See the Scariest Movies in Los Angeles

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022, Beyond Fest is partnering with American Cinematheque to present 15 days of cinematic excess - 63 features, including 10 World Premieres, 3 U.S. Premieres, and 25 West Coast Premieres. Beyond Fest will screen at the TCL Chinese Theatres IMAX, Hollywood Legion Theatre, Los Feliz 3, Aero Theatre, and IMAX headquarters. All ticket sales go to the 501c3 non-profit film institution.

Beyond Fest opens with two free screenings of Parker Finn’s bone-chilling Smile, while closing night honors go to the World Premiere of Halloween Ends, the terrifying conclusion to the iconic horror franchise. Additional World Premieres include a special free screening of My Best Friend's Exorcism, based on Grady Hendrix’s best-selling novel; Joe Begos’ explosive, festive epic Christmas Bloody Christmas; and Lorcan Finnegan’s nightmarish Nocebo starring Eva Green and Mark Strong. Two very special screenings of David Bruckner’s Hellraiser (2022) will feature the director and talent joining in person.

West Coast debuts include Martin McDonagh’s brilliantly tangled web of friendship, The Banshees of Inisherin; and Mark Mylod’s deliciously dark comedy, The Menu. Scream co-creator Kevin Williamson will appear in-person to introduce his pandemic slasher, Sick.

As a continued "thank you" to the LA film community, all Beyond Fest programming at the Los Feliz Theatre is 100% free courtesy of Shudder, the premium streaming service for horror, thriller and supernatural films and series.

Beyond Fest screenings always sell out, so be sure to get your tickets ASAP!

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures kicked off Monstrous: The Dark Side of New Korean Cinema with Park Chan-wook's Oldboy. Other films in the series include Kong Su-chang's directorial debut, R-Point (Oct. 8); Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho's third feature film, The Host (Oct. 17); Bedevilled (Oct. 22), The Chaser & Epitaph (Oct. 28), I Saw the Devil (Oct. 29) and Thirst with special guest writer-director Park Chan-wook (Oct. 29).

Running concurrently with Monstrous, Mexico Maleficarum: Resurrecting 20th Century Mexican Horror Cinema features: El espejo de la bruja & El mundo de los muertos (Oct. 7), La maldición de la Llorona & Veneno para las hadas (Oct. 8), La nave de los monstruos & Las mujeres panteras (Oct. 9), El vampiro sangriento & La invasion de los vampiros (Oct. 14), El museo del horror & El barón del terror (Oct. 16), La bruja & Santa Sangre (Oct. 21), El escapulario & Misterios de ultratumba (Oct. 22), Muñecos infernales & Hasta el viento tiene miedo (Oct. 23), and Las amantes del señor de la noche & Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas (Oct. 27).

Screenings for both series take place in the Ted Mann Theater. Tickets on sale at the Academy Museum website.

Located at The Bloc in Downtown LA, Alamo Drafthouse features a month-long slate of Halloween movies that ranges from the 2022 sequel Halloween Ends to the classic Psycho.

Alamo's Movie Parties are interactive experiences for fans that include fun props, themed drinks and more. Movie Parties featuring the cult classic Shaun of the Dead are taking place on October 22, 28 and 30. You'll get an inflatable cricket bat so you can smack your neighbor every time Shaun (Simon Pegg) smacks a zombie on-screen, and your very own Shaun-esque name tag. The interactive movie that started it all, The Rocky Horror Picture Show gets the Movie Party treatment on October 29 and 31.

For the full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit the Alamo Drafthouse website.

Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema is showing Halloween movies throughout October, from double features to midnight screenings of Death Proof (Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28), to kid-friendly matinees. On Halloween Night, New Beverly will screen a triple feature of I Walked with a Zombie, The Leopard Man, and The Ghost Ship.

