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Day 2 - The HP Lovecraft Film Festival - 2005

Yup, reprinted from Blog'D !

I got to the Hollywood on Saturday just before they opened the doors at 1:30. I had a fairly set schedule in mind for what I wanted to see today, which would have involved my sitting in front of the Upper Right Screen all night - I did the rounds in the vendors' area more to stretch my legs before crunching into the theater seating than to actually shop. I did end up spending a little bit of cash - had to get me an, "It's always a bad time in Arkham," button!

I ran into Aaron Vanek before the shows started. I didn't see him last night - don't know if he just wasn't in town or we just never quite crossed paths - but we chatted for a bit. Again, he asked if I had anything showing or in the works. You know, for all my nit picking, it's really nice to feel like I'm "part of the crowd" nowadays, if just a little bit. Sure, one of the filmmakers with whom I thought I was friendly did kind of brush me off later in the evening when I commented positively on the short he had showing in the festival, but overall, it's encouraging that my colleagues want to see more from me.

The first movie on my schedule was The Dead Inside, directed by Brian Clement. (This was another of the festival's world premieres.) The movie is set in 1940s Canada, and features two paranormal detectives hired to rid a house of its otherworldly influence. A backstory involving a former owner of the house vanishing one night while she slept, leaving only her pajamas behind set up this supernatural mystery, and parts of the movie were quite good. The two leads (Chuck Depape and Brownwyn Lee), however, didn't seem to have a lot of on-screen chemistry, and a lot of the movie's story was told in "exposition-dumps" through the characters' dialogue. The "scares," though, were handled well, and there were some genuinely creepy images (other former residents of this haunted home include a circus family - two clowns and a deformed acrobatic performer).

The movie started late (I heard later that there might have been an accident somewhere that led to some late starts?), but it wasn't a huge deal, nor were the technical difficulties encountered in getting the projecting system running. Things happen, and little glitches like this didn't really detract from the festival.

(There was a scheduled Q&A session with the filmmakers, but when the movie ended, people left the theater and that was that. No one seemed to stay behind - not even the filmmakers.)

After the afternoon show, there was a break, and since we didn't have anything else to do, Aaron and I grabbed a bite to eat, hit a gaming shop, a comic shop and a coffee shop, in that order. Then we headed back to the Hollywood.

The world premiere of Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep was next for me, and it was an incredibly polished production. The cast, headed by J. D. Lloyd as Dan Upton and Erick J. Robertson as Edward Derby, was solid, the writing efficient and the direction competently handled. The Maelstrom Productions team has definitely matured - they produced a short version of 'The Thing on the Doorstep' previously, as well as the spoof 'The Love Craft,' and seeing a feature-length version of their vision was nearly worth the Saturday admission price altogether.

The filmmakers, cast and crew were in full force in the theater, and a Q&A followed the film.

There was a bit of downtime, so we grabbed another cup of coffee before what-was-scheduled as the 9:45 showings, but while milling about in the vendors' area, I noticed the doors were closed to one of the houses. It was around 9:30 when we realized that, despite a printed schedule and program stating otherwise, the movies started early. (I also started hearing that the originally-scheduled 9:30 presentation of the yearly Howie Award, this year presented to Christopher Heyerdahl, was pushed back to later in the evening.) An announcement may have been made, but regardless, I missed the first few minutes of Beyond the Walls of Sleep.

I could have seen Shorts Block Two - The Lovecraft Syndrome was playing in that block, and I was eager to see how my fellow HORROR-ite David Schmidt's movie played on the big screen, but in order to catch all the flicks I was interested in seeing, I'd have to wait until Sunday for that collection of shorts. At least, that was the plan.

I feel kind of bad, actually. I know I walked in late, but Beyond the Walls of Sleep failed to grab me. I caught Tom Savini at the very beginning of the movie, but . . . the performances were just too over-the-top, bordering on hyper-cartoony, for me to be able to sit through the entire show. It's too bad; some of the filmmakers were at the festival, and they, too, were scheduled for a Q&A, but I just felt restless and couldn't commit a feature's-worth-of time to the movie, so I left that house and headed over to the Upper Left Screen to catch some of Shorts Block Two instead.

