Michael and Anthony Bring In The Terror

Pepe and Hein greeted the audience like rockstars and treated us to the usual trivia questions for schwag intros that begin each of the screenings at the festival. This year, thankfully, Pepe did some research and so the questions were different from the past two years. After giving away copies of Near Dark and World War Z to knowledgeable audience members, the audience was ready to finally begin watching some scary movies.

Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

WARNING!!!! Reviews may contain spoilers!!!!

Far Out directed by Phil Mucci- Far Out is from the same creator of the Listening Dead, a short film so popular it has been touring the festival circuit for almost two years. While the Listening Dead is a haunting and somber film about the nature of obsession, Far Out shows Mucci's range with a completely different type of short. Far Out is a tribute to the early 70's supersaturated psychedelic movies. It's a totally trippy romp featuring one of the most famous vampires of all time, Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.

Mucci's work features strong female characters. The Listening Dead is essentially a battle royale between two women, one dead and one alive, for the affection of an obsessed musician. The living wife, who has her own interest-sewing, wants her husband to give her projects some interest, while the ghost is happy to blissfully listen to work of the musician without any demands of her own. When the desires of these women become frustrated, the supernatural consequences mount. Who will win the heart of the musician? And more importantly, who will survive?

Far Out also has a strong female character. While Carmilla seems shy when she first arrives at the "happening", you know from the first bat of her eyelids that she isn't as innocent as she seems. As she mingles with high hippies and go-go dancers, she begins to reveal that she's far more hip to the scene than her fellow party guests. Far different in tone than the Listening Dead, Far Out has a great sense of humor featuring some classic gory sight gags as well as the best use of retro-dialogue I've heard in a while. It's the attention to detail that makes this film so successful as a period piece. The costumes, including the amazing dress that Carmilla wears for her entrance, the lighting, even the furniture all fit with the time period making this one of the most successful period pieces I've seen.

All in all the movie lives up to its title, and the party atmosphere of the short was the perfect complement for the opening party.To have your mind blown by Far Out, check out Hive Films.

Anthony Greets Filmmaker

Wish You Were Mine directed by Tom Wendling-Tom Wendling approached this music video like a movie, and it shows. This music video, to the song "Wish You Were Mine" by Early Edison, is an homage to the Bride of Frankenstein. One of the things I like about this film is that it proves that a simple film well done can be infinitely more effective than a film loaded down with needless and confusing twists.

The doctor (played by lead singer Tom Ashton) is overwhelmed with sadness over the death of his wife until he has the idea to send Igor (played by director and band member Tom Wendling) into the cemetery for body parts to rebuild his lost love. The film successfully captures the feel of silent films with dialogue cards, models of the castle and cemetery, and a beautiful sense of black and white cinematography. The close up of the eyes during the resurrection sequence is a direct homage to the Bride of Frankenstein and recalls the wide terrified eyes of Elsa Lanchester. The loveliest shot in the film features the resurrected bride in a white dress with ethereal backlighting. It gives the film a creepy and unsettling end to this tale of endless and obsessive love.

To hear Wish You Were Mine or see stills of the making of the video, head over to Early Edison's Myspace Page.

Michael Hein with David Pro

Egg Ghost directed by Dongkeun Lee- This stop-motion animated short is based on an old Korean folktale. A traveler in the woods come across what appears to be the body of a person dressed in white. When he investigates, he discovers a faceless ghost who begins to pursue him in order to claim from him what she lacks, her face.

The visual style, particularly the slinky walk of the ghost and the two laughing statues the travelers passes, make this three minute movie interesting watch.

Stink Meat directed by Jeff Speed-The premise of Stink Meat is simple. A young girl in a lacy party dress is tied to a chair with blood smeared to her mouth. Before her on the table are plates with bloody raw meat. It's not hard to tell where this film is going, but how the director handles this film is what makes it really special.

Part of the key to the effectiveness of this film is the juxtapositioning of elements like the refined appearance of the girl with her dress with the burlap sack masked menace, but Speed also uses detail to make his vision unique. From the corpses on the table having the meat exposed by a series of chains to the ravenous hands of fellow cannibals reaching out from the walls, hungering for the disgusting flesh, this film continues to surprise audiences while still delivering on its promise to absolutely turn your stomach.

The level of visual effects also makes this film stand out. The entrails that the hooded man fondles before forcing it into the mouth of the girl, well, the promotional barf bags that Speed handed out before the short were almost necessary. I don't know how he got such absolutely grotesque entrails nevermind convinced some poor actress to eat even the tiniest morsel of them. If you’re interested in watching Stink Meat, as well as some of Speed's other work, visit his website. Just be sure you do it on an empty stomach.

Don Hill's Opening Night

Zero Hour directed by Dave Colonna-This zombie short was made in 12 hours. It features two men using a new birthday gift of binoculars to oogle a rooftop sunbathing babe who suddenly becomes the victim of a zombie attack. The short is most noticeable for its sense of humor with dialogue like "I want to suck her shoulders" or my personal favorite "DUDE!" in response to a zombie attack. It is, also, blissfully short and gets right to the zombie hijinx without much delay.

Crazy Love directed by Willliam van Cuyck-We all do crazy things to fall in love. Answer personal ads, go on blind dates, try speed dating, get rejected by eharmony (sorry, that one still hurts) all in the name of finding that special someone. Of course, it's a difficult and often painful process. For anyone who has ended up next to a necking couple and wanted to hit them over the head with a baseball bat, Crazy Love is for you.

Crazy Love is a film after my own heart as it features a charismatic serial killer who seeks love by targeting happy couples. The best part of this short is the original song that plays over the film featuring lyrics like "I know that you really love me and not just because I have a knife now" and "God you're so beautiful when you're bleeding." The little details are what make this film stand out including the victim wearing a "Being Happy" t-shirt and the montage of "happy couple" polaroids that play over the closing credits. A great little short, especially if you've just had a hard break up.

During the night Hein and Pepe also plays trailer trash including a trailer for the blaxploitation zombie flick Black from the Dead and my personal favorite Night of the Hell Hamsters. When I found out part of the splatastic shenanigans involved Giant Zombie Rabbits, well, let's just say it is in my short list of Movies To Watch.

After the shorts and the proper amount of Hobgoblin ale, it was time to head home for a good night of rest for the next night of freaky festivities, which included the World Premiere of the Director's Cut of Hostel and a live Q and A with Eli Roth himself.