Here we are again. Hump day. How about we let out a little of that pent-up aggression by revisiting the hallowed halls of the HWF (Horror Wrestling Federation) and check out a grudge match that's been brewing for decades... Michael Myers vs. Ghostface!
Given both killers have a penchant for eviscerating young nubile teenagers (and anyone else who gets in the way), it's gonna be interesting to see who will take the Terrorizing Teenagers Title belt! Note I just made that shit up, and if it's not already a belt, damn it, it should be!
Check out the video below, and click here for more legendary horror match-ups including Mrs. Bates vs. Leatherface, Original Michael vs. Remake Michael, and Michael vs. Jason!
While doing press for his latest film, The Lords of Salem, rocker turned filmmaker Rob Zombie spoke to The Playlist and took a look back at two of his most controversial films and lent some insight into one that never happened.
It's no secret that when it comes to his Halloween movies, people either liked them or they didn't. “I really like those films," said Zombie of his two excursions into the land of Michael Myers. "I didn’t have a good time making them. It was actually a kind of miserable experience. Any time they vary from the format is when I really like them.” Yeah, Rob, we hear ya. Luckily for you, you were a lot less miserable than some of us who sat through them. Hell, I'm still not sure what I think of Halloween II.
During the period when he was making his Halloween movies, word broke that Zombie was interested in remaking The Blob. That never happened, but the filmmaker did have a kind of interesting slant he wanted to put on his version of it should it have happened.
“There are so many projects that don’t happen, just sometimes they don’t get announced so no one ever knows about them and you don’t have to talk about them. The Blob was going to happen. I was dealing with people on the movie, even though I was on the fence about doing anything that was considered a remake again. I really didn’t like the idea of that, but just as I went down the road further with the producers and the guys that owned the property, I didn’t feel good about the situation, and I just walked away from it. My gut told me this was not a good place to be… It was dead serious. It was almost like a dark science fiction film, but it was serious. To me horror and comedy never work. Never worked for me, anyway.”
John Carpenter has been making films for longer than you have been living. Do the math. His post college career, alone, is probably longer than your lifespan.
A seminal director and one of the foremost experts in the Horror genre, John Carpenter is often credited with popularizing the concept of the slasher flick. With a distinct eye for talent, Carpenter has helped launch the careers of names such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Kurt Russell.
Despite an illustrious career and a reputation that has already stood the test of time, Mr. Carpenter has a surprisingly simple outlook on the way he makes films. He’s the type of guy that does not like to over-complicate things. For him, the entire process of filmmaking comes back to one, essential element: the story.
Beyond being a filmmaker, beyond being a director, John Carpenter primarily sees himself as a storyteller. Whether it’s an escaped, homicidal mental patient, or a metamorphosing creature from outer space, John’s main motive is to do no more than tell a good story.
Now 65 years old, Mr. Carpenter is in good health (despite his own predictions to the contrary), he’s looking toward the future and he’s still passionate about his straightforward theories on filmmaking. He’d be the first to tell you that if you don’t have a good story, you don’t have much of anything.
In an exclusive interview with Dread Central, Carpenter digs deep into his years of experience to provide some of the most common sense filmmaking advice that you can get from someone with a resume as long as his. In our second installment of the Masters of Horror series, these are The Guts of the Craft, according to John Carpenter.
DC: Let’s start with the most basic question. What do you think makes a good horror film? What distinguishes a great horror film from, say, a B movie?
JC: A good story, well told. That’s the essential element. That’s the element that cannot, no matter how many tricks you use, and what kind of a budget you have, can’t be overcome.
DC: But then what makes a good story? What goes into that good storytelling?
JC: Well, if I had the formula, I could make a lot of money selling it, couldn’t I? But you know, there are basic rules, you can read about them, you can study old films. You need compelling characters and a plot that won’t let you go, especially in a horror film.
DC: What do you think an audience is looking for in a good horror film?
JC: Well, a lot of things, but mostly just entertainment and fun. People go to movies to escape and have fun, especially when they’re seeing a horror movie. And to be scared in a safe place, face your demons and your fears in a safe place, scream and yell and grab your girlfriend in a safe place, or your boyfriend, whichever.
Horror films are a universal genre in that they appeal to the entire world. Whereas, say comedy, that doesn’t really travel sometimes. But horror does. What scares somebody here in Los Angeles probably scares somebody in Hong Kong.
