Cinema Salem

Oct 18/22/25, Nov 1

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

directed by Jack Arnold

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Sun Oct 18 · 5:00pm / Thu Oct 22 · 7:30pm / Sun Oct 25 · 7:45pm / Sun Nov 1 · 4:15pm

Jack Arnold's 1954 Creature from the Black Lagoon follows a scientific expedition up the Amazon that finds a prehistoric gill-man lurking in the depths and tries to capture it and bring it back to civilization for study. Richard Carlson, Julie Adams and Richard Denning star; the film was originally released in 3D. It screens in Cinema Salem's Classic Universal Monsters series.

Sun Oct 18 – Sun Nov 1

Halloween (1978)

directed by John Carpenter

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

John Carpenter's 1978 Halloween begins on Halloween night in 1963, when six-year-old Michael Myers stabs his sister to death. Fifteen years later he escapes from a mental hospital and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, to kill again, pursued by his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis. Donald Pleasence plays Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis, in her first film role, plays the babysitter Laurie Strode. Carpenter also composed the score.

Oct 18/23, Nov 1

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

directed by James Whale

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Sun Oct 18 · 7:00pm / Fri Oct 23 · 6:00pm / Sun Nov 1 · 1:00pm

James Whale's 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein opens with Mary Shelley revealing that her novel's characters survived, then follows Dr. Frankenstein as he is goaded by the even madder Dr. Pretorius into building his monster a mate. Boris Karloff returns as the Monster, with Colin Clive as Frankenstein and Elsa Lanchester as both Shelley and the Bride. It screens in Cinema Salem's Classic Universal Monsters series.

Wed Oct 21 · 7pm

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

directed by Michael Curtiz

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem

Michael Curtiz's 1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum follows a sculptor, badly injured in a fire that destroyed his collection, who opens a new museum years later; when people and corpses start disappearing, a reporter goes looking. Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray and Glenda Farrell star. It plays in Cinema Salem's $5 Wednesday Classics series of golden-age Hollywood films, shown with classic adverts and episodic serials.

Oct 22–23/25

The Wolf Man (1941)

directed by George Waggner

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Thu Oct 22 · 5:45pm / Fri Oct 23 · 9:30pm / Sun Oct 25 · 1:00pm

George Waggner's The Wolf Man (1941), written by Curt Siodmak, stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, a practical man who returns to his family's Welsh estate, is bitten by a creature of folklore, and is infected with a disease his disciplined mind insists cannot exist. Claude Rains plays his father, with Evelyn Ankers, Maria Ouspenskaya and Bela Lugosi. It screens in the Classic Universal Monsters series.

Oct 23–25/30, Nov 1

Frankenstein (1931)

directed by James Whale

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Fri Oct 23 · 7:45pm / Sat Oct 24 · 3:00pm / Sun Oct 25 · 2:35pm / Fri Oct 30 · 4:00pm / Sun Nov 1 · 6:00pm

James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), loosely drawn from Mary Shelley's novel, follows Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) as he assembles a creature from the bodies of the dead. With his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) he brings it to life, but the confused, traumatized monster (Boris Karloff) escapes into the countryside, and Frankenstein must confront his creation. Jack Pierce created Karloff's makeup. It screens in the Classic Universal Monsters series.

Fri Oct 23 · 10pm

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

directed by Tobe Hooper

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem

Tobe Hooper's 1986 sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 sends Texas ranger Lefty Enright, played by Dennis Hopper, after the cannibalistic Sawyer family to avenge his murdered kin, with the help of a radio DJ the family has targeted. Caroline Williams plays the DJ and Bill Moseley co-stars. It screens in Night Light, Cinema Salem's series of classic and contemporary cult films from around the world.

Wed Oct 28 · 7pm

Diabolique (1955)

directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem

Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 thriller Diabolique turns on the cruel headmaster of a boarding school, murdered by his meek wife and the mistress he openly flaunts; when his corpse disappears, a series of strange occurrences begins to unhinge the two women. Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Meurisse star. It plays in Cinema Salem's $5 Wednesday Classics series, shown with classic adverts and episodic serials.

Thu Oct 29 · 8pm

The Shining (1980)

directed by Stanley Kubrick

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film of Stephen King's novel The Shining follows Jack Torrance, who takes a winter caretaker's job at the isolated Overlook Hotel with his wife Wendy and son Danny. Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd star. Local drag artists open the night with performances leading into a shadow-cast performance of the film, directed by Miz Diamond Wigfall.

Sat Nov 7 – Sat Nov 7 · 12:00pm & 4:00pm

Happenstance Horror Fest '26

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Sat Nov 7 · 12:00pm & 4:00pm

Happenstance Horror Fest runs two blocks of themed horror programmes, which can be attended together. Block A gathers Saturday Morning Cartoons (animated horror), Microdosing Music Videos, Otherworldly (international horror) and Women in Horror, closing with a panel on women in the industry. Block B brings Fears with Queers, Red, White, and Ew, and Local Love, spotlighting New England filmmakers, before a local filmmaker Q&A.

Thu Nov 12 · 7:30pm

Beware! The Devil's Wrath

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Craig Meinhart's Beware! The Devil's Wrath is set in Blackwood Falls, a devout Texas town, where newlywed outsiders Richard and Samantha arrive, Samantha draws the gaze of restless high school boys, and a fateful encounter ends in tragedy. Ritualistic attacks follow, leaving residents to ask whether they are divine retribution, demonic forces “or something more human.” Meinhart, who wrote and directed it, and members of the cast take questions afterward.

Thu Nov 19 – Sun Nov 22

Decibels Film Festival

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Thu Nov 19 · 7pm / Fri Nov 20 · 10pm / Sat Nov 21 · 12pm / Sun Nov 22 · 7pm

Decibels showcases films about music subcultures: the mosh pit, the community dance hall, burlesque and the Deadhead scene of Shakedown Street. This edition screens five: 40 Years of Fuckin' Up; We Are Fugazi From Washington D.C., a portrait of the D.C. post-hardcore band built from fans' footage; We Are The Shaggs, on the New Hampshire sister band; Tight & Nerdy; and Summer Tour.

Sat Nov 21 · 8:30pm

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

directed by Wes Craven

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Wes Craven's 1991 The People Under the Stairs follows a boy called Fool who breaks into the house of his family's wealthy landlords hoping to find enough money to stave off eviction, and finds something more disturbing behind its walls. Brandon Quintin Adams plays Fool, with Everett McGill, Wendy Robie and A.J. Langer. The Spooky Picture Show presents the film, a mix of horror, dark comedy and social satire.

Sun Nov 22 · 7:30pm

Clue (1985)

directed by Jonathan Lynn

Cinema Salem · Cinema Salem · 1 East India Square Mall · Salem · MA · Salem

Clue (1985), Jonathan Lynn's comedy from the Parker Brothers board game, gathers six guests under aliases at a New England mansion in 1954, where their blackmailer turns up dead and Tim Curry's butler sets out to find who did it. Christopher Lloyd and Madeline Kahn co-star. The anniversary night adds Whodunnit Bingo, Clue trivia and a costume contest, then an after party at Old Main St Pub.