10/11/2006
'Tis the Season...
...for horror movie marathons!
Cinema 16 founder Amos Vogel often spoke of the dialectical (or dialogical) power of film programming. Just as film components (shots, scenes) could be rhytmically alternated to create aesthetic effects, so too could whole films. For example, programming Vertov's Man with the Movie Camera just before Antonioni's Blowup does something to each film...the former seems like more of a form-based dissection of mechanically-aided looking, while Blowup seems downright allegorical. Thus, our seasonal horror movie marathons - which readily lend themselves to such viewing habits, both because of their length and owing to their historical niche as "B" films or as just another clunker for the drive-in - can be enriched with some thoughtful programming.
A few obvious suggestions. If working through a series or auteur's catalog, make sure that you do it chronologically the first time, given the choice. It is very interesting to go out-of-order thereafter. Watch Orson Welles' catalog backward and learn why devolution is such a problematic word. Don't wear yourself out, either: be as alert, caffinated, or drunk as need be to retain and make connections (I guess one cannot be too drunk).
I've hand-picked some possible marathons, for your consideration.
Horror films about horror films (in various orders): Scream (1996), Return to Horror High (1987), Peeping Tom (1960)
Forgotten slashers: Cutting Class (1989), Sleepaway Camp III (1989), Cherry Falls (2000)
Zombie-mash: Return of the Living Dead Part III (1993), Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974), White Zombie (1932) ¶ 7:24 PM
Cinema 16 founder Amos Vogel often spoke of the dialectical (or dialogical) power of film programming. Just as film components (shots, scenes) could be rhytmically alternated to create aesthetic effects, so too could whole films. For example, programming Vertov's Man with the Movie Camera just before Antonioni's Blowup does something to each film...the former seems like more of a form-based dissection of mechanically-aided looking, while Blowup seems downright allegorical. Thus, our seasonal horror movie marathons - which readily lend themselves to such viewing habits, both because of their length and owing to their historical niche as "B" films or as just another clunker for the drive-in - can be enriched with some thoughtful programming.
A few obvious suggestions. If working through a series or auteur's catalog, make sure that you do it chronologically the first time, given the choice. It is very interesting to go out-of-order thereafter. Watch Orson Welles' catalog backward and learn why devolution is such a problematic word. Don't wear yourself out, either: be as alert, caffinated, or drunk as need be to retain and make connections (I guess one cannot be too drunk).
I've hand-picked some possible marathons, for your consideration.
Horror films about horror films (in various orders): Scream (1996), Return to Horror High (1987), Peeping Tom (1960)
Forgotten slashers: Cutting Class (1989), Sleepaway Camp III (1989), Cherry Falls (2000)
Zombie-mash: Return of the Living Dead Part III (1993), Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974), White Zombie (1932) ¶ 7:24 PM
