Recap from Philadelphia’s Exhumed Films 25 Hour Horror-Thon

Posted by Zac in Movies.

Exhumed Films 25 Hour Horror-Thon. Last year, in celebration of their 10th anniversary, Exhumed Films held a special 24 Hour Horror-Thon, with films, trailers, and shorts running from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday.

The 14 films screened that year were the original Halloween, Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Hellraiser, Phantasm, Pieces, An American Werewolf in London, Blacula, Burial Ground, Teenage Mother, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Demons, Alligator, and The Gates of Hell. The event went over so well Exhumed Films and The International House of Philadelphia decided to do it again this year, with the added bonus of on extra hour thanks to Daylight Savings Time. Like last year, none of the films were announced in advance. Upon entering the theater we were handed a program which gave a vague description of the line-up.

Below are those descriptions, the films they showed, and my 2-cents:

1) Living-dead-getting-revenge favorite: JOHN CARPENTER’S THE FOG
Like last year, we kicked off with a John Carpenter film. This is an underrated Carpenter movie, which “suffers” because it aims for suspense rather than gore. The plot centers around a gang of pirates returning on the 100th anniversary of their deaths. It’s better than it sounds. A nice ghost story to start the show.

2) One of the greatest giant monster movies of all time: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS.
Once again following the structure of last year, our second film was a Godzilla movie. Similar to Universal Studios monster rally’s like House of Frankenstein, this film features Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and several other giant Toho monsters being taken over by aliens and attacking cities across the world. Despite it’s comparatively low budget, this is much better than the recent, similarly themed Godzilla: Final Wars. Works as a Saturday afternoon matinee.

3) Unique, rarely seen horror oddity: WICKED, WICKED
Shot in “Duo Vision” (ballyhoo for split screen, think an entire film shot like the prom scene in Carrie). Blonde women are being murdered by someone sneaking around the crawlspaces of a hotel. The identity of the killer is revealed halfway through the film, but is evident to anyone with eyes long before that. Wicked, Wicked is hilarious in it’s absurdity, but whether or not it was intended to be that way may be another story entirely. Great film to watch with an audience. Too silly to be taken seriously.

4) “Old School” science-fiction classic: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
Based off of the novel by the Richard Matheson, this was a rare chance to see a 50’s film on the big screen. Someone a few rows ahead of me commented “this is a horror-thon, I want horror movies”. All I can say to that is variety is not a bad thing. As for the plot, an unfortunate series of events leads to a man’s gradual decline is size, to the point where he’s fighting for his life against spiders and house cats. A welcome change from the norm, despite what the pinhead in front of me felt.

(Dinner Break) Rather than an hour of trailers, we were treated to the documentary THE HORROR OF IT ALL.

5) Horror sequel that is not nearly as good as the original, but is still pretty damn entertaining in its own right: PHANTASM II
As a follow-up to the original Phantasm last year, we got the first (and unquestionably best) of it’s three sequels. Phantasm II is infamous because it came from Universal Studios, who have yet to release it on DVD in the U..S., so unless they have a copy of the vhs tape (like me), this was probably the first time in awhile for most of the audience to see this one again. The movie takes place 7 years after the original, with Mike (James Legros, stepping in for A. Michael Baldwin) and the world’s toughest ice cream vendor Reggie (Reggie Banister) teaming up to track down the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). A great sequel. The only downside is I stumbled upon a box containing my VHS copy a few months ago, so I had seen this recently.

6) Slasher Classic: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
The same guy who was complaining about wanting horror movies booed this one during the credits. Some people just live to bitch and moan. The familiar-by-now story has murdered child molester/killer Fred Krueger killing off teenagers, among them Johnny Depp, in their dreams. Watching it on the screen without distractions, I couldn’t help but notice some flaws I’ve never picked up on, but I still maintain this is a vastly underrated film, unquestionably due to the increasingly silly sequels that followed. A great chance to see a modern horror classic on the big screen.

7) Comedy/monster movie favorite: FRIGHT NIGHT
I was thinking Night of the Creeps, the couple next to my friend and I were thinking Monster Squad, but who can complain about this gem? Horror film fanatic Charlie Brewster joins forces with horror host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell) to stop his new next door neighbor, who happens to be a
vampire. A film which manages to not take itself too seriously without becoming an out and out spoof. McDowell is fantastic as the down on his luck actor. A fun movie that unfortunately gets overshadowed by The Lost Boys.