The theater was packed, standing room only. (The festival had sold out of Saturday tickets earlier in the day.) Aaron, having chosen to see this collection of shorts in the first place, was standing near the back. I joined him, and caught the following shorts (I didn't catch all of them, but I'll catch the ones I missed tomorrow):

13 de Mars, 1941, or March the 13th, 1941 (directed by Robert P. Olsson) - This Swedish production is a version of Lovecraft's 'The Statement of Randolph Carter.' 13 de Mars, 1941 brings up one of the most fascinating elements of the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival - when different filmmakers attempt to tackle the same subject matter. In 'Randolph Carter,' two investigators are investigating an old well and terrors it contains, and in this version, set in 1941, they communicate with each other (one investigator goes in the well, while the other monitors his progress outside) through a military phone. The movie is stark and creepy; I liked it.

Le Facteur Poulpe, or The Night of the Octopus (directed by Matthew Rankin) - Played a bit more for laughs than most of the shorts, this French Canadian production follows a man confronting a past love affair . . . which manifests itself as an octopus that slithers into his apartment through the mail slot. Well-shot and well-paced, but its Lovecraft-connection a bit vague.

ReCreation (directed by Ed Martin III) - I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Martin is a movie-making powerhouse. Give the guy a free weekend, a camera and a buddy or two, and he'll have a movie for you by the following weekend, and it's usually something good. (This may not be the case, but it certainly seems that way!) ReCreation follows a man named Albert (is that REALLY his name?) dealing, in a decidedly Lovecraftian way, a terrible loss. Jason Custer plays Albert, and Mad Martian plays his friend Tate; they both perform extremely well, carrying the quick piece.

The Courtesy Nudge (directed by Jacob Hair) - Want to know what happens if your job was to watch paint dry? The Courtesy Nudge will show you, and a bit graphically towards the end. The Lovecraft-link is established about halfway through when the lead (played by Dave Johnstone) starts experience hallucinations/infestations of the otherworldly sort.

It's the Great Cthulhu, Chuck & Dexter (directed by Jon Cazares & Brian Wood) - following last year's failed Presidential campaign piece to put Cthulhu in the White House ("No More Years!"), Cthulhu cultists Chuck and Dexter camp out on a beach on cold Solstice night in hopes of seeing their Great Cthulhu raise from the ocean. This short was filled with the same manic energy of Cthulhu for President 2004, and I'm already wondering what hijinks these two cultists will find themselves up to in 2006.

Late Bloomer (directed by Craig Macnell) - Classic. Miss Lovecraft's sex ed class introduces a young boy to an anatomical description of female anatomy, complete with chalkboard drawings of a uterus given animated life as a creature from the great beyond! (Also performed live and having now seen the film, very sorry I missed it - Aaron)

Ryleh (directed by Mikaël Genachte-le Bail & Gaëtan Boutel) - This French animated short was one of the few animated pieces this year. In it, an old fisherman finds a mysterious chest in his fishing nets, and ultimately regrets prying it open.

I had to leave shortly after that to catch my bus home. Like I said, I'll catch the rest of the shorts tomorrow. I also plan on seeing H. P. Lovecraft: The Terror Within.

All in all, today was a good day at the festival (not counting chopping up the schedule and rearranging it for whatever reason - I'm hoping the schedule doesn't get changed tomorrow - I'm still disappointed I didn't get to see Enter the Dagon when the schedule was changed list year). The best part? While talking with Craig about his short Read Me a Story, he said two words that immediately started the wheels turning in my head for a Lovecraft short for next year. Those two words? I think I'll hold off on saying them here - let me get a script written first, and then I'll see about making an announcement. Regardless, getting the positive support from the other filmmakers at the festival, and being in an environment that supports the "darker arts" is good for the creative juices, you know?