The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Some of you have enjoyed the Questions of the Week that I posted for the last few Marathons. And you might've noticed that I haven't posted any for this one yet. Weeeellll, I severely overestimated the breadth of questions that could actually yield interesting responses. So it's been tough thinking of more.

But here's one! We're really excited to screen Walerian Borowczyk's THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE this year. I get the feeling that even if some of you don't cotton onto its surreal charms in the moment, this will be a film that'll stick with you for quite awhile afterward. And it's in keeping with our attempts over the years to push the boundaries of the genre, sometimes in memorable ways.

So in that spirit, I ask you this: what's the most WTF moment for you in Horror Marathon history? What film or short completely scrambled your mind or made you redefine your thoughts on the horror genre? Go back as early as the first Night of the Living Drexel in 1988 if you want. Or talk about how THE SATANIST helped you to see the face of God.

I also posted this on the Facebook page, but I figured that this venue would allow us to stretch things out a bit more. Wait...is that a coded SOCIETY reference???

The obvious answers would be Dead Alive and Serbian Film but those have been talked about to death so lets leave those alone......

I will never forget the first time I saw The Abominable Dr. Phibes at The 7th Annual Night of the Living Drexel. I am a proud fan of all things Vincent Price but I had never seen Dr. Phibes and the opening scene with the "wind up" band and the Dancing was surreal, I will admit I was like WTF is this!!!! However once the movie got going it grabbed me and pulled me in and to this day Dr. Phibes is one of my all-time favorite Vincent Price Films.

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"If you have GHOSTS you have Everything" - Papa Emeritus II GHOST B.C.

milking, ladles, weird bulls and a grown man being born...Gozu...effing Gozu!!

I've only been to the last two horror marathons, but I would say Red Luck and The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears from last year definitely qualify. The former I liked, and the latter...well, I was too half-asleep to really judge objectively.

But the most WTF mind-blowing moment for me at any marathon was Tokyo Gore Police at Sci Fi 2009. It was only my second marathon, and, as early-twenties lovers of the absurd, my friend and I were completely amazed by how crazy and ridiculous that movie was, and at the fact that they were showing it in a group of people in public...really went beyond any "safe" confines of what I thought the event would be, and made me feel a part of the "twisted family reunion" for the first time.

The lengthy oner following Oscar nominated actress Isabelle Adjani's descent into madness through a dimly lit brick tunnel in Possession would be considered innovative and boundary shattering by today's standards, and that film was made in 1981.

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

I'm going with this too. It was my first marathon and pretty much defines WTF for me. I've since seen much worse and I've probably seen weirder too, but that one really lingers in all the best ways.

SATC 5 - Thirst.

The movie overall was thoroughly entertaining, but a couple things about the film made me literally say WTF?! out loud. There were a few elements that really stuck out for me.

First, there were the subtitles. At times it felt as though they were being translated via texting with key words like "cuz" and "sup".

Next, there was the immensely strange and uncomfortable 5 minute long toe/thumb sucking sex scene. I found myself looking around the room like, " Am I the only one seeing this $h!t?"

Finally, the Korean image of Catholicism left me really thinking of where they sourced their material. Just.... wow...

I do like the film and have recommended it to others, but it really was a WTF moment for me.

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"Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you." ~Klaatu

So, we set the way back machine 23 years to a time when a 15-year-old Aaron was at Night of the Living Drexel 5, exhausted beyond belief because I had a school event that morning and rushed to the Marathon afterwards. I was between girlfriends, and hoping to make out with one of the girls from my High School who were camped out on the floor in the front of the theatre.

We had already sat through "The Refrigerator" (with Jaun, the flamenco dancing plumber, and such lines as "I am the waffle maker!", the gonzo psudeo-Lovecraft of "From Beyond", and the Midwest Premiere of "Braindead".

It was past two o'clock in the morning. And a little film comes on known as "Tetsuo (The Iron Man)".

I was already so tired that even something straightforward would have broken my brain. But this wasn't straightforward. This was a bizarre, black and white, erratically shot film with subtitles and sexual imagery with metal body parts.

And I was exhausted.

And the film kept breaking. At one point, there was a long enough break that they had brought the lights back up in the house. And when we cut back, it was right when a doctor is examining our protagonist and the first line of subtitled dialogue was "What the fuck is this shit?"

A voice in the crowd (it may have been mine, but I wasn't the only one who said it) called out in response "That's what we want to know!"

I've gone back and watched Tetsuo again. I enjoyed it more in different context. But that was the moment when I realized that anything could happen at the marathon. Heck, in contrast, at least we were warned about "A Serbian Film".

I'm going to have to go with IRREVERSIBLE. God bless Stuart Gordon's demented soul for requesting the screening. It was more of an out-of-body experience than a viewing. During the infamous tunnel scene, I kept thinking to myself, "Surely, this can't go on for much longer." Hoo boy, was I wrong. It's a film that I don't think I can ever watch again; partly because it's so depressing and brutal and partly because I know I'll never be able to duplicate the visceral experience of that Marathon screening.

The obvious choice is A Serbian Film, and while it was definitely twisted, my choice here is Martyrs. What a dark tale, with an equally dark ending. Honorable mention has to go to Kill List, which also had a very dark and messed up ending.

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"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'the world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part"

OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH! It was MY first marathon too! That is so cool that there is someone here who shares something in common with me, but to get back to the point of this post, the most WTF moment for me was during A Serbian Film. Now, before I say anything else, keep in mind; I can be shy at times, at least as far as being really loud during movies. When I DO say anything during movies, I don't really shout loud enough for the entire theater to hear me, but when I seen a penis going through an eye socket, I did something I had NEVER done before or since: I shouted "HOLY SHIT!!!!!!" If any of you remember hearing that, yes folks, that was me LOL I couldn't believe I said it. It was like sneezing. It was totally involuntary. It wouldn't seem like a big deal to any of you but for me, it was like being a baby and saying my first word. I NEVER get that loud LOL I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. A Serbian Film is SOOOOOOOO over the top, I had to let out a "gasp" in the form of a profanity.

I'm hoping this year will be my "Most WTF Moment in Horrorthon History"! We'll find out soon...

I'm hoping Deathgasm will provide. My other guess would be The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne.

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"Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you." ~Klaatu

*anxiously glances toward German Angst*

Between the three of them, there's lots of potential for WTF moments!