HORROR-FEST 2004 UPDATE (10/11/2004)

Well, those of you who continuously read the site know that Horror-Fest 2004 will take place IN beautiful St. George, UT (about 100 miles north of Las Vegas), on Oct. 29th and 30th. You can read the specifics in our Horror-Fest story. We do have one final surprise addition to the fest and it's a big one. We're proud to present a special midnight screening of...

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

That's right! The cult classic to end all cult classics. I used to hit midnight screenings of this film religiously every Saturday night back in the day. Truth be told, it's been quite a while since I've seen it, and we at Zboneman.com are looking really forward to the screening. From what we've been told, this picture has never played St. George so it should be an interesting experience to say the least.

Friday October 29th

7:00 P.M.-POLTERGEIST (AT THE ELECTRIC THEATER) (DIGITAL PRESENTATION)

9:30 P.M.-THE THING(1982)(AT THE ELECTRIC THEATER) (DIGITAL PRESENTATION)

MIDNIGHT - DEAD ALIVE (AT STADIUM 8)

Saturday October 30th

NOON - GHOSTBUSTERS (AT THE MOVIES)

2:30 P.M. - THE HOWLING (AT THE MOVIES)

4:45 P.M. - THE OMEN (AT THE MOVIES)

7:30 P.M. - THE SKELETOUR FEATURING MOUTHS OF BABES, THE OTHER END, LANCE'S HERO, EMMANUEL, AND THE HIGHER (AT THE ELECTRIC THEATER)

9:00 P.M. - FRIGHT NIGHT (AT THE MOVIES)

MIDNIGHT - THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (AT THE MOVIES)

SPONSORED BY; IMAGINE PRODUCTIONS, THE INDEPENDENT, EDEN MUSIC, SWITCH AND TAYLOR SOUND!

During the proceedings, we will screen shorts as part of our 1st Annual Short Horror Film Competition. In addition, there will be a horror trivia contest and a costume competition (on Oct. 30th).

For those of you not familiar with the St. George area, rest easy. It isn't too big of a town. All events happen within a seven minute drive of one another.

For those of you hoping to hit every event, there will only be one cross over. The live music will cut into the Fright Night screening. Avoiding this scheduling difficulty was near impossible.

All access passes are $25. This gets you into all eight screenings as well as the live music. All access pass holders will also be eligible for prizes we'll be giving away throughout the weekend.

Single screening and SkeleTour tickets will be available the day of the festival.

If you're coming from out of town and are interested in tickets, contact us via the Horror-Fest message board. Be sure to include name, e-mail, and phone number. Don't worry. We won't post your private info for the rest of the world to see.

On a final note, we've got a couple of pairs of passes to give away to some of our readers. All you have to do is tell us what your favorite scary movie is and why. Just submit your essays on the message board. Be sure to include your name and e-mail address.

GHOSTBUSTERS (PG)

While Ghostbusters is more of a comedy than a horror film, it isn't without it's freaky moments. This comical masterpiece features Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as a team of - you guessed it - Ghostbusters who set out to save New York City when it comes under attack by paranormal tourists. What can I say? I never get tired of this movie. It will screen at noon on Saturday the 30th, and we really want to invite families out to take part in the fun.

POLTERGEIST (PG)

Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams star in this ghostly shocker from original Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper (although it has been widely speculated that screenwriter/producer Steven Spielberg handled much of the film himself). Scary and full of truly amazing special effects (that still stand up - even by today's standards) what really makes this film succeed is it's character. This is a movie about real people caught in an unimaginable nightmare.

THE OMEN (R)

The late 70's and early 80's produced some exceptionally classy horror pictures. In 2002, we screened The Exorcist from 1973, and in 2003 we screened The Shining from 1980. This year, we're bringing you The Omen from 1976, Richard Donner's (Superman, Lethal Weapon) terrifying tale of the birth of the Anti-Christ. Featuring an outstanding performance by legendary actor Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird) and an unforgettable, chilling score by the late Jerry Goldsmith, this movie scared me to death when I was a kid (who am I kidding - it still does). Most notably, I was particularly freaked out by a horrific scene involving a nanny early on in the picture.

