If you’re a horror fan, chances are you have a lot of love for haunt season, and cannot get enough of the spook-filled attractions that pop up each and every fall (much like this writer). It’s that devotion to the thrill of being scared and pushed to our boundaries that is front and center in filmmaker Jon Schnitzer’s upcoming documentary, Haunters: The Art of the Scare, and if you’re someone who loves haunts, mazes, and immersive horror-centric experiences, you’re going to want to check out this doc once it's released on October 3rd (for more information on the film’s release, click Here).
Haunters is currently playing in Austin as part of the 2017 Fantastic Fest, and while there, I had the opportunity to chat with Schnitzer as well as legendary scare actor Shar Mayer, who has been a fixture on the haunt scene for 40 years now.
Haunters is currently playing in Austin as part of the 2017 Fantastic Fest, and while there, I had the opportunity to chat with Schnitzer as well as legendary scare actor Shar Mayer, who has been a fixture on the haunt scene for 40 years now.
- 9/26/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Play Dead isn’t exactly a movie – it’s more a movie experience. Magicians Todd Robbins and Teller (of Penn and Teller) opened an off-Broadway show of the same name, the original incarnation of Play Dead, running weekly at Players Theatre on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. For the show’s final performance, Teller hired Shade Rupe to document the night’s spooky events, and from that footage comes the film we have today. There are no Hollywood special effects or computerized images – all the tricks you see are performed by Todd Robbins himself, dancing with the dead in ways that will surely make your skin crawl. How does he successfully manipulate everything we know about life and death? Find out – if you dare.
The idea around Play Dead is that audiences allow themselves to be terrorized by a singular performer on stage, Todd Robbins, while he toys with the dark arts.
The idea around Play Dead is that audiences allow themselves to be terrorized by a singular performer on stage, Todd Robbins, while he toys with the dark arts.
- 11/22/2013
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes the first two short films from The Four Players, the New York City Horror Film Festival lineup, details on the new zombie novel Northern Lights, and a Jason mask charity auction:
The Four Players Short Film Release Details: “Screenwriter and director, Evan Daugherty, screenwriter of the 2012 fantasy/action film “Snow White and the Huntsman” (as well as 2014’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “GI Joe 3,” among others) and Maker Studios’ collaborative gaming and geek culture network Polaris have announced the release of “The Four Players,” four new short films, each one re-imagining a different character from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. franchise. The first two films, “The Fixer” (Mario) and “The Addict” (Luigi) will debut on Polaris beginning November 14…”
To find out more on these four short films, visit: www.
The Four Players Short Film Release Details: “Screenwriter and director, Evan Daugherty, screenwriter of the 2012 fantasy/action film “Snow White and the Huntsman” (as well as 2014’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “GI Joe 3,” among others) and Maker Studios’ collaborative gaming and geek culture network Polaris have announced the release of “The Four Players,” four new short films, each one re-imagining a different character from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. franchise. The first two films, “The Fixer” (Mario) and “The Addict” (Luigi) will debut on Polaris beginning November 14…”
To find out more on these four short films, visit: www.
- 11/17/2013
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The interactive stage production Play Dead, from magicians Teller and Todd Robbins, is now running at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse. You have a few more days to catch a preview, and then it's full steam ahead with regular performances through Sunday, December 22nd.
From the Press Release:
“We’re never so alive as when we’re scared to death,” posits Todd Robbins in the opening moments of Play Dead, now appearing in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse. Eight performances have been added through December 22. This evening of spine-chilling entertainment, a co-creation from the minds of magicians Teller, who directs, and Robbins, the main performer, conjures spirits of serial killers and mediums in a show that is macabre and merry.
The themes of death, darkness, and deception are explored in tales that are frightening, funny, erotic, and jaw-dropping. With creepy delight, Robbins uses sight, sound, and touch...
