The Horror/Sci-Fi mini-Marathon TERROR-THON official thread is open.

The Films Announced are:  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (silent), The Invisible Man, Dr. Cyclops, Forbidden Planet, Planet of the Apes (original), Westworld, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, and Tremors (all in 35mm film).

ticket info: https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&e=047114a9b8bf94391597de60779fc119


http://feitheatres.com/somerville-theatre/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/terrorposterbw2-678x1024.jpg

I love this line-up.  All terrific movies representing each decade from the 20's through the 90's. Films shown in order of year of release so we will be traveling forward in time as the day progresses.  12 noon to 12 midnight is an audience friendly time.  I hope that we can secure Westworld for the sci-fi marathon.  It is long overdue for a premiere showing at this thing of ours. 

I wish I could make it.

One thing that can't be stressed enough - this will likely be the LAST TIME folks have a chance of seeing an event like this ALL in 35mm. Outside of a handful of places like the Somerville with folks like Ian and David K, theaters have just thrown in the towel and given up on celluloid.

If I wasn't going to be in LA selling Monster Girl stuff I'd be there in a hot minute!

L.A. Connection wrote on Sep 18^th, 2013 at 1:01pm:

One thing that can't be stressed enough - this will likely be the LAST TIME folks have a chance of seeing an event like this ALL in 35mm.

     No, it wont!  Ian & I are committed to the film format (as you all well know), & if this does well, we'll do it again!   :D :D
     In addition, we are planning to run an absolute boatload of film prints to celebrate our 100th anniversary next year!  Keep watching the skies!......uh, schedules!
     AND, I may have an interesting announcement to make pretty soon!  ;) ;)

Amen to that. Luckily, I live in a city where 35mm (and even, 70mm) are shown. But, most folks aren't so lucky. Enjoy the celluloid while you can!


David the Projectionist wrote on Sep 18^th, 2013 at 7:02pm:

L.A. Connection wrote on Sep 18th, 2013 at 1:01pm: One thing that can't be stressed enough - this will likely be the LAST TIME folks have a chance of seeing an event like this ALL in 35mm.      No, it wont!  Ian & I are committed to the film format (as you all well know), & if this does well, we'll do it again!   :D :D      In addition, we are planning to run an absolute boatload of film prints to celebrate our 100th anniversary next year!  Keep watching the skies!......uh, schedules!      AND, I may have an interesting announcement to make pretty soon!  ;) ;)

Love this lineup, wish I could make back east for this. I'm very happy it's an all 35mm event.

I just hope that showing stuff like WESTWORLD and TREMORS in particular, doesn't "preclude" them from showing up at the Marathon in February.

The other SF oriented ones have shown up fairly recently at the Marathon, but TREMORS is over-due for a revisit, and WESTWORLD is 0 for 38 so far in Marathon bookings......

L.A. Connection wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 3:40pm:

I just hope that showing stuff like WESTWORLD and TREMORS in particular, doesn't "preclude" them from showing up at the Marathon in February.

Well, maybe if you mean February 2015.  No need to see the same prints of the same movies in the same theater twice within four months.

L.A. Connection wrote on Sep 19^th, 2013 at 3:40pm:

I just hope that showing stuff like WESTWORLD and TREMORS in particular, doesn't "preclude" them from showing up at the Marathon in February. The other SF oriented ones have shown up fairly recently at the Marathon, but TREMORS is over-due for a revisit, and WESTWORLD is 0 for 38 so far in Marathon bookings......

Absolutely!  These are different events and the audience does not necessarily cross over.  If we can secure them for February I would happily sit through these twice. 

Do all other revival theaters in the Boston area hold to this mythical "no repeats rule" in return?

If a movie plays the Marathon, do the Coolidge, Brattle, Somerville etc. 'respect' that showing and say, "The Marathon showed FORBIDDEN PLANET - we can't show it for a full year now!?"

I doubt it. And, they shouldn't! {Even though 400 folks are seeing it at the Marathon as opposed to what, 50? 100? at a Tuesday night double bill in March? 40 at a Midnight screening in November?}

Not hard and fast, and there were certainly monthly screenings of Jaws this summer, but generally in different theaters as opposed to the same room.  I'm not saying it's a rule - I'm saying I, personally, would much rather have the chance to see more different movies.  And I think that this case, where the repeats would be part of one or two expensive tickets, would be more frustrating because it's not a question of choosing where to see The Big Lebowski this summer and only paying for one, but paying for both and seeing the total value take a hit.

I just don't see what the benefit is to having a bunch of repeats so close together.  Find other stuff and promote that it hasn't played the area in years.  Play nice with other events and venues; it could help you land something you might not be able to get yourself later.

