Not long ago I wrote up a regional
moviemaking project for one of the few print outlets I have left.
Genteel folks indeed they were at this publisher. They had sent a
separate news photographer to the rural horse-farm set to cover the
digital shoot, and he reported back to the editors, aghast, saying
that the whole movie was just "blood and boobs." The
bewildered editors relayed that information back to me.
"Well of course it was," I
more or less responded. "What else do you think local filmmaking
in Ohio amounts to? It's almost always blood...and boobs...and
Bigfoot!"
That's a great phrase, "Blood,
Boobs and Bigfoot." I really should copyright it before someone
else steals it for their own disquisition on Buckeye State
cinema-arts culture.
And a place where I could actually find
out how to copyright it would be Horror Hotel Weekend, happening May
17, 18 and 19th at the Clarion Inn in Hudson, Ohio. Begun last year,
Horror Hotel Weekend is an annual Hudson convention spun off from The
Indie Gathering, a long-running series of meetings and conventions
by/for do-it-yourself northeast Ohio filmmakers. Recognizing that the
most enthusiastic of our fair state's backyard movie moguls are into
the horror/sci-fi genres, organizers of The Indie Gathering launched
Horror Hotel Weekend in 2012.
The convention not only brings in
celebrity guests, like veteran character actor Robert Z'Dar and
makeup f/x experts Robert Kurtzman and Alan Tuskes, it also serves as
a networking and facilitation event for anyone who wants to get into
local showbiz, either behind-the-scenes or in front of the cameras.
On the schedule this year: the
always-popular Scream Queen competition, in which aspiring horror
heroines have to deliver the best panic-stricken shrieks; a workshop
and contest for soundtrack composition; talks about entertainment
law, contracts and copyrights; and, of course marathon of film
screenings, ranging from "micro" shorts to features.
Filmmakers will be in attendance, and it was not unusual last year
for an open audition call to take place at the Clarion.
Expect also to see a lot of young
actress-types walking around in skin-tight and skimpy outfits, often
with plunging necklines, exposing much of their curvaceous torsos and
slender legs. I do believe this reflects the tragedy of Ohio's
chronically poor economy; girls just can't afford fabric for full
sets of clothing anymore. So they desperately cover their bodies
against the brisk May temperatures with whatever undersized spandex
and bikini tops and S&M bondage gear they can still scrounge from
the church-donation box. Sad, actually. At least that's what I might
tell my editors next time, when they see the photos.
Horror Hotel Weekend begins Friday, May
17 at 9 p.m. with a networking party. The convention goes into full
swing Saturday, May 18, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, May 19,
from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets range from an advance VIP admission
for the whole weekend at $25, to $7 for individual feature-film
screenings. The Hudson Clarion Inn is located right off the freeway
at 6625 Dean Memorial Parkway. Phone (330) 653-9191. A website with
directions, a full schedule and a photo gallery from 2012 is up at
http://www.horrorhotel.net/.
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