People have tried for years to think ‘what is it that scares, people and I’ll make a movie about that.’ Well, it’s not that simple… The question is: what is it that you have as a storyteller? What do you have to give to the audience that makes your story compelling?
DC: You once said in an interview that all horror films are about people who have lost control of their situation. You said that the essential goal of a protagonist in a horror film is overcome these atrocious obstacles that have been put in front of him or her.
JC: That’s smart! I can’t believe I said that. (laughs)
DC: But really though, when you’re looking at your characters, how do you imagine them heroically? How do you add that sort of element to a character and make it believable?
JC Well, you don’t add an element. No, you put a character in a situation and then they respond. Anybody can be a hero; and anybody can be a coward. It depends on how they respond to the situation.
Assume [that when] an audience is watching a movie, what they’re doing is projecting their own feelings, their own fears, their own selves into the characters they see on screen. I (referring to an audience member) become this person, I take sides with this person, and I like this person on screen, that’s the projection. [It’s a] literal, emotional projection…I (referring to himself) want a character to be heroic, and I want him to fight for his life, and to fight for the lives of loved ones.
DC: Over the course of your career, how do you think audience expectations have evolved? And how have you had to adapt to that?
JC: Listen, change is inevitable. You go with it, you learn from it, and try to tell stories that speak to the culture.
I don’t have a formula for any of this. I don’t think anybody really does. There are certain basics in a horror movie, like a jump scare, well everybody has their own technique for that… So you ask somebody how do it, well, they’ll do it their way.
People have all these cliché terms for drama these days. It all comes back to a basic element, and that’s the story. What do you have in your story? What have you got going for you?
DC: One of the things that I gather from you is an overwhelming sense of simplicity and precision. It’s as if the idea is to keep your process simple and create something that is effective.
JC: Sounds good to me! I think that down deep, underneath, I’m a very simple person. I don’t have a lot of complexity so I probably approach life that way. But I don’t know that’s just a personal style, that’s just the way I look at things.
I just think you bring yourself to a movie. I don’t think you can learn complexity. You either have a sense of that or you don’t in terms of storytelling. You can do complex storytelling, there’s no mystery in it… I think you’ve got it right, simplicity and efficiency.
DC: You once said something to the extent of, ‘Everything I ever learned about evil, I learned in Bowling Green, Kentucky.’
JC: That’s right!
DC: I was hoping you could elaborate on that.
JC: I suppose you can say that about any town. Any place there are people around, human evil is close. I could see how people treated each other, how they treated the weak and how bullies operated and how power operated. This was in the Jim Crow South, I saw how racism raised its head. There’s a lot of savagery in people’s hearts. It’s really interesting. It’s everywhere, but [Bowling Green] is where I learned my little taste of human nature.
DC What were some of the more practical things you had to learn as you were coming into your own as a filmmaker?
JC: Well, the first thing I did was learn everything I could learn about cinematic storytelling. And once you have that, once you have the ground rules down, on how to tell a movie story, then a lot of the extraneous stuff can get left behind and you can get rid of it. That’s what it’s all about, is storytelling. No matter what it is you’re doing, you’re telling a story cinematically.
So my first suggestion to everybody who’s starting out or young and wants to be a director or whatever, is learn the basics. However, you want to do it. You can go to film school, you can study old movies, you can read books, whatever you want to do, but learn those. And then, there are rules to be broken, you can make up your own rules. If you have the basics of cinematic storytelling, you’re free. So a lot of the bullshit you carry around with you can be left behind. That’s the essence of it: learn the craft. Once you’ve got that down, the rest is easier.
DC: What were some of the challenges you faced when you were moving from smaller, more independent projects, to bigger budget, studio films? Did you find that you had to adapt your process at all?
JC: It’s all the same. When you have more money, sometimes you have more headaches. Sometimes you have more stuff, you have more opportunity, but the storytelling process is exactly the same. Whether you’ve got a hundred million dollar movie, two hundred million dollar movie, or a fifty thousand dollar film, it doesn’t matter.
So, once again, you go back to the basics. Once you’ve got the basics, you can do it all… The task of the director is always the same, that’s what’s so great about learning the basics. Once you’ve got them you’re not going to lose them.
A native of Kentucky and a graduate of USC Film School, John Carpenter has directed, written, and even scored for such classic titles as Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York.
DC: Let’s talk music for a second. When you’re approaching a composition for a film, where do you start?
