Scary Good Times

Where to get your spook on this Halloween around Dallas-Fort Worth

With Halloween falling on a Friday this year, parties of all types take place that night. But you have many opportunities to celebrate the season in the days leading up to Halloween, because who wants to limit themselves to just one day of fun?

Even if none of the following events gets you excited, there are always haunted houses to give you a fright and that old standby Six Flags Fright Fest, which runs through November 2.

Multiple dates

Halloween at Globe Life Park
Tours of the Texas Rangers home ballpark are extra spooky over the next week, as Trick or Tours (October 25, 30, 31 and November 1) feature special activities, games, stories, trick-or-treating and more. To go even further, you can do the Flashlight Fright tour (October 30, 31 and November 1), during which guests use only flashlights to guide themselves around the park. Who knows what might jump out of the dark? Tours run at multiple times, and they are $10 for kids and $20 for adults.

Saturday, October 25

Dismember the Alamo
Halloween is the best time to watch horror movies, and the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson screens four horror classics back-to-back-to-back-to-back. The movies remain a secret until just before showtime, but the event, which starts at noon, also has prizes for the best costumes and Alamo's usual bag of tricks. Tickets are $20 per person.

Oak Lawn Halloween Block Party
The annual celebration on Cedar Springs Road is one where you can really let loose, seeing as it takes place in Dallas' predominantly gay neighborhood. It features a Costume Promenade, with live commentary from Edna Jean Robinson, music, food, beer and more. The free party lasts from 7 pm to 2 am.

The Basement Gallery presents The Haunted Gallery
If you feel like getting a little artsy, Oak Cliff's Basement Gallery has you covered with this special Halloween-themed show. The free horror art exhibit, starting at 7 pm, allows visitors to view some of the best local artists and their creepy, horror and Day of the Dead art.

Halloween Bash at Victory Park
This party inside Victory Tavern at Victory Park promises a lot of action, including dancing, performances by Lollie Bombs Burlesque, a fire eater and more. Make sure to bring your A game in the costume department, as the winner gets a $300 gift card to NorthPark Center. Tickets are $10-$50 for this event that runs from 10 pm-2 am.

Haunted Loft Party
Only 400 people are allowed at this exclusive indoor/outdoor party at The Loft in the Gilley's complex, which features DJs blasting EDM, rap and more, as well as a costume contest with cash prizes. For $25, anyone 18 or over can attend this event, which runs from 10 pm-2 am.

Thursday, October 30

Meow-O-Ween Pub Prowl
Sometimes all it takes to have fun is to dress up like a cat and drink some beer. That's the premise of this event in the Camp Bowie District in Fort Worth, where participants are asked to dress in their best cat costumes while they do a pub "prowl" to four different stops, starting at 5 pm. Cost is $10 per person and includes a collectible pint glass for the first 150 people.

Crayon Club's Truck or Treat
For a more family-friendly affair that supports a good cause, you can check out this event at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, presented by its young professionals group, Crayon Club. Expect food trucks, live entertainment, lawn games, tours and face painting. The party, which kicks off at 7 pm, is $20 per person, with all proceeds benefiting the hospital.

Friday, October 31

Nightmare on Elm Street Halloween Extravaganza
Dallas' Young Professionals hold their annual Halloween event at the Tower Club on, yep, Elm Street. For $40, you can enjoy a costume contest ($250 goes to the winner), drinks, hors d'oeuvre, music from DJ Jose G and a special performance by Contemporary Ballet Dallas. The fun starts at 8 pm, and a portion of proceeds benefits CBD.

Day of the Dead at W Dallas Victory Hotel
Another high-flying party takes place at Altitude atop the W. Tickets range anywhere from $30 for general admission to $1,000 VIP packages (good for six people) for this event that features food, drinks, dancing to music spun by DJ Avenger and a costume contest. The winner nabs a two-night VIP suite package getaway. The party runs from 9 pm-2 am.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance