The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

What no mention of Bob Clark's Black Christmas witch predates Halloween as the prototypical slasher flick?

It seems that it is ok to book non science fiction and non horror films at both marathons. See Happy Accendents and Kill List.

I don't view Se7en as a true horror film. It is more as a crime thriller witch exsit outside of the proper horror films.

Definitions of "What is science-fiction" and "What is horror" have always been a bit murky and flexible.

Is Psycho a horror film? Suspense? Mystery? Crime drama? An argument can be made for all of the above, but it certainly seems to have a place at the Horror Marathon. What about The Hitcher?

Happy Accidents, while it wasn't to the taste of everyone in the audience, was science-fiction. The central conceit of the film involved time-travel, which almost certainly is a science-fiction trope. And if Kill List isn't horror, than neither is The Strangers. Heck, there's an argument that last year's Serbian Film wasn't horror - and yet I think most of the audience will agree it was horrific.

It's fair to say "I wouldn't classify this film as horror/science-fiction/comedy/worth watching," but I think that we have to agree that the defining line for what does and doesn't qualify in a certain category is going to be different for each viewer.

(And the line between the two marathons is even murkier. Does Alien belong at the Sci-Fi Marathon or the Horror? Because it fits in well at both. As does Frankenstein.)

That's entirely possible! Yet, at the same time, this film has been off my radar for many years until I happened to catch it on cable a couple days ago...Coincidence?!?!?!



That is very true... except for the part where ALIEN has (tragically) never been booked for a Columbus Horror Marathon, along with other genre crossover classics like both versions of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and both versions of THE FLY. (Granted, there is a decent sized chunk of audience that attends both marathons annually, which I am jealous of , however it's been quite a long time since any of those played at the SciFi).



I'm curious what your "fridge logic" moment was in SE7EN, because for me the ending was just about perfect. It was one of those surprises like in THE SIXTH SENSE where everything comes together and you realize the movie is not about what you thought it was about. When done well, this is incredibly effective. (I do wonder why, whenever SE7EN is brought up for discussion, people are mysteriously very cavalier about the reveal, unlike similar classic twist endings).

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

Well, here's what it comes down to in a nutshell (without really revealing too much.)

For the first 2/3rds of the film, we appear to be watching the Magnum Opus of an incredibly meticulous, always-one-step-ahead psychopath. It's brilliant, and has been planned for an extremely long time in precise detail.

Then, once the third act twist comes into play, we find that indeed his true plan is the corruption of the Up-And-Coming Young Detective ... as if his entire plan all along was to push this one man over a line, and that everything (including the killer's capture, and the Detectives "brilliant revelations" that led them up to it) is indeed part of his grand purpose.

So, this really gave me pause. He had started this plan over a year ago ... had he been targeting this kid all along? Was his "plan" to string it along till he found just the right person to subject to his master-stroke?

Was his plan to deliberately "wing it" after a certain point? Because it seems like he's supposedly doing both at once, and the dialog never really seems to want to lead one way or another. In the end, I feel like the first 80 minutes sold me on a brilliant Machiavellian mastermind, and the last 20 minutes tried to sell me on with nigh-unbelievable precognitive abilities or insanely blind luck.

I spun this to Joe, and he thinks I'm nitpicking, so I admit it's probably a stupid fixation. But I got to the end and I just didn't buy it completely, so at least on some level it fell short for me.

Again, the film is absolutely worthwhile without question, the cast is top-notch, and it's very well constructed. My reactions to the narrative just seem more a gut reaction than anything.

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David A. Zecchini; Creature of the Wheel, Lord of the Infernal Engines
"Damnati Im Ludum" (VitruvianZeke@att.net)

I understand your point. However, the movie SE7EN has a strong underlying theme about the perception of "reality," culminating in the nice speech that Mills gives to Sommerset towards the end of the film where he tells him "I don't think you are quitting because you beleive those things, I think you believe those things because you're quitting."

And both the screenplay and the director expertly manipulate our perception of their reality. Whenever it is clear that there is a "plan" like this, I think it is our jobs as consumers to give the filmmakers a bit of leeway when it comes to making everything fit into our "real world" preconceived notion of what is logical. Though I'll admit, it's a slippery slope sometimes with lesser quality writing.

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

By the way, I did not mean to imply that Se7en was "as bad as" Event Horizon or Dark City, etc. It just shares the somewhat incongruous aspect of those two films. I still hold the film in very high regard, in spite of my nitpicks.

I'd say Event Horizon didn't keep it together for two reels, let alone four.

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David A. Zecchini; Creature of the Wheel, Lord of the Infernal Engines
"Damnati Im Ludum" (VitruvianZeke@att.net)