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Spooky screenings and a full-blown celebration of David Lynch
The BSR October 2025 repertory movie roundup
Stephen Silver
This October, like every October, is all about horror at the area’s repertory venues. This includes 24 hours of horror, plenty of chances to see Rocky Horror, and a long-awaited tribute to a beloved late filmmaker.
David Lynch retrospective
Ever since the passing of David Lynch in January, the Philadelphia Film Society has been hinting at a major retrospective. They featured a program this summer of films that inspired Lynch, and when the first teaser art appeared for this October’s Philadelphia Film Festival, it prominently featured the visage of Naomi Watts in Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
As announced on Wednesday, Mullholland Drive will indeed show in the Philadelphia Film Festival, as part of the “From the Vaults” section, on October 25. And per PFS programmer Trey Shields, most of Lynch’s films, and some other “Lynch-adjacent” material, will show at PFS venues through December, as part of Deeper in Dreams: A David Lynch Retrospective.
Here’s what’s on the calendar so far, starting with the Philly-inspired Eraserhead, followed by the documentary Eraserhead Stories.
Eraserhead (in 35mm)
Friday, October 3
Saturday, October 4
Sunday, October 5
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street
Lost Highway
Thursday, October 9
Saturday, October 11
Sunday, October 12
Philadelphia Film Center
Dune
Friday, October 31
Saturday, November 1
Sunday, November 2
Philadelphia Film Center
The Short Films of David Lynch, Part 1
Friday, October 31
Monday, November 1
Philadelphia Film Center
There’s much more Lynch to come in November, including, Shields says, a marathon of Twin Peaks: The Return, the weekend of November 14-16.
From the vaults
In addition to Mulholland Drive, Film Society has announced the following “From the Vaults” films will be part of this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival:
Peking Opera Blues
October 16, 9:45pm
Film Society Center
Demon Lover Diary
October 19, 12:15pm
October 26, 12:45pm
PFS Bourse
The Lovers on the Bridge
October 22, 8:30pm
Film Society Center
Three Days of the Condor
October 23, 6pm
Film Society Center
Mulholland Drive
October 25, 2:45pm
Film Society Center
Hard Boiled
October 25, 10:15pm
Film Society Center
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 50th anniversary
Saturday, October 4, 10:30pm
The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
Friday, October 10, 10pm
Friday, October 17, 10pm
Ritz Five, 214 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
Saturday, October 18, 8pm
The Keswick Theater, 291 North Keswick Avenue, Glenside
Rocky Horror, the movie and the ritual, turned 50 years old in September, and there are plenty of chances to see it in October, with several different unique touches. There are two Ritz Five showings this month, both with the usual Shadowcast, while the Colonial showing will feature a Blob-style “Time Warp” flashmob at 9pm the night of the showing.
Also, on October 8 and 9, the Colonial will feature Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a new documentary about the phenomenon.
More Cinema Screenings
Nashville (Cinema Classics Seminar)
Saturday, October 4
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Barry Lyndon
Saturday, October 4
Film Society Center
A Better Tomorrow
Saturday, October 4
Sunday, October 5
Wednesday, October 8
Saturday, October 11
Film Society Center
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Sunday, October 5
The Colonial Theater
Brigitte and Brigitte
Sunday, October 5
Lightbox Film Center
Death Becomes Her
Tuesday, October 7
The Ambler Theater
Friday the 13th (1980)
Tuesday, October 7
Ritz Five
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains
Wednesday, October 8
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Young Frankenstein
Friday, October 10
Ritz Five
Friday, October 17
The Colonial Theatre
Hocus Pocus (“Ghouls Night Out” adults-only screening and dance party)
Friday, October 10
The Colonial Theatre
The Dark Crystal
Sunday, October 12
Monday, October 13
Fathom Events (various theaters)
Phantasm
Wednesday, October 15
PhilaMOCA
Stop Making Sense
Wednesday, October 15
Film Society Center
St. Elmo’s Fire (40th anniversary rerelease)
Friday, October 17
Various theaters
Exhumed Films 24-hour horror-thon
Saturday, October 18
The Colonial Theatre
Spirited Away
Saturday October 18 through
Monday, October 22
Fathom Events (various theaters)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (50th anniversary screening with John Cleese)
Sunday, October 19
Keswick Theatre
Anatomy of a Relationship
Sunday, October 19
Lightbox Film Center
The Thing (1982)
Sunday, October 19
Monday, October 20
Ritz Five
The Sixth Sense
Sunday, October 26
The Colonial Theatre
The Fly (1986)
Thursday, October 23
The Ambler Theater
Nosferatu (1922, with live organ accompaniment)
Sunday, October 26
The Colonial Theatre
Cannibal Holocaust
Monday, October 27
PhilaMOCA
Labyrinth
Tuesday, October 28
Thursday, October 30
Film Society East
Pan’s Labyrinth
Tuesday, October 28
Thursday, October 30
Film Society East
Dracula (1931, Cinema Classics Seminar)
Wednesday, October 29
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
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