TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

HAUNTING: What better venue for the premiere of "The Tripper" than outdoors at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard? David Arquette's grisly teen hippie/horror film was projected on a mausoleum wall, slices of blood-colored pizza were a popular snack, and everyone had a "Tripper" blanket to avoid the chills.

Ax-carrying Paul Reubens and mask-wearing Christopher Nelson sat on beanbag chairs near Arquette, wife Courteney Cox, Lukas Haas, Balthazar Getty, Jason Mewes and other risen-from-the-dead cast members. Getting a taste of the grave afterlife, and cheering Courteney's cameo appearance, were Jennifer Aniston, "Dirt" co-star Ian Hart, and Patricia and Alexis Arquette.

The film opens Friday.

That wasn't the only horrifying party on Wednesday.

Although the local house used to film the murder scene in "Fracture" might have been a more fitting locale, the reception following the Westwood premiere took place at the sedate Napa Valley Grille.

That family affair featured co-stars Anthony Hopkins, who brought his wife, Stella Arroyave, and an autograph-hounded Ryan Gosling, who was accompanied by older sis Mandi. They were joined by fellow "Fracture" actors Billy Burke, Rosamund Pike and Embeth Davidtz as well as thriller-seekers Freddy Rodriguez, Emmanuelle Chriqui (who skipped the "Entourage" evening at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences), Ken Davitian, Toby Emmerich and Rebecca De Mornay.

"Fracture" also opens Friday.

Some Wednesday star watchers were hoping a third premiere would provide a glimpse of a pregnant Salma Hayek, who co-stars with John Travolta, James Gandolfini and Jared Leto in the gruesome and bloody "Lonely Hearts," which opened in theaters Friday. But a flak said everyone's "busy schedules" simply made any premiere "impractical."

Bet it was because the cemetery was already booked.

STILL SHANDLING: Garry Shandling was in a festive mood when he arrived at Cut in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Tuesday night to host a wrap and release party for his new DVD. He hugged Penny Johnson, emotionally welcomed Ben Stiller, and chatted with Kevin Nealon and Jeffrey Tambor. Then the Zen Buddhism student put both hands on a tree abutting the red carpet.

"I can feel the energy in this tree right now," Shandling told a perplexed journalist. "Watch the DVD for the quiet, still and awkward moments in the special features. That's the true meaning."

Has Shandling gone completely Zen? Not quite.

"There's really nothing more fun and elegant than walking the (expletive deleted) red carpet," he deadpanned as he introduced a 12-minute clip from "Not Just the Best of 'The Larry Sanders Show' " to David Arquette, Greg Kinnear, Illeana Douglas, Jesse Bradford, Ryan Phillippe, Kyle MacLachlan, Leslie Mann, Linda Doucett and other guests. "I don't know when they're going to stop using that (expletive deleted) color. I wouldn't put it in my house because Joan Rivers would show up."

Patience, Garry, patience.

Shandling, who boxes four times a week, described the three years it took to create a DVD that includes a conversation with a Buddhist monk and recent interviews with Tambor, Doucett, Jerry Seinfeld, Sharon Stone, Alec Baldwin and others involved with "Larry Sanders."

"It's a tough DVD week because 'Hawaii Five-O' comes out, so it's important that we get as much press as possible," fretted Shandling. "I can't believe it's come to this, but the past is part of the journey that brings us to this moment."

Om.

GOOD SPORTS: "I can still hit a baseball pitched at 70 miles an hour and hope that keeps me looking as young as you two," Sharon Stone told Thelma Eisen and Dorothy Harrell Doyle, who both played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s. The occassion was a private reception at the Beverly Hilton on Wednesday night.

Stone then hugged Women's Sports Foundation founder Billie Jean King and chatted with presenters Geena Davis and Marlee Matlin before the second annual Billie Awards, which honor media contributions depicting women in sports. They and other guests, including Elisabeth Shue and Michelle Rodriguez, sported scarlet wristbands in support of the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

"Women's sports account for less than 8 percent of all sports coverage, and it's critical that there's more balanced coverage and fewer stereotypes," King told basketball players Lisa Leslie and Cheryl Miller. "We've got a long way to go."

Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad played "Reveille" on a cornet to introduce three dozen female champions, including Brandi Chastain, Lindsay Davenport, Dominique Dawes, Natalie Coughlin, Donna de Varona, Lisa Fernandez, Temeka Johnson and Tracy Austin. But Eisen, Harrell Doyle and Annie Wagner Lampl, whose participation as a swimmer in the 1936 Munich Olympics was thwarted by the Nazi regime, got the loudest standing ovations.

The evening, which raised $1.4 million for foundation programs, wasn't totally female. Rodney Peete, Deion Sanders and Jimmy Connors presented awards.

"Women don't just inspire women in sport," Connors clarified before Elton John dedicated "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" to the Rutgers team. "Billie Jean, my mom and my grandmother inspired me to take up tennis."

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) ANISTON, ARQUETTE and COX: Tending to grave matters

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

(2) SHANDLING: He's in a Zen state of mind

Michael Buckner/Getty Images

(3) LESLIE and KING: Profiles in greatness

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images