ATLRetro

Days of the Dead returns to Sheraton Hotel Atlanta, Friday-Sunday Feb. 3-5! Here are our Eight Eerie Retro Reasons to catch your chills indoors! Also ATLRetro will be onsite all weekend so check out our ATLRetro Facebook page for photos of the spooktacular shenanigans.

1) BACK AND READY!  TWIN PEAKS returned this summer and you can get the inside scoop from Ray Wise, aka Laura’s father Leland Palmer, on the main stage Friday at 7 p.m.. We hope he’ll sing and dance. Just don’t call him Bob. If you miss it, like all the guest celebrities, he’ll be signing and doing photo ops all weekend.

2) NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY! Welly, welly, Malcolm McDowell shares maniacal memories from the sets of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Rob Zombie‘s HALLOWEEN and more at 2 p.m. on Saturday!

3) REUNIONS! This year FRIDAY THE 13TH, PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN cast members Barbara Bingham, Vincent Craig Dupree and Tiffany Paulsen slash up the main stage Friday at 8 pm and THE KARATE KID stars Martin Kove, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka wax-on and wax-off  Saturday at 1 pm.

4) IT’S A RETRO MONSTER CLUB!!!! Ernie Hudson(GHOSTBUSTERS); Meg Foster (THEY LIVE),  Thomas Howell (THE OUTSIDERS); masked menace Kane Hodder of FRIDAY THE 13TH fame! Alex Vincent and Chucky (CHILD’S PLAY) Bill Moseley (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS)! And more!!! The guest list just seems to go on and on with Retro-horror goodness!

5) BLACK AND BLUE GORE-IFIC PANELS! Look for celebrities on the Black Track. But bruises can also be Blue, and the Blue Track has plenty more tricks or treats for the diehard horror fan including a who’s who of Atlanta’s local horror talent. February is Women in Horror Month, so be sure not to miss the Women of Indie Horror panel (Sat. 2 pm) featuring Kool Kat Dayna Noffke, Kool Kat Vanessa Wright, Lynne Hansen and Brooklyn Ewing  On Sunday at 2 pm, hear Jeff Strand, Nancy Collins and Darrell Grizzle read their scary stories during Atlanta Author Horror Showcase. Check out the full Blue Track schedule here.

6) FRIGHTENING FILMS! The Independent Horror Film Fest features new indie horror you won’t see in theaters plus resurrects Retro cult classics. We’re especially looking forward to the Etheria Film Festival (Sat. 3-5 p.m.) spotlighting works by emerging women directors.  Saturday night, catch Wes Craven’s SCREAM (1996) at 7 pm, followed by “Terror from the ‘80s” secret films featuring this year’s Days of the Dead guests at 10 pm and midnight. Get out of bed early for Samurai Sunday with James Bryan’s LADY STREET FIGHTER (1985) at 9 am.

7) SPOOKTACULAR SHOPPING. Horror cons are the perfect place to stock up on both macabre movie memorabilia, cult classics on DVD and creepy clothing, costumes and accessories!

8) MACABRE MAKE-UP, CREEPY COSTUMES AND PHANTAMAGORIC PARTIES!! Check the schedule for make-up demonstrations and competitions, VIP party (open to VIP ticketed attendees only), Chaostume Costume Contest, tattoo contest and more!  Friday Night Frights include Scareoke, Sin & Salvation shenanigans featuring hellacious tunes from Graveyard Gospel and Bump in the Night Ghoulesque, The Dirty Dirty Con Con Gameshow and so much more! On Saturday, Get your blood curdling fill of monsters galore with Send in the Clowns with Captain & Maybelle; and one hell-bent horrorific after party with Kool Kats The Casket Creatures and ELZIG!

Days of the Dead main con hours are Fri. Feb. 2 from 5 to 11 p.m.; Sat. Feb. 3 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sun. Feb. 4 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with parties going late into the night on Friday and Saturday. For more info, visit https://www.daysofthedead.net/atlanta/.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

This Week in ATLRetro is the bee’s knees! Come see all the swell shenanigans we’ve dug up just for you!

Monday, January 29

Celebrate 30 years of The Posies at City Winery! Get the blues with Bob Page at Blind Willie’s! Funk it up with Holey Miss Moley at Moonshadow Tavern in Tucker! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Spend the night with Lloyd Cole at Eddie’s Attic! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack for a night with Larry Griffith!

Tuesday, January 30

Get psyched for a night with The Rotten Mangos, Satisfiers of Alpha Blue and The Titos at the Red Light Café! Frankie’s Blues Mission spreads the word at Blind Willie’s! Cow punk it up with Alejandro Escovedo (The Nuns) at City Winery! Darwin’s Burgers & Blues gets down with the Poverty Level Band! JT Speed gets down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Thrash on down to 529 for a night with Leeway! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Little 5 Points Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, January 31

Get some soul and make your way to The Star Bar for The Bango & Smash Soul Night DJ Party featuring Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah and the Malone Ranger! Catch a screening of Victor Fleming’s classic, GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) during Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series at 2:30pm/7:30pm! Get folksy with Tom Rush at Eddie’s Attic! Catch the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s 25th Anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993) at Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18! Emory Cinematheque continues their “Black Lives on the Small Screen” series with a screening of ABC’s ROOTS, Season 1, episode 2 at 7:30pm! Get campy and make your way to The Plaza Theater for screening of Jamie Babbit’s BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER (1999) at 7pm! Get the blues with Ike Stubblefield at Avondale Towne Cinema! Get down with Cody Matlock at Blind Willie’s! Or blues it up with Michael Preston at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get the rockin’ blues with The Cazanovas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up a night of acoustic blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, February 1

Captain & Maybelle hosts a hellacious killer kickoff Days of the Dead pre-party at the Clermont Lounge featuring a horrific lineup with Kool Kats The Casket Creatures, ELZIG, Dusty Booze & The Baby Haters and more! Sinister mind control invades The Plaza Theater as Cineprov dishes out a night of hilarity with a screening of Dave R. Watkins’ STRAGGLERS (2004) at 7:15pm! Get folksy with Aimee Mann and Marshall Ruffin at the Variety Playhouse! Rock out with The Pussywillows, Mister Tie Dye and Kilroy Kobra at The Earl! Get your American fix with Willie Watson at Eddie’s Attic! Funk it up and get some soul with Kipper Jones at City Winery! Make your way to 7 Stages as they present THE FOLLOWERS: A RETELLING OF THE BACCHAE, running through Feb. 25! Yacht Rock Revue gets in the ring with their Led Zeppelin vs. The Who event at Venkman’s! Get your Barbara Streisand fix with Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s 50th Anniversary screening of William Wyler’s FUNNY GIRL (1968) at Regal Perimeter Pointe 10! Catch a screening of Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM (2003) at The Plaza Theater! Stomp on down to The Star Bar for a night with the Lost Dog Street Band and Andrea Colburn & Mud Moseley! Cody Matlock & the Mothership get down at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s so hula on down for a night of rockin’ island tunes and some killer island cocktails! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, February 2

Get traumatized and HORROR-fied this weekend as the Days of the Dead Convention kills it at the Sheraton Atlanta hotel for three days of ghastly gore-filled events, running through Feb. 4! You won’t want to miss monstrous retro celebrity guests Malcom McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE); Ernie Hudson (GHOSTBUSTERS); the cast of the KARATE KID franchise (Martin Kove, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka); Ray Wise (TWIN PEAKS); Meg Foster (THEY LIVE), C. Thomas Howell (THE OUTSIDERS); masked menace Kane Hodder of FRIDAY THE 13TH fame; the Independent Horror Film Fest, Sin & Salvation shenanigans featuring hellacious tunes from Graveyard Gospel and Bump in the Night Ghoulesque, The Dirty Dirty Con Con Gameshow and so much more! So, get your fill of the blood-bath that is, Days of the Dead!

