Hudson Horror Show: A preview with the co-producer of the event!

Hollywood Soapbox recently exchanged e-mails with Chris Alo, co-producer of the Hudson Horror Show, a 12-hour marathon that’s set to scare the tri-state area on Saturday, May 19 at the Silver Cinemas in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Films at the marathon include Day of the Dead, Phantasm, Friday the 13th, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and Massacre Mafia Style. Click here for more information.

Are you surprised by the sell-out success of the Hudson Horror Shows?

Yes, we have been absolutely floored by the positive reaction from all of the shows thus far. Economic times are very difficult and for people to come out and to watch movies they have probably seen and likely may own on DVD is awesome. We were hoping we would be able to just cover expenses and do one show, and here we are, in our third year.

Having said that, I do think we give an excellent value for your entertainment dollar. You can go see a single movie and your $13 movie ticket gets you two hours of fun at most. For us, between the five feature movies (all off 35mm film), vintage trailers, trivia questions, giveaways and vendors selling horror goods, we provide you with 11 to 12 hours of entertainment for $26. That’s a pretty good deal, I think.

How is the fifth installment coming along?

Things are great and we finally have our Mystery Movie set and it’s the exploitation classic, Massacre Mafia Style! Ticket sales have been excellent and we have a limited edition “concert style” event T-shirt, which we will have exclusively for this event. 

Will there be seats at the door?

It’s a possibility. Advance tickets are selling fast, the quickest they have ever gone. The deadline for advance ticket purchases is May 15 at 11:59 p.m. Advance ticket holders get the tickets cheaper (at $26 each) and will be let in first. If tickets remain, we’ll have them at the door for $30 each, cash only.

Why is the “horror fan” community such a strong community that loves these types of events/conventions?

To me, I think horror fans are very much like extremely dedicated music fans, like metal heads, punk rock kids, Dead heads, etc. It’s not a fad, it’s not something they are into for a summer, it is a way of life. They have horror and sci-fi conventions (and horror film festivals) because those types of fans are the most loyal and dedicated film followers out there. They eat, sleep and breathe this stuff. All of us at Hudson Horror are all fans ourselves.

What’s the future hold for HHS?

Plans are already being set in motion for our next big event, Hudson Horror 666, which will be in the fall of 2012. Between now and then, there are a few other things we are looking at. There’s a possibility of a certain double feature over the summer. We also had some very brief conversations with a local drive-in, so there may be a Hudson Horror Show at a drive-in as well.

Are there plans to expand or have the festival at different locations?

We actually have been approached by several people to take Hudson Horror on the road. It is something that we have thought about. Our home is definitely Silver Cinemas, but there is a chance we may do additional dates at other venues in the future. Time will tell.

What are you personally most excited for at the May show?

For me personally the film I am most excited about is Massacre Mafia Style. I vividly remember buying the Grindhouse Releasing laser disc of Make Them Die Slowly back in 1997 I believe. There was an Easter egg of a trailer for this movie called Massacre Mafia Style, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I didn’t even know if it was real movie. I had never heard of it before. I must have watched the trailer five times in a row on the laser disc.

I searched and searched and it took me seven or eight years before I was able to find a crappy bootleg DVD of the movie at a horror convention. Duke Mitchell’s movie is so entertaining, but unfortunately it has not been seen by nearly enough people, and I can’t wait to see with a packed house. To be able to present it now to the Hudson Horror audience is just amazing. The guys from Grindhouse Releasing have helped us out from day one and they continue to astound me with their generosity. It’s thanks to them that we can present this incredibly rare film to our audience.