How does 12 hours of bloody, suspenseful and terrifying movies sound? Yep, you heard right, 12 hours from noon to midnight on Oct. 25 at the Orpheum. If you're into horror or just a film fan in general, get pumped because the first ever Madison Horror Film Festival is sneaking up on us.
The festival's director, Rich Peterson, became interested in horror as a kid, staying home on Friday nights and watching shows like Lenny's Inferno."" However, since he's been behind Madison's music scene, producing and booking shows for years, Peterson has not had a chance to get involved in horror until now.
With Madison's tradition of supporting the arts, Peterson thought a horror festival would fit right in. He added that, though WisKino and the Wisconsin Film Festival show many independent films, ""Nobody's really hitting on the horror films.""
To solve this problem, Peterson decided to organize a horror film festival exclusively for local filmmakers. However, after receiving only a few films this July from local artists, Peterson opened up the event for anyone to submit. Hometown filmmakers include Ben Wydeven, Trevor Murray and Will Gartside, though filmmakers from all over the world - Italy, Spain, Australia and Canada, to name a few - helped diversify the festival.
Of the 24 films considered, 17 made the cut. To pare them down, Peterson and a few friends judged the entries based on film quality, special effects, length and content. Peterson, who doesn't consider himself an expert, said, ""If the film was decent, it made it in ... [I] mainly wanted the content and exposure for the filmmakers.""
Don't let his modesty deceive you, however; almost all the films have been official selections at other festivals. Two of them, ""Porque Hay Cosas que Nunca se Olvidan"" (produced in Spain) and ""Blood on the Highway"" have already won awards, including Best Short (Madrid International Film Festival) and Best Feature (""B-Movie Film Festival""), respectively.
All the films in the Madison Horror Film Festival will be battling it out for Best Feature, Best Short, Best Special Effects, Best Cinematography and Audience Choice. The winners of Best Feature and Best Short - judged by independent filmmakers and journalists - will receive distribution deals to further advertise their films.
Of course, it wouldn't be a film festival without guest speakers. Kenneth J. Hall (""Puppet Master"" screenwriter and CEO of BV Entertainment), and John Sveum (host of the horror/science fiction show ""Lenny's Inferno"") will be appearing during the festival to talk about what they do best: horror.
B-movie scream queen Elske McCain also plans to make an appearance along with a new Madison scare group, ""Freakshow and the Harlots of Terror,"" which will soon premiere a late night horror show on the Internet. The ""Harlots of Terror"" will also give one randomly chosen audience member the chance for a role in an upcoming horror film ""Incest Death Squad,"" which will be shot here in Madison.
So if you're looking for ways to piss your pants from fright, check out the horror film festival this Saturday. Nothing gets you ready for Halloween like some terror-ific movies.
