Spook Show Entertainment Inc. announced today that they will be moving all of their film festival events to the Portage Theater (home to SSE’s Chicago Horror Film Festival event for more then half a decade) by the end of 2013. This transition begins with The 2012 Indy Horror Film Festival being moved to the historic venue this season. The Indy event has been hosted by Dekalb Illinois’ Egyptian Theatre since being brought back from an expired festival 2 years ago. Willy Adkins (festival director / president of SSE) states, “I have always loved the Egyptian Theatre, and the move to Chicago wasn’t an easy decision to make”, he continues “It came down to resources, customer demand and our need to grow.” Adkins stated that “Spook Show Entertainment will continue to host many events in Dekalb, including haunted tours at the Egyptian Theatre and monthly movie and mixed media events at the House Cafe. This move is taking place simply because we have to go where the event type is in demand” SSE’s home office is located in Dekalb and Adkins stated that the company has no intentions of moving its offices out of Dekalb anytime soon.
Adkins closed by saying, “Jason Sullivan (SSE Vice President) and I both have high expectations with this new decision and look forward to many years of events at the Portage Theater”.
You can meet Willy Adkins & Jason Sullivan as they sponsor a meal for Dekalb’s “Feed’em Soup Community Project” on Sunday December 18th. That same day, they are co-hosting a charity fundraiser called “Holiday Healing” at The House Cafe of Dekalb to benefit the same organization.
They thought she had the perfect life; wealthy and privileged, an honor student with her whole life mapped out. What they didn’t know was what lied inside of her; pain and anguish; tearing at her until there was nothing left. Lost and alone, the young women (Heather Dorff), finds solace in the form of a glistening blade, splitting her skin deeply. Her obnoxious sister (Kelsey Zukowski) and her self-indulgent mother (Kitsie Duncan) are completely oblivious to her inner-turmoil. She has long since become numb to the world around her, getting that sensual release as the razor cuts deeper, watching the blood drip is all that matters. As soon as the last drop falls, the calm is stripped away from her with it. How far will she go to silence the hunger that now consumes her? Will she be able to regain control of her life, body, and sanity?
Evil lies within. How long will it stay there?
What They Sayis based on a short story written by first-time producer and star of the film, Heather Dorff. Dorff says, “There is no true way to verbalize what this project means to me. This has been a tough, scary, and draining process, but it was very much worth it. The end result will prove just how much the entire cast and crew have put into this film.”
What They Say wrapped production in the end of May after filming over the previous month. Post-production is nearly complete, with a first edit completed and a new trailer released! Screenwriter, Kelsey Zukowski, says, “It was really amazing seeing Heather’s original vision and the script I had created come to life before me on set. With the extremely talented and dedicated group of individuals behind the film and the dark, disquieting, and phantasmagorical nature that emerged, I have the up most faith that What They Say will be just as powerful as we imagined it could be”. The film is set to premiere at the Chicago Horror Film Festival in September, which Dorff will be hosting. From there it will continue a 6 month festival run before it’s DVD release.
Afraid of Sunrisedirector, Justin Romine of Fathead Films, directed the dark drama. Romine says, “What They Say is as awesome as the Hangover, just not nearly as funny.” The film also stars Kelsey Zukowski, Kitsie Duncan, Tina Renee Grace, Jolene Aldus, and Tyler Klunick. Both Zukowski and Grace also appear in Romine’s, Afraid of Sunrise, a dark vampire short, which Dorff stars in. Close friends and constant co-stars, Dorff and Zukowski have nearly a dozen projects with one another including Inhumane, Trick or Eat, and Poetic. Kelsey Zukowski and Jolene Aldus also co-star in Headline News, directed by Willy Adkins, one of the producers behind What They Say. Headline News will also premiere at the Chicago Horror Film Festival, which is run by Adkins. Aldus will also be co-starring again with Tyler Klunick, one of the only male actors in What They Say, in WTS producer, Travis Legge’s, upcoming superhero web series, Legacy of the Masque.
