4B - Thursday, October 28, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Indie horror descends on the Michigan Bringing people together with scares for a frighteningly good cause By CASSIE BALFOUR DailyArts Writer On Devil's Night, the Michigan Theater will be transformed into a terrifying circus fit to host an indepen- dent horror film festival. Three Corpse LSA senior Jonathan Barkan and his crack CirCUS team of horror buffs Saturday had visions of creating at 7 a stronger, more cohe- M . sive horror comnt Mchigan Theatr svhorrcommunity Tickes from $17 in southeast Michigan. The result: the Three Corpse Circus Independent Horror Film Festival. The eclectic festival submissions range from zombie movies to comedic stabs at the genre. Submissions came locally from both University of Michigan and Eastern Michi- gan University students, as well as interna- tionally from places as far as Denmark. "We have everything from zombie mov- ies, to broken families, to comedy. The film festival is going to run the gamut of the horror genre in just a few hours," Barkan said. "All the films have their heart in the right place and are really fun, even if some are kind of low budget." "I actually prefer the B-movies even where the production is kinda crappy," added Brian Schmieder, an LSA senior and the operations manager for the festival. "Most of the time they're a lot of fun and don't take themselv The films range as two minutes up t val will also feature ror trivia games, g: Lanes and Monste I treats for movie buf EMU alum Chris tival coordinator, sa "ringmaster." "She goes by U: to be fantastic. St crowd." Barkan hopes fo the festival, believi everyone's curiosit of life. "It's in our natu said. "Horror movi ity. In general, hort Hollywood because they want to see. W instinct, we wanttt Barkan knowsv - he writes for Bl popular and respec the Internet that is and getting it off th Despite what Bar ror community inI is there. Last year, played at the StateT ences. Ann Arbor w of cities nationwide rolled out the filmI see that people in A horror movies and creepiness that ext: "The horror co Michigan is scattt with only small po 'es too seriously." kan said. "I know people who hate horror, in length from as short but who love Halloween and watching o 48 minutes. The festi- scary movies with their friends once a year. costume contests, hor- "But horror can be enjoyed year round. iveaways from Colonial There is a stigma around horror. We're not Energy drinks and other all scary, or angry hate-filled people; we're fs throughoutthe night. just normal people who enjoy being scared topher Anderson, a fes- and enjoy the darker aspects of films," he tid there would also be a said. Barkan said the Three Corpse Circus has rsula, and she is going big plans to carve out a horror community he'll really engage the that would extend far past their event. "We're building the Three Corpse Cir- ir a diverse showing at cus not just as a film festival but as a brand, ng that horror taps into something that brings that horror com- y about the darker sides munity throughout southeast Michigan together for monthly events -- where it' s re to want to know," he not just film festivals, but also art galler- ies play on that curios- ies," Barkan explained. "In the future, we ror is very profitable for plan to do concerts when it gets closer to people are curious and Halloween. We'll also focus on the things e want to celebrate that parents can do with their kids, such as D celebrate horror." pumpkin carvings leading up to the main chat he's talking about event, the film festival, which by the way is oody-Disgusting.com, a unrated." ted horror websites on "Yeah, don't bring your little kids," publicizing the festival Anderson added. e ground. The trio has a philosophythathorror can -kan calls a lack of a hor- be used as a tool for social change and is Ann Arbor, the demand using the festival to rally support for causes "Paranormal Activity" like the Spectrum Center - the Univer- Fheater to sold-outaudi- sity's LGBT outreach and advocacy center. 'as one of only a handful If they sell more than 1,000 tickets, they'll where Paramount first donate $2 of every ticket to the center. Barkan and his team can "We want to show that horror can be a knn Arbor crave quality source of positive change in the community hope to create a cult of in general," Barkan said. ends past Halloween. Barkan admits that a lot of their initial mmunity in southeast schemes ended up on the cutting-room ered and disorganized floor. 'ckets of support," Bar- "We had such grandiose plans at first, we had to trim down our ideas and figure out what was logistically feasible for us because as it is right now, we're already running ragged and if had tried to hold onto our original ideas it would have been a complete nightmare," he said. "Nightmare on Liberty Street," Schmie- der injected, always ready with a quick hor- ror reference. In fact, the team's encyclopedic horror knowledge is almost, well, scary. When asked to name favorite scary movies, con- templative silence- descended upon the group - but only briefly. 'The Fog' is my favorite, but as for the scariest, the original 'Alice in Wonderland,' even 'The Wizard of Oz' freaks me out," Schmieder said. "I'm gonna have to say 'Let the Right One In,' " Anderson said. "Horror to me isn't about the gore and the guts, it's about relationships, and that film is truly about relationships." And if you're looking for a horror film TESY OF THREE CORPSE CIRCus recommendation, look no further than e public good. Barkan. Unable to decide, he spent several 0 p If you don't go to the Three Corpse Circus, Ursula will be angry. You won't like her when she's angry. minutes rattling off a host of movie titles. "I can't even narrow it down; I'm still scanning my mental DVD collection of hor- ror films," he said. Eventually he cited "The Shining" asone that still freaks him out to this day. "It can be three in the afternoon, birds tweeting, blinds open, and I will be scared shitless for hours," he said. The important idea these horror advo- cates are pushing is to keep an open mind about the horror genre. "It's like when people say they don't like metal even though there are tons of sub- genres. Same thing with horror movies, like the ones with a lot of gore and shock value ... you just find what you like and stand by it," Barkan said. "As you can see, we have a lot of passion." Ultimately, the team has high expecta- tions for how they want the audience to react to the spooky submissions. "I want to