Photo courtesy of Mark Fontana (
http://dp70.dyndns.org/drexel/demise.html)
IamJacksUserID wrote:
As much nostalgia as I have for the North, I think it may be ultimately a good thing that we were forced to evolve out of it. I think the marathon has grown stronger through relocation. It just shows that the organizers and attendees all have a passion that transends "tradition." I remember the seats being extremely uncomfortable and the crowds being a little rowdier. For goodness sakes, at the Riffe, you weren't even allowed to eat or drink in the theater. And I loved every flippin' minute of it.
As much as it warms the cockles of my blackened heart to see the Marathon triumph over the adversity of trial and time, coming back year after year like the zombie that just won’t die…whoops, wrong Marathon…although the same could be said about the Horrorthon…
Anyway, my point is that although it’s great that the Marathon survives, the move from the Drexel North was probably the worst thing that ever happened to the event. Yes, worse than 2001, when the all-night trailerthon was all that a Marathoid had to satisfy their insomnia-addled cinema junkie jones. To wit: at their peak, the Drexel North Marathons were selling out (or coming within shouting distance of selling out) on a yearly basis. SF6, 7 & 8 all sold out in advance and SF9 still drew 500+ patrons. The Horrorthons were never as successful, but they still drew in excess of 500 NightMarathoids most years, including a sell out for the 1990 event (with Frankenhooker’s Patty Mullen in attendance) and a near sell out for the 1992 Stuart Gordon Marathon. Hell, it was considered disappointing when the 1991 Night of the Living Drexel only sold around 500 tickets.
Now sit back and think about those numbers for a second, especially in the context of the modern Marathon, which struggles to draw 300 attendees. Granted, times have changed, home theater set-ups are more advanced, etc. Still, the Boston Marathon regularly draws in excess of 450-500 Marathoids every year, and they’re currently in their fifth theater. One reason? They have the luxury of holding the event in the historic Somerville Theater, which seats 900 in its main house. They also put tickets on sale two and a half months in advance, but that’s a matter for another discussion.
I can’t stress enough how key the Drexel North as a facility was to the success of the Marathon. In addition to its huge capacity (a draw in and of itself,) the North had the funky ambience that fit the Marathon atmosphere perfectly. How many longtime Marathoids still rave about the cool decorations in the North’s expansive lobby? Face it: we’re a bunch of film fans sitting in a dark room for 24+ hours. It’s not Cannes. Hell, it’s not even Sundance. Filth and funk go hand in hand with the Marathon, and no amount of stadium seating and digital sound can disguise them.
I fear that we sometimes value the creature comforts of the theater over the event itself. Yeah, the North’s seats were not state-of-the-art, but they were far from uncomfortable. (I know: I’ve sat in one as a chair at home ever since I bought it at the closing day sale thirteen years ago.) The projection was sometimes faulty, but it was never as bad as it was the few years at the Arena Grand. What mattered was the feeling of community that the event fostered. We were different, and we gathered for our annual invocations of the cinematic gods in a theater that was different. Having the event in a state of the art multiplex, no matter how good the lineup, will always feel a little less special for me.
Now I could prattle on about atmosphere and community and sing Kum Ba Yah ‘til the cows come home, but there are also hard numbers to discuss. In its first year away from the North (in the Riffe Center) the Marathon still pulled in 600+ Marathoids. The next year, that number sank to between 300-400 (granted, the promotional lead time was only a few weeks, and the event was on Super Bowl Sunday) with similar numbers the following year. I would argue that the attraction of a reliable location played a part in this precipitous decline, but I’d also argue that the loss of the North’s atmosphere (and the transition into the sterility of the Riffe) aided and abetted the situation.
A huge plus that the North’s size also provided, one that is often forgotten, is the control over ticket pricing it allowed. When you have 700+ seats to sell, you can afford to keep prices reasonable, opening the door for younger fans to attend and possibly grow into loyal veterans. A 300 seat theater dictates a necessary rise in prices, and the possibility that a chunk of you audience will be priced out of a good time, especially in times of economic hardship. The only way an event like this remains vital and viable is by cultivating new audience members, something that is more difficult to do in this context.
I could go on and on and on (“DUH!” say a good number of you; laugh it up) but I think I’ve stoked the flames of debate. Here, then, are my theater-specific memories:
DREXEL NORTH
-Walking into the theater for the first time at SF7 and realizing how big the place was. Then, sitting down (five rows from the front) and seeing a beach ball being swatted around the theater. That simple act of community fun immediately informed me that I was in for something completely different than what I had expected, and remains somewhat of a microcosm of the Marathon for me (call it my AMERICAN BEAUTY plastic bag moment.)
-My cohorts and I hearing the crowd call out for Big Sister during several of the early intermission breaks and asking some of those people what they were talking about. “You’ll see” they winked. Never thought that, five years later, I’d be in a live production of this little film I knew nothing about. And while we’re on the subject of Marathon shorts…
-My first screening of NIGHT OF THE LIVING BREAD. Sweet Jesus was that a blast! I feel a bit guilty now, knowing I was one of those cads who would was bread into a ball and chuck it into the ether, but hey…youthful indiscretion, right?
