Anticipation and excitement filled the lobby of the Anthology Film Archives Theater in New York City this past Saturday, January 30th as filmmakers braved the single-digit weather and gathered to celebrate the upcoming release of Stephen Romano’s Shock Festival DVD.
Screening was the Tribute Trailers segment of the 3-disc release, comprised of 13 contemporary trailers plus one “mini-movie”. Showcasing the talents of several up-and-coming independent directors and shot on location in such diverse cities as Austin, Los Angeles, NYC and Buenos Aires; these short content ‘faux trailers’ were inspired by the fictional horror and exploitation films described in Stephen Romano’s acclaimed 2008 novel, Shock Festival.
“The inspiration for the Shock Festival DVD was Stephen Romano’s 2008 book of the same name. The best way to describe it is a “parallel universe” of grindhouse cinema – fictional directors, stars, poster art and a variety of cinematic ephemera – interwoven with real horror and exploitation films from the ‘70s. It’s visually stunning. In producing the DVD, we strove to mix the best (and best-worst) of original grindhouse content with contemporary faux trailers inspired by the fictional films from Stephen’s book,” said Paige Davis, who co-produced the DVD and directed the faux trailer “Devil Sister”. She went on to say, “tonight is both a celebration of the upcoming release, and a “thank you” to the directors, cast and crew who brought these fictional films to life in trailer form.”
In attendance were Dave Neabore (“Dead Bugs on the Carpet”), Michael Gingold (“Girl Killer”), Chris LaMartina (“Tool shed of the Living Dead,” “Ghost of the Raven”), Victor Bonacore and Chainsaw Kiss (“They Made Me”), Richard Griffin (“Dark Night of the Demon House”), Paige Davis (“Devil Sister”), as well as crew, cast and friends of the production.
Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival DVD is available February 9th, 2010 from Alternative Cinema / Shock-O-Rama Cinema. For additional information on the DVD and interviews with the directors, visit www.AlternativeCinema.com
Additional photos can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyorkgrindhouse/sets/72157623327681564/
Hear all about SHOCK FESTIVAL (along with an interview with Shock Fest creator Stephen Romano) on this month's ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST.
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com
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SHOCK FESTIVAL sounds great, and I'm thinking about buying it. Plus, I love Mr. Romano's poster art. Your DVDs are always a treat ( lots of extras, printed artwork on the discs and cool DVD covers ). I loved the transparent green keep-case that was used for the SLIME CITY DVD. I also wanted to mention, that I was very happy to find a booklet inside ( it seems most companies do NOT do that anymore ).
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