Latest news

For all fans of horror and filmmaking we’re back in 2023, bigger and better than before! We’re playing two days – Saturday Nov 4 to Sunday Nov 5 – at our new home, the wonderful JAXX THEATRE, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hollywood. This year we’re partnering with our sister festival, B&B, for the entire weekend with star-studded premieres and Hollywood career celebrations (names to be announced shortly) plus new films in competition. We have our own coffee bar the entire weekend – for networking and relaxing between (and during) events – and we plan to honor a celebrity genre star with the prestigious PRICE AWARD and raise funds for the VINCENT PRICE ART MUSEUM.
More details and tickets will be announced in the coming weeks.

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST may be over for 2021, but we wanted to take this time to thank our wonderful volunteer judges. Couldn’t do it without you. Here’s to you all!

Phil Condit – Producer, Writer, Director

Tammy Hunt – Talent Manager, Producer

Nancy O’Brien – Director, Producer, Writer

Aaron Jay Rome – Actor, Writer, Director, Producer

Jolin Crofts – Producer

Frank Di Muccio – Writer, Director, Producer, Actor

James Moorer – Screenwriter, Author, Producer, Voice Actor

Paula Pilotte Lauzon – Actress, Director, Producer

Giulia Governo – Cinematographer

Adam Sartain – Actor, Producer

Damien Gerard – Actor, Voice Actor, Director

Victoria Stevens – Writer, Actor

Lar Park Lincoln – Actor

Mark Moran – Producer, Screenwriter, Director

Koushik Chattopadhyay – Writer

Eric Pereira – Writer, Director 

Haben Merker – Screenwriter, Director, Producer.

Ryan Murphy –

Marlissa Conroy – Actor

Katherine Botts – Writer, Co-Producer.

Pat Jankiewicz – Author, Journalist

As it has been for so many of us, 2020 and the first half of 2021 have been tough and filled with obstacles. As a festival, our primary concern is to keep the event going and to try to make it a live event as soon as possible, in whatever way we can. The real success of any festival is in getting filmmakers together in-person, to celebrate their work and be able to network – with colleagues and industry insiders.

Having said that, we were devastated to hear that our previous venue and home, The Mayflower Club, has now had to close permanently due to the economic impact of the pandemic. With so many similar venues also closing, we thought we would have to close for good too. But, after a long and hurried search, and at the 11th hour, we were lucky to find a new venue. We were able to secure it for our live return with a celebratory Awards Night on Saturday Aug 7th 2021.

As with the Mayflower Club, for our invited winners there’ll be a full bar and cinema snacks available, live music, celebrity guests, live magic, prizes and complementary photo ops on the festival step and repeat.

We will be giving out awards for both 2020 and 2021 on the night and screening select highlights from both year’s entries. Having lost our primary venue at such very late notice means we won’t be able to screen ‘official selections’ this year. But we hope you understand and will join us in celebrating our live return at our special party. We’re just very thankful we’ve found a new home at such late notice.

And as a “Thank You” to all our winning ‘official selections’ for both years, entry will be free to them (RSVP required – as space is limited). We will reach out to everyone with full details as we get closer to the date.

We’re excited to be at our new venue and home, and the event promises to be a night to remember. We look forward to seeing all our old friends and making new friends too.

We continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation from a global perspective. Our priority is to create a safe environment for all attendees, following the health and safety protocols set forth by the state of California.

Be safe and well.

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST Team

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST is the home of the PRICE AWARD.

We offer all selected features this year the chance to have their work distributed too – through our partnership with FILM FEST DISTRIBUTION.

We continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation from a global perspective. Our priority, if available, is to create a safe environment for all attendees, following the health and safety protocols set forth by the state of California.

Be safe and well.

