It's A Potpourri Of Horror News!!!

We've been rolling out a lot of interviews over the last few weeks and I even have a few more on file, which I'll get out in the coming weeks. However, when we do that, my inbox tends to get jammed with news, trailers and event listings... A side note - are any of you subscribers to the "my inbox must be empty at the end of the day" philosophy? I tried, but damn... can't do it. So, now I subscribe to the "my inbox is like a Netflix queue" way of life. It's always full, but I delete the ones that are junk or that I know I won't care about... everything else is just waiting to be read, when I get to it. The only issue is time sensitive stuff that's been in there for months. Whatever, I'll admit it... and let this be a lesson to you. I don't get to every email and I don't watch every film that's sent my way. It's not because I don't want to read every email or watch every film, it's just because a lot of shit gets lost in the mix. If you want me (or anyone - here's the lesson) to get back to you or read your shit or watch your film, bug me until I do. Squeaky wheel, people. Squeaky wheel. No matter what they say, it's true. There are no "maybes" - keep bugging people until it's a "yes" or a "no", but I digress... The whole point is I went through my inbox and found a few interesting things to pass on.

This, I wanted to post right away. Shriekfest just took place and they've announced their winners. Celebrating their 10th year, Shriekfest took place at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood and they screened 36 films and had 32 screenplay finalists and 12 original song finalists. Here's some of the winners: "Ashes" directed by Elias Matar took the Grand Jury prize for Best Horror Feature Film, "Transfer" directed by Damir Lukacevic took the Best Fantasy Feature Film award, "Serum 1831" directed by Anand Kanna took the Best Short Film prize and "Rise of the Appliances" directed by Rob Sprackling took the Best Super Short Film prize The winner of the Best Horror Feature Screenplay went to "Dead Crows" written by Chris Todd and the winner of the Best Short Screenplay goes to "Carbon Dating" written by Louis Rosenberg. You should go to their site and look at the complete list of all of the winners, as it's nice to know what kinds of films and screenplays are winning, right? Go to Shriekfest.com.

Okay, so a lot of people send me links to their blogs and sites and usually I gloss over them, but I really wanted to mention this one. This one not only gets into the obscure, but they put it all together in entertaining lists and reference horror films that I've forgotten about, characters that I barely remember and classic scenes that had slipped my mind. They sent me a link to the article "A Time to Kill: 11 Annoying Horror Movie Victims Who Deserved to Die", which you can get to by clicking HERE. However, click on the title and check out some of their other articles. I quite enjoyed "Class Reunion Massacre: 11 Boogeymen Who Should Kill Again". Anyhow, check it out and keep up the good work, guys!

Lastly, I'd like to embed the trailer for Bill Zebub's latest film, "Zombie Christ". Or is it one word? "Zombiechrist"? The plot revolves around modern Druids that raise the partially mummified remains of Jesus to do their bidding, making it perform unspeakable acts to usher in the new age. The film comes out October 25th and for more info, go to Zebub's site HERE.

Horror Film Fest Season

Dead Harvey Global Headquarters is in the process of being moved to a new location... which, simply, means that I'm moving. Why do you care? Because my internet connection will be down later tonight and Lord knows when I'll get it back up again. That means that this will, most likely, be my last post of the week. I'm hoping to have everything back in place and operational by Monday, so... we should be back at it then. I have to mention Shriekfest this week, as it's this weekend, so I'll do that and talk about another festival that was brought to our attention.

Like I said, Shriekfest is this weekend, September 30 - October 3, and it takes place at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. It's one of the big ones of the year, recently voted LA's best horror film festival by LA Weekly magazine, and it's an international festival and screenplay competition that gets submissions from all over the world. That and they sort of kick-off the horror festival season. They're in their 10th year and they've always been dedicated to getting horror, thriller, sci-fi and fantasy filmmakers and screenwriters the recognition they deserve. They're screening a pile of shorts and features and, if you're in the area, you should really check them out. You can check out the schedule here. If you're interested in knowing more about how the festival works, you can read the interview that we did with Shriekfest founder and festival director, Denise Gossett by clicking here. By the way, I can't believe that was two years ago... I'm going to have to get her to do another interview with us soon. Either way, support indie horror - support the festivals!

