AMC is one of those many cable channels that has gone through a dramatic transformation over the years, for better or worse. Even Monsterfest, their signature October event, has not been immune. This year, in fact, it will become known as Fearfest. And Fangoria announced last night that rocker-turned-horror-director Rob Zombie will be hosting the week-long scary movie marathon.More than 175 hours of horror films will be shown on the network between October 24 and 31, mainly in the evenings, but all day long on Halloween itself. Zombie will be providing unscripted introductions and interstitial commentary, along with interviews with some of the filmmakers whose work will be shown.
Zombie will also be prominently featured on AMC's website, which will include lists of the directors favorite flicks, as well as DVD giveaways and an amateur horror movie contest.
In general, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. While I appreciate some of Zombie's films and his love of the '70s horror aesthetic, part of me misses the more fun, kitschy approach to AMC's Monsterfest in years past, which will be surely be jettisoned in favor of an overly earnest, taking-itself-a-little-too-seriously approach from Mr. Zombie. Maybe it's a generational thing.
And while some of the old Monsterfest standbys like The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy's Hand, The Invisible Man, the original Fly and The Curse of Frankenstein will be shown, they will be sharing the bill with the likes of The House on Haunted Hill remake, Constantine and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. The one good thing that has come from the Monsterfest "update" of recent years is the inclusion of more modern classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street, An American Werewolf in London and Motel Hell, but even that perk is wrecked by the fact that AMC now shows its movies edited and with commercial interruption.
Personally, I'm waiting for Turner Classic Movies' Halloween marathon. Now if only they'd do a week-long event...