The Hollywood Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Festival returns to the Arclight in Los Angeles, October 20 – 22. Celebrate Halloween with your good pals at Film Threat as we roll out the latest and the greatest in independent genre cinema all weekend long. Stay tuned here for a full screening schedule and ticket information. Until then, we bring you this year’s festival line-up:
FEATURES
American Scary ^ WORLD PREMIERE! “American Scary” is a look at the nation’s tradition of horror hosting, from Zacherley to A. Ghastlee Ghoul. Featuring interviews from major hosts from the 1950s to the present day, along with memories from celebrities and fans who were influenced by these personalities, you’ll follow this American folk art form from its glamorous beginnings, through repeated waves of popularity, to its scrappy resurgence and survival in the age of cable access and the Internet. ^ DIRECTED BY :John E. Hudgens ^ STARRING: Ernie Anderson, Jerry G. Bishop, Bill Cardille, Maila Nurmi, Karen Scioli, Chuck Schodowski, John Stanley, Ron Sweed, Bob Wilkins, John Zacherle ^ PRODUCED BY : Sandy Clark
Dark Ride ^ WORLD PREMIERE! After two young twin girls are viciously slaughtered in an amusement park attraction, the “dark ride” is shut down. Many years later, a group of thrill-seeking college students trespass, only to be stalked and murdered by the same madman. Horror fans of Jason, Freddy and Jigsaw…it’s time you met Jonah… ^ DIRECTED BY: Craig Singer ^ STARRING: Jaime-Lynn Sigler, Patrick Renna, David Rogers, Alex Solowitz, Andrea Bogart, Jennifer Kelly Tisdale ^ WRITTEN BY: Craig Singer and Robert Dean Klein ^ PRODUCED BY: Chris M. Williams
Devil’s Den ^ WORLD PREMIERE! Two Spanish Fly smugglers decide to test their product at a gentlemen’s club, only to find the women are not quite human. Throw in a female assassin, an armed and dangerous monster hunter, and a legendary Japanese swordsman, and all hell breaks loose at the Devil’s Den. Starring Ken Foree (“Dawn of the Dead”), Kelly Hu (“X2”) and Devon Sawa (“Final Destination”). ^ DIRECTED BY: Andrew Quint ^ STARRING: Ken Foree, Kelly Hu, Devon Sawa, Steven Schub ^ WRITTEN BY: Mitch Gould ^ PRODUCED BY: John Duffy, Mitch Gould
Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill! ^ A violent criminal named Remington fools his girlfriend into trusting him with her young son, the Easter-obsessed Nicholas. Left alone with Nicholas, Remington and his friends take sick pleasure in abusing the boy. But an Easter Bunny-masked killer has found out about Remington’s abuse and wants bloody revenge on the boy’s tormentors! Produced by and starring Trent Haaga (“Terror Firmer”, “Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV”). ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Chad Ferrin ^ STARRING: Timothy Muskatell, Ricardo Gray, Charlotte Marie, David Z. Stamp, Trent Haaga ^ PRODUCED BY: Trent Haaga
El Mascarado Massacre ^ WORLD PREMIERE! Lucha Libre is no laughing matter…It’s “killer” wrestling! On the way to a film shoot, an amateur movie crew gets lost and happens upon a hidden ghost town called “La Sangre de Dios”. Soon, cast and crew are stalked, beaten and maimed in a series of horrifying death matches by the town’s spine-tingling legend, an insane Mexican wrestler – EL MASCARADO. Starring the famous Mexican wrestler Rey Misterio and Irwin Keyes (“House of 1000 Corpses” and “Friday the 13th”). ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Jesse Baget ^ STARRING: Rey Misterio, Irwin Keyes, Leyla Milani, Adam Huss, Margaret Scarborough, Jeremy Radin, Catherine Wreford, Zack Bennett ^ PRODUCED BY: Jake Schmidt
