Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, takes place at 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend.

Cinema Lounge is moderated by Daniel R. Vovak.

Supernatural movies: How can the limits be pushed further?"

During the October Cinema Lounge meeting, we discussed the topic of "supernatural" or "paranormal" movies. There was a widespread belief that that genre is rooted "more in what you're imagining than in what you're seeing." A few films mentioned were Cat People (1942), The Others (2001), Signs (2002), The Entity (1991), Poltergeist (1982), The Haunting (1963), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Jacob's Ladder (1990), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959) the radio War of the Worlds by Orson Welles, Frankenstein (1931), Altered States (1980), The Exorcist (1973), The Rapture (1991), The Time Machine (1960), Practical Magic (1998), and Witches of Eastwick (1987). A peculiar point is that supernatural movies "do not have to make narrative sense at the end" even though "ideas build on each other." The audience wants to "feel scared" more than it actually wants to see a "gotcha" at the end. Sadly, there seems to be fewer devices available that can be used to maintain suspense.