Astor Spooktacular 2023: The Carpenter-Thon

Overview

When October rolls around, movie lovers turn their attention to one thing: films of the spookiest, eeriest, most terrifying and frightening variety. When Halloween is upon us, 'tis the season for bumps, jumps, screams, creepy celluloid dreams and getting scared while sitting in a cinema — but there are Halloween marathons, and then there's the Astor Theatre all-night movie-watching extravaganza.

The Astor's annual Spooktacular knows how it wants you to feel while you're watching — and this year's event from 8pm on Saturday, October 28 knows that one filmmaker has been responsible for plenty of shocks and frights. So, 2023's festivities have been dubbed The Carpenter-Thon, with the program dedicated to the one and only master of horror John Carpenter.

This is the director that gave the world the perfect movie for this very occasion, after all. The OG Halloween is on the bill of course, aka the film that kickstarted both Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis' careers.

As well as spending time with Michael Myers, The Carpenter-Thon has a 40th-anniversary celebration of Christine on its lineup, plus They Live, The Fog, Escape from New York, Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness. The Astor doesn't ever give away its full Spooktacular bill, however, so expect some surprises on the program. Fingers crossed that more Kurt Russell is among the late additions, because The Thing is also ideal Halloween viewing.