Oct 31 2008
The ultimate horror cinema challenge tomorrow: 24-hour Horror-thon fest!
Okay, so it starts the day after Halloween, but so what? If you live in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey (more specifically Philadelphia) vicinity, and you’ve got the stamina and cast-iron buttcheeks to do it, the crazed gents at Exhumed Films will be showcasing an unnamed, surprise schedule of horror pics to pack into a full 24-hour period. The madness begins on Saturday, November 1 at noon and ends the next day (Nov. 2) at the same time. Since doors open at 11am on the 1st, I guess that might even make it 25 hours! (Not to mention that Daylight Saving Time kicks in during the movies at 2am on the 2nd, so an extra hour of flicks will be earned.) Some of the Exhumed guys also do time as Diabolik DVD, and you can bet that they’ll have a table set up featuring some gleefully obscure cinema for your home-viewing pleasure that you can browse before the marathon, or in-between shows.
The series takes place at Philly’s International House, and the price is $20. That’s right, twenty bucks for 24 hours of cinemaniacal offerings from around the world! That’s a bit over 80 cents a movie! I’ve survived a 12-hour marathon that Exhumed did some years back, and trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds. But you’ll feel like a true battle-hardened gladiator afterwards, and guaranteed you’re going to see some movies that aren’t readily available on VHS or DVD.
Exhumed won’t divulge the list of films, but one of the outfit’s co-honchos, Harry Guerro, has a rather stunning personal collection of 16mm and 35mm prints, and many of the films are rare treasures at that. Suffice to say that they’ll mix up fan favorites with relatively obscure works, and a good night/good day will be had by all. Most of the stuff will probably be from the ’70s an ’80s, so I think it’s safe to assume that you won’t be running into any current multiplex offerings.
You can read more about the Horror-thon here, and get directions to the International House too. These Exhumed guys always try to program hard-to-see pics, so if you have the time and energy (and $20), go check out the series and give them some post-Halloween genre love!
