It’s October, so everyone is thinking of Halloween and buying costumes and watching scary movies. But what about theatre?
Zombie Joes has been an institution in the complex world of Los Angeles horror for many years and their annual event, “Urban Death Tour of Terror” is frequented by both the deeply devoted and the newly initiated.
It is a spectacle of wonders…. just a bit twisted. When you enter the theatre you are ushered two at a time into a maze lined with sheets of black polythene…all the better to clean up I guess. it’s totally dark and the tiny flashlights you are handed as you enter are then only light you have to see with, guide yourself through the maze and illuminate the horrors you encounter.
It’s thrilling to say the least, if not more than a bit terrifying, but then that is why everyone is there. And as the echoes of your own screams and everyone else’s bounce around your brain and the vivid and disturbing images of the various vile and horrifying beings you are confronted by imprint themselves permanently on your cerebral cortex, you exit the maze, somewhat intact and find yourself in the theatre proper. Your flashlights are extracted from your cold, sweaty hands…mine almost with force as I clung to it. You then sit around the caution tape and shiver with expectation.
The show consists of a dozen or so scenes. Enacted by the Zombie Joe’s company of actors. Contortionists, naked, violent, insane and revolting. They shock and terrorize, titillate and disgust and the audience laughs and winces and shudders….all in equal amounts of delight. They are all absolutely excellent. Once the show is over you must brave the maze once more. I was rattled…and then it is all mercifully over…until the next year when you are inextricably drawn once more to the Zombie Theatre doors.
If you like horror then this is right up your alley. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart or those easily freaked out. But then nothing is these days!
I loved it, even though I almost dreaded attending. It’s profoundly well done, the actor are all fascinating and totally committed to their roles. It’s really incredible actually and a proud mainstay of NoHo Theatre. Bravo!
Running October 4 - November 2, Fridays & Saturdays with several shows a night, Saturday at 7pm is “Kid Friendly”
Zombie Joes Underground Theatre, 4850 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, 91601
- “URBAN DEATH TOUR OF TERROR”
- Zombie Joes’s Underground
- halloween
- Halloween theatre
- zombie joe
- Jana Wimer