I'm a little late on this one, but I also wanted to mention Splatterfest, which was last weekend. Now, they do something a little different. It's more like a film competition... you enter a filmmaking team and you must provide your own equipment, cast and crew and, of course, creativity. Then, you meet up, get your mission, then off you go. All films get screened, with press and all that. It started last weekend, but hopefully they do it next year and maybe we can get a peak and some of the films that get made this year. I'll be reaching out to them soon.

Have a great week!

Just Out - Paranormal Activity 2 Trailer, Plus Some Festival Updates

Let's just start this post off with the hottest trailer that's been uploaded in the last 24 hours... the trailer for "Paranormal Activity 2". Be among the first to check it out...



I have no idea of what direction they're going with the actual film, but I really like the way they've kept with the 'found footage' theme for the trailer by incorporating what looks to be surveilance camera footage. I was ready to get all negative, but I do like what they did... having said that, let's see how the movie turns out.

Anyhow, to the point of today's post, what's getting embarassing is how poorly I've maintained the film festival section of the site. I'm always preaching about how important the festivals are, yet I don't update that portion of the site. Ironic, maybe. Embarassing, definitely. So, each week, for a while, I'm going to pick a festival, talk a bit about it, then update their listing in the festivals section. Today, I'll do two, Shriekfest and Fright Night Film Fest.

It's the final call for entries for the 10th Annual Shriekfest Film Festival, which is being held in L.A. from September 30th - October 3rd. Shriekfest will accept shorts, features, screenplays and more, just head over to their site to read all about it. The main goal of Shriekfest is to help support indie film, indie filmmakers and screenwriters in the horror/thriller/scifi/fantasy genres and, for that, we salute them.

This is the 6th Annual Fright Night Film Fest, which takes place in Louisville, KY. They're doing some big things and have some great guests, including: Roger Corman, Tyler Mane, a Fright Night reunion, a Dawn of the Dead reunion, Night of the Creeps... unfortunately, the deadline for film submissions has passed, but they doesn't mean you can't attend. Also, we're going to be doing an interview with Ken Daniels, the director of the fest, soon. So, look out for that.

Is It Happy Hour Yet? Well, until it is, here's some info on some film festivals...

Summer must be right around the corner... I really want to sit on a patio and drink cold beers imported from Mexico that are served in icy buckets, all the marketing campaigns for all the Hollywood tent pole films are gearing up and my inbox is filled with emails about upcoming indie film festivals. It's a good time to be alive. Then again... I guess it's always a good time to be alive and I'm not really willing to entertain the alternative. Anyhow, as you know, I think that the indie film festival scene is one of the most important facets of the indie horror industry and we all need to submit our films, submit our screenplays, attend the festivals and, generally, do whatever we can to support them. There are major shifts coming in the industry, but the festivals will always be the backbone. So, if you're involved with a festival and I'm not already signed up, please sign me up for your newsletter or send me an email and I'll keep pushing your information out to our readers. I used to dedicate every Friday to talking about the festivals and I'll do it again, as long as the emails keep coming in. So, here's some information on some of our favorites, click on the links to be taken to their homepages...

The FrightNight Film Fest is coming up this July 30 - August 1st and the deadline for submissions is June 21st, still plenty of time! It takes place in Louisville, KY and they give you a full meal deal. You can submit feature length films, short films, screenplays and even trailers. They also do piles of events and have lots of guests. This year, they have the living legend, Roger Corman, plus a "Night of the Creeps" and "Fright Night" reunion and a lot more. Frightnight is a staple in the festival scene and they accept a LOT of films, so... this is definitely one of the festivals to take a closer look at.

