Sigourney Weaver, left, and Carrie Henn in the 1986 movie “Aliens.” It screens in 70mm at the Academy Museum on Oct. 11.
(Twentieth Century Fox)
The 12 movies you need to see in L.A. this month
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Hang with the teen witches of “The Craft,” turn a young person onto horror with a Stephen King-scripted blast and listen to Kurt Russell scrap with John Carpenter, the director who understood him best. October is a good month to live in Los Angeles and go to the movies. The repertory scene continues to offer up an avalanche of riches, with local programmers outdoing themselves.
These screenings feature special guests, archival prints and other surprises. Consider our guide a handy catch-all of the best repertory screenings of the month, reserved for older films playing in unique circumstances.
Whatever your plans may be, change them for the following 10 events.
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Showing Movie Movies
‘Creepshow’ (Vidiots, Oct. 2)
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(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
Where do you start with horror? And how do you justify exposing a child to it? The latter question is easier to answer: Because it leads to a lifetime of enjoyment (and a healthy distrust of bumps in the night). But kicking off that obsession isn’t easy. You can do no better than this ghoulishly funny 1982 anthology movie scripted by Stephen King during his peak period. The cast, loaded with lovable hams like Leslie Nielsen, Fritz Weaver, Hal Holbrook and Adrienne Barbeau, is having a ball, while the tales themselves — including the immortal marital revenge story “The Crate” — toe the line between goofy and properly terrifying. Even with “Night of the Living Dead” in his rearview mirror, “Creepshow” may be director George A. Romero’s most entertaining sit.
“Creepshow” is playing Oct. 2 at Vidiots. Tickets here.
“Creepshow” is playing Oct. 2 at Vidiots. Tickets here.
‘Escape From L.A.’ (Academy Museum, Oct. 3)
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(Robert Zuckerman / Paramount Pictures)
Yes, you can watch 1981’s originating movie “Escape From New York” as part of this 4K double-bill in the Academy’s big theater, sure to be a life-changing evening for those who haven’t yet seen these perfect balances of anti-fascist politics, sci-fi action and Leone-esque visual storytelling. But there’s a special hometown affection for the 1996 follow-up, which adds in jokes about Hollywood, traffic, surfing and basketball. The real draw of the night, though, will be the presence of writer-director John Carpenter along with his signature star Kurt Russell, who made five features together. Friends for decades — sometimes tensely — the two are known to mix it up in conversation. Expect jabs, anecdotes and Clint Eastwood impressions.
“Escape From L.A.” and “Escape From New York” are both playing Oct. 3 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
“Escape From L.A.” and “Escape From New York” are both playing Oct. 3 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
‘Stalker’ (Academy Museum, Oct. 7)
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(Janus Films)
After “Backrooms” and this summer’s plunge into haunted “liminal spaces,” it’s natural to wonder where that vibe came from. Obviously video games and online culture to an extent; also the endless hallways of the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining.” But if you’re looking hard, you’ll see it in Andrei Tarkovsky’s ghostly 1979 sci-fi movie, a cousin to impeccably designed projects like Ridley Scott’s “Alien.” The movie, set in a no-man’s land called the Zone, seems to predict the Chernobyl disaster. A selection of the motion picture academy’s production design branch, this screening will be accompanied by words from production designer Jeannine Oppewall, veteran of “L.A. Confidential” and “Catch Me if You Can.”
“Stalker” is playing Oct. 7 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
“Stalker” is playing Oct. 7 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
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'My Brother’s Wedding' (Aero, Oct. 9)
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(Milestone Film & Video)
For too long filmmaker Charles Burnett was mostly known for his groundbreaking 1978 debut “Killer of Sheep.” Thanks to a series of restorations and revivals over the past few years, the broader scope of his career has become more clearly understood, allowing him to fully take his place as one of the great chroniclers of Los Angeles life. A new 4K restoration of his second feature, 1983’s “My Brother’s Wedding,” will have its West Coast premiere with the filmmaker in person. The story of a man (an electric Everett Silas) wondering whether to attend the wedding of his brother or the funeral of his best friend — both land on the same day — the film captures the tragicomic tone and personal moral dilemmas that so often make up everyday life.
“My Brother’s Wedding” is playing Oct. 9 at the Aero Theatre. Tickets here.
“My Brother’s Wedding” is playing Oct. 9 at the Aero Theatre. Tickets here.
‘Aliens’ (Academy Museum, Oct. 11)
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(Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection / Getty Images)
A high point of ’80s Hollywood blockbusting, this is James Cameron’s apex as a writer-director of anti-corporate conscience (not that anyone at 20th Century Fox was complaining). “Aliens” takes Ridley Scott’s original atmospheric thriller and infuses it with foolhardy Marines, a surrogate mother-daughter story and a commitment to life-size animatronic puppets that makes the whole thing nightmarishly real. Try to think about science-fiction films that have gotten Oscar nominations not just for their special effects but for lead actress — it’s unimaginable, right? This was the first one. Sigourney Weaver was never better. Seeing it in 70mm in the Academy Museum’s 1,000-seat theater is worth prioritizing.
“Aliens” is playing Oct. 11 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
“Aliens” is playing Oct. 11 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
'Season of the Witch' (Philosophical Research Society, Oct. 11)
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(Philosophical Research Society)
Playing at PRS as part of a series exploring the notion of “ambient dread” — films invested less in the momentary shock of a jump scare than a slow creep of disorientation — this 1972 work by horror master George A. Romero finds a discontented housewife (Jan White) drawn to the occult as a way to reestablish her sense of self. With a witty style and unnerving core, the film is self-aware enough to explicitly reference both “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Graduate,” taking great pleasure in satirizing suburban life (our hero throws down a Master Charge to buy supplies for a conjuration) while also sensitively depicting her need for a new world.
