The Shriekfest Film Festival, held yearly here in Los Angeles since the year 2000 (the year twooo-thousaaaaaaaand) has a special place in my heart. It was the first festival I ever covered and one of the first times I realized that saying “Press” meant I didn’t have to pay for things. But it’s deeper than that. Shriekfest is a true filmmaker’s festival. You won’t show up to find big studio pictures being played or people walking down a red carpet, smiling, waving, leaving. When the cast and crew shows up, they sit there with you in a small theater. Hang around to answer your questions. That’s pretty cool. Showcasing both shorts and features, there’s plenty to see for any horror or science-fiction fan. Sure, not every thing you see is going to blow your mind, but every year you’ll manage to find a handful of gems before anyone else gets a chance to see them. On to the winners!

A new documentary, Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of OZploitation, was recently released in Australia and is currently touring the festival circuit across the US.

The man’s formative years were spent flinging his extensive film knowledge in the general direction of willing and unwilling ears and his movies are laced with comments on films, past and present. So who better to stand in front of a room full of attentive film lovers and natter to his heart’s content?