Day 1: Thursday October 21, 2010
Day 1 started off around 2:30pm where I met up with Greg Lamberson, Emil Novak (both of which pretty much organized the entire festival), along with Nick Anderson (local actor, photographer, and editor), Chris Scioli (from Buffalo Movie Makers), and Chris Wroblewski (local actor) to deal with all the set up.
We figured out what prizes were going to be given out across the four days of the festival and got all of the vendors' tables set up and ready to rock.
A little later guest of honor, the ever-lovely actress Debbie Rochon (Tromeo & Juliete, Night of the Living Dead, Slime City Massacre, Colour from the Dark). I met Debbie briefly last summer on the set of Slime City Massacre, but we never really got the chance to really sit down and talk. So it was nice to have the time to really do that this weekend.
Thursday I was able to catch a couple great films including Under the Scares a documentary about the trials of low-budget film-making featuring the likes of Debbie Rochon, Amy Lynn Best, Mike Watt, Jimmyo Burril, April Burril, and Herschell Gordon Lewis made by Canadian film-maker Steve Villeneuve, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow by Rue Morgue's Rodrigo Gudino, What are They by local film maker Kash Coster.
Thursday also saw the premier of John Renna's long-anticipated It's In Back! which saw the largest turn-out for the evening.
Day 2: Friday October 22, 2010
Friday started off at 2pm for set-up. We had to pretty much tear down and set-up everyday because we set up in the mall outside the actual theater. We were also joined by Ron Mckay, Troma's east-coast convention representative in the dealers' room. (Ron is now my new bud.) Ron also donated several DVDs to add to our contest prizes.
Unfortunately, I only got to catch one film on Friday, but at least it was the excellent Night of the Living Dead: Re-animated which featured over 100 artists re-creating George Romero's 1968 classic all in 1 minute increments.
Friday was Zombie Friday featuring a heavy-dose of zombie-centric films including The Duty of the Living, Resident Horror (a locally-made Resident Evil video game spoof), Cabine of the Dead from France, and a section of Emil Novak's Decayed anthology entitled "Adrift." There was also a zombie costume contest which brought in some awesome costumes including a fellow dressed up as Greg Lamberson's Johnny Gruesome character!
Day 3: October 23, 2010
Day 3 was by far the longest clocking in at about 12 hours for those of us running the show. But it was also one of the most fun.
Saturday's films included Werewolf Fever a hilarious werewolf flick, House of Horrors: The Movie, Mold!, and Damn Your Eyes an ultra-violent western with a solid dash of humor, which is part one of a proposed feature-length film.
One of the high-lights was the showing of Slime City Massacre. This was the second time I got to see it, and I enjoyed it even more! Afterward, there was a Q&A session which I was honored to be able to participate in. (I played a homeless fellow who eventually gets turned into a Green Slimehead.)
Afterward, I actually got to catch what ended up being my favorite film of the festival El Monstro del Mar! Directed by Australian film-mark Stuart Simpson (The Demons Among Us). The best way to describe it is a combination of exploitation films and Lovecraftian sea-monsters. Frankly, it's utterly fantastic! The girls are sexy, the acting great, the monster... well monstrous!
The night wound down with the wonderful documentary Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore from Frank Henenlotter and Jimmy Maslon.
Day 4: October 24, 2010
Day 4 started off with Ron from Troma bring me an awesome gift... The Demons Among Us on DVD, Stuart Simpson's (El Monstro del Mar) first film. I, also, got the opportunity to chat with film-maker Brett Kelly whose Avenging Force: The Scarab showed later.
Born to Die from Buffalo-native and friend Jay Mager (The Pigman) was the first film of the day. There was a nice turn out for the local film-maker. I had a small bit in Born to Die and contributed the art work along with the title cards for the opening and closing credits.
Other films that showed included The Black Cat, Triptosane, Gitchy, and M.
For Sunday's festivities I was joined by MonsterMatt Patterson (author of MonsterMatt's Bad Monster Jokes Vol.1 which I illustrated) along with his eldest daughter.
Sunday ended with dinner and an awards ceremony, which I unfortunately could not attend. They honored Debbie with a DEDICATION TO EXCELLENCE IN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING award and the short film Desperately Seeking Debbie. The winners were as follows:
BEST ACTRESS – Marianne Porter, TRUE NATURE
BEST ACTOR – Daniel Reininghaus, EYES BEYOND
LOCAL HERO — Michael O'Hear
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY — Marco Fargnoli and Evan A. Nesbitt, TRUE NATURE
BEST EDITING — Aaron Doolittle, DAVIS
BEST MAKE-UP EFFECTS — Emma Julia Jacobs, M
BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS — Carl Cabrino, THE BLACK CAT
BEST WNY SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS AWARD — Andrew Lavin
BEST SCREENPLAY — Cody Zimmerman, THE FAMILIAR
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY CONTEST — DESERT DOGS
FILMMAKER TO WATCH — Sam Qualiana, NO ROAD OUT, and Kash Costner, WHAT ARE THEY
LOCAL GRINDHOUSE AWARD — Jay Mager and John Renna, for IN THE BACK and BORN TO DIE
BEST DIRECTOR — Stuart Simpson, EL MONSTRO DEL MAR
GENRE SPIRIT AWARD — Brett Kelly, AVENGING FORCE: THE SCARAB
BEST “MORE THAN HORROR” SHORT — DAMN YOUR EYES
BEST “MORE THAN HORROR” FEATURE — TRIPTOSANE
BEST HORROR SHORT — THE FAMILIAR
BEST WNY HORROR SHORT — DAVIS
BEST HORROR FEATURE — EL MONSTRO DEL MAR
BEST WNY HORROR FEATURE — HOUSE OF HORRORS: THE MOVIE
Overall, this weekend was amazing and I had a blast. I'd like to thank the following: Greg Lamberson, Emil Novak, Debbie Rochon, Ron Mckay, Kristy Jett, MonsterMatt Patterson, Nick Anderson, and everyone else involved!