Get sinfully seductive at 7 Stages for Kool Kat Katherine Lashe and the burly-Q gals of Syrens of the South’s 11th Annual Vixen’s Valentease Vaudeville & Variety Show! The BACKYARDBIRDS invade the Red Light Café! Stomp on down to The Earl for a night with Blood on the Harp, Little Country Giants and the Casey Hood & Jared Pepper Duo! Or make your way to Eddie’s Attic for a night with BJ Barham (American Aquarium)! Rock out with Sash the Bash, Pretty Vacant and King of Queens at Smith’s Olde Bar! Get down with the Atlanta Funk Society during the High Museum’s February First Friday event! Venkman’s dishes out a night with Saved by the Band! It’s déjà vu hilarity at Battle & Brew as they run a marathon screening of Harold Ramis’ GROUNDHOG DAY (1993), beginning at 2pm! Or catch a screening of Robert Mulligan’s classic TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre at 8pm! Bluegrass it up with The SteelDrivers at the Buckhead Theatre! Little Joey’s Jumpin’ Jive gets down and returns to the Northside Tavern! Catch a screening of Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM (2003) at The Plaza Theater! Eighties it up with Kool Kat Becky Cormier Finch with Denim Arcade at The Wing in Marietta! Get rootsy with Delta Moon at Blind Willie’s! Time-Warp it up at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, February 3

It’s Day 2 to get spooked at the Days of the Dead Convention at the Sheraton Atlanta! Get your blood curdling fill of monsters galore with Send in the Clowns with Captain & Maybelle; gore-ific panels including Women of Indie Horror featuring Kool Kat Dayna Noffke, Kool Kat Vanessa Wright, Lynne Hansen and Brooklyn Ewing; a 7pm screening of Wes Craven’s SCREAM (1996); “Terror from the ‘80s” secret films at 10pm and midnight; and one hell-bent horrorific after party with Kool Kats The Casket Creatures and ELZIG!

The Star Bar gets to sizzlin’ with one hot Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper celebration, HOLLYFEST 10! Get your retro rock fix with Rodeo Twister, The Midnight Dukes, The Sideburners, Bad Friend, Kool Kat Sen. Artie Mondello, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah, The Cherry Bomb, Kitty Rose & The Rattlers, Andrea Colburn & Mud Moseley, Slim Chance & The Convicts, Joe St. Louis 5, Dusty Booze & The Baby Haters and more!  Cody Matlock rocks out at the Northside Tavern! The livin’ is easy in the Big Easy, so make your way to the Midtown Mardi Gras Block Party and funk it up through Feb. 4! Celebrate Black History Month at The Plaza Theater with their Histories & Legends: Exploring Black History Through Art & Motion event at 7:30pm! Get the rockin’ blues with Big Head Todd & The Monsters with Southern Avenue at the Variety Playhouse! Rock out with The Bohannons, The Stacktone Slims and The Crush at The Earl! Get to twangin’ with Devil Makes Three at the Buckhead Theatre! Rock out with John 5 & The Creatures at The Drunken Unicorn! Spend the night with Radio Moscow at Vinyl! Venkman’s gets down with New Sensation, and INXS tribute! Pop on over to Avondale Towne Cinema for Kenny Howe & The Wow! Big Bill Morganfield dishes out a night of the rockin’ blues at Blind Willie’s! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night!

Sunday, February 4

It’s Day 3 and your last chance to experience the rockin’ blood and horror fest, the Days of the Dead Convention!  Today’s events include horrorific panels including an Atlanta Author Horror Showcase; a 9am screening of James Bryan’s LADY STREET FIGHTER (1985) and more, so, come check out all the swell and retro horror goodness while you can! Catch a screening of Vincente Minnelli’s classic, GIGI (1958) during Northlake Festival Movie Tavern’s Flashback Cinema series at 2:30pm/7:30pm! Catch the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s 80th Anniversary screening of Konrad Tom and Joseph Green’s MAMELE (1938) at Springs Cinema & Tap House! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar with Eddie Tigner!

Ongoing

7 Stages presents THE FOLLOWERS: A RETELLING OF THE BACCHAE, running through Feb. 25!

The Historic Oakland Cemetery offers free guided tours of African American Grounds, throughout Black History Month!

Get the blues with Ike Stubblefield at Avondale Towne Cinema, every Wednesday until March 28!

Geek it up and get to bowlin’ at The Comet Pub & Lanes’ Comet Cosplay, getting nerdy the first Monday of every month!

Dad’s Garage’s Big Boozy Nerdy Game Night brings out the kid in you, every first Monday of the month at 7pm! 

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Get your reggae fix with Rub-A-Dub gettin’ down at WildPitch Music Hall, every second Sunday of the month!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

The Buried Alive Film Festival is back for its 12th chilling year, brought to you by the Buried Alive team of Kool Kat Blake Myers, Luke Godfrey, Mark Malek and Alyssa Myers, with five killer days (November 15-19) of film terror, including six features, 54 short new independent horror films from around the globe, and three extra special events.  Its sinister shenanigans return for a second year to 7 Stages Theatre in Little Five Points.

This year’s festival features five brand new movies, including our Kool Kat of the Week, Ashley Thorpe’s BORLEY RECTORY is a documentary feature (rotoscope/animation), described by Thorpe as “an ultrasound of a haunting” (see ATLRetro’s exclusive interview with Ashley here). The opening (Thursday) night feature is the latest from director Mickey Keating (POD; DARLING; CARNAGE PARK), a bloody tale of seven serial killers and their deadly agendas as they cross paths over one night, PSYCHOPATHS, which premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival earlier this year. Other feature films include AMERICAN GUINEA PIG: THE SONG OF SOLOMON, a story of satanic possession and the clergymen who confront it directed by Stephen Biro (AMERICAN GUINEA PIG: BLOODSHOCK); WHO’S WATCHING OLIVER, the tale of a mentally unstable loner and his killing spree directed by Richie Moore (CRAZY MEDICINE); and the World Premiere of BB, a provocative psycho-sexual thriller outlining the dangers of technology and who just may be peeking on the other side directed by CJ Wallis (DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK[editor]).

This year BAFF features will go beyond the usual horror narratives and include documentaries. FOOLISH MORTALS: A HAUNTED MANSION DOCUMENTARY explores the fan culture surrounding Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride from director James H. Carter II featuring interviews with Disney legend Rolly Crump, artist Topher Adams, AMERICAN MARY’s Tristan Risk, Robert Kurtzman, SpookyDan Walker and more.

Buried Alive also continues to show its love for the local Georgia horror scene. This year’s festival includes six local shorts, with two  directed by our very own Kool Kats Dayna Noffke (UNDER THE BED about a girl and her favorite monster fiend) and Vanessa Ionta Wright (I BAKED HIM A CAKE). Other local shorts include AHEAD IN THE ROAD about three college girls learning the dangers of “the middle of nowhere” directed by Walt Guthrie and Matt McGahren, WEED WHACKER MASSACRE about a grumpy old man-turned-deadly machine vs. the HOA directed by Benjamin R. Dover, MONGO’S GOT A SPIDER GUN changing the world one arachnid at a time directed by Tim McGahren, and SKY TRIPPER featuring ancient artifacts and perilous actions directed by Philip Freeman.

Back by popular demand is the BAFF Sinema Challenge, which challenges local filmmakers with the opportunity to make a horror film in 13 days. Production starts on November 1 and the films will screen on the festival’s opening night, Wed. Nov. 15, at 8 p.m., judged by co-creator and exclusive programmer for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) weekly late-night cult movie showcase TCM Underground, Kool Kat Millie De Chirico and “Archer” animation director and Atlanta-based filmmaker, Marcus Rosentrater.

One of the real strengths, and our favorite part, of Buried Alive Film Fest is the shorts programs. This year brings five shorts sets (The Groundkeeper’s Faves; Cult of the Grave Worm; Weirdness from 6 Feet Under; If These Tombstones Could Make Movies!; and If this is all there is my friend? Then let’s keep digging.) presenting 54 new films that will enlighten, scare and disgust you to the fullest extent. A few highlights from the selections include Huseyin Hassan’s 2AM about a middle-aged man, a white rabbit and supernatural events, the American premiere of Finnish animator and Buried Alive awardwinner Tomi Malakias’ THE ZOO and Mathew E. Robinson’s RIGOR MORTIS about gory and guilt-ridden sibling rivalry. 

Finally, no respectable horror film festival would be complete without screening a few horror classics, and ATLRetro loves the two special events chosen this year. On Friday night at 10 p.m., BAFF will present a special screening of Robert Wiene’s silent horror classic THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1921) with a live soundtrack by Atlanta-based jazz group Samadha! And on Saturday night at 10 p.m., BAFF offers a special treat with a digitally remastered Tim Burton’s ED WOOD, the 1994 biopic starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landeau (as Bela Lugosi) and more. The screening will be hosted by Atlanta’s award-winning Blast Off Burlesque, who will stage one of their signature TabooLaLa events including a performance inspired by the film before the screening. With Plan 9 Graveyard photo-ops, auditions for ED, drag races for prizes and costume contests…let’s just say, things will get wonderfully bizarre.

