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Halloween and Horror Con Midsummer Scream Is Back And Bigger Than Ever!

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Horror cons are rising from the dead once more and fan-favorite Midsummer Scream is back and bigger than ever this Summer amidst a two-year absence. The world’s largest Halloween and Horror con is celebrating its welcome return with a five-year anniversary celebration over a three-day period at the Long Beach Convention Center July 29-July31st, 2022 with pre-sale tickets available online beginning this Saturday, March 5th, 2022!

Photos Credit: Hatbox Photography

Per the Press Release:

“As Midsummer Scream returns we’re putting a renewed focus on what made us love Halloween as kids, and the traditions we’ve continued through our lives,” says David Markland, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Midsummer Scream. “That includes, the magic of trick-or-treating, celebrating the classic monsters of our childhood, and preserving the history of our favorite holiday.”
 
The Hall of Shadows returns with the theme of “Halloween Comes Home”. Guests will step into a darkened realm filled with fog, haunted attractions, and lurking monsters. Over a dozen home and pro haunters including CalHauntS, Fear Farm, Reichland Asylum, Temecula Terror, and Corona Haunt will create stunning mazes and displays for guests to explore. The Decayed Brigade will thrill audiences with incredible displays of sliding prowess and showmanship daily.
 
“The excitement for the return of Hall of Shadows is palpable,” says Rick West, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Midsummer Scream. “The haunters, the fans – everyone is more than ready for this, and these amazing teams are ready to bring it home and create the best Hall of Shadows experience yet! Let’s go!”
 
Continuing Midsummer Scream’s tradition of world-class presentations, “Original Monster Kids” will be an unprecedented gathering of the Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr./Sr., and Vincent Price families on stage to share pictures, home movies, and discuss what it has been like growing up the children and grandchildren of the most famous horror and pop-culture icons in the world.
 
Other thrilling presentations throughout the weekend include the Winchester Mystery House, LA Haunted Hayride, and “Composers of the Apocalypse” which will feature legendary horror genre musicians… and perhaps even a live performance or two!
 
Brand-new for 2022 is the Museum of Halloween, displaying a variety of vintage collectibles, costumes, and more, alongside original artwork created just for the event, celebrating the culture, community, and even commercialism of the spooky season.
 
Featuring more than 350 vendors and artists, the Midsummer Scream show floor is a stunning collection of shirts and apparel, artwork, masks, posters, toys, oddities, and decorations for all Halloween and horror lifestylers as well as haunted attraction creators. Vendors and companies found on the show floor will include The Mystic Museum, Tee No Evil, Vamp and the Fiends, Trick Or Treat Studios, Backstitch Bruja, Discount Cemetery, Nocturnal DesignZ, and Immortal Masks. 
 
Also on the show floor, guests will find notable film celebrities such as James Jude Courtney (Michael Myers in Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends), Jeff Daniel Philips and Daniel Roebuck (Rob Zombie’s The Munsters), Eileen Dietz (Pazuzu’s face, The Exorcist), Instagram legend Christine McConnell, and popular YouTubers Dead Meat and Grimm Life Collective.
 
More fan favorite components of Midsummer Scream will include the Black Cat Lounge kitten adoption space, Paranormal Pixie’s Pumpkin Patch children’s zone, and the Screaming Room Film Festival presented by HorrorBuzz. Midsummer Scream’s educational lineup of classes and workshops on creating haunted attractions and other Halloween skills will be developed in conjunction with the university-themed entertainment organizations TEA@USC and TEA@UCLA.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 5th at 10:00AM at MidsummerScream.org. For a limited time, General Admission tickets will be 40% off. VIP Gold Bat passes will be available while supplies last (discounts not available for Gold Bat tickets).

Creature Features

“The Exorcist” Behind The Scenes Clips That Are Even Scarier Than The Movie!

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I will NEVER forget the first time The Exorcist was seen by my eye holes.

Like everyone in the 80s and 90s, we had a stockpile of recorded movies on various blank Maxwell, Scotch, and Polaroid cassette tapes that held three or four films on each one. My Uncle Pat, who was the VHS Wizard Master for our family, would rent various movies from the video rental store and transfer said films onto the blank VHS tapes- conning the system in the 80s’ form of piracy rather than recording them off the television- which of course we still did, however.

Anyway, one of these tapes, in particular, was my absolute favorite at a young age and stayed that way well until it finally disappeared into the VHS Twilight Zone. I mean, realistically it probably got thrown out by someone in the family when the DVD era overthrew the VHS status quo. In any regard, this tape was a translucent light blue and stood out from the other black cassettes, shining like a piece of treasure among a sea of home-recorded films; and a treasure indeed it was as it held some of the most fantastic horror movies therein. In the exact order: Frankenstein, The Exorcist, and Halloween.

