Poster design by Justin Miller
Last year, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater hosted Halloween-A-Thon in which the first seven Halloween films were screened over three days. I thought at the time that this was going to be a one-time deal, but with so many horror films set in and around the spooky holiday, it turned out to be just the first in what has become an annual event.
Last year, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater hosted Halloween-A-Thon in which the first seven Halloween films were screened over three days. I thought at the time that this was going to be a one-time deal, but with so many horror films set in and around the spooky holiday, it turned out to be just the first in what has become an annual event.
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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
Like the previous event, Halloween-A-Thon II leans pretty heavily on its namesake franchise, but the lineup has added Night Of The Demons and Trick 'R Treat into the mix. Although the banner states that the latter was a digital presentation, we actually got to see it projected from what is possibly the only 35mm print of the film in existence.
The snack bar was all decked out for Halloween. If you didn't make it out to the lot this weekend, I'm pretty sure that they'll keep them up throughout the rest of the season.
Mama Beth brought back The Haddonfield Horseshoe as the special concession food of the weekend. It's an open-face cheeseburger served on garlic toast with a topping of french fries, nacho cheese, and a dash of hot sauce. You'll want to grab a fork and some extra napkins for this one, but it's definitely worth the effort.
Sam's Candy Corn Drink was the special beverage for the weekend. It's very sweet, but the Halloween candy flavor was a perfect accompaniment to the night.
There were a lot of folks in costume on the lot over the weekend, including Cy as Sam from Trick 'R Treat, Tom and Jen in Silver Shamrock masks, and Louie as Michael Myers.
Night One - Friday, October 11
The first movie of Friday night was the third movie of the Halloween franchise and the one that people tend to either love or hate, Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. This is the one that has nothing to do with Michael Myers. The movie does technically include the character for a couple of seconds, but it's on a television screen in which the first Halloween film is playing.
The second movie of the night is another film that I'm thankful for having a second opportunity to see at the Mahoning, but for a completely different reason. Night Of The Demons was the first movie that was played on Saturday night of Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree back in the summer of 2021. It was a hell of a lot of fun seeing it that night, but the presentation was handled like an episode of The Last Drive-In, with the movie being interrupted every 15-20 minutes by Joe Bob Briggs, Darcy, and their guests.
The second intermission featured a 35mm screening of the 1961 Tom & Jerry cartoon Switchin' Kitten. It's about a mad scientist who switches a dog and cat brain, and the confusion that this causes Tom when he finds an orange cat that wants no part in chasing Jerry. I don't remember ever seeing this one at the drive-in before this weekend.
The first movie of Friday night was the third movie of the Halloween franchise and the one that people tend to either love or hate, Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. This is the one that has nothing to do with Michael Myers. The movie does technically include the character for a couple of seconds, but it's on a television screen in which the first Halloween film is playing.
With the exception of the original film, Halloween III is my favorite movie in the series and the one that I was looking forward to seeing the most this weekend. This was my second time seeing it at the Mahoning since it was screened at last year's Halloween-A-Thon, but because the films were played in chronological order, Halloween III ended up being the third movie on Friday night. I wake up for work at 5:00 am on Friday morning, so I usually end up dozing off during the final film of a Friday night triple feature, and that's exactly what happened to me last year. I was very glad to have a second chance to see it on 35mm on the big screen while I was still fresh and awake enough to fully appreciate the experience.
The second movie of the night is another film that I'm thankful for having a second opportunity to see at the Mahoning, but for a completely different reason. Night Of The Demons was the first movie that was played on Saturday night of Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree back in the summer of 2021. It was a hell of a lot of fun seeing it that night, but the presentation was handled like an episode of The Last Drive-In, with the movie being interrupted every 15-20 minutes by Joe Bob Briggs, Darcy, and their guests.
As much as I enjoyed the Joe Bob treatment of the film, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see this cheesy horror classic uninterrupted on 35mm on the Mahoning screen.
The second intermission featured a 35mm screening of the 1961 Tom & Jerry cartoon Switchin' Kitten. It's about a mad scientist who switches a dog and cat brain, and the confusion that this causes Tom when he finds an orange cat that wants no part in chasing Jerry. I don't remember ever seeing this one at the drive-in before this weekend.
The last film of Friday night was the 2007 movie Trick 'R Treat. We saw it at the Mahoning once before two years ago when it was screened from the digital projection booth as the first half of a double feature with the 1986 film Trick Or Treat. This time around, they were able to borrow the only 35mm print of Trick 'R Treat that is known to exist. The movie was screened at various film festivals for a few years after it was first screened in 2007. Warner Bros purchased it in 2009 and they released it direct-to-DVD, so it never had a theatrical run. I can't be sure, but there's a pretty good chance that this weekend's screening is the only time that this film has ever been shown on 35mm at a drive-in.
This movie really didn't land with me the first time that I saw it, but I really enjoyed it this time. I went in completely cold for that first screening and didn't realize that it was an anthology film, so I think that I got myself frustrated trying to keep up with things while my brain tried to frame this as something other than an anthology. This time around, the confusion about its structure wasn't an issue and I had a hell of a good time watching it.
Saturday night kicked off with Halloween and Halloween II. I'm grouping them together here for two reasons. First, watching these two movies back to back feel very much like you're watching a single three hour long film. The sequel picks up right where the first film leaves off, so it's just a continuation of the story of "the night he came home". Secondly, I've already written about both of these movies several times, and I'm frankly not sure what else I could say. This story is a horror masterpiece. This was my third time seeing each of them at the Mahoning, and I'll come back to see it as many times as they decide to screen it. Judging by the attendance, I am not alone in that feeling.
The third movie of Saturday night was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. This movie was screened on the second night of Halloween-A-Thon last year along with parts 5 and 6, but we missed it because we blew a tire coming home the night before, and by the time we got everything sorted out, we were pretty tired and didn't want to leave the house. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone anyway, but it was the right decision at the time.
Saturday night kicked off with Halloween and Halloween II. I'm grouping them together here for two reasons. First, watching these two movies back to back feel very much like you're watching a single three hour long film. The sequel picks up right where the first film leaves off, so it's just a continuation of the story of "the night he came home". Secondly, I've already written about both of these movies several times, and I'm frankly not sure what else I could say. This story is a horror masterpiece. This was my third time seeing each of them at the Mahoning, and I'll come back to see it as many times as they decide to screen it. Judging by the attendance, I am not alone in that feeling.
The third movie of Saturday night was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. This movie was screened on the second night of Halloween-A-Thon last year along with parts 5 and 6, but we missed it because we blew a tire coming home the night before, and by the time we got everything sorted out, we were pretty tired and didn't want to leave the house. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone anyway, but it was the right decision at the time.
Halloween 4 continues the story of Michael Myers, but it takes place in 1988, which is ten years after the night that is depicted in the first two films. It's the start of the Jamie Lloyd arc in the franchise, and while there's no debate that it's a pretty big step down from the first three films, it's still a hell of a lot of fun. There was a secret feature on each night as well. It won't take a lot of hard work to figure out what they were, but I'm not going to write about them here other than to say that I enjoyed both of them.
And that's a wrap on Halloween-A-Thon II.
