New Name for Halo-8 Film Fest

Just a few days ago we got word about a new week-long run of horror and punk films called "8 Films To Kill For: Halo-ween Fest". Well, today we heard from Halo-8 Entertainment that due to legal pressure from After Dark Films, promoter of the Horrorfest 8 Films to Die For, they've renamed the event to "Halo-8: Films That Kill".

As Halo-8 president Matt Pizzolo explains in his blog Hollywood 2.0, "We weren't ripping them off, we were mocking them. I don't think trademark law is intended to prevent people from making fun of you. I tend to assume our audience is pretty smart, so it never occurred to me they might think we were actually part of that festival … I wouldn't want to cause confusion and accidentally tarnish our reputation." *insert cat fight noises here* Pizzolo goes on to say, "I suppose it wasn’t the cleverest name in the world, but no less clever than Slamdance… or Tromeo & Juliet for that matter."

Semantics aside, there certainly should be room enough for these two fests to co-exist since indie filmmakers need all the outlets they can get!

As a reminder, Halo-8: Films That Kill runs from Thursday, October 23rd, through Wednesday, October 29th, at The Engine Theater in Hollywood. The program includes Gimme Skelter, The Devil's Muse (which I just reviewed here), and Pink Eye. For the full schedule and more info, click the Engine Theater and/or Halo-8 links above.

- Debi Moore