Enjoy spooky season with the Bytowne Cinema’s October Lineup

As the weather gets cooler and fall approaches, so does the season for movies. The iconic Bytowne Cinema, one of the only repertory cinemas in Ottawa, is the perfect spot to celebrate fall with a new release, or a Halloween classic. Here are some of the screenings we are most excited for.

Boo-towne Burlesque – Beetlejuice

Spirit friends welcome! Come celebrate the start of the spooky month with this iconic Tim Burton classic PLUS a burlesque show by Frisque Femme Productions!

You’ll start the evening with themed performances by Frisque Femme Productions directed by Kitty Kin-Evil followed by “Beetlejuice” !

After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house.

When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose “help” quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.

Note: This event is 19+, not appropriate for young children.

Klassic Kidz – ParaNorman

Young Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) has the ability to speak with the dead — and he often prefers their company to that of the living. Norman receives word from his strange Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman) that a centuries-old witch’s curse on their town is real and about to come true — and that only Norman can stop it. When zombies rise from their graves, Norman must summon all his courage and compassion and push his paranormal abilities to the limit to save his fellow townspeople.

Invincible Czars – Faust and Nosferatu Double Feature w/ Live Music

Those amazing, intrepid, touring sound-trackers are back in town, live on stage with 2 silent era horror classics!

An elderly alchemist named Faust (Gösta Ekman) makes a pact with the demon Mephisto (Emil Jannings) to gain the power to protect his village from plague. Faust soon succumbs to temptation and asks Mephisto to restore his youth and help him acquire all the hedonistic pleasures that earth can offer. Eventually, his love affair with a young woman named Gretchen (Camilla Horn) leads to tragic and devastating consequences for them both.

Nosferatu is most certainly the most important horror film of the silent era and one of the first vampire movies. Directed by F. W. Murnau and released in 1922, it’s an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula.” The film follows Thomas Hutter as he journeys to Transylvania to sell property to the eerie Count Orlok, a vampire played by Max Schreck. Orlok travels to Germany, terrorizing the village of Wisborg and preying on its inhabitants. His obsession with Thomas’ wife, young Ellen Hutter, leads to a climactic showdown as she attempts to thwart his evil plans.

Drunken Cinema – Scream 4

It has been many years since the Ghostface Killer cut a deadly path through the town of Woodsboro.

In order to get over the trauma of those horrific events, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has written a self-help book. She returns to Woodsboro for her book tour, and reconnects with old friends Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette). However, Sidney’s arrival also sparks the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney and everyone she loves in danger.

What is Drunken Cinema? It’s a monthly interactive movie game series that brings a twist to the movie-going experience. Customized game card and glowstick included in the price of admission.

Scream Queens

Scream Queens is a tribute to the underestimated women in horror. Those who screamed, ran, fought, and clawed their way into cinematic history, becoming icons in their own right!

Screenings include The Shining (1980), Nadja (1995), The Fog (1980), Us (2019) and Possession (1981).

Fjord

Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) Gheorghiu, a Romanian-Norwegian Pentecostal couple, move with their five children from Romania to Norway after Mihai’s parents die, seeking closeness to Lisbet’s family, who share their faith. Settling in an isolated coastal village, they form a bond with their neighbours, the Halbergs. When adolescent Elia Gheorghiu shows up at school with some bruises on her body, the community asks itself if the traditional education that the Gheorghiu children get from their parents might have something to do with it.

Winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, “Fjord” is an intricate, gripping courtroom drama driven by a profound moral dilemma, where private lives are laid bare for public scrutiny. Romania’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.

Wicker

“Wicker” takes basket weaving to a whole new level.

“Wicker” is simultaneously a sweet, gently moving love story and audacious comedic fable about sex, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention. Directed and adapted by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson from the short story “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills-Jones.

On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman); smelly, single and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbours, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker (embodied by Alexander Skarsgård). In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy and chaos.