Horror Movies: The Seccond Annual Music Box Massacre in Chicago

The Music Box Theater (3733 N. Southport) in Chicago presented its second annual Music Box Massacre over the weekend of October 14-15. This event is not well publicized outside of the Music Box website and a blurb in the entertainment section the day before the event but still the event was nearly sold out.

What is the Music Box Massacre? To those who are not total film or horror movie buffs it can be described as a sadistic form of torture brought on by one's own willingness to sit through it. For the true horror movie lovers it is a movie marathon that lasts 24 hours, from noon Saturday to noon Sunday, in which no less then 12 movies are shown. Evening showings included vintage horror movie trailers before each movie. In between there are auctions of horror memorabilia, music, costume contests and even appearances by two of the directors who had a film shown.

I wanted to attend this event last year but couldn't find any brave, eager volunteers. This year I was able to snare my very game and very brave nephew to go with me. This added a new dimension to my quest of getting through a 24-hour marathon. As time approached I realized that this 41-year-old body had not stayed awake for 24 straight hours since I was in my teens. I knew that my mind and spirit were willing but wasn't sure the body would follow suit.

I had no doubts my nephew, 15 years my junior, would accomplish this feat with no problem but how silly would I have looked if I didn't make it, especially since I am the movie lover who has since transformed said nephew into the same? Thankfully we both made it the full 24 hours and came out mostly unscathed but definitely looking forward to the long deep sleep that awaited us. Credit must be given not only to us for forging ahead in this battle of sleepless wills but also to the Music Box Theater whose presentation was terrific and will be illustrated in the paragraphs below. It wasn't flawless and since this is only the second year there is room for improvement.

Besides the usual concession items the Music Box also sold cookies and muffins. At 4pm Saturday pizza was brought in and sold in the lobby. Each slice was as big as a quarter size of a whole pizza so the $4 per slice seemed reasonable. Unfortunately only a few pizzas were delivered at a time and if you weren't lucky enough to get a slice right away it was at least an hour wait until the next batch arrived. After trying and failing twice to obtain a slice we gave up and went to a restaurant/bar down the street. Next time the Music Box should make provisions for this by either having more pizza delivered at one time or having something else there to sell as well.

Also the theater stopped selling pizza around 3am and offered nothing after that. It would have behooved the theater to make available for sale some donuts in the morning hours. Due to the chilly weather outside and chilly temperatures in the theater that became more noticeable as the crowds thinned out in the morning hours, why not sell coffee and hot chocolate for non-coffee drinkers such as myself? The Music Box did offer free cans of a power aide type of drink that tasted about as bad as it could taste but seemed to help somewhat. The purchase of a huge cup of soda at 3am may have also had something to do with my getting through the rest of the marathon.

We pulled up to the theater on the brisk, windy Saturday morning at 11am, surprised to see that there were only about 15 people ahead of us. While we stood there and saw people arrive with various items from home we realized that we had made one right decision and one wrong one. The right decision was bringing pillows with us to sit on. Virtually everyone had one with him or her and that seemed a no-brainer. I can imagine a number of you reading this probably clenched your glutial muscles at the mere mention of having to sit for 24 hours. As I will explain it wasn't all that bad. Our one wrong decision, and one that won't be repeated should we return next year, was to not bring any snack foods with us. Knowing the high price of any concession stand item at any theater, we should have known better but to live is to learn. We would have to count on the Music Box to satiate our munchies as they hit us.

After picking up our passes and wristbands from will call (or you could purchase tickets at the box office if available for five dollars more) we headed into the auditorium to get our seats and then went back to the lobby where there were tables of horror film memorabilia for sale. Everything from shirts to buttons to books to even the rarest of horror movies on DVD and VHS were displayed. One table was reserved for free give a ways including posters of new horror movies, t-shirts and buttons. Despite my salivating desires to spend as much money as possible I held my wallet in check and only purchased a t-shirt that was not part of the free giveaway.

Noon was quickly upon us and the marathon began with a showing of the 1921 German silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" with live organ accompaniment. This was the first time I had ever seen a silent movie with the live accompaniment and must say it added another dimension to the obviously cheap but still creepy movie. Next up was the classic 1935 "Bride of Frankenstein" which, I discovered, didn't quite hold up as well as I had remembered. Anyone who has seen Mel Brooks' classic "Young Frankenstein" will, no doubt, be reminded of it during this film and that doesn't help.

The third offering for the afternoon was "It Came From Outer Space," one of the many 1950's low budget horror films about an alien invasion in an unsuspecting desert community where the hero knows the truth and no one believes him. The highlight of this film was its presentation in 3-D with the cardboard glasses supplied upon entry. The final film of the afternoon was "Masque of the Red Death" starring Vincent Price in one of the many Roger Corman films from the 60's adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe Story. It was during this film that we ventured out to dinner believing this was the best opportunity to miss an hour.

The evening festivities began with an appearance by director Joe (Gremlins; The Howling) Dante who was there to present his Masters of Horror segment titled "Homecoming" followed by a screening of his directorial debut "Piranha," a 1978 rip-off of "Jaws." Dante jokingly reminded the audience that "Piranha" was his first film and it would become immediately clear he had no idea what he was doing. "Homecoming" was an extremely entertaining black comedy segment about soldiers involved in an unnamed and unnecessary present day war that, after being killed, come back to life as zombies so they can vote in the Presidential election - against the President (also unnamed). Once they cast their ballots the soldiers drop dead. It's a searing yet very funny take on the evils of our country being part of a war we have no business being part of.