Kitsie Duncan has worked with both Dorff and Zukowski multiple times, What They Say already being the second time Kitsie played Heather’s mother. The first being the twisted horror feature, Mother’s Blood, which was filming almost simultaneously with What They Say. For Dorff, both characters were very emotionally draining. She had to step away from the producing aspect, and fully throw herself in to her character’s mindset once filming was underway.
The film really focuses on the alienation of the main character and lets us inside her head throughout her weakest moments. Still, everyone around her is responsible for this alienation, pushing her closer and closer to the darkness. Director of Photography, Nicole Klemens, was a key part in making the surreal script in to a haunting reality. Klemens speaks on the film, “What They Say is imaginative and creepy; definitely for those who enjoy dark themes and good, old-fashioned gore.”
Andrew (Aaron Massey) is afraid that his girlfriend Roxanne (Anna Ward) will report to the police a terrible crime Andrew committed Halloween night. Andrew’s friend, Gray (Juan Riedinger) has one solution to keep her quiet–kill her. Gray brutally kills Roxanne, and while figuring out what to do with her body, four other friends arrive. Gray successfully hides Roxanne’s corpse…but soon he becomes suspicious of everyone–a murder spree is soon out of control at the hands of a now psychopathic Gray and the bodies begin to pile up–on a dark and stormy night.
Boomstick Productions presents a very funny and timely “mockumentary” from writer/director John Wesley Norton, staring the intrepid Michael Morlock, paranormal researcher, historian, filmmaker and self-avowed party boy. Follow Michael as he investigates supernatural events around the globe, from the famous lake of Loch Ness in Scotland, to the less famous but no less interesting strip club across town. This full length feature film is full of thrills, chills, and enough belly laughs to wake the dead! Ghosts, Vampires, Zombies, Michael takes them all on in this super charged, super funny, supernatural comedy. Michael Morlock, when danger calls…he let’s it go to voicemail!
“Compulsion” is the story of Curtis (Christopher Stapleton), a gleefully sadistic serial killer who preys on young women, follows Leslie (Mimi Michaels) home one night and terrorizes her only to discover he may have bitten off more than he can chew. An unexpected game of cat and mouse ensues, culminating in a violent conclusion. However, the situation takes an even more sinister turn when Special Agent Randolph (Treva Etienne) and Special Agent Blake (William Walton) show up and assume jurisdiction from the local authorities to preserve their own hidden agenda.
Gerald Brown, a news reporter from the east coast finds himself stuck in a small town community starving for big city news, but finds himself continuously disappointed and annoyed. Then one day Gerald and Karen Jacobs, a journalist in training are sent to Woodbridge Community College to do a story about a cave fungus discovered by the knowledgeable Professor Alfred Zimmerman. What they find is much more then they expect! Find out what the days Headline News in this suspense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat!
They thought she had the perfect life; wealthy and privileged, an honor student with her whole life mapped out. What they didn’t know was what lied inside of her; pain and anguish; tearing at her until there was nothing left. Lost and alone, the young women (Heather Dorff), finds solace in the form of a glistening blade, splitting her skin deeply. Her self-indulgent mother and obnoxious sister (Kelsey Zukowski), are completely oblivious to her inner-turmoil. She has long since become numb to the world around her, getting that sensual release, as the razor cuts deeper, watching the blood drip, is all that matters. As soon as the last drop falls, the calm is stripped away from her with it. How far will she go to silence the hunger that now consumes her? Will she be able to regain control of her life, body, and sanity?
After years of fighting, vampires and humans come to a truce-with the vamps getting the short end of the stick. Relegated to second class citizens, they are forced to live in ghettos and microchipped to track their movements. Adding insult to injury, they also must get their blood from specially sanctioned government blood banks.
Although the Hunters have officially disbanded, Jonathan Sloan and his small crew of ex-Hunters track down “illegals” trying to uncover a conspiracy of a vampire cabal that plans on overthrowing the government and returning the vampires back to their former glory.
