With Halloween landing on a Tuesday this year, there will be a ton of parties through the weekend and spilling out onto Monday and Tuesdays. Between costume changes, or if you’re one to just straight opt out of all that party noise and want to keep on your comfy pants, here are the old school horro movies you’ll want to fit into your schedule this October.

From the New Parkway in Oakland to Alamo Drafthouse, and the more niche theaters in between, here are some top picks. Also be sure to check out the Castro Theater’s calendar for their Double and Triple Features. There are quite a few horror classics and obscure selections you’re not likely to find elsewhere. So go browse there, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Also worth mentioning is that the New Parkway Theater will be showing Stranger Things, which is more new school, so it was left off this list, but it’s a TV show worthy of some big screen time. Also if anyone seems Beetlejuice hitting any of the theaters, it seems to be missing…Holler!

Please note, these are in order by the date(s) they are being shown, not in order by relevance or by favorites.

Vampire in Brooklyn

Wes Craven’s horror comedy film, starring Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett, is a vampire-filled, blood-sucking journey. What’s Halloween without some vampire action?

New Parkway, Friday, October 6, 9:30pm (Co-presented by Reel Black Films)

Suspiria

If you thought the Black Swan was a dark ballerina movie, hhow about a ballet academy filled with witches? This Italian horror film is a cult classic and noted for its trippy filming techniques and soundtrack by progressive rock band Goblin.

New Parkway, Friday, October 6, 10:30pm 

The Shining

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a scary-as-hell reminder why it’s better to live in a city than an isolated ginormous hotel in the mountains. Vacations can be overrated—this 2-hour and forty-minute 1980s film is not.

New Parkway, Thursday, October 12, 9pm 

Friday the 13th

If there’s a “Friday the 13th” on the calendar and in the month of October, then you better believe this movie will be playing somewhere. Here is the first film in the long and (seemingly never-ending) Friday the 13th franchise. The series includes twelve slasher films, a television show, novels, comic books, video games, and a range of merch…some scarier than others.

New Parkway, October 13, 10pm

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 & 2

This 1974 film about a family of cannibalistic psychopaths will keep you holding tight to your Google Maps and thinking twice about letting your fuel gauge drop into the red zone on your next long road trip.

New Parkway, Saturday, October 14 (Part 1 @8pm, Part 2 @ 10pm)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Considered by many to be the first true horror film, this 1920s film doubles as a key piece of German expressionist cinema. As explained by Screenprism, “it’s visual style is the pinnacle of the genre, with its crooked backdrops, harsh lines, painted shadows, and surreal nature permeating every scene.” This black and white oldie is best for film buffs with an appreciation for classic films, in all their imperfect glory.

New Parkway, Sunday, October 15, 3pm

Triple Feature: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein
Sunday, October 15, Castro Theater, Various Times

The Craft

The Craft inspired a wave of baby goths. As an American teen girl of the ’90s, it seemed you either fell in love with The Craft (1996) or Clueless (1995), or a combo of the two. And both led to buying a plaid skirt, dating the wrong dude, and inevitably your fighting style when it came to your frenemies.

New Parkway, October 21, 10pm
Alamo Drafthouse, October 31, 7pm

Night of the Living Dead (The 4k Restoration Version)

After decades of video transfers, Night of the Living Dead is receiving a film facelift with a new 4K restoration, scanned from the original camera negative and supervised by George A. Romero himself (R.I.P.). The improved, high-quality version was restored by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation.

If you prefer the original version, the one with its occasional speckles and charming signs of aging, they have that one too.

Alamo Drafthouse, Tuesday, October 24, 7pm (Restored Version), 9:45 (Original Version)

 

Feel free to add other favorites in the comments below. Happy horror movie watching!

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