With September's big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's "It" netting $117 million in the largest-ever opening for a horror film, scary movie season is already in full swing.
But there are still a frightening number of scary flicks to see in Atlanta before Halloween. Some are classics, one is comic terror and all are showing at Atlanta movie venues that know how to throw a fright night.
Here are 10 chances to watch movies that will scare you silly before Halloween 2017:
Credit: submitted
Credit: submitted
Midtown Arts Cinema 931 Monroe Drive, Midtown Promenade Center, Atlanta.
"Psycho"
7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24
If you've seen all the spoofs but never the orginal, the art house theater is the ideal venue for catching up on Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 spine tingler. Tense, taut and creepy enough to rate a 97 percent on today's Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.
"Tokyo Ghoul"
Wednesday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 22
For the artsy action horror fan, this subtitled flick brings a popular manga series to life. The theme is flesh-eating ghouls and ghoul-human hybrids battling anti-ghouls in riveting fight scenes with "tasteful gore."
7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31
In case you leave your horror film viewing until the last minute, you can catch this Halloween classic in Atlanta on the day itself. This 1979 shocker kicked off the Phantasm franchise with teen brothers discovering eerie killers in their local mortuary.
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Starlight Drive-In Theatre 2000 Moreland Ave. SE, Atlanta.
While chains like AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas will also be screening first-run 2017 horror films leading up to Halloween in Atlanta, it adds an extra dimension to view them from a drive-in with a small town feel (and a big city address).
For one thing, who won't be scared to get out of the car and head to the old-school snack bar?
You can also stretch your creepy movie buck here, since you can catch two movies for one price if they're both playing on the same one of the theater's two screens. Just keep in mind that "R" movies are isolated, so you can't double up with the "R" rated It. Also be sure to arrive early to avoid the lines.
Along with "It," these horror films will be playing at Starlight at some point in the days leading up to Halloween.
"Happy Death Day"
A PG-13 fright fest in which a college student must relive the day of her terrifying murder to figure out who murdered her.
"Amityville: The Awakening"
Another scary movie targeted to young teens and tweens, this chapter of the drive-in classics tells the tale of a single mother who blithely moves the family into a haunted house without realizing its bloody history.
"Tyler Perry's Boo 2! A Madea Halloween"
Laugh and shriek at the same time with this PG-13 return of Madea. This time out, Bam and Hattie venture to a haunted campground.
Atlanta Horror Filmfest Synchronicity Theatre, 1545 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
Oct. 19-22
The shorts blocks at the top horror film festival in Atlanta are powerfully eerie and give you exposure to the scary work of multiple indie filmmakers in just minutes.
The "Never Sleep Again" theme of Shorts Block No. 1 is very promising and screens at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19. It includes "Nibble," a short from Mexico in which a woman wakes in the night to discover bite marks on her body, and "Elise's Nightmare," with a self-explanatory title.
Ten other "short blocks" also screen throughout the weekend; each costs $10.
Plaza Theater 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta.
This old school theater is a nostalgic place to watch creepy old Halloween movies.
Three of the offerings to enjoy pre-Halloween 2017 include:
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
"In The Mouth Of Madness"
Friday, Oct. 20 through Thursday Oct. 26
The search for a horror novelist gone missing calls an insurance investigator and the author's editor to a supernatural town of nightmares in New England.
"Christine"
Friday, Oct. 20 through Thursday Oct. 26
Long before the 2017 Stephen King movie popularized a child-killing clown, there was this killer car, Christine, also created by King.
"Night Of The Living Dead"
Thursday, Oct. 26
This creepo cult classic doesn't have as many special effects as 21st century zombie movies, but it's plenty scary nonetheless. The premise: strange bedfellows gather in an abandoned house as corpses arise and leave the graveyard.
