Ok so last night I experienced something that all horror movie buffs (like myself) should experience at least once in their lives. I went to an all night, Pay-to-get-out Horror movie Marathon! And I have to say it was one of the most fun things I have done in a long time.
I meant to go with a friend who had to bail at the last minute but after some consideration on what else to do for the evening, I decided that I would go enjoy the marathon myself. I had been waiting weeks for this event and I was not going to let a little something like being alone ruin my fun. And I am so glad that I made that decision!
The marathon took place at the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington. My trip there was actually very fitting for a horror movie marathon. I was coming from East Meadow and I did not have my GPS so I was using written directions I copied from MapQuest. So I was traveling down 106 for a while and time was getting closer to when the marathon would begin and I had no idea where I was going and it was so dark out there so I pulled off to the side of the road. I decided that I would download a GPS on my phone which really helped considering I had no idea where the hell I was! Ironically it turned out I was going the right way the entire time. Woops.
I show up finally at the Cinema Arts Center, get a great parking spot, and go inside to buy my ticket. The line was in the cafe and stretched all the way outside, which is where I had to wait. At 11 pm they started letting us all in. I noticed that many people had brought pillows and blankets and snacks with them. I cursed myself for not being more prepared, as I had only brough a sweatshirt with me in case I was cold and did not provide much of a pillow. I discovered later though that had I brought any of those things, I would have fallen asleep much quicker and much deeper during the movies.
Ok so lets get to what really matters here: THE MOVIES! I think that you deffinitely need to be a) a real movie buff and b) a horror/scary/thriller movie buff to really appreciate these movies. And I give a lot of credit to the people who were running this marathon for picking such fantastic movies.
First up was King Kong vs Godzilla! Which was completely amazing and hysterical. King Kong and Godzilla are so obviously people dressed up in these costumes running around. There are a lot of toys used to look like actual trains, tanks, etc. And of course the american dubbing over the actual Japanese dialogue is one of the best parts about the whole thing.
Next up was a movie called Spider Baby. I have never seen this movie before but I would absolutely reccomend that people go out and see it! Or rent it I guess considering its an old black and white film. The only person you will probably recognize, as I did, is Lon Chaney the original wherewolf (who also played the wolfman in an old Abbott and Costello movie!) The concept of the movie is kind of hard to describe but the people in this movie are nuts, and its hilarious, and amazing and I reccomend this movie to everyone.
Next was a movie called Suspiria which was from 1977. Ok I am going to copy and paste the plot from IMDB because I really could not tell you what the hell this movie was about. Even if I hadnt taken that 15-20 power nap in the middle, I still would not have understood this bizarre movie. "A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school. As she arrives, the camera turns to another young woman, who appears to be fleeing from the school. She returns to her apartment where she is gruesomely murdered by a hideous creature. Meanwhile, the young American is trying to settle in at the ballet school, but hears strange noises and is troubled by bizarre occurrences. She eventually discovers that the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization." Basically the weirdos who run the ballet school are like witches or something? I dunno it was weird but ok I guess. Not my favorite of the night at all.
Ok now after Suspiria and falling asleep a little, I was completely ready for what they showed next. At this point it was around I guess 4 or 5am. The next (and amazing) film up was called Dead Snow! This is a Norwegian horror film about a group of young folk, I would say in their 20s, who go to a friends cabin in the middle of the winter to play winter sports and just have fun on their Easter break. A creepy guy shows up telling them that during World War II, there was a group of really ruthless Nazis who stole all the towns peoples prized posessions and really let the local town have it until the town couldnt take it anymore and they attacked the Nazi group and chased and killed them in the snowy woods. Turns out that the Nazis treasures were hidden in the cabin and the stupid kids decided to take some which realllly pissed the Nazis off. Especially since they were zombies still roaming the snowy forest! I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Some weird sex of course happens and we all know that if you have sex in a horror movie, you die. Silly nymphos. So hilarity and amazing death scenes ensue with lots of intestines and growling Nazis and basically just two or so hours of awesomeness. Go rent Dead Snow. Yes there are subtitles but it doesnt even matter because this movie is so awesome that you stop realizing you have to read after a while.
Ok last up for this amazing marathon experience was a 5th promised mystery film. When the guy in charge started talking about a director who really was the pioneer for modernizing horror films I was getting a little lost. I was really not the huge horror movie buff that I thought I was compared to many of the people in the theater. So I was really not sure what to expect and when the film started rolling and the words "Alfred Hitchcock" appear the entire place starts going crazy including myself. How AWESOME! So the last film of the evening of course, was Psycho, which I had seen most of but not entirely through and it was so worth it. Such a great film, such a great concept. If you havent seen it yet, then I totally apologize for the title of this blog but you should see it anyway. If you HAVE seen this movie then how awesome is it? Alfred Hitchcock is really great and I really want to see more of his movies.
Next summer everyone really needs to go see this marathon I highly recommend it. Its $29 to get in which sounds kind of expensive but if you stay the entire night, you get 10 dollars back and theres an awesome bagel breakfast waiting for you when you exit the theater. I am really looking forward to next summer and seeing some very awesome classic horror films and some unconventional new ones.
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