TERROR IN THE 5th DIMENSION 2010 CLAW AWARDS


Two million, six hundred twenty nine thousand, seven hundred forty three minutes.

Moments so dear. How do you measure, measure five beautiful years?

By continuing a quest into a new dimension – by becoming the “RECREATOR” of your own destiny – where your struggle to grow has finally brought you total “VINDICATION” – that sets you apart from the rest of the “MOLD” – and your journey now spawns a new “DAWNING”.

It was a privilege to hold the 5th annual season of the TERROR FILM FESTIVAL, Oct 21-23, again at the historic Ethical Society Building in Philadelphia, ending with the most grandiloquent, bombastic Claw Awards to date, hosted by the gorgeous Princess Horror, vowing “To Serve Filmmaker”. And that she did, along with the enigmatic allure of festival director, Claw.

This year, the festival highlighted 37 films and 27 screenplays, from talent that spans the entire globe. The incredible energy, the excitement, the anticipation and alacrity of the participants, as the Claw Awards ceremonies commenced, was palpable, sentient, and surpassed our wildest imaginations.

TERROR FILM FESTIVAL is proud to announce the 2010 Claw Award Winners:

BEST FEATURE FILM & BEST SCREENPLAY: Awarded to Gregory Orr, for “Recreator”, a clever, sci-fi thriller, where three young friends on a camping trip, stumble upon a secret lab, and inadvertently trigger an experiment left dormant by a reclusive scientist (the Recreator) with a passion for cloning. Craig, Tracy, and Derek, come face to face with superior versions of themselves. Physically stronger, faster, and smarter; the duplicates intend to replace them, and their only hope is to outwit their doubles. Reminiscent of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “Recreator” has an insightful, psychological dynamic in which the main characters’ insecurities are mirrored in the duplicates. Eventually, Craig, Tracy, and Derek come to like and accept themselves as less than perfect.

Beautifully photographed, with an astounding sound mix, “Recreator” is Orr’s first venture into this kind of genre. When Orr entertained the notion of writing this kind of film, he knew he didn’t want to follow the same horror formula, where three kids go into the woods, and no one comes out alive. Instead, he developed a little twist and poses the question, “what if three kids went into the woods, and six came out?”

Orr is an Emmy Award nominee, whose works include “Parole: Prison Without Bars”, “The Day They Died”, and “Jack L. Warner, The Last Mogul”, a documentary on Orr’s legendary grandfather.

AUDIENCE FAVORITE: “Hypochondriac” written and produced by Marv Blauvelt, screenplay by Trevor Wright, directed by Pete Jacelone, and starring the infamous Alan Rowe Kelly, with a highlight performance as “Charity Betencourt”. Actors Jeremy Mulkey, Edward X. Young, Susan Adriensen, and Zoe Daelman Chlanda also provided stellar performances throughout the work. The award was appropriately accepted by the inimitable Raine Brown, who gives the most entertaining portrayal of “Nurse Amber Lovejoy” in this zany, black comedy.

BEST DIRECTOR: Awarded to Neil Meschino for “Mold”, a classic, old-school, sci-fi feature with a top secret government plot to scientifically engineer a slimy, gooey, green mold that can eat away at plant life (specifically the cocoa plants in Columbia), however, the experiment surreptitiously goes wrong when the green mold gets loose, targeting everything in its path, including human flesh, organs, brains, genitals (you get the picture), and the fun begins.

This 80’s throwback, with the atmosphere of “Evil Dead” meets the “Blob”, is Meschino’s feature debut and proudly premiered at Terror Film Festival. Very stylistic, well shot, and enhanced with top-notch SFX, and a great music score, the film’s strong point is in the award worthy performances of the characters. Ardis Campbell, Rick Haymes, Jim Murphy, Edward X. Young, Chris Gentile, Lawrence George, Robert Fattorini, Mike Kellar, and Nicholas Russo gave excellent performances that were right on with the irreverent camp in this outrageous, fun flick.