For visual purposes, I found the closest thing on the interwebs that resembles what this tape looked like. Also worth noting, I would give my right tit to be in possession of said cassette today.

Dreamstime.com

As stated numerous times here on NN, the Universal Monsters legacy films and Halloween were a pretty massive deal in our home and really laid down the foundation for my love of horror films via my dad and Grandfather, whom this tape belonged to rightfully. So, of course, I watched those two films rather religiously. Halloween, in particular, had to be accessed through fast-forwarding through The Exorcist and for the most part, only caught the last 2 or 3 minutes of the movie along with the end credits of Tubular Bells, of which even at the young age of six totally rocked out to. It wasn’t until I was around eight years old that I happened to stall on the infamous exorcism scene and I honestly had no idea what the hell I was looking at except I was like, “Wow those are hella dirty words!!” Then the thought came, “Should I be watching this?” The rebellious little shit in me was intrigued enough and went back all sneaky like to watch it.; at least I thought I was being slick anyway. This was dangerous and I thought it was like watching a porn or something so it was super thrilling to someone of my age. I mean, taking into account the masturbation scene, I’d say that was a pretty good analogy for someone of my age at the time.

I was always a hardcore kid that didn’t scare easily, and The Exorcist was no exception. I grew to adore that VHS blue tape in its entirety and the film has become a favorite since that adventurous day at the tender age of 8. However, the behind-the-scenes clips taken from the BBC documentary, “The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist”, are goddamn more creepy than the film itself. Kind of like that one banned trailer from the film that was almost more horrifying than the film itself. The makeup tests alone from the series of videos are from the stuff of deepest, darkest nightmares. Thanks to the Youtube channel, The Exorcist Online, we have confirmation that The Exorcist indeed, is the scariest film ever made- quite literally.

Each video is looped to the next to avoid uploading eight different vids here. Enjoy Nostalgic Nuggets!

Cool shit to buy

“An American Werewolf In London” Bites Its Way Into 4k!

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This Spring, Arrow Video unleashes An American Werewolf in London to take a bite out of 4K!

Directed by John Landis, this horror-comedy tells the story of two friends (David Naughton and Griffin Dunne) that are viciously attacked by a wolf-like creature while backpacking through England. One friend dies while the other suffers a much worse fate – he becomes a werewolf. Featuring a gnarly and bone-shattering transformation scene, An American Werewolf in London set the gold standard for which all other werewolf films strive to be with Film School Rejects calling “a quintessential horror text when it comes to both lycanthropy and practical effects.” This UHD release includes a brand new 4K restoration completed by Arrow Films from the original camera negative. Special features include documentaries, audio commentaries, interviews, and limited edition 60-page, a perfect-bound book featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann and Simon Ward, archival articles, and original reviews.

Bonus Materials

  • Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative
  • 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
  • Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary by Beware the Moon filmmaker Paul Davis
  • Audio commentary by actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne
  • Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, a feature-length documentary by filmmaker Daniel Griffith, featuring interviews with John Landis, David Naughton, Joe Dante and more
  • An American Filmmaker in London, an interview with John Landis in which he reflects on British cinema and his time working in Britain
  • I Think He’s a Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret, a video essay by filmmaker Jon Spira (Elstree 1976) about how Landis’ film explores Jewish identity
  • The Werewolf’s Call, Corin Hardy, director of The Hallow and The Nun, chats with writer Simon Ward about their formative experiences with Landis’ film
  • Wares of the Wolf, a featurette in which SFX artist Dan Martin and Tim Lawes of Prop Store look at some of the original costumes and special effects artefacts from the film
  • Beware the Moon, Paul Davis’ acclaimed, feature-length exploration of Landis’ film which boasts extensive cast and crew interviews
  • An American Werewolf in Bob’s Basement and Causing a Disturbance: Piccadilly Revisited, two 2008 featurettes filmed by Paul Davis
  • Making An American Werewolf in London, a short archival featurette on the film’s production
  • An Interview with John Landis, a lengthy archival interview with the director about the film
  • Make-up Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London, the legendary make-up artist discusses his work on the film
  • I Walked with a Werewolf, an archival interview with Rick Baker about Universal horror and its legacy of Wolfman films
  • Casting of the Hand, archival footage from Rick Baker’s workshop showing the casting of David Naughton’s hand
  • Outtakes
  • Storyboards featurette
  • Original trailer and teaser plus TV and radio spots
  • Extensive image gallery featuring over 200 stills, posters and other ephemera
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original poster art and artwork by Graham Humphreys
  • Double-sided fold-out poster
  • Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
  • Limited edition 60-page, perfect-bound book featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann and Simon Ward, archival articles and original reviews

An American Werewolf In London in 4k is set to be released March 15th, 2022 through MVD and Arrow Video. You can pre-order your 4k or standard Blu-Ray here now!