Buffalo movies: Nostalgic Halloween movies you won’t want to miss, such as “Nosferatu” and “Halloween” and more in WNY theaters.

(Above: “Halloween” © 1978 Compass International Pictures, “Nosferatu” Photo by A7A10355_438.JPG – © Archives du 7e Art/Prana-Film Berlin – Image courtesy photo12.com, “Young Frankenstein” © 1974 – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

By M. Faust

How do you celebrate Halloween after you’re too old for trick-or-treating? By seeing scary movies, of course!

There are plenty of new offerings at local theaters, including Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein at the North Park and a pair of found-footage movies—Shelby Oaks, Dream Eater—at the multiplexes. But there are many more interesting offers at locally owned independent theaters over the next week. 

By far the best option—and not just because the admission is FREE—are a pair of screenings next week at the Riviera Theater in North Tonawanda. They will be showing the original German expressionist classic Nosferatu (1922) on Monday, followed by Lon Chaney in the 1925 Phantom of the Opera on Wednesday.

Both are well worth experiencing on a theater screen, but what makes these a must-see is accompaniment on the theater’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ, played by Bruce Woody. The 99-year-old instrument has been meticulously maintained over the years, incorporating parts from other organs at the Century and Kensington Theaters.

If you’ve never been to a Wurlitzer concert, you’re missing a rare treat, especially when put to its intended use of accompanying movies. And you’ll also have a chance to see the Riv’s new lobby, taking up what used to be the building on the north side of the theater. Both movies are at 7 p.m., free and open to the public. 

Should you be so unfortunate as to miss Nosferatu, it will screen again on Wednesday at 9 p.m. as part of the Screening Room’s annual Halloween week that offers something for all tastes. 

If you prefer your monsters with laughs, there’s Young Frankenstein (1974), Mel Brooks’ ode to the classic Universal movies on Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 1 and 7 p.m., and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. There are unintentional laughs to be had from the infamous Edward D. Wood Jr’s Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956), showing on Halloween evening at 5 p.m.: it’s not, as you may have heard, the worst movie ever made, but it’s certainly one of the most entertaining bad ones. 

John Carpenter’s original Halloween (1978) plays on Saturday 9:30 p.m. and Halloween night 7 p.m. You can also catch the not-really-a-sequel Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Monday at 7:30 p.m. and Halloween at 9:15 pm. Fans of the original were outraged when it was released and they found it had nothing to do with Michael Myers, but aside from that, it’s a fun little creature feature. 

If you not a fan of slashers or grossouts, check out Albright-Knox spokesman Vincent Price in 1959’s The House on Haunted Hill. It was directed by William Castle, famous for using gimmicks to promote his movies. For this one, he rigged a skeleton on a wire to fly over the audience’s heads during a climactic moment, an effect the Screening Room will likely be unable to duplicate when they show the movie on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Two older films that still pack a punch are part of a double feature at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Carnival of Souls (1962) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) have a lot in common: both were made for regional distribution by industrial filmmakers looking to break into the big time.

Carnival, the only feature film by Herk Harvey, stars Candace Hilligoss as a woman who survives a car wreck only to be trapped in a small town where she is haunted by apparitions. And the shocking no-budget verisimilitude of George Romero’s original zombie film is just as effective as it was when it first leaked into drive-ins nearly a half century ago.

Of course, it just wouldn’t be Halloween without The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

If you don’t already have tickets for the Riviera Theater’s annual screening this Saturday night you’re too late, it’s sold out. But you can still do the Time Warp with Brad, Janet, Eddie, and Dr. Frank N. Furter at the Spotlight Theater of Warsaw this Friday at 11 p.m., or Halloween night at 10 p.m. at the lovely Hamburg Palace.

If you need something for the whole family, put the kids in their pajamas and take them to the Transit Drive-In for a double feature of Casper (1995) and Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride (2005), this Friday and Saturday at dusk. You’ll probably want to leave the kids at home for the Halloween weekend double feature, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Poltergeist (1982. )