70TH ANNIVERSARY!

Fearful memories of this timeless 1953 sci-fi bone-chiller still haunt the dreams of fans who have never forgotten the story of a young boy who witnesses an alien invasion. Little David Maclean (Jimmy Hunt) wakes up in his perfect suburban home to find that a flying saucer has landed in his backyard and some mysterious force is turning all the adults in the area—including his parents, played by Leif Erickson and Hillary Brooke—into soulless monsters.

The movie has since become a modern classic and was also one of two early 50s classic alien-invasion science fiction films (the other one being Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still) reflecting Cold War tensions, the Red Scare and paranoid anxiety typical of many films in the 50s.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“William Cameron Menzies’ direction and images make Invaders the most expressive nightmare film in the science fiction genre. The topography of its dreamscape is as vivid as the art film dreams of Fellini and Bergman.” Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant

“This stunning 4K restoration will make even those who’ve seen the film umpteen times feel like they’re seeing it for the very first time but through magical new eyes.” Robert Skotak, multiple Visual Effects Academy Award-winner (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day).

30TH ANNIVERSARY!

The film that absolutely terrified a very specific generation of moviegoers, FIRE IN THE SKY recreates the strange events that happened on November 5, 1975 in the town of Snowflake, Arizona. Travis Walton (D.B. Sweeney) works as a logger in the White Mountains. When he and his colleagues drive home after work one night, they encounter a UFO. Travis gets out of the truck to learn more and is struck by a beam of light from the object. He vanishes without a trace and his colleagues are accused of murder. When Travis reappears five days later, at first he doesn’t remember that he was gone, but in time, the terrible memories come flooding back…

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“[A] convincing and often genuinely scary drama… D.B. Sweeney is persuasive as a man whose life is changed forever by an encounter with cold, unfeeling aliens.” The San Francisco Examiner

“[Features] a sequence that once seen is never unseen, frequently popping up on lists of the scariest scenes in horror movie history thanks to Lieberman’s direction.” John Squires, Bloody Disgusting

Considered by many to be the true successor to the original, THE EXORCIST III is a haunting work of psychological terror that contains one of the most jarring scares in horror movie history.

Based on author William Peter Blatty’s original follow-up to THE EXORCIST and adapted by Blatty himself, THE EXORCIST III takes place fifteen years after the original film and finds Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott) investigating a baffling series of murders in Georgetown that all contain the hallmarks of The Gemini, a serial killer who had been executed several years before. Kinderman’s investigation eventually leads him to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric hospital who has recently started to speak, claiming he is The Gemini Killer and detailing the murders. Even more disturbing, the patient bears a striking resemblance to one Father Damien Karras, the priest who had (seemingly) met his grisly end on a certain set of stairs fifteen years ago.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“The Exorcist III is a masterfully crafted work of suspense that can be enjoyed by both devotees of the original and those that have never seen it.” Liam Gaughan, Collider

“So many modern exorcism films crowd their stories with too many elements or get hung up on the lore, but The Exorcist III is a good example of a strong, cynical film that’s more about the nature of evil than permanently exorcising it from the world.” Daniel Kurland, Bloody Disgusting

25TH ANNIVERSARY! Presented by Kung Fu Clubhouse!

Due to a significant audio issue with the BLADE film print, the Wednesday showing will be presented digitally. It will still look (and sound) great and will be a fun time at the movies, so please join us if you can! Apologies for any inconvenience. This will not affect any of the other 35mm film presentations we have scheduled.

The power of an Immortal. The soul of a human. The heart of a hero. Sworn to defend humanity, although not entirely human. Born with the cunning and superhuman power of a vampire, but able to stalk by day as well as night, Wesley Snipes stars in this action-packed thriller as the immortal vampire hunter, Blade.

Awakened to consciousness–and pain–before birth by the bite of the undead vampire that kills his mother, a young boy grows into a mythical warrior bearing a blood-curse: An almost insatiable desire for blood that he must fight every moment of every day. Blade uses his awesome power to battle the vampires led by his mortal enemy, the omnipotent vampire overlord, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff). The undead have infiltrated the corridors of power, intent on conquering all mankind. Now, against an army of Immortals, one warrior must draw first blood.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Snipes plays his superhero character with such aching coolness that you can’t wait for the next dumb-ass vampire to get in his way.” Almar Haflidason, BBC

One of the most acclaimed horror movies of the year had a very limited theatrical release back in February and barely showed in Seattle, if at all. We’re proud to provide a few more opportunities to see this one in a cinema.

