The Science Fiction Spectacular 2008 Film Festival Comes to the Historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, NY on October 31, 2008; Seven Classic Films and a Unique Live Event

Suffern, NY, October 12, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The Science Fiction Spectacular 2008 Film Festival at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York presents seven trend-setting and entertaining movie programs – including several rarely shown titles – from the golden age of cinema on the Lafayette Theatre's giant silver screen. Added to the film presentations is a unique live-on-stage re-creation of the famous Orson Welles 1938 radio show The War of the Worlds. A professional acting troupe will be performing the original Howard W. Koch radio play complete with dramatic sound effects and the show will be broadcast live on WRCR -1300 AM radio and streamed around the world on the internet. The film festival is an annual October tradition at the Lafayette and this year’s event promises to be one of the best yet. Screening will be films from around the world, highlights include the work of acclaimed visionary George Pal (the 1953 film version of The War of the Worlds), special effects master Ray Harryhausen (1956’s Earth vs. the Flying Saucers – the inspiration for Independence Day), Japan’s first color monster movie Rodan, the rarely-screened 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth, and much more. Fritz Lang’s futuristic Metropolis will close the festival, when the restored silent epic is shown with Live Pipe Organ Accompaniment by John Baratta. All of the films are screening in the finest studio and archive prints available. Festival Dates: October 31 – November 2, 2008.

Event Schedule

Friday, October 31

7:30 pm - Live On Stage – ‘The War of the Worlds’ Radio Broadcast. A live-on-stage 70th Anniversary re-creation of the famous 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast that panicked America. Performed by the Lafayette Players and also broadcast live on WRCR-1300AM radio and streamed around the world on the internet.

9:45 pm The War of the Worlds (1953, produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin) starring Gene Barry & Ann Robinson

Saturday, November 1

1:30 pm Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956, special effects by Ray Harryhausen, directed by Fred F. Sears) starring Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor

3:45 pm The Man from Planet X (1951, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer) - starring Robert Clarke and Margaret Field

7:45 pm Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959, directed by Henry Levin) - starring James Mason, Arlene Dahl, and Pat Boone. Presented in CinemaScope and Stereophonic sound

Sunday, November 2

1:30 pm Rodan: The Flying Monster (1956, directed Ishiro Honda) Japan’s first color monster movie, presented in its original American release version in dye-transfer Technicolor.

3:45 pm The Creeping Unknown (1956, directed by Val Guest) starring Brian Donlevy and Jack Warner, produced by Hammer Studios, presented in its original full-length British version; aka The Quatermass Experiment

7:30 pm Metropolis (1927, directed by Fritz Lang) starring Alfred Abel. This futuristic silent epic will be presented in its restored version with Live Theatre Pipe Organ Accompaniment by John Baratta on the Lafayette’s Mighty Wurlitzer.

Tickets are $9.00 for each show. Advance tickets are now on sale at the Lafayette Theatre’s box office during theatre hours. Day-of-the-show tickets will go on sale at the box office 30 minutes before each showtime.

The Lafayette Theatre - named one of USA Today’s “10 Great Places to Revel in Cinematic Grandeur” - is a renovated and restored 1000-seat 1924 movie palace. Featuring a large auditorium, superb acoustics, clear sight lines, modern projection equipment, and the Ben Hall Memorial Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, the Lafayette Theatre is the premiere venue for classic films in the tri-state area.

The Science Fiction Spectacular 2008 Festival is a production of Nelson Page and the Big Screen Classics film series; the director of Film Programming is Peter J. Apruzzese. The official website for the festival is available at: www.bigscreenclassics.com. For further information, please contact Nelson Page at 201-413-1041, or via e-mail at bigscreenclassics@gmail.com.

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