Movie Theaters in Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama is a growing town. Every year, more shopping, entertainment and other amenities become available. There are several movie theaters that are available, many with different benefits, prices, and amenities. Here are five of the different theaters in Huntsville.

The Hollywood 18:

The Hollywood 18 is located at 3312 Memorial Pkwy SW, and the phone number is (256) 883-1602. Matinee prices are $7.00, evening screenings are $9.00 for adults, and seniors and children pay $6.50. They also offer a $1 discount for students and the military. Hollywood 18 was the reigning king of theaters in town for many years - it was the first theater to have stadium seating, and it had a bigger selection of movies than the other theaters at that time. Now, it falls right in the middle when it comes to price, cleanliness, and other factors. You usually can't go wrong using this theater, but there are much nicer places to go. It has your standard amenities - arcade games, snacks, and as was mentioned before, stadium seating. It is generally fairly clean, there are a decent number of bathrooms, and it gets most of the hot movies of the season. It has purchase your own ticket machines, but only a few that are hidden away inside. Fortunately, there is hardly ever a line there, but that is because they are not easy to find or advertised. Many customers end up standing in long lines outside the theater that they don't have to simply because they don't know about the automatic ticket machine, and Hollywood 18 never makes any attempt to inform them of it. Due to its location and its popularity, there is almost always a line to purchase tickets for an evening movie. Also, the Regal Movie chain has a rewards program, and while it is a bonus if you attend the Madison Square 12 or the Hollywood 18 regularly, every time you step inside the theater there is an employee accosting you to join the rewards program. It isn't too inconvenient to most residents of Huntsville being right on Memorial Parkway, but it can be a long haul for anyone in Madison or Southwest Huntsville. Other than the occasional problem with lines and the determined employees on rewards duty, this is an acceptable theater with standard snacks and games.

Madison Square 12:

The Madison Square 12 is located at 5905 University Dr, in the Madison Square Mall parking lot, and it can be contacted at (256) 830-6831. You will generally pay $6.50 for a matinee show or $8.50 for an evening show. Just like Hollywood 18, students and the military get a $1 discount for $7.00 tickets in the evening. However, this theater often has discounted movie tickets or even $1 movie nights, so if price is important to you, sometimes you can get a great deal here. The Madison Square 12 is connected to the Hollywood 18, so despite its small size it will generally have a decent selection of movies because of the bigger theater pulling strings. It has a limited arcade, a standard snack bar, and stadium seating, but really nothing else. The screens are fairly small, and it has never been known for its cleanliness or its service. Over many years of attending it, there often were sound problems that ranged from merely annoying to movie ruining, and I've had more than a few problems with the film being in focus or not centered correctly. Also, this theater is only a short walk from the mall, which is often a popular hang out for high schoolers, and this combined with the low movie prices means that the theaters are often full of noisy and purposefully obnoxious teenagers. This can be annoying, and the staff isn't very inclined to do much about it either. So if you want the cheapest movies in town or are just thinking of picking up an afternoon flick after spending some time at the Mall, this is your place. But you get what you pay for here, so beware of poor service, dirty theaters, and potentially poor video and/or audio.

Carmike 10:

The Carmike 10 is located at 1359 Old Monrovia Rd, and can be reached at (256) 430-0718. Matinees are $7.00 for adults, and the evening prices are $8.50 for adults, while children pay $6.75 any time of day. This theater was often the preferred theater in town for the southwest area of Huntsville and all of Madison. It is behind the Wal-Mart on University Drive, which can make it difficult to find, but it was a much shorter trip to this theater than to the Hollywood 18, and it was a much nicer experience than the Madison Square 12. This theater has a small selection of arcade games, a standard stack bar, stadium seating, and all 10 of its screens are digital. It has all digital presentation, boasting both digital screens and digital sound. This theater has changed hands several times in the years it has been open, and so its service has fluctuated depending on who was running it. It is generally clean-- some nights are worse than others-and the staff is fairly friendly and quick to help with any problems with the movie. Again, this varies a lot, especially over the years, but I have found the theater to be acceptable on most counts. It doesn't have an amazing selection of movies; it only has ten screens, and it is a short distance away from the Madison Square 12, which means that the 12 gets the hotter movies because of the weight Hollywood 18 can throw behind it. But this is the place to go for the smaller, more niche movies, and because of this it is often the center of special events surrounding movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and others. The theater has always been friendly and accommodating about midnight showings and fans camping out. Currently, they are having "Stimulus Tuesdays", where popcorn can be purchased for only $1, and drinks are also available for only $1. This is not the nicest theater in town, but the digital sound and video is a great plus, and the lower ticket prices (as well as the consistent children's price and the small jump between matinee and evening prices) make it a good bet. The biggest con to this theater is that its quality has been known to change overnight in both directions, so it can be a little risky.

