Film festival brings out Bloomington’s dark side

A dark carnival crashes and slashes its way into Bloomington tonight. Making camp at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, The Dark Carnival Film Festival will feature more than 40 independent horror movies, a sideshow, a horror rock band and, on Saturday night, a Dance Party Massacre.\nFestival Director Dave Pruett said he wants to expose Bloomington to some independent films the city would not see otherwise, and give filmmakers the chance to showcase their films on a big screen. This is the Dark Carnival Film Festival’s first year.\nThe films come from all over the world and were chosen by a five-person panel that included Pruett. The running times range from 11 minutes to feature length. One film uses stop-motion animation to retell Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Pruett said.\nFilms have been showing at the Cinemat since Monday, but today the main attraction begins.\nAt 8 p.m. tonight, actress Brenna Lee Roth will be participating in a meet-and-greet along with her rock-star father David Lee Roth at the Starlite Drive-In, 7640 S. Old State Road 37. The movie, “Dead and Breakfast,” will begin at dusk. Roth said she is not a huge fan of horror movies despite having starred in some.\n“I am terrified of everything,” Roth said. “If someone came up to me and said ‘boo,’ I might start crying.”\nFriday, adult film star Ron Jeremy will host the adult horror films at the Buskirk-Chumley, Pruett said.\nAlso doing a meet-and-greet is actor Ari Lehman. Lehman achieved cult status by playing young Jason Voorhees in the 1980 film “Friday the 13th.” His band, First Jason, will be playing at the Dance Party Massacre Saturday night.\nLehman describes First Jason as a “hard-core horror band.” Lyrics to songs such as “Jason is Watching,” “Red Red Red” and “Sink or Swim” are what Lehman imagines are going through the mind of Jason, who never talks in any of the “Friday the 13th” movies. An avid horror fan who watches four or five horror movies a week, Lehman said the genre is important because it questions the unknown.\n“When we go to a horror movie and we’re afraid, we are really having a vicarious thrill of fear in a place we know is totally safe,” Lehman said.\nThe Dance Party Massacre will feature local actors and actresses dressed up like dead cheerleaders and other staples from 80s horror slasher flicks, Pruett said. There will also be a costume contest for the public. The grand prize is Lehman killing the winner on stage, and he promised to be “gentle but deadly.”\n“The best thing about great horror is it looks really nasty, but it is totally fake,” Lehman said.\nFor more information, visit www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com. Tickets range from $6 to $8 per screening and all-access weekend passes are $2.