-SPOILER WARNING!!!!!
Donald Sutherland, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and the final image of that SF7. My best friend at the time now lives in New York (he played Professor Thornton Waxman in GRAVITY: IT’S ALIVE!) We only talk once a year or so, but every time the Marathon comes up we still marvel at that final haunting image and how much power it lent the end of the Marathon.
-And if that wasn’t enough, I had the whole summer of 1993 to gear up for my first Night of the Living Drexel. I’d known about the Marathons since I first saw Marvin the Martian on the cover of Hoot #3 (remember that, Marathoids?), but I’d always thought I was too young to attend. Many years later, my mom told me that she probably would’ve let me go if my older sister had taken me. GAH!!! Anyway, the Hoot ad that really piqued my childhood interest was the one for the 1st Night of the Living Drexel, with its amazing lineup (see my analysis here:
http://www.scifimarathon.com/phpBB2/vie ... c&start=15) and taboo allure. Being a childhood classic horror junkie, attending the ’93 Horrorthon gave me my crash course in hard adult terror, with personal first screenings of THE SHINING, THE EXORCIST, EVIL DEAD 2, ARMY OF DARKNESS, HALLOWEEN and TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.
-Being one of the privileged few to attend the 2nd (and final) SCHLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK. Maybe the sparse attendance should’ve warned me not to attempt the PSYCHORAMA FILM FESTIVAL at Studio 35 in 2000.
-DAWN OF THE DEAD at the final Night of the Living Drexel, one of the seminal film events of my lifetime. I’d seen NIGHT many years before, but I always figured that DAWN was a cheapo sequel. Needless to say, I was slapped upside the head something fierce. Never before had I realized the ability of a horror film to simultaneously thrill, frighten, amuse, shock and educate at the same time. For months after, I practically memorized the Republic VHS copy of the theatrical cut. I often think of how key the convergence of this film and its spot in what was, for the time, the final 24 Hour Horror Marathon was in cementing it as my favorite movie. And on that note…
-Reading about the cancellation of the Horror Marathon in the Dispatch on Friday January 13th, 1995. I immediately wrote an impassioned three page letter to Jeff, imploring him to bring back the event for at least one more year, to give it the proper sendoff it so richly deserved. That day marked the beginning of my intense desire to resurrect the event, a yen that devoured a lot of my life for the next four years.
-The entirety of SF9, the final Drexel North Marathon. I previously mentioned the importance of the Marathon’s communal aspect; well, this was the first one I attended where I truly felt that I was part of the family. Ironic, considering the announcement which came at the end of the 24 hours. A few sub-events do stand out for this Marathon: seeing the trailer for FASTER PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! At 4am and thinking “that CAN’T be a real film!”…..seeing DR. STRANGELOVE for the first time…and then delivering an absolutely pathetic George C. Scott impersonation during the ensuing contest, eliciting a “what the f*ck was that?” from the aforementioned best friend…whoever yelled the sarcastic “Gee, thanks Bruce” at the conclusion of THE ATOMIC CAFÉ, which was billed on the flier as “achingly funny”. Yeah, especially that footage of post-Hiroshima survivors…trying to stay awake during SECRET ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB by standing in the back of the theater, and almost collapsing from exhaustion, finally returning to my seat and succumbing to Morpheus’s embrace.
RIFFE CENTER
-Once again, entering the theater for the first time at SF10, but for a very different reason than in 1993. The possibility of the Marathon dying had been very real for the past year, so just knowing that the event would live and being there for the commencement was inspiring and exhilerating.
-Seeing FORBIDDEN PLANET for the first time.
-Gamera Attacks! Quite possibly, the most memorable costume contest moment in the history of the Marathon. I still kid the guilty parties about it whenever I see them.
-Bolting from the theater at the start of the end credits for each film after midnight, refilling my coffee mug, chugging it down, and running back to my seat before the next movie. Ah, for the days of no food in the theater. Not something I’d want to do again, but still memorable in its own twisted way.
-Getting my name in the program for the first time at SF11. Quite the feat for a young and obsessive Marathon freak.
-ALTERED STATES on the BIG SCREEN! WOW!!!
-Yes, GRAVITY: IT’S ALIVE!!!...even though it took a lot of film watching time away from me…and caused me to miss INFRA-MAN (which I’d wanted to see for years) in order to get drinks with Wechter, Nankin and Michelle Stacey. Still quite the surreal experience.
SONY CONTINENT
-Overall, I think this was one of the strongest Marathons of the post-Drexel North era. Great premieres of all stripes (ENTERPRISE, eXistenz, MIGHTY PEKING MAN), solid classics (TERMINATOR and T2, TIME BANDITS, KRONOS) and a cool house that evoked memories of our maiden theater. And yeah, the genesis of the great Upside Down and Backwards era.
My fingers are giving out, so I’ll have to stop here for now. Hopefully, I’ll post more sometime soon. You can also read these comments and more in my upcoming memoir NO COFFEE FOR YOU: MY LIFE AS A MARATHON JUNKIE.