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Okay, you know about Horrorfest, right? The After Dark Horrorfest? 8 Films to Die For? Well, if you don’t, you should. The annual film festival has brought a ton of kick-ass horror films to the big screen for American audiences. Films such as: “The Tripper”, “Penny Dreadful”, “The Gravedancers”, “Frontier(s)”, “Nightmare Man”, “Borderland”, “Mulberry Street”, “Autopsy”, “Perkins’ 14″ and “Slaughter”, to name just a few. Horrorfest debuted in 2006 and it’s a one week national film festival that celebrates nothing but horror. In its first year, it became the first film festival to break into the top 10 at the national box office and they’ve currently distributed over 1.6Million DVD’s. To say that they’ve been a driving force behind indie horror over the last four years is an understatement….

Now, they’re back. On January 29th, 2010, After Dark’s Horrorfest 4 hits the screens with more of the best in indie horror from around the world. What can you do to prepare? Well, there’s a lot of things you can do… however, you can start by reading this exclusive interview that we did with Sara Finder, the Director of Horrorfest. She offers some great insight into how the festival works and offers up some advice for filmmakers…

First off, tell us a bit about yourself, how’d you get in to indie horror and the film scene?

Sara Finder, Director of Horrorfest, I have been marketing Horrorfest since the Horrorfest I DVD release in March 2007. I have been working in the film/tv scene since 1995 holding various positions. Inevitably my jobs led me into the indie horror world & I have never looked back.

Most of readers are well aware of Horrorfest, but for those who aren’t, tell us a bit about Horror fest. When and why did it get started?

After Dark Films, CEO Courtney Solomon had just completed his film American Haunting. Shortly after, Lions Gate sealed a deal with him to distribute his films. His search for the next film to release led him to find several worthy horror films which then developed into the creation of Horrorfest “8 Films to Die For” Horrorfestonline.com. Horrorfest is a one-week national film festival that celebrates all areas of the horror genre.

Tell us a bit about your selection process. What does it take to get picked up by Horrorfest?

We look for films in various ways, including: film festivals, submissions, referrals etc. The door is always open as to how we get our films. In regards to film selection we do not go out with a set idea of what we want to do. Every year is different, so we keep an open mind about which films will make it into our festival.

As a filmmaker, what could I do to make my film more festival friendly? Is this something that you think filmmakers should even be thinking about?

No, filmmakers should not be concentrating on making it festival friendly. They should be concentrating on bringing their vision to life.

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

Once your film has been completed, never underestimate the power of publicity. Help spread the word about your film as much as possible.

Are there any success stories of note from Horrorfest?

There are several success stories, many of our directors were offered film projects due to the exposure of their films being released nationwide theatrically by After Dark Films. Last year we produced a few of our own films (Butterfly Effect 3, Slaughter and Perkins 14) and brought back a director who had his film in a previous Horrorfest – Craig Singer director of Dark Ride & Perkins 14. We spotlight the indie filmmakers in ways they would not receive if their films went straight to DVD. This exposure is extremely valuable and can definitely get them to their next film opportunity.

So, as a fan… what can we expect out this Horrorfest this year?

Horrorfest 4 will be an incredible festival. So far we have announced the below & two more films will be announced shortly. Make sure you check out Horrorfestonline.com for more information on each of the films including stills & trailers. We are updating the site with new goodies frequently.

Dread
Dread, the second in the Book of Blood franchise is a stylish horror/thriller about three college students working on a documentary for school focusing on what others dread in life.

Hidden
Painful memories arise when Kai Koss goes back to his childhood home after 19 years and inherits his dead mother’s house.

Lake Mungo
Sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer drowns while swimming in the dam. After her burial, her grieving family experiences a series of paranormal disturbances in their home

The Graves
Two inseparable sister’s visit to a remote mine town turns into a mind-bending fight for survival against menaces both human and supernatural.

ZMD
Life is wonderful for the people in the quiet, island town of Port Gamble….until a zombie virus outbreak!

The Final
A group of high school outcasts takes revenge on the classmates who tormented torment them.

Tell us about the future of indie horror, where’s it at now and where do you see it going?

Indie horror is alive and thriving. I see the future as one where filmmakers have more opportunities to create & make the films they dream of.

What’s next for you and Horrorfest?

Horrorfest 4 coming this January 29th is keeping me busy and will all the way until its March DVD release. Then we start all over again creating and bringing the fans more horror films they truly want to see on the big screen.

Where can people find out more about Horrorfest and how can they support it?

