Roger Corman Centenary Celebration Leads A Packed Halloween Programme

16th September 2026

Six-week BFI Southbank season Movie Maverick: 100 Years of Roger Corman celebrates the centenary of the legendary filmmaker. On stage guests will include Roger Corman’s wife Julie Corman and daughters Catherine and Mary Corman.
Other autumnal events will include previews of GHOSTS: THE POSSESSION OF BUTTON HOUSE and DRACULA: RESTORED AND UNCUT, a programme of Halloween horrors at BFI IMAX, plus new releases KEN RUSSELL’S THE DEVILS and GODZILLA MINUS ZERO.
See the full programme at https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/article/halloween-2026.

16 September 2026, London.

The BFI today announces a programme to mark spooky season at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX, leading with details of a centenary celebration of legendary filmmaker Roger Corman featuring his most celebrated Edgar Allan Poe adaptations including HOUSE OF USHER and THE RAVEN, plus a terrifying line-up of Halloween films at BFI IMAX including the return of SINNERS in IMAX 70mm, DONNIE DARKO and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, special events at BFI Southbank including a preview of GHOSTS: THE POSSESSION OF BUTTON HOUSE and DRACULA: RESTORED AND UNCUT, new releases including KEN RUSSELL’S THE DEVILS and GODZILLA MINUS ZERO, as well as family favourites FRANKENWEENIE and CORPSE BRIDE.

A six-week season at BFI Southbank, MOVIE MAVERICK: 100 YEARS OF ROGER CORMAN will celebrate the vast influence and considerable contributions of director, producer, distributor and actor Roger Corman to moving image culture in his centenary year. Curated by the BFI’s Dick Fiddy, a major highlight of the programme will be a celebration of Corman’s acclaimed cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, a series which redefined gothic horror for a generation of film goers – HOUSE OF USHER (1960), which launched Corman’s rich collaboration with Vincent Price and established a visual style that would become their hallmark; THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961), a striking and psychologically charged chiller; the witty and inventive THE RAVEN (1963), a masterful blend of horror and comedy; and the rapturous carnival of colour THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964), widely considered one of the most dazzling achievements of Corman’s career.

We are delighted that Julie Corman, producer and wife of Corman, will join us for an illustrated conversation about her late husband’s prolific career. JULIE CORMAN IN CONVERSATION on 12 November will delve into his B-movie classics, his work with some of the best-known American filmmakers, and her personal memories of this maverick filmmaker. Julie Corman will also join us to introduce a special screening of HOUSE OF USHER on 14 November, offering audiences a unique opportunity to celebrate the enduring legacy of one of genre cinema’s most influential filmmakers. We are also delighted to welcome Roger Corman’s daughters to BFI Southbank, with Catherine Corman introducing unsettling outlaw film THE WILD ANGELS (1966) on 12 November and Mary Corman introducing horror comedy A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1968) on 13 November. Other films playing in the season will include Gothic horror THE TERROR (1963), exploitation sci-fi horror ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS (1957), psychodrama MACHINE GUN KELLY (1958), cult classic THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960), highly charged drama THE INTRUDER (1962), sci-fi horror X: THE MAN WITH X-RAY EYES (1963), gangland drama THE ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE (1967), and the director’s final film, the wonderfully bonkers ROGER CORMAN’S FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (1990). We also play ROGER CORMAN: HOLLYWOOD’S WILD ANGEL (Christian Blackwood, 1980), a wildly entertaining episode of the BBC Omnibus that is a suitably irreverent look at Corman’s career, with contributions from Joe Dante, John Carradine, Paul Bartel, Jonathan Demme and Martin Scorsese, plus ROGER CORMAN AT THE NFT (1981), an incisive interview with Corman conducted by British film critic Derek Malcolm on stage in NFT1. Further details of the season can be found here.

Elsewhere, on the UK’s largest screen at BFI IMAX, this Halloween weekend we revel in all things spooky starting with the long awaited return of SINNERS (2025) in IMAX 70mm on 30 and 31 October. Ryan Coogler delivers an Oscar-winning genre mash-up featuring Michael B. Jordan also on Oscar-winning form as identical twins who collide with unimaginable horrors in the Deep South. BFI Fellow Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN (2025) returns in IMAX with Laser on 30 October, with the director’s attention to the detail and cinematic craft on full display with his take on Mary Shelley’s classic. We celebrate the 25th Anniversary of DONNIE DARKO (Richard Kelly, 2001) with a screening on 31 October. One of the most distinctive films of the century, this fascinating portrait of middle-class suburban life in the 80s is a unique take on teen angst. Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (1980) also returns in IMAX with Laser on 1 November. One of the most acclaimed horror films ever made, Kubrick’s study in psychosis stars Jack Nicholson as the aspiring novelist who takes up the position of winter caretaker of at the haunted Overlook Hotel. Elsewhere, GODZILLA MINUS ZERO (Takashi Yamazaki, 2026) opens on the UK’s largest screen from 3 November following its UK Premiere at the 70th BFI London Film Festival. Two years on from the events of GODZILLA MINUS ONE, survivors, soldiers and scientists face up to the possibility that their counter measures taken against the monster have not worked. The BFI IMAX Halloween programme is capped with late-night showings of the transgressive, outrageous, exuberant THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Jim Sharman, 1975) on 30 October, the most iconic safe haven for anyone who ever felt marginalised, and Robert Eggers’ Academy Award-nominated NOSFERATU (2024) on 31 October, a gothic tale of obsession as a centuries-old vampire seeks out the woman of his dreams.

