Event Recap: SHOCKFEST FILM FESTIVAL Interactive Tour of Salem + Rob Zombie Announcement
Jerry Smith
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After an impressive showcase in New York’s Time Square, the Shockfest Film Festival recently continued their tour of events (Las Vegas forthcoming) with a special interactive tour of Salem, Massachusetts. A down and dirty, very entertaining experience for everyone, the fest team walked viewers through the history of the Salem Witch Trials, complete with character performers devoted to bringing the history to life in an interactive Zoom event that shows that just because our world is under quarantine and in turmoil, there are still ways to entertain and bring one of the most exciting festivals to life.
What began as a lesson in the history of Salem’s complex history with unwarranted, false “justice” pulled the rug out from under viewers, causing heads to quite literally roll as we were given a tour of various shops and attractions found within the city. A trip into a local magic shop saw the tour’s host decapitated before the finalists for various competitions were announced with gusto.
The combination of very detailed, historical facts being presented with an almost immersive theater-like approach made for some very entertaining watching, as a viewer, you never quite knew what to expect. Would we find out about the brutal pressing death of Giles Corey or would the festival’s ominous Jeffrey Macabre pop up with his dead contacts to scare the bejeezus out you via Zoom? That uncertainty added a lot of fun to an already informative digital experience.
What sets Shockfest apart from so many other festivals is the playful approach to these events. There’s a “run and gun” vibe to it, a desire to not only entertain via the films and art the festival showcases but in the actual festival events as well.
Every year, Shockfest brings unique short and feature films to audiences, complete with special guests of honor, judges, and so on. 2020 is no exception to that. After larger than life horror characters announcing each competition’s finalists with fervor, the attendees of the interaction event were given the special announcement that filmmaker/rocker Rob Zombie would be this year’s Guest of Honor, when the festival runs on Friday, November 13th.
It’s awesome to have Zombie as part of the festival. His love for all things Salem is massive, so it really shows how attentive the promoters of the fest are to bringing attendees one of horror’s iconic figures in person, when the festival arrives. The competition itself covers the best monsters from the submitted films, to poster art and even films shot under quarantine, a range of various horror genres that the fest is dedicated to bringing to attendees.
Whether it be in New York’s Time Square, Salem, or the upcoming Las Vegas event, the crew behind Shockfest are giving some of the most heartfelt love letters to not only the genre, but to their audiences themselves; and through these interactive experiences, they’re quickly making a huge mark in the genre.
Here is a list of finalists for the upcoming event on November 13th and more information can be found after the jump.
10 FINALISTS POSTER COMPETITORS
Christmas Slasher
Destiny Soria
Make A Wish
Melissa Ess
Paralysis
Tom Sajewski
Await The Dawn
Gregg Christie
The Knock
Zach Lorkiewicz
The Caregivers
Mikeal Burgin
DeadMe
Paul Hart-Wilden
Necromurder
Pablo C. Vergara
Is Someone There?
Brian Ralston
100 Acres of Hell
Jason Koerner
20 MONSTER COMPETITORS
FREDDY from “READY FREDDY” – Bernardo Silvino
PEEK A BOO, I SEE YOU MONSTER from “PEEK A BOO, I SEE YOU” – Jose Escorcia
THE GHOSTS OF UPHAM STREET from “THE GHOSTS OF UPHAM STREET” – Luke St. Germaine
MR. MOPS from “MR. MOPS” – Earl Martin
THE GIANT from “DEATH BY 1000 CUTS” – Sam Salerno
F*CKSTER from “HERE COMES THE MANIAC” – Armin B. Monibi
THE GIANTS from “OR SO THE STORY GOES” – Theresa Labreglio
BILLY from BILLY – Joe Lujan
DARKNESS from ROSA LEIGH – Christopher Maggard
RONDO from RONDO AND BOB – Joe O’Connell
THE PROMISE GOBLIN – James Atkins
ELLIOT – Travis Darkow
SKULL from SKULL THE MASK – Kapel Furman
OFFICER KALLIS from SIREN – Christopher Beaubien
VENTRIS from VENTRIS – Teri Griffin
EVILYNNE from CRUMBLE – Andrew Pinon
10 TOP QUARANTINE COMPETITORS
The Conquest
Christian Orellana
The VENGEANCE
Milind Dhoke
Pep Talk
Alan Del Tufo
Don’t Forget Me
Nikhail Asnani
Every Shot Counts
JR Frias
Secret for Happiness
Athila Leal
CAPTCHA
Miguel Angel Viruete
Propaganda
Shihyun Wang
Drawing The Devil
Joseph E Bryant
62 Sherry Lane
Melissa Karimzadeh
More information/tickets for the Shockfest Film Festival can be found HERE.
Categorized:News
