9 minute read
Horror film fest
KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer
It was a dark and stormy night, and the 13th Knoxville Horror Film Festival began its spooky activities until the late hours of Sunday, Oct. 24.
Advertisement
After 13 years, the Knoxville Horror Film Festival came back bigger and better than ever. The festival is run by Central Cinema, a local theater owned by general manager Nick Huinker, programing director William Mahaffey and operations manager Logan Myers. They were able to hold it last year during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the Parkway Drive-In theater in Maryville.
This year, they held the festival in two locations from Thursday, Oct. 21 through Sunday, Oct. 24. The first two nights took place at the Parkway Drive-In, with the last two nights moving to Central Cinema at 1205 N. Central St. The drive-in nights were open to the public with tickets available until the start of the movies, whereas the Central Cinema days were for festival pass holders only.
Huinker talked about the festival and coming back to the drive-in because of how fun it was last year despite the circumstances.
“Every year, we like to be able to claim that the fest was bigger than the year before, and it looks like we’ve once again gotten away with that,” Huinker said. “There’s a lot of interest and people are going to come out.”
The drive-in contained a good amount of feature films, focusing more on the classics. They were also able to hold several vendors at the drive-in. Mahaffey talked about being at the drive-in.
“I really like the atmosphere at the drive-in, and I like doing the repertory stuff here, because a lot of those films were made popular playing at drive-ins when they were originally released, and I like having the vendors set up,” Mahaffey said. “Our festival is a mixture of repertory and new independent stuff, so we can do classic repertory stuff at a drive-in, which is a really fitting setting for it, and then we can do the new indie stuff at Central Cinema, and it gives our festival two different flavors.”
Several of the vendors set up during the festival included Hagcult — who also worked on several designs for the festival — Xul Beer Company, Orbit DVD, Raven Records, Knox Video and Gemini Twinn. Vendors sold either their own merchandise or horror memorabilia including movies, toys and shirts.
They want to keep using the drive-in for future festivals, along with continuing to use their space at Central Cinema.
The festival started on Thursday, Oct. 21. The drive-in opened at 5:30 p.m. before the first showing at 7:30 p.m. It rained right up until the first film, which had a short film that paired with it. gan’s short “The Relic” before kicking off the features with John Carpenter’s “The Fog.” A side note, the rain stopped when the film started, but came back perfectly when the titular fog first appeared in the movie.
After a short break, the second block started. They played the Estrada Brothers’ “The Wereback” to lead into Joe Dante’s “The Howling.” They ended the night at 1 a.m. with festival favorite Chris McInroy and his newest short film “Guts” before the 1981 film “Trick or Treat” — or “Ragman” depending on which version you watch.
Friday’s screenings were split between Central Cinema and the drive-in. Early in the afternoon, they played the documentary “The Last Wolf” by Brandon D. Landon and Brian M. McKnight, along with the Tennessee Terrors Short Film competition, which is a local and regional competition that the festival puts on.
Myers appeared at Central Cinema during these screenings. He talked about hanging back during the festival as well as making sure that the ship keeps running at the theater.
“I just feel like when you add more people into it, it’s just going to add more problems potentially, especially because those two guys have been running it for 10 years before I came along,” Myers said.
He isn’t responsible for the programming of the festival, as Mahaffey takes care of that. But, he likes keeping the theater in check and running smoothly.
After this block, the festival moved back to the drive-in, with a few more vendors and an equally large crowd of cars.
The night of films kicked off with the short film “Snowblind” by Joanna Tsanis. They were also going to play “The Lake Parasite” by Joe Reilly, but had to delay the short film to Saturday.
Because of that, they moved right into the Grindhouse Grind-Out Filmmaking Contest, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. The contest prompted local filmmakers to make their own B-horror movie trailer, which they played on the big screen before letting the audience vote for a winner.
Afterwards, they finished the night off with two classics. They played the 1984 slasher “Friday the 13th IV: The Final Chapter” first and ended with John Landis’ werewolf masterpiece “An American Werewolf in London,” which Mahaffey cited as one of his all-time favorite films.
The night ended much like Thursday, with cars dwindling over time before formally ending after 1 a.m. But, Saturday kicked off bright and early at 1 p.m. The day saw a slew of films scheduled all day, with eight short films and five independent films planned.
They started off with the short films one after another, with Joanna Tsanis’ “Smile” first. Afterwards, they played Gregory Foltynowicz’s short “Lachesis,” John Veron’s “Annie, We’re Here for You,” Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum’s “Koreatown Ghost Story” and finally David Mikalson’s “Stuck.”
