Saturday, October 20, 2012

Weekend Weigh-in: Program Your Own 24-hour Horror Marathon

Many of us at F This Movie! are spending this weekend at The Massacre, Chicago's 24-hour horror movie festival at the Portage Theater. Look for our podcast on it Monday -- and check out the shows from 2010 and 2011 while you're at it. But now it's YOUR turn.

If you were going to program your own 24-hour horror festival, what would you show? Order is important, too, so don't just rattle off a list of 12 titles. Be as detailed as you want. Programming festivals is fun for the OCD in all of us. Sound off in the comments below!

And wish us luck...

12 comments:

  1. This probably doesn't add up to 24 hours, but I've never been very good at math. Also, I still don't think I'm satisfied with the order, but without going crazy trying to figure out how to best fit them all, it was the best I could do.

    Misery (1990)
    Right off the bat, this is a movie that I don't know would be considered horror, as much as a suspenseful thriller, but for the purposes of this, I'm going to call it horror. I feel it would be a great way to set the mood. Kathy Bates is amazing.

    The Thing (1982)
    It's difficult to come up with anything to say about this movie that Patrick hasn't already said. The feeling of isolation and paranoia within that cold, desolate environment just works so well. It definitely deserves a spot.

    The Birds (1963)
    I'm not going to argue that this is at all a better film than Psycho, but the idea of a simple animal such as a bird overrunning the city and wrecking havoc on the citizens is frightening to me.

    Night of the Living Dead (1968)
    Playing off of the whole "creature takeover" motif, I think this is the perfect follow-up. The only person who has outdone this zombie classic is Romero himself, in my opinion. Oh, how I wish that Romero were still making movies.

    The Bride of Frakenstein (1935)
    Speaking of the living dead, I chose this film to represent Universal monsters and horror in the '30s. Not only because it fits in with the zombie/living dead theme, but it's also just the best.

    The Woman in Black (2012)
    One of the better recent horror movies to come out in a while, this movie will represent the current generation of horror films. Plus, loud, sudden noises get me almost every time.

    Halloween (1978)
    Much like Night of the Living Dead, I would be kidding myself if I didn't include this masterpiece somewhere.

    REC (2007)
    This movie gave me the creeps, and it's probably as good of a "found footage" horror movie as there can be, so I'm going to chose it to represent that particular sub-genre

    Fright Night (1985)
    Love it. I feel this movie would provide a good come down from the creepy feeling I get from the previous three movies.

    An American Werewolf in London (1981)
    This movie that was so innovative with its make-up effects needs to be on the list. It's quite enjoyable to watch, as well.

    Child's Play (1988)
    I know, I know, it's my second Tom Holland/Chris Sarandon collaboration, but I recently rewatched this movie after many years, and I still love it WAY more than I probably should. It's a personal choice, but it's just so nostalgic for me. I certainly remember watching it as a young person, maybe multiple times. the kid delivers some (in my mind) memorable dialogue in his tiny voice (i.e.: "since forever", "he's sitting right over there"). Also, I just think it's a clever concept for a horror movie. I'll leave the sequels, but I'll take the original every time.

    Evil Dead 2 (1987)
    I can't think of any better movie to end on. It's fun, it's a crowd favorite, it's Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi. Groovy!

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    Replies
    1. Oops. The end of the Night of the Living dead should say "Oh, how I wish Romero were still making good movies." He is still making movies, they're just terrible, haha.

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    2. This is a 24-hour horror marathon that I want to see!

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  2. I would dash from one extreme of horror to the other from one movie to the next; fuck build-up, if you're watching 24 hrs. of horror movies straight (with 10-15 min. breaks in between flicks) then you can take the drastic shifts. I would also give the worn-out franchises ("NOES," "Fthe13th," "Halloween," etc.) a break. Following the noon-to-noon tradition of the "Massacre" schedule:

    Noon - Cat People ('42)

    1:30PM - The New York Ripper ('82)

    3:15PM - Demon Seed ('77, because unless you're seeing this you're not gonna believe what you're looking at!)

    5:00PM - The Haunting ('63)

    7:00PM - Audition ('99)

    9:10PM - The Fly ('86, the best movie gets the primo slot :-P).

