The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind — The Bunny Game (Directed by Adam Rehmeier / Written by Rodleen Getsic & Adam Rehmeier / produced by Rodleen Getsic, Sarah Rehmeier, and Adam Rehmeier) Best Horror Film - The Super (Written & Directed by Evan Makrogiannis & Brian Weaver / Produced by Alex Lugones) Best Exploitation Film - Dear God No! (Written & Directed by James Bickert / Produced by James Bickert, Robin Gray, Olivia LaCroix, Nik Morgan and Shane Morton)
Best of the Rest:
Best Experimental Film - Zooey & Adam (Sean Garrity) Best Action Film - 25K (Billy Chase Goforth) Best Crime Film - Ratline (Eric Stanze) Best Dark Comedy - The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol (Aramis Sartorio) Best Documentary - Run Run It's Him (Matthew Pollack) Best of Zombiepalooza - Ashes (Elias Matar)
Best in Categories:
Best Sound Design — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier) Best Director — The Super (Evan Makrogiannis / Brian Weaver) Best Screenplay — Butterfly (Edward E. Romero) Best Cinematography — The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier) Best Editing - The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)
Best in Acting:
Best Overall Individual Performance in a Film - Rodleen Getsic as Bunny in The Bunny Game Best Overall Cast - Demetri Kallas as George Rossi, Lynn Lowry as Maureen Rossi, Ron Braunstein as Det. Sardusky, Manoush as Olga, Ruby Larocca as Karen, Edgar Moye as Andre, Brandon Slagle as Franny the Tranny, with David Francis Calderazzo, Bill McLaughlin, Raine Brown and Kathryn Zawiski in The Super
Best Actor — Aramis Sartorio as Tommy Pistol in The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol Best Actress — Mandi Kreisher as Laney Darrow in Butterfly Best Supporting Actor - Brett Hundley as Tommy Spioch in Frankie in Blunderland Best Supporting Actress - Manoush as Olga in The Super Best Cameo Appearance — Evan Stone as The Butterfly in Frankie in Blunderland
Best Use of:
Best Use of Nudity/Sexuality — Planet of the Vampire Women (Darin Wood) Best Use of Violence/Gore — Sella Turcica (Fred Vogel) Best Use of Music — Ratline (Eric Stanze)
Films with the Most
Most Outrageous — The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol (Aramis Sartorio) Most Creative — Mondo Sexxxx: The Terry Kobrah Story (Logan Myers) Most Innovative - The Earl Sessions (Ginnetta Correli) Most Heart - The Girl Who Wasn't Missing (Shane Ryan) Most Cool - El Monstro Del Mar (Stuart Simpson)
Shorts, Music Videos and Trailers:
Best Exploitation Short — Thy Kill Be Done (Greg Hanson / Casey Regan) Best Action Short — Red Princess Blues (Alex Ferrari) Best Crime Short — Dot Got Shot (Honey Lauren / Carlos Ramos Jr.) Best Experimental Short - The Freight 4 (Ryen McPherson) Best Horror Short - Acro-Love (Ron Rierson) Best of Zombiepalooza - Axed (Joshua Long) Best Dark Comedy - Killer Bra (Yakov Levi) Best Music Video — Dirty Girlz by Dan Diamond featuring Mike E. Clark (Jimmie Gonzalez) Best Fake Trailer — Wacko Jacko (Moe Irvin) Best Real Trailer - Bettie Page Reveals All (Mark Mori) Best Actor - Jakob Von Eichel as Sam in Damn Your Eyes Best Actress - Brooke Lewis as Maura in Sprinkles Best Director - All Flowers in Time (Jonathan Caouette) Best Screenplay — Kitty Kitty (Michael Medaglia)
Audience Awards:
Favorite Feature — Dear God No! (James Bickert) Favorite Short Film — Kuriosity Killz (Trey McGriff) Favorite Music Video — Cemetery Pogo by The Secretions (Jonathan Morken) Favorite Trailer — Electric (Crystal Stranger) Favorite Special Showcase — Yakov Levi (Shorts: Shameless, Tasteless; Promos: Penisella 1 and 2)
Special PollyGrind Awards:
Bad Girl Award — Beverly Lynne as Janis Drake in The Atonement of Janis Drake Ultimate Badass Award — Ezra Buzzington in Breath of Hate Director to Watch Out For - Alex Ferrari for Red Princess Blues
Still Got It Awards:
Directing - Herschell Gordon Lewis for The Uh-oh Show Acting - Camille Keaton in Sella Turci
Jeff: Comedy definitely seems to be your forte. How long have you been at it?
Aramis: I did sketch comedy with four friends in high school. We were called 'Cheese Theater Productions' and I did it for 11 years. Everything I know I learned from doing that.
Jeff: The film is definitely more of a comedy than a horror film. Was the horror element always going to be a part of the film or was it added later on?
Aramis: I wanted to mix all the elements into it. Comedy, horror and drama. Comedy comes naturally first, but for sure it was going to be a horror movie.
Jeff: What kind of stuff did you grow up watching? Comedy? Horror?
Aramis: Both, I always needed them both to even me out. I'd watch something scary then pop in something funny right afterwards. That was my routine.
Jeff: You produced, directed, as well as starred in 'Tommy Pistol', what do you think is the most difficult of the 3?
Aramis: Producing was the most stressful. Trying to find the money to make it all happen was definitely the hardest.
