The Nuart offers terrifying midnight screenings! (Creative Commons Licensed)

October has officially arrived in Los Angeles, and along with the (slight) drop in temperatures and the leaves (possibly) changing colors, it brings with it some great Halloween-themed film screenings.  

The actual holiday may not be until the 31st, but many cinemas in the area gear up and celebrate with the opportunity to see horror classics, campy gorefests, and midnight showings galore on big screens all month long.

Let's start with the obvious: the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica in West LA.  Aside from their year-round Saturday Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings (complete with the live, in-your-face Sins o' The Flesh shadowcast), the Nuart also continues their weekly Cine Insomnia program with midnight screenings of "Clue" on Oct. 9, and Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" on Oct. 16.

The New Beverly Theater, while being a great place all year to catch double features for only $7, has a horror-movie-a-day program all month, screening grindhouse classics, adult movies, and camp galore--everything from Dario Argento's "Inferno" on Oct. 17 to silly Halloween comedies like "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken."  For the real horror connoisseur, $20 on Oct. 10 gets you a 12-hour movie marathon from 7:30pm to 7:30am. 

The Cinefamily offers great programming all year as well, screening at The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax.  Triple features, midnight showings, remixes, live music--they've got it all.  Wednesdays are dedicated to silent films with musical accompaniment, early Saturdays feature "Technicolor Terror," late Saturdays fall under the "Kung-Fu Halloween" series, and Thursdays are slashers--the bloodier, the better.  Highlight: "The worst movie ever made," Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" on Oct. 25.

The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood will screen Neil Patrick Harris in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" on Oct. 16.  Other highlights include the Oct. 17 double feature of "The Goonies" and '80s vampire flick "The Lost Boys," and the Oct. 26 screening of the eerie Robert Mitchum film "Night of the Hunter," paired with "Cape Fear."  At the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, the Cinematheque features their own version of the Dawn-to-Dusk Horrorthon with six scary films and snacks all night--$18 for students.

The Regency Fairfax theater offers midnight screenings as well on Friday nights--this year's Halloween features include "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," "Shaun of the Dead," "The Exorcist," "Poltergeist," and "Carrie" on Oct. 16 (not to be missed on the big screen by any means!).

And if your evenings and weekends still aren't booked solid, Screamfest LA begins this year on Oct. 16 at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, with 20 feature films and 5 programs of shorts.  The buzzy new film "Paranormal Activity" premiered at this festival in 2007.

Don't miss the opportunity to see these truly great (or delightfully awful) films on the big screen, with great sound quality and an audience to experience it with.  Check the dates online, and try to buy tickets early--most shows are one night only and often sell out.  

Happy horror screening!