Lock Your Doors and Hide Your Children IFC Presents Annual Indie Screams Festival This October

This October, The Independent Film Channel (IFC) will present its annual Indie Screams festival, beginning Friday, October 13 and continuing each night through Tuesday,
October 31. The announcement was made today at the Television Critics Tour in Pasadena by IFC Films President Jonathan Sehring. The cornerstone of the festival is the premiere of the IFC Original Documentary THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE, which will be followed by the network premieres of many horror classics from the masters of the genre including Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, George Romero, David Cronenberg and John Carpenter, among others. This year’s Indie Screams festival films will include Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Martin, Rabid, The Brood, Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Sisters and the cult-classic Re-Animator.

The common thread to all of the Indie Screams films — and what ultimately makes the horror genre so crucial to the history of indie film — is that they these works were rejected by Hollywood and forced to be made outside of the studio system because of the gut-wrenching themes. In many respects, these films were an artistic extension of the carnage and horror that was being addressed on the evening news at the time with respect to political assassinations, Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. “The filmmakers and their films were really holding a mirror to American society and truly exposing its most ugly traits,” comments George Lentz, Director, Film Acquisitions for IFC. He adds, “This is the true genius of these guys and of the horror genre as a whole during the late 60s/early 70s. These are landmark American films and should be treated as such.”

The biggest in IFC’s history, this year’s Indie Screams festival features:

The American Nightmare – directed by Adam Simon
Friday, October 13 at 10:00PM/ET, Thursday, October 19 at 11:30PM/ET,
Saturday, October 28 at 10:00PM/ET and Tuesday, October 31 at 10:00PM
Flesh-eating zombies! Chainsaw-swinging psychos! Boogiemen with butcher knives! –
IFC has all of your childhood fears wrapped into one really cool (and creepy) doc exploring the most popular and profitable genre in independent films — the horror film. IFC probes the masterminds behind the scariest masterpieces of the “Golden Age” of American independent horror films in the exclusive television premiere of its original documentary.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – directed by Tobe Hooper
Friday, October 13 at 11:15PM/ET, Thursday, October 26 at 10:00PM/ET and
Saturday, October 28 at 11:15PM/ET
The landmark horror film of stranded teens who meet their fate at the hands of a family of cannibals in rural Texas. An indie phenomena that combined art-house cinema viriti techniques with the horror genre to craft one of the most terrifying films of all time, which remains on many film critics’ lists as one of the best ever made.

Night of The Living Dead (1968) – directed by George Romero
Sunday, October 15 at 10:15PM/ET, Friday, October 27 at 9:45PM/ET and
Tuesday, October 31 at 8:00PM/ET
Long before the Blair Witch Project, director George Romero and his pals got together and redefined the meaning of horror (from their hometown of Pittsburgh) with this seminal classic about people who seek refuge from bloodthirsty zombies.

Dawn of The Dead (1978) – directed by George Romero
Saturday. October 14 at 11:45PM/ET, Friday, October 27 at 11:30PM/ET and
Tuesday, October 31 at 11:15PM/ET
Romero redefines the term “mall dweller” in the second installment of the Living Dead trilogy, when his flesh-eating zombies take over the local shopping mall. Having refused studio offers for a sequel, Romero sought production funds on his own and remained true to his vision, securing his place in indie history as a horror film maverick.

Martin (1978) – directed by George Romero
Friday, October 27 at 8:00PM/ET and Monday, October 30 at 11:30PM/ET
Dark satire of a young man who believes he’s a vampire, but lacking fangs he resorts to using razor blades on his prey. Romero once again takes full advantage of the freedom of independent filmmaking, serving up a bleak story that no studio would have touched.

Rabid (1977) – directed by David Cronenberg
Friday, October 20 at 9:45PM/ET, Tuesday, October 24 at 10:00PM/ET and
Sunday, October 29 at 9:45PM/ET
Ivory Snow girl turned porn star Marilyn Chambers terrorizes Montreal after undergoing experimental surgery and waking from a coma infected with an appetite for blood.

The Brood (1979) – directed by David Cronenberg
Friday, October 20 at 8:00PM/ET and Sunday, October 29 at 8:00PM/ET
New Age psychiatrist gives advice to a woman who gives birth to mutant children that murder her enemies. In Cronenberg’s early efforts, he took a hard look at science and psychology gone wrong. These themes would later be in evidence in subsequent Cronenberg films like The Fly and Videodrome.

Last House on The Left (1972) – directed by Wes Craven
Wednesday, October 18 at 1:00AM/ET and Saturday, October 28 at 12:45AM/ET
A disturbing story of two young girls brutally tortured by a group of escaped convicts. The murderers become the victims when one of the girls’ parents seeks revenge. Craven cut his teeth on this groundbreaking shocker which was inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s art-house classic, The Virgin Spring (which follows the October 18 airing at 2:30AM/ET on IFC).