The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

After missing a decade of marathons, this was my first one back. This one will always be very special to me.

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Remember ... no matter where you go, there you are.

For me, it was a tie between SF25 and SF26. SF25 was my first marathon, so that makes it extremely special to me. It was also cool to meet and listen to Patricia Neal! (I also never get tired of seeing A Clockwork Orange!).....and SF26 because the overall run of movies was well put-together, and I stayed awake for most of it, as opposed to SF25, where I wasa newbie and ill-prepared for fending off the sleep monster...

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"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"

SF20 for me. It was my first marathon and IMO one of the best lineups of any marathon I've been to since. Also, the crowd was allot of fun that year, I remember the entire audience transforming into a mass MST3K during Robot Monster with hilarious results(this was back before the crackdown on comments made during films, in retrospect perhaps this was the marathon responsible for it) Another thing was being able to bring in food from Ben & Jerry's and the Chicago Hot Dog shop next door to the Arena Grand.

Needless to say I had a blast.

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DOH! Quite right JacksuserID

I will go with 26 in that case. The second film [Time Crimes] was the top of my wish list for that year. I'd say I enjoyed everything but the blue/red 3D. In cat women on the moon. I appreciate the kitch but I just can't watch them.

I'm impressed by the general consensus that most of you have expressed about SF24. One of the reasons that I started this thread (aside from marking time until May) was a result of revisiting Galaxy of Terror/Mindwarp and paging through the program for that Marathon, the result of which gave me a whole new appreciation for it.

A few of you mentioned how odd it was for a Marathon with one of the most reviled premieres of all time to receive so many notices of favor. When considering the last ten years, I agree with this thought, but almost in reverse. There have been a few 'thons that have featured a run of really solid films, but which were ultimately weakened by several other features. SF19 is bookended with stretches of high quality (When World Collide, Happy Accidents, Day the Earth Stood Still, Cube, THX 1138), but the premieres of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Lost Skeleton are relatively weak sauce. And there were only ten films in the lineup!

In a similar manner, SF20 had several great premieres (Cowboy Bebop and Beyond Re-Animator) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but the decision to show Twilight Zone in segments lead to only over half of it making the screen. And the attempt to cater to the Arena Grand's sound system with Eight Legged Freaks and X-Men sticks out now like the proverbial sore digit. And again, for all intents and purposes this lineup only featured ten films!

SF21 was a generally solid slate from top to bottom, so it comes close to being my fave. Ultimately, like some of you, I'm split between SF24 and SF26. It's ironic, because at the time I (along with many of you) was concerned that too many of the SF26 films were goofy or schlocky. But looking back now, those films work really well together as a whole, especially considering that Galaxy of Terror is much more serious and surreal than the advertising suggests. I wasn't a big fan of Fido, but the premiere slate in general was very strong and diverse (Puzzlehead is probably one of the more underrated films to take its bow at the event). And 12 Monkeys/Flash Gordon is probably one of the best bookend one two punches in Marathon history.

SF26 easily matches SF24 in terms of repertory films with the legendarily elusive Logan's Run, the gorgeous print of Time Travellers, Robocop, Wrath of Khan and Rollerball (one of my all-time favorites). It also features one of my favorite gonzo Marathon moments with (as I like to call it) The Ultimate Cat-Women of the Moon in 3-D Experience, featuring additional maniacal cackling by a dear friend in the audience. But Timecrimes aside, the premieres at this event weren't quite as solid and diverse as those featured at SF24; Alien Trespass is a passable spoof, Mutant Chronicles is acceptable SF Channel fodder and Tokyo Gore Police represents the worst excesses of that genre (and I love me excess, folks!) And as Mr. Zecchini so accurately stated, points off for showing The Thing From Another World on DVD!

And so, after this rather long-winded explication, I can confidently say that...I agree with most of you. All hail SF24, the current king of this era of Marathons! Ah-ah!!!

I would like to add that only the first half of "Automatons" was horrible, the 2nd half is when everyone started making fun of it and as a group we felt hatred toward the film, never before has an entire marathon audience been united in such a way. I seem to recall the audience being united for the entire marathon and I think that added a lot to the entire event that was SF24

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Jaws3dfan®
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I agree with SF24 being one of the great ones. If I had not already made the case for my personal favorite as outlined above, it definately would have been my next choice. I would argue that the unforgettable "experience" or whatever you want to call it that was Automatons is a positive thing for the marathon as a whole, as long as you don''t look at the film artistically (and I do use that term very loosely) out of context.

Let us not also forget this little tidbit: That was also the year that the ubiquitous Slither was first supposed to screen, which only would have added to the positive vibe.

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Aliens? Us?
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Definitely SF24! I still can't keep from laughing remembering the screening of "Galaxy of Terror" in the middle of the night when most of us were slap-happy... One of the characters finds some carnage and vomits, and then every single time he appeared onscreen after that, you would hear vomiting noises erupting throughout the theatre, punctuated by a final wretch after he was torn asunder by the alien. Pure, delirious magic.