Brew City scares: What horror movies are showing where around Milwaukee
Spooky season is back – and so are the horror movies on the big screen.
It’s October and you know what that means: The Hallmark holiday movies have begun! Nah, I’m just kidding: That was back in July.
But in more exciting news, it’s also spooky season, meaning horror movies old and new are bloodily flooding audiences like it’s the final act of “The Substance.” And as much as I’d love to post all the horror movies playing on the big screen EVERYWHERE in America, I am but one man – so this one’s just for you, Milwaukee folks.
But enough stalling: Here are the horror movies you can see around town this month, regularly updated throughout October.
Marcus Theatres
When it comes to spooky season this year, Marcus Theatres locations around town have Halloween tricks, treats AND literal trick-or-treating.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, several locations hosted family-friendly trick-or-treat festivities – complete with photo ops, games, candy (obviously) and the choice of either “E.T.” or “Despicable Me 4” for just $9 admission. And for something completely different, several Marcus locales also hosted an opening night double feature of “Terrifier 2” and the new holiday-themed slasher three-quel – which adds up to almost five hours of watching the most horrific stuff you’ve ever probably seen. Fun for the whole family! (Editorial note: Nope.)
Even if you missed those particularly special spooky events, Marcus Theatres has plenty to give you goosepimples, currently summoning the grimly giggly horror comedies “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Your Monster,” the James McAvoy-led vacay thriller remake “Speak No Evil,” the blockbuster meat-grinder “Terrifier 3,” the toothy terror “Smile 2” and a big-screen revisit from our favorite T-Rex fan “Longlegs.” And if none of that new stuff spooks your fancy, Marcus cinemas will also re-spool some scary classics – including “Halloween” (of course), “Hocus Pocus” (naturally) and more.
Here’s the full lineup of fear coming to (Halloween)town:
Now playing
“Smile 2” – BistroPlex, Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern, North Shore, Ridge and South Shore
“Terrifier 3” – BistroPlex, Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern, North Shore, Ridge and South Shore
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” – BistroPlex, Hillside, Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Movie Tavern, North Shore, Ridge and South Shore
“Longlegs” – Hillside, Menomonee Falls, Ridge and South Shore
“Your Monster” – Majestic, Menomonee Falls, Ridge and South Shore
“Speak No Evil” – Menomonee Falls and Ridge
Special retro screenings
“Hocus Pocus” – Now playing
“Scream” – Now playing
“Halloween” – Playing Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-2
For specific showtimes and information, visit their website.
Oriental and Downer Theatres
This October, Milwaukee Film’s pair of East Side historic movie theaters will have Halloween selections that suck … in the best way possible! (Classic reversal joke, great work Matt.)
The Oriental invites you to Bite Club this month. (And you should feel absolutely fine talking about Bite Club; that’s very much allowed.) The spooky season series will show an impressive number of neck-feasting vampire favorites – both obvious and obscure. So of course you’ve got “Dracula” and "Nosferatu” … but you’ve also got Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst” and yes, “Nosferatu” but complete with bonus Radiohead.
Here’s the remaining lineup of fanged wonders:
Bite Club screenings
Friday, Oct. 25 – “Thirst”
Saturday, Oct. 26 – “Irma Vep,” “Nosferatu” with Radiohead and “Aswang”
Sunday, Oct. 27 – “Dracula”
The Oriental and Downer will also show a collection of non-bloodsucking throwback thrillers and special live musical menaces, including:
Saturday, Oct. 26 – “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
Thursday, Oct. 31 – “Demons” (with live score from Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin)
For specific showtimes and information, visit Milwaukee’s Film website – where you’ll ALSO perhaps notice an intriguing collection of retro screenings in November that’ll make you say, “Whoa.”
