Hudson Horror 8

The Hudson Horror Show is a bi-annual horror film festival held in a small theater located in the back lot of a shopping center in Poughkeepsie New York. Right next door is a large indoor mall with what appears to be a large modern cineplex. This theater, however, is older. The floors are sticky. The seats are broken in. There aren't cup holders built into your armrest and the seating isn't stadium style. It's the perfect venue for an event like this. Something about this theater just feels right. It's like a time capsule from the heyday of theaters when 35mm was the only format and you didn't have to go broke going to the movies. I have been to every Hudson Horror show since it's inception, giving me the opportunity to see the likes of Rolling Thunder, The Return of the Living Dead, Phantasm 1 & 2, Cannibal Holocaust & Ferox, Silent Night Deadly Night, Evil Dead 1 & 2 & Army of Darkness, Demons, TCM 1 & 2, a shitload of Fulci films and many more, all in 35mm.

The show always begins the same. Show creator Chris Alo stands in front of the packed theater to thank sponsors and supporters and to spout out the rules. While some rules have been added as shows have gone along, to my knowledge none have been removed. These rules are key to the enjoyment of the festival. Without them there would surely be some asshole who would ruin the experience for everyone else. A few key rules are:

No talking at the screen. It is made crystal clear that we are not watching MST3K. We are there to watch the movies and not hear some asshole spout out jokes at the screen that aren't funny. Repeating dialogue from the film back at the screen with an inflection in your voice is not a joke. It's annoying and everyone will hate you. Example: In Silent Night Deadly Night someone was making "jokes" prompting one moviegoer to simply shout "shut the fuck up". He did.

No infants or toddlers. It may be hard to believe but some model parent actually brought their toddler to the Cannibal Holocaust screening. I have pretty liberal views when it comes to kids and horror films but this is Cannibal Holocaust we're talking about and it's a 12 hour festival. Most adults can barely handle it. Luckily they were booted before that particular movie started. I don't believe this rule was on the original list but had to be added because common sense doesn't always prevail.