ShockerFest: Day Two

ShockerFest Day Two

I woke up around ten in the morning and decided to check my mail and stuff before heading out for my day at the festival. I missed the first block of shorts I wanted to see, but it made me a happier camper to not rush around. So, what follows is a rundown of the flicks I saw:

Screeeam: A Japanese short that spoofed a variety of horror flicks. It was pretty good, but a little uneven in tone, as though they decided halfway through writing to make it funny and didn't go back to add humour to the first part.

Peekers: This was executive produced by Richard Chizmar and based on a short story by someone whose name I can't remember. Sorry, Author. Anyway, this short was excellent. I don't want to sum it up because I'll end up giving it all away. Minimalist and creepy. Great work!

Fog Warning: This was an "is-she-or-isn't-she" vampire feature. There was no tension and it was too long, but it had some good cinematography and some good acting.

(spek.ter): A short film about a Goth internet pin-up who is haunted by the death of her friend. I make it sound better than it is.

Penny Dreadful: This short was about a family during the Depression mourning the death of the matriarch. There was no tension, but it was well acted and well shot.

Blood on the Highway: This was a comedic vampire feature. It strikes me like a better paced, better shot Redneck Zombies. If you're familiar with and like Redneck Zombies, or really any Troma film, you'll like Blood on the Highway.

The Shadow Within: This is a British feature based on a French novel about a young boy who is haunted by the ghost of his twin brother who died just after he was born. There was no tension and it was too "deliberate", but it was well performed. Another issue was the writing. I felt as though I missed a few things within five minutes of the movie starting and here and there throughout the rest of the flick. The core idea was really good, but the script needed a bit more work.

Casting Call of Cthulhu: A really cute idea. Basically, it was who would show up to a Lovecraft casting session. I liked it quite a bit.

Hotel Colorado: Basically, even though the log line in the festival catalogue says that it was inspired by the Eagles song "Hotel California," it pretty much steals from The Shining. It was okay.

Til Death Do Us Partner: The animation was rough, but it was okay.

Hanah's Gift: Other than some pacing problems, it was a good flick about a very frightening night from the point of view of an acutely autistic girl with a special gift.

Safe: Predictable, but funny short. I don't want to give too much away by summarizing it, but I knew what it was about right away. I'm sure that's not the case for everyone not that I'm smarter than everyone else, but I just figured it out…

The Road Warrior hosted by Vernon Wells: Of course, the movie is excellent. A bunch of talkers sat around me in the theatre so I kept hearing all these comments and general chatter, but it was still great to see it in the theatre with a bunch of people.

Vernon Wells, who played Wez (the mohawk guy,) was there watching it with the rest of us and related quite a few funny stories about the making of the flick and his role during the Q&A. He's a very funny, self-depreciating man whose niceness was exemplified by his offer to give a few of us who were waiting for the shuttle a lift back to the hotel. Ben (the director of Even,) Josh (the director of The Consumed,) and myself took him up on the offer. I tried to buy him an energy drink from the hotel's snack bar to thank him for his kindness, but he wouldn't have it. Ah well, I tried.

Anyway, it was definitely an interesting night!

My film plays tomorrow (now today) at two in the afternoon and the first in a series of planes home leaves at 9:30 Monday morning so I'll be missing the first few shows tomorrow so I can do the online check-in thing and be prepared. And, I want to bring lunch with me. I wasn't feeling into Mexican food so I went to the market down the street from the theatre and all they had was Lunchables.

Also, other than a few corrections that need to be made, Without/Within is up on the IMDb! One of the corrections is that they have me listed as the same Lori Bowen who was in Pumping Iron. I'm totally not that Lori and I've notified them of that. It kind of feels like how, when I was checking into the hotel, the woman behind the counter asked me if I was Brinke Stevens. I laughed and said, "No. Definitely not. But thank you…"