Directed by Henry Selick, and written by Selick and Jordan Peele (who has – in recent years – earned himself a “Master of Horror” moniker with terrifying films for grown-ups like Get Out, Us, and Nope), Wendell & Wild is the story of a demon named Wild (Peele) and his brother, Wendell (Peele’s frequent partner in comedy, Keegan-Michael Key). They aim to hitch a ride up to the land of the living with the help of Kat (Lyric Ross), a teenage girl with a traumatic back story and a boombox called the Cyclops. The devilish brothers aim to find a way to build an amusement park in the underworld that would put Six Flags to shame. However, Kat has her own plan for the demon siblings, and the repercussions soon spread to affect the whole town.

From juicy grubs to booger sculptures to sticky gelatinous goo, Wendell & Wild brings all the same charming, if grotesque, ghoulishness and delectable phantasmagoria of Selick’s other Halloween classics, like The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and most clearly Coraline. Key and Peele’s usually unstoppable humor and Selick’s signature combination of morbid terror and fanciful play, along with the film’s wonderfully diverse characters and its surprisingly astute sociopolitical messaging, combine to make Wendell & Wild a new Halloween fave.

This special “Mummy & Me” screening is FREE for ages 12 and younger. 

CLICK HERE for the rest of the 2023 “A Nightmare on Franklin Street” series lineup