Special events this Halloween season at BFI Southbank will include a preview of GHOSTS: THE POSSESSION OF BUTTON HOUSE (Simon Hynd, 2026) on 21 October, followed by a Q&A with guests on stage in NFT1. The hit BBC comedy show returns with this new feature film that finds the ghosts of Button House adjusting to life without Alison and Mike three years on. Meanwhile, on 30 October Reece Shearsmith presents a screening of CREEPSHOW (1982). What better way to start the Halloween weekend than with this anthology directed by horror maestro George A. Romero, featuring an original screenplay and cameo by Stephen King. On 31 October we present DRACULA (Terence Fisher, 1958) RESTORED AND UNCUT, featuring an extended introduction with special guests celebrating the film and its new 4K restoration. DRACULA cemented Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as one of horror cinema’s most iconic screen pairings, launched Hammer Films into the stratosphere and changed British horror and pop culture forever. In defiance of the film’s initial censorship, this restoration from Hammer reinstates footage unseen since 1958 outside of Japan. Elsewhere, our Silent Cinema strand presents THE CAT AND THE CANARY (Paul Leni, 1927) with a live piano accompaniment on 1 November and an introduction by Patrick Stanbury of Photoplay. Based on a play by John Willard and influenced by 1920 Broadway hit The Bat, this classic old-dark-house movie was the prototype for the Universal horror films of the 1930s. Our Big Screen Classics strand, with tickets for just £9.50, will also present GANJA AND HESS (Bill Gunn, 1973) on 30 October and 24 November. Gunn’s film reimagines the vampire genre through a radical Black lens, blending horror, spirituality and social commentary into a dreamlike meditation on race, desire, faith and identity.

Censored for over half a century, Ken Russell’s visionary masterpiece THE DEVILS will be back on the big screen from 30 October in its definitive version at BFI IMAX and BFI Southbank, with select preview screenings of a brand new 35mm print from 23 – 29 October. Released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland by BFI Distribution in partnership with Warner Bros. Clockwork, fully restored in 4K and cut to Russell’s specific direction, KEN RUSSELL’S THE DEVILS is the first publicly released version of the film as intended by the filmmaker. Inspired by the true story of a 17th-century priest accused of bewitching a convent of nuns, Russell’s masterpiece lays bare the collusion of church and state through a searing vision of religious persecution, collective hysteria and institutional corruption. This long-anticipated restoration reaffirms THE DEVILS as an overwhelming, uncompromising and singular achievement of British cinema. Meanwhile, a screening of HELL ON EARTH: THE DESECRATION AND RESURRECTION OF THE DEVILS on 9 November will include a Q&A with Mark Kermode and director Paul Joyce. Originally transmitted by Channel 4, and written and presented by Kermode, this documentary traces the history and controversy surrounding Russell’s masterpiece featuring interviews with the filmmaker alongside actors Vanessa Redgrave, Dudley Sutton, Murray Melvin and more. Another new release on extended run at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX for the season form 6 November is PAN’S LABYRINTH (2006), BFI Fellow Guillermo del Toro’s deliciously dark fable that marries political conviction with compelling performances. This 20th-anniversary re-release is the perfect synthesis of vividly realised storytelling and the very boldest of imaginations.

Finally, this month’s Family offering includes FRANKENWEENIE (2012) playing at BFI Southbank on 25 October, 1 and 28 November. Tim Burton’s black-and-white stop motion homage to 1930s horror sees Victor, a bright but solitary 10-year-old, resurrect his beloved dog Sparky with a bolt of lightning. Join us in our main foyer ahead of the 1 November screening for a Funday workshop inspired by the film, celebrating Halloween with wonderfully weird crafts and a range of frightfully fun activities for the family. We will also play TIM BURTON’S CORPSE BRIDE (2005) on 31 October and 9 November. Set in a 19th-century English village, Victor is a timid young man nervous about his forthcoming marriage. After entering the woods to practice his vows, he is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride. Burton’s unique brand of macabre visual wizardry dominates this darkly enchanting stop motion fable.

Tickets for screenings and events in late October and November are on sale to BFI Patrons on 22 September, BFI Members on 23 September, and to the general public on 25 September at https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/article/halloween-2026.

And finally, check out some wonderful stills from the movies showing and some Roger Corman classic movie stills