Fessenden and friend
(a raven performer fresh off the Harry Potter films)
on the set of THE LAST WINTER in 2005.
Not sure the public took that film’s message to heart.

From Irish Star:

A spooky Irish horror podcast is making waves with listeners from the US and around the world and was nominated for a prestigious award in New York this year.

Petrified by Peter Dunne and Liam Geraghty started in 2019 and it didn’t take long for it to become a favorite amongst horror fans. In fact, it won the Best Drama Podcast Award at the New York Festivals Radio Awards that year.

Nominated again in 2023, this time alongside giants like Marvel, Petrified continues to prove itself as a truly frightening and immersive listening experience for horror fans around the world, with a unique Irish identity that by no means limits its reach across the globe.

Speaking to IrishStar.com, podcast writer and director Peter revealed that he never expected the podcast to become this popular, with listeners in Ireland, The US, the UK, India, and more places around the globe.

He explained: “It’s very heartening when there’s something like Marvel, a billion-dollar company, and we’re a few Irish people sitting around my dining room table. Marvel just really stood out because it’s so massive.

“We did this as a couple of friends, with very little money behind it. And then the first series did well, the second one did well, and the third one did really well. We never would have thought this.”

Since it first debuted, the podcast has grown from strength to strength and has even featured guest stars such as legendary Irish newsreader Anne Doyle and horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden.

Its popularity, Peter says, is largely down to its unique Irish horror offering. He explained: “Our big selling point is that we’re a horror anthology series from Ireland. I think maybe that’s why it has taken off. We’re deliberately and specifically Irish and all of our stories have a twist.

Read Full Interview HERE

SCREEN DRAFTS and PANIC FEST presents Emily Hagins, Graham Skipper and Fessenden
LIVE (Virtual) as they draft the top 9 Dracula Movies! This THURSDAY, Apr 20th, 8PM Central.

If you’re in Kansas City, be sure to attend PANIC FEST in person for theatrical screenings of
WE ARE STILL HERE and the new BROOKLYN 45, both featuring Fessenden.

Get Your Tix at PanicFilmFest.com

6 Under-Appreciated Vampire Movies to Watch Before You See ‘Renfield’

by Luis H. C.

… with Chris McKay’s upcoming Renfield proving that there are still fresh spins to be had on the Dracula formula, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six of the most under-appreciated vampire movies out there. After all, there’s nothing like discovering a hidden gem within a sea of similar genre flicks…

If you want to revamp a classic monster for modern audiences without losing the emotional edge that made these stories effective in the first place, Larry Fessenden is the filmmaker for you. While he’s already updated Frankenstein into a contemporary tragedy in Depraved and is currently working on his own take on The Wolfman, the filmmaker’s first foray into mythological bloodshed came in the form of the 1997 indie flick Habit.

Telling the story of a New Yorker who becomes ill after getting involved with a mysterious woman, the film is half arthouse mood piece and half romantic monster movie. While things never get truly terrifying (unless you count the existential dread of being a psychologically unstable artist in Manhattan), this strange little character study will likely stick with you long after the end credits roll.

See full list at Blood Disgusting

Excerpt from IN THE FOXHOLE: THE MAKING OF A WAR FILM, a 90 minute behind the scenes look at Jack Fessenden’s second feature FOXHOLE (2019) and a coming of age story of indie filmmaking. Editor Larry Fessenden.

Full featurette Available on Blu-ray through Yellow Veil Pictures.

The FOXHOLE Blu-ray is packed with extras !
special slip-cover edition available at Vinegar Syndrome
or buy the standard edition at amazon.com

GEP Pal Kelly Reichardt chats with Marc Maron about the start of her filmmaking career,
working on RIVER OF GRASS with Fessenden and her upcoming film SHOWING UP. 

From WTF: Kelly Reichardt’s latest movie Showing Up is about the life of artists, but Kelly had no experience with art while growing up in a Miami law enforcement family other than crime scene photos. Kelly talks to Marc about the moment that opened her eyes to artistic expression and how a lonely night in Boston watching the snow fall convinced her to start making movies. They also go through all her films and gush over Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller.

