Spine-Tingling Film Series Debuts Wednesday in Barrington Library

Are you ready to be scared to death in the Barrington library auditorium every Wednesday afternoon this month? 

“Things That Go Bump in the Night: A Spine-Tingling Film-Lecture Series, “will be presented by technical librarian and cinema enthusiast Doug Swiszcz every Wednesday in October at 1 pm.

Swizcz will offer pre-film commentary each week. The series is free and open to all.

“Psycho,” the masterpiece directed by Alfred Hitchcock, opens the series this Wednesday, Oct. 2.

“Although the movie was shot in black and white on a shoestring budget, it has come to be  recognized as a truly seminal work in the psychological thriller genre,” said Swiszcz.

“Janet Leigh is an employee in a Phoenix, Arizona, real estate office who leaves town with $40,000 entrusted to her by her boss, in hopes of traveling to California to begin a new life with her boyfriend,” he said. 

“A rainstorm prompts her to stay overnight at a motel run by a seemingly affable young man named Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Hitchcock foiled the expectations of even his most ardent admirers by introducing one of the most jarring, unexpected twists of plot to ever befall a lead character.”

“Never was the director’s skill for tight editing more effectively used than in  this film,” said Swiszcz, “and the discordant, strings-only musical soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann under-scored the pervading atmosphere of shock and menace." 

Also in the cast are John Gavin, Vera Miles, and Martin Balsam. The 1960 film runs for 109 minutes and is unrated.

The series continues with the following:

• “The Innocents” -- October 9
• “Rosemary’s Baby” -- October 16
• “Dead Again” -- October 23
• “The Others” -- October 30