Wow, what a great night of cinema. Ok, maybe only zombie or vampire lovers need apply but I thought the first night of the Zompire film fest was excellent. I’m glad I decided to go even though I could only get 1 person to go with me.

So, in the first block the big draw movie was Night of the Hell-Hamsters which did not disappoint. The scene where the woman is try to free the hamster from the man’s pants was an appropriate twist on a classic horror moment. There were definitely a lot of moments that were just so wrong that they were right. I also really liked Shipwreck, especially the first 2 death scenes which both come out of nowhere and are substantially gory. I thought Akai was really well done and I liked the premise but I didn’t feel it sat with the audience as well. It was a really innovative take on vampirism taking on a drudgery of daily life. Unfortunately I don’t think people come to see vampires in day to day life; they come to see them being extravagant and sexy.

Choking Hazard, which was the only film in the second block, was a lot of fun. It starts with one of the best zombie killing scenes ever. It wasn’t quite as insightful as I had hoped (hey zombie movies can be insightful just watch the original Dawn of the Dead). But it had charm and spontaneity that I enjoyed.

In the third block, I wanted to see Popsy and I felt it was done as well as that story could be done. It’s not a great story but it was pulled off well in the film rendition. But honestly the combo of Gay Zombie and Lesbian Vampire Lovers of Lust was just amazing. Gay Zombie was really well done but overshadowed by Lesbian Vampire Lovers of Lust which was excellent, and quite possibly my favorite film of the night. And that’s saying a lot given that I’m a bigger fan of zombie movies than vampire movies generally. Suffice it to say if I can get a copy of this film (or tv episode as I guess it was) I’ll be screening it for my friends.

It was a very strong night, and I suspect I’ll return tomorrow for more. As much as I feel The Lost Boys could benefit from a theater selling beer I suppose seeing it with a bunch of zombie/vampire fans couldn’t be such a bad thing.

Anyway more details on the event:
http://lokiloka.com/portland/events/show/739

Info on the Hollywood Theater:
http://lokiloka.com/portland/hollywoodtheater