More Gore From Housecore Horror

With NoLa metal master Phil Anselmo and Texas true crime writer Corey Mitchell cracking the whip at the new Housecore Horror Film Festival, it's no shocker that the Louisiana-set, Austin-filmed debut from Jesse Dayton, post-Katrina revanant mutilator Zombex, is part of today's new list of features for the new fest.

Austin's freshest (make that only) hybrid horror/metal festival has already announced its musical line-up, including headliners Gwar, Down and Goblin, so now it's time to fill out the film side of this mutant melding. Today, 14 more titles join opening night anthology The Profane Exhibit bloodying up the screen, with plenty more to come.

Dayton's movie will be one of several world premieres at the fest announced today, along with Canadian monster flick Big Fucking Monster aka Alarming. Talking to an exhausted but excited Mitchell on Tuesday night, he said, "It's ridiculous, man I'm so happy with the quality of films that people have sent in." He was particularly thrilled to get BFM, the latest feature from veteran TV makeup FX master Ryan Nicholson (The X-Files, Blade.) Mitchell said, "That's where he makes his money, and then spends it on these super-underground horror films."

As for Zombex, Dayton had been promising an Austin screening for Halloween, and now the movie will be unleashed for the first time at Housecore.

It's not just conventional and underground horror movies making the list of 14 titles released today. Both Anselmo and Mitchell have brought their own particular proclivities and tastes to bear, starting with the tribute to classics that are getting the Hollywood make-over (watch for the original versions of Carrie and Australian psychic shocker Patrick) under the banner of Fuckin' Remakes. But that's not where the vintage horror ends. Anselmo has added LSD-addled cannibal cruiser I Drink Your Blood to his Phil's Grindhouse Selections strand, while the festival has snagged and tagged Birth of the Living Dead, Bob Kuhns' exploration of the global cultural impact of a micro-budget horror called Night of the Living Dead.

Documentaries will be a major part of the festival. As part of Mitchell's own thread, Corey’s Crime Scene, there's true crime feature Stranglehold: In the Shadow of the Boston Strangler. And color us blood red and excited for Death Metal Angola, which puts the spotlight on the unexpected music scene in one of Southern Africa's most beleaguered nations.

With plenty more films yet to come (plus some special guests and archive screenings that will rip your cinematic guts out) Mitchell is hoping that the fest may just find the next truly groundbreaking underground horror. That's why he's deliberately steered away from the titles that are getting big buzz on the festival circuit already. He said, "Every one's going to be picking them up, every one's going to be shown, so we wanted to give a shot to the independent film that might never get a shot." For him, Housecore has to be about the underground heroes. He said, "Stuff that you see in the multiplex is just crap, and you need to know that there's guys who are really into horror and rejecting CGI and embracing practical effects, and telling quality stories."

Housecore Horror Film Festival runs Oct. 24-27 at the Emo's/Antone's complex. Here's the full list of films confirmed today.

Art/Crime (Canada, 2012)
D: Frédérick Maheux, 104 mins, Regional Premiere
A documentary about violence, horror, censorship, and legislation on the web. In 2009, Remy Couture, a special effects makeup artist from Quebec, was arrested by the police in front of his home and would be later charged with obscenity and corruption of morality. Montreal's police was responding to a complaint regarding pictures coming from his website Inner depravity.com which had been freely circulating on the Web. Art/Crime discusses violence, fiction, and censorship in movies but also in the loosely regulated environment that the Web still represents. The documentary allows many, like movie director Nacho Cerda, Robert Morin, and Patrick Senechal to present their thoughts on the matter.

Big Fucking Monster (Canada, 2013)
D: Ryan Nicholson, 90 mins, World Premiere
For college student Josie Kane, it starts as a simple internship – to shadow a group of high-tech land surveyors as they make their first foray into an ancient wilderness. Assisted by grizzled security guard Dale Philip, the crew knows how to handle protesters and saboteurs – but there's something much, much worse in the woods this time. The local natives say the land is cursed – haunted by a demonic entity older than time. Now people are going missing, turning up dead or worse, and Josie and the crew are about to discover the truth behind the legend. The most alarming horror is the one you never see coming!

Birth of the Living Dead (USA, 2013)
D: Rob Kuhns, 76 mins, Texas Premiere
In 1968 a young college drop-out and aspiring filmmaker named George A. Romero directed Night of the Living Dead, a low-budget horror film that shocked the world, became an icon of the counterculture, and invented the modern movie zombie, which has spawned legions of films, books, comics, and video games, generating billions of dollars. Night of the Living Dead is not only internationally recognized as an art film, revered for its groundbreaking treatment of American race relations and allegorical references to the Vietnam war, the film still maintains its cult status as a classic horror masterpiece.

Carrie (USA, 1976)
D: Brian DePalma, 98 mins, Fuckin’ Remakes
A young, abused, and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.

