Last weekend I took part in my 4th Exhumed Film's 24 Hour Horrorthon. An event that only the truest hardcore horror movie fan should endure and attempt. When I was first introduced to this event back in 2010 I was amazed with the movies they showed and the movies I checked off my bucket list of having now seen in their glorious 35mm prints shown on a big screen. 4 years later I walked into the Ibrahim Theater once again home of uncomfortable seats but housing for this event for the past 4 years. I was prepared for nothing cause let's face it when you have no clue what's going to be shown you can't have hopes for movies that have been shown before despite some people complaining that they would rather see Halloween or Friday the 13th for a thousandth time. Sorry I'd rather see something different cause if I wanted to see those film I would just watch them on their rotations on cable television. So I sat down did my ballot which I gave up on cause I had no clue which movies the clues given could possibly have been. I wanted to be surprised this year. So I waited for the lights to go down and then said under my breath to this event.....THRILL ME!!!!!!
FILM CLUE #1: Stylish, star-studded cosmic horror film worth of rediscovery
The Keep (1983)
Scott Glenn, Robert Prosky, Bruce Payne, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson and Ian McKellen all starred in this movie that can only be described as a long boring bad rendition of the F. Paul Wilson novel its based off of. This was my first time seeing this movie cause its not a very easy movie to find anywhere because its not had a dvd or blu ray release as of this year. Mostly due to the musical rights owned by Virgin and the composer of the film Tangerine Dream. The only way to see this film is if you can find it on laserdisc, VHS, Netflix and Amazon Instant where the original music is in place rather than a different score. I had hopes that this movie was going to be good but surprised that it wasn't that good for me. I struggled a little with it despite its well named cast but in the end I was glad this ended so I can escape for a minute to stretch from watching it.
FILM CLUE #2: Influential Asian horror movie that created its own subgenre.
Black Magic (1975)
Who would have thought that after years of making nothing but martial arts films that the Shaw Brothers would take a dip into the darker side of films and venture into the horror realm in 1975. Now this film I will admit I never heard of till this year when I read somewhere that El Ray was getting the entire Shaw Brothers collection of film to air on their network. Now seeing this on 35mm made it better than seeing on television in my opinion cause the fact that movie is hilariously dubbed and shot makes it great. A magician who makes money by conning people with black magic helps a female get the man she wants only to have the forces of good fight back to get him back. This film helped usher in a subgenre dealing with black magic and witchcraft for Asian films. The movie is not that bad despite having a german shepherd whose clearly more playful than scary, I mean how can you make a dog fight you when you can't even wrestle it to the ground. To me this would have probably been better at around the 5 am mark but that's when the real wtf did I just watch films come out.
FILM CLUE #3: Quite possibly the dumbest giant monster ever made.
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)
Okay this film I wasn't in the theater when it started I was in the lobby walking to stretch my legs and talking to some people. When I came back in I was like cool a Godzilla film cause I remember the kids on the screen but when I sat down I thought we were watching Son Of Godzilla but it was afterwards that I was watching Godzilla's Revenge when I realized this movie wasn't one of my favorites in the whole Godzilla series. This movie is more a public announcement for kids about bullying and the fact this film was made primarily of stock footage from other Toho films. Compared to the other giant monster movies I saw at previous Horrorthon's this one to me is the worst.
FILM CLUE #4: Earnest entry in an iconic horror movie series that doesn't live up to its predecessors, but is still infinitely superior to the terrible sequels and do-overs that followed.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990)
Finally. After three films that I easily could've saw later on in the middle of the night we get some horror. Despite this film being heavily edited down from what was a X rating to fit the MPAA's reign of making sure horror was R. This film has a few throwbacks to part 2 as the family's name remained the same (Sawyer), cameo appearance by Caroline Williams who reprised her role of Stretch and the famous quote "The Saw is Family"! Having starred Viggio Mortensen and Ken Foree this film has a bad rap cause most fans just don't like it but to me this is completely better than The Next Generation, 3-D and the two remake films that followed. At the time when we needed some horror this movie delivered that rush of what I wanted to see. Blood, screams and the saw!!!
