Episode 69 - Horror at the Music Box with Programmer Will Morris

Discover the Horror

Obviously, many of us film fans see movies in theaters througout the year, whether it be at a national chain or at an independent, arthouse theater - or both. Some of us are even hitting film festivals, special screenings, and for the truly unhinged cinephiles, film marathons. For these kind of events to happen though, there have to be some mad geniuses behind the scenes. Those people are film programmers, and they do so much for our the culture of our fandom; from tracking down film the best quality prints available, to figuring out who owns the rights, to actually making the screenings happen. A lot of times their success comes down to the sheer passion they have for these offbeat, awkward, or just downright strange and fucked up motion pictures that makes them want to pass that along to new viewers. In other words, helping new fans Discover the Horror!

One of those mad geniuses is Will Morris, who is one of the programmers for the world-famous Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Will has been programming The Music Box of Horrors a 24-hour horror marathon for close to a decade now, as well as programming their yearly January Giallo festival, and much, much more. We invited Will to come on the show to not only explain a little of what he does, but why. Get ready for a fun and wild ride.

Movies mentioned in the episode:

964 Pinocchio (1991), Abby (1974), Alleluia (2014), Aswang (1994), The Beyond (1981), Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967), Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974), Café Flesh, Calvaire (2004), The Carrier (1988), The Children (2008), Child’s Play 2 (1990), Class of Nuke ‘Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991), Corruption (1983), Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956), The Demons (1973), Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), Dr. Caligari (1989), Emaneulle and the Last Cannibal (1977), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead 2 (1987), The Exorcist (1973), Fiend with the Electronic Brain (1967), Fuck the Devil (1990), Fuck the Devil 2: Return of the Fucker (1991), Ganja & Hess (1973), Ginger Snaps (2000), The Granny (1995), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), The House on Haunted Hill (1959), Last House on Dead End Street (1973), Mystics in Bali (1981), Nekromantik (1988), Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993), Meet the Feebles (1989), Mirror Mirror (1990), Organ (1996), A Patch of Blue (1965), Possession (1981), Psycho a Go Go (1965), Of Unknown Origin (1983), [REC] (2007), Repulsion (1965), Roman Holiday (1953), Santet (1988), Sex Demon (2019), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Snorkel (1958), The Tenant (1976), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), The Thing (1982), Torso (1973), Vaya luna de miel (1980), When a Stranger Calls Back (1993), Witch with the Flying Head (1982), A Woman’s Torment (1977)

Show Notes:

THe Mondo fanzine mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/themondomaniac

The Music Box Theatre - https://www.musicboxtheatre.com