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Halloween 2021 Outdoor Movies

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, Halloween 2020 was the year of drive-in horror movies, but even with indoor venues opening up this year, Halloween 2021 will have its share of outdoor screenings. This is really no surprise: organizations like Cinespia and Street Food Cinema are devoted to exterior venues, screening films year round in places like Hollywood Forever Cemetery and Will Rogers State Historic Park and packing their schedules with scary flicks during October.

Below, you fill find a rundown of what you can view through the windshield of your car this fall – or possibly from the comfort of a lawn chair….


Electric Dusk Drive-In

Operating year-round, Electric Dusk has a couple of horror-themed titles in September (Jurassic Park, The Addams Family) before taking a more full-throttle approach in October. So far, their schedule is mapped out only through the middle of the month, with Cruella, A Quiet Place, Christine, The Nightmare Before Christmas, IT, Child’s Play (1998), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Casper, Goosebumps, Pet Sematary (1993), Hocus Pocus, and Poltergeist.

Screenings start at 7:30pm nightly in October. Prices range from $8 (single ticket) to $70 (front row VIP for up to four people).

The drive-in is located at 236 N. Central Avenue in Glendale. Get more information at electricduskdrivein.com.


Rooftop Cinema Club: Hollywood Halloween Horror Screenings
The Shining (1980)
The Shining (1980)

Rooftop Cinema Club has resumed screenings at three locations in the Los Angeles area: Rooftop Cinema Club DTLA, Rooftop Cinema Club El Segundo, and the Drive-Up at Santa Monica Airport.

Its Halloween Vibes series launches on September 30 with screenings of Jurassic Park, Get Out, and Scream. The full schedule has not been released yet, but future titles include Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, Coraline, The Addams Family, The Shining, Death Becomes Her, and Friday the 13th (1980).

Screening times vary by location, but with three titles a night, you can expect start times to fall within the hours of 5pm, 7pm, and 10pm. Tickets range from $19.50 to $26, with discounts for students.

Get more information here.


San Fernando Valley Halloween Drive-In

My Valley Pass, a visitors guide to San Fernando Valley, will offer its annual Halloween Drive-In on two weekends this October, plus a “trunk-or-treat event” on the final Saturday of the month. Screenings included double bills of Return To Oz and The Craft on Oct 8, 2021; Frankenweenie and Sleepy Hollow oin Saturday, Oct 9; Teen Wolf and The Lost Boys on Friday, Oct 15; and The Nightmare Before Christmas and Gremlins on Saturday, Oct 16. All screenings start at 7pm in the Lake Balboa Complex at 6335 Woodley Avenue in Lake Balboa. The trunk-or-treat event takes place on Saturday – Oct 30, from 5pm to 8pm at Westfield Fashion Square; address is 14006 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, 91423.

Tickets start at $20 general admission for a single film or $30 for a double bill. Group rates are $55 for one movie, $95 for two.

For more information, go to myvalleypass.com.


Street Food Cinema’s Halloween Screenings
Jurassic Park Review
Jurassic Park

Street Food Cinema is one of the few film organizations to have announced its Halloween schedule through the end of October. Titles include Monsters, Inc. and The Addams Family in September; then October includes Jurassic Park, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Craft, and Beetlejuice.

Street Food Cinema turns its screenings into events with cool food options, music, and a costume contest. Typically, doors open at 5:30; films start at 8pm.

Tickets start at $18 for general admission, $23 for reserved section, with discounts for children 12 and under; ages five and under get in free.

Locations include the Autry Museum in Griffith Park, LA State Historic Park in downtown, Poinsettia Recreation Park in West Hollywood, Verdugo Park in Glendale, Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City, and Westdrift Golf Course in Manhattan Beach.

For more information, visit Street Food Cinema’s website.


Other Outdoor Halloween Movie Events

Other theatres and organizations have yet to announced their Halloween schedules. The American Cinematheque, which switched to drive-in venues during the 2020 pandemic has shifted back to indoor screenings. Cinespia and The Montalbán are currently screening films: the latter has made no announcement regarding any cemetery screenings in October; the later promises that Rooftop Screams will happen, but we are awaiting its schedule.

For more seasonal screenings, visit our page devoted to Halloween Cinema.

Steve Biodrowski, Administrator

A graduate of USC film school, Steve Biodrowski has worked as a film critic, journalist, and editor at Movieline, Premiere, Le Cinephage, The Dark Side., Cinefantastique magazine, Fandom.com, and Cinescape Online. He is currently Managing Editor of Cinefantastique Online and owner-operator of Hollywood Gothique.