penny dreadful Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I was all set and ready to head out to the multiplex and enjoy a few of the one-weekend-only After Dark Horrorfest offerings, but unfortunately I got sidetracked and was able to catch only The Gravedancers -- which I quite liked! And then I found myself wondering when those horror titles would be available on DVD ... just as Fangoria was announcing the information!

On March 27 Lionsgate will be unleashing the following titles on DVD: Dark Ride, The Gravedancers, The Hamiltons, Penny Dreadful, Reincarnation, Unrest and Wicked Little Things. Regarding the other titles, Fango informs us that Nacho Cerda's The Abandoned will re-hit theaters early next year, that Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror hits DVD on January 9 and that David Arquette's The Tripper (which popped up at only a few After Dark locations) will be released at an as-yet-undetermined time.

It's hard to say determine how big a success the After Dark Fest turned out to be, but it looks like it was a semi-clever gimmick to get a few direct-to-video Lionsgate titles some pre-release buzz (and bucks). Having seen only two of the flicks (Unrest being the other), I don't feel comfortable commenting on the quality of the concept, but hey: more horror movies for me!!

Sure, the big festivals like Tribeca are fun to attend, but every once and a while it's nice to settle into one of the smaller fests, where the seats are cheap, the beer is free and you're guaranteed plenty of entertainment. One of the things I love about The Big Apple Film Festival (now in its third year) is its focus on short films -- in fact (and here's a rarity in festival world), Big Apple will open this Thursday with a shorts program, instead of a feature. Refreshing, ain't it?

Some of the other highlights at this year's fest are the premieres of Everything's Jake (Friday night) and Searching for Bobby D. (Saturday night). Following the screening of Jake on Friday, Ernie Hudson (remember him from Ghost Busters?) will receive a lifetime achievement award. Also, on Saturday afternoon, there's a free panel discussion on indie film distribution featuring folks like Jason Leaf (co-President, Avatar Films), David Paterson (writer, Love Ludlow) and Cleo Godsey (Director of Business Affairs, First Run Features). Oh, and don't forget about the Horrorfest Series -- this year, four shorts will be featured including Witchwise and Penny Dreadful. Yours truly is on the fest's advisory board, and I'll also be there for most of the screenings -- so feel free to say hello (just look for the hot shot in the Cinematical t-shirt). For more info on Big Apple (which will be held at Tribeca Cinemas), check out the official website.

In a move that should absolutely thrill those (few) people who simply can't wait for the direct-to-video horror titles to hit the Blockbuster shelves, Lionsgate, Freestyle and After Dark Films have conspired to birth the After Dark Horrorfest, which is not a film festival at all, but a series of eight (or nine?) horror flicks that will hit about 500 U.S. movie theaters on November 17th. (Got all that?)

Well, the official site hasn't been all that forthcoming about the event, but those astute goregeeks at Bloody-Disgusting.com were able to break out the slate for the rest of us. Should you happen to reside somewhere near the specially-selected cities, these are the movies you'll be able to see:

1. The Abandoned -- It played Toronto. I missed it. Heard good things.
2. Dark Ride -- Slasher stalks an amusement park.
3. The Gravedancers -- Over and over I'm hearing good chit-chat on this one.
4. Infection -- The horror sites are assuming it's this Infection (which I liked), but maybe it's actually this Infection. We shall see.
5. Penny Dreadful -- A girl with autophobia has Mimi Rogers for a shrink. Cool title though.
   
6. Reincarnation -- Another piece of LG-owned J-horror.
7. Sisters -- Chloe Sevigny and Stephen Rea in a tale of conjoined-twin terror.
8. Unrest -- Young docs deal with haunted corpse. Saw it at Fantastic Fest: A little slow, but not bad.
9. Wicked Little Thing -- Also known as The Children, it's about ghost children.

All in all, a clever little attempt to get a few extra bucks from some flicks that are heading direct-to-video anyway. If The Gravedancers plays anywhere close by, it'll get my nine bucks. The rest ... I can probably wait for the DVDs.