Highlights include: The Return of the Living Dead (Oct. 1), Island of Lost Souls / Murders in the Rue Morgue (Oct. 3), Twisted Nerve / Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (Oct. 4-5), Devil's Advocate (Oct. 7), The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (matinee Oct. 8, 9), Body Double (midnight Oct. 8), Death Game / Knock Knock (Oct. 9), Love to Kill / The Eternal Evil of Asia (Oct. 10), Scream / Scooby-Doo (Oct. 11-12), The Wicker Man (Oct. 13-14), Se7en (Oct. 14), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit (matinee Oct. 16), Piranha (Oct. 16), Twilight / Queen of the Damned (Oct. 17-18), Dressed to Kill / Eyes of Laura Mars (Oct. 19-20), Basic Instinct (Oct. 21), Vertigo (Oct. 21-23), Mad Monster Party (matinee Oct. 22-23), Re-Animator (Oct. 22), Dracula Dead and Loving It / Repossessed (Oct. 24), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Oct. 25-26), Alice, Sweet Alice / Happy Birthday to Me (Oct. 27-28), Beetlejuice (matinee Oct. 29-30), Taste the Blood of Dracula (Oct. 29-30), and The Exorcist (midnight Oct. 29).

NOTE: The New Beverly's annual 12-hour Horror Show marathon on October 15 is sold out, but there will be a standby line for the extremely limited number of seats, if any, that may become available at showtime.

Start October with Creature Features - 12 hours of horror flicks brought to you by the founders of Secret Sixteen, Friday Night Frights and Museum of Home Video. These film fanatics have teamed up to curate a secret lineup of six horror features on 16mm film at Brain Dead Studios, located in the former Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax. The marathon will take viewers from 2pm on Saturday, October 1, until 2am Sunday morning. Tickets are on sale at the Brain Dead Studios website.

The longest-running midnight movie of all time, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) stars Tim Curry as the kinky yet endearing “transsexual from Transylvania” Dr. Frank N. Furter; Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as his hapless guests Janet and Brad; Meat Loaf as motorcycle-riding rough trade; and author Richard O’Brien as the hunchbacked butler Riff Raff.

More than 45 years after its original release, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is still the best interactive movie experience for longtime fans and newbies alike. The Landmark Nuart Theatre in West LA is screening Rocky Horror every Saturday night in October at 11:55pm plus additional screenings TBA. Let's do the Time Warp again!

The Secret Movie Club is getting into the Halloween spirit at two venues: its namesake theatre in the Arts District, and the historic Million Dollar Theatre on Broadway. The "Seeing Double" series features original films and their remakes: The Blob (1958 & 1988), Vampire Hunter D & Bloodlust, The Invisible Man (1933 & 2020), Dracula (1931, English & Spanish versions), and Cape Fear (1962 & 1991).

On October 15, SMC will screen Frankenstein (1931) and the 2022 documentary Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters. The Hellboy creator will join filmmakers Jim Demonakos and Kevin Konrad Hanna after the double feature for a Q&A. Mignola has also created an exclusive limited edition poster for the event.

The silent horror classic Nosferatu (1922) will screen at the MDT on October 28 with an original musical score performed live by the Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble. The season culminates with the Halloween Extravaganza at the SMC Theatre, featuring Trick 'r Treat (2007) and an after-party with beer, wine and a costume contest.

Tickets to all events are on sale at the SMC Eventbrite page.

The October calendar for The Philosophical Research Society is filled with screenings, lectures and events that take a deep dive into horror, magic and tradition.

Starring Anthony Hopkins, Magic (1978) will feature a pre-screening ventriloquist performance by Karl Herlinger on October 7. Director Kier-La Janisse will introduce an October 14 screening of her 2021 documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror. Janisse will appear for a Q&A after the movie. On October 22, 1960 Italian horror film Mill of the Stone Women will be introduced by author Mitch Horowitz.

Tickets for all events are on sale at the PRS Eventbrite page.

Located in the red-hot Vinyl District, The Godfrey Hotel Hollywood is hosting double feature Horror Movie Nights throughout the month on the 12,000 square-foot I|O Rooftop.

Screenings are free and take place from 7pm to midnight. The lineup includes: IT | Candyman (Oct. 14), The Exorcist | Child's Play (Oct. 21), Friday the 13th | A Nightmare on Elm Street (Oct. 27), and Beetlejuice | Scary Movie (Oct. 31). Two drinks or $40 food minimum. More info and RSVP at Eventbrite.