Shriekfest is now open for submissions, deadline is May 22 and late deadline is July 10th... hmmm, I wonder if I can have my script done for it? I'll keep you posted on that. Anyhow, they've added two new categories, so check this out... you can submit features, shorts, documentaries, music videos, screenplays and now webisodes and original songs. How about that? This is their 10th year and they do a real bang-up job. It takes place in L.A. and it's one of the ones that you want to be involved with, for sure.

Dark Carnival is also now open for submissions and they accept shorts, features, trailers and NOW, screenplays. To be honest, their festival isn't for a while, it's in November, but they've just passed on that they're now accepting screenplays, so I thought I'd mention them. From what I hear, they're a helluva lot of fun and do a week-long celebration of all things horror, including art exhibits, live entertainment, merchandise vendors, special guests and, of course, the festival itself. It's held in Bloomington, Indiana.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy a few buckets of beer!

"Zombieland" and a look at Shriekfest and Vampire Film Festival

What would a Friday be without a decent looking horror movie hitting the big screen? Well, just another excuse to down a few cocktails, I guess. No excuse is necessary this Friday because I'm actually pretty excited about this one, but only because I have soft spot for horror-comedies and I like Woody Harrelson when he acts like a retard. The movie, if you didn't already know about it, is "Zombieland". It's written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and directed by Ruben Fleischer. Fleischer really hasn't done too many big films prior to this. In fact, it looks like he's just written and directed a few TV shows and did a couple straight to video projects. IMDB never tells the whole story, though. Reese and Wernick, on the other hand, who not only wrote the film, but also executive produced the film, are partners and have been involved in quite a few projects over the last decade. They went to high school together and formed Reese Wernick Productions in 2001. Wernick worked as a producer on various reality shows before really breaking out with "The Joe Schmo Show", which the two of them created, executive-produced and wrote. That opened plenty of doors and they created a pile of other reality shows, including "Invasion Iowa" and "Stuck on ODB". Now, they're in to feature films and "Zombieland" is their first. Next up is "Earth Versus Moon", an epic sci-fi war movie, which they're slated to write and executive produce. Also, they're currently penning "Venom" for Sony Pictures and Marvel Comics. As for "Zombieland", it's getting good reviews and the story revolves around a group of survivors that stop in an amusement park, where they believe they'll be safe. If you're interested, they're "28 Days Later" type zombies, not Romero type zombies... the funny story of note is, Woody had an altercation with a TMZ photographer shorty after filming and his defense was, "I was still in character and I thought he was a zombie". In any case, it looks pretty good and I'll be checking it out soon enough...

Really quickly, I also want to mention Shriekfest, as it starts today... or was it yesterday? Either or, head over to their site, which can be found here OR, you can reread the post that we wrote about our review of Shriekfest 2009, which can be found here. If you're in the LA area, you should definitely head out and support this festival. It's one of the better indie-horror festivals of the year and a great place to network and see what other filmmakers are up to. Now, get off your ass and get down there.

Lastly, I should mention the Vampire Film Festival, which is coming up in a few weeks and has been getting a bit of press these days. It looks like another festival that's going to become a staple in the indie horror world. Here's what one of their recent press releases had to say:

Vampire Film Festival is descending upon New Orleans for the FIRST time Oct. 23rd! After much anticipation, the vampires and their supernatural friends have finally come home! Tickets are now available at the official Vampire Fest website: VampireFilmFestival.com

Alright, that's all we have for this week... have a great weekend!

Dead Harvey takes a look at Shriekfest 2009

I just caught wind that Shriekfest announced its selections for the 2009 festival. Now, Shriekfest is one of our favorites of the year. If you're interested in the festival and how it works, check out the interview that we did with the festival director, Denise Gossett, you can find it here. They screen features, shorts and also do a screenwriting competition. You can see all the selections over on their site, which is at Shriekfest.com and you can also find out when you can submit for Shriekfest 2010, which may not be for a while. One reason we really like these guys is that they don't "discriminate between award-winning films and unrecognized films during its submission process (and they) aim to help filmmakers of all levels gain valuable exposure." It's true, too. They're a good group of horror fans over there...

