Last year, Columbus’ Nightmares Film Festival opened with a screening of Victor Crowley, with writer/director Adam Green on hand for a Q&A and meet-and-greet. It was a wonderful way to kick off the festival and I’d been wondering lately if NFF 2018 would be able to top that. I figured they’d have a trick up their sleeve and I was right. This year’s festivities will kick off with a screening of the brand-spanking-new 4K restoration of William Lustig‘s sleazy and disturbing classic, Maniac!
Let’s take a look at the facts…
The festival kicks off on Thursday, October 18th. Lustig’s boutique cult films label, Blue Underground, will not be releasing this restoration on Blu-ray until Tuesday, November 13th. As a result, those in attendance at NFF ’18 will get to see this gore-soaked classic finally ascend to its true form almost 4 weeks early! On top of all of that, Lustig himself will be in attendance to intro the film, give a Q&A, and meet with festival guests after the screening. Having briefly spoken with Mr. Lustig at a Maniac Cop double-feature at Gateway Film Center last year, I can attest that he is humble, gracious, and an absolute delight to be around.
Whether you’re a lifelong fan of the film or you’ve yet to experience it, any horror nut able to attend owes it to themselves to pick up a festival pass. The combined talents of Bill Lustig (Maniac Cop, Vigilante), Joe Spinell (Rocky, Starcrash), Caroline Munro (Dracula A.D. 1972, The Spy Who Loved Me), and Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead) demand it! This film is begging to be experienced on the big screen in all its sweaty, haunting, and head-exploding glory! If you can’t tell already, I’m pumped for this! You should be too!
Maniac joins other early selections Nightmares has announced, including the world premieres of The Final Interview from director Fred Vogel (August Underground), The Bad Man from Scott Schirmer (Found, Harvest Lake) and Skeletons in the Closet from Tony Wash (The Rake); the midwest premiere of The FP 2: Beats of Rage from Jason Trost (The FP, All Superheroes Must Die); and new short films from the directors of Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich and Wyrmwood: Road of the Damned.
Festival passes are available while they last at GatewayFilmCenter.org/NFF.
