Central Cinema

Call Directions Website Contact the establishment

Central Cinema Knoxville's neighborhood moviehouse, in the heart of Happy Holler.

[[FB Page Mostly Automated]]

Central Cinema is a single-screen neighborhood moviehouse in Knoxville's Happy Holler. We offer classic movies, cult favorites, under-the-radar indies and much more... plus partnered screenings helping local communities and organizations host a wide range of film events. Head to centralcinema865.com for our schedule and more information.

⭐️Thursday, October 23 at the Parkway Drive-In in Maryville⭐️We still have single day tickets for the drive-in left! For...
10/20/2026

⭐️Thursday, October 23 at the Parkway Drive-In in Maryville⭐️
We still have single day tickets for the drive-in left! For details, visit KnoxHorrorFest.com - Thursday tickets (THE EXORCIST followed by THE OMEN) are $20.

This week at Central Cinema:• presents two rounds of Box Office Comedy headlined Tuesday by and Friday by • runs Wed...
10/20/2026

This week at Central Cinema:

• presents two rounds of Box Office Comedy headlined Tuesday by and Friday by

• runs Wednesday thru Sunday... the Central Cinema programming is sold out but you've got a few chances to join in the fun anyway: catch us at the Parkway Drive-In Thursday (THE EXORCIST + THE OMEN) and Friday (Grindhouse Grind-out + HELLRAISER + PRINCE OF DARKNESS), and/or check out non-festival screenings of BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL Thursday, Friday and Monday at Central Cinema. (Plus we've still got a few tickets left for Sunday night's EXORCIST III screening if you move quick... all horrorfest tickets are available via our FilmFreeway site.)

16mm Screening: DRACULA (1931) + ??? • Wednesday October 28 at Central CinemaJoin us for a special 16mm ‘Film on Film’ p...
10/19/2026

16mm Screening: DRACULA (1931) + ??? • Wednesday October 28 at Central Cinema

Join us for a special 16mm ‘Film on Film’ presentation of Tod Browning’s 95-year-old horror movie wonder, which helped kickstart the industry-changing franchise of Universal Monsters that resonates in pop culture to this day... plus a selection of spooky season celluloid treats including a bloodsucking bonus feature!

DRACULA (1931, 16mm) | The dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British soldier, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into his mindless slave, travels to London and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon Dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. When he sets his sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to the count’s never-ending bloodlust.

John Carpenter’s THE THING • Tuesday October 27, Thursday October 29 and Friday October 30 at Central CinemaOne of the m...
10/19/2026

John Carpenter’s THE THING • Tuesday October 27, Thursday October 29 and Friday October 30 at Central Cinema

One of the most terrifying films ever made, John Carpenter’s masterpiece returns to Central Cinema for three Halloween week showings. (And speaking of HALLOWEEN, we’ll be offering a double bill with THAT 1978 John Carpenter masterpiece on Friday, October 30!)

THE THING (1982, 4K) | In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp, and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims.

“A peerless masterpiece of relentless suspense, retina-wrecking visual excess and outright, nihilistic terror.” - Empire Magazine

John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN • Friday October 30 and Saturday October 31 at Central CinemaWhat else would we be showing on...
10/19/2026

John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN • Friday October 30 and Saturday October 31 at Central Cinema

What else would we be showing on Halloween? Join us as we once again mark the grand finale of spooky season with John Carpenter’s unreasonably influential slasher classic, paired with Carpenter’s THE THING on Friday 10/30 and with TRICK ‘R TREAT on Saturday 10/31.

HALLOWEEN (1978, 4K) | Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.

“Carpenter’s 1978 slasher classic has inspired a million imitations as well as sequels, but few that demonstrate so clearly that a disreputable genre movie can also be a pure, rigorous work of art.” - The Age

$5 Screening: YOJIMBO • 4:30pm Sunday November 1 at Central CinemaJoin us for just $5 as we continue our collaboration w...
10/18/2026

$5 Screening: YOJIMBO • 4:30pm Sunday November 1 at Central Cinema

Join us for just $5 as we continue our collaboration with UT’s Denbo Center, pursuing themes of identity and place with Akira Kurosawa’s 1962 adventure, which follows up the previous year’s YOJIMBO with a less Western-influenced and more comic (if also more violent!) tale of the same nameless samurai. The screening will be introduced by UT History professor Dr. Natalia Doan, with a discussion to follow.