“Season of the Witch” is playing Oct. 11 at the Philosophical Research Society. Tickets here.
“Season of the Witch” is playing Oct. 11 at the Philosophical Research Society. Tickets here.
'Ken Russell's The Devils' (Vista, Aero, Oct. 15-22)
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(Clockwork)
Few movies have the fearsome and ignominious reputation — not to mention legacy — as this 1971 thriller obscured by accusations of blasphemy and censorious edits. Thanks to a new 4K restoration that restores the filmmaker’s original vision, it can at long last be seen as a proper movie rather than a cursed object, with a story based on real-life events that resulted in the burning of a priest in 1600s France. With searing, soul-baring performances from Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, the film still has plenty to shock and disturb, but the thematic heft of its storytelling is now clearer. The film will close out this year’s Beyond Fest on Oct. 5 before getting a limited one-week run in theaters via the new Warner Bros. imprint label Clockwork.
“Ken Russell’s The Devils” is playing Oct. 15-22 at the Vista and the Aero Theatre.
“Ken Russell’s The Devils” is playing Oct. 15-22 at the Vista and the Aero Theatre.
'The House of the Devil' (Eastwood Performing Arts Center, Oct. 16, 17)
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(Magnet Releasing)
A knowing throwback to VHS-era horror thrillers that also remembers to have fun with that same period’s “satanic panic” paranoia, 2009’s “The House of the Devil” follows a broke college student (Jocelin Donahue) who takes a suspiciously high-paying babysitting job at a remote house from a creepy family fronted with oozing malevolence by Tom Noonan. Writer-director Ti West has since moved up to working on the recent series “Widow’s Bay” and the upcoming “Ebenezer” with Johnny Depp, but at the time, he was the horror guy on the micro-budget indie scene, which is how Greta Gerwig and Lena Dunham both have small roles. The film is playing as a double-bill with West’s 2011 supernatural “The Innkeepers,” which was inspired by some of the cast and crew of “Devil” coming to believe they were staying at a haunted motel.
“The House of the Devil” is playing Oct. 16, 17 at Eastwood Performing Arts Center. Tickets here.
“The House of the Devil” is playing Oct. 16, 17 at Eastwood Performing Arts Center. Tickets here.
‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ (New Beverly, Oct. 17, 18)
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(Walt Disney Productions)
It was a tough time for Disney when, after its founder died in 1966, the company struggled to find the sureness of footing that led to so many animated classics. Perhaps that was inevitable with the rise of the counterculture and new audiences lured away by “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But the era we now call “dark Disney” hatched a fair number of risky ventures: movies that flirted with horror and scarred a generation while hatching thousands of genre fans. “The Watcher in the Woods” may be the scariest of these — and “The Black Hole” the bleakest — but this unforgettable 1983 version of Ray Bradbury’s classic, marked by a spooky, magisterial turn by Jonathan Pryce, is definitive.
“Something Wicked This Way Comes” is playing Oct. 17, 18 at the New Beverly Cinema. Tickets here.
“Something Wicked This Way Comes” is playing Oct. 17, 18 at the New Beverly Cinema. Tickets here.
'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (New Beverly, Oct. 25)
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(LACMA)
Though it can be easy to overlook silent films as mere curios, they’re always a healthy reminder that the earliest era of moviemaking was brimming with creative energy. An essential shorthand for describing German Expressionism because of its angular, stylized look, Robert Wiene’s 1920 landmark is also still very much a wild ride, with a story touched by madness, murder and an uncanny dream logic as Conrad Veidt gives a performance of startling physicality as a man hypnotized to kill. Frequently name-checked by no less an expert in the ways of the weird than Nicolas Cage, “Dr. Caligari” remains a deeply influential work. The film will play in 35mm with live music by silent film accompanist Cliff Retallick.
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is playing Oct. 25 at the New Beverly Cinema. Tickets here.
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is playing Oct. 25 at the New Beverly Cinema. Tickets here.
‘Ed Wood’ (Egyptian, Oct. 25)
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(Touchstone Pictures)
We were delighted by August’s announcement that Mel Brooks, in honor of his 100th birthday, would be programming a 20-film series of some of his favorite films from a lifetime of moviegoing. Reading the list revealed both the slapstick comedian (e.g., Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights”) and the dramatic storyteller (“Jojo Rabbit,” this one’s for you). But it’s not hard to imagine Brooks himself making Tim Burton’s 1994 biographical drama, a project that shrewdly splits the difference: a paean to the relentless drive that gets art made — even truly bad art — as well as an indictment of the industry’s penchant to throw away its biggest stars. Return to the reopened Egyptian in the heart of Hollywood to watch this essential L.A. story.
“Ed Wood” is playing Oct. 25 at the Egyptian Theatre. Tickets here.
“Ed Wood” is playing Oct. 25 at the Egyptian Theatre. Tickets here.
'The Craft' (Academy Museum, Oct. 31)
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(Columbia Pictures)
The scary transformations of the teen years can seem magical in ways both good and bad, and so “The Craft” (1996) uses friendship and witchcraft to explore that tender time as four high school girls unleash powers beyond their control. The central cast of Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Fairuza Balk are genuinely iconic, their triumphant slow-mo cafeteria walk one of the defining images of the era. But the movie overall makes for a great time-capsule snapshot of the alt-goth-grunge moment of the ’90s. The Academy Museum will celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary on Halloween with a late-night screening including Tunney and True in person. Grab your besties and go.
“The Craft” is playing Oct. 31 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
“The Craft” is playing Oct. 31 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.
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