From the Press Release:
“We’re never so alive as when we’re scared to death,” posits Todd Robbins in the opening moments of Play Dead, now appearing in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse. Eight performances have been added through December 22. This evening of spine-chilling entertainment, a co-creation from the minds of magicians Teller, who directs, and Robbins, the main performer, conjures spirits of serial killers and mediums in a show that is macabre and merry.
The themes of death, darkness, and deception are explored in tales that are frightening, funny, erotic, and jaw-dropping. With creepy delight, Robbins uses sight, sound, and touch...
- 11/16/2013
- by Debi Moore
- DreadCentral.com
Now in its 11th year, the New York City Horror Film Festival runs November 14-17, and along with the lineup, they've announced some of the special guests who'll be in attendance this go-round.
From the Press Release:
Giving a platform to new and independent international horror films, the New York City Horror Film Festival (Nychff) returns for another grand weekend, November 14–17, 2013, on the twin screens of the Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street, just south of Canal.
Honoring the career of Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Nevermore), this year's festival is put together by Fangoria’s Tony Timpone and Ronnie Hein, and filmmakers Alan Rowe Kelly and Bart Mastronardi are among the guest presenters.
Things kicks off Thursday, November 14, at 7 pm with a gala opening night Us premiere screening honoring Troma’s fortieth anniversary with their latest feature, Return To Nuke ‘Em High: Vol. 1. Director Lloyd Kaufman will be in attendance...
From the Press Release:
Giving a platform to new and independent international horror films, the New York City Horror Film Festival (Nychff) returns for another grand weekend, November 14–17, 2013, on the twin screens of the Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick Street, just south of Canal.
Honoring the career of Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Nevermore), this year's festival is put together by Fangoria’s Tony Timpone and Ronnie Hein, and filmmakers Alan Rowe Kelly and Bart Mastronardi are among the guest presenters.
Things kicks off Thursday, November 14, at 7 pm with a gala opening night Us premiere screening honoring Troma’s fortieth anniversary with their latest feature, Return To Nuke ‘Em High: Vol. 1. Director Lloyd Kaufman will be in attendance...
- 10/14/2013
- by Debi Moore
- DreadCentral.com
The 11th Annual New York City Horror Film Festival will be taking place next month and a number of screenings and special events have been announced, including appearances from Stuart Gordon and Lloyd Kaufman:
“Now in its 11th year, the spectacular New York City Horror Film Festival, giving a platform to new and independent international horror film, returns for another grand weekend, November 14–17 on the twin screens of the Tribeca Cinemas, at 54 Varick Street, just south of Canal. Honoring the grand career of Mr. Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Nevermore), the festival is put together by Fangoria’s Tony Timpone and Ronnie Hein, and filmmakers Alan Rowe Kelly and Bart Mastronardi among the
guest presenters.
The festival opens Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 pm with a gala opening-night Us premiere screening honoring Troma’s fortieth anniversary with their latest feature Return To Nuke ‘Em High, Vol. 1 with director Lloyd Kaufman in...
“Now in its 11th year, the spectacular New York City Horror Film Festival, giving a platform to new and independent international horror film, returns for another grand weekend, November 14–17 on the twin screens of the Tribeca Cinemas, at 54 Varick Street, just south of Canal. Honoring the grand career of Mr. Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Nevermore), the festival is put together by Fangoria’s Tony Timpone and Ronnie Hein, and filmmakers Alan Rowe Kelly and Bart Mastronardi among the
guest presenters.
The festival opens Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 pm with a gala opening-night Us premiere screening honoring Troma’s fortieth anniversary with their latest feature Return To Nuke ‘Em High, Vol. 1 with director Lloyd Kaufman in...
- 10/12/2013
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
The beginning of April, for those in the Southwest, heralds an all-new Phoenix Film Festival. This year, the Phoenix Film Festival kicks off its 13th annual edition with impressive celebrity guests, independent feature premieres, seminars, workshops, parties, and more. The festival, which runs from April 4 to April 11, boasts some star-studded new films and other events as it holds court at the Harkins Scottsdale 101, well-known for its Cine Capri theater, the largest non-imax screen in all of Arizona. With films like The Spectacular Now, The East, The Way, Way Back, and The Kings of Summer among the spotlight presentations, this year’s Phoenix Film Festival may prove to be one of the hidden gems of the festival circuit.
