The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Moved from the Little Art Marathon thread, as much of this interesting discussion seemed to merit its own space. -Joe

Yeah,but it is hard to get excited when they are just playing a bunch of DVDs I already own. Nothing is truly an event anymore. No rarities like Blood and Lace ,Nocturna,Screams of a Winter Night,The Manson Massacre,The Prey,etc. And no 35mm prints. Man,it just hurts.

Yeah, that's cool, but not everyone cares for rarities all the time.

Sometimes its just fun to watch some classics with a group of people that love the same movies.

Well, if you are someone who cares about rarities, I hear there's an event coming up that has an ultra-rare 35mm print of THE SATANIST and a rare 35mm showing of THE MANITOU.

I do enjoy them from time to time, but I personally don't think you have to have them for every type of marathon. To each his own.

I've seen both The Satanist and The Manitou and the audience is not going to be happy. The Satanist is a more boring,early version of Satan's Blood. The Manitou was a yawn fest from when it even came out. I'd put it in the wacky subgenre of stuff like The Visitor but The Visitor is much better. Would rather see some 35mm showings of stuff like Eaten Alive,Screams of a Winter Night,Blood and Lace or Willard.

I split this line of discussion off into another thread because it's really interesting...and one of the constant question about these events. As we've discussed before (here and on the Facebook page), the assembling of the each Marathon requires taking a lot of factors into account. But I'll quote Farva for one of the biggest:



Ultimately, the Marathons have lasted this long because they strive to cover so much ground. For the most part, the lineups include a diverse slate of films covering many genres, tones, levels of quality, time periods, etc. If these events had only focused on 70's or 80's horror over the years, they wouldn't have survived. Same for if they had only focused on 35mm rarities, or premieres, or newer and well known films, or Tim's Top 10 (sorry Tim...that was too easy. ) Even in years with a clearly defined theme, there's always been an attempt to offer variety within that theme.

We've also discussed in the past (specifically/handily in this thread) about the ever-increasing complicating factors around trying to make the Marathon more of an event. If we still had the 800 seats at the Drexel North, we'd have a much easier time bringing in more guests. But the theaters that have hosted Marathons since those halcyon days have generally topped out around 300-350 seats. And that makes a big difference. It doesn't rule out guests, but it does make the margin of error much thinner.

In the meantime, we do what we can. We're really the only major Marathons of our kind that invest time in the programs, fliers, contests, trailers, shorts, etc. and all of the other special features that make these happenings more than just a collection of film screenings. And as I've said at the last few Marathons, we really believe that what makes the Marathons tick is the opportunity for so many people from often different backgrounds to come together for one rotation of the planet and to engage in a communal experience. Sometimes that communal experience revolves around an unknown or rare film. But sometimes, that communal experience revolves around a film that most everyone has seen; the screenings of THE EXORCIST and PSYCHO in recent years have received some of the best feedback of anything. After all, if the power of this communal experience (in a society where true communal experiences are becoming more and more rare) wasn't such a draw, we'd all be sitting in an empty theater...or at home.

While I haven't seen The Satanist, I'll have to disagree with you on The Manitou. It's a nutty movie that is a ton of fun. Personally, I think the marathon crowd will get a kick out of it.

The same goes for You're Next, which I've seen called out on this board that suggests the audience won't like it.

A few things to remember... just because you didn't like a movie personally doesn't mean the audience won't. (For myself, I've never been a big fan of Dead Alive, but seeing it with a marathon crowd is still a blast, and there's no denying the effect it has on an audience... same goes for Dog Soldiers.)

Also, you can't have it both ways. You can't say you want rare 35mm showings of something, and then poo-poo the actual rare 35mm showings that were obtained. It's pretty easy to just rattle off titles you'd love to see at a marathon. It's a totally different thing entirely to locate a print, get the print, pay the royalty required, and exhibit a print (see Joe's comment above).

The marathons have been going for almost 30 years, which means there are 30 more years of films to draw from than when these things started, but there's more problems with print availability and exhibition issues to please everyone. I think there's a pretty solid eclectic mix of titles in this year's marathon - including 35mm rarities, older classics and newer movies.

And yes, to reiterate... The Manitou is nuts, but a good kind of nuts.

