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In case anyone's curious about how the event went....
Despite Snowmageddon hitting us here in New England, the turn-out for Spooktacular VI was very healthy today. Almost 100 monster movie fans turned out for the show, from tiny tots to elder enthusiasts (including my father, who saw FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN in a theater when it first came out). Lots of smiling excited faces before the show, who happily deposited their raffle tickets into the buckets for the various prizes. Up for grabs where two S.R. Bissette sketches (one of Frankenstein, one of the Wolf Man, both won by the same lucky and thrilled patron), a BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: BOOK OF MONSTERS book (signed by co-author S.R. Bissette, who also did a small monster sketch on the bookplate), another book from Mr. Bissette (which was a last-minute donation, so I didn't catch the title as I was scurrying around making last-minute preparations), a Universal Frankenstein Legacy Collection DVD, a MAD MONSTER PARTY DVD, a SUSPIRIA t-shirt and patch from November Fire, a red SATURDAY FRIGHT SPECIAL shirt, and an uncut sheet of 1997 USPS Universal Monster Stamps, with an accompanying Dracula magnet (a blow-up of the Bela stamp from that set).
The Saturday Fright Special merch table was stocked with both the red SFS logo t-shirt as well as the black November Fire character shirt, SFS episode DVDs, and posters for this and past Spooktaculars done by Sean Hartter. A freebie table was also set up with SFS postcards and other promotional items we've gathered since the last Spooktacular.
Once everyone was in their seats, the lights dimmed and The Voice from SFS welcomed the crowd to the show and explained the sequence of events for the show, then announced the start of the Trailerama Spookathon (patent pending).
The curtains then parted and the following clips ran:
"Are There Spies In Your Theater?" 40s Anti-Vandalism Theater Announcement (this one's a hoot)
1968 James Coburn Christmas Seals Appeal (very groovy)
70s "Flick Your Bic" No Smoking Announcement
70s Evening Tides Water Beds Commercial (a Spooktacular tradition!)
THE TERROR Trailer
BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH Trailer
THE SWARM Trailer
TALES FROM THE CRYPT Trailer
THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS Trailer
FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR Trailer (Paul Naschy!)
THE BEAST MUST DIE Trailer
THE SHAGGY D.A. Trailer
MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW Teaser (Nostradamus documentary hosted by Orson Welles that haunted HBO in the 80s for a while)
SUPERBUG Teaser (German LOVE BUG knock off that spawned a series of 4 or 5 films)
MR MAGOO MEETS FRANKENSTEIN Cartoon (in Technicolor!)
After the Trailerama Spookathon, our lovely Spookettes (dressed as a female Frankenstein monster, a Mummy, and two vampire brides) took the stage to draw the winning tickets for the prize giveaways (everyone who attends gets a number of raffle tickets equal to the number of prizes offered -- you can distribute them however you see fit) and call to the stage anyone in costume interested in participating in the costume contest. As I was "the man behind the curtain" (pay no attention to me), I didn't see what the costumes were, but I understand there was a little girl as Pikachu, a young Patriots Tom Brady, and a scary-faced creature (maybe more?) the winner was crowned and won a statuette and a do-it-yourself Mummy Costume kit (a case toilet paper.....Cottonelle--we spare no expense at the Spooktacular).
We then took a 10-minute intermission, after which Scarewolf took the stage to introduce FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN, which then ran uninterrupted. The print looked great, aside from the usual scratchiness around the ends of each reel. It was great to see such a classic/classy film in such a classic/classy theater that likely ran it when it was new. One of the things we love about doing these events at the Colonial is that the theater really helps take you back to those thrilling days of yester-fear, and you can just about imagine that you're sitting in a theater in 1943, seeing this fangtastic feature unfurl for the first time.
Mega kudos to our Spook Team who work long hard hours to get these shows off the ground for nothing other than the love of what we do, the films themselves, and the ability to provide long-time and first-time fans the ability to experience these films as they were meant to be seen: on film, on the big screen.
We should have photos of the event posted to the Saturday Fright Special Facebook site sometime this week.
Thanks to all who made it out, and we hope to see everyone at Spooktacular VII, whenever that may be.
NOW I'll relax for the first time in a long time.....
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