Ok, so this blog post will be dedicated to some shameless self promotion.  On Saturday, July 28th I hosted my first horror film screening event at Cafe Z in Union, NJ.  I was a bit nervous, because I had never organized any type of 'genre' event before, but it seems to have gone over really well!

My intention was to screen three independent horror films; "Gallery of Fear", "The Turnpike Killer" and "The Orphan Killer".  We ended up not being able to screen "Turnpike Killer" due to some unforeseen circumstances, but the other two films were shown. 

I was very fortunate to have, in attendance, several people who were involved with the making of two of the films.  Alan Rowe Kelly, actor/director/producer in "Gallery of Fear", as was well know horror actress Raine Brown.  Tom Burns, sound editor for "Gallery of Fear" was also on hand.  Alan Rowe was kind enough to say a few words after his film was shown. 

Nik Taneris of New York Horror Film Productions was on hand as well, along with modern horror icon Manoush.  Even though their film "The Turnpike Killer" was not shown, I am grateful that they were there.  I am very proud to know these people and to call them my friends.

The venue was great.  Cafe Z is a restaurant in Union, NJ, and I have known the owner, Patricia Inghilleri since the third grade, and she was a very gracious hostess, providing movie snacks such as hot dogs, popcorn and candy.  The movies were screened in "The Lounge", which is a speakeasy type bar/lounge in the back of the restaurant.  The films were screened on four flat panel televisions simultaneously, which allowed for excellent viewing no matter where anyone was sitting.

Overall, I am overwhelmed by the positive feedback and complements I received on the event.  I was very humbled that people who are fans of horror, and also people from the horror film industry were so positive about the event.  Based on this success, I am very much looking forward to scheduling a similar event.

Should anyone read this post, keep your eyes on the Events page for future screening!

On Friday, July 20th, at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises", a gunman lobbed a smoke grenade into the theater and then started shooting.  When it was over, at least 12 people were dead and almost 60 people were injured.  As I write this, I still cannot even wrap my head around this.  Imagine going out for a night at the movies, to see a film that you have been anticipating so much that you are willing to attend one of the first showings, at midnight, and someone starts shooting.  I don't know about you, but I can't comprehend it.


CLICK HERE FOR THE CNN STORY

Almost immediately after this happened, the usual collection started spouting off about violence in films and how it leads to tragedies like this.  BULLSHIT!

I am so sick and tired of hearing this same nonsense over and over again.  I have been watching insane, violent films for 30 years, and it never occurred to me to stroll into a public place and shoot anyone.  Why?  Because like the vast majority of people, I have the genetic programming that tells me that doing things like this is inherently wrong.  Some people are just not wired right.  Period.  End of Story.  There is no explaining it.  There is no rationalizing it.  They just don't have the same programming that the rest of us do.  

Did "The Godfather" spur an increase in organized crime?  Did "Office Space" cause people across the country to simply stop going to work and get promoted for it?  No, I don't think so.  People are in such a rush to try and find a reason that horrible events happen.  Sometimes boys and girls, there is no reason.  Bad things happen.  It sucks, but that's the way it is.

I've been involved in the "horror community" for about 25 years now.  Mostly, this has been as a fan, watching horror films, reading horror novels, going to conventions, etc.  Now, with the advent of the Internet, and with it, sites like MySpace and Facebook, I have gotten to know a lot of people who are actually involved in horror in some way.  Actors, actresses, directors, producers, etc.  It has been very fulfilling and very exciting.

One very sad and disturbing thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a lot of conflict within the horror community.  By "conflict" I mean that I seem to see a lot of infighting, and competition among filmmakers, actors and such.  I understand that the entertainment industry is competitive, and there are only so many fan dollars to go around, but at the same time, I hear everyone always saying, "We need to stick together to support indie horror!"  Well, how are you going to promote indie horror by constantly fighting with one another.  I have seen some downright nasty stuff happening.  If you don't think someone else's project is good, that's fine.  We all have our opinions.  But I don't see the need to take the attacks public, or make them personal. 

The horror community is always complaining that no one takes us seriously, and that the genre is not a "real" genre.  We all know that's bullshit, but we're not helping the cause by fighting with one another.

I don't know.....maybe this is just my perception......

Please check out my review of Prometheus.  I simply don't understand all the hate being directed at this movie.  Just because you didn't 'get' it, doesn't mean it was a bad movie.  I really don't know what's wrong with people sometimes.  Please read the review and then let me know your opinion.

Ok boys and girls, and those of you who are not too sure.  It's time to take a walk down DEAD ROAD.   What the hell is that, you say?  Well, Dead Road is an awesome web series by my good friend Corrado Gadaleta.  He writes, produces, directs, films, edits and scores the series, and I'm pretty sure he plays all the characters as well.  OK, so I'm exaggerating that last part, but you get the idea.  This is truly a labor of love for Corrado, and you can tell from watching the episodes which can be found at the Dead Road Web site at www.deadroad.net. 

Many of my friends and, (clears throat) "associates" are actors in this series, and it really is a lot of fun to watch, so, since your sitting in your parent's basement on the computer anyway, go to www.deadroad.net RIGHT NOW and check it out!

When it comes to remakes and "reimaginings", which seem to be all the rage these days, I am not nearly as militant about it as some people are.  For example, the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is not, in any way, going to change my opinion of the original, which I still think is a horror classic.  Having said that, I don't see any reason to even do a remake, other than to appeal to the 15 year-old dunderheads who probably know the title, but are not familiar with the original, and therefore do not know any better.  I just see these remakes as a waste of time.  One remake that I do have particular venom for is Rob Zombie's "Halloween" and "Halloween 2".  I know some people worship at the feet of Rob Zombie, and I don't understand that.  He made a couple of decent movies with "House of 1,000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects", but I'm not quite ready to label him a horror icon yet.  But I digress....

I simply did not see the point of trying to explain why Michael Myers was what we was.  OK, big deal, he had a shitty childhood.  So fucking what?  I didn't need to know that.  Michael was a force of pure evil as far as I was concerned, and I had no burning desire to know "why". 

I could go on and on about why so many of these remakes are inferior, and most of them are, but I don't see what that has to do with the originals.  No shitty remake of "Planet of the Apes" is going to diminish my love of the original, and that's that.