Actually having some experience doing marathons on my own(ala The All Night Shriek O Rama) I found it quite easy to obtain prints and make a few phone calls. With my contacts thanks to hanging at Cinema Wasteland there are at least 3 contacts with over 1000 35mm prints within a phone call or email. Everything from Squirm to Screams of a Winter Night(a personal favorite of mine obviously) to The Incredible Melting Man.
Although this was more of just a small criticism of the Little Art only showing DVDs for their upcoming marathon,my widespread point was about the overall marathons the weekend of the Columbus,with 5 marathons in total going on. Also the spread over to Dayton/Yellow Springs with 2 marathons and Epic Con.
I do kinda think is right to poo-poo films on 35mm if as a subjective viewer I think they are going to go over poorly. At my various marathons I always asked what people wanted to see and chose a few from that listing like Blood Feast,Blood Diner,The Beyond,Jaws,etc. If I were to choose a 35mm print for marathons I wouldn't purposely choose perhaps things like Blood Shack or Blue Murder knowing them to be kinda "not good" but would program better 35mm choices like Basket Case,Pieces,Eaten Alive,The Deadly Spawn,etc. I think the Horrorama in Dayton has actually done a fine job in booking Rawhead Rex and Hell of the Living Dead(aka Night of the Zombies). Very much a winning lineup.
Having been to every marathon since it's inception in 1987,I've kind of seen a winding down of sorts. Yes, lack of guests and bad economy and change in technology have REALLY changed things for the Columbus marathons but that doesn't mean to not really pull out the stops and make it more of an event again. I do indeed have overly fond memories of the Drexel North days but does that mean they WERE actually better or the ones now are lacking? That would be the question. Also true is I have a fondness for drive-in and grindhouse fare as well.
I just know that with 5 marathons on the same weekend(Oct.18-19) is going to divide up a lot of people. Some will stay here. Others will go to Fritz. Others will go to Cleveland. Others to Chicago. I can understand the Drexel and Joe and Bruce may not want to pull out the stops when there is that much chance of failure. "Too many cooks spoil the stew" as they say and with 5 marathons now touted for that weekend,it may cause an overload of that.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on what we each personally want to see in a marathon line-up. Personally, I like the diversity of the Columbus marathons, particularly in the horror marathons recently.

Vince, you and I have known each other for a long time. And you know that I respect your love for the genre, years of experience, etc. If we had more people with the unbridled passion for films that you have, the world would be a better place.

And I'm usually fine to agree to disagree with you on a lot of points. Because hey, we're all different and that's what makes life fun, right?

But I have to take issue with this line of thought, because it seems like for the past few years you've spent most of your time on this forum and on the Facebook page trying to turn the existence of multiple Marathons on the same weekend into some sort of competition or purity test for which event is most representative of "real" horror or "real" genre fans. Look, the horror genre is currently in a purple patch...which is great. And that means that there will almost always be multiple horror events in multiple cities on the same weekends in October...which is also great. And that's just how it is. Most of them offer different focuses, angles, etc. I'm just not sure what there is to gain from you constantly beating the same drum about all these events happening on the same weekend, especially since you've essentially stayed a loyal customer of the Columbus Marathons.

Here's all I know: we announced out date back in March. Studio 35 (the theater, not the Nite Owl Theater organizers) chose to put on their October Nite Owl show on the same night several months later. The other events rolled out their date later. It's bound to happen in the current climate. All the events in all these cities are different, but most of them aren't engaged in some sort of massive competition with each other.

We're trying our best to keep the Columbus Marathons alive, something I've gone into great detail about in the past (and to you personally.) Trust me, if I could time warp us back to 1992 and have the exact same environment and theater, etc. I'd do it in a heartbeat. But that's not going to happen. After the North closed and theater options became more limited, we could've rolled up shop and gone home. But the Marathons were too important to us and to the people who attend them. So, faced with the more limited reality we had, we decided to continue as best as we can. That has nothing to do with "pulling out all the stops", whatever that might mean (and, all due respect, I think your definition of that phrase is highly personal.) We try to make each of these events the best that we can, knowing also that we're keeping an eye on what we might show several years down the line. As I explained in the Q+A thread that I linked to above, sometimes limiting our risks is the key to keeping the Marathons alive for years to come. But trust me, we're not just giving a lukewarm effort. You're free to not like some of the directions the events take (hell, everyone is free to do that...it's part of why we have this forum), but please don't call our desire to put on a great show into question.

I guess I am a "noob", having only been to the last two Shock Around the Clock marathons & have purchased a ticket for this year as well. But, I have much respect & do appreciate all of the hard work & devotion it takes into planning them. I love the marathon, the atmosphere, the trailers & all the films.

I was only meaning in reference to Little Art's lineup this year, that just because one venue chooses to do more 80's films (digital projection) & not any rarities, was not necessarily a bad thing. It was not a knock on the SATC or the Drexel in anyway. Just some people might also enjoy other marathons that may choose to or for other reasons unknown, not be able to have rarer flicks. The Little Art no longer has a 35mm projector which may make it more difficult in them finding more rarer films available to them. I look forward to attending many future Drexel & Little Art horror marathons.