HUESERA is an unsettling work of body horror exploring the rarely discussed challenges of motherhood. Director Michelle Garza Cervera’s feature debut is the story of a desperate protagonist navigating a chilling world filled with looming danger. Valeria (Natalia Solián) shows her devotion to the idea of becoming a mother by making a pilgrimage to a shrine for Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray that the Virgin Mary blesses her womb. But her joy at becoming pregnant is quickly taken away when she’s cursed by a sinister entity. As danger closes in, she’s forced deeper into the recesses of a dark magic that threatens to consume her.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

In Spanish with English subtitles.

“CRITIC’S PICK! Huesera is the type of staggering supernatural nightmare that is as transfixing as it is terrifying.” Natalia Winkelman, The New York Times

“The remarkable debut from writer-director Michelle Garza Cervera is as effectively blood-curdling as it is intellectually incisive.” Carlos Aguilar, The Los Angeles Times

“Cervera held my nerves in the palm of her hand, and I couldn’t wait to discover Valeria’s fate as she searched for deeper truths and found reasons to keep fighting. Huesera: The Bone Woman is something special.” Sara Michelle Fetters, Seattle Gay News

L’INFERNO is the first feature length horror film ever released. An adaptation of Dante’s classic journey through hell, this masterpiece of silent film employs elaborate costumes, special effects, and set design to create an awe-inspiring and ethereal world. The original Montopolis score brings new life to this horror classic with a mix of psych rock, dark wave and terrifying sound effects performed live. Based in Austin, Texas, Montopolis is following up their critically acclaimed national tour of MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA.

Montopolis is an indie chamber music group from Austin, Texas that performs the works of composer Justin Sherburn. Their genre-busting music uses inventive instrumentation to create “stunning and transcendent” (The Austin Chronicle) concerts. Their programs are audience-engaging, multi-media events that combine live music with film and interactive storytelling. The Montopolis musicians include members of the Austin Symphony, Okkervil River, Tosca String Quartet, and the Polyphonic Spree.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Please note: Special event ticket pricing is in place to better support the traveling musicians.

Experience the dark side of educational films: shorts designed to terrify you into “correct behavior!” For decades, scare films served as propaganda for compliance – and as forbidden thrills of the lowest kind. Tonight only, see rare 16mm prints of some of the most warped, heavy-handed, and infamous examples of the genre.

Shocking, lurid, and even stomach-churning, sights you can scarcely endure serve as dire warnings of a horrific fate beyond imagining! Pus-dripping doom from syphilis! The gory splatter of highway crashes! Atomic devastation! The godless threat of Communism! All of this and more could HAPPEN TO YOU!

Part of our 16mm Centennial Celebration Series and annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Warning: this program includes uncensored scenes some may find disturbing. Recommended for mature audiences only! Co-presented by The Sprocket Society.

William Kennedy Memorial Screening!

When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called Videodrome. As he struggles to unearth the origins of the program, he embarks on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Starring James Woods and Debbie Harry, with groundbreaking special effects makeup by Rick Baker, VIDEODROME is one of David Cronenberg’s most original and provocative works, fusing social commentary with shocking elements of sex and violence.

In June 2021, Seattle lost one of its most dedicated cinephiles, William Kennedy. One of Bill’s final wishes was that people gather to watch VIDEODROME in his memory. A portion of the proceeds from this screening will be donated to Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia, where Bill performed in several productions prior to moving to Seattle.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Videodrome has lost none of its power to disturb, none of its potency as a catalyst for meaningful introspection… It remains the rare breed of sociological provocation that might change minds. It’s a looking glass. It’s a masterpiece.” Walter Chaw, RogerEbert.com

40TH ANNIVERSARY!

Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) collects Renaissance art, ancient Egyptian pendants, lovers, souls. Alive and fashionably chic in Manhattan, Miriam is an ageless vampire; blessed with beauty, cursed with bloodlust. She lives through the ages with fellow fiend and refined companion, John (David Bowie) – in love, in life, in longing, they are inseparable. But when John abruptly begins to age and turns to a geriatrics researcher (Susan Sarandon) for help, Miriam soon eyes the woman as a replacement for John. The Hunger is insatiable.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“The Hunger has earned its place as a classic… it remains a stunning example of how a horror film can also be a work of high art.” Patrick Fogerty, Collider

This genuinely frightening, exquisitely made supernatural gothic stars Deborah Kerr as an emotionally fragile governess who comes to suspect that there is something very, very wrong with her precocious new charges. A psychosexually intensified adaptation of Henry James’s classic “The Turn of the Screw”, cowritten by Truman Capote and directed by Jack Clayton, THE INNOCENTS is a triumph of narrative economy and technical expressiveness, from its chilling sound design to the stygian depths of its widescreen cinematography by Freddie Francis.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“You can watch The Innocents twice and walk away with different conclusions. Psychological horrors have imitated its ambiguous ending ever since. Few have pulled it off half as creepily.” Cath Clarke, Time Out

“If you’ve never seen Jack Clayton’s 1961 adaptation of Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’, hurl yourself into a cinema ASAP.” Charlotte O’Sullivan, The London Evening Standard

After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn’s collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted. This version of KWAIDAN is the original three-hour cut, never released in the United States until 2015.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

In Japanese with English subtitles.

“One of the peaks of the Japanese cinema during its golden era, and one of the most superbly atmospheric supernatural films ever produced in any country… Above all, Kwaidan is a stunning visual experience, best seen in a theater for full impact, as Kobayashi’s TohoScope images unfold on the screen as if in a dream.” Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Senses of Cinema

“A film of a rare, hermetic beauty, full of ethereal images and errant ideas that will haunt the mind… cinema at its most unnerving and awe-inspiring.” Anton Bitel, Little White Lies

Winner of the Dangerous Visions Award at this year’s Chattanooga Film Festival!

Lead actress Allison Walter, producer/actor Robert Campbell, and writer/producer/lead actor Sam Brittan will be present for a live Q&A!

A twisted thriller with dynamic performances and dramatic tone shifts, TEARSUCKER tells the dark and surreal story of emotionally vulnerable women who are preyed upon by a psychopath who wants to suck their tears. Lilly (Allison Walter) is a trauma survivor who is desperate to heal and get on with her life. Despite the support of her best friend Deb (Danielle Mcrae Spisso), she is completely isolated. But when she crosses paths with a charming stranger, Tom (Sam Brittan), at the park, she feels hope for the first time in months. However, things take a disturbing turn when Lily discovers that Tom has an unusual appetite for tears… and will stop at nothing to get them.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Tearsucker wants to make its audience squirm and it’s wildly successful in achieving that goal.” Kyle Logan, ScreenAnarchy

“A bizarre and deeply unsettling experience that takes a potentially wacky premise and makes it downright upsetting.” Mary Beth McAndrews, Dread Central

45TH ANNIVERSARY!

Half JAWS spoof and half trash-gore powerhouse, Joe Dante’s PIRANHA holds the key to a most toothsome time at the movies. When some jerks skinny-dip near a government testing lab, they accidentally unleash . . . PIRANHA!! The bloodthirsty fishies rend flesh in a small-town lake while a drunk scientist, a go-getting detective, and exploitation superstars Dick Miller, Paul Bartel, and Barbara Steele hang out and take care of business. From GREMLINS to INNERSPACE, director Dante is a master of transforming genre pastiche into peerless entertainment. PIRANHA is a rare delight—a knockoff just as fun as the original, with SFX guru Rob Bottin’s puppet fish a wonder to behold.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Of all the late ’70s-early ’80s Jaws knockoffs, none balanced tongue-in-cheek humor with out-and-out gore as deftly as Joe Dante’s Piranha.” Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

One of the most anarchic films to ever be unleashed from the studio system, GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH is a chaotic, live-action Looney Tunes cartoon that could only come from the mad mind of Joe Dante.

Young sweethearts Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) move to the Big Apple, land jobs in a high-tech office building and soon reunite with the friendly and lovable Gizmo. But a series of accidents creates a whole new generation of gremlins. The situation worsens when the devilish green creatures invade a top-secret laboratory and develop genetically altered powers, making them even harder to destroy!

