Most viewed - The Nightmares at Studio 35 (1999-2003)
Other Paper post-Marathon article for 2002 event459 viewsFor my money, this was the best article written about the Studio 35 Marathons. It perfectly captured the ebb and flow of sitting in a theater for 24 hours, and was entertaining to boot. Author Rob Harvilla now writes for The Village Voice. (Neff)
Flier for 2002 Marathon383 views*So yes, this was the year that we took the plunge and briefly entered the Bruce Campbell business. After the strong showing from Joe Bob Briggs the year before, we had our first sold out Marathon (tickets were gone a month before the event) with the EVIL DEAD star, who was touring the country to promote his autobiography IF CHINS COULD KILL: CONFESSIONS OF A B-MOVIE ACTOR. It wasn't always easy.
We contacted Bruce's booking agent six months before the event, and everything seemed to be going swimingly. Then, a few weeks before the Marathon, several local press outlets began asking us why they couldn't get in touch with the booking agent to arrange an interview. Then we couldn't in touch with the booking agent. Turns out that she and Bruce had experienced a falling out, and he was temporarily handling his own bookings. We learned this from one of the local papers, who had contacted St. Martin's Press (who published IF CHINS COULD KILL and were handling the book end of the tour.) Finally, less than a week before the event, I spoke with Bruce on the phone, and we set everything up.
*In our search for premieres, we came upon DOG SOLDIERS, a well-received hit on the festival circuit. I contacted the production company to request a screening, and they immediately replied that we could do so and that producer David Allen would also attend. I sheepishly told them that we couldn't afford to pay for another guest (the Bruce Campbell business being a bit...expensive), but she reassured me that David and his co-producer Brian O'Toole would pay their own way.
Cut to the Marathon. David and Brian arrived early, intent on staying for much of the event. When Bruce arrived, David tried to give him a DOG SOLDIERS flashlight as a souvenir, but the esteemed Mr. Campbell basically blew him off. Nice. I was slightly mortified that our B-movie icon was pulling rank on an independent filmmaker, especially one who was a genuinely nice guy. After the incident, I profusely apologized to David. He was a great sport about the whole thing, and it thrilled me to no ends to see DOG SOLDIERS resonate with the audience. Hours after Mr. Campbell had departed for his hotel room, David and Brian regaled the crowd with a 45-minute Q+A and prize session, and they ended up staying until near the end of the Marathon. In their own way, they stole the show from Bruce.
*The Costume Contest was won (once again) by Geoff and Jeremy Glass, who dressed as ROAD WARRIOR's Lord Humongous and his toady. (Neff)
Interior of 1999 program364 views*For the Surprise Horror Classic, we let the audience vote on a selection of films to which we had access. They voted for the 1972 Amicus TALES FROM THE CRYPT. De Palma's CARRIE placed a narrow second in the voting, but it would have its day in court a few years later.
*The winners of the Costume Contest were the world famous Glass brothers, who dressed as an evil Santa Claus beating up a little boy. Second place went to Marathon stalwart Rick Hougland, who came as the WWF's Mankind.
*ROCKY HORROR was a gamble, to be sure. With the closing of the Southland Mall theater, the local ROCKY cast had been displaced for several months, and since I knew a few of them I figured that they could have a one night home and we could have an added attraction for our new event. We actually had a decent amount of pro-rated walkup business just for ROCKY, and even the regular Marathon crowd seemed to enjoy themselves. A few months later, Studio 35 would welcome the cast as a permanent attraction, a status they still hold to this day.
*On a side note, I was horrendously ill with a sinus infection during the entirety of the Marathon, so my demeanor and general emceeing skills were quite fried around the edges. (Neff)
Online ad for 2001 Marathon362 viewsDesigned by Todd Babbert
Bruce Campbell appearance info flier/original past-up sheet359 viewsAs part of entering the Bruce Campbell business, we were given a set of restrictions for the autograph signing by the man himself. These restrictions included the infamous "only official Bruce Campbell merchandise will be signed" edict. Sheesh. Thus, we gave this mini-flier to every ticket buyer upon purchase of their pass. (Neff)
Paste-up for 1999 Marathon t-shirt348 views*This was the first Marathon t-shirt I ever designed. Even though I considered it about half-successful in artistic terms, it sold out in the first half of the event. Subsequent t-shirts (which I considered to be much more artistically successful) often struggled to sell out. So goes the fickle finger of fate.
*The back of the shirt featured the slimy skull artwork from SQUIRM, and the tag line "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Studio." This was, of course, a nod to the iconic line from DAWN OF THE DEAD. However, it was also a tip o' the skull cap to Bruce's past work, as he had included the same line (with "Drexel" in place of "Studio") on the flier for the 1st NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREXEL 24-Hour Horror Marathon.(Neff)
Paste-up for rare teaser flier for 1999 Marathon335 viewsIn the fall of 1999, there was a plan in place for a third edition of the SHOCKTOBERFEST event (to be titled SON OF SHOCKTOBERFEST) at the Drexel Grandview. Unfortunately, that plan fell apart. I had been employed at Studio 35 Cinema since early in the year, so I pitched then-owner John Conti the idea of resurrecting the 24-Hour format. Hence, from the ashes of the all-nighter rose the classically formatted Marathon we all know an love. The catch? SON OF SHOCKTOBERFEST fell apart at the beginning of October, so to give ourselves enough prep and promo time we scheduled the Marathon for the second weekend of November. This teaser flier was distributed in limited amounts before the full lineup was booked. (Neff)
Interior of 2001 program335 viewsAh, DON'T LOOK NOW. So here's the story: when we originally booked this Nicolas Roeg classic, my intent was to play it in a mid-afternoon slot. However, we subsequently booked CREATURE in 3-D and NOSFERATU with live music, so that slot was taken. Then, we scored the two premieres, so they went in the prime time slots after Joe Bob introduced CARRIE. As a result, DON'T LOOK NOW was pushed back to the early morning hours...which became the middle of the night after the natural delays of any good Marathon. Needless to say, the time slot killed the crowd. It's too bad, as I've spoken with several people that saw it wide awake later and quite enjoyed it. Maybe it will reappear at a more reasonable hour one of these days. (Neff)
Interior of 2001 program330 views*At the time, Kathy Saunders was a veteran member of the ROCKY HORROR cast, which had settled into a regular run at Studio 35. Her husband, Mike, appeared as the dead body at the top of the stairs in NIGHT OF THE LIVING BREAD.
*THE TEENAGE UFO PSYCHO MONSTER SEX SHOW was a 90-minute trailer compilation from Hollywood sleaze maven Johnny Legend, which had been touring the West Coast fora few months. Johnny pitched it to me as "the history of Western civilization", everything from a Warner Brothers cartoon to rare exploitation trailers. I didn't realize that some of those trailers featured (ahem) nudity, so there were a few shocked reactions during this dinner hour screening. One woman scolded me with "I didn't come to a Horror Marathon to see sex and nudity!" Let the irony roll. In any case, one of the highlights of the screening for me was standing in the back of the theater with Weird Love Maker Mark Gunderson when the trailer for THE WEIRD LOVE MAKERS unexpectedly hit the screen. You can't script moments like that, folks. (Neff)