Avalon and Times
It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE! No, not a shuffling re-animated corpse of guts electrocuted into action – the Times Cinema! After spending the past year mostly in the dark, the outstanding one-screen neighborhood theater has risen from the dead for their 2024 Shocktoberfest horror series alongside the Avalon. (The Rosebud is not participating, currently showing “Venom: The Last Dance” instead … which, from what I hear, is a horror movie of a different variety.)
As usual, the lineup features a fun collection of creepy classics (“The Shining,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” “Halloween”), modern freaky favorites (“Hereditary”), indie horror hits and deeper-cut killers (“Halloween II”).
Here’s the remaining lineup – and support a small local theater this Halloween season! Because my true worst nightmare isn’t one of these movie monsters; it’s one of these indie local spots shutting down.
Avalon
Friday, Oct. 25 – “Hereditary”
Saturday, Oct. 26 – “Scream”
Sunday, Oct. 27 – “E.T.” and “Donnie Darko”
Wednesday, Oct. 30 – “A Nightmare on Elm Street”
Thursday, Oct. 31 – “Halloween” (duh)
Times Cinema
Friday, Oct. 25 – “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
Saturday, Oct. 26 – “Halloween” and “Halloween II”
For more information on specific showtimes, visit their website.
AMC Mayfair
Make like “Dawn of the Dead” and head to the mall for all sorts of shocks, screams and splatters this Halloween season.
As for new releases, the lone AMC in town currently has the dentist-approved scary sequel “Smile 2,” a fresh visit from the world’s worst clown (tough competition!) in “Terrifier 3,” Tim Burton’s macabre blockbuster “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, “Speak No Evil,” a special enhanced screening of this summer’s surprise horror hit “Longlegs” and the gross-out good time that is “The Substance.”
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! The Mayfair will also show some throwback thrills … well, mildly throwback thrills, showing some fairly recent horror flicks like the time-hopping fun time “Happy Death Day” and the moody gothic horror “The Witch” in IMAX mode.
Here’s the remaining movie malevolence coming to Mayfair this month:
Now showing – “Hocus Pocus”
Wednesday, Oct. 30 – “Five Nights at Freddy’s”
For more specific showtimes and info, click here.
Silverspot Cinema
The Silverspot Cinema, found in The Corners of Brookfield, is mostly sticking with new shocks this Halloween season. Right now, they currently have the grimly grinning horror sequel “Smile 2,” the creepy horror comedy “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and the bombastic body horror extravaganza “The Substance” stalking screens this month. They’ll terrifyingly throw it back as well on Sundays and Wednesdays with some ghoulish gems from cinema history, including:
Oct. 27 and 30 – “The Exorcist”
Click here for specific showtimes.
ACX Cinemas at Bayshore
The only thing more frightening than a theater showing a bunch of special spooky movies this Halloween season? A theater having NO special spooky movies for us. And indeed, while the ACX Cinemas location at Bayshore has some of the new horror releases – like “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Smile 2” and “Terrifier 3” – there’s nothing else currently on its dread docket. Maybe things will change as Halloween creeps closer – stay tuned here and to their website for any updates – but for now, they’re the trick-or-treat house with the lights off and nothing to offer, not even bible cards or toothbrushes.
The Milky Way Drive-In
Most of the drive-ins around town are in cinematic hibernation for the season – but thanks to the Milky Way Drive-In, you can still catch some stabs under the stars. The Franklin-based outdoor theater, found in the outfield of the Milwaukee Milkmen’s stadium, will show a variety of violence for spooky season – including recent boo-filled blockbusters, beloved Halloween-time classics and some surprising scary gems like the once-buried, now-beloved “Trick r Treat.”
Here’s the remaining lineup of outdoor offerings – and get ready to scream. (But maybe not too loud, though, considering the neighbors over there.)
Friday, Oct. 25 – “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and “Halloween Ends”
Saturday, Oct. 26 – “Gremlins” and “Scream VI” and “Late Night with the Devil”
Sunday, Oct. 27 – “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Trick r Treat”
For specific showtimes, visit their website.