They were doing something similar to this at a local multiplex.....but it was all really old stuff from the 50s and shit. Double feature actually for 5 bucks. But the films were boring as fuck. Funny at times but still.....
I've been DVR-ing the hell out of the Halloween lineups, and I've been thinking exactly the opposite. The vast majority of what is coming out recently is sort of ... eh. On the other hand, my sister is having a Halloween party tonight and "borrowed" the projector from work to, as she put it, "have monsters walking along on her walls" during the party. So she enlisted me to come up with stuff that will project well, be consistently interesting to look at without sound, and not be totally inappropriate for the half-dozen or so kids of various ages who will be wandering through (meaning basically, no sex, significant violence or gore). This prompted me to review my collection of pre-slasher horror, and I realized I had a TON of really awesome interesting stuff.
So far, I've given her
Caligari and
Carnival of Souls (the original - did anyone else see the steaming pile of horsepucky that passed for a remake?), and realized I didn't have Lugosi's
Dracula or either of the Karloff
Frankensteins on DVD (??!?). So I also gave her
Dr Phibes (which will project AWESOMELY). She ardently requested the original
NotLD, and looked at me like I was nuts when I said I wasn't sure it was appropriate for the kids under about 10 ... it's B&W, right? Doesn't that eliminate even the possibility of gore? Um, no, I said, but I realized I just couldn't really explain how deeply gory and wrong and disturbing the film was to someone who had never seen it. (Yes, I admit a blood tie to someone who has never seen
NotLD). So I told her to save that one for last when the kids will probably be watching
monsters Inc or somesuch upstairs. I also gave her a 3-pack of
Little Shop,
House on Haunted Hill and
Horror Hotel, none of which I think will stay visually interesting consistently enough (I cant remember how frequently the 'skeleton jump" thing is used in
House on Haunted Hill) but might do later once everyone is wasted and not paying attention at least.
I suppose the majority of horror out there is doodoo whenever you are looking. But with older stuff, you get some benefit of hind-sight to help you edit, and it seems to me more like winning a treasure hunt when you find something you've never heard of that totally rocks. Still, I feel you if your local cineplex thinks a "classic horror" lineup is best represented by that "aaargh! I have a pimple! I must be turning into a Monster" stuff from the 50s. You could try to find (or maybe create, if no one around you is doing it) a live Halloween showing of old silent horror classics. When I was in NY there were a number of churches that brought in their organists to accompany
Nosferatu,
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and
Phantom of the Opera. Those things probably paid for their Christmas season budgets, because they were justifiably really popular.