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST Team

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST, the home of the PRICE AWARD, has announced that it has to postpone all its screenings and live events until next year. That means the coveted PRICE AWARD, created in honor of VINCENT PRICE and presented by his daughter VICTORIA PRICE, will also be postponed till August 2021. Previous award recipients include horror icons SID HAIG, CASSANDRA PETERSON and JOE DANTE.

Festival founder, Miles Flanagan states, “It’s so disappointing to everyone involved, but all live events are suffering the same.” The festival had considered outdoor screenings but, as Flanagan explained, “We need to be able to screen at least 12 hours a day, so obviously outdoors wasn’t going to work.”

The festival is still committed to judging all the 2020 entries and will announce winners online. Plus officially selected 2020 films will be screened at the next festival.

Finalists announced July 27th 2020.
Winners announced August 8th 2020.
This Year’s Official Selections/Winners screened Aug 2021.

2020 WINNERS will receive prizes, awards and benefits from our many sponsors (TBA) at our postponed screenings and events next year.

2020 Certificates and Laurels will be sent to finalists and winners online, Sunday Aug. 8th.

2020 WINNERS will still be offered the opportunity of having their work distributed worldwide (non-exclusive) through our unique partnership with FilmFest Distribution (see www.filmfestdistribution.com for more details).

“Next year’s festival will screen all the finalists from 2020,” states Flanagan. “We plan to split the event into 2 halves, one for 2020 and the other for 2021. That way everyone can still do the red carpet, have photos taken and network.”

THE OFFICIAL NOTICE from the festival:
The health and safety of our fans, attendees, exhibitors, guests and volunteers is always our number one priority. Unfortunately due to the continuing spread of the COVID-19 virus, and circumstances beyond our control, film screenings and live events at HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST 2020 have to be postponed this year.

We will still judge all entries, as we believe it’s important that filmmakers’ work is recognized without delays and that filmmakers get the laurels and awards they need to promote their work this year.

We decided against an online version of the festival’s screenings and events for 2 reasons. Nothing beats actual in-person events, where attendees can mix and socialize. That’s the heart and soul of any festival. And secondly video piracy is an issue with online screenings.

Be safe and well.

HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST Team

Interview with President Wolfman director Mike Davis

No lights? No camera? No problem! With Hollywood film crews shut down over the past few months in the wake of the global Coronavirus pandemic and its continued spread, the creative community is scrambling to figure out how to produce content remotely. Traditionally run studio sets that depend on close physical collaboration are off the table as social distancing is not a viable option. And while Zoom conferences provided a novel diversion, a sustainable form of scripted entertainment they are not. Filmmaker Mike Davis has come up with an innovative solution by creating feature films out previously existing footage, which he painstakingly re-edits with new dialogue and music recycled into what he dubs “green movies.”

How did you come up with the idea for quarantine filmmaking?

MD: I’d been collecting stock footage for years. Bits and pieces of old industrial shorts, educational films, public domain b-movies. I love the grainy look of scratched 16mm film, something nostalgic and subversive all at once. It comes from years of watching weird late night cult films on television as a kid. I began making my own films out of the footage, music videos, but I wondered if I could put together a full length feature with a plot and a story.

And this footage that needs to be purchased and licensed?

MD: I only use public domain material, meaning it’s lost its copyright or never held a copyright to begin with. Most films in that category are from the 1940s through ‘70s which is the disadvantage, except for me because I love the look, I’m all right with my films looking like they came from that period and it’s conducive to comedy and satire since visually it’s often funny to look at.

By piecing together random clips, how do you maintain continuity and characters?

MD: Well, there is cheating involved. I need to start with something long form as a base in order to have enough footage of a lead character to work with. For President Wolfman I used 1973’s The Werewolf of Washington which is not about the President, but it does feature a werewolf running around the capital which gave me a lot to work with. I combined that with over one hundred other sources. Some of those had an actor who resembled the guy in the original film, so I used it. Like stories you hear of an actor dying hallway through production and they need to shoot a double only showing the back of his head.

What is the plot of President Wolfman?

