A Question For You, plus Fright Night and Horrorfest News

I just wanted to pause for a moment and ask a question... but before I do, I'd just like to stop and explain what Dead Harvey is and what we're really trying to accomplish here. This site is dedicated to the indie horror filmmaker and fan and our mission is twofold. First and foremost, we want to be a resource for the indie horror filmmaker and, secondly, we'd like to do our part to grow this little sub-genre. Lofty goals, I know. We're currently exploring options for a few projects that slide into and compliment those goals, but the site hasn't changed much. So, here's my question and, hopefully, you'll answer. What would you like to see out of the site? We're very interested, so... you talk, we'll listen. Please throw a few comments in there...

I have a couple things that I wanted to mention, but before I do, I just wanted to remind you that you can follow us on Twitter here, join our Facebook group here and I guess I shouldn't forget about Myspace, which you can find here. You get a few extra random, stupid thoughts and content through them. Anyhow...

Fright Night Film Festival - Aug 14 - 16: If you didn't know, one of our favorite fests of the year is the Fright Night Film Festival. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that we've talked with the festival director, Ken Daniels, twice. If you want to hear about the whole indie horror festival scene and what goes on there, you should definitely read those two interviews. You'll find the first one here and the second one here.

If you've read them already or just don't care, I'll just tell you about their latest announcement... and it's that Danny Lloyd, Danny Torrance from "The Shining", will be making his very first convention appearance at Fright Night Film Fest to help benefit Make-A-Wish. He'll be attending the fest and signing autographs on Saturday, August 15th, beginning at 11:30 am. 25% of EVERY autograph goes to Make-A-Wish. Get those Posters, DVD's, and anything else you can think of to get autographed.

After Dark Film Horrorfest 4 announcements: We've recently been added to the press list for After Dark Films, which I find to be pretty cool. All that really means is that they send us press releases and emails when they have something to promote, but I'm a big fan of what After Dark is doing and I'm happy to pass on what they're up to. I recently received a couple of press releases from them: The first one is on "Dread", the Anthony DiBlasi written and directed film, based on Clive Barker's short story from "Book of Blood". It'll be the second film out of the "Book of Blood" franchise, the first being "Midnight Meat Train". The second press release is on "The Graves", which is written and directed by Brian Pulido, who's a well known comic book writer and the creator of such titles as "Lady Death" and "Evil Ernie". Both films have now been picked up for After Dark's Horrorfest 4 and that's why I got the press releases.

So, I was going to write up something on both films, but I thought this may be more interesting... although I'm not sure if it's allowed, I guess I'll find out soon enough. I'm going to put up the press releases on box.net and give you the links to download or read them and here you go: press release for Dread and for press release for The Graves. Not only will the news interest you, but I thought you may be interested to see how a good press release is put together... as it's a good skill to have. Once your film is done, you should be putting together something like this and putting it out there for anyone who cares.

That's all I've got for this week, don't forget to get your drink on over the next few days and we'll see you next week! Oh yeah... and don't forget to add some comments about what you'd like to see out of the site!

linkapalooza - November 6, 2008: Hellraiser in Capable Hands

I sometimes wonder how our kids or grandkids will think of the era that we're living in right now... I mean, think of the amount of change that we've seen... seriously. I remember being a kid and my Dad setting up a projector in the basement to watch home movies, I remember when he brought home a "VCR", I remember video games when they could only be played in an arcade, I remember not having an email address. Hell, I remember getting our first microwave. Think about if you were born in 1890. By 1920, how many changes took place? I guess there's two ways to look at it, either we're living in an era that will forever be remembered as a time of massive change OR... we ain't seen anything yet. All this and I'm not even touching on the fact that we just saw the first African American voted in as President of the United States - a mere 50 years after he wouldn't have been able to drink out of the same water fountain as his Vice President elect. Crazy. Anyhow, right now, I just care about the changes and news that effects indie horror filmmakers. So, here's some shit that's going on out there...

'Hellraiser' redo in Laugier's hands on THR.com: Remember how the Weinsteins originally announced that they were going to have Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury remake Hellraiser? Then that fell through after investors saw "Inside", their latest film, and decided it was too fucked up and got worried about what they would come up with for the new Hellraiser? Granted, "Inside" WAS messed up... and awesome. Side note: if you haven't seen it, you should. That's not my point, though. My point is that they've now announced that Pascal Laugier will helm the remake, whose last film was MORE fucked up than "Inside". His film, "Martyrs", was not only compared directly to "Inside", it's been called the "new yard stick against which all forms of extreme genre films should be measured against." So, maybe the rumors that what Bustillo and Maury brought the Weinstein's were false and it was some other reason that they left the project. Maybe Laugier brought in a more friendly version, I don't know. Either way, it looks like the film is STILL in good hands. It'll be interesting to see how this does... are American audiences ready for a big budget gore flick? We'll find out soon enough.