SANJURO (1962) | Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed SANJURO. In this sly companion piece to YOJIMBO, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors w**d out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right. (Janus Films)

“A surprising, fetching, beautifully made film.” - New York Times

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 • Friday October 16, Sunday October 18 and Monday October 19 at Central CinemaSurely ...
10/18/2026

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 • Friday October 16, Sunday October 18 and Monday October 19 at Central Cinema

Surely one of the oddest sequels of all time, Tobe Hooper’s decade-late followup is worlds away from his somber, genre-shaking 1974 debut... but it’s somehow just as terrifying, and twice as unhinged. The saw is family!

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2 (1986) | Chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface (Bill Johnson) is up to his cannibalistic ways once again, along with the rest of his twisted clan, including the equally disturbed Chop-Top (Bill Moseley). This time, the masked killer has set his sights on pretty disc jockey Vanita Stretch Brock (Caroline Williams), who teams up with Texas lawman Lefty Enright (Dennis Hopper) to battle the psychopath and his family deep within their lair, a macabre abandoned amusement park.

“Gratuitously violent, and none too subtle (it lacks the subversive qualities of the original) it’s also undeniably funny, maniacally energetic fare with a liberal smattering of enjoyable set-pieces.” - BBC

TRICK ‘R TREAT • Thursday October 29 & Saturday October 31 at Central CinemaThis delightful holiday horror comedy has be...
10/17/2026

TRICK ‘R TREAT • Thursday October 29 & Saturday October 31 at Central Cinema

This delightful holiday horror comedy has become a seasonal favorite around here, and we’re pleased to bring it back to the screen for two nights alongside director Michael Dougherty’s newly-restored 1996 animated short SEASON’S GREETINGS, which introduced TRICK ‘R TREAT’s iconic mascot Sam.

TRICK ‘R TREAT (2007, 4K) | Interwoven stories demonstrate that some traditions are best not forgotten as the residents (Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker) of a small town face real ghosts and goblins on Halloween. Tales of terror reveal the consequences of extinguishing a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight and a grumpy hermit’s encounter with a sinister trick-or-treater.

“There are a lot of tricks in this movie, and a lot of treats - that isn’t just a cheesy Halloween reference, it’s the visible intended design of this funny, weird, sometimes actually unsettling movie.” - Polygon

BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL • General public screenings Thursday October 22, Friday October 23 and Monday October 26 at Centra...
10/17/2026

BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL • General public screenings Thursday October 22, Friday October 23 and Monday October 26 at Central Cinema

A featured selection at this year’s Knoxville Horror Film Fest (October 21 - 25 at Central Cinema and the Parkway Drive-In), BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL is just the sort of Movie Movie we like... so we’re tying it in to that ongoing megaseries with three non-festival screenings! (We also invite non-passholders to join us for THE EXORCIST, showing at the Parkway Drive-In 10/22, and/or THE EXORCIST III, closing out KHFF 2026 on 10/25 at Central Cinema with limited walk-up admission!)

BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL (2026) | After directing POINT BLANK and DELIVERANCE, John Boorman was offered to direct THE EXORCIST II. The film became a massive failure, nearly ending his career. Years later, cast and filmmakers discuss its ambition and artistic value.

“BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL doesn’t redeem EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC; it speaks about the film openly and honestly, flaws and victories alike, making this documentary infinitely more complete than other, fawning retrospectives about other, better movies.” - The Wrap

10/16/2026

NAZA • Sunday November 1, Monday November 2 and Wednesday November 4 at Central Cinema

Join us for a limited engagement of this striking and controversial exposé of the Israeli war machine, produced in secret by the filmmakers behind NO OTHER LAND. (Stay tuned for more information on potential panel discussions & more!)

NAZA (2026) | In secret conversations on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night, the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza are revealed by the people who designed and operated them.

“As a work of cinema, it is exemplary. As a work of journalism, it is inarguable. As a document, it is an indictment.”- Time Out

Address

1205 North Central Street
Knoxville, TN
37917

Telephone

+18659512447

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Central Cinema posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Central Cinema:

Shortcuts

Share

Category