So, here's why I think you should give a shit about this. Festivals like this are a look into what the indies are doing and where Hollywood could be going. As far as horror concerned, people have been saying that studios and execs are looking at what's popular at festivals like this, then fishing from the pond. Whether they buy up the ideas or just steal them, that's a different story. For you, the indie filmmaker, it's a good way to get a feel for trends. Like, there's only one zombie film this year... and there's a lot of dark, quirky horror/comedies. Also, the "thriller" is well represented. Hmmm... thinking about your next idea? How about you peruse the list? Maybe you'll get some ideas. So, if you're interested, you'll find brief descriptions of all the feature films that have been selected AND we put up the trailers for most of them on our Youtube page, which you can find here. If you're interested in the shorts and the screenplays, you'll have to go to the Shriekfest site.

"Dark House", directed by Darin Scott, is about a troupe of actors that get hired to play a haunted house, but soon realize that it's a true house of horrors. After seeing all the trailers, this looks like it could be the lowest budget film of the group. However, I mean that literally, so it could be the best of the bunch. The trailer sure seems intriguing.

"Dawning", directed by Gregg Holtgrewe, is shot, in part, like an observational documentary. It's about a creature that's on the loose, killing wildlife and farm animals. I think, anyhow. The trailer makes it look like they may just be going insane, turning on each other. I don't know.

"Evil Angel", directed by Richard Dutcher, is set in present day Chicago and it's about the ancient avenging demon Lilith, who wants to destroy a young paramedic's life. Decent cast, with Ving Rhames and Ava Gaudet. Not much out there on it, just a basic one page site, which you can find here.

"Evilution", directed by Chris Conlee, has already won 3 awards. It's a zombie flick about an alien bacterium that resurrects the dead and it stars Billy Morrison, the bass player for the Cult.

"How to be a Serial Killer", directed by Luke Ricci, has also already won an award. It's a dark comedy about a serial killer that recruits a pupil to teach his ways to. Looks great and the pupil is Matthew Gray Gubler from "Criminal Minds".

"Hurt", directed by Barbara Stepansky, is about a recently widowed family that's forced to move into their uncle's salvage yard. Soon after the arrival of a mysterious foster child, a family secret starts to threaten their lives.

"Lo", directed by Travis Betz, is a horror/comedy/romance about a guy who contacts the demon Lo to help him rescue his girlfriend, who's been kidnapped by other demons.

"Maneater", directed by Michael Emanuel, is about a sheriff that profiles a series of unexplained murders, only to discover that the monster he's profiling may be himself. He may, in fact, be some sort of strange werewolf, chupacabre, beast-like thing.

"No-Do", also referred to as "The Beckoning", directed by Elio Quiroga, is about a pediatrician who suffers from postpartum depression and slowly goes insane from nocturnal visits to... I don't know, the summary was too long. It's a bit confusing. Haunted house... she's been traumatized. Watch the trailer, it's on our youtube page.

"Shellter", directed by Dan Donley, is about a young woman that wakes up in a fallout shelter and is coerced into horrific acts in order to stay alive. I couldn't find the trailer on youtube, but you can see it on their site, which you can find here.

"Spike", directed by Robert Beaucage, is a monster movie. That's all I can find out right now. However, their marketing described it as "Angela Carter rewriting La Belle et la Bete as an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Oooo... Buffy. I like Buffy. Couldn't find a trailer, but there's more on their site, which you can find here.

"Surviving Evil", directed by Terence Daw and starring Billy Zane, is about a documentary crew in the Philippines that's filming a survival special. Things go bad, creatures are involved.

"Sutures", directed by Tammi Sutton, is about a mercenary surgeon and his demonic staff who go after a group of friends to sell their body parts on the black market.

Film Fest Friday: Shriekfest, Fantasia Fest and Dead by Dawn

No, I didn't forget to post something yesterday, I just didn't have the time... sorry. Spare time is a luxury these days and a lot of mine has been going into working on our "Dead Harvey TV" project... which is moving along, by the way. Since I'm on the topic, the pilot is done and it was screened to good reviews. Granted, those reviews were from other people in the indie horror scene, but they were good. Now, we're polishing up a bit of a press kit, making some copies and are about to send it off to a few places. Don't worry, we'll be sure to keep you posted. (early draft of poster idea to the right, there - needs a bit of work, I know)

So, this post is going to be a mix of film fest updates and links... I happened to come across a few interesting things that I felt like sharing.