Maybe the marathon crowd is so much its own thing that it doesn't matter, but I can't help but think that actually paying attention to what else is playing in the area, not promoting something that played for weeks as a premiere, and not repeating what the places who do this all year long show would good for business, the community, and the marathon's reputation.

Our sister 'Thon in Ohio have announced their schedule for their own Terror-Thon: http://www.scifimarathon.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1679

Anyone know the order the films are going to be shown in?

They've also added some pre-thon films like, THE EXORCIST, NEAR DARK, GINGER SNAPS, THE CHANGELING, NEAR DARK and Argento's newest, DRACULA the week before.

Chronologically, or at least that was what folks were saying when it was first announced.  I suspect that at least makes it easier on the guys doing the music for Cabinet.

i had a terror-thon dream. i was not late and the theater was packed. i kept wondering where garen was. meta luna was chatting with people like she was a celebrity. there was a line forming in front of her.

L.A. Connection wrote on Oct 1^st, 2013 at 10:12pm:

They've also added some pre-thon films like, THE EXORCIST, NEAR DARK, GINGER SNAPS, THE CHANGELING, NEAR DARK and Argento's newest, DRACULA the week before.

     Not "pre" thon.  Exorcist & Near Dark (both on 35mm), will be shown on Hallowe'en.  The Changeling & Ginger Snaps (also both on film, the latter an archival print), will be shown on 17 October.  The Terror Thon plays on 12 October.

Quote:

Dave the Projectionist: The Changeling & Ginger Snaps (also both on film, the latter an archival print), will be shown on 17 October

Thanks for the print report Dave. I'm excited. :D

It's great to hear that an archival print of "Ginger Snaps" is available to be seen in all its cinematic glory. "The Changeling" is well shot with dark stylistic craftsmanship, and it would be a shame to see it come off the reels in a pink scratchy mess. Let's all hope for the best as the latter should be a classic.

Thanks for the correction. I don't see a full schedule posted anywhere except for the Terror-Thon Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/BostonTerrorThon?directed_target_id=0

It's also on the Somerville Theater homepage:

http://feitheatres.com/somerville-theatre/

http://feitheatres.com/somerville-theatre/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/page-0-791x1024.jpg

Why are they showing "Forbidden Planet" twice?
...Just askin'....

Jon wrote on Oct 4^th, 2013 at 9:28am:

Why are they showing "Forbidden Planet" twice? ...Just askin'....

It's just as good the 2nd time?

(probably just a typo).

This will be my first time for Terror-Thon. Is it as well attended as the 'Thon? What is the recommended arrival time to queue up?

It's new, so who knows?  I'm guessing they're going to want to start pretty close to on-time, though, because I count 733 minutes of movie to fit into 12 hours, which does not give me a whole lot of padding if I sneak off to Redbones for lunch during The Invisible Man.

Dinsdale wrote on Oct 6^th, 2013 at 5:33pm:

This will be my first time for Terror-Thon. Is it as well attended as the 'Thon?

There have been sporadic October mini-Marathons over the years including horror and an anime ones at the Somerville. There were also off-shoot ones at the Dedham. Going way back, an aborted Horror 'thon at the Coolidge was cancelled a few days in advance because of poor ticket sales. Attendence for all these have lagged well behind ones for the king, The SF Marathon, including several reports that the last film at the Anime Marathon had ZERO people in attendence by the end..........

Last year's Coolidge marathon sold out.  It has been selling well  for quite a few years now.  This Terror-thon is being held two weeks before the Coolidge marathon and this one is on a friendlier 12 noon-12 midnight.  Also, the Terror thon is more sci-fi than pure horror and the Coolidge will be all horror so there probably will be no overlap.  The Coolidge, as they did last year is only revealing the first two movies,  Psycho and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  I would recommend attending both.  Coolidge last year showed only 35mm.  I will attend both but if I could only attend one it would be the Somerville.  They are offering a great slate of movies from the 20's to the 90's.      

L.A. Connection wrote on Oct 6^th, 2013 at 10:03pm:

Dinsdale wrote on Oct 6th, 2013 at 5:33pm: This will be my first time for Terror-Thon. Is it as well attended as the 'Thon? There have been sporadic October mini-Marathons over the years including horror and an anime ones at the Somerville. There were also off-shoot ones at the Dedham. Going way back, an aborted Horror 'thon at the Coolidge was cancelled a few days in advance because of poor ticket sales. Attendence for all these have lagged well behind ones for the king, The SF Marathon, including several reports that the last film at the Anime Marathon had ZERO people in attendence by the end..........

And of course their was The Welles "Schlock Around the Clock" marathon that mutated into "Attack of the Killer Bs" at the Somerville.

