QUICK AND EASY HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!

This public service announcement brought to you by the fine folks at Scarfolk Council.

SUGGESTED READING LIST ~ OCT 30, 2016

1. What do Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ken Russell's Altered States, Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void and the Mitchell Bros. 70's porno classic Behind the Green Door all have in common? They're all on this Taste of Cinema list of 25 Psychedelic Movies That Are Worth Your Time! And what qualifies the aforementioned flicks as "psychedelic", you ask? List compiler Esther Zelig is happy to explain, before launching into a description of Dali and Bunuel's seminal surrealist short film Un Chien Andalou, thusly:

Psychedelia in film is characterized by distortion (both in image and in sound), experimentation in narrative and editing, and sometimes drug-inspired hallucinations. Like the psychoactive drugs which produce heightened sensory perceptions and distortion, psychedelic films present to their audience an unfamiliar and/or dream-like view of reality. 

The following films use cinematography, narration, editing, sound design, and music to create worlds of distortion. Whether the film is depicting drug-induced madness or creating an atmosphere of existential confusion, these films somehow experiment with the audience’s sensory perceptions in order to uproot the viewer from reality. These films welcome (or in some cases, force) the audience to interact with a plethora of psychedelic imagery, sounds, and/or narration.

Despite a couple of nonsensical entries - Point Blank and Wake in Fright are both fine films, but can they really be called psychedelic? - this is an outstanding list, and makes a worthy guide for any budding cinemaphile in search of "the good stuff". And speaking of "the good stuff"...

Just look at that face!

2. It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that I occasionally use it to promote my "real world" projects, as well as those of my friends and associates, if and when I deem them worthy. Like, for instance, with my ongoing attempts to break into the film world, usually by partnering with - or piggybacking onto - my oldest and best friend Marc Roussel. And that is why I was so pleased to see Marc getting some well deserved critical appreciation from the folks at BloodyWhisper.com, in the form of a career-spanning overview! Written by Ernie Fink and published this week, this virtual tongue bath of praise begins thusly:

There are many good things that come from Canada. This filmmaker may be one of the best. 

Based in Toronto, Mr. Roussel has a diverse resume of films to his credit. Although his strongest suit seems to be horror, his versatility has shown in both crime drama and romance. He has the ability to pull a variety of emotional strings is so effective that he cannot be matched by most. He is also downright terrifying.  

His films Remote and The Elusive Man have won awards at various festivals and he had been nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada award. He has also found success as an editor on many televisions shows.

Adding to my pride at seeing my best bud be treated so well is the fact that I, myself, took part in the creation of many of Marc's most successful films, from our early contest entry Sweet Tooth, to our most recent BravoFACT project, The Last Halloween, and a few in between! Furthermore, it is my most sincere hope that the two of us get to do more work together, perhaps including some work that makes us some goddamn MONEY one of these days! Anyhoo, keep watching this space for developments. In the meantime: Marc, old pal o' mine, I join BloodyWhispers.com in saluting you!

3. Well, that was fast! Remember the second item from our previous DDD Suggested Reading List, wherein we informed you of the death of Jack Chick, creator of those ironically popular Chick Tract evangelical mini-comics you could occasionally find in diner booths, bus stop benches, and other public places? Well, someone has created a fully illustrated Chick Tract about what happened when Jack Chick Got To Heaven... and it's very much in keeping with the Chick Tract tradition.

THE LAST HALLOWEEN: COMIC AND FILM STILLS SET TO SCORE

This is pretty great. My long-time creative partner Marc Roussel, who directed the short film version of my 8 page comic The Last Halloween based on a script we co-wrote, has put together a video to showcase our film's amazing score, which was created by our friend and frequent collaborator Christopher Guglick, pairing it with stills from the film and pages from my comic. Thanks, Marc... Now it's time to get back to work on our next batch of projects!

FLASHBACK 2007! OUR FIRST HALLOWEEN FILM SHORT!

Most of you have watched - and some of you have enjoyed - The Last Halloween, the latest film from my circle of creative partners, chief among them being my lifelong best friend, editor/director Marc Roussel. You can scroll down this page to find information on The Last Halloween, which has played - and is still playing - in competition at numerous prestigious film festivals around the world, and has won a few awards along the way. But did you know that TLH wasn't our first cinematic ode to our favorite time of year? 

In late October of 2007, Marc and I (and a team of five others) entered the Toronto 24 Hour Film Challenge, during which time we had to write, shoot, edit and score a 5 minute horror film in LESS THAN 24 HOURS! 

