MAY 25, 2010 —A sequel to a gruesome classic from more than twenty years ago and a debut feature from twin sisters that originally started off as a faux trailer were the two big winners of the first ever Polly Staffle Grindhouse Fest.

The international event, predominantly known as PollyGrind, took place May 12-16 at the Sci-Fi Center in Las Vegas. PollyGrind consisted of programming in the tradition of grindhouse theaters with double and triple features each day, bookended by trailers and music videos. The event was dedicated to independent filmmaking and those that love cult, horror, sci-fi, exploitation, arthouse, cool, edgy, sexy and bloody works of cinema.

Thirteen films and more than 31 other works played during the course of the festival, which saw journalists, artists, actors, filmmakers and fans from as far as New York show up for the event.

Greg Lamberson’s Slime City Massacre won The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind, which was the top jury award, while Jen and Sylvia Soska’s Dead Hooker in a Trunk was voted favorite feature by the audience. The filmmakers were ecstatic to hear about their wins.

“I'm thrilled Slime City Massacre won this honor, and happily accept it on behalf of everyone who worked on it,” Lamberson said. “Some genre themed film festivals cater more and more to studio films, but the PollyGrind really is a celebration of independent films. That's what festivals should be about: exposing people to films that might escape their radar otherwise, not scheduling the same stuff that will be in multiplexes a few months later. I'm proud to have screened at a new festival that has its priorities straight, and the award is very sweet icing on the cake."

“That is absolutely incredible,” was Jen Soska’s response when she was told of Dead Hooker in a Trunk’s win. “I'm speechless and touched. I cannot begin to tell how honored we are. This is just the greatest news we could ever hope for.”

Slime City Massacre, a sequel to Lamberson’s 1988 cult classic Slime City, also received recognition via Kealan Patrick Burke, who was named best actor of the festival. The sci-fi, horror and action joyride, which starred genre favorites Debbie Rochon (The Good Sisters), Lee Perkins (KatieBird *Certifiable Crazy Person) and Brooke Lewis (Mondo Holocausto!), played opening night on a double bill with the world premiere of John R. Hand’s sci-fi arthouse film Scars of Youth, the winner of the most creative jury award.

Actor Robert C. Sabin, who appeared in both the Slime City films, took part in a Q&A after the film’s Las Vegas premiere. Sabin then stuck around for three of the festival’s remaining four days.

Dead Hooker in a Trunk had its Vegas premiere on the event’s most successful night, a standing room only sellout. The crowd ate up the film as did the PollyGrind judges, who awarded it best screenplay.

PollyGrind judge Everette Hartsoe, the creator of the underground comic book Razor, gave Jen and Sylvia Soska his Bad Girl Award. Razor, currently being turned into a feature film, is recognized worldwide as one of the first comics to start the bad girl comic genre.

To compliment the Bad Girl Award that went to the Soskas, PollyGrind named Luke Goss the winner of Markowitz the Amazing Thug Armadillo's Ultimate Badass Award for his role in The Dead Undead.

The Soska’s have described their films as Weekend at Bernie’s by way of Quentin Tarantino and admit it started off as a fake trailer. The sisters were inspired by Nova Scotia filmmakers Jason Eisener, John Davies and Rob Cotterill, and their Hobo with a Shotgun trailer, which won Robert Rodriguez's South by Southwest Grindhouse trailer contest and just recently wrapped as a feature starring Rutger Hauer.

Thanks from the Twisted Twins (Dead Hooker in a Trunk PollyGrind wins) from Chad Clinton Freeman on Vimeo.

“I was extremely pleased with the quality of all the content I got to program for my startup event,” PollyGrind creator Chad Clinton Freeman said. “But Dead Hooker in a Trunk and Slime City Massacre offer so much that it’s hard for people not to like at least some aspect of them. They’re funny, sexy, absurd and filled with girls, guns and gore just like many of the grindhouse greats.”

