First and foremost, going into the marathon, I thought that on-paper, it was the most interesting lineup assembled in the 8-9 years I’ve been attending. It delivered and then some. Of the 12 movies screened, I thought nine were good or great, two I was indifferent to but appreciated and only one did I find myself actively loathing.
I was already totally in the bag for Dead Alive, Videodrome and American Werewolf in London. No need to expound on those classics any. All great gets.
Biggest surprise: Something Wicked This Way Comes. I’d never seen it before and figured I’d like it, but ended up flat-out loving it. Great story, great performances and plenty of genuine creepiness despite the Disney name in the title cards. Touching too. Joe nailed it when he talked about its ability to capture the child view the way it does. Excellent. I can’t recommend it enough.
The one-two punch of Possession and The Devils didn’t disappoint in the slightest. Possession was even weirder than I expected (and I expected weird). As horrifying as the horror in it is, those knock-down, drag-out arguments between Neil and Adjani are every bit as cringe-causing. This has been the movie my movie-buff friends who didn’t attend have quizzed me the most about. I just tell them to track it down and watch it. Must track down more Zulawski. Also, I want to learn to fight Heinrich style.
Having seen a few Ken Russell flicks before, The Devils was exactly what I expected. In a good way. Lots to love about it (except that score - YIKES) but, oddly enough, I think the sets will stick with me the most. Some really striking visuals with those white tiles of the nunnery.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes and the Phantom of the Paradise have both been on my mental to-watch list for a while and both exceeded my expectations. Beef!
I liked Kill List (looked excellent) but also sorta struggled with the ultimate story, particularly with the issue of motivation. The mechanics of how it gets to where it goes didn’t bother me, but the lack of clarity about why it goes where it goes sorta did. I don’t always demand an explanation from the movies I watch, but this was one where the answer to why felt important to me. It warrants watching again, but I can’t help but feel there isn’t a why there, just a plot machine (a well-executed plot machine to its credit) to get the protagonist from point A to the shock ending.
It was cool to see White Zombie. I always appreciate the inclusion of classics such as this, but they honestly never do much for me. I admire its place in history, but probably wouldn’t revisit on my own.
I also was generally indifferent to The Last Circus. It was certainly well done, but it felt about 15-20 minutes too long for my liking and I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t counting down the time until the credits. I’m willing to take some of the blame due to tiredness and early morning irritability, but past movies screened around the same time have won me over. This one didn’t quite do it. Carolina Bang was smoking hot.
The only dud -- Werewolves on Wheels. Glad to have scratched that itch after seeing the trailer for years, but definitely bad-bad and not good-bad as I had long hoped. Someone else already mentioned it but it definitely felt like about 75 percent of the movie was improvised in a really, really bad way.
The overall event was, once again, an overwhelmingly positive experience. Great service, good food offerings, more great decorations, awesome coffee mugs yet again. I always enjoy the pre-movie thoughts and Joe’s reading of the Bradbury essay this year was a nice touch. The crowd was good (I also agree it seemed more than in the past, which is great!) - I remember no objectionable sounds or smells.
But now, regretfully, my one negative note -- scheduling. I’ve been attending for about 8-9 years now and almost every year I have attended and definitely every year since going back to 24 hours, there has been issues with keeping on schedule. I can only speak for myself on this, but the inability to stay on schedule has been a constant point of frustration for me as an attendee. I am sympathetic to issues like projection problems or other hindrances that on occasion have happened. I’m obviously not privy to the details about why the stated schedule can’t be maintained and I’m sure it has varied from year to year, but one thing is certain -- something always happens and when it does it leads to either a movie being cut, as in previous years, or the event running an entire movie length over schedule. Neither of which are ideal.
While I really do appreciate all the work Joe, Bruce and their team do in planning and executing this wonderful event every years, it seems that the schedule every year winds up an over commitment. It just doesn’t seem like 12 movies can be done in 24 hours whatever the reasons may be. I may be in the minority, but I’d rather have an 11 film lineup finishing on time than a 12 film lineup that risks dropping a movie and/or running over schedule. An additional 1.5 hours may not seem much in the scheme of a 24 hour event, but it sure felt like it on Sunday. Giving your customers what they purchased is definitely important, but that isn’t just the slate of movies, that’s the time commitment as well.
My intent is constructive criticism. I hope this one complaint isn’t interpreted as anything but.
Again, thanks for everything you all do.