Sunday, March 6, 2016

Silver Scream Fest Weekend



We are now most of the way through the first Silver Scream Fest, with only one day to go! After inadvertently checking into a crack den/ inn and having to find a new place at the last minute, in the rain, the weekend was off to a pretty bad start. But it didn't stay that way.
Friday was a short day; we didn't get to the Roxy 14 until 8pm, which was the perfect time to get in line for a free autograph from Heather Langenkamp and catch a movie. 


The first movie we saw at Silver Scream was the horror/ thriller Maskoun, which came out last year. This was a strange independent movie, which was simultaneously trying to be a foreign film but also appeal to the American audience by throwing in some roughly translated English for half of the script. It was part "found footage" (not really), about a group of middle Eastern filmmakers visiting haunted locations to reenact their tragic pasts in order to make a movie about them. We went into this movie blind and were not too thrilled about the awkward language and convoluted story. 
Not really the best start to the fest but still a fun screening.

Saturday we got to the theatre early to get in line for Robert Englund's autograph, which was limited to about 45 minutes and also free. All of us in line were told to please keep it short so that as many people as possible could get through and meet Robert Englund. Luckily, we were early enough in the line to meet Freddy Kruegar in the flesh! And even though most people were brief, we could still hear Robert telling crazy stores that ranged from behind the scenes anecdotes to strange facts that he learned throughout his life. So freaking cool. Afterwards we hung out in the same theatre for the next screening...

... which was I Am Nancy, a documentary 
about the first survival girl of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This was a very fan heavy film full of personal interviews about what Nancy means to the people who connected with her most. This movie was followed by a Q&A with Heather. 


After a short break, we went into another theatre for Wes Craven's New Nightmare, followed by a Wes Craven tribute panel with Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, and producer Marianne Maddalena. These three played so well off of each other that there was only time for two questions from the audience by the time there was a lull in their stories. They all had stories about working with Wes Craven and also their experiences with the franchise. And the first thing Robert Englund said was that he was very happy they showed this movie at a film fest because not many care to. 

The only downside to Silver Scream was that there were so many awesome events and movies that were scheduled for the same time slot, so we ended up missing a lot of things that we wanted to see. An American Werewolf in London was one of the casualties of such a packed schedule, but we did sneak in to a packed panel with John Landis, Rick Baker, and David Naughton, which was being mediated by William Lustig. These guys had some really funny stories! And just before the screening of American Werewolf, the trio signed autographs in the lobby. 


The next movie we watched was one that the Impostor had been looking forward to all day, Bubba the Redneck Werewolf. This horror comedy felt like it had a tiny budget but it looked great, and the director was in the audience, along with a cast member. 


The last movie of the day was Honeybee which came out earlier this year. It was a little weird; it leads the audience on and encourages them to guess but kept us in suspense too long for my taste, especially after a long day of watching great horror movies. 

-Huntress

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