First off, for guys like us, it's a fairly embarrassing weekend at the box office, I gotta say. The biggest movie out is "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience", followed by "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li", which is, yes, based on the video game. Further, next week is fairly soft, as far as DVD releases are concerned... but I'll get to that on Monday. So, go check out "Friday the 13th" in the theaters, if you get a chance!

Now, for film festival announcements... it's time for Shriekfest Film Festival's call for entries. It's one of our favorites of the year and they're now going on to their 9th year, if you can believe it. The festival takes place October 1st - 4th, 2009 and they do networking events throughout the year in LA. So, go check them out at shriekfest.com.

Fantasia Fest, which takes place in Montreal, Canada, July 16th - August 3rd, now has their call for entries open, as well. Fantasia's one of the big ones and it's something that you should attend, if you can. For more information, go to their site at fantasiafest.com.

Lastly, on the festival front, tickets for Dead By Dawn, which takes place in Scotland, are finally going to be available on Tuesday... I think. All the emails they send are fucked up and cryptic. Like, here's a quote from their last email, "The utterly fantastic news is that Passes for this year's Dead by Dawn and Spawn of Dawn will go on sale from 11am on Tuesday March 3rd". Actually, after reading it out of context, I guess it's not that bad... but you should read the whole thing. Anyhow, the festival is April 30th - May 3rd and for more information on it, go to deadbydawn.co.uk.

Now, on to some interesting tidbits that I found on the internets...

Check out this awesome quote: “Success will return to Hollywood once again when the gutted creative process and talent is re-established at a bearable cost. And it will be on the shoulders of the creatives, not the accountants, that a return to greatness is achieved”. That's actually from Drake Pruitt's blog post on Peter Bart's article from Vanity Fair and there's links to both in this post from IndieFlix. It's not long, but it's a great read and great news for us indie guys. There ARE people shaking this industry up... so, just stick with it and it'll pay off.

There's an article, more like a blog post, in the LA Times on how Carl Icahn is looking to tighten his grip on Lions Gate Entertainment, here's a link. Now, we all know who Lions Gate is... horror and horror DVD's, primarily, are a cash cow for them. They had a week third quarter, but just recently won the week at the box office with "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail". Did I mention they also do the Tyler Perry films? They also distribute kids films and work-out videos, but that's besides the point. You know who they are and indie horror distribution is a big, big thing for them. So, who's Carl Icahn? Well, he's a billionaire financier, corporate raider and private equity investor. He's worth about $14Billion. He's a director at Blockbuster, has had significant holdings in Time Warner, he tried to take over Marvel Comics at one point and he just upted his stake in Lions Gate to just over 14%. That is, of course, just his entertainment related ventures, he does lots of other shit, too. I just find it very interesting that he's so interested in them... must be something there.

So, that's all I got for this week... now go get your drink on this weekend and we'll see you next week!

Film Fest Updates: Chicago Horror Fest, Shriekfest and Slamdance

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Dead Harvey inteviews Denise Gossett, founder/festival director of Shriekfest

We here at Dead Harvey are steadfast in our devotion to the indie horror filmmaker, we aim to be a complete and full resource for you. That, my good reader, is our goal. Now, whether or not we succeed is another story, but hey... at least you know where we're coming from. As you may or may not know, we've interviewed lots of indie horror filmmakers and have a massive amount of insight and advice compiled in our Dead Harvey Film School section from them, but recently we've been trying to interview people in other facets of the indie horror scene. So, since getting into the festivals is almost as important as getting distribution, we've been concentrating on trying to talk with festival directors. This time around, we talk to Denise Gossett, the founder and festival director of Shriekfest. Shriekfest is both a competition horror film festival and a horror screenwriting competition AND it's one of the best of the year. If you're going to be entering indie horror film festivals, this is one of the 'musts'. For more info, you can go to the Shriekfest homepage here.