JC: Improvisation. Most of the music that I’ve done for movies is improvised. It just comes up on the spot depending on the sequence that I’m watching. I’ll cut a movie, and then I’ll play to the image. I’ll play the music to the image to support the sequence that’s going on. Very rarely do I come up with a piece ahead of time. But mostly it’s improv. That goes back to instinct. It goes back to trusting yourself.
DC: Who are you listening to nowadays?
JC: I think Hans Zimmer is really great these days, you want to see how great a score can be? Listen to his stuff.
DC: You once said that the Horror genre is starting to die out because a lot of the basic techniques of the craft are being stolen by action movies.
JC: Well, that’s true.
DC: Do you feel like that’s still the case? What do you think the future holds for Horror?
JC: I think that your generation is going to come along and re-invent a lot of this. That’s all we need is a little re-invention. And I think that’s under way, so I’m really hopeful about the future. I say that it’s all gonna be fine.
John Carpenter has been making films for longer than you have been living. Do the math. His post college career, alone, is probably longer than your lifespan.
A seminal director and one of the foremost experts in the Horror genre, John Carpenter is often credited with popularizing the concept of the slasher flick. With a distinct eye for talent, Carpenter has helped launch the careers of names such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Kurt Russell.
Despite an illustrious career and a reputation that has already stood the test of time, Mr. Carpenter has a surprisingly simple outlook on the way he makes films. He’s the type of guy that does not like to over-complicate things. For him, the entire process of filmmaking comes back to one, essential element: the story.
Beyond being a filmmaker, beyond being a director, John Carpenter primarily sees himself as a storyteller. Whether it’s an escaped, homicidal mental patient, or a metamorphosing creature from outer space, John’s main motive is to do no more than tell a good story.
Now 65 years old, Mr. Carpenter is in good health (despite his own predictions to the contrary), he’s looking toward the future and he’s still passionate about his straightforward theories on filmmaking. He’d be the first to tell you that if you don’t have a good story, you don’t have much of anything.
In an exclusive interview with Dread Central, Carpenter digs deep into his years of experience to provide some of the most common sense filmmaking advice that you can get from someone with a resume as long as his. In our second installment of the Masters of Horror series, these are The Guts of the Craft, according to John Carpenter.
DC: Let’s start with the most basic question. What do you think makes a good horror film? What distinguishes a great horror film from, say, a B movie?
JC: A good story, well told. That’s the essential element. That’s the element that cannot, no matter how many tricks you use, and what kind of a budget you have, can’t be overcome.
DC: But then what makes a good story? What goes into that good storytelling?
JC: Well, if I had the formula, I could make a lot of money selling it, couldn’t I? But you know, there are basic rules, you can read about them, you can study old films. You need compelling characters and a plot that won’t let you go, especially in a horror film.
DC: What do you think an audience is looking for in a good horror film?
JC: Well, a lot of things, but mostly just entertainment and fun. People go to movies to escape and have fun, especially when they’re seeing a horror movie. And to be scared in a safe place, face your demons and your fears in a safe place, scream and yell and grab your girlfriend in a safe place, or your boyfriend, whichever.
Horror films are a universal genre in that they appeal to the entire world. Whereas, say comedy, that doesn’t really travel sometimes. But horror does. What scares somebody here in Los Angeles probably scares somebody in Hong Kong.
People have tried for years to think ‘what is it that scares, people and I’ll make a movie about that.’ Well, it’s not that simple… The question is: what is it that you have as a storyteller? What do you have to give to the audience that makes your story compelling?
DC: You once said in an interview that all horror films are about people who have lost control of their situation. You said that the essential goal of a protagonist in a horror film is overcome these atrocious obstacles that have been put in front of him or her.
JC: That’s smart! I can’t believe I said that. (laughs)
DC: But really though, when you’re looking at your characters, how do you imagine them heroically? How do you add that sort of element to a character and make it believable?
JC Well, you don’t add an element. No, you put a character in a situation and then they respond. Anybody can be a hero; and anybody can be a coward. It depends on how they respond to the situation.
Assume [that when] an audience is watching a movie, what they’re doing is projecting their own feelings, their own fears, their own selves into the characters they see on screen. I (referring to an audience member) become this person, I take sides with this person, and I like this person on screen, that’s the projection. [It’s a] literal, emotional projection…I (referring to himself) want a character to be heroic, and I want him to fight for his life, and to fight for the lives of loved ones.
