Thursday kicked off the actual Film Festival with a handful of independent features screened. The impeccable thriller All is Normal was accompanied by its creators Todd Bieber and Juliana Brafa. Also that evening, the first Eerie Horror Festival Carnival Of Carnage opened its doors to rabid fans with ghoulish goods, more celebs (as we see Tony Moran signing a fan’s mask), and a second screening room with even more indie features being shown.
Friday welcomed the antichrist himself, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. The young star of the recent Omen remake traveled to the fest to meet with fans and sign autographs. Seamus was a wonderful young person who was donating all of the proceeds he raised to charity.
The hard working Horrorfest crew had a long day ahead of them with Saturday’s line up. With films beginning at 1:00 p.m. and running all day till nearly 3 to 4 in the morning, the day was primed to be a horror extravaganza!
The 6 o’clock hour heralded the awards ceremony where director Greg Ropp, along with a little help from Seamus, Tony Todd, Patterson “Elvira” Lindquist, and legendary Producer Don Edmunds handed out the EHFF’s awards.
The Eerie Horror Film Fest awards went as follows:
Best of the Fest : All is Normal
Best Feature: The Call of Cthulhu
Best Short: “Bugcrush”
Best Student Film: Spooked
Best Director: Damon Vignale for The Entrance
Best Actor: Michael Eklund for The Entrance
Best Actress: Juliana Brafa for All is Normal
Best Special Effects/Make Up: The Slaughter
Best Feature Screenplay: The Drifter by Jennifer Shindledecker
Best Short Screenplay: “Blood Sucking Leeches and Flesh Eating Maggots” by Adam Balsam
One of the late additions to the Horror Fest line up, Tom Atkins, was on hand to enjoy the festivities and take place in a Romero-themed Q&A that followed a rare screening of Day of the Dead. The Q&A lineup included the multi talented Eugene Clark, Lynn Lowry, Tom Atkins, Romero manager Chris Roe and the ever popular Captain Rhodes himself, the one and only Joe Pilato.
The perfect closer to the evening was a late night assult on the senses brought to you by one of the creepiest cats around, Tony Todd. The candy this man was selling this time was a new short film entitled “I.O.U.” The director of the film was also on hand for the screening, which was immediately followed by the fan favorite, Candyman.
The last day of the fest showcased films from regional and student filmmakers. Along with Chad Cooper’s superb student effort, “Apperception”, there was a wide array of films including Monster Mark’s Edinboro Meets the Spider and Mark Steensland’s “Sucker” and “Lovecraft’s Pillow”. One of my favorites from this grouping was an amazing retelling of the Tell Tale heart. A beautiful film that was jaw-droppingly good for a student film.
Don Edmunds was so amazed with the raw talent expressed in the student block that he took the stage and offered words of advice and encouragement to all the young film making minds. It was a rare and impressive opportunity for all who were present.
I don’t think anybody expected the Eerie Horror Film Festival to be this big in only its third year, but with no signs of slowing down, the EHFF promises only to get bigger and better as the years go by. Something that this writer can scarcely imagine, as this year’s fest was just far too much fun to begin with.
Special thanks to all of the Eerie Horror Fest Crew and Director Greg Ropp for their allowing Dread Central all the access we needed and all the hospitality we could never even dream of asking for. And a special thanks to the Red Bull Truck crew for providing the EHFF crew that boost they needed.
Good show guys. Now get some sleep. Next year is a coming fast!