Awefulfest Artifacts
WELCOME TO THE AWEFULFEST ARTIFACT MUSEUM
(Turn your screen sideways like a movie screen)
Follow The Hallowed History of the Family Event!
BEGINNINGS 2004 - 2008
AWEFULFEST was spawned (great word huh?) from a winter weekend of cult film viewing by
Rich, Cindy, Sara and Joe in February of 2004 at Sara and Joe's home.
It was originally tabbed The Dead of Winter Awful Film Festival and we continued such weekends from 2004 -2008
What better way to begin a decades long, annual family cult film festival in 2004 than a showing of, perhaps the weirdest,
if not the worst, film ever made by the driving force of Awefulfest, Ed Wood.....
and a big, surprise crowd pleaser that weekend was The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra!
Other notable films enjoyed on those Winter Weekends prior
to 2008s first Awefulfest….
It was during those cold winter weekends that the idea of getting together
in winter AND summer for fun movies that Awefulfest was "hatched."
2008
Rich's poster and program (below) for a 2008 Dead of Winter Fest in Rockport
is the earliest known such advance publication for an event and served as
a model for future Awefulfest promotions of this sort. We were inching towards a fantasy family enterprise.
It was at this particular weekend where we decided it was time to have our summer weekend event OUTDOORS!
The Great Garloo, a Remco creation from Rich's toy chest, proved a dominant fixture at Rockport winter gatherings!
SEEDS OF AWEFULFEST
Soon after this weekend Rich posted on our blog some great inspiration for a summer outdoor festival we would call Awefulfest.
15 April 2008 20:43 EDT | Title: From Rich | Posted by me/soujourner I'm very excited about the Locust Street Drive-In Movie Theater in Dover event this summer. I hope it will be the beginning of an annual Summer event aimed at recapturing the wonderful drive-in theater experience of our youth when every car was a column-shift V8, no one worried about Trans-Fats, and the biggest threat to our way of life were the Russky's. Or giant insects that had been exposed to radioactive fallout from atomic bomb tests in the Mojave Desert. So let's sit back, light up a Camel, and ponder the possible viewing choices. My first pick would be, "Invasion of the Saucermen" (1957). It features little green men from Space, a crawling dismembered hand with it's own eyeball, and teenagers in hot-rods, including the ubiquitous Frank Gorshin. But alas, this absolute gem of a B-movie is not available on tape nor DVD! This is hard for me to get my head around. There are hundreds of these types of movies available - many of them quite inferior to this one - but for some reason "Invasion of the Saucermen" has never made it into general release. I will write a letter. My back-up selection would be, "The Brain from Planet Arous" (1957). This little gem has John Agar (Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula), H-bomb tests in the desert, and a giant floating brain with two little beady eyes which resembles a kind of internal organ pinata floating around the room. It's definitely drive-in material. I also hope there'll be some period intermission film during which we can repair to the concession stand for our foil-wrapped cheeseburgers, popcorn, and soft drink. (I was always a cream soda fan myself). By the way, has anyone ever tried eating popcorn and french fries at the same time? It's really pretty good, in a sickening sort of way. It's the type of thing I would have done when I was a teenager. Except I didn't. I did it last year when I was eating popcorn at the movies and my wife offered me one of her french fries. I popped both into my mouth - mmmm. Then I had some more. Then I got nauseous and stopped. But it was pretty good for a while. Try it! There are other movies I could suggest - "The Tingler" (1959), "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956), "Forbidden Planet" (1956), "The Fly" (1958), but for now I'll leave it at, "Brain from Planet Arous", unless I can find a copy of, "Invasion of the Saucermen". Ricardo - Out. Edit this Post | Delete this Post
In the summer of 2008, Joe borrowed an lcd projector from a friend and the very first backyard film night took place that summer. The film was Invasion of The Saucermen. It was just around this time that the term AWEFULFEST replaced the original moniker.
Rich and Joe congratulate each other just prior to
the very first backyard screening (Invasion of The Saucermen)in 2008.
We took off after this event. Rich made the marquee shown
in this photo and it has since become an annual tradition in the summer,prominently
illustrating the Saturday night outdoor feature.
Joe then received his very own lcd projector for a birthday present and the backyard
movies became an annual summer event, although the family continues to gather
in various configurations every season, especially the Halloween versions in October.
Joe, Rich and Will prepare the screen for Invasion of The Saucermen backyard showing in July of 2008.
So, what is Awefulfest?
FOLLOWUP OF THE FIRST AWEFULFEST
A month later Joe wrote about the summer 2008 gathering.
15 August 2008 12:54 EDT | Title: Follow Up On Drive-In Movie Night | Posted by me/soujourner Exactly 4 months to the day of Rich's hopeful post I can report that drive-in night went extremely well. In a nutshell here are words and phrases that characterize the evening; "Will it rain?" "Looks like rain!" "Rich's incredible lobby poster with theater lights." "Look at that rainbow!" "Let's just start the film and hope it doesn't rain, it didn't rain, mission accomplished!" It was hectic. It looked like rain would wash us out. I built a neat "projection booth" using a wrought iron garden bench and a card table. The projector and amp fit snugly on the bench which was wedged under the table with just enough space for everything to operate. Sounds hokey but it worked. The best surprise was the picture quality on that $12 bedsheet. As it grew darker and darker the picture got better and better. A huge screen. The film, "Invasion of The Saucermen" elicited rapid, non-stop funny comments from the audience. Once I realized that we were up and running I grabbed a cold beer, sat in my chair amongst best of friends and hoped the night would never end!