MySpace top site for young filmgoers on Variety: Here's a shocker... filmgoers are going to Myspace to research films. Here's what surprises me... a lot of indie filmmakers do NOT use Myspace. When I'm looking into a film, there's only a few places I look. IMDB.com is one, I use Amazon.com a lot, but Myspace could be tops. It's free, it's easy and I'm surprised at how many people don't use it. If you're going to get into this whole space, you need to know how the digital world works. Please, if you're unsure or weary, go set up a basic account under a fake name, such as "Labia DeVulva" or "Fuk Yue", and just play around with it before using it. Set a few hours a week aside to learning and maintaining and you'll be surprised at how quickly you can get the word out about your film, meet other filmmakers, network and all that. Anyhow, people... please. If you're not using new media like social networking sites, please start.

Hollywood may not be recession-proof this time on LAtimes.com: Once again, what's bad for Hollywood can be good for you, the indie horror filmmaker. Okay, the article is SUPER long, but I can summarize it for you here pretty quickly. This whole recession thing is here, it's not going anywhere for a bit and when we do come out of it, it's going to be a different world. How different? Who knows... but people are going to be spending less money and doing some budgeting, that's for sure. Now, during the great depression, Hollywood and entertainment, as a whole, didn't suffer. In fact, it flourished. They found out pretty quick that people needed little escapes and entertainment MORE in times of crisis. Makes sense, right? Because of that, they've always said that Hollywood is recession-proof. Well, it's not this time around. Why? Because in 1930, they didn't have many choices, did they? Now, they do. In fact, how many of you could disconnect your cable and live off of streaming video and pirated DVDs? My bet? A lot. So, how does this help you? Well, as people turn off network television and stop going to the theaters, they're going to turn to the internet and other digital video resources... and guess what? That's where indie filmmakers should be living... So, you've got a whole new audience coming your way soon, be ready for them. And, please, give them a good deal if they want to buy something.

Vampire tale stalks FearNet on Reuters.com: This is about a music-driven vampire-themed series that will air on multiplatform horror-thriller network FearNet, written and directed by Mary Lambert. A little background on Lambert, first... she's done a ton of music videos, but she also helmed a few horror classics, including: Pet Sematary, Pet Sematary II, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. So, she's been around the horror block a few times. What interests me is that she's a decent name attached to an innovative project and it has absolutely nothing to do with network TV or the studios... aside from the fact that FearNet.com is owned by Comcast, Sony and Lionsgate. My point is this series will only be available on the FearNet website and on the FearNet VOD network. Read my last paragraph on the recession, then this one... there's new platforms coming, folks. Make sure your project can use them!

Zombies Eat Brains And Clay

Horror's reach is absolutely never ending, it's tentacles have slithered their way into every medium and it's been made into so many sub-genres. For example, I watched "Fringe" last night, which I thought was great, by the way... and it had horror elements, mixed with Sci-Fi, and it's a big network TV show. Some would say that horror's made it's way into music, with guys like Necro, Cradle of Filth and, especially, Rob Zombie, who embody horror elements. Of course, there's film, where you get psycho-thrillers, gore-fests, slasher flicks, you name it... it's almost rare to see a film that doesn't have some element of horror involved. So, as horrors reach continues, sometimes I think we're near a saturation point... I mean, where else could people take it? But, when I saw "Zombies Eat Brains And Clay", I realized that we may still be on the tip of the iceberg here.

What's "Zombies Eat Brains And Clay", you ask? Well, eventually, it's going to be a feature length claymation film. Currently, it's a short film on Youtube, which you'll find embedded below, plus it's a Myspace page, which you'll find here.

After watching it and going through their Myspace page, I feel like I've learned a couple things here. One, I love blood and guts that are made out of clay... who knew? Secondly, it just made me think about how there's so much more that can be done in horror. Every time I think I've seen it all, I see something new... on some new medium or in some new form. Whether you think out of the box on how you distribute your idea or content OR you think outside the box on what your idea or content is... the fact remains that there's endless new routes to take out there. We shouldn't get stuck in thinking that you have to make a 90 minute film that conforms to what Hollywood considers standard or acceptable. Get busy making something that isn't standard (or acceptable) and then go find an audience any way you can.

Until then, enjoy some zombies that, as the title states, eat brains and clay...