The Halloween season has officially begun, filled with pumpkin carving, pumpkin pies, and, of course, movies with pumpkins in them! No holiday is more associated with movie watching than the spooky season, with new releases in theaters and old favorites being screened for lovers and newcomers alike. The month of October also brings with it a small wave of indie releases from earlier film festivals that have acquired the proper buzz, allowing them limited and wide releases to spread evenly throughout autumn into the winter awards season.
Whether it's a spooky good time or a comfy night out at the movies, there's no shortage of options. Here are six movie screenings to keep on your radar throughout the month of October at Hudson Valley indie theaters.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
There are few films as rewatchable as Jim Sharman's 1975 cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Whether it's your first, second or 40th viewing, this movie never ceases to entertain, and seeing it on the big screen with an enthusiastic crowd dressed all to theme is the proverbial icing on the nostalgic cake. With standout performances from Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, who play a couple that happen upon a spooky mansion after getting a flat tire on a stormy night, the musical extravaganza immediately throws the audience into a whirlwind of sights and sounds, accompanied by the talents of Patricia Quinn, Richard O'Brien, and Meatloaf. But the main attraction is none other than, the legend himself Tim Curry in a star-making performance as Frank-N-Furter, the transvestite scientist with an admiration for antici…pation. Grab a group of pals who love the movie just as much as you do, but make sure to bring along that one friend who’s never seen it.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show screens October 12 at The Crandell Theatre.
The Blair Witch Project
One of the most profitable independent movies of all time, the original The Blair Witch Project remains, to this day, not only a massive success story but also one of the scariest movies ever put to film. Its eerie camera work and flow-of-time story-building create an atmospheric tension that is hard to replicate in any traditional filmmaking sense, crafting an experience that truly feels like you are watching something cursed all throughout its runtime. At a crisp 78 minutes, the 1999 phenomenon follows our three protagonists, who are attempting to shoot a student documentary on a local legend and quickly become enthralled in the nightmare of being lost in the woods with no way out, while a sinister entity follows their every move. Shot for only $35,000, the film went on to gross nearly $250 million, becoming a pop culture staple for movie-goers at the time. It is just as scary now as it was twenty five years ago.
The Blair Witch Project screens October 13 at Old Dutch Church in Kingston.
The Films of Merchant-Ivory
All October long, Time & Space Limited will feature six classic films from the legendary
filmmaking duo producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. The pair created 44 films throughout their partnership, and the series aims to shine a light on some of their classics and lesser known fare, with six screenings of each film. 1981's Quartet, starring the late Maggie Smith and Isabelle Adjani, and 1979's The Europeans, starring Lee Remick and Wesley Addy, kick off the film series. 1984's The Bostonians, featuring amazing performances from Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Reeve, follows up for the second week along with 1983's Heat and Dust, which was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on her novel from 1975. The series culminates with the insanely good Maurice from 1987, which stars a deliciously young Hugh Grant, and 1992's Howard's End, arguably the most infamous of the Merchant-Ivory output, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, and so many other lovely actors. This retrospective series is a crash course in exquisite period piece filmmaking and the perfect way to experience these classic films.
The Films of Merchant-Ivory series runs all October into November at Time & Space Limited. Check their website regularly for updated show dates and times.
The Addams Family
The spooky family-friendly classic from Barry Sonnenfeld is a crowd-pleaser unlike most movies from the ’90's, with enough nostalgia for those that grew up with it and just as much charisma and laughs to delight younger and older crowds alike who may be unfamiliar with the movie's devilishly campy take on the TV comedy-sitcom from the 60s. The film features a murderer's row of acting talent, including Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, Christopher Lambert, Carel Struycken, Elizabeth Wilson, and Dan Hedaya. The laughs are plenty, the scares are amusing, and the set design will make you rue the day CGI was invented for motion pictures.
The Addams Family screens on October 19 and 26 at Jacob Burns Film Center.
My Old Ass
Actress-turned-writer/director Megan Park's first film from 2021, The Fallout, was a heartbreaking yet immensely necessary meditation on the aftermath of a school shooting and its surviving victims' coping. Her latest film, My Old Ass, is a change in genre but still packs the transcendental punch of her debut. The film centers on a young girl, played by Maisy Stella, on her 18th birthday, who while on a mushroom trip encounters her future 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza. What follows is a life-changing dialogue on family, young love, life dreams, and everything in between, as both versions of the character are forced to reconcile with the very thing that we all find so ponderous: life itself. The movie is riotously funny and soul-crushingly moving, which is what many movies aspire to be but few actually pull off.
My Old Ass starts October 25 at Upstate Films Orpheum Theatre.
Child's Play
The collection of VHS as a hobby has quickly gained steam over the past few years, with a nostalgia for the grainy images and staticky sounds of those beautiful, plastic cassettes. Story Screen Cinema relaunches their VHS Pasta Night film series, which is formed as a celebration of retro and cult cinema, with a screening of one of the original ’80s horror classics: 1988's Child's Play. The screening event features plates of freshly cooked pasta with add-ons such as garlic bread and meatballs, as well as loads of movie- and retro-related vendors, selling everything from VHS tapes to movie memorabilia, vinyl, comics, and so much more. Story Screen Cinema's bar will also be dishing out some Child's Play-themed cocktails and mocktails, along with their usual fare of delicious local beers and throwback fried food, including dino-shaped chicken nuggets and White Castle sliders. DJ Shredder will kick off the festivities while folks hang in the theater's arcade for some pinball and games. For me, as the founder and co-owner of Story Screen, Pasta Night has always been a special event for us to put on, and we're excited to bring this monthly repertory film series back. Enjoy a delicious plate of pasta with friends then sit back and enjoy a cult classic film projected onto the big screen directly from a glorious VCR, the way it was never intended. As the saying goes: "Movies taste better with pasta."
Child's Play screens on glorious VHS October 26 at Story Screen Cinema.