You can find out about Horrorfest 4 on our site at Horrorfestonline.com. Register with us & get the Horrorfest news first hand. As well, follow us on our social networks at: twitter.com/afterdarkfilms, Facebook & myspace.com/afterdarkfilms

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Sam “Spiderman” Raimi returns to horror, with some chilling suspense and death-scare sequences that garnered this film with many positive reviews. I wanted to like this a lot more however; it does contain one too many horror movie cliches for my liking, and an oh so predicatble ending. Solid horror, but unremarkable.

3 stars

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Well folks, here we are… the last day of November, mere hours before we enter the last month of 2009 and less than 3 weeks until “Avatar” comes out. At the box office, “New Moon” continued to dominate, pulling in another $42Million, boosting it’s grand total take to over $230Million. “Old Dogs” came in 4th, with a take of over $16Million and “Ninja Assassin” came in 6th, with a take of just over $13Million. “The Road”, which I did NOT get to go see, but really wanted to, came in at 11th… but it was in extremely limited release, only coming out on 111 screens. The good news? It DID have the highest average, per theater, take… at $13,721, which is really cool. Reviews have been great and I do hope to check it out soon. As for what’s coming out on DVD tomorrow, well… you can check out all the trailers on our Youtube Page, which you can find by clicking here, and you can click on the titles to go to their page on Amazon, where you can read more and/or buy them… otherwise, read on.

I put up “Silent Night, Deadly Night” because Amazon was promoting a box set of all of them, but I just saw that it’s been “discontinued by the manufacturer”. So, the title links to the latest rerelease of the original… and I put it up because, well… it’s December tomorrow and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” is probably the best Christmas horror of all time. Check out the trailer on our Youtube Page and tell me that it doesn’t make you want to check it out again… I dare you. “You made it through Halloween… Now try to survive Christmas”.

For all you Ash fans, it looks like there’s yet another rerelease of “The Evil Dead“. I’m not sure what the reason for this particular rerelease is, but it was a great excuse to watch the original trailer again. Do yourself a favor and go check it out on our Youtube Page. That trailer makes me want to go shoot something… “Evil Dead” was really the birth of indie horror. Bless this film.

I couldn’t find the trailer for “Little Red Devil“, but it’s a shot on HD, indie horror from Tommy Brunswick, the guy who brought you “Biker Zombies”, “They Must Eat” and various other indie horror films. This stars James Russo and Daniel Baldwin and it looks like the story revolves around a guy that’s in a dead-end life, where he’s searching for his long lost girlfriend… when he makes a deal with the devil and becomes an unholy servant in a deadly game of evil revenge.

“Deadline” stars Brittany Murphy and she plays a screenwriter that’s recovering from a psychological breakdown at a remote Victorian house. Her deadline for the script is approaching, but… the place is haunted and she finds some disturbing videotapes in the attic. Really? Yawn…

“Deader Country” is the sequel to “Dead Country”, from Andrew Merkelbach. We discussed the first film with Andrew and you can check out the interview here, if you’d like. In any case, he’s back… and he promises more zombies, naked nymphs, aliens, animated cats, warlocks, cyborgs, strange hybrid creatures, nude vixens and ghostly apparitions. Once again, he’s got it all covered.

I’ve gotta say, “Poker Run” actually looks pretty good… It’s from Julian Higgins and it looks like “Saw” meets biker exploitation. Basically, a couple of weekend bikers are thrown into a warped world of violence, where they’re forced to follow a series of bizarre clues that include doing some crazy, psychopathic tasks, after their wives are kidnapped by a pair of psycho bikers.

“Hair Extensions” is one of those films that could only come from Asia… and I mean that in a “I wish I could see more films like this” way. So, this guy makes wigs and hair extensions from the hair of dead girls and, of course, the extensions carry the grudges of the original owners and can attack people at random. It won the Horror Jury Prize for Best Film at the Austin Fantastic Fest.

I couldn’t find the trailer for “Sins of The Father“, but it’s from Brain Damage and it’s about a guy that returns home to uncover the truth about his family’s murder.