DC: Over the course of your career, how do you think audience expectations have evolved? And how have you had to adapt to that?
JC: Listen, change is inevitable. You go with it, you learn from it, and try to tell stories that speak to the culture.
I don’t have a formula for any of this. I don’t think anybody really does. There are certain basics in a horror movie, like a jump scare, well everybody has their own technique for that… So you ask somebody how do it, well, they’ll do it their way.
People have all these cliché terms for drama these days. It all comes back to a basic element, and that’s the story. What do you have in your story? What have you got going for you?
DC: One of the things that I gather from you is an overwhelming sense of simplicity and precision. It’s as if the idea is to keep your process simple and create something that is effective.
JC: Sounds good to me! I think that down deep, underneath, I’m a very simple person. I don’t have a lot of complexity so I probably approach life that way. But I don’t know that’s just a personal style, that’s just the way I look at things.
I just think you bring yourself to a movie. I don’t think you can learn complexity. You either have a sense of that or you don’t in terms of storytelling. You can do complex storytelling, there’s no mystery in it… I think you’ve got it right, simplicity and efficiency.
DC: You once said something to the extent of, ‘Everything I ever learned about evil, I learned in Bowling Green, Kentucky.’
JC: That’s right!
DC: I was hoping you could elaborate on that.
JC: I suppose you can say that about any town. Any place there are people around, human evil is close. I could see how people treated each other, how they treated the weak and how bullies operated and how power operated. This was in the Jim Crow South, I saw how racism raised its head. There’s a lot of savagery in people’s hearts. It’s really interesting. It’s everywhere, but [Bowling Green] is where I learned my little taste of human nature.
DC What were some of the more practical things you had to learn as you were coming into your own as a filmmaker?
JC: Well, the first thing I did was learn everything I could learn about cinematic storytelling. And once you have that, once you have the ground rules down, on how to tell a movie story, then a lot of the extraneous stuff can get left behind and you can get rid of it. That’s what it’s all about, is storytelling. No matter what it is you’re doing, you’re telling a story cinematically.
So my first suggestion to everybody who’s starting out or young and wants to be a director or whatever, is learn the basics. However, you want to do it. You can go to film school, you can study old movies, you can read books, whatever you want to do, but learn those. And then, there are rules to be broken, you can make up your own rules. If you have the basics of cinematic storytelling, you’re free. So a lot of the bullshit you carry around with you can be left behind. That’s the essence of it: learn the craft. Once you’ve got that down, the rest is easier.
DC: What were some of the challenges you faced when you were moving from smaller, more independent projects, to bigger budget, studio films? Did you find that you had to adapt your process at all?
JC: It’s all the same. When you have more money, sometimes you have more headaches. Sometimes you have more stuff, you have more opportunity, but the storytelling process is exactly the same. Whether you’ve got a hundred million dollar movie, two hundred million dollar movie, or a fifty thousand dollar film, it doesn’t matter.
So, once again, you go back to the basics. Once you’ve got the basics, you can do it all… The task of the director is always the same, that’s what’s so great about learning the basics. Once you’ve got them you’re not going to lose them.
A native of Kentucky and a graduate of USC Film School, John Carpenter has directed, written, and even scored for such classic titles as Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York.
DC: Let’s talk music for a second. When you’re approaching a composition for a film, where do you start?
JC: Improvisation. Most of the music that I’ve done for movies is improvised. It just comes up on the spot depending on the sequence that I’m watching. I’ll cut a movie, and then I’ll play to the image. I’ll play the music to the image to support the sequence that’s going on. Very rarely do I come up with a piece ahead of time. But mostly it’s improv. That goes back to instinct. It goes back to trusting yourself.
DC: Who are you listening to nowadays?
JC: I think Hans Zimmer is really great these days, you want to see how great a score can be? Listen to his stuff.
DC: You once said that the Horror genre is starting to die out because a lot of the basic techniques of the craft are being stolen by action movies.
JC: Well, that’s true.
DC: Do you feel like that’s still the case? What do you think the future holds for Horror?
JC: I think that your generation is going to come along and re-invent a lot of this. That’s all we need is a little re-invention. And I think that’s under way, so I’m really hopeful about the future. I say that it’s all gonna be fine.
We're down to the top three horror movies ever created. I'm excited, how about you? For a long time the number three film was the most financially successful independent film of all time. But Halloween is not on this list for the money it made; it's here for the nightmares it generated.