Jeff: Which of the 3 do you enjoy the most?
Aramis: I know at the PollyGrind FF Q/A someone asked me that and I said writing. I thought about it more and now for sure I'd have to say acting. When I'm on point, it gives me such a high and such confidence. I feel unstoppable. I love acting. The others I feel I'm still growing into and learning more and more everyday.
Jeff: What was the most difficult part of getting this film made?
Aramis: WAITING!!! It was done on such a low budget. A lot of favors made it all happen. So when you're making a movie like that you just have to take what you get and just know you're going to finish it. I never would have accomplished it without my amazing, supportive, loving wife and the amazing crew. I knew no matter what I was going to finish it, but I couldn't predict when.
Aramis: I've spent a lot of time with Caleb because he edited 'Gruesome Death' for me. Marta Estirado was a huge fan of Caleb's cult movie'Die You Zombie Bastards'. She wrote the script and asked Caleb if he would just read it and give feedback. Caleb did, he loved it and asked if he could make it. She said yes. So when Caleb was asking friends and casting for it, he asked me if I would be interested in playing Frankie. I said yes before he finished the sentence. The script found it's cast. Who ever read the script and didn't understand it, they passed on it. Their loss.
Jeff: There are some scenes in 'Tommy Pistol' that, for a lack of a better phrase, are pretty fucked up. Was there ever a moment during filming where you thought, "wait, this scene might hurt my chances of getting the film shown or more importantly getting a distribution deal"?
Aramis: Never, I went into this with one mind frame. If it's too much for you, then fuck off. At the time I was watching a lot of foreign horror films and I thought, why the hell are they getting away with the most fucked up kills I've ever seen and our US films suck. Lame and boring. I wanted to do something different, and just let it go. I think for my first film, if I was to hold back I would have been disappointed with myself. Also, whenever I told my wife Karen "Hey, what you think of this." If she said no that's too much, I kept it and made it worse.
Jeff: Anyone that has seen your film will agree that John Karyus' performance as 'Skanky' is truly incredible and wrong ...really, really wrong. Is there anything the guy won't do?
Aramis: God! I hope not, because I'm going to test him for sure in my spin-off movie called 'Skanky'. Writing that now.
Aramis: No release date yet. Talking with a distribution company. Just looking for the best deal that won't bury it in a shitty library of movies and never come out. I need to spread it like wild fire. My goal is to be a CULT hit!
"When The Blood Begins To Flow, Who Will Be Left To Scream..."
About the Film: The film follows an outlaw motorcycle gang known as 'The Impalers' as they wind down a tri-state rape and murder spree. After a gruesome battle with rival club, 'Satan’s Own', the survivors hole up in a secluded cabin in the North Georgia mountains. Taking advantage of what seems like easy marks for their depravity, the rough and tough 'Impalers' soon find themselves struggling to survive the flesh-eating killing machine that lives in the forest.
Director James Anthony Bickert’s biker/horror/sexploitation mash-up was shot entirely on Super 16mm film, using practical effects, and limited to technology of the era that the film is set in.
My Thoughts: I have to admit when the director and his crew came through the doors at the PollyGrind Film Festival, I was more than a little skeptical. You see they had spent a little time at the bar next door, so by time their movie screened I imagine they weren't feeling much pain. So how shocked was I when this movie absolutely stold the show, making it my biggest surprise of the week and a lock to score at least 1 or 2 awards when the festival winners are announced.
It didn't take much more than 2 minutes into the movie before I realized that the fun-lovin gang that Bickert brought with him to Vegas would be completely outdone by their on-screen personas. This movie has it all ...psychotic bikers, gun wielding strippers in Richard Nixon masks and of course, a bloodthirsty bigfoot. If you like sex and gore you'll find plenty of it here and for those of you who enjoy outrageous movie quotes (and who doesn't), they've got you covered there too. Jim Bickert's got himself a classic, even before the film's released. I must warn everybody that this flick is only for the cool kids. If you don't enjoy movies that are fun and you don't wanna have a good time, then stay away.
My Rating:8.5 / 10
From the music, to the cinematography, to the look of the film itself (shot on 16mm), Bickert covered every base and created a true exploitation film. Go to facebook and 'like' the shit out of it and then wait patiently for the release date, which will be hopefully sooner than later. This would make the perfect first half of a double feature along with 'Hobo With A Shotgun'. Coincidentally, the same artist(Tom Hodge, a.k.a. The Dude Designs) was used to create both film's incredible movie posters.
I would just like to mention, among the many filmmakers at the PollyGrind who were generous enough to give away items (dvd's, posters, etc.) over the course of the week-long festival, James topped them all. Not only did he bring a shitload of his badass movie posters, but also 25 limited edition VHS copies of his film, made just for the PollyGrind, that he signed and numbered. I was lucky enough to snag #13 of 25.
***CONTEST*** We'll be giving away one of the posters in the upcoming PollyGrind edition of the 'Much of Madness/More of Sin' podcast in a few weeks. To enter for the drawing, e-mail us at: theotherpodcast@yahoo.com under the heading"PollyGrind Contest". We'll announce the winner during the show, which will be episode #8.
Episode #18 of Horrorphilia's 'Much of Madness/More of Sin' Podcast is now on the air. Click the picture below to hear itover atHorrorphilia...or better yet, subscribe to the 'Horrorphilia Podcast' at itunes and be sure to check out all of the other shows in the 'Horrorphilia Network of Podcasts'.