Marcus ^ ’Tis the Season to Eat, Drink and Die Merrily. A troubled young man returns home for Christmas in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged sister. Her alleged boyfriend shows up and turns the holiday dinner into a dark, disturbing night of violence and terror. ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Bob Hardison and Rich Robinson ^ STARRING: Samantha Shelton, Scoot McNairy, Marc Rose, Jade Dornfeld, Frankie Ingrassia, Ross Kurt ^ PRODUCED BY: Damon Chang
Special Dead ^ When a zombie plague infects Camp Special Dude, a dude ranch for the mentally handicapped, a ragtag band of campers and counselors struggles to survive the night. It’s a campy stampede of blood, babes and gore as some “very special” people show that they can kick some serious undead a*s. Not for the squeamish or easily offended! ^ DIRECTED BY: Thomas L. Phillips ^ STARRING: Jason Brubaker, Gia Natale, Amy Wade, Anthony Rutowicz, Jah Shams, Haneka Haynes ^ WRITTEN BY: Jared Tweedie ^ PRODUCED BY: Thomas L. Phillips, Jason Brubaker, Gia Natale, Sean Simmons, Owen Simmons, Carl Storm
Unrest ^ Sensing that her cadaver¹s spirit is not at rest, Alison Blanchard sets out to discover the truth behind this mysterious body. But each clue she finds comes at a price someone’s life. ^ DIRECTED BY: Jason Todd Ipson ^ STARRING: Corri English, Scot Davis, Joshua Alba ^ WRITTEN BY: Jason Todd Ipson, Chris Billett ^ PRODUCED BY: Jason Todd Ipson, Julio Bove, Adam Lebovitz
SHORTS
The Champ ^ Awakened from death by a Mad Scientist, a former boxing champ must search an old barn and his tired memories to discover the real reason for his resurrection. ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Joshua Martin ^ STARRING: Rich Varga, Erika Smith, Geoffrey Gould, Marco Khan ^ PRODUCED BY: Jesse Carlson
Deadly Tantrum ^ Meet Geoffrey – He’s Angry, he’s Stupid, he’s got a power-saw! ^ DIRECTED BY: Michael Mort ^ STARRING: Robert Pearce, Simon Prichard, Bethan Witcomb
Facility 4 ^ Two Soviet soldiers must escape from a bioweapons bunker when an accident occurs, facing them with the very weapons their government has engineered. ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Colter Freeman ^ STARRING: Dina Sirotkina, Casey Wedding, Staas Yudenko, Sasha Kaminsky, Mark Feigin, Nikolai Tereschenko
It Came From Beyond the Mountain ^ Power-mad General Williams’ reckless nuclear testing unleashes an eight-legged terror in true B-movie style. ^ DIRECTED BY: Douglas Bankston ^ STARRING: Tommy Wilson-O’Brien, Stephen Pizzello, Abby Wills, Richard Pushkin, David E. Williams ^ PRODUCED BY: A.E. Butler, Douglas Bankston
Watcher ^ “Watcher” is a re-telling of the classic “monster in the closet” story…with a twist… ^ WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Eli J. Sasich ^ PRODUCED BY: Jack Allred
X-Mass ^ It’s Christmas and all 14 yr old Callum really wants is a replacement for his beloved – but deceased – dog Brandy; trouble is his Dad won’t allow it. But when Callum is given a mysterious spell book for Christmas the junior necromancer decides to give Dad the finger and bring Brandy back from the dead. Unfortunately, Callum’s act of rebellion unwittingly gives terrible life to the horrors that lurk beneath every family Christmas and as Christmas day breaks the scene is set for a truly dysfunctional supernatural yuletide showdown. ^ DIRECTED BY: Scott Flockhart ^ STARRING: Jordan Calvert, Ross Boatman, Lesley Coleman, Nina Young, Richard Brimblecombe, Jerome Wright, Madeleine Rakic-Platt, Joey McCoy ^ PRODUCED BY: Jon Hayes
For more info, visit the Hollywood Film Festival website.