Now available on your favorite Podcast platform.

Listen HERE

Under a full moon and on my late Dad’s Birthday,
I finished the mix and color correct on BLACKOUT.
Anyone who knows my process knows there will be tweaks to come,
but the bulk of the work is done.

With thanks to my cast and crew and the unsung soldiers
of post-production who bring a movie into focus.

Hope to get the film out to the public soon;
we make these pictures to share and console and jostle.
—L Fessenden, april 6, 2023

photo of October 2022 full moon by Garth Battista

From Hollywood Reporter:

MaXXXine — the third film in the X horror series — has set the cast that will join franchise star Mia Goth in the Ti West feature.

Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Halsey, Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon are set for the feature that will start shooting his month in Los Angeles.

MaXXXine will take place after the events of X, and follow Goth’s Maxine as the sole survivor of the farmhouse massacre who continues her journey toward fame as she sets out to make it as an actress in 1980s Los Angeles.

A24 is behind the new film, with Jacob Jaffke, West, Goth, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss acting as producers. West is writing and directing the sequel.

Get the full scoop HERE

Slash Film: Showing Up Director Kelly Reichardt On Working With Michelle Williams,
Judd Hirsch, And Animals 

Remember when “First Cow” came out in 2019, lighting Film Twitter on fire thanks to a combination of incredibly poignant storytelling, a strong and compelling bond between its two working class main characters, and an utterly (udderly? sorry) adorable bovine at the center of it all? Indie studio A24 did what they do best and leaned into those aspects (especially the bovine of it all) for as much as it was worth, driving up buzz online and helping turn writer/director Kelly Reichardt’s quiet and unassuming movie into a film festival hit.

So how would the filmmaker hope to recapture that magic with the next A24 collaboration? Well, Reichardt remains blissfully unaware of the whims of social media (“Fortunately,” she dryly states during our conversation) and whatever marketing power it may or may not hold, allowing her and frequent writing partner Jon Raymond to concentrate solely on the needs of the script in front of them. That focus paid dividends on “Showing Up,” the upcoming slice-of-life film starring Reichardt regular Michelle Williams as Lizzie, a frazzled sculptor attempting to navigate the minefields of her impending showcase, her dysfunctional family, and her irritating fellow artist/landlord Jo (a brilliant Hong Chau).

Not only is the film a surprisingly funny drama, but it also shares a serendipitous parallel with “The Fabelmans.” In a recent Zoom interview, I spoke with Reichardt about beating Steven Spielberg to the punch in casting Judd Hirsch and Michelle Williams as estranged relatives, working with animals in the tradition of her other films (“Showing Up” happens to star a scene-stealing pigeon), why the character of Lizzie was described as a “trapped badger,” and more.

Read full exclusive interview HERE

A world off kilter 

Ted Geoghegan on casting, design and the supernatural in Brooklyn 45
By Jennie Kermode

Five people. One room. It’s late at night in Brooklyn, just after the end of the Second World War, and friends have gathered to comfort one of their number who has recently lost his wife, who shocks them when he says that he wants their help to hold a séance. Writer/director Ted Geoghegan is a little nervous about his new film, Brooklyn 45, because it’s not stuffed to the gills with supernatural shocks like some horror fans may be hoping; rather, its focus is on the psychological, and on the damage done by a conflict which led people to encounter situations they simply were not prepared for. It went down well at SXSW, however, and as it screened at the Overlook Film Festival, I asked him how he managed to assemble its impressive cast.

“I had written the role of Clive for Larry Fessenden,” he begins. “Larry’s one of my oldest friends here in New York, we only live a few blocks apart. He’s one of my one of my favourite carousing and drinking buddies, where we sit around and we bounce ideas off each other all day. I wanted to create another role that I felt Larry could excel in as an actor, because so often he’s given these tiny roles in genre films, he shows up and he gets killed, or he shows up and has one line and walks away – and he’s just such a phenomenal actor…

Read the rest of the interview HERE