#3- Halloween Laurie: Was it the boogeyman? Dr. Sam Loomis: As a matter of fact, it was.
It's the night he came home.
Halloween may not be the first slasher film ever, but it's the best. I suppose you could consider Psycho a slasher film, but Norman basically kept to himself unless you disturbed him. That isn’t the case in Halloween, and the good people of Haddonfield had no idea what was coming. Michael Myers was a hunter, and he arrived on Halloween night with a mission in mind.
Much like Hannibal Lecter was introduced by Dr. Frederick Chilton describing his heinous deeds to Officer Starling before we get Lecter's chilling on-screen introduction, Michael Myers' doctor, Sam Loomis (remember that name, Psycho fans?), played by Donald Pleasence, gave unyielding assessments of his patient repeatedly in Halloween. Pleasence's performance oozed nervous tension as he repeatedly tried to warn the Haddonfield Police of the danger that was coming for them.
Michael Myers would not have been nearly as daunting and frightening if it weren't for some of the setup Loomis gave him. My personal favorite story was: "I met him 15 years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and the blackest eyes… the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply… evil." This is what we learn about Michael as he slowly makes his presence felt in Haddonfield.
Halloween was filmed in 21 days during the spring of 1978 on a budget of $320,000. It is still one of the most successful independent films of all time. Never has so much been done with a butcher knife and a modified William Shatner mask. Yes, for those of you who didn't know, Michael Myers' iconic mask is actually a William Shatner Halloween mask that had the eye holes widened and was then spray-painted bluish white. That’s right, the face of The Shape is none other than Captain Kirk.
And we must not forget the wonderful 'final girl' in Halloween. She was basically unknown before this film, but Jamie Lee Curtis was chosen to play the chaste (although we do see her smoking weed) Laurie Strode. And here is yet another tip of the cap to Psycho from Halloween. Why is that, you ask? Although she wasn’t the first actress selected for the part, one factor that helped lead director John Carpenter to finally select Curtis was her DNA. Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh, the actress who played Marion Crane, the victim in the legendary Psycho shower scene. Carpenter thought it would help promote the film if the daughter of the actress in one of the most memorable horror scenes ever showed up in his film. Hello, horror dynasty. What other mother-daughter team could say they were in two of the greatest horror movies ever? None.
Michael Myers did not have the personality of Freddy Krueger, and although a beast in his own right, he didn't have the sheer juggernaut power of Jason Voorhees. But Michael Myers always seemed worse than either of them. Maybe it was the mystery, the wondering of what was lurking behind that mask. But whatever it was that went into making this most memorable monster, it could not have worked out better, and Michael Myers became one of the greatest movie villains ever. And it was, in the end, the brilliance and creativity of director John Carpenter and the sheer terror evoked by Michael Myers that drove Halloween to its rightful place atop the slasher genre.
No doubt you’ve seen Hellraiser or followed the entire Hellraiser series of horror flicks. Have you ever thought about going to a Halloween party, horror film themed club night or a Hellraiser event at a Horror Convention made up as Pinhead? Other than buying a Pinhead mask, has the idea of recreating the actual Pinhead look seemed to be both daunting and dangerous? Unlimited Elizabeth, a makeup enthusiast and custom jewelry designer, delivers a Pinhead Halloween Makeup Tutorial which details step-by-step instructions on transforming into Pinhead, including the necessary FX products such as liquid latex, skull cap, nails, etc. While there is some debate in her Youtube comments if her Pinhead look is “safe”, Elizabeth disclaims in her video tutorial: “If you happened to fall on your face, the nails would just collapse or fall over. They are barely hanging on there. It’s not life-threatening.” Elizabeth also features a “Freddy’s Coming For You – Freddy Krueger Makeup Tutorial” and a two part Zombie Face Halloween Makeup Tutorial.
Last night, on October 31, 2012, the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval celebrated its 25th anniversary by becoming the world's largest city-sanctioned Halloween party, and Dread Central was there to bring back all the colorful sights for you.
Officials expected up to half a million costumed revelers to dance in the streets. There was also live entertainment on six stages, including the Dungeon of Sin stage featuring the Sideshow Sirens, who walked on broken glass and ate fire.
Did you know that the city of West Hollywood only has a population of 35,000? With 500,000 partiers, you can only imagine the parking situation last night!
