To the Midwestern horror fanatic, October means two things: a month of spooky merriment and one epic 24-hour horror marathon at the Music Box Theatre. With the very real horror of the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater has pivoted from one all-day test of your ability to sit and watch movies, to a whole month of nightly horror films at the Chi-Town Movies Drive-In in the Pilsen neighborhood. That means that every single night of October, Chicagoland horror fiends will be able to safely get their fix of the best this genre has to offer.
With so many nights of cinema available, the programmers at the Music Box have been able to line up some incredible films both old and new. From Brandon Cronenberg’s forthcoming POSSESSOR to a restored 1933’s LA LLORONA, the scheduled films span the length of film history.
Grindhouse Fridays and Sequel Sundays are destined to have their charms, but perhaps the most innovative recurring night for the festival will be Rip-Off Saturdays. Here, five (yes, this October has five Saturdays) seminal horror films are paired with another film that blatantly ripped it off. You can see SRIGALA, the Indonesian horror collage of a film the same night as FRIDAY THE 13TH, and THE OMEN followed by CATHY’S CURSE.
Ticketing information is available through the Music Box website, as well as more details about the drive-in itself. Check out the full schedule below!
Full lineup and schedule:
Thursday, Oct. 1 @ 9:55pm
POSSESSOR (2020) — 103 min., Dir. Brandon Cronenberg
Friday, Oct. 2 @ 9:45pm
BLACULA (1972) — 93 min., Dir. William Crain
BLADE 2 (2002) — 117 min., Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
Saturday, Oct. 3 @ 9:30pm
ALIEN (1979) — 117 min., Dir. Ridley Scott
GALAXY OF TERROR (1981) — 81 min., Dir. B.D. Clark
Sunday, Oct. 4 @ 9:30pm
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) — 101 min, Dir. Tobe Hooper
Monday, Oct. 5 @ 9:30pm
THE HOST (2006) — 120 min., Dir. Bong Joon Ho
Presented by AV Club
Tuesday, Oct. 6 @ 9:30pm
THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) — 91 min., Dir. Dan O’Bannon
Wednesday, Oct 7 @ 9:30pm
RE-ANIMATOR (Unrated Version) (1985) — 104 min., Dir. Stuart Gordon
w/ Stuart Gordon Tribute Video
Thursday, Oct 8 @ 9:55pm
ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) — 88 min., Dir. Joe Cornish
Friday, Oct 9 @ 9:30pm
NIGHTBREED (Director’s Cut) (1990) — 120 min., Dir. Clive Barker
DEF BY TEMPTATION (1990) — 95 min., Dir. James Bond III
Saturday, Oct 10@ 9:30pm
THE OMEN (1976) — 111 min., Dir. Richard Donner
CATHY’S CURSE (1977) — 82 min., Dir. Eddy Matalon
Sunday, Oct 11 @ 9:30pm
PSYCHO III (1986) — 93 min., Dir. Anthony Perkins
Monday, Oct 12 @ 9:30pm
THE MORTUARY COLLECTION (2020), 108 min., Dir. Ryan Spindell
Tuesday, Oct 13 @ 8:45pm
LA LLORONA (1933) — 70 min., Dir. Ramón Peón
Hosted by Raul Benitez
LA LLORONA (2020) — 97 min., Dir. Jayro Bustamante
Wednesday, Oct 14 @ 10:15pm
SILVER BULLET (1985) — 95 min., Dir. Daniel Attias
Thursday, Oct 15 @ 10:15pm
Secret Screening (2020), co-presented with 56th Chicago International Film Festival
Friday, Oct 16 @ 10:15pm
EVILSPEAK (1981) — 97 min., Dir. Eric Weston
ICE CREAM MAN (1995) — 84 min., Dir. Norman Apstein
Saturday, Oct 17 @ 10:15pm
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) — 95 min., Dir. Sean S. Cunningham
SRIGALA (1981) — 91 min., Dir. Sisworo Gautama Putra
Sunday, Oct 18@10:15pm
HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II (1987) — 97 min., Dir. Bruce Pittman
Monday, Oct 19 @ 9:30pm
JENNIFER’S BODY (2009) — 102 min., Dir. Karyn Kusama
Tuesday, Oct 20 @ 9:30pm
GRIZZLY II: REVENGE (1983/2020) — 75 min., Dir. Director: André Szöts
Wednesday, Oct 21 @ 9:30pm
DEAD OF NIGHT (1945) — 103 min., Dirs. Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, & Robert Hamer
Thursday, Oct 22 @ 9:45pm
BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992) — 128 min., Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Friday, Oct 23 @ 9:30pm
BLACK MAGIC 2 (1976) — 92 min., Dir. Ho Meng-Hua
EVIL CAT (1987) — 81 min., Dir: Dennia Yu
Saturday, Oct 24 @ 9:30pm
CARRIE (1976) — 98 min., Dir. Brian De Palma
JENNIFER (1978) — 90 min., Dir. Brice Mack
Sunday, Oct 25 @ 9:30pm
JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (1993) — 87 min., Dir. Adam Marcus
Monday, Oct 26 @ 9:30pm
FINAL DESTINATION (2000) — 98 min., Dir. James Wong
Tuesday, Oct 27 @ 9:30pm
THE BEING (1983) — 82 min., Dir. Jackie Kong
Wednesday, Oct 28 @ 9:30pm
BONES (2001) — 96 min., Dir. Ernest Dickerson
Thursday, Oct 29 @ 9:45pm
THE STYLIST (2020) — 105 min., Dir. Jill Gevargizian
Friday, Oct 30 @ 9:30pm
BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) — 98 min., Dir: Bob Clark
SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOY MAKER (1991) — 90 min., Dir. Martin Kitrosser
Saturday, Oct 31 @ 9:30pm
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) — 91 min., Dir. Wes Craven
MAHAKAAL (1994) — 132 min, Dirs. Shyam Ramsay & Tulsi Ramsay