The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Oh, I disagree. I think we need to list in the program for every Marathon from here on out "The Annual Cancellation of Slither."

"The Annual Cancellation of Slither."

Yes, you are right, that would be just perfect.

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

Sorry Lindsey Buckingham ... we ran out of time again!

I think Slither is a film ready-made for the marathon.

I also think its constant postponement makes for a lovely constant about the ups-and-downs of trying to pull off the marathon.

I'd keep trying to book it myself, it's bound to pan out sometime.

Slither should be booked every year.

Whether it is shown or not ... time will tell.

(it's totally going to open next year!)

Honestly, this year's line-up was overall the least appealing to me since I started going to marathons in 2001. I'm not complaining, a lot of the films just didn't connect with me. Despite not really wanting to sit through several of the movies, and skipping one completely, being one of the few dozen who stepped out during Serbian, I still had a great time. The marathon is always a highlight of my year and this was no exception.

I should talk more about what I did like.

Pit and the Pendulum is OK, as far as Price films go I'd look forward to the mentioned Phibes and Theater of Blood.

The only reason I was disappointed to see Bride of Frankenstein in the line-up is because I had just seen it hosted by Fritz the Nite Owl in July.

I wasn't looking forward to Flesh for Frankenstein at all but the crowd reactions made it fun.

Midnight Son seemed good but I passed out.

Hellraiser.

Favorite things: Sue Harshe's performance, The House of the Devil, The Hitcher, The Legend of Beaver Dam short.

I never really put my thoughts together for a proper film-by-film lineup, but here are some highlights and lowlights for me. First the disappointments.

1. The unfortunate print situation. Slither has now transcended from a running joke to Legendary. The Pit and the Pendulum was a lot less enjoyable than a gorgeous archive print would have been. Bride of Frankenstein is always a delight and the DVD projection actually wasn't that bad especially contrasted to the early projection problems of the marathon.

2. The unfortunate projection problems. House of the Devil suffered from this, especially with the awkward reel change immediately following the shocking microburst of violence. But also it's deliberate pacing suffered from the momentum setbacks at the beginning of the marathon. Other films that would have benefited from earlier start times were Midnight Son, which I ended up sleeping during, and GOKE, which was a gorgeous print but the audience just wasn't into it.

3. As far as the films go, the only one that truly disappointed was Flesh For Frankenstein and that was mainly because of the horribly censored print. It's unfortunate that this information was withheld from Joe and Bruce when they booked it, because as a result it just snowballed the numerous issues with prints during the first half of the lineup.

And now on to the HIGHLIGHTS, which as always outweighed all of the little problems:

1. I appreciated ASF a lot more than I thought I would, but I don't want to beat a dead horse here.

2. The Hitcher. I had forgotten a lot about this movie, and then as it played out I had a lot of "aha!" moments where my memory kicked into gear. I had also forgotten how insanely brutal and violent it was, way ahead of it's time. I wasn't overly excited when this was announced as the "hard to get" modern classic, but boy did it ever pay off big time.

3. I had never seen The Beyond and was expecting a lot more out of it than I got, but you still can't go wrong with at least one Italian horror film in your lineup. And that endless revolver scene is classic marathon fodder.

4. It was also a pleasant revisit of Hellraiser which I didn't really like the first time around. I always appreciate the sense of discovery from a marathon, whether it's new or a re-discovery. This was another movie ahead of it's time, and those practical effects were still impressive.

All in all, a great time. And as always the best part is just seeing everyone again, especially since I live so far away now. I haven't committed to anything for next year yet, but I can say I am 99 percent sure I won't be at the SciFi Marathon if there is one this Spring. As for October? Wait and see at this point, but it has nothing to do with anything that happened this year, it's just hard to commit when I don't live in Ohio. Thanks again to everyone involved.

_________________
Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

Anyone know the final headcount for this event?