Other big winners at the festival were filmmakers Creep Creepersin and Calvin Lee Reeder and William Mager’s short Stiletto.

Creepersin, who has helmed 18 features since 2007, won the jury’s special showcase award for his lineup of world premieres Orgy of Blood, Vaginal Holocaust, and Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go that screened along with trailers for Erection, He, Peeping Blog, The Corporate Cut Throat Massacre, and Ding Dong Dead. Vaginal Holocaust also won for best use of nudity/sexuality.

Creepersin, along with his producers Nikki Wall and Charlie Vaughn came out for the event and took part in two Q&As. Cast and crew members of his films such as Dolce Death, Tess LaCoil and Shane Ryan also made appearances. The day after the PollyGrind, Creepersin and company headed out to Big Bear, Calif. to shoot his latest project Lake Death.

Reeder, deep in post production on his feature debut The Oregonian, won best director for his two short films The Rambler and The Snake Mountain Colada. The Rambler also won an award for best use of music.

In his write up about PollyGrind for Las Vegas Weekly, critic Josh Bell called Reeder’s short films the best of what he saw at the event, describing them as “beautifully impressionistic pieces that could hardly be classified as straight-up horror, but which used certain horror conventions, including sex, gore and mysterious hitchhikers, as jumping-off points for series of bizarre and haunting images that evoked the desolation of the American open road.”

Mager’s film noir Stiletto won the audience award for favorite short. It was also recognized for its acting as Beth Winslet won best actress of the festival.

Other jury awards went to Deborah Haywood’s dark comedy Sis for best short film, Ginnetta Correli’s Hippodrome Mime (featuring  the music of David Eng's Last Nights of Paris) for best music video, Pete Schuermann’s spoof Evil Brain From Planet X for best trailer, Alex Pucci’s brutal 70s throwback Frat House Massacre for best use of violence/gore, Bruce Dickson’s Red Velvet for best cinematography (shot by Jim Dickson), Matt Anderson and Edward Conna’s The Dead Undead for best cameo appearance (Forrest Ackerman as a Wheelchair ZomVamp that is set on fire) and German Magariños’ oh so wrong, but oh so funny Zombie Apocalypse Now: A Zombie Hunter for the most outrageous film of the festival.

Other audience awards for favorites went to Michael Dunn’s Hallway (performed by Justine Bellinsky of the band MoonVine from the short film The Bet) for music video, Michael Ramova’s Star Wars Grindhouse for trailer and Aaron Mento for his special showcase that featured the horror shorts Absent and Heathen's Gate.

Dunn (along with actor Lou Diamond), Bellinsky, Mento (along with his director of photography John Snedden and producer Von DeWit), Correli and Pucci all took part in Q&As during the event, as did Jeffrey Blake Palmer (in support of the trailer The Sleeping Deep), and Jeffrey Bliss and Brandon Zorn (in support of their short Telefone).

PollyGrind also had appearances by Doll Squad members Fran Niznik and Amanda Jade of Ted V. Mikels latest film Astro Zombies M3: Cloned, Scream Queen Donna Hamblin (also of Astro Zombies), HorrorNews.net’s Dai Green, fetish model Jennique Angel, pinup artists Popeye Wong and Tony Sauceda, and others.

“The event was a success in every way I could have hoped for,” Freeman said. “This was put on in the same spirit as old grindhouse cinema with no budget whatsoever and the horror and indie film communities, as well as genre fans, the Vegas art scene and the media really did their part in supporting us. Just like the films of Doris Wishman and Herschell Gordon Lewis, PollyGrind wasn’t without it’s flaws, but it definitely was a great start to an annual event.”

Freeman says the next PollyGrind is tentatively scheduled for May 11-15, 2011. Sponsors of the inaugural fest were TheGrindHouse.net, MTI Home Video, Sony Creative Software, FootageFirm, Terror Cards, Dolls and Dead Things, and the Sci-Fi Center. Freeman added that if any sponsors, advertisers, donors, etc. would like to be apart of next year’s event, he would love to already start hearing from them.