The Phoenix Film Festival, which has been running every year since 2000, had quite the act to follow after last year’s festival. Festival president Chris Lamont said, “We broke attendance records, had more screening sell-outs than ever before,...
The Phoenix Film Festival, which has been running every year since 2000, had quite the act to follow after last year’s festival. Festival president Chris Lamont said, “We broke attendance records, had more screening sell-outs than ever before,...
- 4/1/2013
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Submit your vote for Reviewer of the Year!
Every year, the Classic Horror Film Board recognizes the best in the horror/sci-fi/fantasy realm with the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Fans of the genre can vote for their favorites in over thirty categories, and this year, Cinelinx would like to ask you to vote for one of our own, staff writer Victor Medina, as Reviewer of the Year (Category 29)! We've even included the ballot below so you can vote!
Votes must be submitted by copying and pasting the ballot into your personal email, making your choices, including your name, and sending it in. Votes for Reviewer of the Year are write-in only, so you must be sure to include Vic's name yourself under Category 29 when you vote. Pre-filled ballots are not allowed, so we can't do it for you! Remember, you must write in "Victor Medina, Cinelinx.com" yourself.
Every year, the Classic Horror Film Board recognizes the best in the horror/sci-fi/fantasy realm with the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Fans of the genre can vote for their favorites in over thirty categories, and this year, Cinelinx would like to ask you to vote for one of our own, staff writer Victor Medina, as Reviewer of the Year (Category 29)! We've even included the ballot below so you can vote!
Votes must be submitted by copying and pasting the ballot into your personal email, making your choices, including your name, and sending it in. Votes for Reviewer of the Year are write-in only, so you must be sure to include Vic's name yourself under Category 29 when you vote. Pre-filled ballots are not allowed, so we can't do it for you! Remember, you must write in "Victor Medina, Cinelinx.com" yourself.
- 2/26/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
The latest edition of the Indie Spotlight contains all of the recent independent horror news sent our way. In this feature, we have a look at a Behind the Mask Leslie Vernon action figure, details on an upcoming screening of Teller’s Play Dead, multiple trailers, and more:
Behind the Mask’s Leslie Vernon Action Figure: “This Rhode Island based toy company has their first line of licensed product out that will surely be a surprise to quite a few horror fans out there. Based on the character from the 2006 movie “Behind the Mask, The Rise of Leslie Vernon”. They have just released their 7” action figure and limited edition reproductions of the mask & scythe props from the movie.
It’s one of the best horror movies in the last 10 years and we’re very excited to have this as our first license says president Neal DeConte who started the company...
Behind the Mask’s Leslie Vernon Action Figure: “This Rhode Island based toy company has their first line of licensed product out that will surely be a surprise to quite a few horror fans out there. Based on the character from the 2006 movie “Behind the Mask, The Rise of Leslie Vernon”. They have just released their 7” action figure and limited edition reproductions of the mask & scythe props from the movie.
It’s one of the best horror movies in the last 10 years and we’re very excited to have this as our first license says president Neal DeConte who started the company...
- 12/30/2012
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
It’s a film festival! It’s a sideshow! It’s both! It’s the 12th annual Coney Island Film Festival, which will be taking over the world famous Sideshows by the Seashore and other venues on Sept. 21-23 at one of the most wonderful places on Earth: Coney Island!
This year’s fun begins on the 21st with the knock-’em-dead (literally) Opening Night film Play Dead, co-directed by underground journalist Shade Rupe and the world’s greatest silent magician, Teller. The film is a documentary performance of Teller and Coney Island’s own Todd Robbins hit live off-Broadway gore-a-thon.
Play Dead will then be followed by a wild Opening Night Party featuring a performance by Mr. Robbins, plus lots of burlesque performances, Go Go dancers and other crazy surprises.
