P. 2 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014

editor Paul Gonzales email Paul@stxscene.com

phone (361) 343-5207website stxscene.com

twitter @stxscenefacebook facebook.com/stxscene

Published bi-weekly by Beeville Publishing Co.

DAPHNE GARCIADaphne has been playing video games since her mother bought her an Atari when she

was 4 years old. When not kill-ing zombies or raiding caves, Daphne can be found creat-ing weapons and clothing for her Steampunk character.

contributorsPAUL GONZALES

Paul does things and then writes about them. That’s pretty much it. Now, sometimes, he gets to do really fun

stuff and still manage to have a job when he returns to his office. Maybe they’re just not on to me yet?

So, as Halloween approaches, seem-ingly every cable channel is offering their horror movie marathons and horror film specials. I’ve done plenty of my all-time favorite horror mov-ies in the past, so I figured I’d do the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. Now, fear and horror aren’t always one in the same. Being from Texas, “Texas

Chain Saw Massacre” is, of course, my all-time favorite horror film, but it’s not the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. The thing that really makes my heart skip a beat are aliens, giant monsters and being put in any situation where I can put myself in any real plausible (sometimes not) situation with no way of escape.

Some people laugh at my fear of the most likely impossible scenarios that make me afraid, but there are my fears nonetheless. Here’s my all time top four scariest movies.

– Paul GonzalesEditor

Top 4 Scariest MoviesEditor’s Note

Mac & Me 1988

This blatant E.T. rip-off features an alien kid (Mac) who gets lost on Earth and his naked alien family goes all over town looking for him. In the process of reuniting, Mac, dressed as a teddy bear, shows off his break dancing skills at a party in McDonalds, his family blows up a supermarket, and everyone in this cinematic world only drinks Coke, which has healing factors for the aliens. The alien design gave me nightmares as a child.

Cloverfield 2008

Now, this may hit upon my ridicu-lous fear of giant anythings attacking Earth. The reason I find it so terrify-ing is that, no matter what we do, we can’t win. We can bomb the hell out of the giant monster, but in turn they will more than likely destroy of the city. The fact that the film was shot with a hand held camera from the streets looking up at the creature only made it that much more fright-ening for me.

Gravity 2013

Space is a scary place. And getting lost in it seems even more terrifying. Watching it in 3D only added to the fear as I began to believe I was there with Sandra Bullock (not the ideal scenario I was hoping to be stuck with her in) as she floated through the blackness above Earth. I love space and will probably never be an astronaut, but I put myself in that position, and it scared the hell out of me.

127 Hours 2010

I like to think I could get myself out of any situation I get myself in. I’m a pretty crafty guy and not too out of shape, but would I be able to saw my hand off with a dull pocket knife while slowly loosing my mind trapped in a deep crevice literally between a rock and a hard place? I don’t know. And, hopefully, I’ll never have to know. The real reason the film’s so terrifying for me is because it actually happened. The fact that someone lived through this is far more scary than a dude in a hockey mask chasing me through the woods.

P. 3

call (361) 358-2550 or email Paul@stxscene.com

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indie film

ight now, you can help get the next George A. Romero zombie film going

via online crowd sourc-ing site indiegogo.com.

George A. Romero, of course, is the father of the modern zombie. Back in 1968, George wrote and directed the now classic horror film “Night of the Living Dead” which paved the road to many, many zombie films all over the world since then. Even the hit TV show “The Walking Dead” based its zombies’ actions and mannerisms on the film’s undead creatures.

Well, now, George’s son, George Cameron Romero, is taking the helm, and the father and son team

are seeking funds for “Origins” which will take place before the seminal zombie film and explain exactly where the walk-ing dead came from.

Cameron wrote on the film’s fundraising site about the new film, “‘Origins’ is the story in the Romero universe of how the first ‘Zombie’ strolled across that cem-etery and into lives of those in the ‘dead’ series almost 50 years later.

“This is a project that will re-define the genre… as well as the monster and everything that scares you about them.”

“Night of the Living Dead” has spawned a 1990 remake by special

FX gore maestro Tom Savini as well as multiple sequels such as “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead.”

And, also, due to the fact of a copyright snafu, George doesn’t own the rights to the original film which cause it to be listed as “public domain.” So now there are tons of fan remakes and non-related material that share the same name as well.

But now the father and son team are trying to set things in order.

Cameron wrote on the site, “I want to take back the zombie genre in the name of the legacy that my father created almost

50 years ago. I want to tell the ‘Origins’ story of the modern zombie, in a way that my father wasn’t able to do so back in 1968.”

