(RAHWAY, NJ) -- Mahoning Drive-In Road Show 2026 presents "Original/Rip-Off" 35mm Double Feature of The Exorcist & Beyond the Door at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Doors are at 6:00pm. First screening is 7:00pm.
"Join Virgil and me from Pennsylvania’s 35mm movie mecca The Mahoning Drive-In Theater for an indoor night at the Drive-In, complete with vintage snack bar ads, trailers, and an intermission reel between the films!" said Mark from Mahoning. "We will introduce the show, talk about the history of Drive-In theaters, the Mahoning Drive-In, and give a little insight into the two shockers about to be unspooled; then it’s 35mm madness unleashed upon the giant screen at UCPAC’s Main Stage!"
First up is one of the greatest horror films of all time, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), starring Ellen Burstyn as the mother of a young girl (Linda Blair) who finds herself peskily possessed by a debauched demon, who calls upon the clergy to perform the titular treatment to free the terrifyingly transformed teen! Jason Miller and Max Von Sydow star as the priests who do battle with the foul-mouthed possessor, in a film that caused original audiences to be sick and flee theaters, such was the shock of its onscreen intensity. Followed by sequels, prequels, and endless imitations, but never surpassed in its ability to unsettle. Presented here in the 2000 “Version You’ve Never Seen” re-release, with additional footage not seen until then.
They follow that classic with one of the first films to rip it off, the Italian shocker Beyond the Door (1974). “Beyond this door, the most terrifying event in the history of mankind is about to occur!” SEE the film that Warner Brothers sued for copyright infringement! This time it’s a pregnant woman (Juliet Mills) who’s filled to the brim with an unwanted demon, and it’s up to her husband and a mysterious stranger (Richard Johnson, The Haunting) to eradicate the blaspheming boogeyman! An over-the-top knock-off that recreates the “greatest hits” of the original while creating its own bonkers memorable moments that must be seen to be believed!
Tickets are $22 and available for purchase online. Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) is located at 1601 Irving Street in Rahway, New Jersey.
Join them in reliving the glory days of the Drive-In, when the films were wild, the popcorn was hot, and double features were the order of the night!
Doors open at 6:00pm with the bar and food truck. There will be an organ concert on their Biggest Little Wurlitzer at 6:30pm. The first feature is The Exorcist, which will be screened at 7:00pm. Following an intermission, Beyond the Door will be screened at 9:45pm.
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering comedy, concerts, and more at two venues: UCPAC’s historic Main Stage and UCPAC’s modern Hamilton Stage. Located in Rahway, New Jersey, and built in 1928, it is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. UCPAC is the perfect setting for an evening of great entertainment.