I'm hoping the Terrothon is showing in Cinema 1 at the Somerville which will give more room than the big house at The Coolidge not even counting their great balcony.

90% sure I'm going.

da_Bunnyman wrote on Oct 7^th, 2013 at 8:56pm:

L.A. Connection wrote on Oct 6th, 2013 at 10:03pm: Dinsdale wrote on Oct 6th, 2013 at 5:33pm: This will be my first time for Terror-Thon. Is it as well attended as the 'Thon? There have been sporadic October mini-Marathons over the years including horror and an anime ones at the Somerville. There were also off-shoot ones at the Dedham. Going way back, an aborted Horror 'thon at the Coolidge was cancelled a few days in advance because of poor ticket sales. Attendence for all these have lagged well behind ones for the king, The SF Marathon, including several reports that the last film at the Anime Marathon had ZERO people in attendence by the end.......... And of course their was The Welles "Schlock Around the Clock" marathon that mutated into "Attack of the Killer Bs" at the Somerville. I'm hoping the Terrothon is showing in Cinema 1 at the Somerville which will give more room than the big house at The Coolidge not even counting their great balcony. 90% sure I'm going.

YUP!
Cinema 1 or the main view-plate, if you will.

Sonya and I will be there on Saturday. Can't wait.

Had a great time at the Terror-Thon! The print quality was amazing with the exception of Buckaroo Banzai. Sad part was there were at best probably 60 attendees :-[
The color in Dr. Cyclops blew me away!

Dinsdale wrote on Oct 13^th, 2013 at 10:15am:

Had a great time at the Terror-Thon! The print quality was amazing with the exception of Buckaroo Banzai. Sad part was there were at best probably 60 attendees :-[ The color in Dr. Cyclops blew me away!

How many folks survived to the end? And, what order were the films shown in? Crowd reactions?

firstly. the terrorthon coincided with honkfest. i would describe the combined experience as surrealistic. i did not stay for tremors and i am regretting it and will continue to regret it for several days. i didn't want to ride home at 3 a.m. and fall asleepa at the wheel. i did not want to drink coffee and miss a night sleep. what time did it end?
the print of planet of the apes was worth the price of admission. i may never see it on the big screen again so i loved it. can we please get beneath the planet of the apes for the next marathon? also a big hit was the trailer for star trek 5. THIS IS A FAN FILM! the marathon audience may boost the overall appreciation of this neglected sequel.
this was a non snarking marathon. there was shushing and despite polite admonishment from the management certain breaking bad fans could not contain themselves when the actor who played Mike appeared in a speaking role in buckaroo banzai.

How many folks survived to the end? And, what order were the films shown in? Crowd reactions?[/quote]

Hmmm, best guess, maybe a dozen? It ended at 2 AM.
Crowd applauded at the end of every film and seemed to appreciate the print quality. There was some snarking and it was difficult to hear it because the crowd was so spread out. There was a group in the center section about 3/4 of the way back that was not happy at all with the snarking and complained to Ian.

Yeah I left before Tremors too.
We had a great time and to me all the prints looked beautiful.
Buckaroo Banzai may have had some pops but it was also a British print. Different opening graphics and my friend (who's a Banzai fanatic) said a couple of seconds of different dialogue.

My opinion is the Terrorthon did not draw as well because around Halloween the people want horror for special events like this.

The Somerville Theater continues to be renovated looking better and better. The orchestra pit is now covered again and the front row folks at the marathon are going to be amazed at how much room there is now. Seriously, each seat can now have someone sleeping in front of it with their head near the stage and STILL have room for people to cross the row.

Kudos to Frank for once again coming through with some cool prizes. Nice job by the organist with his accompaniment for Dr. Caligari.

Extra bonus for TEX AVERY cartoons on the big screen!

If the theme for SF39 is robots Westworld and Forbidden Planet will fit right in and maybe Buckaroo Banzai for the novelty of a foreign print.

I ended up having to leave early after Westworld so I could catch the last train from North Station, which is a pity as I've never seen Tremors on the big screen and, my secret shame revealed, through various circumstances have never gotten to see Buckaroo Banzai at all.

All the film prints looked gorgeous (aside from some odd but not overly distracting color distortions on the opening blue-tinted scenes of Caligari) and as has been stated, the free toys and raffle gifts were great.

I had a bit of fun detecting common themes between the films (mad scientists, invisible beings, actors from Casablanca, etc.) and the cartoons in between were great fun and handy for taking bathroom breaks without missing any of the features.

I do agree that as has been suggested, the emphasis on science fiction rather than horror may have cut down on the attendance a bit given the timing in October, but I was happy to watch all of these titles.