THE HOWLING (R)

I must admit that this one is somewhat the guilty pleasure. The early 80's saw the rebirth of the werewolf picture. There was the terrific An American Werewolf in London, and there was The Howling from Gremlins director Joe Dante. Written by independent film hero John Sayles, The Howling succeeds as a comedy and a horror film, and it was also one of the first monster movies to take the "transformation" sequence to new heights. A great movie.

FRIGHT NIGHT (R)

While The Lost Boys (another picture we tried to book for the festival) was sort of the "pride and joy" vampire picture of the 80's, I preferred the enormously entertaining Fright Night. This movie is more old school than slick and hip, and it benefits from a great sense of humor (this flick offers up big laughs), awesome make-up effects, and a picture perfect performance from veteran Roddy McDowell (Planet of the Apes). Plus, it features a character named Evil Ed. You just can't beat that. Fright Night
was directed by Child's Play helmer Tom Holland.

DEAD ALIVE (NOT RATED)

I can't tell you how excited I am that we're going to be able to screen this movie for you. Dead Alive has the distinction of being one of the goriest movies ever made, but what's really special about it is that it, was an early effort from Peter Jackson. Yes, the Peter Jackson of Middle Earth fame. Big time movie buffs are well aware that Mr. Jackson was responsible for some truly great gorefests back in the day. Movies like Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles. But even the content in those pictures can't touch the creative madness on display in this zombie epic. And it's a funny movie to boot. Really funny! This is a classic midnight movie you won't want to miss.

THE THING (R)

We worked pretty hard to find a print of Halloween. It's just next to impossible to find. So we decided to screen The Fog, John Carpenter's follow up to Halloween. That was until it was brought to my attention that we'd be able to get a print of The Thing. Naturally I was excited beyond all belief as this is one of my top five favorite horror movies of all time. I'm even a bigger fan of this alien/paranoia thriller than I am Halloween, and that's saying a lot. Big time scares, amazing make-up effects, strong performances (headed by Kurt Russell and Wilford Brimley), an icy backdrop and the perfect open book ending. John Carpenter is a master and this is his best film.

So there you have the movie line up. We're really excited about it. And watching horror movies with a packed audience is so much cooler than watching them alone at home on DVD. It takes on a whole new life.
In addition to movies, we will have other events including a pumpkin carving contest, a horror trivia competition, and a costume contest. We're also adding something new to this year's event:

THE 1st ANNUAL SHORT
HORROR FILM COMPETITION

That's right all you film makers out there. We encourage you to submit your short films to us. Rules are quite simple. They must be no longer than ten minutes in running time and must contain a horror theme. We don't care how much they cost you to produce. We must have submissions by October 15th. We'd prefer them to be burned on DVD but other formats are acceptable. There is no fee. Just drop your submissions off at Eden Music. We encourage young film makers to get involved. We will pick six submissions. Each submission picked will be screened before each horror film presentation with a winner being screened at our final midnight show. Yes, there will be prizes.

Of course, Horror-Fest wouldn't be the same without a slew of top notch live talent. We've assembled a terrific line-up of local and signed bands that will take part in what The Electric Theater has appropriately deemed The SkeleTour

MOUTHS OF BABES

A four and sometimes five piece rock outfit whose influences range from Coldplay to R.E.M. to Wilco to Bob Dylan. If your interested in hearing their stuff, log on to joshwarburton.com. Their disc should be out soon.

THE OTHER END

With shades of Soundgarden and Tool, these guys are known for their rockin' live shows. Check out their stuff on theotherend.us. Their disc is in stores now.

The SkeleTour will be capped off by a trio of up and coming nationally beloved punk acts; LANCE'S HERO, LORENE DRIVE and THE HIGHER. And in fact, The Higher has played The Electric before, and garnered a really strong buzz. So there you have it. A full weekend of horror. On a final note, we want everyone to dress up for the second day of the festival. It isn't mandatory, but heavily encouraged. We will have prizes for the two best costumes (to be presented during The SkeleTour).