Video Shops, Camping Fun, and The Queen of Screams! [Giallo Julian’s Indie Spotlight: 03/18/2022]
Giallo Julian
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Gorehounds. Blood Babes. Fright Fiends. Scare Bears. Everything else that goes bump in the night. There are A LOT of indie horror projects happening out there. LOADS of them, a plethora of ventures being filmed or recorded or drawn, any and all of it being done right this second. How fantastic is that? All this horror content being made, waiting to be let loose out into the world, old and new creators alike presenting their artistic endeavors for the world to see.
It’s fucking rad! Extremely fucking rad!
That’s why I’m incredibly happy to introduce an ongoing series intended to spotlight as many different indie horror projects as possible. Getting the word out can be the hardest part of any production, so I’m hoping to help alleviate that stress, even if it’s only a little bit. From film to music to art to everything-in-between, we’re here to check out what’s new out there. Let’s see what’s on the slab this time!
1. Camping Fun (Short Film)
Kicking off the list, we have the found footage short film from Austin-based director Thomas Burke.
What’s it about? Glad you asked:
“The story follows a 2014 cold case of four missing friends out of a small town in rural Texas. After six years of silence, detectives have now recovered what is considered to be key evidence from a partially damaged video camera that was found near an undisclosed location. It’s now been reported that members of the family are able to positively ID the group from retained evidence. As new information comes to surface, serious questions are being asked of federal police to look further into the missing four and their last recorded footage.”
Ah, a fellow Texan horror creator! This is a fun little feature that, while not breaking the mold, is still a good time to be had. It’s also a quick watch at only thirteen minutes. As someone who isn’t particularly fond of found footage flicks, I can truthfully say I enjoyed it and think it’s worth a watch if you have the time to kill. Also, it was made in Texas, so… you know… yee-fucking-haw!
Along with this short, Burke has a two-minute film about spontaneous human combustion (appropriately titled SHC: Freak Accident) premiering at the Balboa Theater as part of the Unnamed Footage Festival on March 19th, produced by the SVOD channel, POV Horror. For those of us that, sadly, can’t make it, he assures that we’ll be able to watch it online later this year after it’s done with its festival run. As someone who’s noticed a severe lack of “combustion” films out there, I’m looking forward to it. When I know more, you’ll know more, so keep an eye out for any updates I post!
Watch Camping Fun here!
2. Mom N Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the 80s/90s (Feature Film)
Next up, we have director Bobby Canipe Jr.’s upcoming documentary Mom N Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the 80s/90s.
Of this film, Canipe says:
“Mom N Pop is a documentary focusing on independent, or ‘Mom n Pop’, video stores from the 80s til now. It focuses on the gas station, tanning salons, grocery stores, and more that rented videos to a lot of us growing up. The story is told through interviews with people that visited those indie shops, owned those shops, had movies in those shops, and people today that were influenced by them.”
To say I’m excited for this flick would be an understatement, and also redundant, because most of you probably already assumed I was hyped for it. It’s not like a good bit of my articles mention how I “first saw *enter B-Movie schlock here* on a trip to the video store” or anything, right? Obvious statements aside, I’d love to see some behind-the-scenes history of these nostalgic establishments!
The documentary will feature plenty of interviews with people involved in the “video store craze”, including Gary Cohen(Video Violence 1, Video Violence 2), Tim Ritter(Truth or Dare, Killing Spree), Donald Farmer (Shark Exorcist, Demon Queen), and TROMA’s very own Lloyd Kaufman, just to name a few. Canipe promises many more to be featured, and I’m very curious to see who else pops up.
As for a release date, one isn’t in place yet, but its world premiere is this August before being officially distributed. I’ll keep you updated as soon as I know more!
Check out its Facebook page here for more details!
And if that wasn’t enough for you, Canipe Jr. has an Indiegogo for another upcoming film titled Intinction. I’m told it’s gonna be “full of extreme gore and demonic nuns” in the vein of flicks like The Burning Moon and Night of the Demons. Sounds like a fun time, doesn’t it? This all comes with the guarantee that it’ll be the “goriest film featuring demonic nuns you’ve ever seen.” Color me sold! Check out the Indiegogo here to help support its production!
3. Malvolia, The Queen of Screams Presents: Body Count (Feature Film)
There’s a lot going on in the kingdom (queendom?) of the Queen of Screams, Malvolia. Most recently, she’s started crowdfunding for her anthology horror flick: Body Count!
On the film’s story, Malvolia says: “While being questioned for a crime, Malvolia turns the tables and shares other Female Villainous tales… Will lessons be learned and clues be connected? Or will the words not be heard… Body Count will be a killer time!”