It was a highlight of the festival. "Piranha" is exactly as expected, a rip-off of "Jaws" but done so in an entertaining enough low budget manner to be fun. After the showings Dante appeared on stage for a 40 minute Q&A session with the host of the festivities and took questions from the audience. Once completed Dante retreated to the lobby where he happily signed autographs for free and posed for pictures. Next up was an appearance by director John (Bang The Drum Slowly; Weeds) Hancock who was there to present his 1971 horror film "Let's Scare Jessica To Death" about a woman who moves into a house in the country on the East Coast.

With her husband and family friend in tow she is trying to recover from mental issues and soon finds her fantasies and reality blurring together when they meet a transient woman who has been living in the house while it has been vacant. Unfortunately the movie moves very slowly and has the continuous problem of never clearing up what is real and what isn't resulting in a confusing mess. It was easily the worst film in the marathon though Hancock provided an entertaining Q&A and also signed autographs. The Saturday evening festivities ended with a heavy metal band taking the stage for a 20-minute set. Unfortunately the band was so loud and the song lyrics so inaudible that I took refuge outside for some fresh air.

When Midnight arrived a costume contest was held. Contestants went up front and introduced themselves and were judged by the applause of the audience. This seemed to be hastily put together as there were only 7 contestants and the prizes were nothing more then the memorabilia that had yet to be auctioned off. The first movie after the costume contest was John Carpenter's "The Thing" which was the highlight of the festival judging by crowd size and reaction. For the first time in the event the theater appeared to be sold out though it should be noted it was filled near capacity from the start.

The audience cheered Kurt Russell's name when it appeared on screen and the names of several crewmen with the notable exception of writer Bill Lancaster. My nephew believed the crowd was getting a bit slaphappy but I believe the applause was in appreciation of the men who helped create a terrific movie. Next up was a 1986 film called "Night of the Creeps," previously unheard of by this writer, about a man in 1959 who is attacked by aliens (resembling large worms) who is then cryogenically frozen until 1986 when two college frat boys release him as part of a prank they end up chickening out on anyway. The aliens are loose infecting any college kid they can find. The film has a terrific sense of humor about its silly premise and the writer/director, Fred Dekker, plays it to the hilt. It's silly but fun.

The next was a 1979 Italian horror movie called "Zombie" which is just what the title says. A small island is taken over by zombies and it is up to our heroes to try and stop them before they can get to the United States. "Zombie" doesn't live up to even the lesser films of zombie filmmaking guru George A. Romero but does contain a scene where a zombie fights with a shark that is a highlight. The scene is obviously not faked and is remarkable to watch. Investigating later I discovered the shark's handler got into the zombie make-up to do the scene. The film also contains a couple of shockingly brutal deaths that had the crowd cheering - this film gave them what they came for. The last film of the wee hours was "Friday the 13th Part 2" and if you have ever seen any in the long series then I need not have to tell you about this one.

When "Friday 2" ended we went out for some air only to be shocked back into reality by the re-appearance of the sun. It hit home just how long we had been there and that five and a half hours remained. With the chilly air serviceably aiding us in our fight against sleep we trekked back inside for another episode of Masters of Horror called "Imprint." This Japanese import was considered too sick and violent by Showtime to air so we were one of the lucky few to see it (though I do believe it is included on the DVD of the entire season).

Without getting into any details I will say that Showtime had every reason to ban this from their network. It contains scenes that make the words 'sick' and 'disgusting' seem tame. Many people, my nephew included, walked out before the end and remained out until it was over. I sat and watched in utter amazement that there are so called "creative minds" at work on projects such as this.

The episode was devoid of any wit or humor to offset the violence and ultimately pandered to those who enjoy out of control violence. It was the only time (and this is a rarity) where I turned away from the screen. Amazingly some of the crowd clapped at the end while most of the rest of us sat in stunned disbelief. The next movie was a 1975 Italian film called "Deep Red" directed by Dario Argento, the king of Italian horror cinema. "Deep Red" tells the story of a composer trying to solve a series of murders that ultimately leads him in a direct path with the killer who is stalking the composer. Argento has an obvious flare with the camera and has fun with the gruesome images he presents. It was an audience favorite judging by the applause, though I should add each and every presentation was greeted with applause and the start and finish.

The host of the festivities mistakenly informed the audience this print was Argento's full and un-cut version at 126 minutes. While I have no way of knowing if this was Argento's intended un-cut version having never seen it before, I can say that this version came in at 100 minutes. No mention of this was made after the movie. The final film was the John Landis favorite "An American Werewolf in London" from 1981. It was a fitting way to end the marathon with a choice that has long been a favorite of fans of the genre.

When leaving the theater with about 80 other brave souls who had made it the 24 hours with us (I should add that a few visits to the bathroom in the course of the morning provided some chuckles as I witnessed several people sound asleep in their seats) I was struck by how quickly the time passed and how little soreness I felt at the time. Kudos to the Music Box Theater for a first rate presentation and to the schedule maker who wisely showed no movies over 105 minutes long with a 20-30 minute intermission in between each film to allow the audience to stretch their legs and make sure certain muscles under the lower back didn't get too sore.

I don't know how many people actually made it the full 24 hours without falling asleep beside my nephew and I, and I imagine more people would admit to it then really did. I do know that this 41 year old came out of it with no lingering effects and fully hope to attend the Music Box Massacre next year. If they continue booking a good mixture of silents, vintage classics, 1950's 3-D films, modern classics and the occasional tasteless but bloody fare, along with booking directors (how about some actors next year?) to appear and take advice from attendees such as myself, there is no reason to believe this can't become an October ritual for years to come. Please work on those donuts, fellas.