Dusk Till Dawn: Places
Horror marathons with a theme.
Welcome to a new month of our (fictional) horror movie marathons.
The first marathon we ever did was programmed entirely with titles containing first names. This time around, we're doing it with names of places and locations in the title. Why? I don't know. I guess we're moving our way through the definition of nouns: people, places, and things. (Should we do a marathon about things? What would that mean? We're definitely doing a marathon about things...)
As always, titles are a secret until they start playing. And we're screening everything on 35mm, unless otherwise noted.
Oh! And we're out of Sprite. Sorry.
7:00p-9:00p: The Amityville Horror (1979)
George Lutz and his wife Kathleen, move into their Long Island dream house with their children only for their lives to be turned into a hellish nightmare. The legacy of a murder committed in the house gradually affects the family and a priest is brought in to try and exorcise the demonic presence from their home.
trailers: Amityville Karen (2022), Amityville Bigfoot (2024)
"Amityville" is perhaps the most recognizable of horror locations. In a 2023 video where they examined the trend of "watchbait," the boys at Red Letter Media lumped the word in with the same baity keywords like "shark," "exorcism," and "ouija."
If it were the middle of the night, maybe we'd watch some of that Tubi original crap. But it's going to be a long night, so let's start with the original Amityville film. I haven't seen this movie in a long time and I'm not exactly sure how it holds up, but it will, at least, play like a warmup for the rest of our festivities.
9:05p-10:25p: Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
The Mystery Gang reunite and visit Moonscar Island, a remote island with a dark secret. Daphne wants more than just a villain in a costume, and they get more than they ever expected.
trailers: Zombie Lake (1981), Scooby-Doo (2002)
I've been known to play some Scooby-Doo in this slot, while it's still early and we don't want to get too crazy yet.
But if I was only trying to keep it chill, I wouldn't be playing this film. Not only is it arguably the best Doo film, it's scary as hell. When it calls itself Zombie Island, it makes a promise and keeps it. No silly masks here. It's a great movie.
This was a direct-to-tape film, so maybe we'll project a VCR.
10:30p-12:00a: Zombieland (2009)
Columbus has made a habit of running from what scares him. Tallahassee doesn’t have fears. If he did, he’d kick their ever-living ass. In a world overrun by zombies, these two are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.
trailers: Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Let's have a little zombie double feature in the middle of our all-nighter.
I have to be honest, this movie isn't my favorite. I should like it, but young and career-unsure Emma Stone is basically the only thing that stands out for me. But this isn't about me, it's about the crowd and I think this will play really well in this primetime slot. It will not only be the last time we have everybody awake, but some people will even slip out before midnight tolls. Let's leave them with a fun time.
12:05a-1:35a: The New York Ripper (1982)
A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.
trailers: The House by the Cemetery (1981), Manhattan Baby (1982)
It's 1980s New York as told through the eyes of Lucio Fulci, so it's nothing but sex and murder. A lot has been said about the killer doing a Donald Duck impression every time he stabs somebody and that's because it's totally ridiculous. But by the time the movie reaches its climax, it's way creeper than you could've imagined. It feels like Fulci saying, "Look at what I can do. They're laughing now..."
The perfect way to transition from midnight movie crowd rowdiness to actual late night scares.
1:40a-3:10a: Dead End Drive-In (1986)
In the future, a health nut and his tag-along girlfriend become trapped in a drive-in theater that has become a concentration camp for outcast youths.
trailers: The Warriors (1979), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
It's now officially the middle of the night, so let's go with a movie that plays a lot with that nighttime setting. It's a movie about being stuck overnight in a dystopian drive-in theater (which I think will be fun to watch a big screen...inside...with air conditioning) and it has a lot of fun with its crazy setting, the despair associated with late nights, and plenty of light bright contrasting neons.
I want this movie to play more into its Warriors tendencies, but nothing can be The Warriors.
3:15a-4:55a: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.
trailers: The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Psycho II (1983)
Let's keep the camp train rolling with Tobe Hooper's black comedy sequel to his horror masterpiece. I think this will play really well in the middle of the night for folks who need a little pick-me-up to stay awake and will forcibly keep everybody else awake with the incessant screams and chainsaw vrooming.
There's also a crazy chili cookoff sequence in the film, so maybe we will serve a late-night snack. If we're lucky, somebody will barf.
5:00a-6:45a: Sleepy Hollow (1999)
New York detective Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in which the victims are found beheaded. But the locals believe the culprit to be none other than the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman.
trailers: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980)
I love the Sleepy Hollow story and the excellent production design, Burton’s clear vision, and Depp’s surprisingly strong performance make this the scariest version we have. I think this marathon has something for everybody and if you're sick of the silly camp, we can get spooky and serious as we begin to wrap this thing up.
I think it will be a real crowd-pleaser and as the clock nears 7 in the morning, some folks will think we're wrapping things early for quick breakfasts before passing out in their comfy beds.
But I have one more surprise up my sleeve. No trailers, we're gonna jump right into another silly movie and blow right past the typical end time…
6:50a-8:10a: Lake Placid (1999)
When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for “Crocs”, and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals…and people!
Forget The Asylum or SyFy channel originals (Sharknado, for example), Lake Placid beat those "so bad it's good...but on purpose" flicks to the punch by a full decade, proving that it's possible to pull off. It's a situational comedy at heart, a buddy cop (except it's a foursome and only half of them are cops - a buddy cop/paleontologist/billionaire? I don't know, I tried...) that totally knows what it's doing when it features a foul-mouthed Betty White, a CG crocodile that seems to get bigger in every scene, and lines like "Obviously some asshole in Hong Kong flushed him down the toilet."
Perfect for summer, mosquitos and all.
Head out into that morning sun. We’ll see you next time.
Credit: Each plot synopsis comes from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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