I recently attended a 24 hour horror-thon and nearly made it all the way through. I've noticed many things about the attendees and the way it was programmed. One being you are bound to have a loud snore from at least person around the 5am mark.
We live in an age of surfing NetFlix for 20 minutes only to find nothing to watch. Buying a ticket to a movie only ends up putting you next to a bunch of obnoxious assholes who try to provide commentary. A film festival eliminates the latter. For the price of $35 to $40, the ticket to the movie-thon with movies you otherwise might have ignored or probably haven't even heard of can be next to films you always wanted to see on the big screen. Without the obnoxious kids.
Given all this, there are a couple of rules to lay down if I were to program such a festival:
1) I'd want to expose as much new horror as I could to genre fans. Like a great record, there has to be some hits (Carpenter, Romero). But even with them, I would want to explore films of theirs that are not as widely recognized as The Thing or Dawn of the Dead. You never know if the occasional theater goer decides to pop in during the middle of it.
2) A variety of subgenres: nature, ghost stories, body horror, zombies, an even throw in an anthology.
Previews: Asylum, Tales From the Crypt
Every horror marathon needs an anthology film. Every horror marathon needs a classic. So why not kill two birds with one stone? Dead of Night starts off slow but gains momentum as it goes along. Climaxing in a truly macabre fashion that must have had 1945 audiences screaming.
Previews: The Nest, Food of the Gods
Small town encounters nature gone horribly wrong. The formula here works. Juan Piquer Simon made two great films in the horror genre- Pieces and this. Both are replete with enough gore to satisfy any horror fan's bloodlust.
Previews: From Beyond, Return of the Living Dead 3
"The rich have always sucked off low class shit like you." Brian Yuzna's Society should be more well known. In a just world, it is as popular as Re-Animator and Evil Dead. The ending of this movie ranks up there with The Thing and The Blob as a high point of practical effects.
Previews: The Blair Witch Project, Savageland
After the high energy of Slugs and Society, this one slows things down for atmosphere and mood. Joel Anderson made one film and then disappeared. The film he made manages to be a terrifying found footage documentary.
Trailers for the Blair Witch Project and Savageland kick things off proper.
Previews: Hellraiser, In the Mouth of Madness
Everyone knows Carpenter for The Thing, They Live and Halloween. Prince of Darkness feels like it's not as appreciated as it should be. The second part in his 'apocalypse trilogy'.
Previews: Beyond the Black Rainbow, Lost Highway
A number of these picks see horror walk hand in hand with surrealism down the aisle. As the night goes on, the movies should have some sort of dreamlike state to them. Santa Sangre kicks things off with phantasmagoric imagery. It's a little bit on the artsy side. But when it flexes its horror cred it's up there with the best of them.
Previews: Demons 2, The Church
Seeing Demons in a theater couldn't be a more appropriate viewing experience. Let alone in the middle of a horror all nighter. A film that is recognized rightfully as a classic and one that will be an initial pull for the average horror fan.
Previews: Carnival of Souls, Dead and Buried
Best decribed as a fever dream, Messiah of Evil feels like a movie you are hallucinating. One of the few movies that taps into that feeling and the most succesful since Carnival of Souls.
Previews: Dr. Butcher M.D., City of the Living Dead
There were so many directions I wanted to take for this next pick, but I settled on a movie I would love seeing with an audience: Nights of Terror. The midnight to 4 am slot is best reserved for the Italians. After the delirium of Messiah of Evil, Burial Ground would be the best follow up. It's not quite reality and not quite dream. The unrelenting frenzy of this movie is what is needed at this time of the night.
Trailers: Nosferatu the Vampyre
At 73 minutes, this is the shortest movie here. Don't let that fool you. For the hardcore stay up all nighters subsisting on extra coffee, this will not dissapoint. Thick with atmosphere, the imagery no doubt had to have had some inspiration on Eraserhead.
Rodney Ascher is the lone star in the subgenre of 'documentary horror'. A subgenre he helped invent with Room 237 and The Nightmare. Room 237 dealt with theories of The Shining. The Nightmare explored sleep paralysis. The S From Hell takes on a simple concept: the ominous Screen Gems logo.
Previews: Ichi the Killer
Kiri kiri kiri kiri.
This one is all about pacing. The feeling of going into a movie cold couldn't be more suited than for Miike's 1999 effort. Taken out of context for this screening, a cruel prank could be pulled on an unsuspecting party into being told it's a romantic movie. When it couldn't be further from the truth.
Previews: Creepshow
Miguel screaming Hello into the is the ultimate zombie wake up call. And the best way to wrap up this all nighter. Considering the audience have just watched Audition, the ending to this movie is one that will have them stumbling out of the theater.
What would your 24 horror-thon look like?
Write yours out in the comments or even respond on your blog. Let's keep Halloween going.
Gosh this is a massive undertaking that would take a lotta science. The only easy part would be the showtimes;we're not only seasonal, but we're very particular about what movies are day movies & which are night (and the formula isn't always simple).
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