Now, I love a good anthology film, especially when there’s a gorgeously macabre (and bloodthirsty) horror hostess involved, so this flick won me over from the word go. But wait, there’s more! Courtesy of the Queen herself, we have a sneak peek at a few of the film’s stories.
“Attack of the Wolf is based on the article Marilyn Monroe wrote, “Wolves I Have Known“. It’s a Me Too scenario with a long-awaited revenge conclusion written by me (Malvolia). Vindication is also a revenge story with a lot of twists, turns, and an all-female cast written by Ron Purtee. Holly Hatchet is a vampire-like Ash vs. Evil Dead written by Eric Lawson.”
The last two stories have yet to be finalized, but if those three talked about are any indication, I’d say that we’re in reliably bloody hands. As far as a release date goes, one hasn’t been set yet. Malvolia hopes to have the film finished by October so she can start submitting it to festivals, as well as work on getting it distributed. Word has it that she’s already had some biters, so we’ll probably hear more sooner rather than later. I’ll keep you in the loop!
With all that said, I’ll leave you with one last word from the Queen of Screams:
“Being a woman in horror, I can’t stress enough how female voices need to be supported, heard. I have five Award Winning seasons under my belt for my web-series. I’m ready to show the world a more gruesome side of what I can do. Cause it’s going to be killer!!!”
Well said! You can support Body Count’s production on its Indiegogo page here!
Also, catch up on Malvolia’s web series via her YouTube channel here!
4. Anti-Wonderful (Feature Film)
Next in line, we have an Indiegogo for the film Anti-Wonderful, directed by Samuel B.
Samuel B. says:
“Anti-Wonderful is a satirical dark-humored indie horror flick, basically taking online troll behavior and putting it to characters on screen. Basically, a cult is making a propaganda video of their asinine beliefs and trying to push it on the viewer in enticing ways. Grabbing the likes of people into: influencers, real death videos, people making jokes out of suicide, these types of behaviors of “not real people” online are being displayed to entice these viewers to join them.”
Well now, sounds like we’re going to get into some dark shit with this one. Then again, I’m the guy who watches Evil Dead Trap on a regular basis, so who am I to talk?
Samuel B. continues:
“We put our time and effort into these projects, it’s kind of a hard time to make films and release them with the way the world is, but we are trying to bring some kind of entertainment to viewers with something unique and not a usual horror film.”
That’s a sentiment I can get behind. Here’s to hoping that Burroughs’s crew can get this project finished and out there for us to enjoy! Currently, there’s not an official release date for the film, but Burroughs hopes to get it scheduled for its first film festival run by October 31st (you know, the spooky day). I’ll keep y’all posted as info comes my way!
You can help support the film by checking out the Indiegogo here, as well as Burroughs’s official website here!
5. Shock-A-Go-Go (Film Festival)
For our grand finale, I’d like to mention the Shock-A-Go-Go Film Festival happening at The Art Theatre on April 22nd. I’m bummed that I live so far away from California, because I really want to attend.
The event is presenting a host of indie horror short films, including the California premiere of Fred Dekker’s (Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) new short Dent, Dave Reda’s zombie musical As Good As Dead, David Kepner’s post-apocalyptic comedy Whip Lord, Kelly Kelieghly’s The Woman Who Came From The Sea (starring Linnea Quigley of The Return of the Living Dead fame), Amanda Dow’s “beautifully shot thriller” One Hit Wonder, Christine Celozzi’s crazy plant-horror flick My Friends The Plants, and a whole lot more.
That’s not all! Opening the festival is a surprise indie horror feature (I have no idea what it is, someone check it out and let me know). The rest of the schedule is filled out with showings of The Slumber Party Massacre (in celebration of its 40th anniversary, with stars Brinke Stevens and Debra Di Liso in attendance), Blood Diner (celebrating its 35th anniversary with director Jackie Kong there in person), and The Greasy Strangler (its first LA screening with appearances by cast members Sky Elobar, Michael St Michaels, Gil Gex, Carl Solomon, Holland MacFallister, and Jesse Kenne). This includes Q&As with each cast as well.
Ticket prices are $15 pre-sale and $20 at the door, which isn’t that bad given the massive amount of screenings and cast appearances. There’ll also be vendor tables and meet-and-greets with the special guests, allowing attendees to take pictures and get items signed.
For tickets and information, you can visit their website here! Y’all go enjoy it for me, okay? I’ll experience it vicariously through you!
A huge thank you to the creators who reached out to me and told me what they had going on in the indie horror landscape! Stay tuned for even more spotlights, and if any other creators want to hit me up with a project or two, please contact me through my Twitter or Facebook pages.
Until next time…
Ciao, friends!
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