Starting September 11, the Salt Lake Film Society is filling downtown movie screens with slashers, witches, aliens, and body horror for its annual Tower of Terror series, a lineup that runs all the way through Halloween night. The nonprofit paired decades-old horror classics into themed double features, added a live orchestral score for a century-old silent film, and closed things out with a full weekend of Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcasts.
The series takes its name from the historic Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City's 9th and 9th District, but this year's screenings are happening at SLFS's Broadway Centre Cinemas downtown instead, according to ABC4 Utah. That's because the 1928 Tower Theatre has been closed to regular screenings since 2020 while the Salt Lake Film Society raises capital and works through structural and permit reviews, per the film society's own updates on the Tower Theatre restoration. The Tower is the oldest operating movie theater in the Salt Lake Valley, originally built in 1928 with roots tracing to 1921, and has served as a dedicated art-house cinema since 1952, according to Utah Theaters.
A Historic Theater Mid-Restoration
Work on the Tower Theatre isn't just cosmetic. In July, SLFS began preliminary facade deconstruction with Big-D Construction and Prescott Muir Architecture to reveal and restore the building's original 1928 exterior, while also expanding the interior to add four new cinema spaces, per the film society's project updates. The plans call for recreating the original 1928 entry and ticket booth and reconditioning and rehanging the iconic 1950s neon Tower sign, according to reporting from Building Salt Lake on the venue's planned reopening in the 9th and 9th neighborhood.
While the Tower sits mid-renovation, Broadway Centre Cinemas has its own fresh selling point this fall. The downtown venue just wrapped a major spring 2026 renovation across all six of its auditoriums, adding what SLFS describes as eco-friendly boho-luxe gliding seats and enhanced ADA sightline platforms, funded by an AHE/CI Trust grant. SLFS phased the construction so that at least three auditoriums stayed open continuously through the summer upgrades.
Opening Weekend Through Mid-October
The series kicks off September 11 and 12 with a double feature of Alien, shown in its 1979 director's cut, and John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982. The following weekend, September 18, brings a distinctly local pairing: Don't Go in the Woods and The Boogens, both shot in Utah in 1981. Don't Go in the Woods was filmed around Heber City on a reported $150,000 budget and later became notorious as one of the video nasties banned in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, according to Wikipedia's entry on the film. The Boogens, meanwhile, was shot on location in Park City during sub-zero winter weather and picked up cult status after horror author Stephen King publicly praised it in 1981, per coverage from JoBlo; the film was set in a fictional Colorado mining town but actually used real Park City mine shafts and winter landscapes.
September 25 and 26 pair A Nightmare on Elm Street from 1984 with 1999's Idle Hands, and the following weekend, October 2 and 3, brings The Craft from 1996 alongside Ginger Snaps from 2000. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986) and A Bay of Blood (1971) screen October 9 and 10, followed by Evil Dead II (1987) and Re-Animator (1985) on October 16 and 17.
A Live Score For A Century-Old Silent Film
Sandwiched into the schedule on September 19 is something different: a live performance of F.W. Murnau's 1926 silent horror film Faust, backed by a newly composed score from Austin-based band The Invincible Czars, marking the film's 100th anniversary. According to the Loft Cinema, the band's new score blends classical motifs with electric guitar, clarinet, bossa nova, and heavy metal elements as part of a broader North American tour.
The Shining (1980) and 2016's The Wailing round out the horror-classics stretch on October 23 and 24, ahead of the series' big finish.
Rocky Horror Closes Out Halloween Weekend
From October 29 through 31, the series ends with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, returning as a separately ticketed event featuring a live shadow cast performed by Out of the Shadows Theater Group. Salt Lake City's Rocky Horror tradition runs deep: the local shadowcast crew officially formed in 1995 as the Latter Day Transvestites before reorganizing under the Out of the Shadows Theater Group banner in 2010, according to the group's own history on Shadow Theater. The tradition itself traces back even further, to midnight screenings at The Blue Mouse Theater in 1978, before the shadowcast moved to the Tower Theatre in the 1980s.
Given how popular the Halloween weekend run has become, SLFS is running simultaneous live shadowcasts across two auditoriums, featuring Susan Steffee, recognized as the country's longest-serving Rocky Horror emcee, alongside a third dedicated sing-along screening. The Salt Lake Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates seven movie screens across two Salt Lake City venues 365 days a year, relying on donors and ticket sales to fund both its programming and its ongoing venue preservation work. Tickets for the full Tower of Terror lineup are available through the film society's website.
