10 Best Horror Movies Set In A Cinema

5. Popcorn

Coming Soon
Studio Three Film Corporation

For a spell, Jill Schoelen was one of the hottest names in the horror genre. And then, just like that, the burgeoning Scream Queen quietly stepped away from the acting world in the mid '90s.

With efforts like The Stepfather, Cutting Class and the Robert Englund-headlined Phantom of the Opera already under her belt by that point in time, one of Schoelen's most impressive turns came as Maggie in 1991's Popcorn.

Centred on a group of university students, an all-night horror movie marathon is put on at a disused local cinema in order to raise funds for the university's film department. Wanting to put on a big show on the night, a whole host of gimmicks and tricks are served up alongside each of the pictures being screened.

Of course, these things can never go off without a hitch, and the proverbial spanner in the works here is a masked killer who begins to pick off the youngsters one by one. What's even more disturbing, is that the paying audience believe that these deaths are all merely part of the show.

Pun mildly intended, but Popcorn is very much a fun popcorn slasher that's certainly of its time, yet full of the same charm that made the '80s and '90s such a cheesily great time for the subgenre.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.