The duo is trying to raise $150,000 and have only about 20 days to do so. For donating some cash, you’ll get everything from “Origins” lunch boxes and T-shirts to a walk on role as a zombie and be killed in the movie.

So now lifelong fans of “Night of the Living Dead” have a chance to help tell the next chapter of the zombie franchise while gathering all sorts of goodies.

“If you’re a zombie fan... this is the definitive answer to your questions about the creatures as told by two generations of Romero. This is the zombie film sanctioned by the Godfather of Modern Horror and brought to life by his very own blood.”

To check out more of the perks you get for donating and to help fund the film, head over to indiegogo.com/projects/origins-the-next-genera-tion-romero-zombie-film and keep track of the project at Facebook.com/RomerosOrigins.

The godfather of the modern zombie enlists his son to explore the ‘Origins’ of the Living Dead

The original “Night of the Living Dead” was released upon the masses on Oct. 1, 1968, and the George A. Romero directed classic became one of the high-est grossing independent horror films of all times. With a budget of just $114,000, it grossed $12 million in U.S. theaters and $18 million internationally.

It was originally written as a horror comedy titled “Monster Flick” about a group of alien teens who visit Earth and befriend human teens. The sec-ond version of the script involved a teen who runs away from home and discovers rotting human corpses the aliens have been using for food. The final draft was written by Romero in three days and focused on reani-mated corpses he called ‘Ghouls.’

He later admitted that Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend was a huge inspiration.

When it was released, it caused an uproar for it’s violence and gore, which was pretty intense for the time.

Entertainment maga-zine Variety even labeled it an “unrelieved orgy of sadism.”

The film spawned sev-eral sequels directed by Romero and a whole lot more that weren’t, includ-ing remakes and prequels. You see, because of a mis-take by the distributor, the film is in public domain, so anyone can remake it, copy it or sell it for free. Amazon.com lists 52 ver-sions on VHS, 181 on DVD and 9 on Blu-ray.

But, no matter your age, the film is still terrify-ing and deserves it’s place amongst the classics of cinema.

P. 4 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014

movie review

The film “Horns,” w h i c h is based

off Joe Hill’s novel of the same name, has lots of

problems.

Hill is the son of

f a m e d horror

writ-e r

Stephen King, and watching “Horns” only left me wanting to read the novel.

Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter” films) plays Ig Perrish whose girlfriend was raped and murdered, and though there is no evidence he com-mitted the crime, the entire small town he lives in blames him, and he can’t leave his apartment without being followed by the media.

Then, one morning after a night of binge drinking to which

he has resorted, he awakens to find

horns sprouting out of his fore-head. Everyone he runs into

doesn’t even seemed fazed by this and immedi-

ately begins tell-

ing him their most secret, animalistic desires.

Ig also discovers that if he makes skin-to-skin contact with someone, he can find out everything about that person, and soon he begins to use his powers to find his girlfriend’s killer.

The premise is very interesting, but the way it’s handled is pretty sloppy. The pacing is way off as the film tries to decide if it’s a slow-burn thriller or a hor-ror comedy.

There really is no character develop-ment beyond what each person says about the other, which seems odd because the film drags at many points and gives us unneces-sary story elements

when it should be focused elsewhere, namely on the char-acters. Most of the supporting actors seem just there to take up space on screen.

Now, it’s hard see-ing Radcliffe as any-one other than Harry Potter, but he’s a pretty good actor, just not in this movie. He’s too small and too boyishly handsome to play such a weighted role. Plus, his dimin-utive stature surely doesn’t help create the illusion that he’s menacing at all. Most people would laugh if he was ever wanted for murder in real life.

One more thing of note is the pretty awful soundtrack. Sure, it’s chock full of late ’80s, early ’90s

hits, but they just seem tossed in and never blend with the film. They’re more of a distraction with even some playing as jokes alongside the film.

Overall, “Horns” was a disappoint-ment that I’ve been waiting all year to watch. The tone and cheap-looking sets, and even cheaper-looking special FX, quickly take you out of the movie, and you’re left wonder-ing when it’s going to end instead of who the killer is. But, as I mentioned before, it made me want to read the book.

“Horns” is avail-able On Demand and on VOD. It hits select theaters Oct. 31.

‘Horns’ director: Alexandre AjaFrench director Alexandre Aja first caught my attention with 2003’s

“High Tension” (original title “Haute Tension”), a brutal, gory French film that put him on the map. But since then, he seems to have written better movies than he’s directed. He’s the man behind such excellent genre fare as “P2” and the recent remake of “Maniac” starring Elijah Wood which is a fantastic horror film that you may have missed in 2012 but should seek out.