Jonathan must also come to grips with his past and decide where his loyalties lie in dealing with his feelings for Perrey, the love of his life.. a vampire.
“Vamperifica” is the story of Carmen McCoy, a flamboyant, twenty-something, sometime student at a small community college, who wants nothing more than to hang out with his best friend Tracy, be in a musical production at school, and maybe, one day, be a star. Instead, he discovers that for him, destiny has something else in store — he is the reincarnation of the 200 year old vampire king, Raven.
Now, Carmen must choose between his friends and that destiny.
“Vamperifica” is a mix of comedy and tenderness, drama and action, friendship and isolation, even a musical number! But it is also a story of the disenfranchised, and a dream of empowerment for all those who have felt as if they have been left behind. It is the story of all of us who have ever been told that we are somehow broken, and the triumph of the spirit when we stand tall and proclaim, “No We Are Not!”.
Serena is a doctor in a city hospital. Her life is quite and systemic until the day she has a call from Betania The priest of this small village where Serena was born, tells her that his grandpa has passed away. Serena moves to Betania in a symbolic journey that makes her emotive side came out. Serena realizes that in this village some died people come back to ‘life’ apparently will-less. Also Serena has this ‘gift’ of a second chance with her grandpa but she cant manage this until the final emotive breakdown
On Christmas Eve, two sisters sharing a Venice apartment discover their home is the final target of a brutal gang of home invaders. Abbie and her wheelchair-bound sister Michele are forced to put aside their personal differences in order to survive an all-night onslaught of violence when their loft complex is systematically robbed, raped, and ransacked by a group of vicious criminals led by Jess and his sadistic sister Lorraine.
The tenants are moving out, no one is drinking in the bar, the pets are disappearing, and now the two worst landlords in Chicago have to deal whatever it is that’s lurking in the basement. ‘The Moleman of Belmont Avenue’ is a new horror/comedy in the spirit of ‘Shaun of The Dead’ that features performances from horror icon Robert Englund and a cast of brilliant comedic actors from Chicago’s famed Second City.
Set in San Francisco, RED ICE is the story of Evan, an overworked software engineer, who recently reconciled with his dying mother who, unbeknownst to him, fell under the spell of a murderous demon when Evan was young. Raised in foster care, Evan has emerged as a lonely, drug-addicted adult, whose only solace lies in his flute music. When he and his boss, Bob, cut corners on the software testing of a new military flight control system, the consequences are devastating, and summon the return of the old demon, who offers Evan a devilish deal to save himself — and the girl he loves.
Tricia’s husband has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him ‘dead in absentia.’ Tricia is reluctant, always holding out hope, but Callie is practical and wants her to move on. As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As she begins to link it to other mysterious disappearances, it becomes clear that his presumed death might be anything but ‘natural.’ It seems that the ancient force at work in the tunnel might have set its sights on Callie and Tricia … and that Tricia’s husband might be suffering a fate far worse than death in its grasp.
What happens when an average suburban home is built atop the charred remains of a 1970′s brothel? What do you do when lusty spirits invade your quiet, no nonsense life? Paranormal Calamity! Starring Larry Thomas (Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi) Charlene Tilton (Dallas) Michael Wexler, Jennifer Schmidt and James Vallo
Doctor Andrew Stanton is on the verge of the greatest scientific advancement of our time, an actual cure for AIDS. But when he injects his formula into a dying young boy, who has been infected with an unknown bacterium, it is the perfect storm of nature and science. The boy dies, but not before infecting Andrew with an aggressive new strain of bacteria that begins to consume his body and enrage his mind with a need for human flesh.
Murderabilia follows an obsessive collector as he endeavors to track down a specific artifact related to a killing from the late 90′s. The journey begins with the face-to-face interview of the convicted murderer. The inmate recounts for the collector the specifics of his crime in vivid detail. Stoked by this narrative, the collector seeks out a reclusive online murderabilia vendor that claims to be in possession of the sought-after artifact. The collector meets with the zealous vendor, who offers him not only the artifact, but also a prize of much greater significance.