Some of the other highlights of this year’s Ciff include the Mark Mori’s documentary Bettie Page Reveals All...
This year’s fun begins on the 21st with the knock-’em-dead (literally) Opening Night film Play Dead, co-directed by underground journalist Shade Rupe and the world’s greatest silent magician, Teller. The film is a documentary performance of Teller and Coney Island’s own Todd Robbins hit live off-Broadway gore-a-thon.
Play Dead will then be followed by a wild Opening Night Party featuring a performance by Mr. Robbins, plus lots of burlesque performances, Go Go dancers and other crazy surprises.
Some of the other highlights of this year’s Ciff include the Mark Mori’s documentary Bettie Page Reveals All...
- 9/18/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
For their seventh annual edition, the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival is really blowing things up!
Well, not literally. But the world’s premiere horror movie fest is expanding to over double its regular size, screening over 50 films on nine terrifying nights Oct. 10-18 at its new home, the prestigious AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The scares kick off on the 10th with the return of local fave filmmaker Richard Bates, Jr. with the feature-length version of Excision about a teenage girl obsessed with becoming a surgeon. The film co-stars John Waters, Malcolm McDowell and Traci Lords. Bates’ original short Excision on which the feature is based screened at Spooky Movie back in 2008.
A few other Spooky Movie alumni who are back with highly anticipated new films include Mike Davis‘ “green” horror movie President Wolfman, which is composed entirely of public domain footage mixed with a rip-roarin...
Well, not literally. But the world’s premiere horror movie fest is expanding to over double its regular size, screening over 50 films on nine terrifying nights Oct. 10-18 at its new home, the prestigious AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The scares kick off on the 10th with the return of local fave filmmaker Richard Bates, Jr. with the feature-length version of Excision about a teenage girl obsessed with becoming a surgeon. The film co-stars John Waters, Malcolm McDowell and Traci Lords. Bates’ original short Excision on which the feature is based screened at Spooky Movie back in 2008.
A few other Spooky Movie alumni who are back with highly anticipated new films include Mike Davis‘ “green” horror movie President Wolfman, which is composed entirely of public domain footage mixed with a rip-roarin...
- 9/5/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
In the opening minutes of filmed stage show, Play Dead, Todd Robbins does that old side-show standby, he chews broken glass. But not just any glass, it is the frosted exterior casing of the one lightbulb that is to serve as the audiences life-line out of the small, cramped and now very dark off-broadway theatre in Greenwich Village. In this venue, filled with old bankers boxes, an RCA turntable and (naturally) a coffin, for 75 minutes Robbins will en captivate and involve a very game live audience, but also his cinema (or VOD viewing) audience, with his macabre and at times, quite funny, brand of pure storytelling. Shot with multiple cameras, including a completely unnecessary, and frankly quite distracting, night-vision camera to see the theatre trapped audience...
- 8/3/2012
- Screen Anarchy
An adolescent’s sixteenth birthday marks a turning point in life when maturation occurs at a much more rapid pace and the teenager begins to be faced with difficult and important decisions that will shape their future. The same can be said of Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, set to kick off its sixteenth edition tomorrow: its Super Sweet Sixteen promises to be nothing if not interesting. That’s not to say that the main focus of North America’s largest genre film festival is changing; in fact, between prolific director Takashi Miike’s festival opener For Love’s Sake – fresh from Cannes and having its North American premiere – and the Canadian premiere of animation studio Laika’s Paranorman, which closes the fest three weeks later, filmgoers will have a whopping 160 films from around the world to choose from. Sitges eat your heart out.
Where Fantasia seems to be...
Where Fantasia seems to be...
