Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horror-Thon Part IV (PART ONE)
I. THE BEGINNING
On a dark and stormy night in late October I was getting drunk on PBRs in a dingy Philadelphia bar. Despite the horror-movie ambiance of inclement weather, poor lighting, and unkempt, zombie-like patrons, there was nothing happening worth writing about for Video Ferox — nothing, that is, until I overheard one slovenly patron disclose to another a closely guarded secret concerning Exhumed Films’ upcoming 24 hour Horror-thon.
The dudes from Exhumed Films
Back in the late nineties when Exhumed Films started screening old horror movies at the Harwan Theater in Mt Ephraim, New Jersey, I was a pimply-faced, teenage horror-movie fanatic who was continuously one failed math test away from never being allowed out again. The dread of missing a single Exhumed show pretty much kept my grades above a solid D for the duration of my high school career and eventually led to my graduating in the traditional four years.
A decade later, thanks to college, poverty, the shifting priorities of becoming an adult, and a pervasive lameness, I had dropped completely out of the Exhumed scene. The gossip I overheard that night might have been awesome had I not become such a faithless fan.
The Horror-thon's humble beginnings.
In all those years as a dedicated Exhumed Films audience member, there was always one particular film that I wanted to see on the big screen. Whenever Exhumed spokesmen Dan and Joe would announce a surprise feature I would get my hopes up, like a lot of people in the audience, only to hear, “Don’t get excited. We can’t show that one.”
The proverbial cat that came out of the proverbial bag that drunken night was that they would finally be screening this film. It might as well have been a dead cat though, since I didn’t have a ticket and the show had been sold out for months. The insult garnishing this particular injury was that if I had stuck with them over the years, I would certainly have had a ticket to this, their fourth annual horror-thon.
I wasn’t completely dissuaded though. There were still a few days left. I needed a ticket to that show. But how?
I went home and rewatched my copy of WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY for inspiration and tips. I didn’t think eating chocolate was gonna help, so instead I asked my guardian spirit to do something — anything — to get me into that show. My guardian spirit quickly responded by shattering a friend of a friend of a ticket-owning friend’s kneecap.
Score!
I was going to the show . . . but would the overheard drunken gossip prove accurate? Would I see that film?
Stay tuned for PART TWO to find out!
Tags: 24 hour horror-thon, Exhumed Films