The Spooky Movie Film Festival

Spooky Movie - The Washington, D.C. International Horror Film Festival (aka: The Spooky Movie Film Festival) is an internationally recognized showcase for independent and underground filmmakers of the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres.

= History =

The first and only horror film festival held in the D.C. Metro area, The Spooky Movie Film Festival was formed in 2006 to give both filmmakers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry, and the fans in Washington, D.C. area an unique experience.

Many of the features that have screened at the festival go on to get picked up for distribution afterwards, including the opening night features in 2006 and 2007 (The Slaughter and Eat Your Heart Out); both would later be signed to Lionsgate Entertainment.The home base for the festival is Cinema Arts Theatres in Fairfax, Virginia, with additional screenings in Crystal City, Virginia, Wheaton, Maryland, Arlington, Virginia, Hagerstown, Maryland and mid-town D.C.

2006

The inaugural 2006 fest (October 26-28), 30 films were screened during three days. The cover art for the festival was a black and white photograph of Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel), who was the host for opening night. The following morning Mr. Dyszel returned as his other alter-ego, Captain 20 (popular children's host in the 1970s and 1980s) for a matinee of family friendly films, which included "Teddy Scares" and the first of the Blue Rhino trilogy - "The Blue Rhino Vs. The Zombie Caveman".

Featured in the schedule was the world premiere of the feature film Two Front Teeth, the east coast premiere of the Korean film "The Red Shoes", and the D.C. premieres of "Pervert!" and "The Slaughter". Short film screenings included "The Legend of Farmer Jenkins", "Pumpkin Zombies", "Jitters" and "Zombie Island".

Selections from the festival were later screened at Artomatic, a month long D.C. arts festival, as well as Horror At The Hager Summer Series in Hagerstown, Maryland.

2007

In 2007, the festival (October 12-14) screened the world premiere of Eat Your Heart Out, the American premiere of the Japanese movie "", and the D.C. premieres of "99 Pieces" and "The Creek". Short films in 2007 included award winners like "Callous Sentiment", "The Dollhouse", "Electrical Skeletal" and "Of Darkness".

In addition to the new showings, a midnight screening of the silent classic "Der Golem" was screened, with performance artist Bobogolem providing the soundtrack on 9 different instruments, including a stand-up bass, therimin, banjo and violin.

The Washington Post called the performance "The hightlight of the festival," as well saying that the 2007 fest was "A slashing good time." The cover art for the 2007 festival program guide was done by Buz Hasson, illustrator for the comic book The Living Corpse. In addition, the festival began with a video greeting to Count Gore from Steve Niles, creator of 30 Days of Night, who had autographed a poster from the movie to be given away on opening night.

One week following the October 2007 fest, a 12 hour, all night marathon was scheduled at Horror at the Hager (The Spooky Movie Red Eye Marathon) and included more world premieres, including "The Jester" and "Us Sinners". Additional screenings were scheduled for the 2008 Artomatic event, held in mid-town Washington, D.C.

Midsummer Night's Scream

A one night only / stand-alone event was scheduled for the summer of 2008 (July 17, 2008). Scheduled were four award winning shorts films - "The Ancient Rite of Corey McGillis", "Seekers", "Eight Thirty-Two" and "The Marionette" - and the D.C. area premiere of the Troma Entertainment produced feature "".

Director and producer, Lloyd Kaufman, came in for the event and afterwards led an hour-long question and answer session. The following day, Mr. Kaufman visited University Mall Theatres, also in Fairfax, Virginia, for a two hour version of his "Make Your Own Damn Movie" master class.

2008

In September 2008 the official line up for the festival event was announced - 50 films, from 10 countries are scheduled to screen over 7 nights at 3 different theatres in 2 states. The program guide cover for 2008 is from artist Mike Sosnowski, former animator for both Ralph Bakshi and Disney Studios.

The bulk of the festival (October 16-20) will once again be at Cinema Arts Theatres in Fairfax, Virginia; one week later there will be a preview night event at recently opened Montgomery Cinema 'N' Draft House in Wheaton, Maryland. And on Halloween, there will be a special event at the Arlington Cinema 'N' Draft House in Arlington, Virginia, hosted by "Count Gore De Vol" with music by "Karlos Borloff" and his band "The Monsterminators."

Premiere features include "Bane", "No Through Road", "", "Brain Dead", "Crushed" and the world premiere of "Vlog" - a new feature from the producer of Saw. Short films include "Night of the Hell Hamsters", "Foet", "Excision", "Snip" and the Bill Plympton animated film "Shut-Eye Hotel".

= The Spooky Movie (Television Show) =

A Horror Host television program that showed public domain horror and science fiction movies, produced from October 1995 until September 2006. Hosted by "Dr. Sarcofiguy" (John Dimes), has been screened across the county on The Horror Host Underground Network, and continues to be seen on Falls Church Cable Television" (FCCTV). The show provided the foundation and support for the film festival, which debuted in October 2006..

In 2008 it was announced that a new version of the program would begin production, focusing on the short films submitted to The Spooky Movie Film Festival since 2006. Once again author and comedian, John Dimes, is scheduled to host.

= Monster Madhouse Live =

Premiering in August 2006, Monster Madhouse Live became the official successor of The Spooky Movie television show, providing local and national entertainment hosting public domain movies. Hosted by Karlos Borloff with a rotating cast of regulars (that occasionally included "Count Gore" and "Sarcofiguy"), in February 2008 the show was featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and two months later received a Telly Award. A strong supporter of The Spooky Movie Film Festival, Monster Madhouse Live has featured films and filmmakers showcased at fest, including Lloyd Kaufman.

= Count Gore De Vol =

Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel) is a television horror host who originally appeared on Washington, DC's WDCA from 1973 to 1987. He was the internet's first Horror Host, debuting in 1998. Since 2006 he has been the official host for The Spooky Movie Film Festival. In 2008 he hosted four events for the festival.

= Festival of Horrors =

A two volume DVD anthology featuring shorts that have screened at The Spooky Movie Film Festival. Hosted by Count Gore, and produced by Rudderpost Films, Festival of Horrors Volumes 1 and 2 include over two hours each of "award winning" short films, as well as special features, including interviews with Steve Niles and Forrest J. Ackerman, as well as out-takes and "easter eggs."

= See also =
*Count Gore de Vol
*Lloyd Kaufman
*John Dimes
*Festival of Horrors
*Karlos Borloff
*Monster Madhouse
*Steve Niles

= External links =
* [http://www.thespookymovie.com/ TheSpookyMovie.com] , official website for Spooky Movie - The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival.
* [http://www.countgore.com/ Creature Feature: The Weekly Web Program] , Count Gore De Vol
* [http://www.johndimes.com/ JohnDimes.com] , Official Home Page
* [http://www.rudderpostfilms.com/ RudderpostFilms.com]

[Category:Film fest* [http://www.monstermadhouse.com/ monstermadhouse.com] ivals in the United States]