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Spooky Empire Retro: A Retrospective

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This past spring Spooky Empire was filled with retro horror celebrity guests with many returning favorites, as well as some new ones!  Topping off the guest list was Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, Strangeland’s Dee Snider, Addam’s Family Values actress Joan Cusack, Hatchet trilogy star Kane Hodder, and and Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers Tyler Mane.

Despite the change in venue, moving from its usual autumn location at the Orange Convention Center to the beautiful and accommodating Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive, fans came out in droves to worship their favorite horror idols.  Many of them cosplayed as their favorite characters from the genre.  In addition to zombies, vampires, and ghouls there was an overwhelming amount of Disney characters zombified, as well as Disney villains represented in their true form.  Yet what else would you expect from a horror convention located just miles from the happiest place on earth?

 

The first panel to kick off the Saturday of Spooky Empire was by legendary Kane Hodder, star of Friday the 13th 7, 8, 9, and Jason X.  He officially announced the release date for the long awaited Friday the 13th video game by Gun Media on May 26, which happens to coincide with his oldest son’s birthday.  In the game you can choose to play either a camp counsellor trying to evade the infamous killer, or Jason himself.  Hodder, who is not one to be phased by violence and gore, was impressed by the level of brutality this game pushed on its viewers.

As the day continued each panel was packed with eager fans awaiting to hear from their heroes.  Perhaps the most anticipated panel of the day was by former front man of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider.  Always the entertainer, Dee captivated the crowd with stories from his career, which he joked relied heavily upon reality television as of lately.

As eager as the crowd may have been to hear news regarding the long awaited Strangeland 2, now nearly twenty years in the making, the rock star remained tight lipped.  His only comment was it finally felt like the right time for Captain Howdy’s return.

Another fun panel was the cast reunion of Rob Zombie’s Halloween.  Cast members Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor Compton, Kristina Kelebe, Daeg Faerch, and Hanna Hall were all in attendance.  Even though fan favorite Malcolm McDowell, aka Rob Zombie’s Dr. Loomis (originally made famous by the great and late Donald Pleasance,) was in attendance at the convention, he was not a member of the panel for unknown reasons.

The cast reminisced about their days of filming the cult classic, not knowing how its success would fare when compared to John Carpenter’s original.  Mane and Compton exchanged on set accidents that could have gone horribly wrong and ended production on day 1!  Be sure to watch our coverage of the panel to hear their accounts.

No Spooky Empire would be complete without spending your hard earned money, and believe me, there were many ways you could have done so this past weekend!  If autographs and pictures with the celebrities don’t float your boat, two ballrooms of vendors and tattoo artists clamored for your green.

Each vendor room was packed to the brim with talent!  Whether you were looking for new ink, artwork, gifts, toys, or movies you would find it here!

Closing out the spring convention of the hottest horror convention in town, Spooky announced its newest creation; Spooky Day in the Parks.  Based on the little bit of information that has been released, we gather this new event is a horror themed convention that is taking place at, believe it or not, Walt Disney World!

While this is not a Walt Disney World sponsored event, Spooky Empire has rented convention space at the Coranado resort, which will also serve as their host hotel.  Spooky will also be holding events around the park itself!  One of these events will be at the ever so fitting and infamous Tower of Terror!  Be sure to keep an eye on their webpage here, and we will be sure to bring you more news once more is available!

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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