Ghost wrote:
2) Watching the audience scream and jump as Nephew run up the Aisle with a chainsaw during a screening of Texas Chainsaw the Next Generation at the short lived revival of the Horror Marathon during my reign as GM of the Drexel Grandview. SHOCKTOBERFEST!!!
AGH! How could I have forgotten this one? Definite honorable mention, at the very least. It was a great moment that we'd probably never be able to get away with today.
Oddly enough, I was thinking about this stunt a year ago (you and I were probably discussing it at a Marathon), and the next day I saw a DVD of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION for a few bucks at Half Price Books. "Hey" I thought "I should check this out again. See if it's as bad as I thought." And you know what? It's really not that bad. Granted, it's not SAW (or SAW 2), but it's also an entertaining commentary of horror films, conspiracy theories, etc. If it came out today, it might be considered a minor cult film.
Hallbeast wrote:
(3.) The 2nd Annual Shock Around The Clock is without a doubt my greatest marathon experience. Part of the reason I love the horror marathon experience in general is that, as a kid, I was not allowed to watch most of the films that are shown, so films like prince of darkness, the exorcist, the hitcher, etc. were completely new and fresh experiences for me at Shock around the clock. This particular lineup was just an awesome experience for me from top to bottom.
That's so cool. I had the exact same childhood restrictions (with a few exceptions), and was limited to classic Universal, Amicus, etc. throughout my youth. So my maiden Horrorthon voyage at the 1993 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREXEL was like a graduate level finishing course: THE SHINING, THE EXORCIST, EVIL DEAD 2, HALLOWEEN, TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Wow. Yeah, when you hit a sweet spot like that (and like you did) for the first time, it's pretty magical.
not worldsfinest wrote:
3. You never forget your first and for me that was the first Two-Headed Horror Marathon. I couldn’t ask for a better introductory experience. Diverse lineup of new (several notable premiers) and old, but the highlight, the one that sticks with me the most is the sheer WTFness that is Gozu. But amid all that memorably gonzo nuttiness the moment that stands out is the juvenile, but effective joke involving an inconveniently placed ladle (it was a ladle wasn’t it?) and a man struggling to maintain his footing. I still hear the collective “No .. no ... no ... OHHHHHHHHHH!” We cringed. We laughed. We were we. Then we watched a full grown man emerge from a woman’s lady parts.
That year was such a serendipitous combination of right premiere, right theater, right time. It might be the best year for premieres in Marathon history, which sorta spoils you from that point forth. If only it were always that easy to assemble such a slate of news films.
not worldsfinest wrote:
2. The Psycho-Dressed to Kill double feature at Shock Around the Clock II. Excellent print of Psycho and my first time watching it on the big screen followed by its delightfully twisted and fun half-brother. Either are great alone, but so much better when watched together. I’m a big DePalma wonk and always liked Dressed to Kill fine, but this experienced amplified it.
I almost included something about these films. For me, the great moment was at the beginning of DRESSED TO KILL. It's a 'scope film, but the projectionist accidentally started it in the flat aspect ratio. So the camera slowly dollies in on Angie Dickinson in the shower, and the audience starts to realize that the film isn't quite right. In the booth, they pull out the flat lens while the film is still playing. The audience moans a bit. The scope lens is inserted, but now the film is out of focus. And suddenly, the booth brings the image into crystal clear focus...right in time for the extreme closeup of Angie's body double manually manipulating her massive mammaries. The audience reaction was priceless, augmented even further by the fact that this was the first explicit material of the event (after the relatively chaste opening salvo of FRANKENSTEIN, 13 GHOSTS, and PSYCHO.) An awesome, awesome moment.