To his credit, Aja did quite well with his ‘Tension’ follow-up “The Hills Have Eyes” remake, but it still had it’s problems. “Mirrors”, starring Kiefer Sutherland, was just a mess of a picture, and, of course, “Horns” just followed that trend.

And while he did remake the ’80s tongue in cheek “Jaws” rip-off film “Piranha”, it’s in its own category because it was made for laughs and filmed in 3D to give it more of a schlocky, campy, nostalgic feel.

Hopefully, Aja can rebound from these failures because deep down inside he’s a great writer and a decent filmmaker, and I can’t wait for him to bust out and make a film truly worthy of his talents.

• Shia LaBeouf was originally cast in the lead role, but he was replaced with Daniel Radcliffe.

• When Ig’s brother, Terry, is driving Marrin home from the diner, his license plate is seen as “GEN 138,” (Genesis, 13:8), which reads, “And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brothers.”

• Terry’s license plate “GEN 138” is probably referring to Genesis 1:38 “Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.” This because of his envy of Ig being with Merrin.

Harry Potter may have some new powers, but he still can’t save ‘Horns’

Did you know:

by Paul Gonzales

P. 5

AFU� Y GIRL– –

a Paul Gonzales movie

search A FU� Y GIRL at ROCKETHUB.COM to help fund the movie

www.facebook.com/AFUNNYGIRLfilm

HELP PRODUCE A FEATURE FILM

early a year ago two men started out making their feature film debut

titled “Dreadtime Stories.” It’s an antholo-gy film that features short stories within the main body of the movie that all connect to one another.

The film wrapped prin-ciple photography in May of this year, and now they’re prepping the final product to have it’s world premiere at the South Texas Underground Film Festival on Nov. 15 at the Art Center of Corpus Christi.

The film was execu-tive produced by Sal Hernandez and directed by Jacob Grim; both of STX Media Studios.

We had a chance to chat with the two film-makers and find out what we have in store when the film premieres in a few weeks.

STXscene: Can you explain the origins of ‘Dreadtime Stories’ and how the project came to be?

Sal Hernandez: Jacob and I were just hanging out, reminisc-ing about our recent success with our short called “The Roommate,” which somehow teetered off into a discussion on how we both love hor-ror anthology films and how there should be more of them. When we began to entertain the idea of doing our own, and what the vignettes might be, we realized we each already had writ-ten several scripts and treatments that could be utilized. We also realized that this would be a great opportunity to work with some of the best talent in the coastal bend, so as far as we were concerned that night, we decided to do our first feature film.

STX: What was the

most difficult part of making the film?

Jacob Grim: Probably the hours we kept, with a full-time job and family, it was a challenge to juggle and balance responsibili-ty, but we did it. Shooting exclusively on weekends also took its toll, but the

advantage there was that, most t i m e s , we didn’t have to go to work the next morning.

It’s hard to label any part of the production as “diffi-cult”; we welcomed every challenge; we overcame them and are better film makers for it.

Sal: I would have to say it was definitely dif-ficult doing this film with no money. We paid for everything out of our own pockets. But it was for sure our discipline, inno-vation, business sense and the passion of all involved that made this film look like we had bud-get.

STX: Why did you decide to make a hor-ror film?

Jacob: We love hor-ror films and never con-sidered making anything else. It’s the one genre that you can combine any other elements, like com-edy, drama or action. It’s also the only type of film that has been scientifical-ly proven to burn calories while you watch it.

STX: I know Sal trav-els to a lot of horror conventions, so what are some of your favor-ite horror icons that you’ve met?

Sal: Actually, we both travel and work con-

ventions; we recently became agents for two original cast members of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Teri McMinn and Ed Guinn, as well and Barbara Magnolfi who played “Olga” in Dario Argento’s “Suspiria.” It’s a hard question to answer, because everyone we’ve met has been pretty cool.

STX: Do you have any interesting/funny pro-duction stories?

Jacob: I would have to say the most remarkable part of the production would have to be when we filmed the vignette called “Punishment.” The entire short was completed in

one 18-hour day, which included extensive make-up and a full body suit.

SAL: For me, the fun-niest time was when we were on our 16th hour of filming the install-ment “Distention.” It was

like 40 degrees, and it was technically Monday morning. By this time, it didn’t matter what any-body said; we just could not stop laughing. It’s hard to remember what exactly set it off, but I vaguely recall something about Chiclets and chick-en tenders.

STX: How did the test screening go, and what did you learn from it?

