The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

Wow, I sound desperate. But that's how much I'm itching for premiere news. I know some people downplay the importance of premieres, but I've always felt it's that little extra something that motivates people to buy a ticket. It doesn't have to be something major or even something that a lot of people have heard of - as long as it's something new that most audiences haven't seen. Otherwise, certain people think, "it's just going to be a bunch of old movies I can watch at home" and they don't want to make an effort to attend. I don't feel that way personally, but some people do. A premiere is just that little extra nudge to get people motivated to go. On the other hand, even if the premiere sucks, there are still plenty of great movies to watch on the lineup, so everybody wins.

I can't wait to see the audience's reaction to House of the Devil (those who haven't seen it already). I love the film, but I imagine opinions will be widely split. I predict that half the crowd will love it and half the crowd will consider it another Automatons. It's going to be hysterical.

Since it is two weekends till another third 24 hour horror marathon I'm itching for some news as well.

Any news about possible premiers?

Any news that Flesh for Frankenstein is going to be screen in 2D or 3D?

The movie schedule?

Horror Marathon consessions. For example is the botomless mug of coffee will return, for the same price of last year? Any additions to the consessions?

Will Slither be sacrifice once more?

All right, ya primitive screwheads! Ya want some news? Ya got some...well, at least some hints of news.

First things first: as of right now, it looks very unlikely that Flesh for Frankenstein will be shown in 3D. We're not sure that we can offer a 3D presentation that is optimal, so we'd rather screen the film on its own blood-drenched, bawdy merits rather than potentially distract from the goods.

For the last few weeks, we've been hot on the trail of potential premieres. We continue to run into roadblocks in certain areas, either due to conflicting schedules with local theaters or rental fees that might be a bit higher than we expected. As I stated in a previous thread, there are no set rules for acquiring premiers, as each distributor can potentially have completely different expectations for what they want (financially or logistically) in exchange for a screening. Nonetheless, we're still optimistic that some of the options we do have in front of us might pan out. Hopefully, the early part of this coming week will yield some answers.



Wolf, some of these friend might also be my friends, so I sympathize...and laugh. But this line of thinking also brings me back to the State of the Marathon Address that I posted on the forum a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'm starting to see reasoning like this more and more often. Last year alone, I had ten people that I personally know not attend the Marathon. Their reasons varied from "I've already seen 3-4 of the films on 35mm" to "Well, if you have a big guest, I might come down."

Now, I dearly love all of these screwheads...um, I mean folks, and we had quite a bit of good-natured chop busting when they gave me these excuses. But those comments aren't limited to these friends. Rightly or not, it seems like a decent amount of folks who have attended in the past are increasingly looking for an excuse not to come or to only want to attend if there's a snazzy attraction. And that just won't work if the Marathon is to continue long term.

We'd love to have a guest every year, but even minor celebs are expensive these days, and if we're unsure about selling more than 215-230 tickets, we can't afford to take a bath for one year. Looping back to the premiere issue, there have been a few titles that we've checked into where the rental fee has been significant. Now, if we knew that we were going to have 300 Marathoids in attendance, we'd probably be willing to shell out a bit more for a new flick that they would love. But because we haven't surpassed 215-230 in years, we're hesitant to do so.

Yeah, in so many ways it's the old chicken-egg argument. But it's also the reality of what we're dealing with, and it's a large reason why I sent out that plea to the mailing list and this board. If enough people continue to wait for the big guests and big premieres to return before they buy a ticket again, the Marathon will likely fade away while they're waiting.

Thanks for the info. This is why I go every year. With the exception of one year due PC installation job.

I talk to my friends and co workers think it's a waste of money to see movies that they have on video.

Fine go and booked A Serbian Film. Just schedule it at ten pm so people who don't want to see it can leave and go somewhere else.

I agree completely, Joe. I certainly meant no offense. I strongly believe that the marathons are more than premieres and guests.

However, the people that I'm referring to (who you also know) also have other responsibilities and obligations (poor bastards) and they need a little extra incentive to make the time to attend. I believe that some of them will; they usually do. But they seem to want to know what the premieres are going to be before they make a commitment. Given that none have been announced (and I realize this is beyond your control), it makes it difficult for them to rearrange their schedules at the last minute. I would prefer that they just commit to going as soon as the date is announced, as I always do, but then again I don't have to worry about having to work on the weekends. All I have to deal with is the 3-hour drive back and forth, coming from out of town as I do. (Always worth it, by the way)

I do believe it's going to be an excellent marathon regardless of what premieres are booked. But at this point, I'm the only one of my group that's planning to attend, and I think the lack of premiere announcements probably have something to do with that. I hope that will change and the majority of us will wind up going. I'm sure they all want to; it's just one of those scheduling things. Although my argument would be that since the date was announced months ago, that should have made it easier for them to clear their schedules well in advance. Just my opinion though...

