Since the horror world was stunned by the amazing news that the uncut version of Nightbreed has not only been found – but will be screened at the upcoming Horrorhound convention in Indianapolis – what better time to show our love for Clive Barker by revisiting a few of his interviews from years gone by?
Rumors are swirling that long running magazine Fangoria is no more. They’ve struggled noticeable under financial restraints over the past few years. No official word has come from Fangoria as yet – but one can only hope that they manage to survive this storm and continue bringing horror and fantasy coverage to the fans. Here at Mutantville.com, the Mutantville Players have decided to celebrate everything Fangoria has brought us over the years. Join us for another unboxing Fangoria episode as Streebo opens a recent purchase of vintage Fangoria from eBay.
Continued in part two.
In this video, writer/director J.T.McRoberts brings us up to speed on the current status of G.H.O.S.T. as well as other happenings in the MVP universe.
The guys at Horrorbid.com have commented on the speculated end of Fangoria.com and Fangoria magazine. There are no hard facts out there – only specualtion – but one can hope that the seminal horror magazine has not closed it’s doors forever. Stay tuned to Mutantville.com for another Fangoria Unboxing video to celebrate the horror goodness that Fangoria has brought us over the years.
Click the link below to read the full article at Horrorbid.
This past weekend, yours truly made the trip out to the historic Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC for the annual Nevermore Fundraiser. Every year, the Carolina Theatre hosts the Nevermore Festival featuring fantasy and horror films both new and old. This past weekend marked their fundraiser event for this year’s Nevermore Festival. What better way to get the event started than by hosting a double feature of Jim Henson’s fantasy epic – The Dark Crystal and the final film of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy – The Army of Darkness?
Ignoring warnings of encroaching winter storms – I traveled to Durham to partake of the weekend’s festivities. I arrived a good half hour before the events started – allowing me enough time to tour the facilities and take in all the sights and sounds of the theatre. I wandered through the halls like a stricken country mouse – mouth agape as I looked in wonder at the array of rare horror and cult film one sheets adorning the walls. I appeased my inner geek by taking a few photos of the amazing collectibles staring down at me. I stopped by to sign up for the zombie walk scheduled for the Saturday of the Nevermore event. I figured if I’m going to check out the festivities – I might as well go all the way and get in on the gutmunching action. If you want to go with me – shoot me an email at streebo [AT] mutantville.com. I grabbed one slice of pizza and a nice beverage and plopped down into some primo seats ready to begin the night’s activities!
Before the movies – we were treated to a greatest hits assortment of classic movie scenes ranging from Rocky to Wargames to Scooby Doo and so on and so forth. There was a brief announcement about the upcoming Nevermore festival including the scheduled films and special guests which will include director Kevin Tenney hosting his cult horror flicks Witchboard and Night of the Demons! Once the announcements were out of the way – the entire theatre turned into a way-back machine and transported us all to 1982 and opening night of Jim Henson’s dark fantasy epic The Dark Crystal!
First up – we were treated to a bevy of period trailers from 1982 including the ultra rare early promo for the third film
in George Lucas’ true Star Wars trilogy – Revenge of the Jedi! That’s right – this was the original trailer that aired the year before its release. The title was subsequently changed to Return of the Jedi leading to months of confusion amongst the card carrying members of the Star Wars fan club as we were suddenly expecting two Star Wars movies in the coming year! Alas that was not meant to be. Back to the present and the amazing presentation of The Dark Crystal in glorious 35mm. This was audacious filmmaking at it’s finest. Long before James Cameron came along with the waterhose of money to spray 3D blue tint on the celluloid of Avatar, The Dark Crystal left audiences awestruck by it’s breathtaking visuals. Every frame of The Dark Crystal featured new and amazing sights – imaginative creatures, new cultures, and lifeforms that seemed to crawl from the depths of our collective subconsciousness and wiggle their way across the screen. If you have never watched The Dark Crystal – do yourself a favor and pick up the special edition DVD on the cheap at Wally world and experience it for yourself. You will thank me later.
Our next stop was 1993 and the premiere of The Army of Darkness! This film was preceded by trailers of it’s own era – featuring the Stephen King adaptation Needful Things and the mainstream hit – Grumpy Old Men. To say the trailers of 1993 reminded me of a less than stellar time of cinema would be an understatement. But enough of that – we were here for one thing and one thing only – to get down with that deadite bashing badass Ashley Williams! Ashley was never a very heroic name – that’s why we know him better as Ash – the man with a chainsaw for a hand and a boomstick at his back. As long time Evil Dead fans will know – the movie begins with a five minute prologue explaining the convoluted history of Ash and the Evil Dead and introduces a third actress in the role of ill fated girlfriend Linda! I can only imagine how confused first time viewers must have felt at this moment – but this movie wasn’t for them – it was for us – the fans that know better. Luckily once all of that backstory is out of the way – Army of Darkness never let’s exposition get in it’s path again and sets off like a rocket through this medieval landscape. It’s not long before Ash gets pushed into the pit and puts his deadite bashing fu to good use. And that was when the sound went out!