Meschino hails from Brooklyn, NY, and this young up-start had the smarts to start production on “Mold” during his last year of film school, utilizing every resource available to him. Well schooled, pragmatic, and focused, this talented, savvy kid has got his feet planted firmly on the ground, and we’ll be seeing bigger and better work from him very soon.

BEST DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Awarded to Bart Mastronardi for the exquisite auteur of “Vindication” (perhaps his masterpiece, or one of many, as time will tell), and for the beauty captured in the haunting imagery of “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down”, (written and directed by Anthony G. Sumner, and produced by the multi-talented Alan Rowe Kelly), Plus, and in a first time event for Terror Film Festival, Mastronardi managed to win in a tie with himself for the Best DP Claw Award.

Mastronardi teaches English and is a formally trained cinematographer, but above all else, he is a talented writer with his own unique, eclectic , highly cerebral vision , that is intelligently manifested on the screen. Mastronardi is adept at using the camera, the way an artist just intuitively takes a brush to canvas, and was in total union with his vision for “Vindication”, a story that takes us through a young man’s journey into madness. This is a very visceral and literary story, with influences from Shakespeare, and the Greek tragedies in the theatrical composition, however, the style and solemn tone harks back to the arabesque signature of Edgar Allan Poe in his early gothic tales. The story is revealed through the eyes of Nicholas Bertram, and the viewer is marshaled into his tapestry of delirium. This first-person unreliable narrator POV was a trademark of Poe, and Mastronardi has effectively used this device to allow the audience to experience the madness and violence, without necessarily imposing any empathy or judgment. Visually, the adroit use of Dutch angles also makes the viewer “feel” the disorientation, and fragmented break from reality as Bertram descends into insanity.

“Vindication” was an intensely personal , cinematic journey for Mastronardi, a triumph of film in every aspect of its execution, raising it to the level of “art horror”. Art horror commands and dictates its own elitism – the author is an artisan (and not everyone can be part of this club). The artistry happens and evolves subconsciously, and is not fully revealed until its completion.

“To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, and then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling – this is the activity of art.” - LEO TOLSTOY

BEST EDITING: Awarded to the multi-talented Stolis Hadjicharalambous for putting the final genius stamp on “Vindication”, making it the film it is.

SHORT FILM CLAW AWARDS:
BEST HORROR SHORT: “Daniel” written and directed by Alain Furcajg
BEST FANTASY SHORT: “Jacob and Death” written and directed by David Updike
BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT: “Attackazoids, Deploy!!” written and directed by Brian Lonano
BEST THRILLER SHORT: “Unit 30” written and directed by Taryn Hough
BEST DRAMA SHORT: “Midwestern Summer: Controlled Pain” written and directed by Dominic Migliore
BEST ACTOR: (TIE) Keith Fraser “Vindication”
Jerry Murdock “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down”
BEST ACTRESS: Zoe Daelman Chlanda “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Alan Rowe Kelly “Vindication”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tenley Bank “Jacob and Death”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: “Jackpot” Anthony Ducret and Salvador Bolivar
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS: “The Black Cat” Carl Caprino
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE: “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down” Gene Hodsdon
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC THEME: “Walk Away” William Archiello

SCREENWRITING CLAW AWARDS:
FIRST PLACE FEATURE LENGTH: “Ripper” Joe Randazzo
SECOND PLACE FEATURE LENGTH: “The Devil’s Deed” Joshua Echevarria
THIRD PLACE FEATURE LENGTH: “Wherever There is Gold, Hell is Nearby” Jonathan Weichsel
FIRST PLACE SHORT LENGTH: “Predation” Karl White
SECOND PLACE SHORT LENGTH: “Mr. Phang and the Blood Princess” Derek Prusak
THIRD PLACE SHORT LENGTH: “Trunk or Treat” Ron Podell

