Things have been a little quiet on the blog front but that's only due to things being anything but quiet on the life front. It's October which means I'm watching at least 31 horror movies (and contributing to Horror Gives Back), there are no shortage of seasonal spooky activities, and we decided to finally make the pilgrimage to Salem which is essentially the Halloween capital of the US and therefore the Halloween capital of the universe (we had an amazing time). Increasingly, October is also the season for horror movie marathons. There are some legendary ones like the Exhumed Films 24 Horror-Thon in Pennsylvania, The Music Box of Horrors in Chicago, and even our very own Trylon Cinema Horrorthon - now in its seventh year. I love the excitement that these events generate but I confess that the long/overnight nature of them has held me at arm's length for the most part. I'm a veteran of many a double or triple feature and my keister has proven itself up to twelve hours of movie marathon-ing, but I just can't deal with overnights. So I was thrilled to learn that Tim and Cinema of the Macabre were holding a shorter event with four secret films and assorted surprises, swag, and giveaways.
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I had the sense from CotM's social media posts that The Super Spook Show Spectacular was definitely leaning into the Midnight Ghost Show/Spook Show/Monster Show vibes for this event and that was evident as soon as I arrived at the theater. Some spooky decorations adorned the outside and inside and I was greeted by a friendly nurse and given a promotional vomit bag filled with fun stuff including a fright insurance certificate. It was not a sold out show but I bought tickets late enough that I had to park myself either in the first or second row. Luckily Emagine Willow Creek has fully reclinable seats (positively luxurious compared to some of the creaky theater seats I've endured for longer events) and I would be closer to the spook show action once things kicked off. There was already some fun, thematic stuff playing on the screen that I think was from one of the Something Weird discs, essentially advertising classic Ghost/Spook Show offerings like the monsters loosed on the audience or decapitation of the staff. Eventually Tim took the floor as the afternoon's Ghostmaster and we launched into the first movie.
Tourist Trap (1979) - I had a fleeting moment of dread when I saw the Full Moon Productions logo flash on the screen but that gave way to audible enthusiasm from the crowd when we realized we were going back to an early Charles Band production. I adore Tourist Trap and it had been a few years since I'd last watched it. Chuck Conner's unhinged performance is what I always remember most about it but I was struck at both how unhurried the pacing is for such a bonkers movie and how fantastic Pino Donaggio's score really is. I don't tend to find psychic psychopaths terribly scary but the roadside wax museum (courtesy of Texas Chainsaw art director Robert. A. Burns) is such an intensely weird and creepy setting and director David Schmoeller allows for time to let the space and that creepiness permeate everything. In a clue that felt tailor made for me, internet nightmare fuel Tara the Android made a brief cameo appearance in the pre-show and I referenced her specifically in my Tourist Trap Letterboxd review from a few years back.
The Black Cat (1989) - I new exactly what we were in for when Tim mentioned that this film would be more nonsensical than the first and it was ostensibly based on a work by Edgar Allen Poe. Speaking of the American master of the macabre, he was invoked and joined us for a moment to address the fidelity of Luigi Cozzi's adaptation. This was my favorite bit from the event and I could listen to Poe expound on the virtues of Taylor Swift all night. Cozzi's Black Cat is a piece of dream programming for me. It may be the apex of 80s Italian nonsense filmmaking and 80s Italian nonsense sequel-ization. It is somehow a spiritual sequel to Suspiria/Inferno, an actual entry into the legendarily convoluted Demons series, as well as (not really) interpreting Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat. It offers a phantasmagoric mess of primary colors, slimes, exploding torsos, lasers, Bang Tango jams, and a few nice shots of cats. A friend of mine in attendance had actually seen Bang Tango perform and we were all terribly jealous.
Spider Baby (1967) - Have I seen Spider Baby many times before? Yes. Have I seen Spider Baby in a theater in October before? Also yes. Does this in any way diminish my appreciation for it? Hell no. It's just too damn good. The opening song is amazing, Lon Chaney Jr. is so wonderful and gives this genuinely humane performance, and the kids - played by baby Sid Haig, Beverly Washburn, and Jill Banner are both incredibly fun and tragic. Also, Jack Hill can shoot the hell out of a movie with very little budget to work with. This was a perfect choice for the spook show vibe and also led to a bit where mad descendants of the Merrye family ransacked the theater in the dark. Great stuff.
Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) - The final entry opened with some audience participation as an impromptu screaming contest was held. I get very nervous in front of crowds and am not much of a screamer so I very much commend the brave souls who went for it (and they got cool stuff!). The final film of the day was one I had never seen before which made me happy. I went in completely blind and Slumber Party Massacre II not only had me questioning my own sanity but also my recollection of Slumber Party Massacre which I watched both on late night cable and revisited some years back. I don't love it when a sequel plays the greatest hits from the previous entry to set up the action, but SPMII makes the baller decision to play back events before the movie that definitely did not happen in the first entry. Instead of a more pedestrian maniac killer with a drill, SPMII introduces a quasi-Krueger rockabilly maniac with a drill guitar who appears seemingly at will and terrorizes a new group of kids. There are some excellent physical gore effects, an abundance of 80s meets 50s rock n' roll numbers, conspicuous product placement, and no rules that I could comprehend to any of it. I probably never would have picked a movie like this to watch on my own and that's the joy (and occasionally suffering) of these secret screenings.
Everything wrapped up with a raffle and some seriously cool stuff was given away. The number adjacent to mine was called and I experienced momentary heartbreak, but I was also really stoked for the winners. As advertised, someone did leave with a dead body. I'll keep some mystery around the details but know that The Super Spook Show Spectacular delivers on its promises. I thought this was a terrific event. It ran smoothly, the programming was excellent, and the crowd was into it. Huge thanks to everyone who helped put this together. The Emagine theater is very comfortable and you got TEN glorious minutes between each film so there was considerably less panic to hit the bathroom, get a drink, say hi to people, grab a smoke, etc. I very much appreciate the horror movie events that focus on all-film formats or extra-spooky venues, but this event was truly highlighting fun and it showed. I do not know if this will happen next year, but I will prioritize attending if it does and would absolutely encourage you to do the same. I always tell people how ridiculous the cinema scene is in the Twin Cities compared to the size of the metro and I hope we just added a new tradition we can look forward to.
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