“The first PollyGrind was pulled off with less than five months of preparations,” Freeman said. “So with a full year to plan, promote and develop, I think next year’s is going to really be something.”

2010 POLLYGRIND WINNERS

PollyGrind Jury Awards:
The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind — Slime City Massacre (Greg Lamberson)
Best Short Film — Sis (Deborah Haywood)
Best Music Video — Hippodrome Mime (Ginnetta Correli)
Best Trailer — Evil Brain From Planet X (Pete Schuermann)
Best Special Showcase — Creep Creepersin (Features: Orgy of Blood, Vaginal Holocaust, Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go; Trailers: Erection, He, Peeping Blog, The Corporate Cut Throat Massacre, Ding Dong Dead)
Best Use of Nudity/Sexuality — Vaginal Holocaust (Creep Creepersin)
Best Use of Violence/Gore — Frat House Massacre (Alex Pucci)
Best Use of Music — The Rambler (Calvin Lee Reeder)
Best Actor — Kealan Patrick Burke as Cory (Slime City Massacre)
Best Actress — Beth Winslet as The Femme Fatale (Stiletto)
Best Cameo Appearance — Forrest Ackerman as Wheelchair ZomVamp (The Dead Undead)
Best Director — Calvin Lee Reeder (The Rambler and The Snake Mountain Colada)
Best Screenplay — Dead Hooker in a Trunk (Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska)
Best Cinematography — Red Velvet (Dir: Bruce Dickson; DP: Jim Dickson)
The Most Outrageous — Zombie Apocalypse Now: A Zombie Hunter (German Magariños)
The Most Creative — Scars of Youth (John R. Hand)

Audience Awards:
Favorite Feature — Dead Hooker in a Trunk (Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska)
Favorite Short Film — Stiletto (William Mager)
Favorite Music Video — Hallway (Michael Dunn)
Favorite Trailer — Star Wars Grindhouse (Michael Ramova)
Favorite Special Showcase — Aaron Mento (Absent and Heathen's Gate)

Special Awards:
Everette Hartsoe's Bad Girl Award — Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk)
Markowitz the Amazing Thug Armadillo's Ultimate Badass Award — Luke Goss (The Dead Undead)

MAY 10, 2010 —As a fan of genre and independent cinema, Chad Clinton Freeman knows how hard it is to weed through everything and find good movies to watch these days. As a filmmaker, he also knows how hard it is to get independent works out for the public to see them. With both of these experiences in mind, Freeman created the Polly Staffle Grindhouse Fest.

The event gets underway this Wednesday and runs till May 16 at the Sci-Fi Center (2520 State Street) in Las Vegas. Thirteen films and more than 31 trailers, music videos and shorts will play the event, which has been hyped by Vampires.com as “one of the biggest events for grindhouse and trash film lovers this year.”

“This week the cinematic revolution that is known as the PollyGrind begins,” said Freeman, who has been dubbed the "new champion of unabashed B-movie sleaze" by ArrowInTheHead.com. “This festival is being put on in the same spirit as old school grindhouse cinema - no funding and creatively using whatever is available. With that being said, I think the lineup turned out rather nicely and I think everyone that comes out will enjoy what William Powell’s Sci-Fi Center and the PollyGrind have to offer.”

Five features will have world premieres at the event. John R. Hand’s sci-fi arthouse film Scars of Youth  opens the festival May 12. The Dead Undead, which stars Luke Goss and was directed by stuntmen Matt Anderson and Edward Conna, world premieres May 13. Creep Creepersin will world premiere his films Vaginal Holocaust, Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go, and Orgy of Blood on May 15.