Just wanted to repeat this. No disrespect intended, but I've got friends who never stay around for the whole marathon and always plan on leaving somewhere in the 4-7am range. They really wanted to see The Hitcher, as neither had ever seen it before, but as it was, they ended up leaving right after Midnight Son. So they missed out on two movies due to the glacial pace of the proceedings.

Personally, if I'd have known that The Cabinet of Dr Caligari wouldn't start until after 1 o'clock, I could've done with another hour of sleep before hitting the road from Indy to Columbus. Of course I quite understand that technical difficulties frequently arise at some marathons. Its both understandable and forgivable. But still unfortunate.


Now, that said, I had a good time as always and I'm already looking forward to next year. I could never organize a marathon like this, and I'm incredibly appreciative of the folks who put it all together for us.


Okay, time to stop complaining and start praising.

Sometimes I can rank movies 1-12 really easily in terms of which I enjoyed the most, but I'm having a tough time doing that for this marathon. So I think I'll just say that my three favorite movies this year were, in no particular order: The Hitcher, A Serbian Film, and Midnight Son. Actually, make that 4 favorites, and add in The Legend Of Beaver Dam!


The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari was a logical choice to start with, and it didn't disappoint. Just the opposite in fact. The music from Sue Harshe was very enjoyable, but what really stood out to me were the sets in the film itself. Obviously I'd never seen the film before, and I was really struck by the surreal backdrops and expressionist sets sewn throughout the film's landscape. Really eefective in setting a mood, and certainly not at all what I was expecting from a film from so long ago. Very easy to see why this is considered such a classic. And I suspect that if and when I watch this film again, I'll like it and appreciate it even more the second time!


I rather enjoyed The Pit And The Pendulum, as it had a compelling story with some simply defined characters. Once again, its a movie I hadn't seen before. And I should mention right now, I had only seen 2 of this year's movies previously: The Hitcher and Hellraiser. Suffice it to say, I was SHOCKED when the trailer for Pit And the Pendulum played after this movie. If I had any idea the movie was supposed to look like that, I seriously doubt I would've enjoyed the movie as much as I did. Excellent decision by Joe or Bruce or whoever to play that trailer after the movie instead of before it!!!!

Okay, I'll say this about The House Of The Devil: it get's an A+ for building suspense. I really LOVED the first three quarters of the movie. Unfortunately, as I feared would happen, the ending didn't impress me. A great job at setting things up, but the payoff just wasn't there for me. You can't set things up for an hour straight, and then when something bad finally happened to that girl, she was pretty much just drugged and slumped down the stairs. Weak. Now if you want to argue that this was the director's take on 80's horror flicks, and say that that would be a typical finale for an 80's horror movie, then fine, I'll grant you that. But that still won't make this a good final act in my eyes. Overall though, I did enjoy The House Of The Devil, and would gladly watch more work from this director. Even if the ending was weak, I thought the rest of the movie was really strong. (And maybe its that strength that just heightened my disappintment with the end.)

I'll preface this next part by reiterating that this was my first viewing of Bride of Frankenstein, and it was definitely not what I was expecting. It felt like this was really a big-budget summer blockbuster of it's day, full of comedy and romance and action. I see folks above complaining about laughs during the blind hermit scene, and I think I have to admit that I laughed a bit there too. But at the same time, I felt that was a really powerful and excellent scene. Now parts of it were a little corny (or at least seem dated now), and I think the highlight was finding out that Franky was such a big smoker and heavy drinker. Funny stuff. But now that I know what this movie is really about, I think this would be a movie that I'd really enjoy and respect upon further viewing. I certainly enjoyed it this time though. (Just because I don't have it in my top three above, don't think that I didn't like it. As usual, I enjoyed most if not all of the marathon.)

So it turns out that Flesh For Frankenstein was any near as fleshy as I was expecting it to be. Or so I thought, until Joe revealed that this was an edited version. Too bad. The movie was still fairly enjoyable. Lots of the character were really over the top and effective, and the audience still got a decent amount of laughs out of this movie.