FILM CLUE #5: Fun, rarely screened sci-fi/horror inspired by 1950's-era atomic monster movies.
Blue Monkey (1987)
What can I say about this movie? I never saw it till that night and I was surprised by it. I honestly felt that this movie for me stole the show early on cause to me this had the right blend of science fiction, horror and comedy mixed together. Let's face is there a bad movie that Steve Railsback has been in? I doubt it but Blue Monkey to me was the movie that I felt was the stand out cause it had everyone cracking up and loving the monster of the film. And I was shocked to even see that Gwynyth Walsh was in this film I can remember as one of the butch Klingon chicks in Star Trek Generations. So if you haven't seen this film do so, I don't care how you get your hands on it. Make it happen.
FILM CLUE #6: Creepy "living dead" fan favorite
Pet Sematary (1989)
How cool is it to finally see one of my favorite's on 35mm? Words can't describe the feeling. This movie to me is a great example of my childhood of having to wait til the movie hit VHS to watch it but I got the chance years later as an adult thanks to the Exhumed guys for this. The emotional scene where Gage dies still holds an impactful hurt but some people were put off by how others found humor in. The death scene where Gage's father lets out a painful scream in slow motion can come off funny to us today cause of the way its filmed but I understand the emotion that's coming from the scene. But this film looked beautiful on the screen and I was very pleased to have seen it.
Film Clue #7:Silly, low-budget horror sequel to the silly, low-budget original which played a recent Horror-thon.
Gate 2 (1990)
I'll be honest I thought this film only existed on VHS cause that's how I found it when I was a kid but now that opinion has been changed. Watching it on 35mm and reliving that moment of when I was a kid that this film was just as bad as it was then is the same now. Don't get me wrong I was happy to see this again cause I never thought I'd get the chance to see it again but I got the answer wrong on the ballot cause I had guessed The Hidden 2 with my friends. This film follows 5 years later after the first film and Terry has been left behind when his best friend Glen has moved away due to the events that happened. The make-up in the film were good but this movie was just made to cash in on the original following little of the first movie and turning everything into shit. Literally.
FILM CLUE #8: Infamous and brutal 1970's gore/exploitation film that lives up (or down?) to its reputation as one of the sleaziest and most disturbing movies of all time; you've been warned.
The Last House on Dead End Street (1977)
Honestly this was my first full sitting through this film and I still cannot understand why people like this film. This film to me is completely boring. Don't get me wrong I like blood and gore and some good exploitation. But this film to me was just like here like me by trying to cram its material down my throat. I was glad when the film ended cause it gave me the chance to run away to Wawa to get something to eat as well as get away from the heat that was causing me to sweat. Not from the film but from the fact the theater became a oven over the course of the night.
FILM CLUE #9: Ridiculously, bad, anachronistic "period piece" horror film from a divisive director that folks tend to love or hate...or love to hate.
Guru, the Mad Monk (1970)
A Andy Milligan film? Hells yeah!!!! I mean my introduction into his films was earlier this year when Exhumed played Blood at the Forgotten Film Fest. This film like Blood you can easily see that some of the scenes weren't on par with the period he was using for his film. I know iron railings weren't introduced til the 1700's but the film is set in the 1500's. You get my point. This film had it all a Mad Monk, a hunchback, a vampire and a young couple trying to escape his wrath. Yes I said vampire how this works in the film I don't know but it did. I liked this film despite the flaws it had but what can you expect from a truly low-budget film?
FILM CLUE #10: Goofy, absurd, and yet strangely charming 1970's creature feature.
