In the mood for some entertainment? Take a look at this week's lineup of horror movies showing on the big screen in and around Columbus.
Read on for the highest rated horror films to catch in theaters, based on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer Score, which reflects the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics.
(Movie descriptions courtesy The Movie Database; showtimes via Fandango. Movie ratings and showtimes are subject to change.)
The Birds
Chic socialite Melanie Daniels enjoys a passing flirtation with an eligible attorney in a San Francisco pet shop and, on an impulse, follows him to his hometown bearing a gift of lovebirds. But upon her arrival, the bird population runs amok. Suddenly, the townsfolk face a massive avian onslaught, with the feathered fiends inexplicably attacking people all over Bodega Bay.
With a Tomatometer Score of 96 percent and an Audience Score of 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, this 1963 release boasts plenty of accolades.
The Hollywood Reporter's James Powers said, "[Alfred] Hitchcock prolongs his prelude to horror for more than half the film, playing with audience suspense with comedy and romance while he sets his stage. The horror when it comes is a hair-raiser."
It's playing at Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.) on Tuesday, April 9, and Wednesday, April 10. Click here for showtimes and tickets.
Us
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends. But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.
With a Tomatometer Score of 94 percent and an Audience Score of 69 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, "Us" has garnered plenty of praise since its release on March 22.
"It achieves an insidious, lingering effect that's rarer in the horror genre," according to Ben Sachs of the Chicago Reader, while the Christian Science Monitor's Peter Rainer said, "Ambition in the horror genre can be a good thing, but the overreach in this movie detracts from both the horror and the ambition. Having said that, [Jordan] Peele shows a marked advance in filmmaking skills here and, in her dual role, [Lupita] Nyong'o is ferociously good."
It's playing at Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.) through Tuesday, April 9; and AMC Starplex Columbus 10 (5275 Westpointe Plaza), AMC Lennox Town Center 24 (777 Kinnear Road) and AMC Dine-in Easton Town Center 30 (275 Easton Town Center) through Wednesday, April 10. Click here for showtimes and tickets.
Pet Sematary
Louis Creed, his wife Rachel and their two children Gage and Ellie move to a rural home where they are welcomed and enlightened about the eerie 'Pet Sematary' located nearby. After the tragedy of their cat being killed by a truck, Louis resorts to burying it in the mysterious pet cemetery, which is definitely not as it seems, as it proves to the Creeds that sometimes dead is better.
Set to be released on Friday, April 5, "Pet Sematary" already has a Tomatometer Score of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Stephen King's scariest novel comes back to life in a killer-diller chiller that will make you jump out of your seat. It's the stuff of nightmares," noted Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.
It's screening at AMC Starplex Columbus 10 (5275 Westpointe Plaza), AMC Lennox Town Center 24 (777 Kinnear Road), Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.) and AMC Dine-in Easton Town Center 30 (275 Easton Town Center) through Wednesday, April 10. Click here for showtimes and tickets.
The Blair Witch Project
In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Md., while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.
With a Tomatometer Score of 87 percent and an Audience Score of 55 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, this '90s flick has much to recommend it.
The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern said, "The scariest shots, from someone's little Hi-8 camcorder, document the students losing their bearings, giving way to panic and finally falling victim, though off screen, to some ineffably, unphotographably evil presence," and CNN.com's Paul Tatara noted, "Whenever night falls, the movie takes off, but in a slow creep, with all your childhood fears of the dark suddenly revealing themselves as absolutely reasonable."
In the mood for popcorn? It's playing at Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.) through Monday, April 8. Click here for showtimes and tickets.
This story was created automatically using local movie data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