MD: On the eve of his re-election, the President of the United States is bitten by a werewolf and goes on a rampage, killing off his opponents one by one. He must hide this from his young son, girlfriend and of course the public, all while dealing with China’s bid to take over America and serving as judge at the Miss America Junior Miss beauty pageant.

Did you have to keep story elements from the original footage?

MD: No. The first thing I do when compiling clips is to erase the soundtrack. I don’t want to know what the characters are saying because I don’t want it to influence or hamper how I use it. Once it’s all edited together in sort of a “silent movie,” I write a script and have voice actors record the dialogue. So I’m guided by the visuals as to what is going to happen, but what they say is entirely new. I plug in the words into the actors mouths like a bad kung fu movie, but the audience is pretty forgiving and seem to play along with the joke.

Then the process is exactly backwards from a traditional production?

MD: I suppose. I start with the finished product first, the filmed footage. Then do the story and script. Sound, too, is really important. It’s what sells the technique to the viewers and gives the feeling of consistency. Same with music.

Is that also public domain?

MD: In most cases, it’s royalty free, which means it was bought kind of wholesale and very affordably. I actually composed the President Wolfman theme song and a couple of tunes were written by the star, Marc Evan Jackson.

There also appears to be in the film animation. Where did that come from?

MD: There’s an amazing psychedelic cartoon commissioned by the US government for the American bicentennial that has all kinds of patriotic imagery and came in handy for transitions. But also elements that were added by our producer Miles Flanagan that really accentuate the humor in many of the scenes. He added all the teletype subtitles, which is one of my favorite things in the movie not just because they’re fun but a great example of the creative collaboration that was involved in the making of the movie despite the fact that we were all hunkered down separately in our respective basements.

Is this your first foray into filmmaking during a pandemic?

MD: It’s the first to be released during one! So it’s timely. But I’d done a previous movie called “Sex Galaxy,” an homage to sexy sci-fi movies of the 1960s, which has become quite a cult hit. I’m working on a new film that deals with the current social climate, police violence and racism. It’s funky, very Seventies. Should be a real kick!

PRESIDENT WOLFMAN is now available on AMAZON.
AMAZON PRIME VOD: https://tinyurl.com/y6u77pky
AMAZON DVD: https://tinyurl.com/y8bvs98y


When Sid Haig officially accepted the PRICE AWARD earlier this year we knew he wasn’t a well man. In fact we knew he was a very sick man. He told us so. But hearing the news on Monday that he had passed away was still a shock and very painful. In the time we all knew him he was always funny, generous and a deeply caring man. Being able to celebrate him and his iconic career just before his death was a true honor. If anyone’s work in recent memory was iconic, it surely was Sid’s.

But on celebrating his vast career we realized he was so much more than Captain Spaulding. Sid’s career covered every genre and every TV and Film format. He’d worked with everyone from Connery to Shatner and (as we learned on stage that night) to the great Mr. Price too. As we read the obituaries it’s great to see how much the man’s work was loved by both fans and his peers.

We’ll never forget the touching and totally surprising story he told everyone about his meeting with Vincent Price on the set of TALES OF TERROR, and also the pure joy he expressed at receiving the Award. Something he simply described as “The highlight of my career.”

Our hearts go out to Sid’s family and close friends at this difficult time.

RIP Sid. We miss you.

We want to personally thank Victoria Price for being at this year’s HOLLYWOOD HORRORFEST and being there to present the PRICE AWARD to Sid Haig. We know it meant so much to Sid to receive it from Vincent’s daughter. And again we and the entire audience were enthralled by Victoria’s eloquent and entertaining (and very revealing) talk on her great father.We could have listened to her all night long, it was that good.

We’d also like to thank everyone at the VINCENT PRICE ART MUSEUM for their continued support of the festival and particularly to Sonia Mak and her husband for attending this year’s event and introducing the PRICE AWARD on behalf of the VPAM.