I really can't believe some people didn't like A Serbian Film, I thought it was great! Okay, seriously, it's very easy to see why some folks wouldn't like this, but if you look past that, I think it was an excellent film. And it's a really good thing that the production values were so high, because if this would've looked like some little handheld-cam film, I think that would've made it far more disturbing. I was a little apprehensive going into this, but as it was, I think the professionalism from the film-makers helped to separate this movie from the real world, or at least from realism. Sure, there were some scenes that I could've done without (and frankly I'd rather not even try to think in my head about which scenes were actually the worst), but for the most part they really added to the horror of the film and the story. I felt that this was a really effective story that really gripped you and kept you on the edge of your seat, always waiting for another shoe to drop. This might sound crazy to some of you, but I thought the filmmakers made this material far more "palatable" than it could've been. I was afraid that it would jump straight into the horror scenes with no escape, but the flow of the film was really rather "non-agressive" in parts. That said, the film really took you on an unstoppable roller coaster type of ride, and I'm sure a lot of people were exhausted/relieved/not the person they used to be when it was finally over. And speaking of which, I didn't see that ending coming either. Neither of the endings actually.

Very telling response when we were all asked to clap for various movies at the end. This got both the loudest cheers and the loudest boos. In fact it was the only movie to get significant boos. But the fact that it also got the loudest cheers and applause probably reveals that most marathon goers recognized a good movie when they saw one. But as we all knew, its definitely not for everybody.

Okay, now for a few negative notes about this movie:
Please, don't try to top it next year. It really isn't for everybody, and the marathon can't afford to lose any more of it's crowd. I didn't like the placing of it either. Too early. I know the stated reason was so that folks could leave for dinner. But that doesn't hold up for a movie that didn't start until after 11:30. Pity any movie that has to follow it.

I'm pleased to see that almost everyone has positive words to say about Midnight Son, especially since I thought this was in a tough spot right after A Serbian Film. It was a little slow paced, but I think that just added to the realism and was something that I found a little charming about this movie. It may not have treaded any terribly new ground, but you don't need new ground to still have a good and well-made movie. It reminded me a little of Near Dark (though it certainly didn't have the atmosphere or the awesomeness of that film) in a man-who-doesn't-particularly-want-to-be-a-vampire-stumbling-through-the-real-world kind of way. And unlike some other movies, I STRONGLY appreciated the final scene of the movie. I just loved the notion that the guy had finally embraced being a vampire, and he and his girlfriend were just sitting there reveling in the blood after they had killed that detective. Hooray for movies with strong endings!

I'm sorry to report that I missed over half of Goke. I think I was awake for something like the 1st and the 3rd reel, but I slept through the 2nd, 4th, and 5th. What I did see looked pretty good, but I have a bad feeling that this is the type of movie I'll never see again. Too bad.

Unfortunately, I managed to sleep through the first 10-15 minutes of The Hitcher too! Not cool, as I was really looking forward to seeing this again. Luckily, when I opened my eyes, this awesome movie grabbed ahold of me and didn't let go. Thanks so much for scheduling it this year. Feel free to schedule it next year and the year after too. Seriously, what a classic movie. Some movies today feel like they were made by robots. The folks who make those need to watch this one. Sadly, they probably wouldn't even realize what makes it good. They'd just throw Jason Statham in a movie with non-stop action and think that somehow makes it good or entertaining.

Okay, The Beyond was interesting. Lots of spooky setup and some freaky scenes. But let's be honest. The most entertaining part of this movie was the audience! "Stop with the damn body shots! Aim for the head!" "Good, he finally shot for the head." "Dammit, why is he shooting at the bodies again?" "Stop wasting bullets!!!" "This guy is pretty stupid for a doctor." "I hope he dies soon. Idiot."

Thank you for not showing Slither. I've never even seen it, and I'd like to watch it some day. But I think I get more enjoyment out of not watching it at the various marathons. Please announce it as a film for next year, but then don't even bother to book it. Seriously. This marathon had lots of problems with pacing and film delays, but I strongly appreciated the fact that Slither was dropped yet again. Keep up what's become a tradition! I will be very disappointed if it actually plays next year.

