Just added: Latin horror expert, journalist, and former Frida volunteer Justina Bonilla will be introducing this screening!

Think you’ve seen Universal’s Dracula? Think again!

Our Universal Monster Movie Weekend kicks off its Sunday lineup with Drácula, the extraordinary Spanish-language version of the 1931 vampire classic.

While Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi were filming their English-language Dracula by day, director George Melford and an entirely different cast, including Carlos Villarías as the Count, were shooting their own Spanish-language version on the same Universal sets by night. The story is familiar: Count Dracula arrives in Transylvania, travels to London, and sets his sights on the beautiful Eva, but this version brings its own distinct style, atmosphere, and interpretation of Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire.

Long overshadowed by Lugosi’s iconic performance, Drácula has undergone a major critical reevaluation, with its inventive camerawork, striking compositions, and more expansive approach earning it a reputation as one of the most fascinating alternate versions in early horror cinema. Villarías even studied footage of Lugosi’s performance during production, but the result is anything but a copy.

Jealousy and violence take center stage in Insiang, our Members Only screening for October 2026, celebrating Filipino American History Month.

This claustrophobic melo­drama, a tautly constructed character study set in the slums of Manila. Lino Brocka crafts an eviscerating portrait of an innocent daughter and her bitter mother as women scorned. Insiang leads a quiet life dominated by household duties, but after she is raped by her mother’s lover and abandoned by the young man who claims to care for her, she exacts vicious revenge. A savage commentary on the degradations of urban poverty, especially for women, Insiang was the first Philippine film ever to play at Cannes.

Insiang was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna/ L’Immagine Ritrovata. Restoration funded by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

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The dead have a way of coming back…

Universal Monster Movie Weekend continues with one of the most haunting figures in the Universal canon: The Mummy!

Ten years after an ancient Egyptian mummy is accidentally resurrected by a mysterious scroll, the man once known as Imhotep (Boris Karloff) walks among the living under the name Ardath Bey. But Imhotep has not returned simply to conquer the world. He has spent centuries searching for the reincarnation of his lost love, and now he believes he has finally found her.

Directed by Karl Freund, the legendary cinematographer of Metropolis, The Mummy trades the gothic castles of Dracula and Frankenstein for ancient curses, Egyptian mythology, and an eerie tale of love that refuses to die. Boris Karloff delivers one of his great horror performances, barely needing the famous mummy makeup once Imhotep emerges from his tomb.

You can’t run from who you are.

Our first Volunteer of the Month pick for October 2026 comes courtesy of Dorian, who has Luca Guadagnino’s cannibalistic road trip movie, Bones and All!  

Abandoned by her father, a young woman embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.

With Taylor Russell delivering a heartbreaking performance alongside Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, and Michael Stuhlbarg, Guadagnino turns cannibalism into an unexpectedly tender metaphor, culminating in one of the oddest films of his career. Which, if you know his work, is really saying something! 

Up next in our Walt Disney Studies series is a pair of remarkable documentaries from renowned director Leslie Iwerks that tell the story of Disneyland in two directions: the influence of film design professionals on the building of Disneyland, and how Disneyland has in turn impacted and influenced film professionals over seven decades. And during the interval between the features, there will a discussion moderated by Disney Historian Jeff Kurtti.

Disneyland Handcrafted documents the exhilarating year that gave rise to The Happiest Place on Earth. Assembled entirely from rare archival footage and original audio recordings, this film reveals the extraordinary artistry, grit and pressure it took hundreds of craftspeople to build Walt Disney’s impossible dream into a reality, from groundbreaking to Opening Day.

Disney Worldbuilders goes behind-the-scenes of how movies and franchises such as Frozen, Zootopia, and more are turned into immersive worlds across the global Disney parks. James Cameron, Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Pete Docter, Jennifer Lee and Jared Bush are among the filmmakers who feature in the documentary.

All schedule details and speaker lineups are tentative and subject to change without notice.

Just added: Bekah Phillips, The Frida Cinema’s Director of Marketing, will be introducing this screening! 

Universal Monster Movie Weekend disappears into the shadows one of our all-time favorites: James Whale’s The Invisible Man!

A mysterious stranger arrives at a remote English inn, his face completely hidden beneath bandages and dark glasses. But there’s more to Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) than meets the eye…literally. After discovering a way to make himself invisible, Griffin begins to lose his grip on morality, using his newfound power to terrorize anyone who stands in his way.

Based on H.G. Wells’ groundbreaking novel, The Invisible Man was a technical marvel in 1933, with effects that still impress nearly a century later. But what really makes the film unforgettable is Claude Rains, whose entire performance is delivered through his voice, turning Griffin from brilliant scientist into an increasingly unhinged menace. Add James Whale’s darkly comic touch, and you get a Universal Monster movie that is as funny as it is frightening.

SHE’S ALIVE!

After a weekend of vampires, werewolves, mummies, mad scientists, and invisible men, there’s only one way to bring Universal Monster Movie Weekend to a close: Bride of Frankenstein!

Having survived his own creation, Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is once again drawn into the experiments of the sinister Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who has a new proposition: create a mate for the Monster (Boris Karloff). But while the Monster longs for companionship, Henry’s new creation (Elsa Lanchester) may have a mind of her own.

James Whale returned to the world of Mary Shelley for this extraordinary 1935 sequel, expanding the original’s themes and making them somehow more tragic. From Elsa Lanchester’s unforgettable entrance as the Bride to Karloff’s heartbreaking performance, Bride of Frankenstein is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made, and one of the rare sequels that surpasses its predecessor.

Enter the darkness of Begotten, the next film in our Art House of Horrors: Presented by MUBI series! 

A mysterious figure known only as God kills himself. From his corpse, Mother Earth emerges. From their union, a Son is born. What follows is a nightmarish cycle of birth, death, violence, and rebirth played out across a barren, otherworldly landscape.

E. Elias Merhige’s Begotten is less a traditional horror film than it is a true cinematic night. Shot in stark black and white, with every frame painstakingly processed to resemble a decaying photograph, the film unfolds without conventional dialogue or narrative. Its haunting imagery is the stuff of avant-garde cinema legend.  A legendary midnight movie experience that has influenced generations of experimental filmmakers and horror artists, Begotten is an unsettling vision of creation itself. Don’t miss this brand new 4K restoration on the big screen!