Regal Cinema leans into ritualized horror nights — but the exclusivity raises questions
regal cinema is becoming the exclusive stage for a new monthly horror “watch party” series: FANGORIA Staff Picks, set for the 13th of every month and launching April 13 with Sinister. The pitch is communal, ritual-like moviegoing—complete with giveaways and member deals—but it also concentrates access and perks inside a single theater chain.
What is FANGORIA Staff Picks at Regal Cinema, and what’s actually being offered?
The series is presented as a nationwide monthly event built around one selected horror film screened “back on the big screen, ” exclusively at Regal theaters. The program is framed as a substitute for an at-home gathering—“a national monthly watch party”—with FANGORIA partnering directly with Regal to curate the title each month.
FANGORIA Editor in Chief Phil Nobile Jr. describes the concept as more than programming, emphasizing audience reaction and the feeling of a packed theater. In his words, the aim is to move beyond curation toward “cultivating the experience into a full-blown ritual. ”
Each Staff Picks screening is also paired with specific add-ons described as exclusives: a free collectible patch with each screening, deals for Regal Crown Club and Unlimited members, and “exclusive content, context, and conversation” from the FANGORIA staff. The patch is collected at the theater by redeeming a ticket.
Why start with Sinister on April 13, and what does the selection signal?
The kickoff title is Scott Derrickson’s Sinister, written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, starring Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who moves his family into a murder house without telling them. The film is described as a “contemporary classic, ” and the promotion characterizes it as “often cited as the scariest horror movie ever made, ” presented as “backed by science. ”
The selection signals a deliberate attempt to anchor the series with a recognizable, high-impact title positioned as a strong communal watch. The promotional framing leans on atmosphere—“a cold, dark theater”—and on the idea that the film lands differently in a shared space than it does at home.
What remains unclear from the announced details is how future picks will be chosen beyond the statement that the films come from a “vault of favorites, ” or how the “exclusive content, context, and conversation” will be delivered in-theater. The only firm cadence disclosed is the monthly date: the 13th.
Who benefits from the exclusivity—and what questions should the public ask?
The arrangement concentrates the entire experience—film access, the patch giveaway, and member-targeted deals—within one chain, making Regal theaters the only venue for the screenings. That is a straightforward benefit for Regal, which is positioned as the singular destination for this monthly event, and a benefit for FANGORIA, which attaches its brand to a recurring, in-person “ritual” with built-in scarcity.
The most immediate beneficiary for frequent moviegoers appears to be Regal Crown Club and Unlimited members, who are explicitly offered deals tied to the screenings. For non-members, the announcement does not spell out what pricing or availability looks like beyond ticket redemption for the patch.
The exclusivity also raises basic consumer questions that aren’t answered in the available details: How many locations will participate, and what happens in markets without a Regal theater? How limited are the collectible patches at each screening? Will the “exclusive content” be identical nationwide or vary by location? None of those particulars are provided with the initial announcement.
For now, regal cinema is central to the project’s identity: the films are screened exclusively at Regal theaters, on a fixed monthly date, beginning April 13 with Sinister. The promise is a recurring, curated communal horror experience—yet the full shape of that experience, and who can reliably access it, will depend on the details still not publicly defined.