I guess I incorrectly worded my feelings in the post mentioned above. I do not mind the rarer, 35mm films at the marathons. I actually prefer 35mm vs digital, if they are able to be shown, but understandably realize the decline of availability & cost. I know some classics & older films are only available on digital now due to the age & deterioration of 35 prints. I only meant for some folks, if for whatever reason, rare films or only 35mm are not shown, is not a "deal-breaker". I will attend whether it is 35mm, digital or any combination of the two. One person stated that they didn't care for that particular lineup because they had all of those films on DVD & there were no rarer films included. That is cool & we all can have different opinions. I didn't mean to upset anyone.

It is a 2 1/2 hr drive to the Drexel & a 2 hr drive to The Little Art but both are well worth it for me. As long as you keep having them, I will keep coming, no matter the lineup! I just wish I had found out about the Columbus marathons much sooner & I would have been coming to a lot more of them in the past.

I know all of the films I posted in the marathon request thread wouldn't be included, just putting in suggestions as others were doing. I don't expect everything I mentioned to happen because everyone is different, has different tastes & you have to appeal to a wide audience.

Keep up the great work Joe & Bruce!

I think my comments were taken out of context. And I think it also was Worldsfinest who said "What is wrong with a little healthy competition?". My comments were not to bring in a totally negative vibe but to celebrate every marathon that is happening on that weekend. I would like to see the Cleveland Horror Marathon thrive. I would like to see Fritz The Nite Owl thrive. The trouble,as I stated,was that they are all landing on the same weekend. My turmoil was that I wouldn't mind attending ALL the events but hard choices will have to be made among them. Never in my younger horror filled dreams did I think there would ever be 5 horror marathons on 1 weekend. And even 2 more the weekend after in the Dayton/Yellow Springs area. I am actually glad the horror biz is booming considering I was reading an article in 2012 saying that "Horror Is Dead". After reading this I figured eventually the marathon(Columbus' and others)would take a huge nosedive. Although I don't know what the ticket sales will be like. The spreading out of the people over that horror filled weekend is somewhat concerning. Will all excel or will the spread be too thin? I don't know what the answer will be but my choice to stay here and attend the Columbus marathon is more involving meeting Jerry(Scared Stiff) Lewis Sunday evening. I do think that Chicago has the better lineup and guests but I still have the memories from attending G-Fest(The Godzilla Convention) and being held up due to construction and 80/94 being a parking lot at even 4:30am. That being said,my memories of the Drexel North days and excitement that I built around the Night of the Living Drexel were epic and I just don't get the same vibe from these recent events.
I will very much have to agree to disagree with yourself and Kevin although tastes do indeed vary amongst the horror crowd. The same love of horror that is felt at Monsterbash for the love of monsters and early classics are not exactly the same as the love of gore and drive-in,blood soaked nights as felt at Cinema Wasteland or Flashback Weekend. All have their merit and I do love everything from the early goodies to today's films like Found and Chillerama.
I do however think you are missing the boat when you don't book in things like Found.,Masters of the Grind,Carver,The Green Inferno or one of the newer cult classics to be or book 35mm prints of never shown at a marathon future hits like Ghosthouse,Massacre at Central High,Clownhouse,Popcorn,Basket Case,Deranged,The Deathmaster,Count Yorga,etc. This October should prove quite interesting.
At any rate,I will be staying off the boards from now on.

Without going into too much detail, I really enjoy the whole weekend and all that the comes with it. The difference between format has no impact on my attendance or viewership because a lot of these movies, I probably wouldn't seek out...Not because of lack of interest but because of lack of time. The trailers, the ads (mmmm, bbq beef) and cartoons really just help me escape the reality of what happens when I leave the next afternoon (work, mortgage, bills, etc...). In fact, I half-jokingly say that this weekend is my favorite holiday of the year!

Honestly, my only gripe would be sticking to the schedule and not falling too far behind (I know it's easier said than done). Also, I come for the movies and the guests have no impact on whether I come the next year or not.

Yeah, sorry for hijacking your thread with an offhand comment. I'm going to sheepishly chalk it up to my happiness to see THE MANITOU.

But you're right, the Little Art has a pretty nice line-up. I'd love to go myself, though I'm not sure if my aging body can handle back-to-back marathons.

As for the pleasantly vibrant number of marathons during these weekends, a lot has to do with the time of year. October is such a big month for horror movies, and the recent surge in specialty programming (such as the Fritz the Nite Owl events) has really diversified the marketplace. Personally, I'm thrilled to see a lot of horror movie events happening throughout Ohio during October.

With that said, I'll be at the 666th Shock Around the Clock with bells on... and likely also with pants on. (Note: pant wearing is not a guarantee.)

It's all good bro!