Festival Winner The Open Door Gets UK Deal

With a sizeable bunch of festival accolades under its belt, Doc Duhame's directorial debut The Open Door will be released on DVD in the UK in February 2011 from Second Sight Films.

Written and directed by Doc Duhame, this creepy chiller features a cast of hot young stars including Catherine Georges, Sarah Christine Smith (Scream 2, C.S.I.), Daniel Booko (Fast And The Furious:Tokyo Drift, The O.C.) and Ryan Doom (C.S.I., 90210).

High school beauty Angelica (Georges) is fed up with her life and most of the people in it and is looking for a solution. The answer comes in the guise of a new pirate radio station that promises to make wishes come true. What begins as an Urban Legend becomes a living hell as she unwittingly opens the door to an evil entity that preys upon the souls of the innocent and turns her dreams into a living nightmare.

Winner of the Audience Choice Award at the LA Shriekfest, Best Feature Film at Horror UK and Best Make-up at the Big Bear Horror Film Festival, The Open Door will be released on DVD on 14 February 2011.

Big Changes Planned

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Coulombe
T/ 323-604-9874
michael@bigbearhorrorfilmfest.com

Big changes planned for Big Bear Horror Film Festival

Big Bear Lake, California
January 10, 2011

In 2009 Horror was the biggest thing to hit Big Bear. In 2011 they again will be hit hard as Evil Kitty Productions brings back this year’s Big Bear Horror Film Festival but with a new and exciting twist: Sci-Fi!

Big Bear Lake, CA welcomes the Big Bear Horro-Fi Film Festival.

“We will still represent horror – it’s what we are known for,” says Jamie Kristen, Festival Director, “but we definitely feel it’s time to expand. Science fiction and horror are synonymous in so many ways.”

So to signify the inclusion of Sci-Fi into the festival the name has been changed to the Big Bear Horro-Fi Film Festival. Evil Kitty Productions promises to put together a great program of both Horror and Sci-Fi under this year’s Director of Programming Chris Gaida.

The dates for the 2011 festival will be held September 30 - Oct 2 in Big Bear Lake, CA. For more information please visit the festival’s official website www.bigbearhorrorfilmfest.com

A Scary Christmas and a Frightful New Year- Part 2

Black Christmas (1974) - Dir. Bob Clark

And we’re talking the original, for two reasons: 1) nobody’s yellow, 2) director Bob Clark also directed A Christmas Story, so that’s two holiday classics he’s got under his belt. Throw in a Margot Kidder (Sisters, Superman, The Amityville Horror), Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet, It), John Saxon (Enter the Dragon, A Nightmare on Elm Street, From Dusk ‘til Dawn), a serial killer crashing a sorority house Christmas party and ***SPOILER ALERT*** “The calls are coming from inside the house,” you’ve got yourself Christmas classic.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 (1987) - Dir. Lee Harry

***SPOILER ALERT***

Now, you’re probably asking, “why the sequel without the first?” Well, the second film is essentially the “good parts” version of the original, almost literally “all killer, no filler.” In the first film, after witnessing the murder of his parents by a thief dressed as Santa, young Billy is scarred for life.

Consistently tormented by holiday cheer as he grows up, he, too, finally snaps, dons a Santa suit and goes on a killing spree, punishing those he deems have been naughty, before being gunned down in front of his little brother Ricky. The first film has a bit more plot development involving an overbearing nun. But the second film is almost entirely flashbacks of the kills from the first, as Billy’s brother Ricky recounts the incidents of the first film to a psychiatrist.

Meanwhile, Ricky awaits trial for his own amazingly gratuitous killing spree, attributed to the trauma of witnessing his brother’s death (such a vicious cycle), which he then recounts before escaping, donning a Santa suit of his own and going after the nun he blames for his brother’s death. But, essentially, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 is the greatest hits from the first film with a cherry on top.

Santa’s Slay (2005) - Dir. David Steiman

In this film, jolly St. Nick isn’t a willing purveyor of Christmas cheer. In fact, he’s not a saint either, not even close.

Bill Goldberg (yes, the former wrestler) plays the son of Satan, after losing a bet with an angel he’s forced to go around the world giving gifts and spreading joy for 2000 years. But, once the bet is off, he goes back to raising holy hell.

A Scary Christmas and a Frightful New Year- Part 1

I’m pretty sure this isn’t what they had in mind when they said, “keeping Christ in Christmas,” but scaring the be-jesus out of you is about as close as I’m gonna get to a religious Christmas. So, if spending the holidays with your relatives isn’t frightening enough, I offer my list of holiday-themed horror films, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas, to help you scream in the New Year.

