Dusk Till Dawn: Love
Horror marathons with a theme.
Welcome back to another month of Dusk Till Dawn - our (fictional) all-night horror movie marathons!
Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Some went to nice dinners, folks like us watched horror movies.
This month’s marathon is all about love. After all, isn’t that what all horror movies are about anyway?
We are, of course, watching everything on 35mm - unless we couldn’t get a print.
And the concession stand is open all night!
7:00p-8:45p: King Kong (1933)
A film crew discovers the “eighth wonder of the world,” a giant prehistoric ape, and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.
trailers: King Kong (1976), King Kong (2005)
It's a tale as old a time, a song as old as rhyme, it was Beauty killed the Beast.
We're going to start the night with one of those "this is the movie that started it all" movies. We're not diving into romantic love just yet, but King Kong does feature primitive love, attraction, care and devotion.
This will rock on the big screen and that famous final line will send us on our way to the rest of the night.
8:50p-10:30p: Spontaneous (2020)
When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.
trailers: Underwater (2020), Love and Monsters (2020)
Spontaneous came out in October 2020, so, as you can guess, nobody saw it. It also has one of the worst posters I've ever seen, which probably didn't help. Let's give it some big-screen love.
This story about exploding star-crossed lovers is both as funny and as dark as it sounds, but it's not really horror - it's just gross. Luckily for us, we're still just warming up.
10:35p-12:05a: My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Twenty years ago in the sleepy mining town of Valentine Bluffs, a fatal mining disaster occurred on Valentine’s Day while some of the crew was decorating for a party. The sole survivor of the accident killed the remaining crewmembers and warned the town not to celebrate Valentine’s Day again. When a group of teenagers decides to defy that order, a murderous maniac in mining gear begins dispatching townsfolk in bloody and creative ways.
trailers: Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978)
This is our primetime slot, so we will fill it with our most obvious pick.
It’s a classic for a reason, it’s dope. Here's a little something I wrote about it a few years ago when the movie celebrated the big 4-0:
My Bloody Valentine boasts many genre tropes we are familiar with today, but had not yet become reliable back in ’81. The most obvious being that as soon as you start having sex, you’re dead.
They’re a gang of horny youths and it’s the Valentine’s Day dance in the small town of Valentine Bluffs, so there’s obviously a lot of (hinted) premarital sex before and during the party. In this film, they usually don’t even get beyond pulling out the protection before they are offed.
The movie is never unpredictable...but to be fair, slashers are hardly ever unpredictable. They need to do one thing — scare you. And this one delivers.
12:10a-2:15a: Possession (1981)
A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.
trailers: My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), Deadly Blessing (1981)
I have a confession to make: I've never seen Possession.
I know, I know - it's one of my most embarrassing cinematic blind spots. I had the opportunity to see it at a repertory screening a few years ago and missed it. I still regret that.
I'm going to selfishly program it in the midnight slot because there are no guarantees I'm staying awake after this.
2:20a-3:45a: Frankenhooker (1990)
A medical school dropout loses his fiancée in a tragic lawnmower incident and decides to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, he was only able to save her head, so he goes to the red light district in the city and lures prostitutes into a hotel room so he can collect body parts to reassemble her.
trailers: Re-Animator (1985), Poor Things (2023)
If you really love your significant other, would you kill and mutilate prostitutes to franken-recreate them in the case of their lawnmower-chopped death?
Frankenhooker is obviously very silly, which is why we're watching it in the middle of the night. But it's also got some interesting commentary on drugs, sex work, and post-Reagan politics. Who would have thought!
3:50a-5:15a: Haunted Honeymoon (1986)
Radio personalities Larry Abbot and Vickie Pearle are stars of a mystery show. Since they announced their engagement, Larry has been plagued by speech problems and, seeking out an unconventional cure, he returns to his boyhood home, a mansion in the countryside, bringing Vickie along. Larry reunites with numerous family members, but discovers that there are sinister things afoot within the walls of the creepy estate.
trailers: The Private Eyes (1980), Young Frankenstein (1974)
The truest love we will see tonight is that between Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, seen here in her final film appearance. Wilder wrote and directed this movie so he could make a movie with Gilda just after their wedding.
About that writing, Wilder said, "I knew that I wanted it to be not a parody and not a satire, but to re-create a comedy-chiller," and that's exactly what this is. Dom DeLuise in drag is silly, sure, but the movie is also plenty creepy enough to claim a spot in the waking-up portion of the night.
5:20a-7:05a: A Perfect Getaway (2009)
For their honeymoon, newlyweds Cliff and Cydney head to the tropical islands of Hawaii. While journeying through the paradisaical countryside the couple encounters Kale and Cleo, two disgruntled hitchhikers and Nick and Gina, two wild but well-meaning spirits who help guide them through the lush jungles. The picturesque waterfalls and scenic mountainsides quickly give way to terror when Cliff and Cydney learn of a grisly murder that occurred nearby and realize that they’re being followed by chance acquaintances that suspiciously fit the description of the killers.
trailers: Couples Retreat (2009), The Rental (2020)
As the sun begins to rise, let's watch some daytime horror. This movie about a honeymoon gone wrong screams 2009: it's obvious, has video game-style editing in the climax, and stars Steve Zahn. But it's fun enough and a wild ride that'll energize us through one more before we head home.
Thanks for coming, folks! Don’t forget - people who show their wristbands at the box office get $5 off next month’s marathon! See you then!
Credit: Each plot synopsis comes from Letterboxd via TMDb.