- 7/18/2012
- by Jason Widgington
- IONCINEMA.com
With its world premiere at this years edition of The Fantasia Film Festival Play Dead is the filmed version of the off-Broadway magic and stage show dedicated to the tradition of Grand Guignol, that is to say, putting a lot of blood and gore (and showmanship) up on stage. Co-written and directed for the stage by the consummate illusionist Teller (the 'silent' half of Penn & Teller) and starring Coney Island showman Todd Robbins, frequently blood-splattered, the filmed version of the show was shot live with an audience by Shade Rupe (who penned that massive tome of horror icon interviews, "Dark Stars Rising") in Manhattan where the show has been enjoying a successful run since late 2010."Play Dead" is inspired by the American spook show, an underground entertainment...
- 7/11/2012
- Screen Anarchy
The last announcement for films screening at the upcoming Fantasia International Film Festival was so huge you may have missed that Teller's Play Dead will be making its world premiere at the Fest. In honor of the occasion, a trailer for the film has arrived.
From the Press Release:
Teller, the smaller, quieter half of Penn & Teller, will have the world premiere of his performance film of Play Dead, the Off-Broadway horror hit starring Todd Robbins, on Friday, July 27th, at Montreal’s 2012 Fantasia International Festival. Teller and Robbins will both attend.
In this “wild, wicked… gleefully grotesque orgy of death and fright” (New York Times), Robbins talks to the dead, murders audience members, evokes the ghosts of psycho-killers, and plunges the screaming, laughing theater audience into total darkness among glowing ghouls and howling demons (“the perfect excuse to grope your date...” – actor Neil Patrick Harris).
This feature film...
From the Press Release:
Teller, the smaller, quieter half of Penn & Teller, will have the world premiere of his performance film of Play Dead, the Off-Broadway horror hit starring Todd Robbins, on Friday, July 27th, at Montreal’s 2012 Fantasia International Festival. Teller and Robbins will both attend.
In this “wild, wicked… gleefully grotesque orgy of death and fright” (New York Times), Robbins talks to the dead, murders audience members, evokes the ghosts of psycho-killers, and plunges the screaming, laughing theater audience into total darkness among glowing ghouls and howling demons (“the perfect excuse to grope your date...” – actor Neil Patrick Harris).
This feature film...
- 7/11/2012
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Teller, the smaller, quieter half of Penn & Teller, will have the world premiere of his performance film of Play Dead, the Off-Broadway horror hit starring Todd Robbins, on Friday, July 27th at Montreal’s 2012 Fantasia International Festival. Teller and Robbins will both attend.
This feature film includes the “fiendishly frightening” (New York Post) blackout segments shot in infrared, to allow filmgoers to glimpse some of the magical secrets the live audience never got to… More...
This feature film includes the “fiendishly frightening” (New York Post) blackout segments shot in infrared, to allow filmgoers to glimpse some of the magical secrets the live audience never got to… More...
- 7/10/2012
- by HorrorNews.net
- Horror News
The July 19th start of Montreal's 16th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is drawing closer (it runs through August 7th), and the powers-that-be have announced the second wave of films along with a few selections from the new Axis section of the event.
Fantasia Announces The Satoshi Kon Award For Achievement In Animation + A New Section Dedicated To International Animation Cinema + Second Wave Title Announcements
The art of animation in its many forms and disciplines has always had a strong place at Fantasia. This year, the festival has decided to give the form its own permanent section: Axis. From social realism to mind-bending fantasy, all styles and sensibilities will be showcased, now on a greater scale than ever. Further, the festival is proud to be rechristening its animation jury prize as The Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation, named after the dear, departed visionary whose feature debut, Perfect Blue,...
Fantasia Announces The Satoshi Kon Award For Achievement In Animation + A New Section Dedicated To International Animation Cinema + Second Wave Title Announcements
The art of animation in its many forms and disciplines has always had a strong place at Fantasia. This year, the festival has decided to give the form its own permanent section: Axis. From social realism to mind-bending fantasy, all styles and sensibilities will be showcased, now on a greater scale than ever. Further, the festival is proud to be rechristening its animation jury prize as The Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation, named after the dear, departed visionary whose feature debut, Perfect Blue,...
- 7/6/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
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