Death Metal Angola (USA/Angola, 2012)
D: Jeremy Xido, 90 mins, Regional Premiere/Heavy Metal Hysteria
Sonia Ferreira and Wilker Flores live and breathe hardcore rock and roll. They run the Okutiuka orphanage in the war-ravaged city of Huambo, Angola and dream of mounting the first-ever national rock concert. Raucous and righteous, Death Metal Angola follows their story, giving audiences a look at a rock show off the grid that is fulfilling, haunting, and real.

Decibel Magazine’s 100th Issue Concert (USA, 2013)
Director, David Hall, 105 mins, World Premiere/Heavy Metal Hysteria
Decibel, one of America’s most popular and respected metal magazines, celebrates its 100th Issue with a concert featuring Converge, Pig Destroyer, Tombs, Evoken, and Municipal Waste.

Found. (USA, 2012)
D: Scott Schirmer, 103 mins, Texas Premiere
For Marty, horror movies are an escape from the troubles of the real world. They help him survive every day life. However, when a horror movie starts to cross into Marty's real life, things start to get truly frightening. As the terror starts to unfold Marty must quickly learn that sometimes there is no escape and you have to face your fears head on. – Kit Hart (KH)

I Drink Your Blood (USA, 1970)
D: David E. Durston, 83 mins, Bloody Mary Breakfast Screening; Philip’s Grindhouse Selections
A band of satanist hippies roll into a town and begin terrorizing the local folk. They rape a local girl and her grandpa goes after them. He fails and is given LSD. This bothers his grandson and he gets back at the hippies by feeding them meat pies infected with blood from a rabid dog. They turn into crazed lunatics and begin killing and/or infecting everything in their path. – Josh Pasnak

Motivational Growth (USA, 2013)
D: Don Thacker, 105 mins, Central Texas Premiere
Ian Folivor is in a downward spiral. His girlfriend has left him. He refuses to leave his apartment. He can't muster the courage to talk to the neighbor girl he has a crush on. He can't even manage to kill himself properly. Enter The Mold. Ian's refusal to clean his apartment has led to the growth of a slick talking fungus that knows exactly what he needs to turn his life around, and maybe even win over his neighbor. But is this all real or has Ian been trapped in his apartment too long? Is this all for his betterment or does the mold have something else in mind? Ian can make it through this; he just needs a little motivation. – KH

Patrick (Australia, 1978)
D: Richard Franklin, 96 mins, Fuckin’ Remakes!
A comatose hospital patient harasses and kills though his powers of telekinesis to claim his private nurse as his own.

Stranglehold: In the Shadow of the Boston Strangler (USA, 2012)
D: Myles Jewell, 80 mins, Texas Premiere/Corey’s Crime Scene
In the 1960's, filmmaker Myles Jewell's grandfather, Phil DiNatale, worked relentlessly as an investigator on the case of the Boston Strangler. But despite Phil's meticulous investigative efforts, the case got caught in Boston's political cross hairs and was never officially solved. Now, fifty years later, Myles plunges headfirst into his grandfather's immense homemade detective archive to reveal never-before-seen details about the strangler investigation. Part historical film, part personal documentary, and part whodunit, Stranglehold: In the Shadow of the Boston Strangler tells the story of a beat cop turned famed detective, Phil DiNatale, and the long-lasting effect his investigative legacy had on his family for generations.

Thanatomorphose (Canada, 2013)
D: Eric Falardeau, 100 mins, Texas Premiere
A woman wakes up one morning only to discover that her body is starting to decompose. As her flesh rots she starts to isolate herself from the outside world in an attempt at answers. Why is this happening? Is she dying? Already dead? All she knows, is she doesn't have much time to find out. – KH

They Will Outlive Us All (USA, 2013)
D: Patrick Shearer, 73 mins, Regional Premiere
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York has been pummeled by a series of superstorms. Everyone seems to stay inside, fearing that death could strike at any moment. Nobody thinks that death will come from within their own apartment complex, though. After a series of mysterious deaths occur in their building, Daniel and Margot realize that there's more going on than just the storms outside. Creatures more ancient than mankind are dwelling in their apartment, and if they don't take matters into their own hands these creepy-crawlies could bring New York to its knees. – KH

Unknown Project (USA, 2013)
D: Steve Altman, 77 mins, World Premiere
Three documentary makers are heading home from Burning Man in their RV and decide to pull off into the desert to camp for the night. Things get creepy. With their 5 RV cams running 24/7, we see everything that happens … even things they don't see.

Zombex (USA, 2013)
D: Jesse Dayton, 81 mins, World Premiere
Zombex tells the story of a post-Katrina New Orleans as it deals with a new disaster, a zombie apocalypse. NOLA residents are no longer experiencing the depression and post-traumatic stress due to the trauma of the hurricane, thanks to the revolutionary ZOMBEX – a rogue, yet, "clinically-proven" anti-depressant pharmaceutical manufactured by a nefarious organization. For those who call the Big Easy their home, everything is just now turning around for them. Or, could it just be the drug, ZOMBEX, talking … Just as things are turning around for the city and its people, they once again must face a disaster of epic proportions. Only this time, they're dealing with the prospect of losing the people of New Orleans as they turn into the city's walking dead. Featuring horror icons Malcolm McDowell and Sid Haig, and Slayer’s Tom Araya.