Holy crap, what's this? The Legend Of Beaver Dam? Looks okay. No wait, this might be stupid. Nope, never mind, this is cool. Wait a minute, no, this is awesome. Yep, this is really awesome. Holy crap, that was sweet! Play it again next year!! (I liked it.) Too bad half the audience was gone by this time. Maybe you really should play it again next year, so everyone can enjoy it.

Way to end on a classic with Hellraiser! Thanks for making it easy to stick around for the full marathon. Sure we've all seen it before, but this is one that feels like it's become even more influential with time. Watching the traliers for this, I really want to watch Lord Of Illusions next year. I rank that as one of the more underrated horror movies of all time. Heck, any movie with Famke Janssen is automatically awesome. I'll bet half the marathon audience hasn't even seen it. I'm debating whether to start a thread demanding Lord Of Illusions next year or Nurse Sherri next year. Heck, I can't decide, I think I'll demand both next year!

Nice!
lol


Okay, it's too bad I've typed all this stuff out now, a week later. Most folks have probably deserted the board for the rest of the year and no one will read this. A prize for anyone who reads this far! Oh well, I'm glad to get most of my thoughts down on paper. Er, make that up on screen.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think Midnight Son wasn't very good.

Dammit all, that thar Serbian Film discussion has sucked up so much of my time (our time?) that I haven't mosied on over here to give my scattered take on the actual event and, you know, the REST of the films. So here goes!

*As noted in the SF thread, it's no surprise that the continued projection problems remain a major source of frustration for all involved behind the scenes...especially after Bruce and I promised, yet again, to fix them at the conclusion of last year's shindig. Thanks again to you, the dedicated Nightmarathoids, for being generally understanding about these matters. Trust me: we want to give you the absolute optimum viewing experience for the duration of the 24 hours. Well, we have a year...

*Despite said projection problems, I more than enjoyed Sue's score for Caligari. She's quite adept at using repeating motifs and patterns to establish a sense of impending dread, a style which more than fit the troubling dream that is Robert Wiene's film.

*MGM-related snafu aside, Pit and the Pendulum was a tremendously fun experience. I was a bit on the fence about the film when I first saw it ten years ago, but it really holds up as a tour de force for Price's carefully calibrated combination of ham acting and serious dramatic chops.

*And speaking of Pit, did anyone else notice yet another hidden sub-theme in this year's lineup? You'll recall that last year's slate somehow featured more mad scientist films than we had consciously realized; this year's secret theme seemed to be embracing your destiny, even if it's fatal. There's Karloff's immortal "We belong dead" line in Bride, Jacob's gradual embrace of his vampirism in Midnight Son, Tom Noonan's exhortation to Jocelin Donahue to accept her destiny as the mother of the devil child in House, the doctor's belief that his destiny is to become Caligari, etc. Hell, even Serbian Film is in some ways about the person you really are coming back to haunt you. Hmmm..........

*I hadn't seen The Hitcher in ten years, so I'd subsequently forgotten about how direct and pared back its narrative is. In so many ways, it's such a simple film, but one that feels like a complex epic.

*Complex films? Hellraiser definitely fits the bill. I'll echo what others have written here: seeing this again recalls a time when Barker's twisted fantasy seemed like the next cutting edge benchmark of the genre. It's still a perverse and twisted psychosexual nightmare, even if Pinhead only serves as a bit part.

To end with, I'll ask this (and maybe it should have its own thread): what would motivate more people to enter the costume and scream contests? I know that participation in the latter tends to wax and wane, but for three years now we've essentially given away around $200 in prizes (counting the cash bounty) for the top spot in the former. So should we do anything differently?

Post Delted by creator

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Interesting suggestion. Not sure how it would be executed/moderated, but its a nice fair way to divide up the prizes.