Jacob: The test screen-ing was very positive; it

local film

Two Corpus Christi filmmakers bring their horrific vision to life in the new anthology film

SCREAM TEAM Director Jacob Grim (left) and Executive Producer Sal Hernandez are STX Media Studiosinterview by Paul Gonzales

continued on pg. 10

P. 6 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014

cover story

On Nov. 29, 1992, in Gibsonton, Florida, sat a d i l a p i d a t e d ,

run-down silver trailer. And in that trailer sat a 55-year-old man, dead, with three .32-caliber bullet holes in the back of his skull.

His hands were mis-shapen and resembled those of a lobster’s claws. He was wearing a sweat-stained wife beater and tighty whities, his short, stubby, disfigured legs draped over the end of his seat as the TV pro-gram he had been watch-

ing continued on without notice.

The deformed man was fat, old and balding and had died instantly from the gunshot wounds.

This was the end of Lobster Boy.

Born Grady Franklin Stiles, Jr. in 1937, he was the fourth generation of his family birthed with ectrodactyly or ‘Lobster Claw Syndrome’, a defor-mity in which the fin-gers and toes are fused together to form claw-like extremities.

His father, Grady

Stiles, recruited his son at the tender age of seven to join him as a sideshow attraction in a traveling carnival.

Stiles Jr. became known as Lobster Boy and grew to be quite pop-ular amongst the crowds that gathered around to gawk at the malformed misfit.

He eventually became business savvy enough to manage other traveling sideshow caravans, which led to him running his own show.

He married three

times, twice to the same woman, having four chil-dren—two of which were born with ectrodactyly—and the group, though both children were from different mothers, would often tour together as The Lobster Family.

Stiles Jr. began abusing alcohol early. His drink of choice was a double Seagram 7 with a splash of Coke. Once drunk, he became an abusive mon-ster, threatening his wife and children constantly.

Cathy, who had the same family disfigure-ment and would tour with her father, described him as “Satan himself” during her courtroom interview.

When she was seven months pregnant, her drunken father knocked her out of her wheelchair while she was protect-ing her mother. The next morning, she was rushed to the hospital and had an emergency Caesarean section. Her daughter, Misty, was born prema-turely with the same claw hands as she and her father.

In 1978, his oldest daughter, Donna, who was not born with the family defect, ran off with her boyfriend when she was 17. She told Stiles Jr. that they planned to wed, and even though he wasn’t happy about it, he still wished to meet the man for a private chat.

Stiles Jr. blew the boy-friend away with two shotgun blasts to the upper torso the day before their wedding. He died in Donna’s arms.

“My dad was just sitting up on the porch, smiling,” Donna recalled. “He said, ‘I told you I would kill him.’”

In 1979, Stiles Jr. was convicted of third-degree murder but ended up being sentenced to 15 years probation because no state institution was equipped to care for an inmate with ectrodactyly.

His first wife, Mary Teresa, returned to Stiles Jr. after the promise of his sobriety, and the two wed again in 1989.

“Two weeks later,” Mary Teresa said, “he was back to the same old Grady.”

During this time, the family was still hit-ting the road perform-

ing their show and were now accompanied by a Human Pincushion, a Human Blockhead, some Burmese Pythons and many other oddities.

But the abuse contin-ued and Stiles Jr.’s drink-ing became increasingly unmanageable. It got to the point where he would show up on stage drunk and taunt the audience and head-butt unruly spectators.

Mary Teresa even woke up in the middle of the night with her drunken husband holding a knife to her throat saying, “One of these days I’m going to kill you and your family,” before dropping the blade and crawling off.

Mary Teresa said at this point she knew

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Lobster BoyGrady Stiles Jr. was one of the best known sideshow attractions for years, but away from the circus tents and laughing children he was a murderous alcoholic who’s brutality laid the path to his own violent death

story by Paul Gonzales

AGE OF INNOCENCE A photo of 9-year-old Grady Stiles Jr. taken in Pittsburgh, Pa., shows his acceptance at an early age of his disfigurement which would eventually become his livelihood.

ALL IN THE FAMILY Stiles Jr. would take two of his four children, both born with his genetic disfigurement, on the road with him and tour as the Lobster Family.

P. 7

cover story

something had to be done. She enlisted the help of her son, Harry Glenn Newman III, from her previous marriage and supposedly gave him $1,500 to hire a killer. Newman III then asked his high school classmate, Christopher Wyant, to do the deed, and the plan was hatched for the mur-der of Stiles Jr.

