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October is spooky season at the movies in New York City
By
Emma Stefansky
Published Oct 1, 2026
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Compass International Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
By
Emma Stefansky
Published Oct 1, 2026
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The leaves have turned, the weather is gloomy, and spooky season is officially upon us.
We all love to nest at home with a hot drink and a scary movie on TV during this time of year, but for those brave enough to venture out into the chill of the evening, your local movie theater promises plenty of scares. This month brings a feast of frights to New York’s independent cinemas starring iconic slashers, demon-possessed cheerleaders, and a convent of nuns hell-bent on taking down a priest. And for the less horror-inclined, a classic subway thriller and a clever crime drama are on offer.
Go see them if you dare.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
A downtown 6 train. A crew of hijackers. A load of terrified passengers. And Manhattan’s shrewdest transit police lieutenant. Mix them all together and you get 1974’s "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," simultaneously one of the best crime films of all time and an action-packed ode to New York’s subway system. Walter Matthau’s Columbo-with-an-edge takes on the gang of hijackers (including Robert Shaw from "Jaws" and a young Héctor Elizondo) with nothing but a radio and an innate knowledge of the city’s inner workings.
The film is a time capsule of a New York that was, and keeps its momentum chugging along all the way up to its iconic and hilarious final shot.
Train enthusiasts, take note: "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" is part of Metrograph’s ongoing series Trains: Local Routes.
Jennifer’s Body
The cultural reassessment of Karyn Kusama’s 2009 horror film "Jennifer’s Body" means our universe may be back on the right track. Megan Fox stars as the eponymous Jennifer Check, a high school cheerleader accidentally possessed by a demon during a satanic ritual gone awry. Newly resurrected and hungry for blood (particularly that of her male classmates), Jennifer and her murder spree can only be stopped by her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried). As blunt as it is nuanced and rich with commentary on assault, trauma, and complicated female friendships, "Jennifer’s Body" flips the script on familiar horror tropes and blurs the line between villain and victim.
The Devils
IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center in 35mm, opens Oct. 15
Famously controversial, banned in several countries, and difficult to see in its entirety for decades, the director’s cut of "The Devils," Ken Russell’s 1971 horror-drama of biblical proportions, has been restored in 4K and is being re-released in theaters this month. Amid the social and political upheaval of 1634 France, popular firebrand priest Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) ignites the ire of local abbess Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave) after he sexually rejects her. In her rage, the abbess and her convent feign demonic possession in order to punish Grandier, egged on by a pair of powerful political manipulators determined to use the chaos to destroy the city. Full of high drama and shocking scenes of medieval torture, sexual hysteria, and general depravity, "The Devils" is an utterly unforgettable experience.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Film at Lincoln Center, opens Oct. 16
In 1972, filmmaker William Greaves threw a party at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse, inviting the surviving luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance to share memories and debate the future of their movement. Painter Aaron Douglas and poet Arna Bontemps rub shoulders with photographer James Van Der Zee and poet Countee Cullen’s outspoken widow Ida Mae Cullen. Greaves’ footage of the event lay dormant for decades until his son David decided to complete his project. The result, "Once Upon a Time in Harlem," offers a true fly-on-the-wall experience, documenting charming reminiscences and heated arguments between some of the most important cultural figures of the twentieth century.
Wicker
Angelika Film Center, opens Oct. 22
When a lonely middle-aged fisherwoman ostracized from her rigid medieval community due to her overwhelming fishy smell commissions the local basket weaver to craft her a husband made out of wicker, she gets exactly what she bargained for — and a whole lot more. When the rest of the town catches on, the mass hysteria that results must be seen to be believed. Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard star in "Wicker," an offbeat, sexy, hilarious fairy tale for adults that uses its goofy central idea to cannily poke fun at social mores, gender dynamics, and sexual obsession, upending the traditional love story and examining what it means to truly be desired.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Angelika Film Center, opens Oct. 23
In a modern world where what is valuable has become increasingly digital, an old school New York pickpocket struggles to get by when his targets’ riches live in the cloud rather than in their handbags. After unwittingly stealing a very, very large amount of money from a member of a powerful family, this small-time thief must use all the connections and street smarts he’s built over the years to make things right before the worst can happen. John Turturro gives a career-best performance in this darkly funny film.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Museum of the Moving Image, Oct. 23
Amid the myriad feature adaptations of Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire novel, one movie stands out above the rest: Francis Ford Coppola’s horror-romance "Bram Stoker’s Dracula" manages to be an astonishingly faithful adaptation of the source material while filling the spaces between the lines with daring stylistic flair. Using only antiquated special effects techniques that would have been available around the time "Dracula" was first published — corresponding, appropriately, with the birth of film — and dressing the cast of 1990s icons in costumes designed by the singular Eiko Ishioka — including the count’s lupine suit of armor — Coppola brought the undead to life with an earnest authenticity that hadn’t been seen before or since. You will never pronounce “Budapest” the same way again.
Halloween
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NrREGTS-Ws
Alamo Drafthouse, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Oct. 31
One Halloween night in Haddonfield, Illinois, an escaped serial killer stalked a local babysitter and her friends through the winding suburban streets of their neighborhood, and a horror franchise was born. There’s really no better time to watch John Carpenter’s slasher "Halloween" than October. "Halloween" sticks in our minds for a lot of reasons: it revitalized the slasher genre and popularized horror tropes like the final girl and the cool villain theme song. The main reason we love it, though, is because it’s still incredibly scary nearly 50 years after its debut.
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Emma Stefansky
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