Music Box Massacre Part 3
This weekend Rick, Joe 2, Pickles and myself met up with Jeremy, Louis & Jason B in Chicago for Music Box Massacre Part 3 - a 24 hour horror movie marathon. The marathon was hosted by Rusty Nails and featured the Coffin Banger, Chicago’s only monster music DJ. It started at 12pm on Saturday and would go until 12pm on Sunday. Fourteen movies back to back, with a few old school trailers thrown in between. Here’s the set list in order of appearance:
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
Freaks (1932)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Equinox (1971)
Peeping Tom (1960)
The Monster Squad (1987)
Demons 2 (1987)
Videodrome (1983)
Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)
The Raven (1963)
It’s Alive (1974)
Deathdream (1974)
The Demonology of Desire (short film by editor of Rue Morgue magazine)
The Shining (1980)
And I’m not talking DVD’s being projected on a big screen, these were the original theatrical film prints (minus the short film The Demonology of Desire). They started the marathon with The Cat and the Canary, a classic b&w silent film. The best part of this movie was that there was live organ music to accompany it. Talk about kicking it old school. This was definitely one of my highlights of the marathon. The organist was amazing and by the applause he received at the end of the movie, everyone else felt the same way.
Being able to see prints of Videodrome, Demons 2, Peeping Tom, Monster Squad and Halloween 3 was just unreal. Most of the prints were in really good shape too, especially Halloween 3. The print for Deathdream was really red but was still cool to see this Bob Clark classic on the big screen. Equinox had us all cracking up too many times to count. I’ve gotta get a copy of that flick. I’d seen Freaks on the big screen already at the 24 hour marathon in Ohio a few years back but it was cool to see it again.
Fred Dekker (director of Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps, Robocop 3) was on hand and did a Q&A session with Rusty Nails after they played Monster Squad. Coralina Catalina Tassoni (actress who was in Demons 2, Opera and Mother of Tears) was also on hand and was giving away free pictures and autographs in the lobby. What a sweetie. She also did a Q&A session with Rusty Nails after Demons 2.
I managed to stay awake for all the films, only nodding off for a few minutes here and there towards the end of the marathon. The worst part was my lower back was killing me and being crammed in those theatre seats was not helping. Luckily Jason came to my rescue with ibuprofen. The only bad part of the marathon was some punk kid and three chics took our good seats during one of the breaks. After Jeremy tried to get him to move, I stepped in and went back and forth with this dude for like 5 minutes. He just wasn’t moving. Most of the seats had our stuff in them but he moved some of them down into other seats to make room for himself and the 3 other people that were with him. I came really close to punching the asshole in the face but knew if I did that I would be kicked out. We talked to Rusty Nails about the situation but he wasn’t any help as he didn’t want to make a scene. We managed to eventually find some better seats after the next movie so it was only a temporary let down. Rick & I kept hoping we would see the asshole outside so we could show him how we really felt. With little sleep and tons of caffeine, I was ready to throw down.
From the moment I woke up Saturday morning to the time I got home and crashed on Sunday, I was up for just over 36 hours. It was a great time and I look forward to next years massacre.
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Aw, sorry I missed you in Chicago, but I doubt you had time for anything beyond the movies. Glad you got to check out the Music Box, though, as it’s one of my favorite Chicago spots.