A few days later, Wyant hid in the back of the silver trailer and waited for Mary Teresa to leave. She said she was going to visit some relatives up the road, and when she left, Wyant stepped out from the shadows and

killed Lobster Boy with-out a second thought.

But according to Stiles Jr.’s son, Grady Stiles III, that’s not what real-ly happened. Stiles III claims in an interview that: “What actually hap-pened was my mother and my dad had gotten in another fight as usual, and my mother had made the comment that some-thing needed to be done.

“My brother had over-heard that and went to the neighbor kid and told him that something had to be done.

“My brother (Newman III) thought that meant

scaring him or beating [my dad] up or something to make him realize that he was going to lose his family.

“A little while later, my dad was shot.”

Either way, Wyant was convicted of second-degree murder and sen-tenced to 27 years in prison. Newman III was considered the master-mind behind the plot and was convicted of first-degree murder and sen-tenced to life in prison. Mary Teresa was con-victed of conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 12 years in

prison.

During a recent inter-view with Stiles III, he has said about his father, “Thank you for showing me who not to be, and maybe you can appreci-ate who I became because of that.

“You were a drunken bastard, but you were my dad.”

And that is the tale of Lobster Boy.

POSTER CHILD Carnival banners promoting Grady Stiles, Jr.’s popular traveling freak-show character Lobster Boy. He was traveling the circuit at the age of seven with his father who also had ‘Lobster Claw Syndrome.’

CLAW OF THE LAND An auto-graphed photo of Lobster Boy from his early days as a performer. He would later start his own travel-ing show and tour with other circus performers.

The fourth season the “American Horror Story” anthology series, subtitled ‘Freakshow’, features a lead character based off of Grady Stiles Jr. named Jimmy Darling. He shares the same stage name of Stiles Jr. which is ‘Lobster Boy’ but only has clawed hands and not malformed legs. He’s also a little better looking and doesn’t seem to have alcoholic fits of rage, but it’s still early on in the series.

He supplements his income by offering unique sexual services to the desperate local housewives, which is what Stiles Jr. was reported as doing as well.

The new season centers around a group of circus performers as they deal with each other as well as outsiders who mistreat the pack.

The Legacy of

LOBSTER BOY

SHOWTOWN USAGibsonton, Florida, aka Showtown USA, has been home to

sideshow freaks since 1936 after Al “The Giant” Tomiani (7’11”) and his wife Jeanie the Half-Girl (2’1”) moved there to start a fishing business. The region’s warm climate soon made it the place sore carnies and sideshow acts would wait out the winter months. Percilla the Monkey Girl, Edward Anato Hayes the Anatomical Wonder, Stanislaus Berent the Human Seal, Grady Styles, Jr. the Lobster Boy and more called the place home.

The city embraced their unique opportunity to welcome their guests with new zoning laws that would allow them to keep their cir-cus animals in their yards; including elephants and amusement rides. There’s also a 52,000 sq. ft. museum featuring rare photos, show

wagons and other circus memorabilia.Though many of the attractions have fallen into disrepair, it still

attracts many curious visitors as well as unusual future residents. It also has the only post office in the United States to feature a shortened counter for dwarves. Showtown is located about 15 minutes south-west of Tampa off U.S. Hwy. 41.

P. 8 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014

film review

Julia Marchese’s new documenta-ry of the famed New Beverly

Cinema movie theater in L.A., “Out of Print”, has a ton of heart and is a very fun and genuine love letter to the movie house.

Marchese, who was an employee of the theater until recently (read side-bar) was a huge fan of the cinema long before she was an employee.

“I asked Sherman Torgan – then the owner – for a job that first day and every time I returned for five years,” Marchese wrote in her blog. “I knew I had to work there. I would wait as long as it took.”

And soon she became the face of the theater which featured guests, and fans, such as Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), John Waters (Pink Flamingos), Joe Dante (Gremlins), Edgar Wright (Shawn of the Dead), Rian Johnson (Brick), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille) and many, many more film-makers, actors and not-to-mention L.A.’s inter-esting other half.

Filmmakers were fre-quently asked to program blocks of films which inspired them or formed their careers. Tarantino booked two months of films when invited to do

so.“Here was a place that

was never about money or power but solely about the love of cinema,” Marchese also mentioned on her blog.

One of the things that define the New Beverly Cinema is the fact that they only show 35mm prints of films. In a world where movie studios are doing their best to make digital projection of films the norm, the New Bev is fighting the good fight to keep film prints available and preserved.

The documentary is chock full of interviews from famous directors, actors and employees who feel that film is only way to enjoy some mov-ies. And they all make an interesting case for film, which can be expensive and cumbersome but is also the perfect way to preserve our rich cine-matic history.