Dan Fraga’s (¼ of Exhumed Films) favorite Halloween film of all time..
Seriously, he watches it every year: DEAD & BURIED
A small-town cop has to solve a series of murders being committed by the townspeople, and that pesky mortician is clearly up to no good too. Actually works as a good double bill with The Fog, as both are set in small coastal towns. Look for Robert Englund, a few years before he starred as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street. An underrated film, but hard to take at hour 13.

9) Sleazy/bizarre slasher guilty pleasure: THE BOOGEYMAN
A young girl watches as her brother murders their drunken mother’s abusive boyfriend. Flash forward to their adulthood, where the sister is married with child but still having awful nightmares, while the brother is now mute and creepy. Poorly rips off everything from Halloween, to The Omen, to The Exorcist. This film has one redeeming moment, a death scene which you’ll know when you see it. Piece of shit at any hour of the day or night. The short film Disciples of the Crow, an (unauthorized?) adaptation of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn aired at this point. It was a tip off to the following feature.

10) I’m kind of at a loss for how to describe this film. Um…it’s a horror
movie: ISLAND OF THE DAMNED
Perhaps better known as Who Can Kill A Child?, this film follows a vacationing couple, who are expecting a baby fairly soon, as they travel to a remote island where the kids have murdered the adults. Not nearly as sleazy as the subject matter would suggest. Like Dead & Buried, a good film on it‘s own, but not at 3:30 in the morning.

11) Ridiculously goofy monster movie guilty pleasure: EQUINOX
Two teenage couples go into the woods and fight various creatures of the stop motion persuasion. This movie is known today because of the involvement of Dennis Muren, who went on to do special effects for films like Jurassic Park and Star Wars. The movie even got a 2 disc dvd release from Criterion of all companies a few years ago. Admittedly, the effects are good for it’s day and budget. The acting on the other hand….. Just not my cup of tea.

12) Horror sequel that is not nearly as good as the original, but is still pretty damn entertaining in its own right: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2
14 years after the original murders, Lefty Enwright (Dennis Hopper) tracks down Leatherface and company, and uses the local DJ to stop them. The description Exhumed gave sums the general feeling most have towards this movie. It’s a cartoon-like, sugar-rush version of the original, which isn’t bad as long as you put enough space between viewings of each film. Helped make up for The Boogeyman and Equinox.

13) Campy monster movie cult classic: FOOD OF THE GODS.
Long story short, and bunch of people get stuck on an island infested with giant rats and wasps. You don’t watch a movie like this expecting a gripping story or acting, it’s just junk food for the brain. My main issue is the rumors that some of the animals were really killed. Took forever to wrap up. At this point I was hoping we’d get something good to finish up the show.

14) Zombies. Gotta bring it home with zombies: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Exhumed Films first show in 1997 consisted on The Gates of Hell and Zombie (or Zombi 2 if you’re a purist). Since they ended last years show with The Gates of Hell, I expected them to wrap this one up with Zombie. Before the movie started someone in the audience mentioned Nightmare City, which I doubted I could sit through at that point. Then they showed a trailer for Return of the Living Dead 3. A few minutes later we got one for Return of the Living Dead 2 and I started to get my hopes up. Then the film started, and I was relieved to know this year’s 25 Horror-Thon would end on a high note with Return of the Living Dead.

According to this film, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was based on actual events, and the proof is in the basement of a medical supply house in Louisville, Kentucky, in the form a several military barrels containing dead bodies. Of course one of the barrels springs a leak, setting in motion a chain of events that leads to Linnea Quigley doing what she did best in the 80’s, taking off her clothes. Oh yeah, the corpses buried in the neighboring cemetery come back to life as well. Unlike most zombies of the era, the undead in this film, run, talk, and even dress up like cops if they have too. Like Fright Night, this film walks the razor’s edge between horror and comedy perfectly. Starring an ensemble cast led by Don Calfa and Clu Gulager, who recently appeared in his son John’s film Feast, and featuring a tremendous soundtrack, this was the perfect way to end the show. Couldn’t think of a better way to top off the event.

Judging by the films alone I preferred last year’s line-up, but as an overall event I enjoyed this year’s show better. It would have been ridiculous to expect all of the movies to be 14 of my all time favorites, but the good outweighed the bad. With a little bit of luck, Exhumed Films will celebrate their 12th anniversary with another 24 Hour Horror-Thon next fall.

Exhumed Films’ next event is December 19th with the double feature of the Christmas classics SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) and CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980). Visit www.exhumedfilms.com for more details.

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