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For the third year, the festival was held at the historic Hollywood Theater. There's a large main screen downstairs, two smaller screens upstairs, and an upstairs lobby for vendor to spread their wares. The upstairs lobby also provides an ample shmooze and gossip zone. It's not just the films that get better every year, the vendors do too. It's a one stop shopping of Lovecraftia, T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, autographed photos, CDs and videos. Everything that you never see anywhere else is there. Finally, I have a Miskatonic University and a Hello Cthulhu T-shirt. The best item for sale this year was definitely the "A Very Scary Solstice" CD by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Twenty-five classic carols with Lovecraftian lyrics. I've got my Christmas done. Thank you Sean Branney and Andrew Leman. If you don't already own "A Very Scary Solstice" or "A Shoggoth on the Roof," buy them NOW! With the festival now running four nights and two afternoons, there's almost too much to see and only so many hours a person can spend on theater seats. Note to Andrew: Perhaps next year you cold bring in a traveling masseuse to give us $10 back rubs between shows?? It would be a real money maker. Special events included a Friday afternoon seminar, the Saturday night Howie Awards presentation and countless Q & A sessions with the many special guests attending this year. I only had time to hear Enrico Saletti, screenwriter of The Shunned House, S.T. Joshi, Lovecraft scholar and author, John Strysik, director and Jack Donner, actor and Bryan Moore, director of Cool Air. These panel discussions and Q&A sessions are rare treats indeed. Everything you have been and should be afraid to ask. Of course, we're there for the films. This year's crop of feature films was the best balance yet. There was plenty of cheesy/gory/ humor in Beyond Re-animator, Necronomicon, and Dark Heritage. We had the darkly disturbing, yet beautiful, The Shunned House. Edward Martin III brought us The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath, a full-length, animated masterpiece. With its intricate drawings and the imaginative storytelling, it's easy to see why so many people were raving about it. Besides the fantasy, fun, and pure filth, we also got quite a bit of fact in the form of The Eldritch Influence by Shawn Owens. This documentary explores our differing responses to and way we have been influenced by Lovecraft. And yes, Stuart Gordon, you do deserve an Oscar for best exploding head. Naturally, we can't forget the shorts. If you only can spend one night at the festival (wuss), go see the shorts blocks. I happened to see shorts block 1 first which set a pretty high standard for the rest. With a stylish version of The Raven by Peter Bradley, a very creepy Casonetto's Last Song by Derek M. Koch and the absolutely beautiful period piece, Imperfect Solution by Christian Matzke, I thought, "Whoa, this stuff is getting really, really good!" My favorite line of the weekend was in Imperfect Solution when Herbert West said, "All right, call it," and he wasn't referring to time of death but rather time re-animation failed. Brilliant! We had two versions each of The Thing on the Doorstep and Pickman's Model. I preferred the U.S. versions of both. Both Rick Tillman, Pickman's Model and Eric Morgret, The Thing on the Doorstep, did outstanding jobs of bringing those stories to the screen. I hope we can see more from you guys. Special notice should be paid to the creepiest and most humorous moments. The loudest, short outburst of laughter was generated by Cutethulhu by Shawn the Touched for depicting Lovecraft turning in his grave at the notion of the most evil god being used as a prop at a little girls' tea party. Of course, the award for the most sustained laughter throughout an entire film would have to go to Beyond Re-animator by Brian Yuzna. It's hard to beat lines like, "She's not getting any fresher." And nobody purses their lips like Jeffrey Combs. Beyond Re-animator also contained one of the moments that elicited a very strong physical response from the audience. When the heroine bit off the evil warden's penis, I was thinking, "Whoo-ho." But I could feel every man in the room cross his legs. Not a sound was uttered. Come on guys, have a sense of humor. You loved it when the naked nurse was getting mutilated. By far, the most chilling scene this year was from The Shunned House by Ivan Zuccon. Now we're all quite used to the perfunctory shots of blood, gore, guts and veins in the teeth, thank you Arlo Guthrie. But I have never felt such a physical response from an audience, or from myself, as when Ms. Zann chewed open her own wrist and proceeded to use the tendons for violin strings. That went waaaay beyond the usual "Eeuw" factor. It was more like -- gasp, gasp, groan, "Huueeeeuuuwww." Obviously, I loved The Shunned House. It was everything I like, dark, creepy, moody, wonderful cinematography. I actually got chills from this film, and it wasn't because the theater is always so ******* cold! The Shunned House, most frightening film this year. New this year were re-screenings of favorites from years past, The Music of Erich Zann by John Strysik and Cool Air by Bryan Moore. It wasn't until 2000 that the festival truly became the juggernaut that it is today. By showing these films again, a whole new audience has had a chance to see how poetic Lovecraft cinema can be and hopefully they will be inspired. The Music of Erich Zann, first screened in 1996, will always remain one of the finest and most influential ever shown. Its eerie, disjointed music will wreck havoc on the recesses of your mind. Cool Air, first shown in 1999, is, in my opinion, THE finest film ever at the festival. Jack Donner's sinister yet sympathetic portrayal of Dr. Munoz is heart-wrenching. The timeless cinematography and exquisite beauty of the music bring to the screen everything that I find enthralling about Lovecraft. To me, Lovecraft is poetry with healthy doses of mystery, creeping suspense, and terrors too horrific to show. If that's why you like HPL, see The Music of Erich of Zann and Cool Air. So thank you Andrew for another fine year. Thanks to all the hideously creative film makers and artists who fill our lives with horrors unequaled. Perhaps next year my two remaining questions will be answered. Why are Richard Corben's films always filled with hordes of creatures with huge ponderous breasts? And why, oh why, did Aaron Vanek cut his hair? - Catherine Fuller |
