by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Body Snatchers (1993)
Patrick: #2: Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, The Marsh, Devour
Patrick: Theme: Burn Notice Horror
Patrick: Did you know I used to watch Burn Notice? USA, man. Characters were welcome. I had a big crush on Gabrielle Anwar back in the day, so a) I was excited to see her come back on Burn Notice after her film career stalled out and b) I used that as a jumping off point for this double feature. The fact that Bruce Campbell was on Burn Notice makes this easy because he’s such a horror legend, but I tried to represent the whole cast with the trailers. Are you a Body Snatchers fan? I really like it and it makes me wish Abel Ferrara made more studio horror. I originally thought about doing a whole Abel horror night but didn’t feel up to rewatching The Driller Killer.
Adam: I did not know this! I have a distinct memory of considering watching Burn Notice when it first premiered but opting not too for some reason even though it was at the height of my Bruce Campbell fandom (I was even watching his Sci-Fi Channel movies like The Man with the Screaming Brain and Alien Apocalypse at the time). This theme is really fun. I saw Body Snatchers once a few Scary Movie Months ago and really enjoyed it. You can never go wrong with some Gabrielle Anwar. I don’t know who’s luckiest in the tango scene in Scent of a Woman: Pacino, Anwar, or tango cuck Chris O’Donnell.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: The Sentinel (1977)
Adam: #2: City of the Living Dead (1980)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, The Vampire Lovers, The Wizard of Gore
Adam: Theme: Music Box Massacre 2011 Selections
Adam: The Sentinel is a crazy, crazy movie. I went to this MBM but didn’t stick it out the whole time so I ended up watching The Sentinel at home and I was bummed I didn’t catch it with an audience. This rights that wrong. I figured (of the other movies playing at that marathon) that City of the Living Dead would be the best movie to program afterwards since it’s probably also a fun movie to watch with a crowd and equally nuts but with a different vibe.
Patrick: That Music Box screening was my first viewing of The Sentinel too! It played so well at like 7am because it’s so crazy and entertaining that I found it super easy to stay awake. I really liked it and showed it to Erika a few years later and it has since become like a Top 5 horror movie for her even though she can rarely remember the title. Programming it alongside CotLD is genius. Maybe I didn’t really appreciate the lineup at the 2011 Massacre because these are bangers.
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Scream 5 (2022)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Candyman (2021), Saw X (2023), Halloween (2018)
Patrick: Theme: LegaSlashers
Patrick: An easy, obvious theme, but I thought Scream 5 might go well alongside H20 because they’re both dealing with similar things in terms of their protagonists. Scream 5 is far from great but I’d probably rather watch it second than any of the movies in the trailer lineup.
Adam: You made the right call. I like Saw X more than Scream 5 but I would rather revisit Scream 5, if for no other reason than to see the third act again now that Jack Quaid and Mikey Madison are leads who can open their own movies now. I’m a bigger fan of H20 than most because a) it’s the most Scream of the Halloween franchise (making this pairing inspired) and b) I think it’s the best Laurie Strode characterization in the entire series. I believe her as becoming an alcoholic a lot more than turning into Sarah Connor.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Cursed (2005)
Adam: #2: After.Life (2009)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Addams Family, Casper, Sleepy Hollow, MC Hammer “Addams Groove” music video
Adam: Theme: “Scary” Ricci Night
Adam: I love Christina Ricci. She and Kirsten Dunst were Millennials’ Winona Ryder. Having a night celebrating her Scary Movie Month (and adjacent) season work seems really fun. I haven’t seen After.Life but the cast is interesting enough and I wanted to program something junky as a B-picture to a double headlined by Cursed, which is not a good movie but one I could watch anytime. Isn’t there like a wax museum or something in that movie that plays a prominent role? Also, Greer Wolf. Always Greer Wolf.
Patrick: Cursed sucks hard but I, like you, could easily rewatch it which is why I decided to play it at the ‘Rink. A Ricci horror double sounds sublime. This would be a good chance for me to finally see After.Life too. I know the premise and the cover art but it remains an unseen Ricci. Greer Wolf is the best part of Cursed and it’s not even close. Greer Wolf can get it.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Haunting (1999), Lake Placid, Idle Hands, The Sixth Sense
Patrick: Theme: ‘99 Horrors (But a Witch Ain’t One)
Patrick: Looking at this lineup makes me think that 1999 wasn’t just a great year for movies (probably the best in my lifetime), it was a great year for horror, too. Some of these seemed like programmers on release but have since become all-timers. Except for The Haunting. No amount of distance can rose color those glasses. What’s your favorite horror of 1999? I know it should be The Sixth Sense for me but my heart is saying House on Haunted Hill.
Adam: I would definitely go to this! My favorite horror movie from 1999 is The Sixth Sense. It works maybe even better as a drama, so I think it has a lot of rewatchability. The Blair Witch Project would be a close second. I’ve never turned on that movie like most people did in the months and years after its release. I still find it really creepy. I didn’t love House on Haunted Hill (1999) in 1999, but I love it now after many revisits over the years. The Geoffrey Rush performance I’m 50/50 on (which is odd because I love Vincent Price and that’s clearly what he’s going for), but I love the whole Dark Castle aesthetic and vibe. Plus, the roller coaster prank at the beginning fascinates me. It doesn’t seem sustainable for a ride that’s expected to operate daily.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Hatchet II (2010)
Adam: #2: Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Hills Have Eyes Part II, House II: The Second Story, Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
Adam: Theme: Kane Hodder Part IIs
Adam: Kane Hodder will show up for anything. I hope he doesn’t show up for this. I dunno. The guy rubbed me the wrong way when I met him at a con. He counted the money I gave him in front of me before adding it to a money roll (that’s why you have handlers!) and then seemed annoyed I was having him sign a Wishmaster poster instead of something Jason or Victor Crowley. Whatever. I’ll take out my mixed feelings by programming a double feature for him. Because I let those I don’t like walk all over me sometimes. The trailer reel are all movies where he did stunts. Rank the Hatchet movies. My memory is the original is the best, then I think I like Hatchet III the most after that. Hatchet II and Victor Crowley are fun, too.
