Amidst the craziness of Halloween weekend on campus, movie theaters will revisit classic fixtures of the holiday, hoping to contribute to the tradition of celebration in Athens.
The Athena Cinema and Athena Grand will bring back classic horror and Halloween-themed movies to the big screen throughout the week leading up to the holiday.
The Athena will show Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hocus Pocus and the Japanese cult classic horror film Hausu. The Athena Grand will show Rifftrax: Night of the Living Dead, which includes commentary over the film, and musical Little Shop of the Horrors.
Rick Frame, owner of the Athena Grand, picked the movies months ago, and he did not expect substantial financial benefit from the choice. He said that sometimes the showings do well, and sometimes they do not.
“It’s one of those things where we’re not going to make a lot of money off of it, but it sort of adds to the movie-going experience for people who like that during this time of year,” Frame said.
Frame likes how Halloween culture brings Athens together, and said that it is “the time of year to do this… everybody’s in that frame of mind.”
Alexandra Kamody, the director of the Athena, said the theater is going to embrace the culture of Athens at Halloween by hoping to attract all residents of Athens, not just students.
The free showing of Hocus Pocus is specifically aimed at children who come to trick and treat Uptown, but Kamody is “really hoping to get a good mix of kids, students and adults.”
The Athena is even charging exactly $6.66 for the midnight showing of Hausu, just because they wanted to “try something out there and fun in spirit of Halloween,” Kamody said.
Ben Kirk, a freshman studying information and telecommunication systems, said “to go out and watch Halloween movies with friends and other strangers is exciting.”
For Kamody, the excitement is a reflection of just how big of a celebration Halloween is — both universally and campus-wide.
“We thought it would be fun to program things for the students and the community,” she said.