Please tell us a bit about yourself… how’d you get into indie horror?

My name is Denise Gossett. I have been in the industry for 16 years, primarily as an actress. I can be seen on such tv shows as "Veronica Mars", "The New Adventures of Old Christine", "Mind of Mencia", a recurring role on "Zoey 101", "Drake & Josh", etc. I am also the founder/festival director of Shriekfest Horror/SciFi Film Festival and Screenplay Competition. I moved to Los Angeles from Orlando, FL.

Tell us a bit about Shriekfest… when and why did it get started?

Shriekfest is in it's 8th year. I came up with the idea to do a genre festival after I starred in the horror film "Chain of Souls". I had asked the director and producer what they were going to do with the film and they said, straight to video and I asked how about festivals? They replied that there weren't really any horror festivals out there...and that's where the idea came from! I told my sister in law my idea and she said let's do it. Since then she has moved back to Michigan to raise her son and her brother, my husband, Todd Beeson has been my partner ever since.

From the perspective of the film, why should indie horror filmmakers try to get their films into festivals?

I think indie horror filmmakers need all the help and exposure they can get. I know from the past that films who get in festivals have an easier chance at getting distribution, agents, managers, etc.

From the perspective of the filmmaker, what can I expect to get out of having my film screen at the festival?

Well, Raleigh Studios, where we hold the festival, has an excellent screening facility. We've been told many times by filmmakers that their film has never looked so good as when it screened in Shriekfest. We also invite a lot of distributors, agents, press, etc to the festival and try to get as much recognition as we can for the filmmakers/screenwriters. All year long we get contacted by distributors, investors, agents, etc and I will always refer a project that I personally liked. I still refer films/screenplays from our first year back in 2001!

As a horror fan, what can expect to get out of attending the festival?

You can expect to see top notch indie horror films! And, the filmmakers are usually in attendance so you get to meet them as well.

When you’re accepting films, what are you looking for?

We are looking for good films and screenplays. This means...good quality, good story, good acting...basically a complete package. They don't have to be scary or gory. There are a lot of horror comedies our there too.

As a filmmaker, what can I do to make my film more festival friendly? Should I even be thinking of that?

Yes, I think you should think of those things, if the festival circuit is your goal. Make sure it's a quality product. Make it tight...don't submit films that are over 2 hours...even studio films that long can rarely hold one's attention. Think of the audience that the festival attracts. Check out some of the other films they've received to see the quality that they accept. What part of the country is the festival?

Are there any particular success stories from films that screened at Shriekfest?

Oh, there are tons! We have a whole page on our website that talks about some of them. (find that here) I would say that every feature that has screened at Shriekfest has gotten distribution and a lot of the shorts have as well...because dvd compilations are very popular right now. People have gotten agents and sold scripts too!

What advice can you give to an up and coming filmmaker in the indie horror genre?

Be persistent, don't give up. Let's keep raising the quality of the horror films out there...horror deserves the same respect that any other genre gets. Make what you love and don't ever give up on your dreams!

Tell us about the future of indie horror, where do you see it going?

Well, with all of the new technologies, I see indie horror really going far...I see the films looking better and better and with horror losing it's stygma, we are now seeing more and more top quality actors willing to act in horror films. I think it's getting smarter too...not every horror film is the same anymore, we are getting more intelligent with the horror films/scripts.

What’s next for you and Shriekfest?

For me, I am starring in a Western film in the next month playing a gunslinger and then after that I have another film I'm working on called Take One. (DH - check out denisegossett.com) And for Shriekfest...more of the same and bigger and better things...some things are in the works...it will be a big surprise.

Where can people find out more about Shriekfest and how can they go about entering their film?

shriekfest.com - Entry form and all the info is on the site...plus google Shriekfest and check out past press articles and past reviews from filmmakers and screenwriters. You can tell alot about a festival by what people say about it who aren't involved with it.