Speaking of potential premieres, here's a great story about The Theatre Bizarre causing audience trauma in Germany:

http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?optio ... a-knockout

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First a question Why is it easier to get premires for the Science Fiction Marathon than the Horror Marathon?

Getting premires for the Horror Marathon isn't icing on the cake. It is needed to keep the marathons going. Having two or three premires in my opinion help get new people to the marathon. Having premiers in my opinion benefits the ticket sales. If you just have a lineup that can be found on DVD and Blu Ray it might detered people spending the 35-40 dollars for a ticket. I look forward to the premires.

I'm not "in-the-know", but I suspect there are a number of reasons its easier to get premieres for the Sci-Fi than the Horror. First off, there are more potential titles in Sci-Fi than Horror. Secondly, the Sci-Fi marathon has a longer pedigree than the Horror. Thirdly, I suspect the venue has some sway.

The Drexel East is a long-standing arthouse theatre, and has been the home of a lot of movie premieres over the years. The Grandview, for all that we love it, is newer and doesn't have that kind of history.

And willcail, did you read Joe's post? He acknowledges that premieres may be needed to entice people to come to the event - but if the event doesn't make money, then it's a gamble to shell out for them.

If the ticket sales could be guaranteed at a certain number, then the cost could be absorbed. Without that guarantee, then the only way to justify some guests/premieres would be to rack up the cost another $5-10 each, which might in turn drive more people away.

And if we want this event to survive, our job is to get people there to understand that the event is so much more than the films. Watching the line-up on DVD/Blu-Ray in your house is not the same thing as going to the marathon, and we need to get bodies out there if we want the event to survive.

I agree about premieres being the icing on the cake. However, if there's no icing on the cake people think, "hey, where's my icing? You can't have a cake without icing!" I like seeing both the new films and the classics, as well as the obscure stuff. It's the combination of films that keeps things interesting. But I think it's a fact that some marathoners just want their icing and don't really care about the rest of the cake... are we stretching this metaphor far enough?

I think we all realize that there is a certain budget that the marathons have to work with, and that's just an economic reality. If it's just not feasible to book a certain film for the price they're asking, then it's not going to happen. There are several films on the "potential premieres" list that I'd love to see, but if none of them are booked, I'm not going to bail on the event. A smaller film that I've never heard of (like the Lovecraft film for example) is just fine with me. Might be interesting. I can't speak for everyone else though. We can't expect miracles to happen every year as far as premieres and guests go. I think what Joe is saying is that if more people would buy tickets, maybe they could afford bigger premieres and even guests in the future. That means attending no matter what's playing, and that's not something everyone is willing to do unfortunately. In other words, we basically get the premieres and guests (or lack thereof) that we deserve.

Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to suggest that the lack of premieres are the ONLY reason people in my group aren't planning to attend this year. It may be one reason, but I suspect that they are just too busy to go. Most of them go every year without fail. My point was, a good premiere or two usually greases the wheels a bit and gets people to make more of an effort to rearrange their schedules and so on. It's often the icing on the cake that motivates people to eat the cake, if you catch my drift. I think most of us WANT to attend every year - it's just that other obligations and circumstances often prevent us from doing so. A few years ago, I couldn't go to the Horror Marathon because my friend in Columbus was out of town that weekend and I had no place to stay (and no money for a motel room). Did I really want to be there? Absolutely. But it just didn't work out in my favor. Not the Marathon's fault. Just bad timing.

As far as why it's harder to get films for the Horror Marathon, I suspect that it might be because they no longer have the Drexel's connections (though I could be wrong on that, and if so, feel free to correct me Joe). It seems like there are many more horror films made every year than sci-fi films, but somehow the Sci-Fi manages to come up with something every year. I think we have to acknowledge that the connections are what it's all about in any kind of show business. I'm always thrilled when either Marathon manages to get any premiere at all.

Having said all that, I know there's going to be an announcement right around the corner... right?

Yes I did read Joe's post. I do understand it cost money. I have to deal with a budget at my work.

The Grandview isn't really a new theater per say. It is under new management.

Certain people do understand that the Marathon is more than screening catalog films. On the other hand having new films might get new people in.

In my opinion that try to get good 35mm prints could help as well.

I did enjoy seeing Island of Lost Souls and Husu. At the time there wasn't a official DVD/Blu Ray release. Trying to get catalog films that doesn't have a official DVD/Blu Ray release could help as well. This is why I can't wait to see Goke.

HUMAN CENTIPEDE Part Deux is being released on Friday in a few limited markets. It has a sterling 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Passing along the news for the "premiere" hounds......

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Though I can't attend this year, I do have a friend returning for the first time since the Drexel North who is bringing her husband and 2 teenage boys. They're buying tickets tomorrow. I'm trying to get a couple more of my occasional marathoid friends to go, but I usually have to motivate them and nudge them there when I come to town. Hell, I'll even pay for their tickets as and early Christmas present if they promise to actually go.

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If you can't get a premier just play Trick R Treat. I'd love to watch that at a marathon.