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So, any big movies coming out this weekend? I can’t think of anything of note… Maybe you’re going to see that new Sandra Bullock film, “The Blind Side”? No? “Planet 51″? Okay… I’ll acknowledge the elephant in the room – “Twilight: New Moon” comes out today and, really, no joke, I think it’s a good thing for the horror genre. I do. Sure, it’s PG-13. Sure, it’s a romance. Sure, it’s for kids. However, it does have werewolves and vampires in it. I say that’s it’s good for the genre because “Twilight” may act as a gateway film for these kids… weed can lead to coke and “Twilight” could lead to f’ed up, unrated slasher flicks. Also, on a more believable note, it keeps the viability of horror characters alive. If werewolves and vampires can make money in these films, they should be able to make money in other films. Right? Regardless, I did see the first one and I’ll probably see this one, but I won’t be rushing out or waiting in line or anything. If I do hit the theaters this weekend, it’ll be to see “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”. Two reasons, I like Nicolas Cage and I’ve heard it’s one of his best performances in years AND because the film garnered one of the best comments of the year when Abel Ferrara, director of 1992’s “Bad Lieutenant”, said, “As far as remakes go… I wish these people die in Hell. I hope they’re all in the same streetcar and it blows up”. So, go check out this Nic Cage version, then do Ferrara a favor and rent “The Driller Killer” and the original “Bad Lieutenant”… both ARE classics.

So, to take you in to the weekend, I’ve come across a few other things that I wanted to share…

First off, as you know, a lot of filmmakers think of the theatrical release as the pinnacle of filmmaking and we urge people to think of alternative distribution methods. Sometimes I feel like writing a book about all the different things that I’ve come across, but… well, I’m not really a success story, so who would care? Regardless, now I don’t have to write the book because someone else has… and that someone is Jon Reiss. He wrote a book called “Think Outside The Box Office: The Ultimate Guide To Film Distribution And Marketing For The Digital Era”. I haven’t read it, but it has been recommended to me and I’ve read various reviews, all of which are good. If you’re interested, he’s got a site together and you can read more about it… and the book’s only $20. Click on this to go to his site.

I’d also like to mention that the deadline for the 2nd annual Paranoia Horror and Sci-Fi Convention and Film Festival, which is coming up. We talked with Shane Russeck, the festival director, last year, and he offered up a great interview. You can check that out here. The coolest part about the festival is that it takes place on the haunted Queen Mary in Long Beach… just awesome. The actual festival is March 12 – 14, but the deadline for entry is November 30th, so get on it!

Lastly, I’m VERY happy to share a not-so-exclusive clip from indie horror legend, Bill Zebub. He JUST sent out this clip from his upcoming film, “Night of the Pumpkin”. He’s in the beginning stages of post on it and won’t have a rough cut for another month or so… he just pumped this out to show people, just got it last night. Enjoy… and have a great weekend.

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I was listening to an interview with Uncle Lloyd Kaufman this morning, where he was talking about how the conglomerate’s are manipulating the theatrical experience and his Troma films don’t get the theatrical releases that they deserve. He went on and on about how he shoots on 35mm and how his films are meant to be seen in a theater and that’s how Troma fans want to see them.

I don’t have answers, but I do have ideas. Truth is, a lot of people have ideas and I love to watch the trailblazers go out there and try new things. One such trailblazer is Phil Hughes, the writer and director of “The Scare Game”, a web-based horror-comedy series. The series blends horror and comedy and has great production value… the budget is low, but you really don’t get that feeling. It’s well put together, fun to watch and as each episode will be 7 to 10 minutes long, they’re easy to consume. Personally, I’m very interested in what the future holds for web-based entertainment, so I was quite excited to have the opportunity to discuss this project with Hughes.

First off, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you into indie horror filmmaking?

Well the basics are that I’m male, 32, born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but I’ve lived in a few different places like Texas, New York, and Japan. I have two degrees- one in computer animation and graphics, the other is creative writing with a minor in photography, so I’m kind of all over the place. I’d have to say my biggest horror influence was my dad. He would rent every ridiculous horror movie under the sun from the shop and let me watch most of them and then try to scare my crap out of me. I had a fairly traumatic childhood, but it was good times. When I got into filmmaking, I started making a variety of short flicks, but most of them were comedies or dramedies with a bit of romance. When I got a little more confident with the camera, then I started to delve into genre filmmaking.

Film School: Yes or No?

No, but I’ve taken a lot of assorted classes that all relate to the discipline. There wasn’t any stellar programs around here so I decided to broaden my abilities and continue to make movies on my own (with a good group of friends, of course).Of course, 6 1/2 years working for a movie theatre can be a hell of a film education.

You’ve launched a web-based series called “The Scare Game”, tell us a bit about the project.

The Scare Game is a horror/comedy about this group of friends whose love of horror movies leads them down some bizarre and dangerous paths. It’s hard to get too deep into it at this point. The first 6 episodes all revolve around a mystery and then the back half launch into them dealing with the mystery. I wanted to take time to develop the characters before we started getting into the heavier stuff.

Is there a particular reason you developed this for online?

