Caroline Pardilla

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid: Halloween Screenings

— by Caroline on Crack

What I love most about Halloween isn’t the parties, bags of candy or the costumes, but rather all the scary movies they show on TV. Just this weekend I got to watch The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project, The Omen and Children of the Corn all on TV. I was in Halloween heaven. Nothing makes it the most horrific day of the year like horror movies. Fortunately some L.A. theaters will be screening scary classics on Halloween night. If you don’t feel like fighting crowds to catch The Shining at the cemetery, you might want to check out the following:

The Omen at Aero Theatre: Remember when horror movies thrilled you rather than grossed you out? Sure, this suspense/thriller featured the most creative ways to kill a human being — decapitation, impalement, suicide at a child’s bday party — but what terrified audiences most was this demonic brat and his unstoppable minions who wanted to bring the end of the world…OK and those violent deaths.

  • 7:30pm. $10. The Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica. (map)

Psycho at the Arclight: Personally this isn’t my most favorite Hitchcock movie, but apparently it’s the “most heart-pounding movie of AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills,” as voted by AFI members. So on Halloween night, you can catch a FREE screening of this classic at one of the best movie houses in L.A., the Arclight. Tickets can be picked up after 5pm, October 31 at the AFI FEST Box Office located on the 7th floor, Rooftop Village of the ArcLight parking garage.

  • 8pm. Free. The Arclight, 6360 W Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. (map)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari at Disney Hall: Wanna see what horror movies used to be like? Check out this annual Halloween event where Disney Hall’s pipe organ provides the eerie soundtrack to the 1920s silent movie about a sinister doctor.

  • 8pm. $22-$47. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. (map)

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D at El Capitan: OK, this Tim Burton movie is more cute than scary but presented in 3-D with a special sing-a-long during the 11:30 screening makes it a fun Halloween movie night. Before the show grab a black and white sundae at the Disney Soda Fountain next door to the theatre. Yum!

  • 11:30pm. $13-$22. 6838 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood. (map)