HONORABLE MENTIONS IN FILMMAKING
“A STUDY IN RED” Special Effects, Produced by Dan A. R. Kelly, Blaise Hartman, Xoey Hawk, Benjamin M. Pauly, Directed by Dan A. R. Kelly
“DEMIURGE EMESIS” Actor (Danny Elfman), Special Effects, Produced and Directed by Aurelio Voltaire
“FORECLOSED” Actor (Carlo Fiorletta), Produced by Mara Lesemann, Jeff Bellantine, Carlo Fiorletta,
Directed by Jeff Bellantine
“H.P. LOVECRAFT’S: THE SILVER KEY” Actor (Conor Timmis), Produced by Gary Fierro, Directed by Gary Fierro, Conor Timmis
“TORMENT” Screenplay, Produced by Dan Kunf and Sean Hegarty, Directed by Daniel Kunf

HONORABLE MENTIONS IN SCREENWRITING:
“AMERICAN MACABRE” written by Brett Creane and Jason Dugre
“DEVIL” written by Michael Wasielewski and Warren Brigham
“THE FOOL OF MUNCASTER” written by Dawn McElligott

A WORD FROM TERROR FILM FESTIVAL

Year five of the festival proved to be a volcano of top-notch films, erupting with talent on all levels. Amidst this explosion of filmmaking at its best, we at Terror Film Festival were privileged to showcase these films.

As the festival grows, we are so graciously pleased to find the seeds of an incredible social and professional network forming. Many of the filmmakers, writers, cast and crew wear many hats, and it is gratifying to see the fruits of their projects come to life as a result of these alliances, and for some, lasting friendships.

Alan Rowe Kelly, for example, worked as producer, director, and/or actor in multiple films – “Hypochondriac”, “Vindication”, “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down”, and “A Study in Red”. Not too shabby!

Edward X. Young starred in “Mold” and “Hypochondriac”, and Zoe Daelman Chlanda starred in “Hypochondriac”, “Vindication”, and “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down”.

William Archiello, who composed the incredible music and sound mix for “Vindication”, is also credited with the music for Ed Torres’ short film “Walk Away”.

It has always been, and will continue to be, one of our goals to provide empowerment, support, and knowledge to all of our submitters to further careers, attain success, and encourage new and emerging talent, such as, Ed Torres for “Walk Away”, and Thomas Norman for his delightful “Gitchy”, a festival favorite.

In a diverging arena of how films are marketed and distributed, the filmmakers will ultimately decide if they see obstacles or opportunity in this uncertain landscape. We believe in the power of independent
Filmmakers. They are intelligent, practical, and ingenious at working with scarce resources, and are truly the visionaries and pioneers of the filmmaking future.

We wish to extend a big thank you to all of the filmmakers, screenwriters, fans, volunteers, sponsors and supporters, and most especially to the media and press who have so generously supported the festival. Such as, the award winning John Ostapkovich of KYW News Radio 1060. Jeff Gammage, Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer for his incredible coverage of the festival. Juliette Lynch, Philadelphia Inquirer staff photographer. Marla Newborn of Fangoria Magazine/Fangoria.com. Baron Craze, freelance journalist and photographer. And Juanita Berge, Philly Creative Guide. “For without you, we couldn’t exist”.

A special thank you, also, to opera virtuoso John Rudolph, for opening the Claw Awards with his original and lamprophonic salute to Princess Horror, and to Scott Currie of Painted Zebra and Progressive Films, with years of experience in this industry as a writer, filmmaker, director, producer, distributor in film and television, and truly Terror Film Festival’s original “Renaissance Man”.

And finally, thank you to Norman Macera, partner/director/writer at Luck Films (Willie Nelson’s new film production company in Luck, Texas), and to Dennis Sigmund, executive producer and actor extraordinaire.

In conclusion, from Claw, Princess Horror, myself, and the staff of Terror Film Festival, “Live Your Dreams!! Or at least...Your Nightmares”