Sci-fi, made the Soviet way

BACK in the USSR in 1962, some 65 million Russians flocked to see “The Amphibian Man,” a sci-fi romance that can best be described as “The Little Mermaid” meets “Creature From the Black Lagoon” with Latin song-and-dance numbers thrown in for good measure.

“The Amphibian Man” is just one of several films screening at American Cinematheque’s “From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey Through Russian Fantastik Cinema” festival, which begins this evening at the Egyptian Theatre with Alexander Ptushko’s 1972 two-part fantasy “Ruslan and Ludmila” and the 1936 sci-fi epic, “Cosmic Voyage,” which features a rocket named after Stalin.

Screening Friday is “Amphibian Man,” which stars the fine-boned Vladimir Korenov as a handsome gilled mutant who swims under the sea in a glittering wet suit -- his scientist father replaced his faulty lungs as a baby with the gills of a young shark -- who falls in love with a fisherman’s daughter (Anastasiya Vertinskaya) after he rescues her from a shark attack.

Featured on the same bill is the 1961 folkloric fantasy “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.”

Scheduled for Saturday is Andrei Tarkovksy’s 1979 sci-fi adventure “Stalker” and the campy 1961 “Planet of Storms,” directed by Pavel Klushantsev, which revolves around a team of cosmonauts who land on Venus, only to encounter a hostile environment and very hungry dinosaurs. Roger Corman ended up buying “Planet of Storms,” which he used as the basis of Curtis Harrington’s 1965 “Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet” and 1968’s “Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Woman,” as well as incorporating footage from the film in 1966’s “Queen of Blood.” Rounding out the evening is 1959’s “Heavens Call.”

Scheduled for Sunday afternoon is 1922’s “A Spectre Haunts Europe,” directed by Vladimir Gardin. Following is a screening of Tarkovsky’s popular 1972 sci-fi thriller “Solaris.”

The festival concludes Wednesday with 1985’s “To the Stars by Hard Ways” and a scrumptious, Kafka-esque black comedy, 1988’s “Zero City,” directed by Karen Shakhnaraov.

Silent screams

The newly reopened Silent Movie Theatre features three seminal horror films just in time for Halloween. Screening tonight is F.W. Murnau’s expressionistic 1926 classic “Faust.” Emil Jannings plays Mephisto, the clever, conniving agent of Satan sent to Earth to win over the soul of the learned alchemist Faust (Gosta Ekman). “Faust” was voted fourth among the best horror films of all time on the Internet Movie Data Base. The 1920 Harold Lloyd short “Number, Please?” rounds out the evening.

“The Penalty,” one of the early triumphs of silent film icon Lon Chaney, is scheduled for Oct. 26. Produced in 1920, this disturbing thriller features one of the strongest performances from the Man of a Thousand Faces. Chaney plays a criminal mastermind named Blizzard who is driven by hatred for the doctor who needlessly amputated his legs when he was a child. Charles Clary plays the doctor; Ethel Grey Terry plays the doctor’s daughter, who is the object of Blizzard’s revenge. Also screening is the 1925 Felix the Cat animated short, “Eats Are West.”

Murnau returns on Oct. 29 with the shockingly effective 1922 vampire thriller “Nosferatu,” starring Max Schreck as the bald, pointy-eyed bloodsucker. The 1920 Lloyd short “Haunted Spooks” and the 1928 Felix the Cat short “Sure-Locked Homes” round out the bill.

More scary movies

The Skirball Cultural Center continues its “Scary Movies” matinees at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 24 with a free screening of 1933’s “The Invisible Man.” Based on the H.G. Wells novel, the James Whale-directed dark comedy marked the film debut of Claude Rains in the title role. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., (310) 440-4500.

The Alex Film Society at the Alex Theatre in Glendale gets into the spirit of All Hallow’s Eve with William Castle’s delicious scare-fest, 1959’s “House on Haunted Hill,” screening at 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 28. Vincent Price stars. Also featured is the Bugs Bunny short, “A Witch’s Tangled Hair.” 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 243-2539.

At 1 p.m. Halloween afternoon, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art offers the handsome 1944 thriller “Gaslight.” Ingrid Bergman received her first best actress Academy Award for her indelible turn as a young wife being driven mad by her thieving husband (Charles Boyer). Directed by George Cukor, the suspense thriller also features Joseph Cotten as a police detective and an 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her Oscar-nominated film debut as a flirtatious Cockney maid. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 857-6010.

And for its Halloween presentation at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31, the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian is calling on “Ghostbusters.” The 1984 box office hit was directed by Ivan Reitman and stars Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd as the three parapsychologists. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., (323) 466-3456.

Rockin’ doc

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s Oscar Docs series continues Monday and Tuesday with the 1970 best documentary film, “Woodstock.” The acclaimed account of the 1969 rock festival screens Monday at the Linwood Dunn Theater. On Tuesday, the academy will present a cast-and-crew reunion screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

susan.king@latimes.com

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Screenings

‘From the Tsars to the Stars’

When: Today through Wednesday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.

Info: (323) 466-3456, americancinematheque.com

Silent Movie Theatre

When: Screenings start at 8 p.m.

Where: 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.

Info: (323) 665-2520, www.silentmovietheatre.com

‘Woodstock’

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Monday: Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 N. Vine St., Hollywood; Tuesday: Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

Info: (310) 247-3000