BLACKSTONE follows the story of one man’s investigation of the gruesome and ritualistic murder of a family, as he tries to piece the fateful night together through two separate accounts. As the horrific details of the event are unveiled by the only surviving victim, and a convicted accomplice begins to reveal her motives, the man soon realizes the case may be bigger and more twisted than he ever thought possible.
Starring J.K. Simmons, Sasha Grey, and Emily Graham-Handley.
Set against the drab backdrop of World War II Germany, A Chance in Hell centers around a group of American soldiers who come across a secret Nazi facility where the malevolent Dr. Bucher has been performing experiments on concentration camp victims in an attempt to perfect a super soldier for his fuhrer’s army. Facing a hoard of blood-thirsty creatures around every corner and low on ammo, the GIs quickly realize they don’t stand a chance in Hell!
More than 50 years ago, a little girl survives a near-drowning as she canoes on a remote northwoods lake with her father, seeing him drown in the process. Forced to survive in the wild, starving nearly to death, this little girl learns to fend for herself while living like an animal off the land. Decades later, two unsuspecting couples vacationing in a remote rental cabin on the shores of Claw Lake, enter a realm where unusual and grisly killings of hikers and canoeists–seemingly by wild animals–have been puzzling the authorities for years. Disregarding warnings of bears and mountain lions by a local sheriff, the couples soon discover their idea of ‘roughing it in the woods’ is far from what they envisioned in the city they left behind, when a vicious, ghostly creature appears from the woods and begins to stalk them. Is it a wild animal like a cougar, a wolf, or a bear that’s hunting them? Is it the axe-wielding crazy camper inhabiting the shoreline, seen by the couples as they are boating on the lake? Or perhaps a more sinister presence stalks them at their Cabin on Claw Lake? Their late-night party soon turns horrific as one by one, the northwoods vacationers disappear. Filmed entirely in Voyageur’s National Park in Crane Lake, Minnesota.
A beautiful and mysterious woman returns home to a castle, while a curious young boy ventures in and around her residence, only to be pulled further into a tangled web of horrors while meeting several interesting and bizarre characters along the way.
A man, home alone, is terrorized by girl scouts selling him “delicious” cookies. The film is directed by Kansas filmmaker, Patrick Rea. Music by Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th). Shot entirely in Shawnee and Lawrence, Kansas.
When under achieving teen Becca is left alone in her high-rise apartment to do her homework, she gets an unwanted visitor. She then takes it upon herself to try and dispatch of him, using what she has learned from her Chemistry assignment.
The Poster features a sneak peak of actor Michael Wexler in a way the world has never seen him before, as the evil Doctor Ethan Campbell!!! Headline News goes into production this weekend and wraps up in mid June. The film is scheduled to world premier at the 2011 Chicago Horror Film Festival! This film marks Willy Adkins’s debut as Director!
Mr. Willy Adkins is the CEO of Spook Show Entertainment and a “jack of all trades” in the entertainment industry. He is well know for his paranormal investigation ventures. Willy founded The Illinois Ghost Hunters, The Paranormal Research Community & Afterlife Paranormal. His paranormal ventures have taken him all over the country. Willy is also known for his life long passion of dark arts and photography. He started taking photos under the name “Deviant Desires Photography“ 15 years ago. The name has grown to be internationally recognized. Present day Willy is staying busy producing, writing and acting in independent film. His first film release, “I Hunt Ghosts” a documentary about ghost hunting is currently available on DVD. He is currently working on a short film called “Headline News” that will mark his debut as a director. Many people in the industry know Willy for his horror hosting experience as the character we call “Mr. Willy”. Looking ahead Willy will be staring in a film bringing his “Mr. Willy” character to film called “Immortal Vengeance – The Chronicles of Mr. Willy“. Whats next for Willy? Well, at the speed he is working the sky is the limit! More info about Willy Adkins on his official website: www.MrWillysLair.com or IMDb.
