I had a
blast at last year’s Grossfest (check out my report here) and was looking forward to 2019. As
was the case previously I was working a table for Midnight Magazine. Though
this year I was making the trip solo so the day before, Friday, I headed over
to Mr. Fright’s place to pick up the magazines, shirts, and other Midnight
related merchandise to stock up the table with. The car was packed and ready to
go when I got up very early on Saturday morning for the two-and-a-half-hour
drive to scenic Pennsylvania for a day of independent movies.
For those
not in “the know” about Grossfest the convention focuses on independent movies
and the filmmakers responsible for them. This is a great thing because these
are the folks that mostly get lost in the shuffle of the bigger shows. Once a
fan gets their overpriced photo op and autograph, they don’t normally have
anything left to spend with the little guy there to promote his movie. That is
a damn shame since in my humble opinion these are the folks doing the most
interesting work. The idea of a show catered to them and people like us who
enjoy low budget flicks was brilliant and long overdue.
The drive
out to the show wasn’t too bad. In case you are a frequent reader of my road
trip reports and were wondering what I had for breakfast I can inform you that
I had my traditional McDonalds breakfast sandwich and hash browns. Got to have
my greasy grub on the way to the show! I had left some extra time so I would
arrive early and I’m glad that I did. Between construction and an
annoyingly slow truck on a country road I was later than I wanted to be. But I
did have just enough time to get things sorted before the doors to the dealer’s
room opened. I think the table turned out pretty nice.
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| Mothra Photo Ops!!! |
The crowd
this year seemed bigger than last, which means the show is probably growing. Even
if that isn’t the case, we were much busier than last year. I spent most of the
day working at the table and selling the magazine to anyone that would listen. The
Grossfest crowd is certainly the correct one for Midnight Magazine as they
appreciate the independent nature of what we are doing. Not a surprise since it
is in the same vein as the movies being promoted. I got to meet and chat with a
ton of great people. I probably should have written their names down, but I was
so busy all day that never occurred to me. Maybe next year. If you stopped by
the table, I just wanted to thank you here for taking the time to listen to me go
on and on about the magazine.
Grossfest
being what it is I of course picked up some movies to watch. I got a couple
from filmmakers that I was familiar with and really enjoy. Jim Roberts' new movie Closing Time looks
like a blast and has ghosts and cowboy gangsters in it! Additionally I picked up the latest movie
from director Henrique Couto, Haunting Inside, which also looks to be a ghost
flick. Both of these guys have been making movies for a while and I’ve yet to
see something from either that disappointed me. I can’t wait to check them out.
I also met
some new folks. William Long had a booth right next to me and was selling his movie
Cannibal Tick. Well with a title like that I had to pick it up. It looks like a
mad scientist experiment gone wrong movie. Todd Wolfson of Just Buried
Productions stopped by the table as well with a copy of his short movie 8-Bit
Blood Bath. A Nintendo playing guy gets killed by cultists and comes back as a
demon who loves his video game references! Looks like a heck of a fun way to
kill twenty minutes. RAK films also came by and hooked me up with a copy of
Kill Them Right! which appears to be a comedy in the Russ Meyer style. Not all independent
movies at Grossfest are horror, which only makes things that much more interesting.
I’m probably forgetting someone (the pile of DVDs was quite large) and if so I’m
sorry. But I will promise to review your stuff at Crappy Movie Reviews sometime
soon.
In
addition to the independent movies I also stopped by and picked up some stuff
from Out of Print Dan. I finally got to see Race for the Yankee Zephyr, which I’ve
been looking for. Another oddity that I now have a copy of is Around the
World Under the Sea which looks to be a Fantastic Voyage type science fiction
flick. Dan has helped me scratch quite a few items off my list over
the years.
Show
closed at seven and I loaded up the car to head back home. It was a decent drive
and I was already excited to dig into the pile to watch some movies. That is
one of the best things about going to conventions. Being around creative and
passionate people always helps me get my batteries recharged. Coming off my
recent slasher marathon I was burnt out and not at all motivated. But now I’m
ready to get back to the business of talking horror! I really do love this
stuff and events like Grossfest remind me of that. I’d like to thank Tim, Tom,
and the dozens of other people who help make this event happen. I know it has
to be a lot of work and we the horror nerds appreciate it.
Well that wraps
up another Grossfest and I’m already looking forward to next year. If this
sounds like something you might dig check them out at https://grossfest.com/ to see what they are
planning for the 2020 show. If you do attend make sure to stop by the Midnight
Magazine table and say hi.
© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer
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