My Opera2005 in Review: Horror Movies, by Alex Daoundakis
Sunday, December 18, 2005 8:13:08 PM
One of our most discerning and critical moviegoers, Alex can be spotted at almost all of our horror movies. Of course, Alex’s big month at the Pioneer is October, when we do the month-long blowout of “horror, terror, and general mayhem.” That month, we should have just blocked off a row and set up a cot for Alex to sleep on, since he was at the theater so much (though Israel Rodriguez would have needed his own row as well). That said, Alex did not attend most of our “Vampire Movie All-Nighter.” As evidence of his encyclopedic viewing habits, Alex skipped the first five vampire movies, which he had seen before and didn’t want to see again, then arrived at the Pioneer at 5:45AM for the final: NEW YORK VAMPIRE. We are always delighted when Alex comes by to criticize or praise the movies we show.
Over the course of this past year, I have seen twenty-six feature length movies at the Pioneer. That comes out to one every other week. Of them, I have watched, almost exclusively, all horror films. Of them, some were good, some bad.
The addition of the Fangoria-sponsored Monster Mondays has increased my ability to view horror films. The last film they showed, JOSHUA, was the most grotesque movie I have ever seen, and I have seen about twenty-five hundred horror films. When leaving the theater, I felt queasy.
I am not going to waste your time or mine going over the negative points of the year; it was bad enough to live them. The last thing I want to do is recount them, and I’m sure you don’t want to read about them.
So aside from JOSHUA, which was a good film, COOKERS and THE DARK HOURS were two really good horror films I saw at the Pioneer. I would especially like to note that in THE DARK HOURS, you will see the most graphic self-mutilation of a person’s finger ever put down on film. I highly recommend them.
I look forward, next year, to seeing more horror films at the Pioneer, hopefully some of them vintage. In NYC, the Pioneer is the only place to go to see off-beat horror films. The Anthology Film Archives does show some, but not nearly the same volume.
Over the course of this past year, I have seen twenty-six feature length movies at the Pioneer. That comes out to one every other week. Of them, I have watched, almost exclusively, all horror films. Of them, some were good, some bad.
The addition of the Fangoria-sponsored Monster Mondays has increased my ability to view horror films. The last film they showed, JOSHUA, was the most grotesque movie I have ever seen, and I have seen about twenty-five hundred horror films. When leaving the theater, I felt queasy.
I am not going to waste your time or mine going over the negative points of the year; it was bad enough to live them. The last thing I want to do is recount them, and I’m sure you don’t want to read about them.
So aside from JOSHUA, which was a good film, COOKERS and THE DARK HOURS were two really good horror films I saw at the Pioneer. I would especially like to note that in THE DARK HOURS, you will see the most graphic self-mutilation of a person’s finger ever put down on film. I highly recommend them.
I look forward, next year, to seeing more horror films at the Pioneer, hopefully some of them vintage. In NYC, the Pioneer is the only place to go to see off-beat horror films. The Anthology Film Archives does show some, but not nearly the same volume.
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