2009
2009 presented our first challenge - weather! Our Friday night feature,
Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (perhaps the strangest film Awefulfest
has ever screened) was forced indoors. We hunkered down in the living room
with the bedroom sheet providing a great screen and carried forth!
The Saturday night feature went on outdoors as scheduled - the classic "Casablanca."
In hindsight this feature seemed to suggest that once in a while we WOULD show a really good film! But what a weird pairing!
An additional attraction enjoyed was The Tingler.
2010
Joe entered this blog writeup following Awefulfest 2010
27 July 2010 10:47 EDT | Title: AWEFULFEST SUMMER 2010 PROVIDES THE GOODS | Posted by me/soujourner.... Well, it's been quite a long time. But our recent AWEFULFEST provided some noteworthy fun. The two main viewings were Project Moonbase (1953) and Journey To The 7th Planet (1962-ish). We were able to view the latter on the big outdoor Dover Drive-In Screen. We watched a variety of "filler" shorts mostly from old TV daze. The 1970s U.K. series UFO provided laughs. We enjoyed two very old suspenseful tv shows pre-Twilight Zone: Tales of Tomorrow and Suspense both provided chills. We also watched some of Joe's home made tributes: 1) Film Noir 2) Saturday morning TV and 3) a 48 minute video collage of openings to 1970s sci-fi and detective tv shows. We also watched a full episode of the 1950s tv series Captain Midnight. It was a very productive and fun weekend of 50s-60s retro junk culture!
While just about all sci-films explore the subject of "life on other planets,"
Journey To The 7th Planet (1957), screened at AWEFULFEST 2010, explored "LOVE on other planets."
In the process, Otto Brandenberg was discovered, singing, perhaps, the only "love theme" to a sci-fi film.
The other half of this great outdoor sci-fi double feature was Project Moonbase!
2011
2011 was the year of NUKE HYSTERIA and the opening of the 3D Cafe Screening Room.
And what better way to re-live the 1950's nuclear scare than a backyard screening of....
2011 also saw the naming of The Mondo 3-D Café,
an official moniker for our indoor movie locale during rainouts
and Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons. And two classic 3-D films we did watch!
The Cinderella film that weekend was Teenage Strangler
2012
Long about 2012 while Joe was going through a heavy lounge music phase,
he simply googled "godfather of lounge." Up came Korla Pandit!
Ever since, Korla has become a kind of logo for Awefulfest publications.
In addition, he is often featured in films during our events.
In 2012, when Avery came on board in earnest she contributed some colorful creations like the program for "Robots and Sidekicks"
2012s theme was "Robots & Sidekicks" - a weird pairing of themes
that brought 1950s icons as unique and different from each other as Gabby Hayes, Tobor and Klaatu!
The Early 1950s sci-fi Tobor The Great was a big crowd pleaser that year, being the main Saturday morning feature.
2013
Below are highlights from the 2013 "Green Slime Weekend," in some ways our best weekend!
Unexpected indoor crowd pleasers of 2013 were Curse of The Swamp Creature & Teen Gang Debs
Gala displays awaited guests in the dining room circa 2013
The event is often met with great excitement as the photo of Rich and Joe below (summer 2013) attests.
2014
For 2014's Fest, Joe created this homage to the "bugs and monsters" genre
A Hypothetical Matchup Between Two Awefulfest Icons!
2015
Out of respect for our dearly departed Rinda we just couldn't find it in us to
have fun..so we cancelled Awefulfest, but did have a lovely reunion and internnment service
followed by a dinner for our loved Rinda!
HALLOWEEN 2015 GATHERING
2016
AWEFUL WAFFLE FOR 2016
NEW FOR 2016, just off the screening lawn a movie theater cafe.
HALLOWEEN 2016
2017 - TENTH ANNIVERSARY!!!
Of course we watched greeat films! But to fully appreciate
our Tenth Anniversary gala these vids must be watched!
And for our feature Saturday night outdoor film we went
south of the border for....Brainiac!
2018
The Brochure from Awefulfest 2018 - Joe & Rich produced audio intros for
all the main films...Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space, Invasion of the Saucermen, Slither and
Brain From Planet Arous - all encore performances from previous Awefulfests.
2019
In what looks like the start of a two year British Invasion,
we began to celebrate cinema from the UK with a
double feature for the outdoor screen honoring Alfred Hitchcock
Rich and Joe even stole away to the Barn Loft
Cinema for some more sinister fun!
We rounded out the weekend with belly laughs!
This was a great Awefulfest weekend with weather
cooperating beautifully. Hitchcock under the starts!
2020 - AWEFULFEST & COVID-19
Like many theater venues and festivals around the world,
we went virtual - on both the East and West coast and
as far south as Florida. We stuck with the
British Invasion theme and Zoomed our way through a fun
weekend of both high brow --and lower brow film viewing!
TWO BRITISH CLASSICS FOR VIRTUAL 2020 AWEFULFEST
...And the American Sci-Fi Shlocker "Space Probe Taurus"...
Undaunted by Covid-19 many of us gathered on Zoom for a weekend of films.
An October Interlude
In October of 2020, Joe paid Rich a visit in Rockport for a weekend of film viewing.
The two most striking films were "Daddy-o," a late 1950s "JD" classic, and the obscure Spanish version of Dracula produced by Universal.
Awefulfest 2021- The Return!
After a year in the Covid Tank, Believers found their way home to 148 Locust Street
for Awefulfest 2021. Aunt Betty, Susanne, Joan and Cousin David were sorely missed
as was Avery and Oscar, but the Wolfeboro contingency was strong and
Jono and Tialla made the trek up from NYC. What made this gathering unique was
the screening of two Zoom plays written by Will and acted out by Rich and Joe. (SPACE and PLAZACK)
The feature films screened were..