The Rave - Valley Bend 18:

The Rave is located at 1485 Four Mile Road SE and its telephone number is 256-882-1202. You will pay $9.00 for an adult ticket, and $6.50 for senior and child tickets.

When this theater opened in 2006, it was a big deal, because there had only been the three previously mentioned theaters in town for a long while. It has a clean, pleasant and modern interior complete with high quality monitors in the lobby, as well as convenient parking and a fairly impressive snack bar. It has eighteen screens, as well as stadium seating with 18 inch stadium risers. The Rave has digital projection, 3D equipped auditoriums, digital surround sound and 48 inches of leg room between each row of seating. This theater gets a wide variety of movies, from the smaller movies to the big blockbusters, and during its opening months all movies were only $6. The biggest problem with the Rave is its location, for several reasons. It is over the mountain in Hampton Cove - a long drive for everyone but those who live in the area, and an especially long drive for those in the Madison area. Depending on traffic, it can take half an hour or more to reach the Rave from the western end of town. It is also in a developing area, so there is a reasonable amount of shopping available nearby (A Barnes and Noble, a Party City, Hobby Lobby, etc.) there is not a great choice of restaurants. Other than a Chili's and a Buffalo Wild Wings in the shopping center, there is nothing in the immediate area of the theater. That combined with the distance to the theater means that sometimes it can be a hassle to plan dinner and a movie out with a group of friends. Until the Monaco opened recently, this was the nicest theater in town. It has a large number of restrooms that are kept surprisingly clean, and there is always sufficient staff that is generally helpful and friendly. The theater is also very lax on forcing movie-goers to leave after a movie - many times my friends and I hung around after a movie for a while discussing it, and we were only asked to leave after closing time had come. This theater will also host midnight showings and other events for popular movies, and they are very organized. The Rave does a good job of making sure that everyone that purchased a ticket for a special movie gets their seat, and while the events might be more structured and not as fan driven as the ones at the Carmike 10, they are still exciting and fun. I have never had a sound or picture problem at the Rave, and unlike other theaters in town they will actually respond to and if necessary, remove disruptive people in the movies.

The Monaco:

The Monaco's address is 370 The Bridge Street, and it is located at the north end of the Bridge Street Town Centre shopping center. It has it's own parking at that end of Bridge Street, so you don't have to walk all the way from the parking deck on the south end unless you wish to. It can be reached at (256) 327-8340. Matinee showings are $7.25 for adults and evening showings are $9.25 for adults, while seniors and children's tickets are $6.75 for all showings. This is a very new movie theater, and a unique experience. The Monaco is very clean and posh on the inside, and always cool, whereas some other movie theaters become warm if they are crowded. The staff is professional and friendly, and it has a very upscale feel to it. There is the standard snack bar, as well as stadium seating. The fourteen screens are high tech and feature 48 inch platforms, 23 inch leather seats with adjustable cup holders/arm rests, and unobstructed views from all the seats. But what sets the Monaco apart from the other movie theaters in town is a service called Prive', which offers an exclusive experience for customers over 21 years of age. There is a full lounge available, which has a bar as well as food available. Guests can sample wines, or order typical bar foods, sandwiches, sushi and desserts. But beyond the exclusive lounge, special seating for Prive' customers is available for many adult movies. So you can relax in the lounge before your movie, and then head to your seats separate from other movie-goers. Prive' is slightly more expensive than the other movie tickets, at $11.00 for a matinee and $13.00 for an evening showing, so while it might not be worth doing for every movie, it can make for a very special evening.

With it's location in Bridge Street, not only is it close to Madison and easily accessible for most of Huntsville through Old Madison Pike and 565, it is within walking distance of the some great shopping, and more importantly very close to six full service restaurants, three counter serve eateries, and a chocolate shop and an ice cream shop. Monaco is slightly more expensive than some of the other theaters in town, but it is generally worth it for the great movie going experience that I have always had there.