In the documentary someone relates film to digital as why keep the Mona Lisa at the Louvre? Take it down and smash it on your knee because we have a digital image of the painting anyway.

And I completely agree with the comparison.

We’re also actually dis-covering that some early films shot and preserved in digital format have been corrupted and may

be lost forever, whereas movies on film, if pre-served correctly, can last for decades.

“Out of Print” is a fan-tastic retrospective of the New Beverly Cinema as well as a time capsule of films’ lasting impact on filmmaking and film appreciating.

Do you want to watch the doc? Well now you can. For free. Head over

to her blog juliamar-chese.wordpress.com and, under her post ‘I Will Not Be Censored’, you’ll find the link and password to Vimeo.com where you can watch the feature docu-mentary for absolutely nothing.

Trust me when I say it’s a fantastic voyage that you should truly experi-ence if you’re a fan of films.

The new documentary ‘Out of Print’ showcases the famed New Beverly Cinema in L.A., the people that make it special and it’s fight for 35mm film.

Cinema Paradiso

When the previous owner of New Beverly Cinema in L.A., Sherman Torgan,

passed away unexpectedly, the movie theater was left in flux. He owned the business but not the building which it was located in, a strip mall of sorts. The own-ers were quick to make plans to turn the space into a Chipotle’s Mexican restaurant and a Supercuts. These chain restau-rants and gaudy superficial busi-nesses were exactly the opposite of what the New Bev stood for. Quentin Tarantino, an enormous fan and supporter of the theater, stepped in and bought the build-ing, allowing the employees to run things as usual.

Well, in mid-July, Julia Marchese was summoned along with Brian Quinn, who had run the their Grindhouse nights for years, to

Tarantino’s house for a meeting. Turns out that he was going to be taking over ownership of the New Bev, and Marchese would be a co-manager.

On Marchese’s blog she wrote, “You can imagine how I felt—per-sonally hand-picked by Quentin Tarantino to run his movie theater in Hollywood! A dream come true!”

Her pay would also go up, from $14,000 in 2013 to nearly four times that.

She was ecstatic.But the excitement didn’t last

long. She was immediately muz-zled and not allowed to blog, insta-gram, tweet or facebook anything about the theater, something she did regularly to promote the New Bev. Also, her emails, phone calls and texts to management were ignored. Any request to personally talk to Tarantino about her con-cerns were brushed aside, and cameras were installed all over the theater.

“We weren’t being protected; we were being watched,” Marchese wrote. “When I asked to know who was watching the monitors, I was ignored.”

Having only held her manage-ment position for two weeks, Julie McLean, the new general manag-er of the New Bev and Tarantino’s personal assistant, called her into a meeting to let her know she was being demoted to snack bar with no shifts guaranteed.

“In layman’s terms: I won’t fire you, because then I would have to pay unemployment, but I simply won’t schedule you—which forces resignation.

“My last gasp was pleading with her—couldn’t she see that there

was a feeling, a soul to this place that she was only going to crush? Couldn’t she see that?”

Marchese left the job she loved so much soon after.

Her final words? “You’re going to turn this place into a f*cking multi-plex, and it’s a goddam drag.”

And though she lost not only her job but livelihood and dear friends, she holds nothing against Tarantino personally.

“I think Quentin Tarantino is an incredibly talented filmmaker with his heart in the right place. He’s been my personal hero for several years—here’s a man who uses his celebrity in the best possible way—to insure 35mm will be around and to save a theater that both of us see as something extraordinary.”

But, nonetheless, she was left with $47 in her bank account and a documentary she made about the cinema, “Out of Print.”

She decided to release the doc-umentary film for free on her blog.

“I hope you will see firsthand the enthusiasm I had for that place and the passion I will always have for cinema. No matter what you think of the film, you can’t deny that my love for The New Beverly Cinema shines through.”

Go to her blog at juliamar-chese.wordpress.com and, under her post ‘I Will Not Be Censored’, you’ll find the link and password to Vimeo.com where you can watch the feature documentary for free.

Don’t forget to show your sup-port on her page at facebook.com/julia.marchese.52. It’s good to know that someone is fighting the good fight for not only film but also it’s fans.

P. 9

video games

It’s that time of year again where the ghosts and ghouls roam the streets and bite-size candy bars await behind every door.

That’s right, it’s Halloween.

And that makes it the perfect time to curl up in a dimly-lit room and play some games that are guaranteed to scare.