This crowd wasn’t about to be deterred by a little thing like the sudden loss of sound. We had risked life and limb to make this trip, sat through two hours of movies and trailers to get to this moment. So what should one do in the event of the loss of sound during a showing of an Evil Dead movie? A) complain to the manager? B) get up and walk out? Or C) make up your own damn dialogue? If you guessed C) then you are correct. Suddenly this turned into a make-shift Rocky Horror Show as the crowd started making sound effects and shouting out key lines from the movie. Yours truly had to get in on the action by shouting out a “groovy” or two of my own. of course the technical issues were solved and the movie played on as planned.
All in all – it made for an amazing night at the theatre. I am glad that I was able to attend. I met some fun new people, saw some great memorabilia, and enjoyed some classic movies. To me this is what it means to be a Mutantville Player – to show an eagerness to enjoy oneself by sharing the love and appreciation of the arts with our fellow fans. I’m sorry that you couldn’t join me – but perhaps in reading my recap – you will have lived it vicariously with me. At least you didn’t have to worry about the drive home. Suddenly the movies were over, it was 12:30 AM and the streets were piled with snow. I had to drive home across what looked like the frozen wasteland of Hoth – but it was a small price to pay for another night at the theatre.
Be sure to join us as we attend the Nevermore Festival next month. Check the Carolina Theatre website for further information.
This is a cool video on……You guessed it! Mark Apsolon shows how to build barndoors on worklights. As you know, Guerrilla filmmakers use worklights all the time for lighting and this should help you have more control of your light. This would work great for green screen work. Mark Apsolon has lots of cool videos on Youtube.
Since we’re taking an MVP field trip this weekend to the Carolina Theatre to see The Dark Crystal and Army of Darkness – I thought we should prepare ourselves for some Evil Dead fun! What better way to get ready for the marathon than by revisiting this 90’s classic with your favorite horror hostess and mine – Miko Macabre! So put your primitive screwhead friends back in the closet, polish your chainsaw and hold on to your boomstick, it’s Army of Darkness night on Cryptique!
**Streebo
This week on Streebo’s Mid-week B-Movie Poster Watch – we feature an A list movie with B-movie roots! It’s johnathan Demme’s masterpiece – Silence of the Lambs! This is the variation of the classic poster art – featuring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Check it out. If you like what you see – go buy it on eBay!
**Streebo
SILENCE OF LAMBS MOVIE HORROR 24″X36″ POSTER
In this clip – noted author Stephen King discusses writing horror.
This past weekend, the Mutantville Players weathered the storms across two states to converge on an one hundred year old house in the sleepy town of Smyrna, South Carolina to film the scheduled last scene for G.H.O.S.T.. Director, J.T. McRoberts, cinematographer Geo Swanko, and costume designer Luis Machicao joined actors Scott Thomas and Kathy Sandvoss to bring this dreamy sequence to life.
MVP was originally scheduled to film this scene back at the beginning of December but was forced to 
postpone due to poor weather conditions and sub-zero temperatures. This scene was designed in order to showcase the amazing costume designs of couture designer Luis Machicao. We searched long and hard for a suitable location that would pass for a Civil War period home – Luis himself was able to secure this amazing location for us.
Sunday morning saw storms cover the Carolinas – but we were in luck as the area around Smyrna was clear. MVP decided to take the risk and go forward with the shoot. It was quite a long trip down to the backwoods of South Carolina – but it was well worth it. The cast and crew had to drive through torrential downpour to make it to Smyrna – but everyone arrived safe and sound. We were pleased to round the bend to overcast – but calm skies and an amazing landscape nestled in a cloud of fog. The conditions couldn’t have been more conducive to filming our dream sequence if we had planned it that way.
Our hosts Kevin, Laura and Cameron were very gracious and patient with us as we dressed the cast in Luis’ gorgeous costumes and took them out in the field. Six year old Cameron was quite interested in our activities and even offered his ideas for a few horror scenes for our movie which he thought should include zombies. We had a few close scares as the sky tossed a short downpour or two on us during filming – but for the most part we went unmolested by the rain. Kathy and Scott took to their task like true professionals and we were able to shoot our way through the scene without any difficulty. Keep watching Facebook over the coming week as we share the bevy of gorgeous photos taken during the shoot.
Mutantville Productions would like to extend our most gracious thanks to our hosts Kevin, Laura, and Cameron for allowing us to come into their home. This was the scheduled final shoot of G.H.O.S.T. – but we can’t celebrate just yet. With the announced plans to continue working on G.H.O.S.T. to extend it to a full length feature run time – this is not the ending – but another amazing beginning.
Thanks, MVP. We’ll see you back on the set soon!
**Jamie McRoberts
Streebo
Mutantville Productions LLC
Mutantville Productions, changing the face of independent horror – one G.H.O.S.T. at a time.