AMC Theatres is running a five-film horror series called Welcome to Horrorwood at about 300 U.S. locations this October, screening a classic on Friday and Tuesday nights with a twist: each showing is hosted by Ice Nine Kills frontman Spencer Charnas, who introduces the film and then plays the band’s matching music video. AMC built the series with Bloody Disgusting and the band, and the lineup runs Hostel, Friday the 13th, American Psycho, Pet Sematary, and The Crow, which closes the month on Halloween night.
The full lineup
Every screening starts at 8 p.m. local time, on Friday and Tuesday nights through October:
- Hostel (2005): October 2 and 6
- Friday the 13th (1980): October 9 and 13
- American Psycho (2000): October 16 and 20
- Pet Sematary (1989): October 23 and 27
- The Crow (1994): October 30, plus a Halloween-night screening on October 31
The five films span 1980 to 2005 and mix slashers with psychological horror, from the original Friday the 13th to American Psycho. Tickets are on sale at AMC as an AMC Thrills & Chills program, at the chain’s discounted Fan Faves pricing, according to reports, though AMC has not published a per-ticket figure.
The Ice Nine Kills hook
The band is the reason this is not a standard revival run. Welcome to Horrorwood takes its name from Ice Nine Kills’ horror-themed records The Silver Scream and The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, whose songs are built around slasher and horror films. For the series, each movie is paired with the band’s corresponding music video, shown after a custom introduction from Charnas.
“It’s a bloody honor to present this selection of modern horror classics with the mighty AMC Theatres and our friends at Bloody Disgusting,” Charnas said. “Metal music and marquee movie mayhem. What more could we ask for this October?”
AMC framed the series as a new way to bring familiar titles back to theaters. “These are movies people know and love, and it’s exciting to bring them back to theatres in a unique way,” said Ryan Wood, senior vice president and head film buyer at AMC, which calls itself the largest theatrical exhibitor in the U.S. Bloody Disgusting, the horror site co-producing the series, cast it as a shared experience. “Scares should be shared. Simple as that,” said Michael Roffman of Bloody Disgusting.
Two chains, one October
AMC is not the only exhibitor leaning into Halloween. Regal is running a rival October horror series, which we covered in Regal’s 31 Screams on Screen, and AMC brought the original Halloween trilogy back to theaters earlier this season. The fall has also brought theatrical tie-ins like the Resident Evil popcorn bucket at AMC, Regal, and Cinemark. For anyone building an October watch plan, the two chains together cover a month of horror on the big screen.