You may already have had a glimpse of some of the costumes from the Dread Central Twitter account last night. Because we have so many great pictures, we can only show a few of them in the gallery below. Go to the Dread Central Facebook Page for the rest!
Dread Central hit the sCare Foundation’s 2nd Annual Halloween Benefit on Sunday, October 28, in Los Angeles and brought back some photos, video, and interviews from the genre-heavy red carpet and event. Read on!
Founded by Malek Akkad, producer of the successful Halloween franchise, the sCare (Suspense Community Allocating Relief and Empowerment) Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating the hardships of poverty and homelessness facing today’s youth throughout North America. sCare Foundation’s focus is to provide financial support to existing youth programs throughout North America as well as arranging special sCare Foundation activities for children, such as set visits, movie screenings, celebrity meet-and-greets, and more.
In addition to working with children in need, the sCare Foundation aims to involve more young people in philanthropy and develop their passions and skills to give back to their own communities. Honorary board members include filmmakers John Carpenter and James Wan, as sCare wholeheartedly believes that the suspense genre demographic is an untapped resource of unlimited potential in giving to and changing the global community and that it can be a part of the solution.
Actor Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, A Clockwork Orange) was on hand to receive a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, and other notables walking the L.A. Live Conga Room carpet in downtown LA included (take a breath) the following: Malek Akkad, Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel, Hostel: Part 2), Natalie Victoria (DeadHeads), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Dead End), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), Kyle Richards (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”), ChromeSkull director Rob Hall, Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects), Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist), Lisa Marie (Mars Attacks!), Lew Temple (“The Walking Dead,” The Devil’s Rejects), Courtney Gains (The Children of the Corn), Jeff Daniel Phillips (The Lords of Salem), and from Rob Zombie’s Halloween Sybil Danning, Hannah Hall, Kristina Klebe and Scout Taylor-Compton.
Speaking with honoree McDowell on the carpet, he said of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, “It is a bit weird. Maybe it’s a mid-life achievement award, I don’t know. I’m still working and that’s amazing. I pinch myself sometimes and thank god. I’ve got four or five projects lined up, and I could be going for another couple of years without even thinking about it, but I do enjoy working. And why shouldn’t an actor, or an actress for that matter, work through the generations? I’m certainly not the same actor that I was forty years ago, thank god!”
Touching on the iconic characters he’s created and/or redefined over the course of his prolific career (in this case, his portrayals of ‘Alex’ from A Clockwork Orange and his take on the character of ‘Dr. Samuel Loomis,’ as originated by the late, great Donald Pleasence in the original Halloween), the fifty-nine-year-old actor commented, “You know, those directors gave me a great gift to play those characters. With Dr. Loomis, it’s an extraordinary character. I had never seen the original Halloween, and Rob [Zombie] had advised me not to. He said, ‘Just do your own thing.’ And I thought to myself, ‘My god, this guy must be a real idiot.’ I mean, he’s got one patient for seventeen years, who then escapes and kills half of a town? What kind of a doctor is that? And he doesn’t have any conscious about it because he’s such an ego-driven man? But I love it though. It’s hilarious!”
Reflecting on the sCare Foundation, “It’s such a great cause,” stated McDowell. “All of us here in this business are very privileged. There are people in the street that aren’t. The sCare Foundation is extraordinary and amazing, and what they do for kids and young people is amazing, and whatever we can do for them, the young people, we should do, especially in this financial climate.”
Following the packed carpet, the festivities continued inside with actress Kyle Richards’ receipt of the 2012 Humanitarian Award, followed by the presentation of McDowell’s Lifetime Achievement Award, delivered to him by his Halloween co-star Taylor-Compton (see the video below). On its heels, the evening continued with live entertainment, a silent auction and prizes, all to benefit the life-saving programs of the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership, as well as Safety Harbor Kids.
Dread Central hit the sCare Foundation’s 2nd Annual Halloween Benefit on Sunday, October 28, in Los Angeles and brought back some photos, video, and interviews from the genre-heavy red carpet and event. Read on!
Founded by Malek Akkad, producer of the successful Halloween franchise, the sCare (Suspense Community Allocating Relief and Empowerment) Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating the hardships of poverty and homelessness facing today’s youth throughout North America. sCare Foundation’s focus is to provide financial support to existing youth programs throughout North America as well as arranging special sCare Foundation activities for children, such as set visits, movie screenings, celebrity meet-and-greets, and more.