The 7 Stages Theatre is located at 1105 Euclid Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307. Individual program block tickets are $12, and five-day festival passes are just $100.

For more information and the complete Buried Alive Film Festival schedule, visit the website here. And view the official BAFF bumper here.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Illustration by Monsterama guest Kat Hudson

What are you up to this weekend? We’re monster mashing it up with a helluva killer Kool Kat extravaganza and more at the 4rd Annual MONSTERAMA CONVENTION, creeping and crawling into town this Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta! From legendary actors to ghastly séances, here are our top reasons to get your classic monster fix at MONSTERAMA!

1)  THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI SCORED LIVE. Valentine Wolfe is back for another year, providing an eerie auditory experience as they accompany Robert Wiene’s 1920 classic silent horror film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, Saturday at 1pm!

2) HOUDINI SEÁNCE. You won’t want to miss MONSTERAMA’s first ever séance! And who better to raise your spiritual expectations with a conjuring of medium debunker and escape artist extraordinaire Harry Houdini, than ghoulish guests Kool Kat Shane Morton, Daniel Roebuck and Marcus Koch! Raise your spirits Friday at 11pm!

3) SILVER SCREAM SPOOK SHOW.  Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. ghost host with the most, Professor Morte and the Silver Scream Spook Show featuring the Go-Go Ghouls and guest, Dick Miller will terrify with a live spook show followed by a spook-tacular screening of Roger Corman’s THE TERROR (1963) on 16mm, Saturday beginning at 4pm!

4) FANGTASTIC FILM AND TWISTED TELEVISION.  It’s monster movie madness with screenings of horrorific classics (mostly screening in 16mm) including Charles B. Griffiths’s DR. HECKYL AND MR. HYPE (1980), featuring guest Dick Miller; Roman Polanski’s THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967); Lainie Miller’s 2014 documentary, THAT GUY DICK MILLER; Roy Ward Baker’s THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970); an unannounced Ballyhoo Motion Pictures documentary; and a special adults only (21+) screening of guest Brian K. Williams’ newly released SPACE BABES FROM OUTER SPACE with special guests Allison Maier and Ellie Church, and a slew of more slaying cinema! Or get terrified T.V.-style  throughout the weekend and catch screenings of THE OUTER LIMITS – “The Sixth Finger” and “The Architects of Fear”; STAR TREK – “Devil in the Dark” and “Mirror Mirror”; made for TV movie, THE QUESTOR TAPES (1974); and you won’t want to miss a super rare screening of Kolchak THE NIGHT STALKER and more!

5) CINEPROV RIFFS THE LOST WORLD. Madness, monsters and prehistoric creatures, OH MY! Hilarity ensues as New MST3K writer Larry Johnson and CINEPROV riffs Irwin Allen’s THE LOST WORLD (1960) Friday at 9pm!

6) SPOOKTACULAR GUESTS. Catch some killer guests, including Sybil Danning (BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS); BarBara Luna (STAR TREK); Dick Miller (GREMLINS; ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL); visual effects expert Gene Warren Jr. (PET SEMATERY; ELIMINATORS); horror history expert and documentarian, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures; creaturific artist Kool Kat Mark Maddox; Kool Kat Ricky Hess (HORROR HOTEL); filmmaker and set-dec dresser/buyer Kool Kat Dayna Noffke (“Under the Bed”); film score composer Tom Ashton (The March Violets); Kool Kat Shane Morton, ghost host with the most, a.k.a. Professor Morte; glamour ghoul Kool Kat Madeline Brumby, actress Allison Maier (FRANKENSTEIN CREATED BIKERS) and more!

7) MONSTER MAKEOVERS.  Get gore-gous with monster make-up galore as part of this year’s Makers Track! You won’t want to miss SSFXLAB’s “It’s Alive” event, creating Frankenstein’s monster in 3 different ways; SFX for the smallest creatures in your life, with the “Littlest Monster Maker,” event featuring mom/daughter duo, filmmaker Kool Kat Dayna Noffke and ultra spooky Vivi Vivian; and win some monstrous prizes with the annual FACE-ON make-up contest! And don’t forget to stick around for a creeping cornucopia of frightful faces and monster masks!

8) WARPED WRITERS & LITERARY PANELS. Writers make the monstrous world go ‘round, so check out guest authors, Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker’s great grand-nephew (DRACULA THE UN-DEAD); John Farris (THE FURY); Sean Linkenback (THE ART OF JAPANESE MONSTERS); Charles Rutledge and vampire aficionado J. E. Browning (GRAPHIC HORROR: MOVIE MONSTER MEMORIES). And you won’t want to miss out on some wicked panels of the literary variety including “Our Favorite Trashy Horror Novels,” with Jeff Strand, Clay Gilbert and Eddie Coulter; “Dracula 120th Anniversary Spectacular,” with Dacre Stoker, J.E. Browning and Kool Kat Anthony Taylor; “Nevermore – A Poe Tribute,” with Kool Kat Mark Maddox and Mike Gordon, and so many more!

9) SCARE-TASTIC SHOPPING. Horror cons are the perfect place to stock up on both classic horror memorabilia, cult classics on DVD and creepy clothing, costumes and accessories. So come on down to the dealer’s room and check out all the toys, collectibles and monstrous goodies you can get your ghoulish little hands on!

10) MONSTER PROM. Hey all you boils and ghouls, get frightfully funky at this year’s Monster Prom, Saturday at 8:30pm! Dust off the old rat-infested tux, clear out the cobwebs, shine up your shoes and get ready to do the Monster Mash, and maybe even Time-Warp into the wee hours of the morning, hosted by Professor Morte and DJ Deathskiss!

MONSTERAMA main con hours are Fri. Sept. 29 from 4 to 12 a.m. (with screenings at noon and registration at 3pm); Sat. Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.; and Sun. Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more info, visit the MONSTERAMA official website here.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Anthony Taylor, official Licensing & Brand Manager for the Bram Stoker Estate, author and one helluva monster-kid, co-chairs Atlanta’s favorite classic monster convention, MONSTERAMA, creeping into its fourth hellacious year at the Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta this weekend, Friday – Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1!

Prepare for a ghastly three days of ghoulish proportions filled to the blood-curdling brim with old-school horror connoisseurs like Sybil Danning (BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS); BarBara Luna (THE DEVIL AT 4 O’CLOCK; STAR TREK); Dick Miller (THE TERMINATOR; GREMLINS; ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL); visual effects expert Gene Warren Jr. (THE TERMINATOR; PET SEMATERY; ELIMINATORS); author John Farris (THE FURY); horror history expert and documentarian, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures; creaturific artist Kool Kat Mark Maddox; Kool Kat Ricky Hess (HORROR HOTEL); filmmaker and set-dec dresser/buyer Kool Kat Dayna Noffke (“Under the Bed”); Victorian chamber metal musicians Valentine Wolfe; film score musician/composer Tom Ashton (The March Violets); Kool Kat Shane Morton, ghost host with the most, a.k.a. Professor Morte; glamour ghoul Kool Kat Madeline Brumby and so many more! Get wicked and haunt on down to MONSTERAMA for a weekend of monster madness!

In addition to his duties as MONSTERAMA’s “Monster Kid in Chief,” Taylor has authored THE FUTURE WAS F.A.B.: THE ART OF MIKE TRIM, released in 2014; ARCTIC ADVENTURE, an official THUNDERBIRDS novel released in 2012; VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA: THE COMPLETE SERIES – VOL. 2, released in 2010, and more. He’s also penned hundreds of articles published in horror, sci-fi and film fandom publications such as SFX MAGAZINE, VIDEO WATCHDOG, FANGORIA, SCREEM MAGAZINE, HORRORHOUND MAGAZINE, FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and more!

ATLRetro caught up with Anthony Taylor for a quick interview about his monster kid memories; the importance of preserving film and classic popular culture; and this year’s maniacal MONSTERAMA madness!

Illustration by Monsterama guest Kat Hudson

ATLRetro: MONSTERAMA invades Atlanta once again and we couldn’t be more excited! As a life-long monster kid, can you fill us in on the creation of this labor of love and tell us what prompted you to bring a weekend full of classic monsters to the heart of Atlanta?

Anthony Taylor: I’ve attended conventions like Wonderfest in Louisville, KY, and Monster Bash in Mars, PA, for many years and enjoyed them immensely. I’d always wished there was a similar show here in Atlanta. I waited around for that to happen for so long that I finally decided to put it on myself, and Monsterama was born in 2014. Though predominantly focused on classic horror films, we embrace monsters of all genres and media, and try to provide a great weekend for people who like them.

