Short Cuts

Think about including movies in your Halloween plans. Beginning this week and continuing on through the Halloween weekend, the scary movie opportunities are plentiful and, moreover, unique. For a warm-up, try this week's Funhouse Cinema presentation, Demon Lover Diary, a cult movie about two guys making a documentary about two guys making a horror movie. It screens Monday, Oct. 26, 8 & 10:30pm, at the Ritz Lounge...

Satanis, a rare 1968 documentary about Church of Satan head Anton Lavey, screens Tuesday, Oct. 27 at the Ritz Lounge. Playing prior to the screening will be the Flametrick Subs and Satan's Cheerleaders. Doors open at 8:30pm; admission is $6...

On Thursday, Oct. 29, the 1922 silent vampire classic, Nosferatu, will be playing at the Alamo Drafthouse with live musical accompaniment by Brown Whornet. Screenings are at 7:45 &9:45pm and advance tickets sales are suggested. These movie and music events are gaining in local popularity and tend to sell out early. The $10 tickets can be purchased by calling 476-1320...

Later that night at midnight, the Alamo Drafthouse will present 7 Brothers vs. Dracula, starring Peter Cushing, in a Hammer Films meets Hong Kong vampires film...

Director Tobe Hooper will be in town on Friday, Oct. 30, 9:30pm & 12am, to host a screening of his legendary horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in a benefit screening for the Austin Film Society. This 1974 film is the one that put local Texas filmmaking on the map and is still a real "original" 25 years after it spawned a floodtide of replicants. Hooper will be available to sign a special collector's edition poster that will be available for sale and will answer questions following the 9:30 show. Seating is reserved and advance tickets are on sale at the Alamo Drafthouse and at the AFS (322-0145). Tickets are $10 for AFS members; $12 for the general public...

Also on Friday, Oct. 30 as well as Saturday, Oct. 31 is the return of a great Austin tradition: the presentation of the 1925 silent film, The Phantom of the Opera, at Bates Recital Hall, 7 & 10pm, with live pipe organ accompaniment by UT organ and harpsichord professor Frank Speller. Tickets are $10 and are available at all UTTM TicketCenters, the PAC box office, and by phone at 477-6060...

And the holiday wouldn't be com-plete without a screening of John Carpenter'soriginal Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, midnight, at the Alamo...

A free, half-dayprogram titled "Film & Financing: What EveryIndependent Filmmaker Needs to Know" will take place at the Capitol Extension Auditorium, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 1-6pm. Featured presentersinclude filmmakers Tim McCanlies (Dancer, TX), Scott Perry (Teenage Catgirls in Heat), Bob Byington (Olympia), entertainment attorney Michael Norman Saleman, Austin Film Society managing directorRebecca Campbell, Granite House producer Dwight Adair, and others.The event is a co-presentation of Artists' Legal and Accounting Assistance, the Texas Film Commission, the AFS, and the UT Dept. of RTF, in association with Arnold, White & Durkee. Reservations are required, call the 24-hour reservation line at 463-5846...

The monthly meeting of Women in Film-Austin (WIF-A) is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 29 in the boardroom of the Hancock Bldg. at the LCRA Complex (3701 Lake Austin Blvd.) at 7pm (sign-in begins at 6:30). The speaker is Jeff Stolhand. His film, Seeking the Cafe Bob, won the Austin Heart of Film Festival in 1995; he has just completed directing What I Like About You and will discuss the ins and outs of distribution. Admission is $5 for non-members.