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Speaks to the gleeful hell-raising monster in each of us, and it speaks with much more verve, cleverness and good humor than the film on which it is based. Add this to the very short list of sequels that neatly surpass their predecessors.” Janet Maslin, The New York Times

THERE IS A BORDER BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL… THIS TOWN IS ON THE EDGE OF HELL.

In the small town of Red Rock, local Satanist (William Smith) has been performing human sacrifices for the past 30 years in hopes of unleashing the Dark Lord upon us all. His evil altar requires a total of (only!) 103 sacrificial virgin souls in order to accomplish this feat. To avoid detection, he’s buddies with the town sheriff (Robert Z’Dar), who not only aids The Evil One with procuring his victims, but also provides the occasional help with cleaning up. Things don’t go exactly as planned for the pair, however, when the final sacrifice is botched and the townspeople suddenly get wise that something just ain’t right up in that house….

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Stuck in the VHS void and more than deserving of an updated release, [this movie] is one of the best of the worst when it comes to black magic f**ckery running a small town and participating in child murder.” Crypt of Doom

“The best thing about this video movie is villain William Smith, who portrays evil on a level few other actors can attain.” Creature Features

“This ridiculous movie has lots of nonsense dialogue and some serious continuity problems. The synthesizer score goes, ‘Aahhhhh!’” The Psychotronic Video Guide

NEVER RELEASED ON DVD! ONLY ON VHS! ONLY $3!

Picking up where the taboo-busting SHIVERS left off, RABID is the next-level iteration of Cronenberg’s obsession with sexual body violence in the form of a late nite creature feature. After a motorcycle accident, Rose (former adult film star Marilyn Chambers) wakes up in a hospital with new skin and a new appetite. As the city of Montréal is transformed into an incubator for gunk-spewing vampires, the ghostly Rose finds herself at war with her body and the world. This is a young Cronenberg firing on all cylinders. Featuring a focused and intense performance from Chambers, clever statements on vanity and greed, and a grotesque lil’ beastie who looks like a penis with teeth, RABID is a high-water mark in lysergic horror.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“The craft’s rough, but this is Cronenberg’s sleaziest, funniest film, jammed with juicy gore, infectious shocks and a splendidly unnecessary Santa massacre.” William Thomas, Empire

“To top [Shivers] was never going to be easy but two years later [Cronenberg] was again turning his stars into the depraved living dead with equally nauseating effect in Rabid.” Almar Haflidason, BBC

TONIGHT, WHILE THE WORLD IS ASLEEP… AN ANCIENT EVIL IS ABOUT TO AWAKEN.

In this overlooked and (unfairly?) maligned entry in William Friedkin’s filmography, parents Kate (Carey Lowell) and Phil (Dwier Brown), optimistic about their future, hire the pleasant and lovely young Camilla (Jenny Seagrove) to live with them and care for their new baby. Though at first Camilla seems like an answer to their prayers, she proves to be more than she appears, and a diabolical plot involving the wellbeing of their child is uncovered. In order to protect their vulnerable offspring, the young parents are forced to fight against supernatural forces.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Agnes (Ashley Judd), a lonely waitress with a tragic past, rooms in a run-down motel, living in fear of her abusive, recently paroled ex-husband. But when Agnes begins a tentative romance with Peter (Michael Shannon), an eccentric, nervous drifter, she starts to feel hopeful again—until the first bugs arrive… Probing the blurry lines between paranoia and nightmarish reality, BUG is an intense, mind-bending psychological thriller in which nothing is quite as it seems. Directed by William Friedkin and adapted by Tracy Letts from his hit off-Broadway play.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“Bug begins as an ominous rumble of unease, and builds to a shriek… [it’s] lean, direct, unrelenting… for Friedkin, the film is a return to form… it feels like a young man’s picture, filled with edge and energy.” Roger Ebert

The Sprocket Society bids RIP to Mr. BIG with an all-16mm tribute to Bert I. Gordon, with one of his “best” early B-movie hits, plus a secret second feature, and shorts.

Fifty tons of creeping horror! In EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958), a tarantula the size of a house starts gobbling up residents of a tiny town! It’s up to plucky teenagers to save the day, despite their crazy lingo and mindless love of rock ‘n’ roll!

PLUS: another secret BIG classic, and spooky shorts!

