Nightmare City: Elijah Wood And Cinefamily Douse Hollywood In Horror!

Today Elijah Wood made some big announcements. One was that he had launched a production company, The Woodshed. That's pretty great, and he has some amazing projects lined up there. But what gets me going is Nightmare City, a collaboration with the Cinefamily, which is a month long horror festival that spans 73 events. There will be live scores. There will be movie premieres. There will be classic screenings. There will be comedy. There will be puppets. 

First, the press release revealing the scope of this unbelievable event. After that, a list of all the movies playing at Cinefamily's Video Nasties midnight marathon - every midnight this month they're showing a famous banned film from the UK's Video Nasties list!

Press release:

Non-profit cinematheque The Cinefamily, Cinespia and Elijah Wood’s
new production company The Woodshed today unveil a new and diverse horror festival--
a multi-venue celebration of the dark and dreamy influence of the macabre on all the arts,
from films to music to poster designs. Nightmare City includes 73 total events: 45 repertory
screenings, 10 live music concerts, 8 LA film premieres, a blacklight poster art show, and even
magic and comedy events. The festival starts on October 12th and involves the participation
of numerous L.A. cultural organizations, among them the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, Blumhouse of Horrors, Fourth Wall Studios, Mount Analog and B-Music
/ Finders Keepers Records, Trepany House at the Steve Allen Theater, UCB Theater, the
University of Southern California and Spaceland Productions / The Echoplex. Doing live
shows or appearing in person will be musicians Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti, Hauschka, J.

 

Rocc, Peanut Butter Wolf and Siouxie and the Banshees’ Steven Severin, RING filmmaker
Hideo Nakata, comedians Doug Benson and Greg Proops as well as a special performance
by radio legend Joe Frank, and many more.

“I've been a fan of horror cinema since I was a child and have become increasingly passionate
about the genre and its nuances as I've grown older,” says actor and festival co-creative
director Elijah Wood. “The Cinefamily, a Los Angeles staple and jewel, known for their eclectic
programming, is the perfect partner for building a city-wide arts-based festival curating amazing
films and live performances that explore and celebrate horror.”

 

Co-creative director Daniel Noah, a partner in The Woodshed, adds,“For me horror has always
been a portal into a strange, surreal world where dream logic prevails and our darkest demons
become our entertainers. I'm thrilled to have a chance to explore the horror space through
multiple mediums and in collaboration with some of the most exciting fellow-nightmarists from
around the world.”

“Los Angeles has a wonderful noir-infused sense of the theatrical; I’ve always felt Halloween
was the ultimate Hollywood holiday--so we’re excited to bring a world-class horror festival to
our hometown in October,” says Cinefamily executive director and head programmer Hadrian
Belove. We plan on Nightmare City becoming annual tradition for our beloved city of shadows,
a kind of mardi gras of the macabre that we can all look forward to every year.”

 

For more information visit www.nightmare-city.org

Event descriptions:

 

The Sound of Horror – a series of live score and audio horror events including:
● Claudio Simonetti, of Italy’s legendary horror soundtrack maestros Goblin, in concert
● A Dark Tale by radio icon Joe Frank: “Old Man”
● Siouxie and the Banshees’ Steven Severin’s live score to Carl Dreyer’s VAMPYR
● European Neoclassical superstar Hauschka scores THE HANDS OF ORLAC
● L.A.’s Tearist weaves a live musical project around 80’s German avant-horror classic
DER FAN
● Stone’s Throw Records night with Peanut Butter Wolf, Chrome Canyon laser show,
and J. Rocc’s live score of TETSUO: THE IRON MAN
● UK Album of the Year award winner James Ferarro’s live score to a rare 35mm print
of ‘80s shot-on-VHS classic BOARDINGHOUSE
● Sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard flown in from Berlin to create a site-specific new work at
the Silent Movie Theatre

Premieres and Previews:

 

AMERICAN SCREAM: L.A. Premiere of the new Alamo Drafthouse & Chiller TV
release explores the subculture of “home haunts” for Halloween; complete with
authentically haunted premiere party.
MANIAC: L.A. premiere of Franck Khalfoun’s “haute-horror” (Hollywood Reporter)
remake of William Lustig’s MANIAC starring Elijah Wood.
GUILTY OF ROMANCE: The new film by Japan’s master of gore and perversion Sion
Sono
KUROYURI-DANCHI: Sneak preview in collaboration with USC of RINGU director
Hideo Nakata’s latest.
TOAD ROAD: LA premiere of Jason Banker’s impressive microbudget debut, an urban-
legend chiller set in a verite scene of drug-and-sex-drenched youth.

