Flier for 1999 Marathon278 views*The rushed nature of promoting this Marathon hampered this first flier a bit. It's okay, but I consider it to be a mixed bag. Part of this reasoning is due to miscommunication with the printer on my part, resulting in too much of a white border surrounding the artwork. That problem would be corrected in subsequent years.
*BLOOD FEAST did not make it to the final lineup. Hollywood major domo Jimmy Maslin could not find one of the reels in the days before the event, so we had to sub it out. (Neff)
Back of flier for 1999 Marathon286 views*No one seemed to get my "Beechwold-aged" joke in the Warning section (i.e. the Drexel North was in the Beechwold section of Clintonville, we had beer at a Marathon for the first time, Beechwood aged, etc.) Oh well. (Neff)
Paste-up for 1999 Marathon t-shirt348 views*This was the first Marathon t-shirt I ever designed. Even though I considered it about half-successful in artistic terms, it sold out in the first half of the event. Subsequent t-shirts (which I considered to be much more artistically successful) often struggled to sell out. So goes the fickle finger of fate.
*The back of the shirt featured the slimy skull artwork from SQUIRM, and the tag line "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Studio." This was, of course, a nod to the iconic line from DAWN OF THE DEAD. However, it was also a tip o' the skull cap to Bruce's past work, as he had included the same line (with "Drexel" in place of "Studio") on the flier for the 1st NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREXEL 24-Hour Horror Marathon.(Neff)
Paste-up for rare teaser flier for 1999 Marathon335 viewsIn the fall of 1999, there was a plan in place for a third edition of the SHOCKTOBERFEST event (to be titled SON OF SHOCKTOBERFEST) at the Drexel Grandview. Unfortunately, that plan fell apart. I had been employed at Studio 35 Cinema since early in the year, so I pitched then-owner John Conti the idea of resurrecting the 24-Hour format. Hence, from the ashes of the all-nighter rose the classically formatted Marathon we all know an love. The catch? SON OF SHOCKTOBERFEST fell apart at the beginning of October, so to give ourselves enough prep and promo time we scheduled the Marathon for the second weekend of November. This teaser flier was distributed in limited amounts before the full lineup was booked. (Neff)
Ticket for 1999 Marathon219 views
Interior of 1999 program364 views*For the Surprise Horror Classic, we let the audience vote on a selection of films to which we had access. They voted for the 1972 Amicus TALES FROM THE CRYPT. De Palma's CARRIE placed a narrow second in the voting, but it would have its day in court a few years later.
*The winners of the Costume Contest were the world famous Glass brothers, who dressed as an evil Santa Claus beating up a little boy. Second place went to Marathon stalwart Rick Hougland, who came as the WWF's Mankind.
*ROCKY HORROR was a gamble, to be sure. With the closing of the Southland Mall theater, the local ROCKY cast had been displaced for several months, and since I knew a few of them I figured that they could have a one night home and we could have an added attraction for our new event. We actually had a decent amount of pro-rated walkup business just for ROCKY, and even the regular Marathon crowd seemed to enjoy themselves. A few months later, Studio 35 would welcome the cast as a permanent attraction, a status they still hold to this day.
*On a side note, I was horrendously ill with a sinus infection during the entirety of the Marathon, so my demeanor and general emceeing skills were quite fried around the edges. (Neff)
Back of 1999 program222 viewsMEAT was a 16mm college short film that my friend Jim Turner directed. We also showed it at the 2001 Studio Marathon. Jim hooked us up with our source for the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE print. (Neff)