When putting together these great film festivals, we pride ourselves on acknowledging film makers, talent and artists for outstanding work. First as being an official selection of the festival, then as a nominee for an award and even further as an award winner. These festivals do run a very tight budget however, so financial compensation in addition to the award certificate / trophy is sadly not an option. This year Willy Adkins (Spook Show Entertainment) got on the phone with Jason Davis (Festivals of Fright) with an idea to be able to offer the winners of “Best Feature” and “Best Short” at the Indy Horror Film Festival (the newer, younger sister festival to The Chicago Horror Film Festival now in its 12th season). The Idea was quite simple… Why not offer a free automatic acceptance for the 2 films winning in those two categories to show officially at the Chicago Horror Film Festival as well? And its now official! Since we brought the Indy Festival “back from the dead” last year (2010) and didn’t have this in place yet, we decided to grandfather in last years winners of both awards as well. The feature film “Michael Morlock Supernatural World”, won Best Feature Film in 2010 at the IHFF and is now an official selection of the 2011 CHFF. The feature film “On A Dark And Stormy Night” won Best Feature Film in the 2011 IHFF and is now also an official selection of the 2011 CHFF. Also included in this years CHFF will be “Compulsion” which won Best Short at IHFF 2011… The Film “Devils Creek” won Best Short in 2010 at the Indy, but has been an official selection for the CHFF already as well.
So if you or your friends missed the Indy Horror Film Festival, or you made it to the festival and want to see these awesome films again, Come on out to The 2011 Chicago Horror Film Festival at the Portage Theater the last weekend of September and see the Best of the Fest one more time!!!
For the most up to date details about The 2011 Chicago Horror Film Festival Go To:
Master Ron Fitzgerald is an Actor, Gothic Illusionist and Host for strange, dark fun! Fitzgerald has performed from Hollywood to Hong Kong with his wicked and weird style of Illusion in his live show “Fitzgerald’s Realm of Magic”, which includes Ron eating razor blades! He is the only illusionist edgy enough to close the second stage at Lollapalooza. Fitzgerald has appeared as an actor in the feature films “The Item”, “The Thirsting”, “Blood Gnome”, “MAGUS” and others, with more on the way. Ron is the voice of the creature in the upcoming Horror movie “Contagion”. He has been a host at the Chicago Horror Film Festival, the Indy Horror Film Festival, In The Dark Burlesque, Festival of Flesh and Chad Savage’s Zombie Pin Ups as well as other productions including his own cable TV show. One thing is for sure, Fitzgerald is so much freaky fun, he’ll leave you screaming for more!
Jason R. Davis is the founder of the Chicago Horror Film Festival and the Indy Horror Film Festival. He has an education in film studies and screenwriting. However, before he went into film, he had another love that had driven him. Writing. Reading. The Art of Fiction.
He has spent much of his life both reading and writing. As a child in middle school, he would often wake up in the early morning hours before school and start pounding away stories. He would use his father’s alarm clock that he could hear in their bedroom and know that it was his time. His first typewriter was a Christmas present that year, and he would clatter away.
All through middle and then high school he continued to write. When it was time to go to college, he even thought that he would just go on and continue his education in the English arts. However, instead of continuing with just writing, he had a moment of inspiration and decided to follow another passion. He went to Columbia College where he could study filmmaking and writing.
In 2003 he founded the Chicago Horror Film Festival. With very few outlets that supported the horror genre at the time, it gave him a venue to not only show his own films, but for other great horror films from around the world. In 2005, the festival grew to a point where he created its sister festival, the Indy Horror Film Festival.
Now, with a strong knowledge in horror, and what makes a terror filled story, he has transitioned himself from festival director and filmmaker to fiction writer. He is currently on break from both festivals to pursue his writing. “Inside the Mirrors” was released December of 2009 as is available for order wherever books are sold.
Word on the street is that Jason might just lead a pack of zombies to the festival… Beware!!!