Bog (1983)
What can I say about this movie? Its your typical 2 am kind of movie cause this is exactly the kind of stuff they would show on television late at night on cable television. I kind of struggled with this film cause let's face it, for a film that was released in 1983 sure look dated. Oh wait it was filmed in 1978 but shelved for 5 years. And the Bog Monster....definitely your typical 70's cardboard box-paper mache costume that the person had to wear. In the end this film had more of a cheap 1950's creature feature than it did a 70's creature feature. I found it hilarious though that both husbands lost their wives to the monster yet they can still find the time to drink Miller's the whole time they are hunting the monster.
FILM CLUE #11: Gruesome, satirical horror/exploitation favorite.
Mother's Day (1980)
Hands down this film is one of my favorite Troma films next to the Toxic Avenger, Tromeo & Juliet and Class of Nuke 'Em High. Having the chance to see this on 35mm took it off my bucket list. This film about 2 inbred redneck brothers who kill the people their mother brings home in the woods where their house is set. After finding three girls during a camping trip they kill one and then it becomes a revenge flick. Its the end of the movie that goes into a different direction as from the shadows the sister the mother spoke up springs from the tree's looking like a werewolf. This is a must see for some Troma fans or those who are looking to get into their catalog.
FILM CLUE #12: Clever and enjoyable supernatural "sequel-in-name-only" that may actually be a bit better than the original.
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2 (1987)
I will admit this movie based off its clue had me baffled. Cause I tried hard to think of what movie could of been different from the original but retained the name of the movie. I had on my ballot House 2. But I put that down cause I was rushing. But to see Michael Ironside on the big screen especially in this movie was a good helper in keeping me awake as I had cracked open a monster during it and let's say after it I was wired to go. Now though this movie easily comes off like a Carrie rip-off but is called Prom Night 2 makes it hard to be remotely better than the original Prom Night. But you have to watch this with an open mind and to see that its actually a decent movie despite some things that don't entirely make much sense.
FILM CLUE #13: Obscure, gory 1980's slasher film.
Nightmare At Shadow Woods (1987)
For those that have no clue what this movie is, its actually also known as Blood Rage. Now the film opens to twin brothers at a drive-in where one of them kills a couple having sex in the backseat of their car but then quickly frames his brother by putting the axe in his hand. How no one else saw this going on in a packed drive-in is shocking to say the least but what can you say its a horror movie. As time passes the brother framed escapes from the looney bin and comes home causing the other brother to start murdering his own friends to make it seem his brother is back. It all leads up to an ending that the sole surviving female of the movie walks out of the pool hall where it ends with a look of wtf just happened in front of me. If you haven't seen this movie then I say give it a spin cause its worth the time you may invest in it.
FILM CLUE #14: Totally awesome, totally creepy "Animals Attack" movie.
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
WILLIAM SHATNER at 9 AM!!!!!! This is one of my favorite bug movies cause its actually hilarious to watch how the actors interacted with the spiders. I mean you get to see the true faces of fear on them as they are clearly scared shitless by them. Watching Shat scream like a woman cause he clearly is scared of real spiders is worth the time to see this film. Also to watch the carelessness he took to tell his niece in the film to jump to him to escape spiders only to have him toss her to the floor onto more spiders. EPIC!!!!!
FILM CLUE #15: Zombie movie fan favorite that should be a fun film to finish the festival.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Aliens. Alien slugs. Zombies. Tom Atkins. Thrill Me!!! When this hit the screen I was pumped cause this is a movie I thought I would never get the chance to see on the big screen. My only thing I had to worry about was which version was this. It turned out to be the theatrical print with the dog ending. But this movie was great, pristine and made me extremely happy to have checked it off my bucket list. If you haven't seen this then do so I don't care if you only heard of it or what not this is a must for every horror fan to see.
My after thoughts on the Horror-thon were like they are always. It was a great show, I had a great time even if I was cooking in an overheated theater filled with other horror fans who probably felt the same way. But I didn't care too much cause I had a blast, I micro-napped here and there mostly during Last House on Dead End Street and Bog. Now I can't wait til next year's Horror-thon cause these guys can put on a great show.
by Bucky
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