Out of dozens of participating teams, only 30-something managed to finish their films on time. Our film, Sweet Tooth, came in 3rd according to the judges - winning us thousands of dollars worth in movie equipment rental vouchers. We were also clearly an audience favorite at the gala event where all the competing films were screened... which took a lot of the sting out of losing to two teams that were made up (or so we were subsequently told) by friends of the contest organizers and judges. 

Here's a link to the finished film - or, you can watch it right here if you'd like. Fair warning! As previously mentioned, we wrote, shot, edited and scored this sucker in ONE CALENDAR DAY, and it kinda shows. Still, it's a good bit of fun... and I, yer old pal Jerky, actually try to ACT in this one!

"THE LAST HALLOWEEN" COMIC, NOW ONLINE!

You've watched the short film, now enjoy the illustrated story upon which it was based!

THE LAST HALLOWEEN - NOW ONLINE FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!

It's been over a year since we set up cameras and shot our 10 minute paean to our favorite holiday - with some much needed help from the wonderful people at BravoFACT - and now we are at long last allowed to share it with anyone fortunate enough to have an Internet connection... just in time for the most appropriate seasonal setting we can think of!

And so... behold... The Last Halloween!

ANOTHER EXCELLENT REVIEW FOR THE LAST HALLOWEEN!

I'm very pleased to report that The Last Halloween continues to accrue excellent reviews from the people that matter... horror fans! 

This time, UK HORROR SCENE writer Will Roberts writes:

There is a wonderful blend of gothic, mediaeval and futuristic horror on display throughout and the story resonates like a dystopic Brothers Grimm tale – especially when the mini-harbingers , each representing a symbol of the season, dispose of their festive attire, resulting in a spectacular achievement in monster and prosthetic design, and a fantastic new spin on familiar imagery. 

The cinematography, production and costume design are impressively bleak and in places this visually stunning ten minute film is reminiscent of other non-horror (but nonetheless terrifying) post-apocalyptic classics such as ‘Delicatessen’ and ‘The Road’. 

A story riddled with a dreaded plague is impeccably timed to this particular Hallow’s Eve and this short , produced by Red Sneakers Media, is consistently tragic and wonderfully grim right up until it’s harrowing final shot. 

Written by Marc Roussel and Mark Thibodeau, and based on a comic book by Thibodeau, The Last Halloween is currently being screened at prestigious film festivals such as Raindance Film Festival and Screamfest and is destined for (well-deserved) widespread praise and attention come October 31st.

You can read the full review (including Roberts' star rating) at this link.

BEST SHORT FILM! BEST EDITING!

The results from the Chicago Horror Film Festival are in... and the news is GREAT!

CHICAGO HORROR FILM FESTIVAL AWARD NOMINATIONS ARE IN!

The contenders for awards at the 2014 edition of the Chicago Horror Film Festival have been announced, and I'm pleased to report that The Last Halloween is up for five awards this year!

The nominations in question are for Best Short Film, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Special Effects!

Needless to say, I'm tickled pink by this news, as is the entire Last Halloween cast and crew. Keep watching this space, and I'll keep y'all abreast as to whether or not we actually win anything this year! In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Cheers;
yer old pal Jerky

THE LAST HALLOWEEN GOES INTERNATIONAL!

Daily Dirt Diaspora readers may or may not know that their old pal Jerky has been trying to kick-start a career in the motion picture industry since... oh, gee... since he was but a wee tyke! Although, truth be told, he was never really what anybody would rightly call "wee". 

Anyway, my most recent attempt at creating cinema is The Last Halloween, a ten minute short film based on an 8-page comic story I drew in late 2013, directed by my long-term writing partner (and best friend since the age of 9), veteran film industry editor Marc Roussel. You can see Marc's impressive IMDB credits here, and watch a trailer for our little movie, here:

So, we made a movie. And it's pretty decent. And that's all well and good. But what's most important at this point is that people get to see the damn thing. And that's why I'm pleased to report that yes, Virginia, people have been seeing the damn thing!

In fact, seeing as it is part of the mandate of this particular member-blog of the Daily Dirt Diaspora family of inter-related blogs to bring you news of yer old pal Jerky's progress in all of his multitudinous and variegated projects, I figured I should give you guys a rundown of The Last Halloween's film festival dates, past, present and future. 

Beginning, as is always fitting, at the beginning...

Twisted Celluloid Film Festival 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014

This was our World Festival PREMIERE! And it took place in beautiful Cork, Ireland, where we had the honor of screening as a special short presentation prior to the debut of a beautiful new 35mm print of the original EVIL DEAD!

