"Carrie" closes the outdoor movie season on the Ijams Park lawn
The last Movies Under the Stars of the year is the original prom-night horror, fifty years old this fall, shown outdoors on the first Friday of October with the woods right behind the screen.
- When
- Fri Oct 2 · doors 6 PM · movie at dark, about 7:30
- Where
- Visitor Center lawn, Ijams Park · 2915 Island Home Ave
- Cost
- $12 · members of Ijams Park or Central Cinema get a discount code by phone
- The film
- "Carrie" (1976) · directed by Brian De Palma · Sissy Spacek · 98 minutes
- Food & drink
- Food trucks and the Ijams beer garden · no coolers, no outside alcohol
- Dogs
- Welcome, on a leash
- Sunset
- 7:18 PM
- Weather
- Mostly sunny and 89 on Friday · a 20% chance of a shower after 2 PM, 50% after dark
Ijams Park and Central Cinema have been showing movies on the Visitor Center lawn since spring, and Friday is the last one of the season. They saved the right film for October: the original "Carrie," Brian De Palma's 1976 adaptation of the first novel Stephen King ever published, with Sissy Spacek as the girl nobody at school should have pushed that far. It came out in November 1976, which makes it fifty years old this fall.
Why outdoors is the way to see it
A horror movie plays differently with no walls. The screen goes up on the lawn, the sun sets at 7:18, and by the time the prom scene arrives the only light for a quarter mile is the one on the screen, with the tree line sitting dark behind it. The film runs 98 minutes, so a 7:30 start has everyone walking back to the car a little after nine. It is an R-rated movie, and the park allows dogs on a leash, so plan the rest of the household accordingly.
The practical part
Doors open at six, and the hour and a half before dark is for dinner: food trucks are on the property and the Ijams beer garden is open. Coolers and outside alcohol stay home. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket. Tickets are $12 a person, and members of either Ijams Park or Central Cinema can call (865) 577-4717, extension 1001, for a discount code. Friday is 89 and mostly sunny, with a slight chance of a shower after two o'clock and a 50 percent chance once it is dark, so check the event page before you load the chairs.
