If the thought of sitting in a dark room for 24 hours watching scary movies gets your blood boiling (in a good way), the annual Massacre Horror Movie Marathon could be the highlight of your Halloween season. Beginning this Saturday at noon, the Patio Theater in Portage Park will be filled with fans of slasher flicks, creature features and everything in-between. “There are a lot of great horror movies that don’t get screened anywhere,” says Massacre co-organizer Kelly Mitchell, who helped us pick the films that you shouldn't miss out on this weekend.
Black Sunday (1960)
A Satanic priestess returns from the dead as a vampire 200 years after being burned at the stake in this shockingly bloody (for its time) black and white movie. “This is Italy's version of a Universal horror film,” says Mitchell “The tone, the framing and the utter dread it conveys are phenomenal.”
They Came From Within (1975)
Before he directed body horror classic like Videodrome and The Fly, David Cronenberg created this rarely screened low-budget flick about parasites that turn their hosts into sex-crazed maniacs. “This film was actually funded by the Canadian government,” says Mitchell. “[They] found the finished film to be appalling.” Audiences responded to the visceral thrills, making it the most profitable Canadian movie to date in 1975.
Inferno (1980)
Propelled by a prog-rock soundtrack, this colorful thriller follows a man searching for his missing sister, who lived in a New York City apartment that once belonged to a witch. Italian director Dario Argento worked on George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead before shooting this film, which may account for its campy scares, gory effects and surreal tone.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Instead of supernatural terrors, director John Carpenter’s sophomore film—about a cop and a convicted murderer facing off against a heavily armed gang—focuses on more grounded human horrors. “In typical Carpenter fashion, the lines between good and evil are constantly blurred,” says Mitchell.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
After being killed off in a previous firm, hockey masked murder Jason Voorhees is resurrected (by lightning!) in this self-aware sequel, which satirizes horror genre conventions—a practice echoed by the Scream and Scary Movie franchises. “This film knows what it is and makes fun of itself in a loving manner,” says Mitchell.
The Massacre Horror Movie Marathon takes over the Patio Theater on Saturday, October 22 at noon and runs until Sunday, October 23 at noon. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
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