Crypticon Seattle Tri-Cities Fantastic Film Festival

May 25, 2014

An official selection in the Shorts program!

The Nickel Independent Film Festival

June 17-21, 2014

This one took place in beautiful St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada!

FilmQuest
July 2, 2014
This festival took place in conjunction with a huge Fan Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah! We were an Official Selection, and were were also nominated for Best Makeup Effects and Best Art Direction / Production Design!

DETCon1 
July 17-19, 2014
We were an Official Selection at this Detroit-based horror/sci-fi/fantasy film festival!

Calgary Horror-Con
August 2, 2014
We were an Official Selection at this fest!

Mascara & Popcorn Film Festival
Aug 14-17, 2014
We were an Official Selection at this fest and we WON an award for BEST VISUAL EFFECTS!

Vivisection International Horror Shorts

August 17, 2014 at 7:30 PM

We were an Official Selection of the Summer 2014 Edition of this Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based film festival.

Action On Film International Film Festival
August 22-30, 2014
We were an Official Selection for this Monrovia, California-based  Fest, where we were nominated as BEST MAKE-UP and BEST HORROR SHORT (and came in first runner up in both categories).

Rue Morgue Festival of Fear FanExpo

August 28-31, 2014
We had two screenings at this hugely influential fan convention event in Toronto as part of the "Little Terrors" program of shorts, co-presented by Unstable Ground. It was a great experience that we hope to repeat at other FanExpos in the future!

Montreal ComicCon Horror Fest 

September 12, 2014
Official Selection!

The Diabolique International Film Festival
Sept 18-20th, 2014
We screened on Saturday, Sept. 20 at this Bloomington, Indiana based festival, where we got a couple of really nice write-ups in the local press (here's one!). We were also nominated for BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY and BEST MAKE-UP FX!

Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival 
Sept 26, 2014

This festival took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and our film was the short feature that ran before the gala presentation of the buzz-generating new indie horror film Housebound!

Chicago Horror Film Festival
Sept 26, 2014

Official Selection!

Beyond Fest
Sept 25 – Oct 4, 2014

Our film is an Official Selection and part of the "Shock Till You Drop” shorts program at this increasingly influential Los Angeles, California based film fest! I mean, check out this awesome website! Also (and almost unbelievably), we're showing on the same night, in the same theater, as John Carpenter's seminal classic (which was such an inspiration to us that we thank Carpenter in our credits), the original HALLOWEEN!

Feratum Festival Internacional de Cine Fantastico, Terror y Sci-Fi
Oct 2-5, 2014

We're really excited about showing as an Official Selection of the International Short Film competition of this Tlalpujahua, Mexico based film fest! I mean, again, just look at this site!

Raindance Film Festival
Oct 4, 2014

We're an Official Selection at this UK-based fest, and we're proud to be the short feature opening for a documentary about our fellow Canuck, the comic artist Seth, called Seth’s Dominion! Learn more, and maybe attend!

Tri-Cities International Fantastic Film Festival
Oct 5, 2014
Official Selection!

Slaughter Movie House 
Oct 6th, 2014
Official Selection! Check 'em out on Facebook!

SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya
Oct 7, 2014
Spain's biggest and most influential fantastic film fest has done us the honor of making us an Official Selection! Check out the lovely Last Halloween site they made for us on their own website!

ScreamFest Horror Film Festival 
Oct 15, 2014 (at 9:30 PM)
We're an Official Selection at this Los Angeles, California based fest, which you can check out on Facebook!

PollyGrind Underground Film Festival
Oct 16, 2014
We're an Official Selection at this ground-breaking Las Vegas-based festival which you can learn more about here!

Samain du Cinema Fantastique
Oct 28, 2014
We're an Official Selection at this festival, which takes place in gorgeous Nice, France! Learn more here!

Twisted Tails Film Festival 
Dec. 5-7, 2014
We're an Official Selection of this festival, which you can learn more about here!

***

Well, that's about it... for today, at least! Yes, that's right, there's even MORE exciting Last Halloween news coming up in the next few weeks! So keep watching this space for more updates about our little-movie-that-could. I'll try to keep you posted on any awards that we might win, any write-ups we might get in the press, any paying gigs that this labor of love leads to, etc, etc. In the meantime, I wish you all a good night, and if you live near any of the festivals listed above that haven't taken place yet, why not make the trek to go check  out yer old pal Jerky's movie work the way it was meant to be seen... in a darkened room full of strangers!

Cheers!
YOPJ