Graveyard Shift

A lot of the films I review here were shown at something called "Graveyard Shift". Every Friday night, the local Alamo Drafthouse shows horror films. Usually a double feature. I've been going since May, 2017 and have seen about 160 movies so far.

Me and Horror Movies

I've never been much of a horror movie fan. I'm a big monster movie fan, though, and that intersects with horror movies. When I was a little kid I wanted to be Dracula SO MUCH. My mom made me a cape and I wore it every chance I got. Who wouldn't want to be Dracula? He lives forever, can fly, has a sweet castle, and can control women's minds. I was a messed up kid.

I also loved Frankenstein's monster, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. I loved Godzilla and especially Mothra. Ghidorah is a punk who can suck it. I strongly identified with King Kong. Like I say, I was a messed up kid.

In the 1970s, there were a few horror movies I liked, but most didn't interest me. I saw "The Other" on late night TV several times and really enjoyed it. The score (by Jerry Goldsmith) is super creepy. And there's an evil twin. I also enjoyed "Ben" and "Willard".

But as the 1970s went on, horror was dominated by more and more splatter and gore. I don't enjoy gore in real life, but on film it doesn't affect me much. Sometimes it's fun to see how over-the-top a film can be, but it's never frightening or thrilling. It's just effects.

The film that frightened me the most, in the moment, was "Rear Window".

Most horror films don't come close to that. I never really understood the attraction to horror films.

Me and The Drafthouse

But then came Robert Saucedo and his Alamo Drafthouse. He's the programming director for Houston (and some other cities). He won my heart showing movies like "Cool Hand Luke", "Blue Velvet", "Road House", "American Graffiti", "King of Comedy" and a kaiju movie whose name I may not repeat, . I came to trust him. Our tastes don't align perfectly, but anything he likes is worth watching.

In 2016, he showed "Green Room" and "Don't Breathe". These are low budget horror/thrillers that look like films with much bigger budgets. They are well written, well acted, and go places I didn't expect. I started to understand that part of the horror genre is that it allows films like this to get funding. There's a guaranteed audience for horror, so if you can do something interesting with it, great. If not, someone will probably pay to watch it anyway.

I started watching more horror films, especially if they looked like they might be inventive. It turns out a lot of them are very inventive. The genre has rigid constraints and set expectations, but the audience craves movies that violate those constraints and confound their expectations. There are several stock slasher films, for instance, but most slasher films attempt to be something more than a stock slasher film. They are constantly looking for twists on old formulas. If you know the old formulas, these plots are more satisfying.

A few months later, "Get Out" was released. It's a perfect example of playing with the form. Deep into the film, the audience is still trying to figure out which kind of horror film it will be. It leaves a trail of red herrings hinting at different horror sub-genres before the truth is revealed.

The Shift

A few months after that, Robert made Graveyard Shift a weekly event. I wasn't doing anything with my Friday nights, so I started going. At first I skipped the ones that didn't sound interesting. On a lark, I watched "Fright Night 2" and "Final Destination 2". Both seemed like sequels to movies that would never interest me, but both were surprisingly entertaining. So I started going to most of the screenings.

When you go to your first Graveyard Shift, you get a passport. Each film earns a stamp in that passport. Once you have 40 stamps, you get to suggest a movie to show at Graveyard Shift. After 5 or 6 movies I decided I had to get to 40 so I could watch "Anguish" on the big screen. It's my favorite non-monster horror movie of all time, and it needs to be seen in a movie theater.

I got to share it with a bunch of horror movie fans, and my daughter. That was a great night.

Since then I go every Friday night that I can. After 50 stamps I got free admission for the next year. During that year I got to 100 stamps, which gave me free admission for life.

I haven't achieved much with my life, but I have attained this special status.

The Fans

A group of regulars has developed - people who go every Friday night, no matter what is showing. They are mostly horror nerds.

When I was a kid, being any kind of nerd was shameful, even dangerous. Media frequently showed nerds being physically attacked as comedy. Nerds were pitiful, creepy and maybe threatening in some way. Today, not only have nerds become accepted, they are envied by some. People aspire to nerd-dom now. There are famous nerds, and entire industries built to serve the needs of nerds.

I'm glad nerds are accepted, but a little sad that our territory is open. It was nice to have a place that was just ours.

I'm a nerd, but not a horror nerd. I was a science fiction nerd (not so much now), a computer nerd (always) and a band nerd. But I dig horror nerds. They have a passion for the subject that is infectious. I'm a tourist in their land, but maybe I'm building a summer home.

The Fest

For several years, the local Drafthouse showed a horror movie marathon before Halloween, called "Dismember the Alamo". This year, Robert replaced it with a 4 day horror movie festival. Over four days, we watched eighteen horror movies. It was way too much. It was like some kind of psychological test. It was an ordeal. It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it next year. Every one of the 18 films was interesting and worth watching. Many of them were amazing.

So if you're ever in Katy, Texas on a Friday night, swing by the Alamo Drafthouse and watch a horror movie or two. They might be schlocky. They might offend. They might be unexpectedly revelatory. Just don't try to sit in the center of the 3rd row. That seat is taken.