Mile High Horror Film Festival 2013 - Scotty's Recap

What can be said about a film festival that is dedicated to horror films? Amazing, spectacular, astounding?  None of these terms will be able to summarize what I was privy to at this festival.  I am a lover of the horror genre, there is very little to dispute this with my reviews of horror novels or movies.  Getting to sit back and talk to some of the people behind the grooming of my youth was beyond all of my expectations.

Although, I did not check out most of the films at the Mile High Horror Film Festival, I have no regrets.  Getting to meet the horror icons from my youth and present, I am beyond fulfilled by this great festival presented by the Alamo Draft House.  Meeting Meg Foster, Ken Foree and Timothy Quill and Tom Savini left me in awe.  With other fantastic guests like Johnathan Tiersten, Jeffrey Reddick, Tiffany Shepis, Robert Elrod and The Enigma, you are left with nothing to desire.

With some of these stars being at the event, you are not only going to snag an autograph, but enjoy a Q&A before your show.  Ken Foree along with Tom Savini sat and talked about one of the top zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead.  This was also the case with They Live featuring Meg Foster and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and with Doug Bradley for Hellraiser.  Getting a treat such as this is an incredible gift from the folks at the Mile High Horror Film Festival.

Sitting and waiting for Dawn of the Dead to start, I was not disappointed at all as The Enigma was on stage doing things that no one should be able to do to and with their own body.  Tom Savini started off the Q&A as we waited for Ken Foree to enter the auditorium.  Listening to how they made my favorite zombie movie made my day as other questions surfaced about recent movies like The Lords of Salem.  Finding out that Rob Zombie is an actor’s director made my day.  Other stories were told, Ken Foree was told about Dawn of the Dead by longtime friend Duane Jones from Night of the Living Dead and Tom Savini got the news that it was time to get back to work through a telegraph from George Romero that asked him to start thinking up ways to kill people.

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But I digress, let's move on to meeting the actors, actresses.  I must admit that I rarely get star struck at an event, but meeting Tom Savini left me that way.  Talking for a few minutes about the affects he used in Dawn and Day of the Dead made my day, and he even took a moment to tell me what features the newly released version of Day of the Dead would benefit me.  A dream come true, although he did not have a photo from Knightriders to sign, I was still happy to receive a hand shake and autographed copy of Day of the Dead.

Meeting Ken Foree was beyond a dream come true. Seeing him in several movies like Dawn of the Dead, Brotherhood of Blood and The Lords of Salem, I was right at home.  Talking about the movies and his favorite photos seemed to put us both at ease.  Figuring out he is just a normal person made it easier as I learned about his life in the Denver Public School system.  Our fathers both worked in DPS and knew each other to an extent as one career was ending and another was starting to blossom.

Talking with Johnathan Tiersten about his movie roles made me laugh as everyone that sat around him had a story or point of view of his illustrious career in Hollywood.  For some reason he is seen as a jokester of horror, but seems to enjoy this status while hitting the cons and singing his way to the top.  The man is extremely talented as since I have had the chance to listen to his covers and original songs, and you can find them, and plenty of pictures of Jonathan without a shirt on at jonathantiersten.com

Jeffery Reddick was one of the highlights of the festival.  Reddick is the creator of the Final Destination series and the writer of the remake of Day of the Dead (don’t hold that against him, the script was changed) and Tamara (which I will watch soon) is always a blast.  Jeffery is a joy to talk to as he is a screen writer and will have something coming out in the near future for us as horror fans to talk about.

Timothy Quill was just a blast to talk to.  He loved every minute of his place in Army of Darkness along with My Name is Bruce.  Stories about what happened on set along with what will be (hopefully) coming in the future made my weekend as we talked about what Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell might be coming out with.  Those conversations are best left to the imagination as we wait to see what really happens. 

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Tiffany Shepis, one of Hollywood’s scream queens was also at the event.  Not knowing exactly what she had been a part of, I did a bit of research as she was able to tell me about her best pictures, Violent Kind and The Hazing.  I made sure to pick both of them up knowing that one of the Scream Queens has recommended two of her best films.  I am now ready to sit back and enjoy her performances.  Although she interrupted a great Rodney Dangerfield impression, I know that these two films will deliver and my reviews will be on the site at some point.

Robert Elrod is also a joy to talk with, a local artist who is able to draw anything you want is more than a Godsend.  Finding an outstanding Joker print, I left his table with more than just a smile on my face.  Finding out that he drew this fantastic piece at the Glenwood Hot Springs with his significant other brought the element of real life back to me.  If you are ever in need of a piece of art, make sure to check out his site at robertelrodllc.com.

Personally, the highlight of the festival was meeting Meg Foster. Meg has been in more than a few good movies in her time, but my favorites include They Live, Masters of the Universe and The Lords of Salem.  I tried to give her a hard time about Rob Zombie making her wear contacts during the filming of The Lords of Salem, but found out that it was just a difference in the lighting during the filming.  ‘I never took anything off of the set’ was her answer as Meg told me that during her acting stint was being a parent and working for the paycheck rather than the fame left me speechless.  Having met and learned so much about her took away the sense of stardom as I realized just how down to earth she really is, working for a living rather than the fame.

The Mile High Horror Film Festival has been more than a dream come true for me.  Being a part of a great group like Girls of Geek 12 has helped out a little bit, but being a fan of this genre makes me part of this push.  Listening to the commentaries of these movies, along with watching the more recent works of these actors/actresses makes me feel more at home at an event like this.  Not knowing about this for the past three years makes me sad, as this is where I truly belong.  Being able to connect with people is not a part of my job these days, as I work at a desk for forty hours a week, but being able to feel at home is one of the things that you are not able to fake.  These are the people I can connect with and will never have an issue with talking shop, personal or anything in between.  Mile High Horror Film Festival, will be hard to beat this year, but I hope that they will be able to come up with something fantastic for next year!

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