Pop culture/sub-culture conventions, such as MONSTERAMA, are great ways to preserve film and television classics. Why do you think these types of events draw larger crowds year after year? In your role(s) as convention director/Co-Chair, are you seeing larger and larger turnouts at these types of events each year?

I’m not certain they are drawing significantly larger crowds every year; at least not the more focused ones. Dragon Con, absolutely; they appeal to multiple genres and generations. We have grown consistently since 2014, but I know some shows that report a shrinking fan base simply due to the age of the films and media they cover – the fans and those still into them are dying off.  That’s why I feel it’s important for conventions like Monsterama to keep the banner flying. If we don’t, sooner or later no one will care about these stories that we cherish. In my opinion, “millennials” just don’t seem to see film as an art form, by and large. It’s a way to waste two hours and then on to the next distraction to many of them. The films we celebrate are definitely art and deserve to be preserved.

The guests that have appeared at MONSTERAMA have been monsterific, from Ricou Browning to Lynn Lowry to Victoria Price to Caroline Munro to Zach Galligan and so many more. What can you tell our readers about this year’s guests? Anything exciting planned? And who are you hoping to snag for future conventions?

We’ve got FABULOUS guests this year! Dick Miller, the guy from every Roger Corman and Joe Dante movie ever made, will be with us, as will Sybil Danning from BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS and THE HOWLING 2, to name a few. Daniel Roebuck from LOST and Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN movies will be signing for free all weekend! We also have BarBara Luna from STAR TREK and the OUTER LIMITS, Academy Award™-winning special effects master Gene Warren, Jr., Lynn Lowry (as you mentioned), and so many more. The complete list is on our website here. Next year I’d love to get John Saxon, as I’ve enjoyed all of his performances.

Not only are you seasoned in the areas of classic film and television fandom from the behind-the-scenes running of conventions, but you’re also a published author (ARCTIC ADVENTURE, an official THUNDERBIRDS novel, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA: THE COMPLETE SERIES – VOL. 2, along with articles published in several fandom magazines). What compels you to write? And what is it about classic pop culture that makes you want to share it with your readers?

I like sharing my joy in all things popular culture with other people. I don’t want to just share my own nostalgic vision on a lot of these subjects — I want to provide readers with context so they can enjoy art on a deeper level. A good example is the graphic novel WATCHMEN by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. To anyone who picked it up after 1989, when the Berlin wall came down and glasnost pervaded Eastern Europe, it has a completely different meaning than to those of us who read it while still under the threat of nuclear war. Of course, now might be a good time for a re-read of Watchmen… I’ve written hundreds of articles and interviews for film magazines exposing what goes on behind the camera because that informs what goes on in front of it. Context makes you view art in a completely different light.

Which classic monster and/or movie would you say is the most neglected and what do you think makes them worthy of attention?

I’ve got a few lesser-known favorites, chief among them I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and CURSE OF THE DEMON. They both work to frighten or creep out the viewer on a very base level, and both are visually striking. They both create tension via a sort of poetic nomenclature and subvert the viewer’s expectations. I could recommend many films, but if you haven’t seen these two, add them to your list!

Can you tell us a little about some of your favorite monster kid memories?

The first monster I was ever fascinated by (like many) was King Kong. When I was six years old, I traded a few comic books for a gorgeous poster of angry Kong towering over New York City, Fay Wray in his hand– and it scared me so much that I couldn’t sleep with it on my wall! My mom had to re-hang it in my closet so it wouldn’t keep me up at night in terror.

We see that you’re a huge fan of classic toys and model kit building. Do you remember the first model kit? And more importantly, do you still have it?

Around the same age, I began to see ads on the back of comics for Aurora monster model kits and could barely contain my desire for the whole set. The first one I coveted was the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but the first one I actually bought and built was the Phantom of the Opera. I eventually got Frankenstein, Dracula, The Creature and a few more. Unfortunately, my originals do not survive, but I have re-issues of all of them now. Knowing they’re safe in my storage unit gives me a warm, completed feeling from time to time.

I’m sure all monster kids are dying to know — how does one become the licensing & brand manager for the Bram Stoker Estate? That’s got to be one big dream come true. Can you tell us some exciting things you’ve got planned regarding Stoker’s Estate?

I met Dacre Stoker, who runs the estate and is Bram Stoker’s great-grand nephew a few years ago and we get along well. After seeing his presentations on Bram and Dracula several times, I began to realize how much branding potential was being wasted by not having someone overseeing these matters. I spoke with Dacre and we eventually put together an agreement that made me Licensing & Brand manager for the estate. I’m working with companies in the retail mystery box realm, jewelry, tabletop gaming, and others to try and create products that will extend awareness of Stoker and his works. It’s going pretty well so far.

What was your first taste of monstrous terror, and which classic monsters are your favorites?

Aurora Classic Monster model kits

Kong! I also love the many creations of Ray Harryhausen, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Creature From The Black Lagoon. I used to be an indiscriminate collector of monster merchandise, but now I’ve narrowed things down to just a few favorites. I no longer feel the need to own everything ever made!

What about your favorite classic television series?

Gerry Anderson’s UFO – the only monsters in it are humans and humanoid aliens, but the protagonist is a bureaucrat, out on the watchtower keeping the Earth safe from invaders. He’s a hero with a briefcase, and the writing of the show made a big impression on me when I first viewed it. There are lots of great miniature effects and explosions, cute girls in silver cat suits, and groovy music, but it remains one of the most engaging and serious television programs I’ve ever seen.

Can you give us five things you’re into at the moment that we should be watching, reading or listening to right now— past or present, well-known or obscure?

I’m afraid my days of being cutting edge are long past! I mostly listen to’70s and ’80s punk and new wave, with a general leaning towards jangly guitar riffs by bands like The Church, or Crowded House. I haunt Netflix and Amazon Prime for new films and shows like THE OA or THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE (also starring Monsterama guest Daniel Roebuck). I read a lot of bad speculative fiction but I’m genuinely amazed when something as good as Jeff VanderMeer’s BORNE comes along. I like Sirius radio now that I have it, but wish it were priced more reasonably. I’m a huge fan of Kazuo Ishiguro’s writing, especially THE REMAINS OF THE DAY and NEVER LET ME GO.

And back to one of our favorite classic monster conventions, MONSTERAMA – anything extra special in store for con attendees this year? Any special events planned we should put on our calendar? So many great things!

Friday we have a concert by our heavy Victorian metal house band, Valentine Wolfe, a tongue-in-cheek séance to raise the spirit of Harry Houdini, Cineprov will be riffing on Irwin Allen’s production of THE LOST WORLD, and we’re screening guest Brian K. Williams’ film SPACE BABES FROM OUTER SPACE, with stars Ellie Church and Alison Maier in attendance. Saturday is the Silver Scream Spook Show screening THE TERROR, which co-stars our guest Dick Miller, plus our annual Monster Prom where we have truly fabulous door prizes. Valentine Wolfe will also be providing a live, original musical score for the classic German film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. Dacre Stoker is bringing some of Bram Stoker’s personal effects to display as well. Sunday the Atlanta Radio Theater Company will be performing BRIDES OF DRACULA live onstage. All this plus many other panels, screenings, exhibits, contests, and demos all weekend long!

A. Taylor and Monsterama 2016 guest, Caroline Munro

And last but not least, what are you up to next? Can you give us some details on any other projects you’re currently working on or will be in the near future?

My partner and I are launching a new convention in Atlanta next Easter weekend called SPY CON. If you’re a James Bond, Kingsman, Man From UNCLE or other Spy-fi fan, you won’t want to miss it! We’re still early in the process, but details are available here. And of course, work has already begun on next year’s Monsterama, which will be classic Sci-Fi and space-horror themed, and is slated to take place at the Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta Oct. 5-7, 2018.

All photos courtesy of Anthony Taylor and used with permission.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get spooked in ATLRetro this week! The days creep closer and closer to that most haunted pinnacle of fright and terror and we’ve dug up all the spooktacular events just for you! The ghosts and goblins have been let loose, so don’t be a fraidy cat; get out and get Retro!

