Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse and 12 hours of Terror
12 Hours of Terror was a blast this weekend, just as always.Got a late afternoon nap, got my coffee and my superman blanket and headed out to the Capitol theater in Cleveland with The monster mash blaring full blast out of my car speakers. Parking was nuts. Got in late and the place was packed. And I mean PACKED. I got the last seat in the last row and as the first film of the night went on, I saw people sitting on the floor. I figured I’d be stuck in the back until people start to bail – only a handful of folks last the entire night. First film up was night of the living dead…had a commentary running on Amy’s iPod. I mean no disrespect, it’s just, I’ve seen this now like FIVE times in the theater in the last three years. I’m a little burned out.
Still it’s amazing what a high quality print on a huge screen with a receptive audience can do for the movie. It still passes the watch test and remain a fascinating character piece. the fact that I’ve met most of the cast doesn’t hurt any either.
Turns out I wasn’t stuck in the back the rest of the night either, one of my friends found me and brought me down to the middle of the theater with a few of her buddies she had brought along. On to the next film of the evening. Man, I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I saw creepshow! I didn’t know Ed Harris or Tom Atkins was in it….
Tom Atkins without his mustache is the real monster here.
We’ll talk about the surprise screening in the middle a little later. I was actually looking forward to seeing the Descent on the big screen, but that mid-marathon fatigue hit and I managed to doze a little during the very beginning. Let’s face it, the first fifteen minutes are a lifetime movie….
The descent really loses a lot of its ability to scare on repeat viewings. This was my third time seeing it, though the audience was reacting very strongly. I suspect a lot of them had never seen it before. One nice thing about the big screen look, you can see a lot more detail on the crawlers.
While I was standing in line for coffee . They had the Vincent price episode of the muppets playing during the intermission. That was a new twist – indie movies and short features during the breaks between films. I like it but I also missed the old movie trailers they’ve done in years past.
Pumpkinhead surprisingly doesn’t get any better or worse on the big screen. No noticeable improvement in quality, this is a film made for direct to video. I’d also question the wisdom of playing Madman next to last in the marathon. Madman is NOT a good film. There’s no story, it’s just a set up for random kills and the single most awkward love scene in all of 80’s and 70’s cinema. Sleepyness was in full force here, and I suspect a better film would have kept my attention better. By the way, would you believe they are actually doing a reunion for this movie at The Chiller Theatre convention this year?
I’m not even sure if Cinema Wasteland would bother with that one….
American Werewolf in London was as good as it always has been. One thing that always strikes me about it though, I didn’t see this untill I was an adult, but I was very familiar with the creatures in the dream sequence from having “Fright Flicks” trading cards as a kid. It’s always weird to me to see those masks on screen and it always bothers me how they aren’t articulated at all…I always imagined they would be. Sadly I had to leave a little; the films were running behind and I had to be on the other side of Cleveland at 9:30. But that’s alright, the Capitol has actually screened this in the past (one of the reasons I was surprised to see it in the mix here)
Anyhow, lets get to the secret film;
It turns out that the surprise movie at 12 Hours of Terror this year was an advance screening of Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse! The full review is up on the Kreepy Kastle!
http://kreepykastle.com/scouts-guide-to-the-zombie-apocalypse/
Argo City Comics 