It’s ScreamFest Time In LA! THE SIGNAL, DIARY OF THE DEAD, INSIDE And More!

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. I first came into contact with the fine folks over at Screamfest LA several years ago, and it’s been impressive to see how far they’ve brought this fest in just a few short years. Harry and Tim League in Austin have an advantage in knowing their venue. Programming an event at an Alamo Drafthouse is a pleasure. Dealing with theaters in Los Angeles is not always such a pleasure, as anyone who’s ever tried to run a film series can tell you. It’s a testament to the hard work of Rachel Belofsky and all the great people she’s worked with over the years of the fest so far to see that they have continually booked better and better venues for the festival, and now they’re using the Mann’s Chinese, which is a really cool place for a festival like this. Easy to get to. Lots of parking. Comfortable seats. Should be a lot of fun. I’m just going to run the full press release. You should pay attention to quite a few of these... there’s definitely plenty of stuff I’d love to see like INSIDE or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY or DIARY OF THE DEAD or Jake Kennedy’s DAYS OF DARKNESS or Robert Kurtzman’s film or SHROOMS. It’s a great line-up overall, with a lot of second or third films from guys whose work I’ve seen and liked in the last few years like Kennedy or Mike Williamson (whose IN THE WALL seems to be gathering a lot of enthusiastic buzz everywhere it plays), and that’s always exciting. One of the questions I hear a lot right now from film fans I talk to is, “Why can’t I see something scary in theaters as we gear up to Halloween?” And most of them tell me right away that they’re just not interested in another SAW sequel for the fourth year in a row. They ask me why were aren’t two a week at the moment, and I don’t have an answer for them. This seems fundamental to me. I wish Warner Bros. had not bumped TRICK R TREAT to 2008, because I could certainly get excited about seeing that right now. Instead, I guess I’ll have to settle for a 3-D screening of FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3 IN 3-D. Oh… wait… that’s not settling. That sounds awesome! They’re also showing 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, which I really liked, and it sounds like their special screening’s going to be a blast. Anyway... enough. Check this out, and then follow the links over to ScreamFest’s official site, where you can read about the films and maybe even pick up tickets. Hopefully I’ll see you at something, and if I do, make sure you say hello, horror fans.

Rachel Belofsky, founder and festival director of SCREAMFEST Horror Film Festival has announced its 2007 selected films this morning. The ten day festival running October 12th – October 21st, 2007 will include nineteen independent feature films, twenty-nine shorts and ten special screenings. Screenings will be held at the Grauman’s Mann Chinese 6 Theatre located at Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood. ScreamFest will open on October 12th with George A. Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD. Feature films eligible for awards include Denmark’s KOLLEGIET (ROOM 205), directed Martin Barnewitz, Frances’s A’L’INTERIEUR directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julian Maury which is this year’s Centerpiece Film, Thailand’s ALONE directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, DAYS OF DARKNESS directed by Jake Kennedy, Austria’s DEAD IN 3 DAYS directed by Andreas Prochaska, Netherland’s DOOEIND (Dead End) directed by Martin Barnewitz, HALLOWED GROUND directed by David Benullo, Pakistan’s first gore film HELL’S GROUND, directed by Omar Khan PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, Robert Kurtzman’s THE RAGE, Ireland’s SHROOMS directed by Paddy Breathnach, THE SIGNAL directed by David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry which made its premiere in this year’s Sundance, and SYMPATHY directed by Andrew Moorman. Making its US debut at ScreamFest 2007 is STORM WARNING directed by Jamie Blanks (URBAN LEGEND). Making their world premiere at Screamfest 2007 includes TOOTH AND NAIL (Michael Madsen, Rider Strong) directed by Mark Young, WASTING AWAY directed by Matthew Kohnen, FRAYED directed by Norb Caoili and Rob Portman and The Closing Night Film TIMBER FALLS directed by Tony Giglio and produced by Arnold Rifkin and Chris Eberts. Special screenings include the 25th anniversary screening of the classic FRIDAY THE 13TH Part 3 in 3D followed by a Q & A with Tracie Savage, Paul Kratka, Richard Brooker, Larry Zerner, David Katims and Harry Manfredini. As well as the special advance screening of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. The special screening will be attended by the film’s stars, Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, and Ben Foster. Producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, director David Slade, and Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, authors of the graphic novel on which the film is based, will also attend. (Niles also contributed to the screenplay.) “We are extremely excited to present this special screening of David Slade’s film 30 Days of Night,” said Belofsky. “Horror fans looking for a new take on the vampire legend are going to love it.” 30 Days of Night marks Steve Niles’ return to Screamfest; last year, the festival opened with David Arquette’s The Tripper, which Niles executive produced. ScreamFest is open to the general public and tickets are available by calling (310) 358-3273 or purchase opening night and festival passes by visiting their website at www.screamfestla.com. Tickets for individual films are $10.00, while a ScreamFest pass is $300.00. Full Festival passes include all screenings, after parties, and the closing dinner awards ceremony. Screamfest is sponsored by Boost Mobile, Dimension Extreme, Shocktilyoudrop.com, Fearnet, Screenplay.com, Baseline and Moviola. Dedicated to “Discovering The New Blood of Horror and Honoring The Masters” ScreamFest is in its seventh year.