My suggestion:

Offer prizes at the door for anyone in costume. The prizes don't have to be as cool as regular prizes, but maybe a grab bag style of prize.

NOTE: Wanna see more of the SPIDER-MAN related portion of this? Check out its newly dedicated thread at http://www.scifimarathon.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1277. -Joe

Thank you Joe, Bruce, all of the staff and volunteers for another awesome horror marathon. I had a fantastic time. While I was waiting in line, I mentioned that I refused to go see the remake of Spiderman, since I think it is INCREDIBLY stupid that they are remaking a perfectly good movie LESS THAN TEN YEARS OLD! It's like they're saying "You know what people? We messed up 2003's Spiderman. We hate it so much, we're gonna remake it, and we're not even going to wait until it gets old." I LOVE 2003's Spiderman, and it does not need a remake, ever. One person in line said "So by your understanding, I shouldn't go see Batman Begins?"
I ask everyone here: Was there ANY CLUE AT ALL when I said I refused to see the remake of Spiderman, that no one on Earth should be allowed to see it? NO! I never said that I was speaking on behalf of everyone on Earth. If you want to see a pointless remake of a perfect film less than a freaking decade old, GO AHEAD! All I was saying is I personally refuse to see such a pointless film. It's an insult to 2003's Spiderman. Next time I talk to you, do not twist my words around, and actually try listening to what I have to say. Also, the remake of Spiderman and the remake of Batman are NOT THE SAME! Spiderman came out in 2003, and Batman came out in 1987!! That's A HUGE difference! Batman was okay to be remade. Besides, you HATE all remakes. It's ironic. I see all horror remakes I can, and you avoid them like the Black Plague, but the ONE remake I refuse to see, THAT'S the one you want to see. That being said, I will give my review of the films shown:

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI: I still can't get the hauntingly beautiful music that Sue Harsh created, out of my head. A beautiful movie.

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM: I always love seeing Vincent Price. TRUE!!

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL: I LOVE!!!! this movie! It is my favorite movie from the marathon. Just fantastic. I loved the placement of the music in the scenes. It brought nostalgia. The lead character looks like Briana Evigan. In fact, I used to think it WAS Briana Evigan.

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN: I have finally seen this. Suprising that the title character isn't in it for that long, but one of my favorite classic films.

FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN A.K.A. ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN: Awesome film, even though it wasn't the X rated version. I thought the blonde woman kind of looked like Jenna Jameson. I probably don't even need to mention my favorite line from the movie.

A SERBIAN FILM: Outstanding! My second favorite film from the line up. I would have come just to see this film alone. The main character looked like Jake Weber from the remake of "Dawn Of The Dead".

MIDNIGHT SON: My third favorite movie shown at the marathon. A beautiful movie, with a fantastic ending. The main character looked like Brendan Fraser.

GOKE: BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL: A fun, cheesy film. The entrances on the people where the alien parasite entered them looked like vaginas LOL
Did they not?

THE HITCHER: I love this film. Rutger Haur's best role. What kind of name is "Nash" for a woman? LOL

THE BEYOND: A nice, gory film. The main woman looked like Naomi Watts and the guy helping her looked like Jack Nicholson.

HELLRAISER: The first time I have seen this awesome, dark, chilling film on a big screen. Pinhead is the most evil, powerful horror movie icon in existence, unless you count the Devil as one!

If I may suggest, instead of having coffee mugs at future marathons, it would be a far better idea to have thermoses. That way, not only would we be able to hold more liquid, and have a way to seal the opening to prevent any liquid from spilling out, and keep whatever is inside staying hot, but also, thermoses don't break, and at least one marathon goer has dropped and broken a coffee mug. Just an idea.
Also, Bruce, when you handed me my certificate, what I said to you, is "I stayed up all twenty four hours." That's right, for the first time in history, I have joined the ranks of the Marathon Elite and stayed awake ALL 24 HOURS! I don't know exactly how I did it, but it's a huge achievement for me.

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