Universal B-Sides in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences: Universal Pictures’ centennial celebration continues with the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Universal’s Legacy of Horror” series. Cinefamily will present the
lesser-known “B-sides” of Universal’s horror canon, including HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, the
Spanish version of DRACULA, and WEIRD WOMAN.

 

Video Nasties, sponsored by Fourth Wall Studios: A bravura, never-before-attempted run
of 30 films in 30 midnights, this series will shock and corrupt viewers with exposure to the
depraved gore of the low-budget films that sparked mass hysteria, police seizures of VHS,
and changed censorship in Britain in the 80s – the dreaded Video Nasties. Including titles like
BLOOD FEAST, NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN, TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE,
NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES – as well as films which have achieved canonic status like
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, DRILLER KILLER and THE EVIL DEAD.

More Special Events:
● Comedians Greg Proops and Doug Benson podcast and interrupt RETURN OF THE
LIVING DEAD & RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II
● Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Horror Trailer Show
● Screen Novelties' MAD MONSTER PUPPET PARTY: Animation Breakdown and
Screen Novelties, one of LA's premiere stop-motion studios, present a fundraiser for
the historic Bob Baker Marionette Theatre, with Halloween puppet performances, a
monster making workshop, and a rare screening of 60s animated classic Mad Monster
Party.
● Animation Historian Jerry Beck’s Classic ‘Toon Spooktacular
● RINGU with Hideo Nakata in person
● TV Tuesday presents GHOSTWATCH, the ‘90s haunted mock-newscast that terrified
Britain
● Video Nights presents 777, a deep-cut shot-on-video horror unseen since the mid ‘90s
● UNWELCOME: A Blacklight Poster Exhibit curated by Sammy Harkham, featuring Willl
Sweeney, Robert Beatty, Brian Chippendale and more
● Cinespia presents TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE at the Hollywood Forever
Cemetery

Blumhouse of Horrors: A terrifying haunted house experience in downtown LA brought
to life by the producer who scared the world with the PARANORMAL ACTIVITIES
franchise and INSIDIOUS.

And the Video Nasties line-up!

Monday, Oct. 1st, midnight – Night Warning
Tuesday, Oct. 2nd, midnight – Hell of the Living Dead
Wednesday, Oct. 3rd, midnight – The Witch Who Came From The Sea
Thursday, Oct. 4th, midnight – Axe
Friday, Oct. 5th, midnight – Evilspeak
Saturday, Oct. 6th, midnight – Inferno
Sunday, Oct. 7th, midnight – Dead & Buried
Monday, Oct. 8th, midnight – Visiting Hours
Tuesday, Oct. 9th, midnight – The Funhouse
Wednesday, Oct. 10th, midnight – Cannibal Apocalypse
Thursday, Oct. 11th, midnight – The Burning
Friday, Oct. 12th, midnight – XTRO
Saturday, Oct. 13th, midnight – The Evil Dead (brand-new 35mm print!)
Sunday, Oct. 14th, midnight – Possession
Monday, Oct. 15th, midnight – Night of the Bloody Apes
Tuesday, Oct. 16th, midnight – The Toolbox Murders
Wednesday, Oct. 17th, midnight – Driller Killer
Thursday, Oct. 18th, midnight – Mardi Gras Massacre
Friday, Oct. 19th, midnight – The Beyond
Saturday, Oct. 20th, midnight – Blood Feast
Sunday, Oct. 21st, midnight – Anthropophagus
Monday, Oct. 22th, midnight – Snuff
Tuesday, Oct. 23rd, midnight – Fight For Your Life
Wednesday, Oct. 24th, midnight – The House on the Edge of the Park
Thursday, Oct. 25th, midnight – Nightmares In A Damaged Brain
Friday, Oct. 26th, midnight – Faces of Death
Sunday, Oct. 28th, midnight – Cannibal Ferox
Monday, Oct. 29th, midnight – The Last House on the Left
Tuesday, Oct. 30th, midnight – I Spit On Your Grave
Wednesday, Oct. 31st, midnight – Cannibal Holocaust

THAT IS FUCKING MIND BOGGLING. And they're all on 35mm!

For more on the Nightmare City festival, click here.

For more on the Video Nasties - and to buy tickets - click here.