Lawrence C. Connolly's Blog, page 27

Grimmfest Film Festival: Day 1

Manchester, England.

Grimmfest.

Day One.

This year’s festival kicks off with the screening of a remastered classic, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, which Entertainment Weekly has called “One of the greatest horror film of all time.”

Based loosely on H.P. Lovecraft’s Weird Tales novella “Herbert West–Reanimator,” the film helped launch the career of Barbara Crampton, this year’s Grimmfest guest of honor.

But Grimmfest isn’t just about the classics. Among the new films screening today are Await F...

This Way to Egress:The Manchester-Sheffield Connection

Eighteen years ago. It’s spring. Filmmaker and I are driving around Pittsburgh. It’s his first time in the States, having arrived the day before from London. He’s come to collaborate on a new film adaptation of my story “Traumatic Descent,” and today we’re out looking at locations, places that might provide backdrops for a tale about a slow-burn descent into madness.

We drive down Ohio River Boulevard, past the chemical plants and coke ovens of Neville Island and into the brick-...

Fall Premieres:Mexico, England, Canada, Spain, Austria …

… a world of nightmares.

Since premiering at The Fantasia International Film Festival in July, Nightmare Cinema has gone on to screen at some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals devoted to fantasy, science fiction, and horror.

So far this month, NC has played on both sides of the Atlantic, first in a French premiere at Le Festival européen du film fantastique in Strasbourg on September 17 and then at Feratum Film Fest in Tlalpujahua, Mexico, on September 22.

Both Sandra Becerril an...

Tales from the Hood 2Horror, History, Humor & Politics

“All of that art-for-art’s-sake stuff is BS. What are these people talking about? Are you really telling me that Shakespeare and Aeschylus weren’t writing about kings? All good art is political!” – Toni Morrison

Morrison’s words are particularly relevant to the horror genre. After all, horror literature is all about powers beyond comprehension. It’s true in the genre’s seminal works (think Dante’s Inferno), and it’s certainly true with horror stories today.

Case in point is Tales from the Hoo...

Nightmare Cinema: Fall Festivals & Events

These are busy times for the Nightmare Cinema team.

This weekend, Mick Garris (the film’s producer and writer/director of “Dead”) and Sandra Becerril (writer of the Ryûhei Kitamura directed “Mashit”) are in Strasbourg for the film’s French premiere at FEFFS — Le Festival européen du film fantastique. The premiere will take place at a special midnight screening on Monday, September 17, with additional screenings scheduled for September 18 and 23.

Since its launch in 2008, FEFFS has become one...

These Writers Rock:PG Sturges, RC Matheson, Craig Spector

There’s an undeniable connection between horror and rock-n-roll, one that no doubt began long before the devil went down to Georgia or Robert Johnson stopped at the crossroads to barter his soul.

I was reminded of this connection earlier in the month when I came across some album tracks that fellow Nightmare Cinema writer RC Matheson had posted to his Facebook page. The tracks were from a CD titled Fade-In, released nearly ten years ago by a band called Smash-Cut. On that album, RC joins Cra...

These Writers Rock:PG Sturges, RC Matheson, Craig Spector

There’s an undeniable connection between horror and rock-n-roll, one that no doubt began long before the devil went down to Georgia or Robert Johnson stopped at the crossroads to barter his soul.

I was reminded of this connection earlier in the month when I came across some album tracks that fellow Nightmare Cinema writer RC Matheson had posted to his Facebook page. The tracks were from a CD titled Fade-In, released nearly ten years ago by a band called Smash-Cut. On that album, RC joins Cra...

These Writers Rock:P.G. Sturges, R.C. Matheson, Craig Spector

There’s an undeniable connection between horror and rock-n-roll, one that no doubt began long before the devil went down to Georgia or Robert Johnson stopped at the crossroads to barter his soul.

I was reminded of this connection earlier in the month when I came across some album tracks that fellow Nightmare Cinema writer RC Matheson had posted to his Facebook page. The tracks were from a CD titled Fade-In, released nearly ten years ago by a band called Smash-Cut. On that album, RC joins Cra...

Full Circle: Nightmare Cinema in Mexico

Three years ago at the Morbido Film Festival in Mexico, Mick Garris announced his plans for a project entitled Nightmare Cinema. This year – following the film’s strong premiere at Fantasia Fest in Montreal —  Mick returns to Mexico to present a special screening at Macabro XVII in Mexico City. He will be joined by Mexico’s own , the writer and director who wrote the Nightmare Cinema episode “Mashit,” directed… [more at The 21st- Century Scop.]

Full Circle: Nightmare Cinema in Mexico

Three years ago at the Morbido Film Festival in Mexico, Mick Garris announced his plans for a project entitled Nightmare Cinema. This year – following the film’s strong premiere at Fantasia Fest in Montreal —  Mick returns to Mexico to present a special screening at Macabro XVII in Mexico City. He will be joined by Mexico’s own Identifying a starting point for a project with...