Gordon, who died in March at age 100, was a jack-of-all-trades indie producer, director, screenwriter, and not-so-special effects artist. During a 35 year career, he made dirt-cheap but very profitable sci-fi, horror and fantasy cult classics like The Amazing Colossal Man, Village of the Giants, and Empire of the Ants. Mainstays of drive-ins and late-night TV, his shlocky treasures embody a lost era of movie fun.

Part of our 16mm Centennial Celebration Series and annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Ten-year-old Michael Laemle (Bryan Madorsky) senses that something is not quite right with his family. Sure, his mother, Lily (Mary Beth Hurt), is the perfect 1950s housewife, and they have a comfortable life in the suburbs where his dad, Nick (Randy Quaid), works at a mortuary. But what’s with the enormous cuts of meat that his father brings home every night? What, or whom, do they come from?

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“An underseen gem of childhood fear and suburban horror… Particularly eerie and bleakly funny… An unease and dread permeate the film…[with] an undercurrent of sadness and tragedy you might not expect at first glance. Highly recommended.” Tyler Eschberger, Bloody Disgusting

“Choosing a movie to take with me to a desert island, I would opt without a second’s hesitation for Parents over such relatively predictable Oscar-mongering exercises as Rain Man, The Accidental Tourist, or Dangerous Liaisons, because it’s a movie that kept me fascinated, guessing, and curious — even when it irritated me.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader

With its 50th anniversary just around the corner, we thought we’d get a jump on the celebration and offer up not just one, but two ways to watch arguably the greatest horror movie of all time: a stunning 4K restoration with a hallucinatory 5.1 audio mix (Oct. 27 & 28) or a rare 35mm print (Oct. 30 & 31). Whichever way you choose to watch it, the nerve-shredding terror of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE is sure to remain as powerful as ever.

When Sally (Marilyn Burns) hears that her grandfather’s grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin, set out with their friends to investigate. After a detour to their family’s old farmhouse, they discover a group of crazed, murderous outcasts living next door. As the group is attacked one by one by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, who wears a mask of human skin, the survivors must do everything they can to escape.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“The most purely horrifying horror movie ever made.” Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

Please note: The 35mm print has faded color and definitely shows its age, which we believe will only add to the experience, but if you are seeking a more immaculate presentation, please consider one of the two DCP showings.

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) becomes obsessed with helping a young patient (Judah Lewis) suffering extreme personality disorder. But it leads her into dark occult danger as she tries to escape a horrific fate.

Born from an intended collaboration between the late, great master of horror, Stuart Gordon, and long-time co-writer Dennis Paoli, SUITABLE FLESH is a maniacal amalgam of body horror, erotic thriller, and cosmic terror loosely based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, whose works were some of Gordon’s most consistent sources of inspiration. After Gordon passed away in 2020, director Joe Lynch picked up the mantle and, with a script written by Paoli, saw the movie through to completion, with fellow Gordon collaborators such as legendary horror icon Barbara Crampton and producer Brian Yuzna in tow.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

“A fun horror flick, one I could imagine finding on VHS in 1989 and losing my mind over.” Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

“A gory, horny, and outlandish Lovecraft adaptation that’s a must-watch for fans of raunchy 80s horror.” Josh Korngut, Dread Central

“The spirit of Stuart Gordon is alive and well in Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh… Lynch captures the humorous, oft-sexy tone of Gordon’s ’80s/’90s Lovecraftian horror output while putting his own stamp on it through keen instincts and modern storytelling.” Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie HOUSE (HAUSU)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equally absurd and nightmarish, HOUSE might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

In Japanese with English subtitles.

“Delirious, deranged, gonzo or just gone, baby, gone — no single adjective or even a pileup does justice to House.” Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Come rock out with us and chow down on some ‘za!

Our triple feature pizza party is back and this year we’ve got three hard rock horror flicks from the 1980s to feast your eyes upon while you stuff your face full of food. The movies are a secret though, so you won’t find out what disgustingly weird wonders will unfold before you until right before the lights go down, but you better believe that each one will make for a horrifically rockin’ good time.

Our regular concessions will be available for purchase at the beginning of the party and throughout the night. The main course will arrive following the first feature. And in addition to satiating the more carnivorous appetites, we’ll have options for our vegetarian and vegan friends too.

Part of our annual horror series All Monsters Attack!

Please note: This event is exempt from our masked matinee policy. Though still encouraged, masks are not required for this event.