Monday, September 25

The Hot Club of Atlanta gets old-timey at Hot Jam! Catch a screening of Disney’s MULAN (1998) at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/6pm [AMC Phipps Plaza 14; AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); and AMC Dine-In North Point Mall 12 (Alpharetta)] through Sept. 28! GKids presents a Studio Ghibli Fest 2017 screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) at theatres across Atlanta at 7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); Studio Movie Grill’s (Duluth); and Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford)]! Get your psychedelic cowboy fix with The Echo Ohs, Leather and TorpedoeZ at 529! Get funky and groove on down to Café 290 every second and fourth Monday of the month for a taste of Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!” Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues at Blind Willie’s! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack as they dish out The Pork Bellys and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, September 26

Rock out with The Cribs and PAWS at The Earl! It’s madness as Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their Classics Series with a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) at 7pm! Broadway in Atlanta brings you THE KING AND I at the Fox Theatre, running through Sun. Oct. 1! Rock out with The War On Drugs at the Tabernacle! Glam it up with Yesterday & Today at City Winery! Catch X Eye Blind at Eddie’s Attic! Go straight to hell for a night of glam horror punk with Kool Kats The Casket Creatures, Wednesday 13, Eyes Set to Kill, Repulsur and Death is a Dialogue at the Masquerade! Get down with the Poverty Level Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Rock out with The Redstone Ramblers at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Get down and dirty with Gray & The Bad Boys at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 27

Rock out with Kool Kat Amber Taylor and Ellen Meadows (The Sexual Side Effects) with Shawn Williams and Adelaide Tai at The Star Bar! Spend the night with The Indigo Girls with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Or folk it up with Father John Misty at the Tabernacle! The StarBenders rock out at 529’s Atlanta Goth Night! Get your psyche rock fix with King Grizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Nest Egg at Variety Playhouse! Life is fine with Paul Kelly and Jess Cornelius at City Winery! Emory Cinematheque continues their Resist Fascism Series with a screening of Fritz Lang’s adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s HANGMEN ALSO DIE (1943) at 7:30pm! Or get your classic Western fix with a screening of John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS (1956) at Studio Movie Grill (Alpharetta/Duluth) at 7:15pm! GKids presents a Studio Ghibli Fest 2017 screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) at theatres across Atlanta at 7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); Studio Movie Grill’s (Duluth); and Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford)]! Or make your way to Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville) and help celebrate 30 years of Oliver Stone’s WALL STREET (1987) at 2pm/7pm! Make your way to the Red Light Café and get traditional with Trio Da Kali and Derek Grippers African Strings Project! Get down with the Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas at Terminal West! Jam out with The McLovins and Captain and the Kid at Smith’s Olde Bar! Get the rockin’ blues with the Cazanovas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Art Holliday, Inc. boogies down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get the old-school blues with Andrew Black at Blind Willie’s! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 28

The Clermont Lounge brings the doom with The Obsessed! Prog rock it up with Pinback at the Masquerade! Kenny Wayne Shepherd dishes out the blues at Center Stage! Rock out for a one night-only 7pm screening of Dick Carruthers’ documentary, BLACK SABBATH: THE END OF THE END (2017) at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema! Rock out with Wax Fang at The Star Bar! Make your way to Terminal West for Creative Loafing’s Best of Atlanta Celebration, featuring live tunes by ATL Collective, the Alex Guthrie Band, Chelsea Shag, OKcello and more! Get the blues with Norman Frank & The Ghost Dance at The Vista Room! Get the blues with the Cody Matlock Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get your funky ‘60s and ‘70s fix with Dyn-O-Mite at Smokebelly BBQ! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so get swanky with Bogey & The Viceroy at Trader Vic’s and grab a couple cocktails! Heather Luttrell dishes out a night of rockin’ Americana at Blind Willie’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New-Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 29

The horror! The horror! Atlanta kicks off its Halloween celebrations with a bang! Spook up the weekend with a whole lotta horror classics by haunting on down to the fourth annual Monsterama Convention, “The Fall of the House of Monsterama 2017” invading the Atlanta Marriott Alpharetta and haunting all your senses through Oct. 1! You won’t want to miss our Kool Kat interview with Monsterama Co-Chair, Anthony Taylor coming soon! Experience four horrorific tracks (Main, Literary, Maker and Film Screenings) while perusing the monsterific vender tables. Catch some killer guests including  Sybil Danning (BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS; HERCULES); BarBara Luna (THE DEVIL AT 4 O’CLOCK; STAR TREK); Dick Miller (THE TERMINATOR; GREMLINS; ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL); visual effects expert Gene Warren Jr. (THE TERMINATOR; PET SEMATERY; ELIMINATORS); horror history expert and documentarian, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures; creaturific artist Kool Kat Mark Maddox; Kool Kat Ricky Hess (HORROR HOTEL); filmmaker and set-dec dresser/buyer Kool Kat Dayna Noffke (“Under the Bed”); film score composer Tom Ashton (The March Violets); Kool Kat Shane Morton, ghost host with the most, a.k.a. Professor Morte; glamour ghoul Kool Kat Madeline Brumby and so much more! Tonight Cineprov riffs Irwin Allen’s THE LOST WORLD (1960) at 9pm! So, come on down for the horror that is Monsterama and get your classic horror fix!

Celebrate 50 years of Jean Claude Van Itallie’s play, TV FROM AMERICA HURRAH, running through Sept. 30 at 7 Stages! Haunt on down to Norcross for Netherworld Haunted House’s horrorific 21st season, gorrifying through Nov. 1! It’s a night of rockin’ classic country at The Star Bar with their Glen Campbell/Jerry Reed Tribute! And make your way downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for a night of bluegrass with City Hotel! Get down with The Urban Shakedancers at The Vista Room! Get experimental at Avondale Towne Cinema with FLAP, the Edgewood Saxophone Trio and Duet for Theramin & Lap Steel! Get funky at Venkman’s with an evening of Prince: The B-Sides! Folk it up with Cheryl Wheeler and Blue Dogs LIVE at Eddie’s Attic! Make your way to Center Stage for a night with Ani DiFranco! Spend the night with Trey Anistasio and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Atlanta Symphony Hall! Get countrified with the Drive-By Truckers and Strand of Oaks at Variety Playhouse! Shimmy on down to the Elliot Street Pub and get down to the nitty gritty of it all with CandyBox’ Underground Burlesque Show! Rev on down to the Mule Camp Tavern in Gainesville for a night with The Sideburners! It’s a night of flamenco, African-beat gypsy jazz at the Buckhead Theatre with Beats Antique! The Lauren Mitchell Band gets old-timey at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Catch a screening of Disney’s A GOOFY MOVIE (1995) at SCADShow at 7pm! Get down with Dani Mac & Company at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Make your way to Blind Willie’s for a night with the “Blues Empress” Sandra Hall & The Shadows! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck with the Atlanta Horns and Beverly “Guitar” Watkins tear it up at Northside Tavern! And as always, time-warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, September 30

Day 2 of the Monsterama Convention kills it with a screening of Robert Wiene’s THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) scored live by Valentine Wolfe at 1pm. Get haunted with cinematic and television history presented by Professor Morte’s Silver Scream Spook Show’s screening of Roger Corman’s THE TERROR (1963) on 16mm with special guest Dick Miller at 4pm. Monster Mash it up at the Monster Prom! Get witty and retro turn of the century London-style with Kool Kats Michael Stark and Terrell Garrett during their Wolverton Comic Book Release Party at My Parents’ Basement! Catch a screening of Jim Henson’s THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) at the Center for Puppetry Arts at 7pm! Or make your way to the EAV Farmer’s Market for their “Movies under the (EAV) Stars” screening of Richard Donner’s ‘80s adventure, THE GOONIES (1985) at 7:30pm! Get intergalactic and make your way to the 2nd Annual Atlanta Sci-Fi Film Festival, running through Oct. 1, brought to you by The Multi-Cultural Sci-Fi Organization! Stomp on down to City Winery for a night with Michelle Malone, Drag the River and The James Hall Trio! Get down with The Urban Shakedancers with Wild West Picture Show at The Vista Room! Get your ‘80s latin rock fix with Café Tacuba at the Masquerade! It’s a night of retro-tastic tunes on the Piedmont Park Promenade with the Wasted Potential Brass Band, The REMakes, Yacht Rock Schooner and Slippery When Wet! Get a countrified encore with the Drive-By Truckers and Strand of Oaks at Variety Playhouse! Spend the night with the Queen of Soul at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre’s NATURAL WOMAN – AN ARETHA STORY, a biographical musical revue! Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck and the Atlanta Horns tear it up at Northside Tavern! Get your ‘70s pop disco fix with the Susi French Connection at Eddie’s Attic! Get down with Little Joey’s Jumpin’ Jive at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Groove Rocket dishes out the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Blues it up with House Rocker Johnson & The Shadwos at Blind Willie’s! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night!