In addition to working with children in need, the sCare Foundation aims to involve more young people in philanthropy and develop their passions and skills to give back to their own communities. Honorary board members include filmmakers John Carpenter and James Wan, as sCare wholeheartedly believes that the suspense genre demographic is an untapped resource of unlimited potential in giving to and changing the global community and that it can be a part of the solution.
Actor Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, A Clockwork Orange) was on hand to receive a 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, and other notables walking the L.A. Live Conga Room carpet in downtown LA included (take a breath) the following: Malek Akkad, Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel, Hostel: Part 2), Natalie Victoria (DeadHeads), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Dead End), Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary), Kyle Richards (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”), ChromeSkull director Rob Hall, Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects), Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist), Lisa Marie (Mars Attacks!), Lew Temple (“The Walking Dead,” The Devil’s Rejects), Courtney Gains (The Children of the Corn), Jeff Daniel Phillips (The Lords of Salem), and from Rob Zombie’s Halloween Sybil Danning, Hannah Hall, Kristina Klebe and Scout Taylor-Compton.
Speaking with honoree McDowell on the carpet, he said of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, “It is a bit weird. Maybe it’s a mid-life achievement award, I don’t know. I’m still working and that’s amazing. I pinch myself sometimes and thank god. I’ve got four or five projects lined up, and I could be going for another couple of years without even thinking about it, but I do enjoy working. And why shouldn’t an actor, or an actress for that matter, work through the generations? I’m certainly not the same actor that I was forty years ago, thank god!”
Touching on the iconic characters he’s created and/or redefined over the course of his prolific career (in this case, his portrayals of ‘Alex’ from A Clockwork Orange and his take on the character of ‘Dr. Samuel Loomis,’ as originated by the late, great Donald Pleasence in the original Halloween), the fifty-nine-year-old actor commented, “You know, those directors gave me a great gift to play those characters. With Dr. Loomis, it’s an extraordinary character. I had never seen the original Halloween, and Rob [Zombie] had advised me not to. He said, ‘Just do your own thing.’ And I thought to myself, ‘My god, this guy must be a real idiot.’ I mean, he’s got one patient for seventeen years, who then escapes and kills half of a town? What kind of a doctor is that? And he doesn’t have any conscious about it because he’s such an ego-driven man? But I love it though. It’s hilarious!”
Reflecting on the sCare Foundation, “It’s such a great cause,” stated McDowell. “All of us here in this business are very privileged. There are people in the street that aren’t. The sCare Foundation is extraordinary and amazing, and what they do for kids and young people is amazing, and whatever we can do for them, the young people, we should do, especially in this financial climate.”
Following the packed carpet, the festivities continued inside with actress Kyle Richards’ receipt of the 2012 Humanitarian Award, followed by the presentation of McDowell’s Lifetime Achievement Award, delivered to him by his Halloween co-star Taylor-Compton (see the video below). On its heels, the evening continued with live entertainment, a silent auction and prizes, all to benefit the life-saving programs of the Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership, as well as Safety Harbor Kids.
We all long to experience a realistic zombie apocalypse simulation, and while I already fled the undead at Run for Your Lives and braved Halloween Horror Nights’ "The Walking Dead" maze, I did so unarmed. That wasn’t the case when Dread Central hit Haunted Hollywood Sports.
Located at 9030 Somerset Blvd. in Bellflower, CA, Haunted Hollywood Sports is the seasonal (and spooky) recreation of Hollywood Sports, a park dedicated year round to the pursuit of Airsoft and Paintball. The former is basically paintball without the messy paint and cumbersome guns. Resembling the military firearms they mimic with exacting detail, Airsoft weaponry eschews paint in favor of 6mm plastic BBs, which can be fired rapidly and with high velocity. The result is a training weapon platform that allows players to engage in fairly realistic combat scenarios (as long as proper face gear is worn: those BBs will easily knock teeth out).
Having just let my geek flag fly with that intro, I’ll fess up and say, ‘Yeah, I personally own an Airsoft M4 and all of the tactical gear required,’ and, ‘Yeah, I do on occasion spend a Saturday here or there engaging in C. Q. B. (that’s close quarter combat for you noobs) at the HSP Combat Center at Hollywood Sports.’ So imagine my excitement when I was made aware that two of my passions, military combat simulations and horror flicks, would be combined.
