Naturally, of course, I would be the perfect audience member for a Halloween all nighter.
But, this wasn't any all-nighter. This was the third Pyjama Party in my favourite place in the world, The Prince Charles Cinema (hereafter referred to as The PCC), and after surviving both the Teen Movie and Dance editions, I felt like I could handle the Halloween edition. Plus, I'm 28 now, that's far too old to still be scared of Ghostface, right?
The premise of the PCC PJ Parties is simple - you put on your (hopefully themed) PJs, you sit in the cinema overnight, you watch a bunch of PJ party appropriate flicks, you hide upstairs and watch retro TV shows that fit in with the theme, you whoop, you cheer, you eat too much sugar to stay awake, you hope you aren't sat next to a snorer, and you have a brilliant night.
This one was no different. The line up was a good mix of films I've seen before, films, I've wanted to see and films I've actively avoided (due to my aforementioned scaredy cat nature). After a bit of a kerfuffle to get there (never book a flight that lands an hour before you need to be somewhere), I arrived just in time for the first movie. The wonderful Luce had managed to secure our official PCC seats (I don't care if they aren't assigned, they are the seats we sit in for EVERY PCC event), we had a a good mix of snacks to get started on and we were ready for me to reduce myself to a trembling jumpy wreck.
Up first...
Date: Saturday 6th October
Film: Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Skeet Ulrich
Running Time : 1 hour 51 minutes
Rating: 8/10
My first time seeing Scream and The PCC was the perfect place for this. All the suspense of waiting for a murder is taken away when the audience are shouting and joking along with the movie and for a jumpy wuss like me, this was just what I needed to watch the film without freaking myself out (why is the thought of things being terrible so much worse than things actually happening?). The best bit? 250+ people shouting 'Ayy' when Henry Winkler popped up on screen.
Scream's writer, Kevin Williamson, has written a clever teen slasher flick; the constant references to past horror films (that made sense to someone who hasn't seen all that many), the likeable characters, the little snippets of humour, all combine to make a brilliant film. I might have to watch the sequels now. In the day time. With all the lights on.
Date: Saturday 6th October
Film: The Faculty (1998)
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy and Clea DuVall
Running Time : 1 hour 44 minutes
Rating: 6/10
Ah, a film I have seen before, many years ago. I'm not sure if the years have been all that kind, although Josh Hartnett's haircut may always have been terrible.
The premise is simple enough - water based parasites take over the teaching faculty of a US high school and a select group of kids band together to try and stop them taking over the entire school.
The graphics are looking a little dated (the parasites under the skin were a little more comical than scary) and the film sometimes veers into the ridiculous but generally this is a good watch. Elijah Wood is his usual fantastic self, and Jon Stewart's foaming eyeball is always a treat.
Date: Saturday 6th October/Sunday 7th October
Film: The Craft (1996)
Director: Andrew Fleming
Starring: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich
Running Time : 1 hour 41 minutes
Rating: 7/10
Ah, the film that made most of the girls in my class want to practise witchcraft. I don't think there is a woman my age who hasn't played 'light as a feather, stiff as a board' at some point in their life.
What's not to love about a group of misfits high school girls practising spells and having to live with the consequences, both good and bad.
Again, some of the film is a little dated, but this still works well as a great misadventure movie.
Don't got poking about in things that you don't know about - you might end up making someone bald.
Date: Sunday 7th October
Film: Carrie (1976)
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie and Amy Irving
Running Time : 1 hour 38 minutes
Rating: 8.5/10
Time for another new (to me) film although, like Scream, I knew most of the plot.
I was starting to flag a little by this point, so even though I tried quite hard not to, I did drift off a little at points.
As rare as it is in modern cinema, it was great to see a film that told the story with long scenes and slow cuts, making a change from the fast paced action scenes of the first three films. That is until Carrie finally snapped and the infamous prom scene more than lives up to all the praise that has been heaped on it over the years.
Carrie's mother was suitably mental and a little bit terrifying and those classmates were an unpleasant bunch. I'm not saying they deserved all that comes to them, but I can see why Carrie goes a little bit mad.
I'm interested to see how the remake turns out...
Date: Sunday 7th October
Film: Fright Night (1985)
Director: Tom Holland
Starring: Chris Sarandon and William Ragsdale
Running Time : 1 hour 46 minutes
Rating: 4/10
I watched the first ten minutes, Prince Humperdinck had a friend 5 fingers on each hand. I was severely disappointed. I had a nap. Woke up for the last ten minutes. There was some terrible CGI. Around 4am, it's hard for a film you haven't seen to grab your attention.
Date: Sunday 7th October
Film: The Lost Boys (1987)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest and Kiefer Sutherland
Running Time : 1 hour 37 minutes
Rating: 9/10
This is pretty much the best vampire film ever, right? Kiefer, The 2 Coreys, Bill (had he butchered Ted?), some brilliant 80s fashion, and a lot of hair. What's not to love?
If you haven't seen it then you need to think about exactly what you've been doing with your life for the last 25 years.
There's another PCC PJ Party coming soon. I'll be there - whooping, cheering, catching films I love and films I haven't been lucky enough to see before. If you get a chance, come along, join the fun - just don't sit in seat H5 or H6.
Challenge day: 13/14
Challenge time : 00 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes.
Challenge film total: 10
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