Halloween is now only weeks away. How to prepare? You can binge watch every Addams Family and Munsters episode ever recorded (I know I plan to), but there are classier ways to gear up for the holiday.
Gateway Film Center (GFC) launches its month-long celebration of Alfred Hitchcock as it prepares for Halloween. Every day in October, you can find one of Hitch’s classics on their screens, all in one glorious format or another.
To screen Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo, GFC will unspool the only 70mm print of the film. Their lineup also boasts a 3D print of Dial M for Murder, a 4K restoration of North by Northwest, and 35mm prints of every other film in the program.
“Hitchcocktober’s fun,” says Chris Hamel, President and Programmer at GFC. “A lot of people have never seen these on film, never seen them in a theater. It’s one of my favorite things to program, and I do think it’s core to our mission, which is making sure people get to see things like that on the big screen.”
Hamel’s favorite Hitchcock film is Notorious, which finds a place of honor in the lineup. There are other films that are new to the series, with some important mainstays.
‘Kicking it off with The Birds will be fun,” says Hamel, who recalls a time when he thought Hitchocktober could live without that particular film. “The first year, I did not play The Birds. Boy, did I get hammered. People were upset. That was the only year we didn’t play The Birds. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Because the program had grown over the years from four films – one for every week of the month – to ten, Hamel’s obviously able to reach a little further into the filmmaker’s canon.
That apparently pleases moviegoers. The program’s popularity has yet to wane, explaining its ninth installment this year, and Hamel doesn’t see an end in sight.
“The biggest reason we’ll want to do it forever is because every year we get a couple of people who write us and thank us saying they’d never gotten to see these movies in a theater and they’d definitely never gotten to see them on film,” he says. “And even after nine years, people are still finding out about this series,” he says.
The 2018 lineup also includes Rope, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, To Catch a Thief and, of course, Psycho.
“A lot of people still consider Psycho the best horror movie ever made,” Hamel says. “And whether you saw The Birds last year or you’ve never seen it, is there ever really a downside to watching The Birds in 35mm?”
HITCHCOCKTOBER 2018 LINEUP
Opening 9/30 – THE BIRDS (1963) in 35mm
Opening 10/3 – NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) 4K Restoration
Opening 10/6 – ROPE (1948) in 35mm
Opening 10/9 – STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) in 35mm
Opening 10/12 – VERTIGO (1958) in 70mm
Opening 10/15 – TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) in 35mm
Opening 10/18 – DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) in 3D
Opening 10/21 – NOTORIOUS (1946) in 35mm
Opening 10/24 – REAR WINDOW (1954) in 35mm
Opening 10/27 – PSYCHO (1960) in 35mm
Read more from Hope at MADDWOLF and listen to her horror movie podcast, FRIGHT CLUB.