Maybe you are one of those people that really can’t handle things too scary, or maybe you want the thrill of the scare without the lasting impression that gives you

nightmares. If that this case, I recommend these games.

– Deadlight is a side scrolling zombie surviv-al game that allows the atmosphere and zombies to bring the horror, but you are left with a sense of hope instead of dread by the game’s conclusion.

– Left 4 Dead is anoth-er great game. This FPS (First Person Shooter)zombie survival game is the right amount of high octane action and scares. “Left 4 Dead” is also a great co-op game that has you working with other people in order to survive.

– The final game in the lightweight category is

The Walking Dead. This inter-a c t i v e

drama adventure is filled with zombies and hard choices as you try to sur-vive. This game has an amazing story where your decisions will haunt you long after the game has concluded. If you are a fan of the Walking Dead TV series, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t play this game.

These are older games that defined the horror genre that we as gam-ers know today. Each of these games held scares and suspense around every corner, and their influence is still present in more modern games.

– Resident Evil is a survival horror game that made its debut in 1996. Worried about it success, the first level was given as a free demo and boxed with the original Tomb Raider. Since then, the Resident Evil series has spawned multiple video games and five big budget movies.

– Silent Hill is a psychologi-cal survival hor-ror game that puts

the players into the shoes of an ordinary man, unlike main rival Resident Evil,

whose protagonists are trained in combat and weaponry.

– Alone in the Dark is an older

classic that was awarded “First 3D Survival Horror Game” by

the Guinness World

R e c o r d s . W h i l e it never reached the commercial success of R e s i d e n t Evil, and

Silent Hill did, the game still has a strong follow-ing, and a new entry to the series is expected sometime next year.

The next two entries are more modern games that I give high recommenda-tions, and I imagine they will leave imprints on the horror games that follow.

– Dead Island is a first person survival horror game. This zombie infest-ed open-world game put a major emphasis on melee combat unlike most mod-ern horror games that put emphasis on shoot-ing. Dead Island will see its first true sequel in the spring of 2015.

– Last of Us is an action adventure sur-vival horror game that was meet with critical acclaim. This is a must play game and is consid-ered by many critics one of the greatest games of all times. There are not enough words I can say about this game other than “just play it.”

For those gamers want-ing to get away for the zombies that seem to be arriving in droves on the market today, try looking at the sky.

– Dead Space is a sci-ence fiction survival hor-ror game. Ok, so tech-nically you are fighting reanimated corpses in

this game, but at least you’re in space and have cool antigravity sections between the scares.

– Alien: Isolation is a recently released first person survival hor-ror stealth game. The game is set 15 years after the events of the movie “Alien” and follows Amanda Ripley investi-gating her mother’s dis-appearance.

These last two games are guaranteed to make your heart stop and a scream escape your throat.

– Outlast is a first person survival horror game that takes place in a psychiatric hospital with homicidal patients running loose. This game features claustro-phobic envi-ron -

ments and jump-out scares. When I played this in a group, we were constantly screaming. At one point a person’s head may or may not have been punched when they opened a door.

Sorry, Dead by Day.

– The Evil Within is a survival horror game that was also just released. Critics are raving about this game which is guar-anteed to send chills run-ning down your spine. Although, in this case, you might want to play with the lights on.

This list is only a small sampling of horror games out there for the adrena-line junkie. So, hunker down with the light on low and prepare to be

scared.

Now go forth and game on.

definitely needed to hap-pen to get a stronger grasp on the audio mix. It also allowed us to include the cast and crew in the last phases of post-pro-duction. The bi-product of having a public test screening was that even in its incomplete stage, we learned that many were still on edge and genuinely scared.

STX: The film is premiering Nov. 15 at STUFF, so what’s next for the film after the premiere?

Sal: We are excited that the STUF film fes-tival will be our official premier for “Dreadtime Stories”, and the event will launch the film’s national film festival tour. After the movie runs its circuit, we will be

exploring some options in regards to distribution.

STX: What’s next for STX Media Studios?

Jacob: We are cur-rently in pre-production with the horror-clowns Shivers & Quivers on a full feature film. The original plan has changed with our recent connec-tions to the horror indus-try, which has created a whole new avenue to making this production bigger and better.

Sal: We want to thank everyone involved in this production. We got to work with some of the best local veteran actors in the area and discovered some new tal-ent in the process. We had the best crew, our sound engineer John

Rosales, our intern/2nd camera operator/behind the scenes videogra-pher Jake Gonzalez, our make-up assistant and go to person Sam Mata. We also want to thank Dark Dimensions Haunted House, Psychotic Productions and Wicked Pissah FX for their con-tributions as well. We are overwhelmed with the amount of support and enthusiasm we have received from everyone, we appreciated all the hard work and sacrific-es and we look forward to producing a film all can be proud of. We can’t wait to do it again.