The Last Stop on the Night Train (1975) - Dir. Aldo Lado

This is wonderful film to have in mind as you make the journey home for the holidays, gifts waiting under the tree, stockings hung by the chimney with care, parents cooking up the roast beast, a hyper-sexualized, homicidal trio holding you hostage in your train car…

In the world of high concept summaries, I imagine the pitch for this film went something like this, “It’s Last House on the Left on a train… but with more sex and violence.” Sold. Lisa and Margaret catch the night train from Germany to Italy to spend Christmas with Lisa’s family, but a chance encounter with two guys, a girl and a pocketknife puts a damper on their holiday. If you’re familiar with The Last House on the Left, then you know this story. It’s the same gist, with the terrible trio getting picked up by Lisa’s parents. If you like Last House, then you’ll like Night Train.

Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984) - Dir. Edmund Purdom

So many amazing things going on is this film. From the Halloween inspired killer-POV opening, you know you’re in for a treat, but not because this film is anything like Halloween. Instead, it’s because the heavy breathing over the POV makes it seems like Darth Vader is the killer who hates Santa.

Sadly, the madman loose in London, killing anyone he can find dressed as Santa, is not Darth Vader. I guess they couldn’t afford David Prowse. Still, gory deaths abound. And I’m pretty sure that Al McGoohan, credited for writing and directing additional scenes, comes from the world of porn, because there are some wonderfully random scenes that have almost nothing to do with the plot of the film and seem to serve no purpose other than provide some gratuitous nudity. This film might have you thinking twice about dressing up as Santa. It might also make you think twice about asking your girlfriend, who just witnessed her father’s murder, to pose nude for a photographer friend.

Christmas Evil–aka You Better Watch Out–(1980) - Dir. Lewis Jackson

Young Harry Stadling spies mom and “Santa Claus” doing a bit more than kissing underneath the mistletoe. When “Santa” unhooked mom’s garter belt he unknowingly unhinged Harry, warping his fragile little mind.

Once Harry’s all grown up, he’s got an unhealthy obsession with Christmas, spying on all the neighborhood kids, making his own list of who's naughty and nice. Imagine Travis Bickle, but instead of driving a taxi he works in a toy factory. And when he finally snaps, instead of donning a Mohawk, he super-glues a white beard to his face, dons a Santa suit, and spreads a little Christmas fear by killing those he deems naughty. But the nice need not fear him; he has no problem rewarding the good boys and girls. You won’t believe the ending.

Winning Film: PELT

PELT was the big winner this year. They won Outstanding Feature Film and Fan Favorite. The Big Bear Horror Film Festival was their World Premiere. Congratulations to the cast and crew of Pelt.

Winners of the Big Bear Horror Film Festival 2010

This past weekend, the Big Bear Horror Film Festival completed its second year on top by doubling the number of attendees over last year and presenting 10 awards to these outstanding people and films.

Outstanding Performance - The Cast of Clemency
Outstanding Director – Kevin McGuiness from RED
Outstanding Sound – The Unfun House
Outstanding Special Effects Make-up – Clemency
Outstanding Special Visual Effects – RED
Outstanding Animation - RED
Outstanding Short Film – Devil’s Creek
Fan Favorite – Pelt
Outstanding Feature Film – Pelt
Kerry O’Quinn Award – Victor Miller

“We were so honored to have Victor Miller, Creator of the original Friday the 13th attending the festival and also being honored with our most special award, the Kerry O’Quinn award,” said Festival Director Michael Coulombe. “We also had so many great films being shown this year and these winners should feel very proud.”

Year Two and Thank Yous.

I am excited about the possibilities that year two have to offer for the festival as well as for the filmmakers and the fans of the horror genre. The team has been working so hard this past year to ensure an amazing weekend.

I've been lax in posting this year. My sincerest apologies. There are so many wonderful things to share with you. We have many wonderful guests coming to this year's fest. We have wonderful new team members and also some amazing more promos that were done for the festival. Chris Gaida, our Director of PR and Media teamed up with Director, Vartan Nazarian to create some amazing videos for our viral marketing campaign.

Thank you also to my co-producer Jamie Kristen who has put it in a tireless amount of work and energy into the logistics of the fest. It's not easy, I know that but she has an amazing gift of pulling things together.

Here is to our second year. *cheers*