It’s a new medium and the rules aren’t set. It’s also liberating filmmaking because you can focus your time and money into other aspects of the filmmaking as opposed to worrying if it is in HD and how will project and how will afford the repeated raping of film festival costs. There aren’t any specific restrictions, so we can make things as long or as short and/or as risque as we want. The shorter episode format lets me tell a serialized story that’s not really intimidating to someone if they come part way through- they can catch up fairly quick.

What is your approx budget for the whole deal and how did you secure financing?

The pilot was a little over a grand and that pretty much covered food, equipment rental, and art department stuff. It all came out of our own pockets (Especially Producer Brian Austin Wenrich’s). The money for the 2nd and 3rd episode was donated to us by friends who really believed in what we were doing and wanted to help get the ball rolling. We would eventually like to be ad-sponsored and things like that, but that’s probably a ways off. Until then, it’s beg, borrow, and steal… and then beg some more.

Talk a bit about where you see the series going and what can people expect?

I answered that a bit in one of the earlier questions. I hope that we create a fun series where people laugh, dig the characters, and then occasionally get creeped out or jump out of their chairs. As it’s mapped out now, things will get darker and go into some moral gray area which might be hard for some folk, but I’m hoping they will be with the characters if/when they make decisions that aren’t always the most noble. We have very specific ideas and things are mapped out, but I don’t want to box myself in. If certain things evolve thematically and tonally that I wasn’t expecting, then we’ll roll with it.

What’s your ultimate goal for the series?

We would like to have the financing to where the team could get paid to get it out there. That way, it’d be getting out on a regular basis and we could really have a steady “dialogue” with the fans. I’d like to be able to pay the rent and the people who work to make this happen and look great. It would be nice to put it out on DVD and actually have a goodly amount of people pick it up.

How are you going about promoting the series? What would you pass on to other filmmakers that are considering doing an online project?

Well our other producer/writer/actor, Jenn Daugherty, has been hard at work on a online campaign. She sent out almost 600 emails to various blog sites and newspapers (mostly college) the night we launched the episode. Plus, she was working hard to get the local media to give us some notice so we can build more support at home and then grow outward through the web. She does a lot on YouTube to meet people and find like-minded individuals and invite them to the site, facebook updates, and twitter feeds (we have a few people working on that).

My advice would be- be prepared to put in a lot of time just trying to reach out to people and get to know them. Become part of the community and hopefully that community will embrace you and lift you up. Jenn says the publicity work she does is like staring into the void, but she keeps going- bit by bit.

Is there money in a web-based series? How do you see “The Scare Game” getting monetized? Talk about online distribution versus traditional distribution

Haha. Again, I answered this a bit. Our plan is to utilize the inherit trickiness of the genre by filming full on horror (nudity, violence, and language) and then putting the edited version onto places like YouTube to try and reach the greatest audience we can, but then point back to the main site for the full, uncensored episode which would theoretically be where the ads would be. We need a few more (haha) people before people would start to consider ads for us, but we’ll keep having at it. We’d love it if we could do some product placement. That would be hilarious! Online, we have the power to make decisions about how and what we release- we just don’t get paid for it. We don’t have to negotiate with anybody over our product; we just have to worry about bandwidth.

Talk about the indie horror scene. Where do you think it’s at now and where do you see it going?

There was a brief time where a well made but SUPER cheap indie horror movie could be made and get a decent amount of money from a distributor to go into DVD and on to services like Netflix. I think that window has pretty much dried up. Indie horror has traditionally been the most accessible and profitable genre, but as with all indie film now, there is such a saturation of reasonable film equipment that everyone thinks they can make a movie. And then there are the ones that can, who are a small percentage, but in that saturated market, it turns out to be a lot of people so it’s just that much harder to get noticed. As to where it’s going… that’s a hard one. Lower budget stuff will continue to look better and better, but it will take something truly original and mind-blowing to really break out of the pack. That being said, the web gives the hardcore fan a lot of material to peruse and that is just going to get easier and faster to find. I’m hoping that saturation will raise the bar of quality in general.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I have a feature script that I am almost finished with and another 3 or 4 in the works, but most of my film energy is going toward The Scare Game.

How can people support “The Scare Game”?

They can go and watch it on youtube.com/thescaregame and then if they dig it and want to see the boobs, then they can roll on over to TheScareGame.com. If they like it, then they should get a few friends to see it. If they don’t like it, still get a friend to see it. AND if they REALLY like it, then they can donate some change on the main site. Plus, we’re a small operation so we don’t need big companies to help sponsor us so we’re always down for getting the word out to smaller companies and boutiques trying to get their wares out to the people. That helps everyone.

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