Sunday, October 1

Rock out with The Queers, The Ataris and The Sawed Offs at The Earl! It’s day 3 and your last chance to get your classic horror fix at the Monsterama Convention! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

Get intergalactic with Wicket: The Musical at Dad’s Garage Theatre Company, geeking it up through Oct. 7!

Haunt on down to Norcross for Netherworld Haunted House’s horrorific 21st season, gorrifying through Nov. 1!

Geek it up and get to bowlin’ at The Comet Pub & Lanes’ Comet Cosplay, getting nerdy the first Monday of every month!

Dad’s Garage’s Big Boozy Nerdy Game Night brings out the kid in you, every first Monday of the month at 7pm!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Get your reggae fix with Rub-A-Dub gettin’ down at WildPitch Music Hall, every second Sunday of the month!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Rock out in ATLRetro This Week! Come see what we’ve found for you!

Monday, September 18

Catch a screening of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) at theatres across Atlanta at 2pm/6pm [AMC Phipps Plaza 14; AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); and AMC Dine-In North Point Mall 12 (Alpharetta)] through Sept. 21! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Get your roots and soul fix with Brandon Reeves at Blind Willie’s! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam! And blues on down to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack as they dish out The Pork Bellys and a plate full ‘o finger lickin’ BBQ!

Tuesday, September 19

Landmark Midtown Art Cinema continues their Classics Series with a screening of Terrence Malick’ THE THIN RED LINE (1998) at 7pm! Rock out with The Golden Pelicans, Nag, Skin Jobs, and Harmacy at 529! Get old-timey with The Cactus Blossoms at Eddie’s Attic! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern for a screening of Mike Judge’s OFFICE SPACE (1999) ‘during their  Retro Cinema series at 7:30pm! Funk it up with Voodoo Visionary at City Winery! Get your old-timey Americana fix with Isaac Smith, Kyle Lacy & The Harlem River Noise and Kool Kat Caleb & The Gents at Smith’s Olde Bar! It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with Lydia Loveless and Devon Gilfillian! Make your way to Terminal West for a night with Deer Tick! Get down with the Poverty Level Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! It’s a night of foot stompin’ Americana with the Boo Hoo Ramblers at Blind Willie’s! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s every Tuesday! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Downtown Tuesday Night Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! Get down and dirty with Gray & The Bad Boys at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!

Wednesday, September 20

It’s a hootenanny and a half at The Star Bar with Lydia Loveless and Nikki & The Phantom Callers! Spend the night with David Ryan Harris at Eddie’s Attic! Phone home and get intergalactic as TCM Big Screen Classics Presents a 35th Anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s E.T.THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) at theatres across Atlanta, 2pm/7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18; AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Studio Movie Grill’s (Alpharetta/Duluth); AMC Avenue Forsyth 12 (Cumming); and Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan)]! Make your way to the Buckhead Theatre for a night with Hanson. Get funky and groove on down to City Winery for a taste of Bumpin the Mango! Emory Cinematheque continues their Resist Fascism Series with a screening of Ernst Lubitsch’s TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) at 7:30pm! Make your way to 529 for a night with Pony League and The High Divers! Make your way to the Northlake Festival Movie Tavern for an encore screening of Mike Judge’s OFFICE SPACE (1999) ‘during their  Retro Cinema series at 7:30pm! Get the rockin’ blues with the Cazanovas at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Art Holliday, Inc. boogies down at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Spend the night with The Prestage Brothers at Blind Willie’s! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern as Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck fires it up with his rockin’ blues! St. James Live! delivers their Hump Days Blues night, getting classic blues-style every Wednesday! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.

Thursday, September 21

Take a walk down the “Dead Carpet” for the inaugural Women in Horror Film Festival brought to you by Festival Directors Kool Kat Vanessa Ionta Wright (RAINY SEASON) and Samantha Kolesnik, killing it through Sept. 24 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta SW in Peachtree City, featuring a horrorific lineup of shorts and feature-length films (keep your eyes peeled for our Kool Kat interview with film judge and local filmmaker, Dayna Noffke), panels, vendors and special guests including Heather Langenkamp (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Amanda Wyss (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET/BETTER OFF DEAD), Marianne Maddalena (SCREAM), Lynn Lowry (CAT PEOPLE/THE CRAZIES), Trina Parks (DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) and more! The Melvins rock out at the Masquerade! Or rock out with Gunpowder Gray, The Blood Royale, Moth Face, and Timmy James & The Blue Flames at The Star Bar! Stomp on down to Avondale Towne Cinema for a night with Blood on the Harp, Justin Hylton and Jason Waller! Funk it up with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the Tabernacle! Get down and dirty at The Clermont Lounge with Forsaken Profits, We Want Blood, The Break and Resident One! Live long and prosper and celebrate 35 years of Nicholas Meyer’s STAR TREK II: WRATH OF KHAN (1982) at theatres across Atlanta, 2pm/7pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford); Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18; and AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow)]! Spend the night with Jake Clemons at City Winery! Get the blues with the Cody Matlock Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get your old-time country fix with Jimmy Webb at Eddie’s Attic! Gutter folk it up with Zale, Gas Hound, Greco, and Bellbreakers at The Earl! Lilly Hiatt at Smith’s Olde Bar! It’s Mai Tai Thursday, so rock on down to Trader Vic’s for a night of island tunes and tasty cocktails! Get down and dirty with The Shadows at Blind Willie’s! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Stagger on over to Noni’s Bar & Deli for their Bitter Heroes event featuring DJ Brian Parris as he gets charmingly morose with a little New-Wave, The Smiths and The Cure! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack featuring Eddie Tigner, delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.

Friday, September 22

It’s Day 2 of the Women in Horror Film Festival, so come on down and get your horror fix with a helluva lot of killer films, genre panels and more! Get funky with The New Orleans Suspects at City Winery! Hogarth it up and catch a screening of Brian Bird’s THE IRON GIANT (1999) at SCADShow at 7pm! Hop across the pond to Avondale Towne Cinema for a night of Beatles ’67 with Kenny Howes & Friends! Celebrate 60 years of Stax Records with Kool Kat Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics at The Vista Room! Get in the chamber and rock out with 2CELLOS and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Chastain Park! Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt & The Psycho Devilles revs it up with The Rocketz at The Star Bar! Kool Kat Talloolah Love, DJ Doctor Q and company get to swingin’ with their Speakeasy ElectroSwing Atlanta at the Red Light Café! Funk it up with The Charles Walker Band and Cadillac Jones at Venkman’s! The Temptations and The Four Tops dish out a night of classic soul and rock ‘n’ roll at Cobb Energy Center! Get to the root of it all with the Donna Hopkins Band at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get the old-school blues with the Juke Joint Dukes at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! The Mulligan Brothers folk it up at the Red Clay Theatre! Funk it up with Dumpstaphunk and Naughty Professor at Terminal West! The Shadows bring down the house at Blind Willie’s! Get down with Stoney Brooks at Northside Tavern! And as always, time-warp it up and get naughty with some uber musically-inclined transsexual aliens at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Saturday, September 23

Day 3 of the Women in Horror Film Festival brings you SFX make-up panels and workshops, a meet and greet with Trina Parks, and blocks of killer films! Get hell-bent and rock on down to the Masquerade for Slaughter Que 2017, featuring a full carnival midway, sinfully delicious food and rockin’ live tunes! Or slink on down to EAV for the 2017 EAV Strut, featuring local food, an artist’s market and retro-tastic tunes with Big Brutus, The Cherry Bomb, Chickens and Pigs, Dusty Roads, DOT.S, Front Porch Session Players, Highriders, Low Valley Hearts, Mark and Lady Outlaw, Paralyzer, Tray Dahl & The Jugtime Ragband and more! Rock out during the EAV Strut’s After Party at The Earl with Red Sea, Adron and Kenneth Kenito Murray! Or get old-timey at the Atlanta History Center for the Fall Folklife Festival! Blues it up at the Wolf Creek Amphitheatre with An Evening Under the Stars Blues Festival featuring Anthony Hamilton and Tank! Spend the night with Adam Ant at the Variety Playhouse! Haunt on down to Amsterdam Atlanta for Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s COFFIN CLASSICS: Goth Industrial Music Video Dance Party featuring Goth, dark 80s and more! Rock out retro-style with The Western Sizzlers and the Chris Massey Band at Avondale Towne Cinema! Rock on down to The Star Bar for a night with El Scorcho, Nameless Nameless and Hyperspace! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! Sugarcane Jane dishes out a night of Americana at Serenbe’s Oak Room! Make your way to Eddie’s Attic for a night with Eliot Bronson, Caroline Aiken, Michelle Malone and Dede Vogt! Get down with The Scissormen at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Get the blues with Ron Cooley & The Hard Times at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Jazz it up with Francine Reed at Blind Willie’s! St. James Live! delivers their Tribute to the Legends night every Saturday night!