    11PM - Grindhouse ('07, wish this were the movie we could tweet about on the 31st, it's a film-festival-in-one-movie package: trailers, two different schools of "terror," audience-friendly opener, etc.)

    2:25AM - Burial Ground: The Night of Terror ('81, let the after-hours mind fucks begin)

    4:00AM - Freaks ('32)

    5:10AM - Beyond The Door II ('77, underrated Mario Bava)

    8:00AM - John Carpenter's The Fog ('80)

    9:45AM - The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen ('73).

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    1. Oops, forgot to program the 7-8AM hour, my bad. I'd go with The Phantom ('31) starting around 6:50-6:55AM as my "transition" movie to daylight. :-)

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  3. Just give me the Universal catalog...with a few MGMs (Mad Love, Mask of Fu Manchu) and Val Lewtons (The Body Snatcher, I Walked With A Zombie, The Cat People) thrown in.

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  4. Noon - Slither (2006) Dir. James Gunn

    1:50 p.m. - The Masque of the Red Death (1964) Dir. Roger Corman

    3:30 p.m - Dog Soldiers (2002) Dir. Neil Marshall

    5:20 p.m. - Vampire Hunter D (1985) Dir. Toyoo Ashida

    6:50 p.m. - The Devil's Rejects (2005) Dir. Rob Zombie

    9 p.m. - Carrie (1976) Dir. Brian De Palma

    11 p.m. - At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1963) Dir. José Mojica Marins

    12:50 a.m. - The Monster Squad (1987) Dir. Fred Dekker

    2:30 a.m. Gozu (2003) Dir. Takashi Miike

    5 a.m. Intruder (1989) Dir. Scott Spiegel

    6:50 a.m. May (2002) Dir. Lucky Mckee

    9 a.m. Shaun of the Dead (2004) Dir. Edgar Wright

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    Replies
    1. I like it. Just make sure they get the right "Soul" movie at 11 pm and not accidentally get Wes Craven's "My Soul To Take" (unless you want the 'Massacre' audience to riff the damn thing, "MST3K" style). :-)

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    2. This is a great lineup. Some stuff I really like, some stuff I've never seen. I would be all over this.

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  5. 12noon - Trick r Treat (the ones from the 2000s)
    1:30pm - Jaws
    3:45pm - House of Frankenstein
    5:00pm - Carnival of Souls
    6:30pm - The Innkeepers
    8:15pm - Demon Knight
    9:45pm - Grindhouse
    1:00am - Jacob's Ladder
    3:00am - House of Usher
    4:30am - Tales from the Hood
    6:15am - Murders in the Rue Morgue (Legosi)
    7:15am - The Body Snatcher (Karloff)
    8:45am - The Blob (Steve McQueen version)
    10:15am - Gremlins

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  6. Here goes nothing...my attempt at somewhat of a theme being groups of science-related horror, human v. human horror and spiritual/religious horror (humanity being stuck between science and religion) with a cabin-related movie ending each group, for NO GOOD REASON:

    Noon: Frankenstein (1931): I like the idea of the little opening monologue from that movie opening up the show.

    1:15p: The Fly (1986)

    3:00p: Splice

    4:45p: Cabin Fever Not that science-y I guess but transitions into the next group nicely. And cabin.

    6:30p: Halloween (1978)

    8:15p: Wolf Creek

    10:10p: The Woman

    Midnight: The Descent Seems an appropriate half-way movie...

    2:00a: Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil Something fun to help shake-off The Descent

    3:45a: House of the Devil

    5:30a: The Exorcist

    7:45a: Jacob's Ladder

    9:45a: The Martyrs I'm not sure about the placement of this movie, but I feel like after an all-nighter this would feel especially crazy.

    Um...11:30a: The Cabin in the Woods: Shit, got this far and realized I'd gone over - you guys aren't paying me enough to go back and figure it all out. I think I could shave enough time out of breaks to make it all fit!

    I dunno, clearly this would not be nearly as "interesting" a line-up as the Massacre, but I feel like I could get actually through all these - I'd really like to see them in a theatre as well.

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