Haunted Hollywood Sports offers up the requisite scare mazes (‘The Abduction,’ ‘All-American Armageddon,’ ‘Cannibal Caverns’ and ‘City of Angels’), having repositioned a portion of their already well-dressed playing fields, as well as scare-zones (‘Carnival of the Damned’ and ‘Grid-X’), for which they have hired attractive and talented performers to roam (guys, there will be eye candy). They have also secured the talents of top-notch makeup artists and costumers. The scare actors we encountered were top of the line.
Having soaked this in, it was time for some combat.
First up, the Zombie Killhouse. We were outfitted with IR M4’s (they fire an infra red beam), and a group of fifteen or so of us were led by our squad leader into the park’s simulated Middle Eastern town. Our objectives were to locate and rescue three children and to secure a package (a cure to the plague which had turned the town’s inhabitants into the undead). Our visibility cut by darkness and fog, we moved house to house and room to room, firing on myriad attacking zombies who crept, lurched and shambled (and whose IR vests glowed red when shot, signifying a ‘kill’).
It wasn’t long before we came across our pre-pubescent trio, who were huddled in a building and whose cries were all too realistic. Their wailing added authenticity to the simulation, and we provided security for the three kids (one of them clutched a teddy bear as she sobbed) and escorted them to the ‘safe zone.’ On the way we located the package within another darkened structure, and following a brief but fierce skirmish with a dozen of so zombies, we completed the mission.
This was the high-point of the evening, and for those who ever wonder how they’d fare in a "The Walking Dead" type-scenario, it’s about as close as you are going to get.
Next up was the Voodoo Killhouse, and as the weaponry dispensed here were actual Airsoft pump shotguns, protective goggles were also issued. After a brief crash-course on Airsoft safety and our mission objective (‘Find the Voodoo Doll to end the curse’) delivered by a scare actor with an altogether believable Cajun accent, we were ushered into the Killhouse. Again, zombies shambled among the buildings and waited in darkened recesses. Some of our group don’t make it (though if ‘eaten’ you are able to continue along, albeit with the knowledge that you were killed in action). Like the Zombie Killhouse, this, too, was extremely entertaining.
Before heading out, with hit the park’s twenty-one and over bar and lounge ‘Club Crimson’ to grab a drink and were impressed by the structure's dressing. Pulling favors, Hollywood Sports has acquired the Gothic columns and other set decor from director Jan De Bont’s 1999 film The Haunting and coupled with our edgy yet amiable (and altogether fetching) bartendress, stiff drinks and electro-funk (spun by two DJs), it was yet another good time.
Chatting with Hollywood Sports Park general manager Jon Asperin, he was enthusiastic regarding the future of the haunt. It’s their first year, which is surprising, given just how good of a job they’ve already done, and I won’t lie... I’m excited about their growth potential. True, some of their mazes were hard to navigate, and an influx of further scare actors wouldn’t hurt. Also, for hardcore Airsoft enthusiasts a more visceral, autonomous and extensive experience may be desired (a C02 or gas pistol night in a Killhouse might do they trick). This being said, Haunted Hollywood Sports still succeeds in delivering an entirely unique experience which should appear to seasonal fans. It certainly seemed to do so for the throngs that waited enthusiastically for their chance to unload on the undead.
Here we are again. Hump day. How about we let out a little of that pent-up aggression by revisiting the hallowed halls of the HWF (Horror Wrestling Federation) and check out a grudge match that's been brewing for decades... Michael Myers vs. Ghostface!
While doing press for his latest film, The Lords of Salem, rocker turned filmmaker Rob Zombie spoke to The Playlist and took a look back at two of his most controversial films and lent some insight into one that never happened.
John Carpenter has been making films for longer than you have been living. Do the math. His post college career, alone, is probably longer than your lifespan.
Last night, on October 31, 2012, the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval celebrated its 25th anniversary by becoming the world's largest city-sanctioned Halloween party, and Dread Central was there to bring back all the colorful sights for you.
Dread Central hit the sCare Foundation’s 2nd Annual Halloween Benefit on Sunday, October 28, in Los Angeles and brought back some photos, video, and interviews from the genre-heavy red carpet and event. Read on!
We all long to experience a realistic zombie apocalypse simulation, and while I already fled the undead at Run for Your Lives and braved Halloween Horror Nights’ "The Walking Dead" maze, I did so unarmed. That wasn’t the case when Dread Central hit Haunted Hollywood Sports.