Sunday, September 24

It’s your last chance to get terror-fied at the Women in Horror Film Festival, so come on out and get your horror movie fix! Rock out with 1916, The Muckers and Battlefield Collective at The Earl! Get your vinyl fix during The Atlanta Record & CD Show at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center, from 10am – 4pm! Rock out with TESLA at Atlanta Symphony Hall! GKids presents a Studio Ghibli Fest 2017 screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) at theatres across Atlanta at 12:55pm [Hollywood Stadium 24 (Chamblee); AMC Barrett Commons 24 (Kennesaw); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville); Perimeter Pointe 10; Regal McDonough Stadium 16 (McDonough); AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 (Morrow); Studio Movie Grill’s (Duluth); and Regal Mall of Georgia 20 Plus Imax (Buford)]! Or make your way to Cinemark Tinseltown 17 (Fayetteville) and help celebrate 30 years of Oliver Stone’s WALL STREET (1987) at 2pm/7pm! Mandi Strachota dishes out the blues at Darwin’s Burgers & Blues! Make your way to Park Tavern’s Sunset Sessions featuring Ron Gallo, Kool Kats Gringo Star and Shantih Shantih! Get down with 10,000 Pontiacs at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!

Ongoing

Get intergalactic with Wicket: The Musical at Dad’s Garage Theatre Company, geeking it up through Oct. 7!

Geek it up and get to bowlin’ at The Comet Pub & Lanes’ Comet Cosplay, getting nerdy the first Monday of every month!

Dad’s Garage’s Big Boozy Nerdy Game Night brings out the kid in you, every first Monday of the month at 7pm!

Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!

Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!

Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!

The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!

Get your reggae fix with Rub-A-Dub gettin’ down at WildPitch Music Hall, every second Sunday of the month!

Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups.  Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’

Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!

If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

What are you doing this weekend? We’re monster mashing it up at the 2nd Annual MONSTERAMA CONVENTION, creeping and crawling into town this weekend, Oct. 2-4 at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center!

1) Christopher Lee: A Villainous Tribute! Catch a horrorific line-up of Christopher Lee films on Saturday featuring Terrence Fisher/Frank Winterstein’s SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE (1962), Jess Franco’s COUNT DRACULA (1970); and Robin Hardy’s THE WICKER MAN (1973)! And you must hammer out some time to catch “In Memoriam: Christopher Lee” on Saturday at 2pm; a panel with discussions about Lee and his amazing career. Our favorite villain has a body of work that includes screen credits for over 250 films!

2) Ricou Browning! “The Creature” extraordinaire and legendary underwater stuntman, director, actor and screenwriter will be lurking amongst the monsters this year (See our exclusive Kool Kat interview here)! Get aquatic with the infamous “Gill-Man” at the Black Lagoon Tiki Luau on Friday! And you won’t want to miss out on Ricou’s panels covering his monstrous cinematic life and everything in-between with “Return to the Black Lagoon” and “Thunderball & Beyond”!

3) Black Lagoon Tiki Luau! Hula on down (If you dare!) to the hotel pool on Friday night at 7pm and luau with The Creature himself, Ricou Browning! And for an experience you’ll never forget, throw on your suit and take a daunting dip into the Black Lagoon with effects artist, Kyle Yaklin (See our Shop Around feature on Kyle here) who will transform into the Creature of the night with his very own CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON suit crafted from the original mold!

4) Silver Scream Spook Show!  Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. ghost host with the most, Professor Morte and the Silver Scream Spook Show will be raisin’ hairs with a screening of Ernest B. Shoedsack/Merian C. Cooper’s KING KONG (1933) on Saturday at 3 pm! It’s no trick, but a special treat because Prof. Morte’s lovable sidekick Retch will be returning for a Spook Show presentation to remember. Read one of our very first Kool Kat interviews with Retch alter-ego Jon Waterhouse here.

5) FANGTASTIC FILM!  Friday’s frightening film feast includes a helluva offering of 16mm screenings including Sam Newfield’s THE MAD MONSTER (1942); Michael Reeves’ THE CONQUEROR WORM (1968); and Charles Laugton’s THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)! Saturday slaughters with horrorific classics including Nathan Juran’s JACK THE GIANT KILLER (1962); James Whale’s THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), Mario Bava’s BLACK SUNDAY (1960) and so much more! And Sunday gets sinister with Robert Siodmak/Erle C. Kenton’s SON OF DRACULA (1942); Antonio Margheriti’s CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964); and George Romero’s THE CRAZIES (1973)!

6) Spooktacular Guests! Spook it up with Larry Blamire (THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA); horror novelist and filmmaker John Farris (THE FURY); horror history expert and documentarian, Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, Kool Kat Shane Morton, ghost host with the most, a.k.a. Professor Morte, Victoria Price (daughter of the legendary Vincent Price. Get a taste of Vincent‘s cooking at a special Brunch with Victoria on Sunday!), legendary actresses, Lynn Lowry (THE CRAZIES; SHIVERS) and Candy Clark (AMERICAN GRAFFITI; THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH); glamour ghoul Kool Kat Madeline Brumby and so much more!

7) Twisted Television. Get terrified T.V.-style throughout the weekend and catch screenings of Gene Roddenberry’s made-for-TV movie, SPECTRE (1977); Kool Kat Daniel Griffith’s documentary, AS TIMELESS AS INFINITY: THE TWILIGHT ZONE LEGACY; THE OUTER LIMITS – “The Architects of Fear”; THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E – “The Abominable Snowman Affair”; STAR TREK – “The Man Trap”; and an episode of BORIS KARLOFF’S THRILLER!

8) Monster Makeovers! Get gore-gous with monster make-up galore as part of this year’s Makers Track! Effects man Kyle Yaklin and Kool Kat Shane Morton share the secrets of the monster trade with their “Casting the Creature” event, featuring a first generation pull from Jack Kevan’s master mold of “The Creature”! And Saturday gets spooktacular with a “Gore Gore Girls – Special Effects for Kids” event featuring mom/daughter duo, filmmaker Dayna Noffke (Tiltawhirl Pictures) and ultra spooky Vivi Vivian! And don’t forget to stick around for a creeping cornucopia of frightful faces and monster masks!

9) Deadly Dealers! Horror cons are the perfect place to stock up on both classic horror memorabilia, cult classics on DVD and creepy clothing, costumes and accessories. Vendors this year include Kool Kat Chris Hamer of UrbnPop; Horror in Clay (See our Shop Around feature here) and all the toys, collectibles and monstrous goodies you can get your grimy little hands on!

10) Monster Prom! Hey all you guys and ghouls, get frightfully funky at this year’s Monster Prom, dedicated to our favorite monster kid of all, Mark Schemanske! Dust off the old rat-infested tux, clear out the cobwebs, shine up your shoes and get ready to do the Monster Mash, and maybe even the Time-Warp into the wee hours of the morning!

Monsterama main con hours are Fri. Oct. 2 from 4 to 12 a.m.; Sat. Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.; and Sun. Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more info, visit www.monsteramacon.com.

The Ninth Annual Buried Alive Film Festival; Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.; Sunday, Nov. 23, 1:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.; Fabrefaction Theatre; Tickets $50 (all access, both days), $10 per programming block, available here. Opening night party Friday, Nov. 21, 8:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.m. @ Joystick Game Bar.

By Aleck Bennett
Contributing Writer

Need a reason to be bloody thankful this month? Well, here’s something to make your twisted Thanksgiving complete: the notorious Buried Alive Film Festival (BAFF) is back for its ninth reincarnation! Atlanta’s favorite, longest-running horror film festival will be at Fabrefaction Theatre on November 22 and 23. This year, Festival Director (and ATLRetro Kool Kat of the Week) Blake Myers and the Buried Alive team have exhumed three features and 50 short films—almost 20 hours of programming including nine American premieres and three world premieres! With a host of filmmakers in attendance, this year promises to be a glorious celebration of horror, further sealing Atlanta’s place as the horror capitol of the nation!

