Now in its fourth year, the Exhumed Films 24-Hour Horrorthon has become the only place to be on Halloween weekend for the true nightmare aficionado. The annual gore-tastic endurance test has been sold out for a couple of months already, so any fright-flick fanatic worth their weight in butcher knives and Karo syrup already has a ticket clenched in their blood-stained fists.
The rest of us can still stand forlornly outside the doors of I-House’s Ibrahim Theater and listen to the screams (and occasional laughter) emanating from inside while enjoying “Video Violence,” an art show curated to accompany the Horrorthon. Given the ’70s/’80s bent of Exhumed’s programming, it’s a safe bet that many of those in attendance cultivated their horror-mania via VHS, and “Video Violence” revisits those days with artists defacing videotape boxes of yore, recreating them as nostalgic art objects.
“So many of these films didn’t find their audience until being released on tape,” says artist and co-curator Justin Miller, “so what would fit better than opening up our own little seedy video store here in the lobby, where people can once again experience the thrill of taking home their favorite cult creature feature on VHS? For the most part, the artists are presenting films that they fondly remember watching as a kid or teen, so most of the pieces will be coming from their inner children.”
