The Best Classic Movies Showing in Miami in October

Well, folks, a month of horror and cooler air approaches and, boy, is it a fun one for the classics. With the Halloween spirit all around the place, an abundance of horror hits Miami, but it's not solely limited to that. Without further ado, here are the classic films showing this October.

After Hours
There's no way horror isn't the first thing on our mind this month, and as such, it's exactly how we'll kick off the list. Gables Cinema's After Hours series has a full slate of terror for audiences this month. On the 10th, it's the Criterion favorite and gleefully insane Hausu. On the 17th, it's one of David Cronenberg's best, The Fly, which features an often shirtless Jeff Goldblum — AKA, the most important kind of Jeff Goldblum. Following that on the 24th is not a feature but a custom-curated, all-35mm collection of rare vintage trailers.

And, on Halloween night itself, it's Up All Nite, an all-night experience that leads up to a breakfast in the sunlight. The night kicks off with The Thing at 11:30 p.m., continues with Night of the Demons at 2:30 a.m. (with the filmmaker attending the screening), hits you with Eraserhead at 4:30 a.m., and finishes up with Texas Chainsaw Massacre at 7 a.m. Needless to say, it's gonna be a long, exciting, coffee-filled night of 35mm cinema.

The Horror Continues On the Road
Surprise! The horror doesn't end at Gables Cinema. Secret Celluloid Society, with their trusty bookmobile refit to show 16mm film and other forms of projection, are taking the horror on the road with their Roadshow. While you have to follow their Instagram to find out the locations and more features coming up, we're able to announce a grand total of three horror flicks on 16mm coming this month: Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the 16th, White Zombie on the 23rd, and Night of the Living Dead on the 30th.

Wilder & More at the Beach
Over at the beach, the Miami Jewish Film Festival and Miami Beach Cinematheque are teaming up to presenting their latest Masters of Jewish Cinema retrospective. After tackling Sidney Lumet last year, this year the filmmaker of choice is Billy Wilder in a series titled Some Like It Wilder! The series will feature The Apartment on the 14th, Double Indemnity on the 21st, and Some Like It Hot on the 28th, with each film hosted and presented by a different special guest alongside memorabilia from the filmmaker's works. In addition to that, there's the usual Halloween night event at the Cinematheque, this time with the only remaining iconic Universal monster in attendance: Creature of the Black Lagoon (in 3D)!


Great Adaptations Galore
Back at Coral Gables Art Cinema, the theater will be continuing their partnership with Books & Books in their Great Adaptations: From Page to Screen series. The free lunchtime film screenings always take place on Wednesdays at 1 p.m., and this month will feature four works. The first is the popular Meryl Streep film Sophie's Choice on the 7th, followed by the incomparable Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on the 14th. The Last Picture Show follows on the 21st and the month closes with an appropriate horror icon on the 28th, The Invisible Man.

Cosford Classics: Fatih Akin
You may or may not have heard of German filmmaker Fatih Akin, but the fact remains that his films are well worth checking out. Now that his films are no longer on Netflix, what better way than a double feature of his classics on 35mm at the Cosford Cinema to check out his work before his latest, The Cut, releases? Head-On is the first of two, taking place on Saturday the 10th, followed by The Edge of Heaven on Sunday the 11th.

Classics at O Cinema
While Popcorn Nights is away this month due to their Popcorn Frights Film Festival, the classics are over at O Cinema Miami Beach. Soy Cuba, the Russian-Cuban propaganda flick from the '60s, continues running at the theater until the 8th on 35mm. Following that is Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville from October 9th through the 15th. And closing out the month is an annual screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, hosted by South Florida drag queen, TP Lords.

At the Drive-In
At the Blue Starlite, there's a few of the usual flicks for folks looking to drive-in (or take a seat outdoors) and a few new in the mix. On the 16th, the options are Hocus Pocus and A Nightmare on Elm Street. On the 17th, Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters. On the 23rd there's The Shining. On the 24th, Ghostbusters and Hocus Pocus. On the 30th, there's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and closing the month is Little Shop of Horrors on Halloween night.