Patrick: You know I have some history with Kane Hodder because I’ve had to interview him so many times. He has always been cool with me but I’m also ok if I never interview him again. I appreciate how devoted he is to the horror genre and how he carried the torch for Friday the 13th all those years but I don’t love his whole “I’m Kane Hodder and I’ll beat you up” thing he does sometimes. I love the idea of ranking the Hatchet series but I don’t think I can do it because there are different things I like in all of them and together they probably add up to one really great slasher. Right now I’ll say 1, 2, 4, 3. Subject to change.
Double Feature 7:
Patrick: #2: The Substance (2024)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Love Witch, Jennifer’s Body, Carrie
Patrick: Theme: The Monstrous Femme
Patrick: Horror movies are maybe better than any other genre at depicting how hard it can be to be a woman, so I thought it would be cool to do a whole night devoted to that theme. I find The Craft super rewatchable even though it’s not one of my movies and it seems fun to amp up the crazy by showing The Substance second. That’s a movie I’m due to revisit. I only saw it the one time but it lives in my memory. We should let all the ladies in the Cinemarink come up and tell stories between the movies like The Vagina Monologues.
Adam: I like how this double feature builds in intensity and craziness. I’m in the same boat as you on The Craft. I haven’t had my viewing of it where I love it, but I do like it quite a bit and it being 30 years old now does lend itself to mid-90s nostalgia I find very appealing for comfort viewing. I’ve seen The Substance two or three times. I think the first viewing of that movie is the best one but there’s still a lot to admire on rewatches. I’m 100% onboard for women taking over the Cinemarink that night even if they want all the guys to leave before The Substance begins. We’ll put that on the website, so people are warned. If it happens, the fellas can have The Dick Monologues out on the sidewalk. And by that, I mean monologues about the movie Dick (1999).
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: Tarantula! (1955)
Adam: #2: Revenge of the Creature (1955)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Them!, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Blob (1958)
Adam: Theme: '50s Creature Features
Adam: I knew immediately after you programmed Tarantula! that I wanted to double it with the other ‘50s creature movie that featured an early performance by our guy Clint Eastwood. He didn’t do any other straight horror/monster movies so I couldn’t make that my theme but that’s cool because there’s almost nothing better to binge than trailers for ‘50s Creature Features. Now I want to go to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater at Disney World.
Patrick: Yeah, this is right up my alley. What a night at the movies. I want Sci-Fi Dine In to start rotating their trailer and clip reel out because we’ve been to Disney enough in the last 10 years that I kind of have it memorized and would love some new stuff. We might have to take over their programming as well.
Double Feature 9:
Adam: #1: The Witches (1990)
Patrick: #2: The Gate (1987)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Monster Squad, Tremors, The Garfield Halloween Special, Lady in White
Patrick: Theme: Starter Horror
Patrick: Do you think The Witches is good starter horror? I haven’t seen it in a really long time but I remember the actual look of the witches being pretty scary, especially for a kids movie. I miss when we could do that kind of stuff. The Gate is a little more intense and adult, but I thought that was appropriate for a second feature because if the little ones want to leave or are traumatized by Anjelica Huston that would be ok. People are climbing the walls and lighting each other on fire at these Starter Horror doubles.
Adam: Hahaha. The last sentence is so funny. The Witches is absolutely good starter horror. The look of the witches by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is pretty scary. My theory is it was something kids could handle by 1990 because the 1980s made us so used to puppets and creature effects that it all became scary in a fun, familiar way by then. I love the trailer block here and finally an excuse to watch The Garfield Halloween Special for the first time in decades. You know me so you know I mean that sincerely. I need to revisit The Gate. I saw it once and didn’t love it but a recent hangout where it was on VHS in the background while I shot pool made me want to give it another viewing.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Adam: #2: Thinner (1996)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Ring, It Follows, Smile, Tales from the Crypt episodes “Staired in Horror” and “Only Sin Deep”
Adam: Theme: Curses!
Adam: Curse movies are fun. I love Drag Me To Hell (most underrated Raimi??) and adding Thinner to it seems like a blast. They’re both folk magic curse movies (it’s offensive to use the other term so I’m being cognizant of that) so the pairing made sense. Plus, Crypt Episodes! Do you/have you ever believed in curses? I remember being SO FREAKED OUT as a kid in the '90s by chain letter curses. I got one from a so-called friend and I remember riding my bike around the neighborhood and putting new cursed letters in the mailboxes of strangers because I thought if I didn’t, I would die. I wonder what those people thought when they got them, especially with my elementary school handwriting.
Patrick: I struggle with curse movies sometimes because I think they speak directly to my fears of being totally powerless, but I guess that just means they’re effective and working on me as they’re supposed to. I hate when I realize things about myself in the middle of writing a column. I’m a big DMtH fan even if I kind of wish the ending was different (I am a softy) and I love the thought of following it with Thinner, a movie I started really appreciating thanks to you. Being able to see it through your eyes helped. Plus, it’s a true Dirty King and those are always welcome at the Linderground Cinemarink. This could be my first choice double of the month. What’s yours?
Adam: I like a lot of them. It’s probably either this one or The Witches/The Gate!
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