The weekend kicks off in style with an opening night party at Joystick Game Bar on Friday, Nov. 21, from 8 p.m. to midnight. Come on out and meet the filmmakers behind this year’s fearsome feast of fright! But pace yourself, because Saturday’s programming starts off at 3 p.m. with Shorts Program 1: Tentacles, Kidney Stones and Cannibalism. This exploration of the darkly comic and disturbingly surreal spans the globe, from here to Turkey and back again. Highlights include the post-apocalyptic doom of THE LAST HALLOWEEN, a disorienting trip with four Turkish policemen into the gaping maw of Hell in the highly acclaimed (by no less than Eli Roth and Richard Stanley) BASKIN, the hilariously gory DEAD ALIVE-meets-“Love Potion Number 9” French splatstick of SPEED FUCKING and the world premiere of local director Jay Halloway’s subterranean terror UNDERLOCK.

BAFF reconvenes at 5 p.m. for Shorts Program 2: Some Real, Some Fake, All Fucked Up. Taking a more realistic turn than the previous program, these shorts focus on the horrors of the here-and-now, ranging from the twisted psychosis of EXTREME PINOCCHIO, also French, to the provocative documentary GLASS EYES OF LOCUST BAYOU. The standouts in this category—along with those previously mentioned—include the American premieres of the funerary revenge short PARA NOCHES DE INSOMNIO and the expertly executed murder of RELLIK.

After a short break, we’re back at 7 p.m. to ponder love, desire and the meaning of “togetherness” in Shorts Program 3: Healthy Relationships. Whether living or dead, functional or dysfunctional, human or inhuman, all of the permutations of companionship are on display in this variety of shorts. Two noteworthy local entries make debuts during this program—Brandon Delaney’s first-person dialogue MY BOYFRIEND’S BAG in its world premiere, and local filmmaker James Sizemore’s Satanic opus GOAT WITCH which hits Georgia screens for the first time. Also getting American premieres are two UK shorts: SKIN, which turns the hostage/captor relationship on its head, and the unsettling physical manifestation of a deteriorating relationship of SPLIT. Add in the Norwegian sadistic ANGST, PISS AND SHIT and the fetish-laden morgue visit of I AM MONSTER, and you’ve got an evening full of romance. Well, in a manner of speaking anyway.

Night falls with the festival’s first feature program at 9 p.m. This kicks off with two shorts: the tortured texts of M IS FOR MOBILE and the Georgia premiere of Patrick Longstreth’s Tybee Island-lensed giant monster rampage HELLYFISH. That’s followed by the world premiere of ATLRetro Kool Kat Eddie Ray’s long-awaited second entry in his epically comic tale of devil worship, rock ‘n’ roll warfare and government conspiracies, SATANIC PANIC 2: BATTLE OF THE BANDS!

As the festival heads into the wee hours at 11 p.m., the second feature program of the night is Andres Torres’ horrifying journey through the seedy underbelly of the New York art world and into the twisted mind of a lonely hot dog vendor, BAG BOY LOVER BOY. Driven by killer performances and an escalating sense of discomfort, this film—which meets us at the cross-section of William Lustig’s MANIAC and Roger Corman’s A BUCKET OF BLOOD—is well worth staying up for. The evening closes with a French short film that explores the unease lurking under the comforts of HOME.

Feeling rested? Slept well after the horrors of the night before? Already got your brunch on and ready to go? Good! Because Buried Alive rises again Sunday at 1 p.m. with Shorts Program 4: Scary Animal Monsters from Outer Space at Your Service. As the program’s title suggests, the selection here is widely varied. The subjects range from the whimsical DEAD HEARTS to the vengeful water spirits of SHUI GUI, from a killer’s paranoia in SEMBLANCE to the wild Australian pathogenic zombie-kangaroo horror of WATERBORNE. Receiving its American premiere is the hilarious BUDGET CUTS, an instructional short on how to maintain your serial killer lifestyle when time and money are tight. Also making its American debut is THE BEAR FAMILY SECRET, a stark and powerful tale of homebound human horror set during the Brazilian dictatorship of 1970. And on the local front, Dayna Noffke unveils her latest work, RECOMPENSE, in its world premiere! It’s a twisty little gem in the EC Comics tradition, in which a prisoner finds out just how much his freedom will cost.

The first feature program of the day follows at 3 p.m. The supporting short, DONE IN, follows a man’s reminiscences as he pens his farewell to this world. In the featured slot is the American premiere of veteran Japanese director Hisayasu Satô’s HANA-DAMA: THE ORIGINS. A visually explosive exploration of the torment a young girl faces at school and at home, the film takes a novel path in its tale of revenge: a bullied student becomes possessed by a flower, the Hana-Dama, which makes manifest the secret desires of all those who have caused her pain.

At 5 p.m., we leave the realm of the photorealistic behind and enter Drawn and Quartered: The Animation Program. This series of shorts is bookended by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, in adaptations from Moonbot Studios: visually stunning old-school animation adaptations of THE RAVEN and THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO. In between, the festival is serving up two tales of teddy bear terror in MEAN TEDDIES and UNICORN BLOOD, the final evolution of life rising from a wasteland in Germany’s OMEGA, a wacky SHINING-inspired tale of wacky sibling rivalry and murder in the witty THE LAST RESORT and a knowing tale about the importance of choosing the right doctor in EYE IN TUNA CARE. On the local front, Amanda Smith presents a disturbing stop-motion account of a romantic dinner gone horribly awry in TRUE LOVE, and Wally Chung presents a cautionary warning about conformity and discrimination in TALL EVIL. One entry that stands out, however, is Finnish director Tomi Malkki’s FIST OF FIRE (aka TULIKOURA), the surprisingly touching story of a dying death metal drummer, his faithful dog and his post-mortem journey. Maybe my love of Finnish metal is showing through, but the short is moving and ghoulishly funny in addition to being totally and brutally metal. Malkki also will be in attendance, all the way from Finland, to talk about his film.

The second feature program of the day starts at 7 p.m. with another local offering: the Georgia premiere of Robert Bryce Milburn’s AMERICAN HELL, a short glimpse of the nightmare of isolation a family confronts when they are subject to a home invasion. That provides a perfect lead-in to the feature attraction, Adam Petke and Sean Blau’s THE SUNDERLAND EXPERIMENT, quite simply one of the most gob-smackingly original films this festival has to offer. This quietly building piece of cosmic horror is set in the isolated, fenced-off desert town of Sunderland. Something identifying itself as an “angel” has converted the town into a strange simulacrum of everyday society, and the adults into its surrogates. The children can either accept the angel’s “blessing” and become like their parents, or become the “fallen” and are left to fend for themselves in the wasteland surrounding the town’s border. One of the young men, David, is destined to learn the truth about his family, the town, and the true nature of the angel that controls their lives. It’s a stunning piece of work.

The festival closes on a holly jolly note at 9 p.m. with Shorts Program 5: A Very Special Zombie Christmas. MR. DENTONN opens the proceedings with the fairy tale-esque story of a sinister visitor that enters homes through mirrors and steals children’s souls. Afterward, we take a peek into the Troma-esque comedy of CHRISTMAS EVE PET MASSACRE, where the world’s worst family finds that their pets are more than glad to bite the hands that feed them. Then it’s off to Latin America for ZUGAR ZOMBIE—a potent cocktail of political corruption, the undead and grand irony. Finally, we wrap things up at the festival much like we started: with a delicious look at Halloween. This time, it’s Jonathan Rej and Shane Morton’s ATLANTA ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. A group of rowdy youths (the best kind) find themselves trapped in a cheesy haunted house when the zombie uprising breaks out. Is it all part of Professor Morté’s spook show? Or is it all too real? A labor of love from pretty much everyone involved with the dearly-departed Halloween haunt of the same name and the Atlanta horror film scene, it’s a gut-busting and gut-munching RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD-styled throwback to the heyday of ‘80s zombie horror. Stick around afterwards to find out the Festival winners (Disclosure: ATLRetro Publisher/Editor Anya Martin is a judge). It’s also the perfect way to close yet another fantastic run of the Buried Alive Film Festival.

Aleck Bennett is a writer, blogger, pug warden, pop culture enthusiast, raconteur and bon vivant from the greater Atlanta area. Visit his blog at doctorsardonicus.wordpress.com