I’m not as young as I used to be. When I first started programming movies for a theater, I had no problem with double features. Triple features? Pieces of cake. A whole-ass marathon? Bring it on!
I’m on the cusp of turning 40, though, and I have found that it is really f’n hard to stay awake after a couple of hours sitting in a nice comfy theater chair. Pre-COVID, I programmed weekly double features at the Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra as part of Graveyard Shift. These all-night bonanzas of cinema would start at 9 PM and oftentimes not let out until close to 2 AM. Post-COVID, though, I struggle to maintain consciousness after 11 PM.
So why am I programming an all-night horror movie marathon for the third year in a row? Let’s say I’m doing it for the lolz.
Join me on Saturday, October 28 for an all-night horror movie marathon in Katy, Texas. I’ve programmed seven horror movies and - from 7 PM to 7 AM - we are going to rave against the grave. I’m not revealing what movies we’re showing until the moment before we hit play on each title, but expect a mixture of sneak previews of upcoming scarefests and monster jams of Halloween’s Past. We’re showing beloved classics, deep cuts, new restoration, and weirdo celebrations of the crazed that can only be experienced at three in the morning.
You can buy tickets for the marathon here. The theater is filling up, but there are still some great seats left.
I’ve been programming mystery movie marathons for a decade now and I think I’ve more or less gotten the hang of it. There’s a flow to these types of events that need to be followed. You start and end with bangers but you can get progressively weirder the deeper into the valley of the night you go. If you’re going to play a foreign film, make sure it’s early in the night because bleary eyes have a hard time reading subtitles. If you’re feeling extra kind to your audience, you can program a slow-jam second to last, to give folks who absolutely need to close their eyes for a bit a chance to do so. Granted, these sleeping fools are gonna miss something amazing but sometimes slumber can’t be escaped. Most importantly - don’t play obvious titles. Stuff like THE THING, FRIDAY THE 13TH and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET will sell tickets on their own. Mystery marathons are the chance to dig deep into the wells of cinema and pull out movies that will, hopefully, be new discoveries for audience members.
I really wish I could reveal what we’ve got in store for audiences this month because this marathon might just be the best one I’ve ever programmed. It’s a great mix of crowdpleasers and headscratchers - a cacophony of kills and chills. In other words, I can’t wait.
See you at the movies!