed by Emma Greenleaf, FACETS Marketing Manager.
SERIES FILMS
Eastern Promises – Dec 16 @ 7:00 pm
Blast of Silence – Dec 17 @ 7:00 pm
The Silent Partner – Dec 17 @ 9:00 pm
Mistress America – Dec 18 @ 5:00 pm
Belly – Dec 31 @ 5:00 pm
DJANGO + FILM TRIVIA
Special Event Dec 29, 2022
With an addictively catchy theme song, this definitive spaghetti western by Sergio Corbucci (The Great Silence, Compañeros) made an international star out of Franco Nero and officially ushered in the subgenre alongside Leone’s “Man With No Name” Trilogy. Django’s brand of bleak nihilism would be repeatedly emulated in a raft of over 50 unofficial sequels.
Nero gives a career-defining performance as Django, a mysterious, charming loner who arrives at a mud-drenched ghost town on the Mexico-US border, ominously dragging a coffin behind him. After he saves Maria from certain death, Django finds himself in the middle of a war between Mexican revolutionaries and a band of sadistic racists led by the fanatical Major Jackson. In the face of overwhelming odds, Django has a plan: to exact revenge while pitting enemy against enemy.
This is the film that helped inspire Quentin Tarantino’s modern masterpiece Django Unchained. This genre gem is rarely screened, especially in Chicago, so don’t miss it!
Film Trivia: FACETS Film Ed Dept. Trivia is back! In honor of this screening programmed by hosts Raphael Jose Martinez and Mike Vanderbilt, they’ll be asking you about all the great (and not so great) Spaghetti westerns. And there’s also this month’s Loser’s Luck category (as selected by last month’s losing team): Gremlins. So come out and have some winter film fun with Mike and Raphael and see if your team are the smartest people in the room.
This screening was programmed by FACETS Film Trivia hosts Raphael Jose Martinez and Mike Vanderbilt.
SPECIAL EVENT
Special Film Trivia Night – Dec 29 @ 7:00 pm
Django – Dec 29 @ 9:00 pm
TWISTED FAIRY TALES: DOUBLE FEATURE
Screening Dec 30, 2022
Friday, December 30, 2022, FACETS explores the darker side of enchantment with a double feature of Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves (1984) at 7pm and Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s The Lure (2015) at 9pm, two exquisite horror films that re-envision classic fairy tales to reveal the animal inside us all.
Fairy tales have their venom extracted, their teeth filed, their claws clipped, their spines plucked, and their poison scrubbed clean for fear of harming the children. Beautiful endings are stitched over ugly ones to set minds at ease. The horror genre is where fairy tales still have free reign to be creepy, somber, and tragic as they always were at their core. Early appearances of fairy tale horror films are The White Reindeer (1952), Viy (1967), and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970). Suspiria (1977) famously takes inspiration from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Guillermo del Toro weaves a new fairy tale with Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), as does Jennifer Kent with The Babadook (2014). These examples are but a few treetops of a dense, expansive forest where magic is dangerous and dread springs eternal.
The films in this double feature are inspired by two of the most familiar fairy tales. The Company of Wolves twists “Little Red Riding Hood” into a story of werewolves, and The Lure gives the merfolk of “The Little Mermaid” a craving for human hearts. Both films are powerful coming-of-age stories about girls who hunger for knowledge and experience, long to explore unfamiliar lands, and grapple with animal instincts. It’s a menagerie of not-quite-human beings who are empowered by their monstrosity.
This double feature is co-programmed by John McDevitt and Stephanie Sack.
DOUBLE FEATURE
The Company of Wolves – Dec 30 @ 7:00 pm
The Lure – Dec 30 @ 9:00 pm
About FACETS
FACETS connects people to independent ideas through transformative film experiences. Founded by the late Milos Stehlik in 1975, FACETS inspires audiences to engage with film not simply as entertainment, but as an exciting tool to bridge cultural divides, promote digital literacy, and expand perspectives through empathy-driven storytelling. www.facets.org
FACETS presents the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF), one of only two Academy Award-qualifying international children’s film festivals in the world. Submissions are now open for CICFF38. www.facets.org/submit
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