Screening at the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood from October 7-13, Hocus Pocus (1993) has it all: three witches, three kids and a talking cat. This year's presentation includes specialty concession items and a prop display from the Walt Disney Archives, including the Spell Book, a statue and a broom. Be sure to take a picture at the Hocus Pocus photo op.

No matter how many times you’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, the El Capitan's presentation with interactive 4D sensory effects (Oct. 14-31) will help you experience Tim Burton's wonderfully macabre 1993 classic like never before - lights, fog, scents, wind and snow! View movie props like Jack’s House and Town Hall, and snap a selfie at the photo op.

On Sunday, October 9, American Cinematheque presents Kingdom of the Shatner, a William Shatner triple feature at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica: Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), The Devil's Rain (1975), and a world premiere 4K restoration of Impulse (1974). The Shat himself will participate in a Q&A after the marathon. Speaking of marathons, AC's 17th Annual Horrorthon will take place at the Aero on October 29, hosted by Corn Gorn the Living God!

For more info and tickets, visit the American Cinematheque website.

The largest and longest-running horror film festival in the U.S., Screamfest is taking place at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. Founded in 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin, Screamfest premieres and showcases new work from American and international independent horror filmmakers. Nicknamed the “Sundance of Horror,” Screamfest gives filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to the industry.

World Premieres at the 2022 festival include Slayers, the latest from director K. Asher Levin about a vampire slayer (Thomas Jane) teaming up with social media superstars; Deer Camp '86, the tale of a Michigan deer-hunting trip gone terribly wrong, directed by L. Van Dyke Siboutszen; and KillHer directed by Robyn August.

Screamfest 2022 will close with Run Sweetheart Run (2020), featuring a Q&A with the cast and crew following the screening.

Individual movie tickets and festival passes are now on sale at the Screamfest website.

Street Food Cinema takes over the historic Million Dollar Theatre for Slasher Cinema, featuring A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) on October 22, and Scream (1996) on October 29. Each 21+ event features an early screening at 6:30pm and late screening at 9:30pm, with an underground haunted walkthrough, photo ops, music, games and full bar. Outside food from Grand Central Market is welcomed, no outside alcohol. Costumes are highly encouraged! Tickets on sale at the SFC website.

LA Opera's annual Halloween mash-up of opera and cinema returns to the spectacular Theatre at Ace Hotel with James Whale's Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff as the legendary monster. This 1931 masterpiece of horror was originally released without a musical score, which inspired composer Michael Shapiro to fill the void by creating an original new soundtrack. As the classic film plays on the big screen, Shapiro will conduct his gorgeous and atmospheric score, performed live by the LA Opera Orchestra - the ultimate audience experience for a truly iconic film.

Performances on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29. Tickets on sale at the Theatre website.

On October 28, the American Cinematheque presents two films directed by Ernest Dickerson - Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) and Bones (2001). Part of AC's "Perpetratin' Realism: 1990s Black Film" series, the screenings (separate admission) will take place at the Los Feliz Theatre - Dickerson will participate in a Q&A for Demon Knight.

For more info and tickets, visit the American Cinematheque website.

Will you cross "oceans of time" to watch Gary Oldman as Count Dracula and Winona Ryder as his love Mina? One of LA's most popular outdoor movie series, Cinespia is screening Bram Stoker's Dracula at the Los Angeles Theatre, an appropriately opulent setting for Francis Ford Coppola's ravishing 1992 film. The evening includes full bars, DJ sets, and Keanu Reeves' terrifying British accent. NOTE: Dapper vampire costumes or gothic glamour formal attire are required.

The American Cinematheque is partnering with Outfest on Halloween Night to present two films (separate admission) at the Los Feliz Theatre: Tony Scott's directorial debut The Hunger (1983) starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon; and Good Manners (2017). Both films will be introduced by Outfest’s Director of Programming, Mike Dougherty.

For more info and tickets, visit the American Cinematheque website.

It's "Horror in the Hall" with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), screening on Halloween Night at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA. Organ virtuoso Clark Wilson will provide an eerie, atmospheric soundtrack on the Hall’s "monstrous" pipe organ to accompany one of the most influential horror films of the silent era, a masterpiece of German Expressionism directed by Robert Wiene.