Forgo Standard Amateur Nights For Summer Movie Nights In The Cemetery

As we've often lamented before, Saturday night in L.A. is Amateur Night. And no matter how normally awesome the bar, club or DJ, your standard routine can be thrown wildly off course when you add a giant army of "we're just here for the weekend!", super-sloppy tourists looking for a great story to take back to the bros at the Arizona State frathouse. So why not cozy up against the haunted gravestones of some of Hollywood's most famous dead people, watch a classic movie, and then have your own dance party in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery? Oh yeah, and you still get to drink (and bring a picnic!).

On Saturday nights all summer, Cinespia's Cemetery Screenings is happening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd behind Paramount Studios. And while a slate of absolutely classic movies might be enticing enough on its own (previous films include Goodfellas, Night Of The Living Dead, Easy Rider, The Shining, and North By Northwest), they're very serious about the music also, with weekly DJ sets from big names like Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus, Cut Chemist, and Peanut Butter Wolf. The music goes both before and after the screening, so your $10 ticket ends up buying you a pretty nice evening's worth of entertainment. Add the freedom to BYO-whatever you want, and it's not only one of the most fun things to do on a Saturday, it's also the second-cheapest option behind staying home and playing with your cats.

But enough about the price.  You want to know who might be haunting you while you eat your Trader Joe's spicy lentil wrap, don't you? It's like a Who's Who of classic Hollywood, from Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Estelle Getty, John Huston, Tyrone Power, to Rudolph Valentino and Fay Wray. And when the movie ends and the music starts, keep an eye out for the spirits of Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, who also reside here.

As we mentioned, the semi-spooky fun continues this weekend with the Hitchcock classic Vertigo, spins from DJ David Holmes, and as a Memorial Day treat, a special screening of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein with Howie Pyro on the decks. The rest of the month will feature Harold & Maude, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Heathers, so whether your taste is for offbeat cult classics or back-in-the-day epics, you're all set. Before you go, make sure to check out these handy tips on HuffPo from Cinespia Director John Wyatt telling you how to maximize your good time.

Here's an excerpt: bring booze.

[Mel Blanc gravestone via, all other photos via Cinespia]