The Exorcist-The Version You've Never Seen

There's no better time of year for horror fans to see their interests rewarded than October. But if the onslaught of genre-related television programming isn't enough to satiate your taste for the thrilling and the horrifying, why not see if there's a horror film festival in your area? From the tony shores of Newport, RI to the moviemaking capital of Los Angeles, CA, festival directors are scaring up audiences on the lookout for a good scream.

From features to shorts, documentaries to animation, gothic Halloween balls to ghost ships, each festival offers something a little different to its attendees and participants. In a roundtable discussion that included Michael Hein of the NYC Horror Film Festival (www.Moodudefilms.com), Denise Gossett of Shriekfest (www.shriekfest.com), Lisa Ferguson of Creepfest (www.creepfest.com), Rachel Belofsky at Screamfest (www.screamfestla.com) and Eleyne Austen Sharp of the Haunted Newport Horror Film Festival (www.hauntednewport.com), these fans recently talked with MovieMaker about all things frightening, from their fests to their favorite scary movies!

Jennifer Wood (MM): Why do you think the horror genre never seems to lose popularity? Or even when it goes "out of fashion" for a while, there is always a huge resurgence. What is the audience fascination with horror films?

Michael Hein (MH): I think it's because horror is the purest genre. People love a good scare-always have, always will. When horror goes "out of fashion" it's only because the market usually has just had a run of horror hits and then the knockoffs and sequels aren't doing the box office they were a year or two prior. What other type of film can make couples in a theater hold hands or hug as much as a good horror film?

Denise Gossett (DG): Honestly, I think the fascination is that humans like to see blood and guts without it actually being "real." It's the same reason people slow down to see an accident-it's not that we want someone to be hurt, we're just fascinated by it. I think we also like to be scared in a safe environment, such as our home or a movie theater.

Eleyne Austen Sharp (EAS): You know when you're a kid and you cut your finger, you show the blood to everyone just to gross them out? It's fun to see people horrified. We get a tremendous rush from being scared and scaring others. So I think as long as we find oozing blood and spilling guts appealing, there will always be a horror genre.

Rachel Belofsky (RB): I think everyone likes a good scare. It's fantasy, fiction, and escape from reality for a while.

MM: Why did you decide to focus your festival on the horror genre?

MH: "It is my love, it is my life, it is my passion!" Plus the simple fact that there was no previous venue in NYC for the genre filmmakers. I'm a filmmaker myself and last year my first feature film, Biohazardous, screened out in LA at Screamfest. After the weekend, Anthony Pepe (our programming director) and I decided it was time to bring an event like this to the city. A huge finical risk, but well worth the effort.

DG: We decided to focus our festival on horror films because there are tons of horror fans, and not very many outlets for these films to be seen-especially low-budget films.

Lisa Ferguson (LF): There are many reasons and I couldn't name them all, but for one I think horror is true escapism-in the best sense of the word. When people settle in for a good scary movie, they willingly participate in a storytelling process that is as old as time. There is a ritual to participating in this. Also, much of the most weird and fascinating human behavior is in horror movies. We like to be scared in the same way we like to challenge ourselves by going on a terrifying roller coaster. It could be as simple as "tension and release" playing out, and as complicated as Jung's work on the subconscious regarding our shadow selves. We all have to pretend we don't have these darker qualities. Society and religion have shamed them. But the fact is we still have them, and maybe horror films are a safe arena in which to embrace them.

EAS: When you have an internationally-recognized, month-long Halloween program of nearly 200 events [like Haunted Newport], then you'd better have a horror film festival!

MM: The typical notion of a "festival" film is usually not a horror film. Why do you think so many independent moviemakers are focusing on the genre?

MH: Simple: a horror film is always a filmmaker's best chance for distribution, theatrically and on home video. I think that is why there are so many bad horror films made every year. Some filmmakers just want to "cash in" on our beloved genre. Any filmmaker needs to make a film out of a love for the story being told, no matter what the genre. We make our films and are producing this festival out of a love for the genre.

DG: Because horror films can usually be done cheaply, there is a fascination with them and they can sell easier than other types of films.

MM: What are the benefits of working in the genre for a low-budget moviemaker?

MH: You need look no further then The Blair Witch Project-shot for about $22,000 and sold at Sundance for $1.5 million-to answer that question. Most of the best horror films of all time (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead) all shot on minuscule budgets (by Hollywood standards), and many went on to make millions.

DG: I would have to say it gives the filmmaker a chance to be really creative, either by not doing the same stories over and over again or by doing the same well-loved stories with a different twist.

RB: It's never the budget that makes the film, it's the filmmaker that makes the film.

EAS: I asked independent filmmaker Chris Marikian (Aleister!) what he thought were the benefits of working in the horror genre. He said, "Creative freedom-and not having to answer to any higher conglomerate!"

MM: The consensus is that entries in the horror genre over the past few years have been rather weak. What do you consider the best horror movie of the past decade?

MH: I think the '90s were the worst decade for horror in the last 40 years. Recently, I've seen a few good ones. I know I'll catch hell for this, but I really enjoyed Resident Evil (although technically, it was more of an action film than a horror film). Horror fans eagerly await the arrival of Rob Zombie's first feature, House of 1,000 Corpses. I was lucky enough to catch the film at a press screening and liked it a lot!

EAS: Was there a best? Hmmm, I must have missed it.

RB: Does the re-release of The Exorcist-The Version You've Never Seen count? That backbend down the stairs is pretty creepy. Come to Screamfest. I think we have some good ones that deserve to be recognized in that category.

MM: What do you consider the scariest film ever made?

MH: The Exorcist-hands down.

DG: There are several... I really remember the first Nightmare on Elm Street really scaring me when I was younger.

LF: Psycho (the original) really scared me... I had nightmares. So did The Exorcist. The early Halloween movies really scared me, too.

RB: The Exorcist!

EAS: Growing up, I was terrified by Jaws and The Exorcist. (I stayed out of the water and church for years!) Later, it was The Silence of the Lambs, which featured brilliant acting and an excellent script. Nevertheless, seeing it once was enough for me-I still cringe every time I see it listed on the TV Guide Channel.

MM: What is your all-time favorite horror film and why?

MH: Dawn of the Dead. The film changed my life and fueled my life ambition.

DG: There are just too many. I love the Halloween films, the Hannibal films, of course The Exorcist. Oh, there are just too many!

LF: As a child my sisters and brother and I would sit endlessly and watch all the old black and whites of the mummy and all those Frankenstein movies. Anything with Vincent Price or Boris Karloff. And I was a total freak for all the old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes (The Hound of the Baskervilles) films. We used to memorize the dialogue. I can't name a favorite on such short notice, because I am forgetting too many.

EAS: How can you choose one all-time favorite horror film? I've always loved old monster movies like Godzilla, Dracula and The Wolfman. (When I was kid, I lived in Darmstadt, Germany, where I had a clear view of the original Frankenstein castle from my bedroom window.) I like a lot of the old black and white horror movies and anything that shows London and fog. No slice 'em and dice 'em movies for me!