NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
George Romero
- 96 minutes
- 1968
- English
OCTOBER 27
Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combining gruesome gore with acute social commentary and quietly breaking ground by casting a Black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27 --- 7pm
ROSEMARY'S BABY
George Romero
- 136 minutes
- 1968
- English
OCTOBER 28
Horrifying and darkly comic, ROSEMARY'S BABY was Roman Polanski’s Hollywood debut. This wildly entertaining nightmare, faithfully adapted from Ira Levin’s best seller, stars a revelatory Mia Farrow as a young mother-to-be who grows increasingly suspicious that her overfriendly elderly neighbors (played by Sidney Blackmer and an Oscar-winning Ruth Gordon) and self-involved husband (John Cassavetes) are hatching a satanic plot against her and her baby. In the decades of occult cinema that Polanski’s ungodly masterpiece has spawned, it has never been outdone for sheer psychological terror.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 --- 7pm
THE EXORCIST
George Romero
- 122 minutes
- 1973
- English
OCTOBER 29
Perhaps the most influential horror film of all time, William Friedkin’s masterpiece THE EXORCIST still astonishes and unsettles like no other movie. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd -- levitating, speaking in tongues -- her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end. A local priest (Jason Miller), however, thinks the girl may be seized by the devil. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism, and the church sends in an expert (Max von Sydow) to oversee. A horror film for adults, paced out carefully, graced by emotional subtlety and a spirit of intelligent questioning that never lets the viewer slip into complacency. The monster isn't lurking out there. It resides in us. Shown in the original theatrical version that shocked the world, this extraordinarily moving and terrifying film has lost none of its power.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29 --- 7pm
THE SHINING
Stanley Kubrick
- 146 minutes
- 1980
- English
OCTOBER 30
For this domestic nightmare, Stanley Kubrick took a Stephen King best seller and infused it with his own demons and obsessions, creating a tour de force of dreamlike dread and disturbing ambiguity. Sequestered for the winter at the snowbound Overlook Hotel, a frustrated writer (Jack Nicholson), his increasingly fearful wife (Shelley Duvall), and their psychic son (Danny Lloyd) are plunged into a vortex of madness and violence—a psychosis that seems to emanate from the haunted, labyrinthine corridors of the building itself. Channeling historical trauma and contemporary anxieties about failed masculinity into images of surreal, subliminal power, Kubrick constructs a maelstrom of psychological terror that stands as one of the most endlessly analyzed horror films ever made.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30 --- 7pm
AMERICAN DOCTOR
Poh Si Teng
- 93 minutes
- 2026
- English
One Night Only! November 1
AMERICAN DOCTOR is a vérité non-fiction film following three prominent physicians--Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian--friends who couldn't be more different but are bound by their shared oath to save lives. Dr. Thaer Ahmad is measured and strategic, Dr. Mark Perlmutter is blunt and wears his heart on his sleeve, and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is media-savvy and prolific. Filmed in unfolding, on-the-ground scenes, the story follows them from a Gazan hospital under siege, to the halls of Congress. Together they fight to keep a promise to their Palestinian colleagues and patients, to continue the struggle where it matters most: the United States. Director Poh Si Teng’s unflinching new exposé is first and foremost a humanitarian story — one in which medicine and moral decency take precedence over partisanship.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 --- 6pm
FJORD
Cristian Mungiu
- 146 minutes
- 2026
- English
Starts November 6
From two-time Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, a Norwegian woman and her devout Romanian husband relocate with their five children to a remote, close-knit, coastal town. Their teenage children form a fast bond with a neighboring family as unease begins to simmer around their rigid beliefs. When allegations of abuse emerge, they are forced to confront a system of judgment that blurs the line between concern and prejudice. Presenting a knotty moral dilemma and refusing to provide easy answers, with brilliant performances from Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, FJORD explores clashing worldviews, conformity, tolerance and the boundaries of freedom and intimacy.
Showtimes TBA
MNEMOSCENE: An Evening of Experimental Electronic Music
November 9
Live music and archival vintage film projections. Featuring artists local and coastal: CAT DEPOT, THE WORLD BELOW, PLEAURA (Arcata) and MACHINE GHOSTS (Arcata). Fringe ambient-cthonic sounds to usher in November. All sets $10 at the door.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 --- 7pm