Mile High Horror Film Festival 2014 Recap

Written by Scotty

There is only one event that comes around once a year in Denver that makes me get just a little bit more excited than it should.  When I first heard about this event, I was disappointed that I missed it with the horror icons that it brought into town.  Now that I know how and where to find it, I will not be missing another one.

This year was no different from last year in the quality of stars that were brought in, along with the movies that were shown.  Now, being a horror junkie, I wish I had time to see all of the films, but unlike last year, I was able to catch at least one.  I hit up the Shorts Program #6 and I will admit, I got much more out of it that I expected.  There were great shorts like The Heebie-Jeebies, Knock Knock and The Security Guards, but I was most interested in seeing Good Samaritan by Jeffrey Reddick.  With each film bringing their own scares and laughter to the screen, it is amazing that shorts do not get as much play time as the full length films, as sometimes, you just need five to ten minutes to get your story to come to life.  I will make sure to check out these programs again, as there are so many images that will just be stuck in my head for a long time to come, if you saw Box Room, you would understand.

Now, I frequently get asked what my dream event would be and since I have a love for the horror genre, MHHFF is pretty much it.  I do not need hundreds of names to come and appear in a packed house, but what I do like is bringing a couple people that have helped skyrocket the movement.  This year, the guests were fantastic and let me tell you why, they are grateful for their fans.

Of the stars that came into the Mile High Horror Film Festival this year, I wanted to make sure and talk to every one of them as they have in some way influenced my life in one way or another.  The first person I was able to have a quick conversation with was one of my favorite new directors, Jeffrey Reddick.  He has just finished his first directing job with Good Samaritan which is a great short film and I look forward to seeing it becoming a full length movie in time, I had more of an inquiry about his first novella based on his 2005 script for Tamara.  This movie did blow me away when I watched it as it is easy to identify yourself with the characters, and adding a little witchcraft into it, well, it has got to be hard to go wrong.  I also finally picked up my signed edition of Final Destination from him, yeah, I know it took forever to do, and the autograph will remind me of it every time I take it off of the shelf.

Also in attendance this year is the very large and in charge Tony Todd, the Candyman.  Now I have met him once before in passing and did not want to talk him up because, well, he is kind of imposing.  But that is not the case when you get a chance to really meet him in person.  I got to discuss his role in The Graves very quickly, but then the conversation turned towards his producing roles.  With Sushi Girl being very high on his list of accomplishments, as an actor and a producer, it is definitely one to check out.  With nothing keeping him from being in front of the camera, he said that this is what he would like to continue to produce.  I think it is a fine choice for him, but would be slightly disappointed not to see him in front of the camera anymore, he does a fine job at bringing the scares.

I also got the chance to talk to one of the most entertaining actors from the horror genre, Jonathan Tiersten. Now talking with him in the past, I found that he does not really like discussing his movie roles, but likes to focus more on his music, which he is very talented at creating.  This time, he gave me a quick talk about his new movie Blood Reservoir and told me how much work it actually took out of him.  A very demanding role and I could see it in his eyes that he is very proud of the work that he had done.  I am looking forward to seeing it and what Tiersten brings to the screen once again, as he always brings the best.

Gunner Hansen, Leatherface.  What can I say about this man?  When I told the girls at work that I was looking forward to meeting the chainsaw wielding psycho from one of the finest horror movies ever created, they just looked at me and said I was crazy.  Well who is crazy now as I got to shake the hand of the man that scared the giblets out of me when I was just a little boy?   Well maybe I am, but I have found that confronting your fears is better than living with them.  A very nice man and one of the few members of the cast from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that is still around.  He even put on a chain saw demonstration before the screening of the film for the fans, pretty sure someone ran of the theater in fear that he would be coming after her.

---

Then there was Tiffany Shepis, well what can I say about this Screen Queen that has been in over a hundred horror films?  One thing I can say for sure is that if she comes back again next year, I will have no problems in getting the team to attend as they all had a great time together.  I love the energy that she brings to the table, if it is about her craft, or if you get her fired up about dying in movies, which she never does.  We got into heated arguments about this to no end and this is what is so special about her, she has so much fun with it.  I was able to get an interview with her, well, actually two interviews with her that we will have on the site soon, and it will go down in my memory as one of the greatest moments of my life as I am still laughing about it, as well as our team.  I was lucky enough to get one of the last known printed copies of Sharknado 2 (where she did not die), Wrath of Crows (where she did not die) and Holiday of the Dead (where she did not die, but is not sure since she did not watch it yet).  I do not have enough words to describe Tiffany as she is just a joy to talk to and I sincerely hope she makes it back next year as I need to grow my collection of her films.

Now, for the first year, Tiffany’s husband attended the festival and let me tell you something, he is full of information.  With Tiffany telling me to make sure and check out The Frankenstein Syndrome, I found out an awesome tidbit about the man I did not know before, he directed Death of a Ghost Hunter.  Sean Tretta is his name and delivering scares is his game.  I was not aware of this when I met him and would have had more to talk about when shaking his hand, but alas. I hope he comes back as well, as he is also affiliated with the television series of 12 Monkeys for the SyFy network that will blow all of our socks off.  It was very nice to meet him and I hope he comes back next year with another project.

One of the things I have had no qualms with hiding as well is my love for art, and there were a couple great artists that showed up to the Mile High Horror Film Festival as well.  First, as always, Robert Elrod, he has been tickling my scary bone for years now and I hate to think this, but I might own all of his collection within a months’ time.  The reason I say this is that he is able to put the horrors down on paper and let you have, if even a snap shot of some of the creatures that haunt your dreams.  Being a fan of horror films as well is not a bad thing for him as he was very excited to meet up with Julie Adams, from The Creature of the Black Lagoon to get a piece he owned signed as well.  It is always nice to see the new pieces of art that Robert brings to the table and with Inktober rolling in full force, there are so many more pieces coming out that just leave me in awe.

I also got to officially meet with the very talented Joe Oliver this weekend and I will say, he is one of the nicest guys you will ever run into.  I have seen Joe around town at several events and although I know who he was, I never got to have a face to face with him, until now.  Besides being a very talented artist (I just purchased a Hell Boy original that will be hanging on my wall very shortly), he is a horror fan as well and we got to talking a bit about what is going well with the genre.  As I am only one person (working on a clone so I can get more done), I love to hear the perspectives of other people about what is happening and what is good.  Joe was more than willing to give me some great suggestions about what to watch next and I will be doing that as soon as I can.  He has a passion about the horror genre that I have not seen outside of myself and I am very glad to have made his acquaintance, officially.  When looking at his art, he is very talented over many different genres and is someone that you need to check out and soon.

Well that is it from me about the fifth Mile High Horror Film Festival.  If you have not been yet, you need to give it a go as long as you have an uncontrollable love for the genre. Even if you don’t but want to meet someone famous, as that is on some peoples bucket list, it is a great event and very family friendly as there was also a horror cereal get together on one of the mornings and kids in costume for breakfast is one of the greatest things that can be done.  Hope to see you all next year, as the films and celebs seem to be getting stronger each year and it is just a blast to attend.  Thanks for reading and as always, Stay Scared!

---