The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

24 hour vs 12 hour marathons are a different breed.

With a 12 hour marathon, you are limited to 5 to 7 movies. You pretty much have to hit the nail on the head and play to the general appeal of a genre. You don't want to book 2 or 3 movies that are going to alienate a significant percentage of the audience. Plus, I've been to several of these shorter marathons, and there seems to be a healthy number of 'samplers' who come in and watch only 2 or 3 movies - might as well give them what they want with the hope that they either stay the night, or, come back next year.

Now, with 24 hour marathons - particularly ones with long and storied histories like in Boston & Columbus - you have have a LOT more wiggle room. In fact, you have so many experienced Marathoners, it cries out for innovation and daring. A 'thon of just the tried and true will seem too boring and safe for much of the attendees. And, as has been discussed before, with the advent of home video and the internets, you do have to program a few obscurities to get people off that couch. Of course, you do want to always book a few favorites every year (and remember, just because you have 'seen it all', it doesn't mean that an old classic won't be a discovery or revelation to a newbie).

Plus, with 10-14 film slots to play with, you can experiment, and at times, confound the crowd! Garen Daly who runs the Boston Sci-Fi marathon indeed sometimes seems to revel in pissing off the crowd: "I looooooooove it when you're angry!!" is one of his catch-phrases. Now, I don't propose booking too many movies that will rile up folks unnecessarily, but, you also can't be afraid to try something different. And, in those dreaded wee hours, you can schedule something maybe a little slower or cerebral. If people want to sleep through it, fine. By, the way, since I'm a sleepless android during 'thons, those wee hours are my favorite ones!

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

Farva, no offense intended. I actually quoted you because the base philosophy of your comment summed up a big part of these events: they're a little bit of everything. Some years have more of one thing, some more of another. But ultimately, it's not a big deal if one year has less 35mm rarities, or one year has less mainstream titles.

L.A. you hit the nail on the head. You have to be able to take chances with the lineup, to potentially piss off some of the crowd (something that, geez, I don't have any experience with or anything -coughSERBIANFILMcough-). And as part of that, it's imperative not to just play old films (at least with the crowd and environment we have.) Mixing in newer films and local premieres keeps things fresh and somewhat relevant. Hell, our best attendance in ten years came at the 2012 SHOCK AROUND THE CLOCK, a lineup that Bruce and I thought might be too decadent for a larger crowd, but one whose diverse mix of films of all eras and genres seemed to attract a lot of people.

At the same time, you're right in saying that old favorites aren't old to everyone. One of the key realizations we made a few years back was that we now had a decent percentage of the crowd who'd never seen DEAD ALIVE, EVIL DEAD 2, etc. in a theater...if at all! And that's why we've included films like that, even though some of us have seen them tons of times. And attracting newbies to the event can't be discounted either. Sometimes, it takes playing THE EXORCIST to draw a first timer in, after which they also fall in love with SUSPIRIA, NIGHT OF 1000 CATS and TRICK OR TREAT, and with the contests, trailers and the crazy crowd.

At last the TRUE horror of the Marathon is revealed!

I may have just spoiled my potential winning costume contest entry...

...or did I?

Joe... Joe... Joe... have you learned nothing from these boards? No one here falls in love with SUSPIRIA.

Awesome! My favorite of the 2 years I have been coming was The Phantom of the Paradise. I had always heard how great it was with a crowd but never had seen it. It was a pleasure seeing Something Wicked this Way Comes again on the big screen, I remembered seeing that with my dad when I was a youngin. I had never heard of Possession & wondered afterwards if I had been tripping, if it would have made more sense, but crazy, batcrap good fun. The highlight for my was the beautiful 35mm print of An American Werewolf in London.

Keep em coming! Any idea how soon the actual playlist lineup will be released?