see the audience freak out," Schmieder said. "We want to have popcorn flying at every scare and people screaming," Barkan added. With that, Anderson had some final advice for would-be film fest attendees: "Sissies stay home." The Three Corpse Circus brings local short horror films together to pror HAUNTED From Page lB people to actually go through it." Many consider "Alien Caged Clowns" the most intense attraction at Night Ter- rors. After the structural, logistical and con- ceptual details are all worked out, set deco- ration commences. The goal: make it feel as real as possible. "We really want them to feel like they're in (an) asylum or in a mine shaft," Wilson said. "All the things that we can make seem more real to give more of that terror effect is what we try and go for." Wilson describes this as one of the most gratifying and genuinely fun parts for him, because it allows for substantial hands-on creativity. Most of the props for Night Terrors are purchased from garage sales, antique shops or secondhand stores. A portion of the set comes from employees, who bring in objects that they otherwise would have thrown away. Nicole Karbacz, the "Head Witch" at Krazy Hilda's Barn of Doom, explains that it's quite the contrary for their homemade attraction. "Probably 85 percent of what I have is something we've put together ourselves," she said. For Karbacz, the key component to a haunted house is the live-action perfor- mance of its actors. She refers to the actors that populate the Barn of Doom as "mon- sters" and described how exactly these monsters get to be so scary. "There is an art to scaring people," she said. "It's all about the timing and read- ing their body language and listening. We kind of listen to (the guests) as they're approaching the place to scare and play on those fears that we heard them talking about." If a child says "Dad, I'm scared," she will respond by saying "Dad's not going to pro- tect you." The Barn of Doom's monsters also use a tag-team technique to provide for an extended scare, rather than numer- ous isolated frights. The actors playing monsters will give each other verbal cues - for instance, a monster warning the visi- tors to "watch out for my wolf" before the wolf jumps out and scare them - which requires a certain degree of improvisation that most actors normally don't encounter. Night Terrors also realizes the impor- tance of performance and has a very selec- tive process for hiring potential actors. "We do a pretty intense interview pro- cess," Wilson said. "We actually put them in a couple of the scenes, tell them how we want them to act out, give them all the cues, give them what we want them to say (and) the feelings we want them to get across to the customer." Wilson informs his candidates early on of the high standards to which he holds his actors. "When we go through the interview process, the first words out of my mouth (are):'Don't think you're just going to jump out of a corner with a flashlight,' " he said. "Our customers pay to be terrified, that's why they come here, and we want to ter- rorize them." The selection process for Krazy Hilda's monsters is much less rigorous. "I guess I just hang out with some real scary people," Karbacz said. Most of her monsters are friends and acquaintances. After an actor is hired at Night Terrors, his or her job is to work wherever the event managers see fit. This includes some peo- ple playing the same part all the time, and others alternating on a frequent basis. "If we've got a real good guy in one scene, and he's just phenomenal, we may pull him out and make him a floater, because he's got the energy," Wilson said. p 0 "He'll float the whole event and scare you five, six, seven times while you're in there." Regardless of how effective an actor is, impressive visual effects are necessary to really make the experience terrifying. Wilson said that smoke machines are used to slow people down and strobe lights are often employed to create a disorienting effect for visitors. In addition to their abil- ity to disorient, Karbacz said the strobe lights she uses give inanimate objects a sense of vitality. "(We) try to place them to make the object look like it's alive," she said. Dimming or changing the color of the lights can also enhance a room visually. Lighting is most valuable in changing the mood from room to room and never allow- ing the customer to become too comfort- able. Karbacz also uses Day-Glo paint - which she describes as "fluorescents under blacklight" - and "Gotetraits," which are "3-D pictures hanging on the wall with creatures' faces on them," to enhance rooms visually. The soft colors of the Day-Glo paint lull guests into a false sense of security because of their contrast with the harsher mood created by the lighting in other rooms. One Goretrait features the face of a monster that can be seen somewhere else in the Barn of Doom. The intention is for a visitor to see the terrifying portrait and then see the face in real life later on. The effectiveness of these methods are difficult to measure, however, so customer feedback is essential. Wilson sees a constant need to keep each attraction fresh, which he measures through reactions after groups have gone through the events at Night Terrors. "We do a lot of talking," he said. Event managers stand outside of the attractions and ask the customers ques- tions about what scared them the most. Whether you're the kind of person who looks under your bed at night or the kind of person who never shudders while watch- ing a horror movie, Wilson and Karbacz both think their haunted attractions will make you think twice next time you go out- side in the dark. "If you're here, you're getting scared," Wilson said. "Race, color, gender, it really doesn't matter - they're all screaming and yelling." For Wilson, the most rewarding part of his job is observing the toughest-looking people crack under pressure. "Even the biggest guys scream like babies sometimes," he explained. "When you've got a six-foot-two, three-hundred- pound guy come running out of the exit of 'The Mind Shaft,' screaming his head off, yeah, that's a good feeling." Karbacz can relate to this feeling and continues to do what she does for one sim- ple reason: "I'm just passionate about scar- ing the crap out of people." Attractions at Wiard's Night Terrors include "Mind Shaft" and "Alien Caged Clowns 6 DAILY ARTS: HOME OF THE FRIENDLIEST GHOSTS THIS SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI. E-mail join.arts Cumich.edu for information on applying.