The films Greg Lamberson’s Slime City Massacre (which stars Debbie Rochon, Lee Perkins and Brooke Lewis), Henry Weintraub’s Melvin, Bruce Dickson’s Red Velvet (Henry Thomas, Kelli Garner and Cristen Coopen), James Pronath’s Horrid, Jen Soska & Sylvia Soska’s Dead Hooker in a Trunk, Alex Pucci’s Frat House Massacre and the anthology Terror Overload (Scarlet Salem, Rachel Grubb and Ari Lehman) will have Las Vegas premieres and the Argentina import Zombie Apocalypse Now: A Zombie Hunter will screen for the first time in the United States.

“Personally, I think all of these films are great. Otherwise I wouldn’t have programmed them,” Freeman said with a chuckle. “I will say that I’m very pleased I’m getting to open with the world premiere of Scars of Youth and I think the stuff Creep is bringing for Saturday should be a blast. Also, I think Slime City Massacre, The Dead Undead, Dead Hooker in a Trunk and Red Velvet will be crowd favorites.”

Also highlighting the festival will be works from award-winning filmmakers Michael Ramova (four faux trailers and a short), Calvin Lee Reeder (shorts The Rambler and The Snake Mountain Colada), Aaron Mento (shorts Absent and Heathen’s Gate) and Ginnetta Correli (music video Hippodome Mime).

Other short films playing will range from horror (The Bet, Blood Shed, The Red Hours, Depraved, and Hypochondriac), to animated fun (Frankenstien vs. Wolfman in 3D), to film noir (Stiletto), to sci-fi (Babylon 2084), to experimental (Telefone), and even dark comedy (Sis, and Because There Are Things You Never Forget).

Music videos will include Ryen McPherson’s entry Jitterbug (song by Walker Rose), the world premiere of Alvaro de la Hoz’s Long Goodbye (Lazy), David Wanger’s Anatinus (LIGO) Elona’s Warrior (Elona), and Rob Prior and Paul Jenkins’ Get Your Dead On (Scum of the Earth).

The PollyGrind will also feature appearances by actors, actresses, filmmakers and more. Confirmed special guests include Scream Queens Elske McCain and Donna Hamblin, actor Robert C. Sabin of Slime City and Slime City Massacre, comic book legend Everette Hartsoe (Razor), pinup artist Popeye Wong, and filmmakers Creep Creepersin, Alex Pucci, Sean Cain, Shane Ryan, Michael Dunn, Jeffrey Bliss, Aaron Mento, and Jeffrey Blake Palmer.

Vendor tables will open an hour and half before the movie madness begins each night. There will be items for sale, autograph and photograph opportunities, as well as raffles and giveaways.

Various nightly hosts will include spooks-model Jennique Angel, and HorrorNews.net managing editor Dai Green, while sponsors of the event are TheGrindHouse.net, MTI Home Video, Sony Creative Software, FootageFirm, Terror Cards, and Dolls and Dead Things.

When the dust settles, the film festival will hand out more than 14 awards, including the top prize dubbed The Biggest Baddest Mother of the PollyGrind. There will also be awards for best use of music, nudity/sexuality, violence/gore, and most outrageous. The audience will also be casting ballots each night to pick their favorite feature, short, music video and trailer.

Tickets for the event are $10 per day. Five day passes and three day passes can be purchased in advance for $40 and $25 here or at TheSciFiCenter.com.

In anticipation of the event, Ammon Gilbert of ArrowInTheHead.com has called it “a B-movie jamboree of awesomeness” that “only Vegas has the balls to host.” Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly said “there's a fine line, certainly, between underground genre weirdness and artistic ambitions, and the festival will no doubt do everything possible to blur it.”

Freeman said he hopes both journalists are right in their predictions, and then some. “Our aim, as has always been the case with PollyStaffle.com, is to celebrate individuality, diversity, creativity and empowerment,” Freeman said. “Hopefully, PollyGrind is a fun and unique experience that honors the darker side of cinema and showcases the work of filmmakers with defiantly independent visions. I also hope it comes off as an intimate educational experience and a networking function for the audience and the filmmakers that will leave everyone wanting to come back for more next year.”