Film lovers, it’s your season! The rest of Knoxville can frolic in pumpkin patches and watch football. Some of us have a lot of sitting in the dark to do.
Speaking of which, no, I haven’t seen You Can See Everything, the experimental new Nathan Fielder/Lance Oppenheim documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes … yet. But it’s supposed to be great, and I want to! It’s showing locally at Regal Riviera downtown, Regal Cinebarre West Town Mall and Regal Pinnacle in Turkey Creek. Check live tickets and showtimes via Fandango or Showtimes.com.
Of course, oftentimes the most interesting stuff is happening outside the commercial cineplex. Today we’re previewing Horror Film Fest, Kern’s, CHROMA, Movie Night at the Museum and FILM FEST KNOX, with screening dates that begin as soon as today and extend through November.
Knoxville Horror Film Fest
First up we’ve got the 18th annual Knoxville Horror Film Fest, running Oct. 21–25 at Central Cinema and Maryville’s Parkway Drive-In. This year’s festival leans into supernatural and religious horror, with a lineup of cult classics, new independent films, experimental shorts and locally produced horror.
Full festival passes are sold out, but tickets are still available for two double features at the Parkway Drive-In: The Exorcist and The Omen on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Hellraiser and Prince of Darkness on Friday, October 23. Friday’s program also features trailers from the festival’s Grindhouse Grind-out Filmmaking Competition, which challenges local filmmakers to create fake movie trailers in just two weeks.
Tickets are $20 for Thursday, $25 for Friday or $45 for both nights. Limited advance tickets are also available for the closing-night screening of The Exorcist III at Central Cinema on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Advance tickets are available through FilmFreeway, with drive-in admission also available at the gate. Note that admission is priced per person, not per vehicle.
CHROMA October Screenings
For those whose cinematic tastes lean toward the experimental and unconventional, CHROMA has two more evenings of arthouse cinema lined up this month. Following its inaugural Image & Sound festival, the organization returns with four films, two venues and free admission to both screenings.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, at 8:30 p.m., CHROMA heads to St. James Episcopal Church for Ingmar Bergman’s Hour of the Wolf, a haunting psychological horror film about an artist whose insomnia and disturbing visions blur the boundaries between reality and nightmare. It’s paired with Hands of Purple Distances, a stark black-and-white Yugoslav experimental film by Sava Trifković exploring isolation, fear and death.
On Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m., the screenings move to Barley’s Taproom for a Halloween-themed evening featuring Dario Argento’s Suspiria, a visually dazzling horror classic about a ballet academy harboring sinister secrets. Also on the program is Transformations, a 16mm feminist experimental film by Barbara Hirschfeld exploring witchcraft, ritual and feminine power.
Both evenings are free and open to the public.
Movies on the Lawn/In the Market at Kern’s Bakery
If you prefer your movies with a little fresh air, Kern’s Bakery has two more Movies on the Lawn screenings before cooler weather moves the series indoors for Movies in the Market. Grab a blanket, pick up something to eat or drink from one of the food hall’s vendors and settle in. All screenings are free and open to the public.
Upcoming films include:
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6:30 p.m.: Hocus Pocus
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m.: Halloweentown. This one’s a full Halloween celebration, with trunk-or-treating beginning at 5:30 p.m., face painting by Making Faces and a costume contest.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m.: Twilight
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 6:30 p.m.: Top Gun
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6:30 p.m.: The Chronicles of Narnia
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Kern’s also screens Saturday morning cartoons each week from 8 to 11 a.m.
Movie Night at the McClung Museum
The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture is getting into the Halloween spirit with a screening of The Woman in Black on Thursday, October 29, pairing Victorian gothic horror with a little real-life history.
The 2012 film (watch the trailer here) stars Daniel Radcliffe as a young lawyer investigating a remote English estate, where he encounters a mysterious woman in black and a series of increasingly unsettling events. Before the screening, guests can explore the museum’s Fashioning Ourselves: The Power of Clothing & Adornment exhibition and get an up-close look at an authentic Victorian mourning gown, learning about the customs and symbolism behind the film’s eerie imagery.
The after-hours event also includes free popcorn, a candy bar and a photo booth. All-black attire is encouraged, though not required. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the PG-13 film beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is free for museum members, with registration covering up to four tickets. Nonmembers can attend for $50, which includes a one-year Individual Museum Membership and up to four tickets to the screening.
Register here. The exhibition, featuring 39 objects from the museum’s permanent collection, remains on view through early December.
FILM FEST KNOX
And once Halloween is behind us, FILM FEST KNOX returns to the downtown Regal Riviera Nov. 12–15 for its fourth annual celebration of independent cinema. The festival has quickly made a name for itself, twice earning a spot on MovieMaker Magazine’s list of “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.”
This year’s lineup includes 17 feature films and 17 shorts, plus the Elev8or Pitch Competition, filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions and other opportunities to mingle with the people making the movies. The program spans genres, countries and decades, with a particular emphasis on independent regional filmmaking.
Among the highlights is actor and filmmaker Tim Blake Nelson, this year’s James Agee Award recipient, who will attend screenings of The Leader, in which he portrays Heaven’s Gate founder Marshall Applewhite, and his 1997 directorial debut, Eye of God. The festival opens with Mouse, a coming-of-age drama from Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, and closes with Clarissa, a contemporary Nigerian adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
There’s much more to explore, including films by Knoxville artists, restored classics, experimental cinema and the American Regional Cinema and Made in Tennessee competitions. We’ve got a closer look at the full lineup on IOK’s new curated community newsfeed KnoxWire here.
Full Festival and VIP passes are on sale now, with single tickets and five-block passes available beginning October 27. Find tickets and the complete schedule at FilmFestKnox.com.
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