Incoming! Halloween Scary Movie Special Edition

F or the discerning scary movie enthusiast, Halloween season is a good time waiting to be had. Cinemas tend to treat the month of October like a rolling retro film festival. Programmers bring back old horror classics so they can be watched in the proper fashion—in a dark room with a crowd of other freaked-out people.

Digital distribution technology has made it easier to get these older movies up on the big screen again. Retro events used to require the shipping of rare and rickety celluloid reels. Now they just bounce digital packets off satellites, or something like that.

Probably the ultimate case-in-point film is Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror , the 1922 silent film from German expressionist filmmaker F. W. Murnau. A famously unhinged (and unauthorized) adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula , Nosferatu remains one of the creepiest sequences of moving images ever assembled. The film passed into public domain in 2019, and digital tech has opened up new distribution options.

To wit: On Monday, October 28, the Carolina Theatre in Durham will host a special screening of Nosferatu with a live score by Durham’s own chamber music specialists Mallarmé Music. There’s also another version of Nosferatu in theatrical circulation right now that syncs the film with the music of Radiohead’s albums Kid A and Amnesiac . It played a few places earlier this month, but may get some encore screenings—check your local listings.

In fact, for all of the recommendations here, check the theaters’ online listings for time, date, and ticketing information. Bookings can change and screenings sometimes sell out.

The Carolina has several more options in these final days before Halloween. The downtown theater will host its annual Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball on October 24 and 25. Costumes are encouraged. If you like that Rocky Horror B-movie aesthetic, look for the 2001 microbudget indie The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra . Also on tap in the next few weeks, via the Carolina’s various film series: Hocus Pocus (witchy comedy!), Aliens (space horror!), and a double feature of The Shining and Dolores Claiborne (the estimable Mr. King).

Meanwhile, over in Raleigh, the Alamo Drafthouse will host its annual all-night marathon, Dismember the Alamo , on Saturday, October 26. This event requires courage: the film lineup is announced at showtime. Live a little! New this year at the Alamo is Nightmares of a Clown, an intriguing collection of 16-mm amateur films featuring, yes, scary clowns. One of the shorts is titled Toothache of a Clown . This is an opportunity to face your dentophobia and coulrophobia at the same time.

Otherwise, the Alamo has put together a nice selection of classic horror films in October, including Cat People , Halloween , The Brood , The Shining , Creature from the Black Lagoon , the J-horror rarity Séance , the Eurotrash freakout Blood for Dracula , and the 1964 version of The Masque of Red Death (Roger Corman + Vincent Price!).

For a lighter evening, look for screenings of the kids’ movie Casper , the original Ghostbusters , and the new Beetlejuice Beetlejuice .

If you’re out Chapel Hill’s way, the Chelsea Theater has some goodies lined up for late October. Nosferatu the Vampyre is director Werner Herzog’s bugged-out 1979 remake of the original 1922 film, with the title role played by Germany’s gentleman maniac Klaus Kinski. For yet another riff on the basic story template, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the 1992 version of the original novel by director Francis Ford Coppola.

Also look for Gen X touchstone The Lost Boys , the brilliant vampire drama Let the Right One In (the original Swedish version), and the intriguing new French import Le Vourdalak , featuring 18th-century undead trouble. That last one looks particularly trippy: grab your favorite alkaloid and go for it.

Finally, the Cary Theater has some last-minute October specials on the calendar, including Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 proto-slasher Psycho , the 1968 satanic-panic classic Rosemary’s Baby , and the 2007 found-footage pioneer Paranormal Activity . All are part of the theater’s Influencers of Horror series , featuring tricks, treats, and trivia. Meanwhile, Cary’s annual Zombiepalooza short film festival is slated for outdoor screening on October 25 at the new and really quite beautiful Downtown Cary Park .

Bear in mind that this is just a sampling of what’s in local theaters over the next few weeks. You can find more classic horror options at other area cinemas and multiplexes. Halloween is America’s weird contribution to the world holiday calendar, and scary movies are a big part of the Halloween experience. So, be a patriot: find a good scary movie, gather your people, and support your local theaters.

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