Why would any sane person want to pay $6.75 for the privilege of viewing some ancient movie in a theater? It’s certainly cheaper to rent the DVD. Tell that to the people who attend the popular Midnight Madness Movie Series. Held at Landmark Theatre La Jolla, the event is pretty self-explanatory: A series of movies are shown at midnight on Saturdays, with some madness sprinkled in for good measure.

These movies aren’t new, mind you. Don’t come to Midnight Madness expecting to watch “Flightplan” or “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” Instead, the movies shown are what you would expect from an art-house theater: quirky, eclectic and diverse, some well-known, some not. How diverse? The current run/series of Midnight Madness began on Sept. 17 with 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” It continues Oct. 15 with 1982’s muppeterrific (not those Muppets) “The Dark Crystal,” and concludes Nov. 19 with 1978’s three-dimensional adult flick — you heard me, 3-D porn — “Disco Dolls in Hot Skin.”

If you go, maximize the experience by going all out: The Theater encourages dressing up in attire befitting the feature presentation. There are also free giveaways before the film begins. For more information, check out Midnight Madness’ Web page: http://www.myspace.com/lajollavillage

Oct. 15 – Dark Crystal (1982)

Oct. 22 – Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987)

Oct. 29 – Ghostbusters (1984)

Nov. 5 – Blue Velvet (1986)

Nov. 12 – Pulp Fiction (1994)

Nov. 19 – Disco Dolls in Hot Skin (1978)