Out of the short films creators, John Veron attended the film festival, even being brought up to the front for a short Q&A. He talked about some of his techniques in making his short film, along with saying that it was much better than his previous one. He works on commercials as his “day job,” but likes to make short films too. He praised the actors’ performances for carrying his short film.
He flew in from Los Angeles, California, for the film festival, saying that he did so because it got featured.
“I had always heard that the Knoxville Horror Film Festival was a really cool festival with a really cool community,” Veron said. “I think the whole point of getting into film festivals is to go to film festivals and meet filmmakers. So, if I get into a film festival, it’s really likely I’m going to get on a plane and I’m going to show up.”
The Adams Family drove in from a different festival in Utah to attend the screening of their film “Hellbender.” They joined in a Q&A after the film and were available for an interview outside. They talked about working as a family to make movies, especially since they’ve been making films since Zelda was six.
“It’s really great,” Zelda Adams said. “I think that we each contribute really different things to the film. I really love the cinematography aspect and the acting aspect of film, and I think Toby is a fantastic producer and writer and director.”
“I love doing sound,” John Adams said. “Zelda and I talk a ton about cinematography. Toby and I talk a ton about story. She’s our character maker and our actress. At this point, we’re all pretty good about knowing who’s good at what and letting them run with that baton when it’s time to run with it.”
“It’s such a universal language,” Zelda Adams said. “Everywhere, all over America, people are joining together over their love of horror at film festivals like these.”
Central Cinema celebrates the Halloween season and hosts part of the 2021 Knoxville Horror Film Fest. Keenan Thomas / The Daily Beacon
STORY CONTINUED ONLINE
Read more at utdailybeacon.com
Spooky Halloween treats
CALEIGH ROZMENOSKI Managing Editor
You finished hanging your decorations, you have your playlist ready, now all you need are some tasty treats. But in true Halloween spirit, there’s nothing better than spooky, themed goodies.
Here are some hauntingly easy recipes to satisfy your Halloween desires.
Sweet
Worms in dirt graveyard
Worms in dirt is a classic, fun dessert. You just need some chocolate pudding, Oreos and some gummy worms. Assembly is pretty simple. Decorating is where you can make it as festive as you want. There are plenty of Halloween gummies, so add some gravestone and skeletons to accompany your worms.
Rice Krispies brains
Rice Krispies are a pretty quick and tasty treat to make. You really only need Rice Krispies cereal, marshmallows and butter. However to stick with the theme, some red food coloring and licorice is all you need. Add the food coloring to you melted marshmallows and shape your snacks into something that resembles a brain. From here, add the licorice in squiggles to mimic the folds of a brain.
Witch fingers
A simple sugar cookie base, shaped to resemble fingers and some almond slices is all you need. The almond acts as the nail, and you can add food coloring to change your creature. Try green for a zombie look!
Caramel apples
Beside actual candy, caramel apples are the most iconic Halloween treat. While they are easy to make, assembly does require some skill. Just pick your favorite apples, some caramel and sturdy skewers. If you want to get really creative, roll your caramel apples in sprinkles, candy or any other kind of yummy toppings.
Savory
Mummies in a blanket
This is a twist on the finger-food classic pigs in a blanket. All you need are crescent rolls, hot dogs or cocktail weenies and some eyes. This recipe suggests candy eyes, but piping ketchup on will do the trick. You can leave your hot dogs whole or cut little arms and legs for a full-body mummy.
Mozzarella eyeballs
You can’t go wrong with cheese, and these mozzarella eyeballs are a perfect addition to you Halloween spread. You will need mozzarella balls, sliced black olives and a filling of your choice. Pesto, pimento and tomato sauce are all good options.
Deviled spider eggs
Save your leftover olives for this frighteningly delicious snack. After perfecting your deviled egg recipe, arrange a whole olive in the middle of eight sliced olives to mimic the appearance of everyone’s least favorite creepy crawly.
Ghost bagel bites
English muffins, cheese and pizza sauce are the main ingredients for this appetizer. Assemble it as you would any pizza, but instead using a ghost or Halloween themed cookie cutter to shape your cheese. Additional toppings are always an option, but that’s up to you!
2021 PICK ‘EM
Josh Lane Sports Editor (38-18)
Michigan (21) vs. Michigan State (24) Iowa vs. Wisconsin Georgia vs. Florida Ole Miss vs. Auburn Penn State vs Ohio State Texas vs. Baylor Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma Ethan Stone Asst. Sports (37-19)