You can keep tabs on all things STX Media by heading over to Facebook.com/STXMedia and lik-ing their page.

P. 10 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014

local film

‘Dreadtime Stories’ cont.

“Dreadtime Stories” will premiere Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. at the Corpus Christi Art Center, 100 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi.

The filmmakers will be in attendance to answer any and all of your questions.

P. 11

Wanna be in a MOVIE?CineMachina Studios will be holding a

casting call for their 2nd feature film called“A Funny Girl”

at Corpus Christi Art Center • 100 N Shoreline Blvd

Friday Nov. 14th from 4pm-6pmSaturday Nov. 15 from 12pm-5pm

The film is written and will be directed by Paul Gonzales (SCUM 2010)

for more info email Paul@stxscene.com or visit Facebook.com/afunnygirlfilm

We wil l be looking for:1 FEMALE LEAD-mid to late 20s1 MALE LEAD-early to mid 30s

4 MALE SUPPORTING-early to mid 30sOTHER SUPPORTING ROLES-various ages

Do it with us and pay only $48 for an ad this size or just $60 for full color

Loud, Hard and Hea

The Random Names

The RTTTTTTheTT

Need to promote your band’s new album?

call (361) 358-2550 or email Paul@stxscene.comfor ad sizes and specials

Oct. 11 – Nov. 1• The Rocky Horror

Show at Aurora Arts Theatre: Get ready for one of the most mind melt-ing musicals of all time as it comes to Corpus. Performances are every Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. (Halloween will also have a perfor-mance at 11 p.m.) and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. until Nov. 1. It’s only $20 to laugh and sing the night away. 5635 Everhart Road in Corpus Christi.

Thurs. Oct. 30• Smile Empty Soul

at Boneshakers: Sean Danielsen, lead singer of Smile Empty Soul, will be performing an acoustic set starting at 10:30 p.m. As always, there’s no cover for the show, and it’s 18 and up. 4522 Weber Road Ste. A in Corpus Christi.

Fri. Oct. 31• Zombie Prom at

The House of Rock: The Electotypes and DJ Johnny Hotcakes will be jamming all night for the undead who arrive to cel-ebrate prom. The event

starts at 9 p.m., and it’s just $5 to come in and check the best zombies this side of the grave. 511 Starr St. in Corpus Christi.

Sat. Nov. 1• Slipknot at The

American Bank Center: King 810 and Korn will be setting the stage for thrash metal superstars Slipknot. The gates open at 7 p.m. It’s sure to be a loud, fun-filled night. 1901 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi.

• Jake Penrod at Schroeder Hall: Traditional country music artist Jake Penrod will be making an appearance at the Hall. Doors open

at 8 p.m., and the music starts at 9 p.m. It’s just $8 at the door, and make sure to bring your danc-ing shoes. 12516 FM Road 622 in Goliad.

Thurs. Nov. 13• Cher at The

American Bank Center: Oh, man. This is gonna be one heck of a show. Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo will open up for one of the world’s biggest names in pop music ever. The show kicks off at 7:30 p.m. 1901 N Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi.

• Cody Johnson Band at Brewster Street Icehouse: Jon Wolfe and Cameran Nelson open the show for the Austin-based Texas country crooners

Cody Johnson Band. The doors open at 8 p.m., and it’s $25 at the door. 1724 Tancahua St. in Corpus Christi.

Nov. 14 – 16• South Texas

Underground Film Festival at Art Center of Corpus Christi: Come celebrate three days of awesome films, panels, workshops and even a casting call for a feature

film. The international festival kicks off Friday at 10 p.m. For more infor-mation check out face-book.com/STUFtx. 100 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi.

Thurs. Nov. 27• Roger Creager

at Brewster Street Icehouse: Clayton Gardner will be open-ing the show for Roger Creager, and the doors

open at 8 p.m. with the music kicking off at 9 p.m. Tickets are only $20 at the door. 1724 Tancahua St. in Corpus Christi.

Fri. Dec. 12• Inner Demons

Screening at Art Museum of South Texas: Director Seth Grossman will be in attendance at the screen-ing. The film follows an intervention style reality crew as they encounter a 16-year-old girl who may or may not be possessed. 1902 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi.

Need your awesome event listed? Drop us a line at Paul@stxs-cene.com or send us a Facebook event invite at facebook.com/stxscene.

P. 12 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 9, 2014