More contests and giveaways at the Vault + Salt City Horror Fest!

Ok, before I get into the good stuff, I'd like to announce the first recipients of the dubious honor of "winning" March's "HORROR MOVIE EMP-TY HANDED" giveaway. Out of the (thus far) thirteen people who have sent me their invoices, the following two will be getting a Blue Underground Blu-ray in the mail. :: draws name from favorite NY Giants coffee mug :: Our first "winner" is... MICHAEL HADDOCK! You didn't seem to be too picky Mike, so out of the films on your invoice I selected Fulci's ZOMBIE! Enjoy!

The second "winner" for my HME-inspired giveaway is... :: draws another name from the NY Giants mug of destiny :: JEREMY SLATE! Jeremy, much like myself at the moment, is out of money and movies, as he missed the 45-day PayPal dispute window. Well Jeremy, hope you enjoy the new copy of NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS that I'm sending your way bud!

That's it for March; next month I'll be getting some more Blue Underground Blu-rays out to other random "contestants" in this giveaway. If you haven't gotten me your unfulfilled invoice, you have until April 6th to do so. After that, each month I'll randomly cycle through the names on my list, until each person gets a Blu-ray in their hands. That's right; there are no losers in this competition folks. The only downside is that some people will have to wait longer than others.

Moving on then..... here are two contests for everyone to jump in on during the month of April. But don't expect me to just GIVE this stuff away; you've gotta do a little work to earn your prize!

The first item up for grabs is a DVD of "DEAD IN LOVE," an indie love story involving two ghosts. From the back of the box: "Two friends, who happen to be ghosts, go in search of a girl they liked in high school. When one of them gets the chance to be with her, he has to do it in the body of an awkward nerd. Their lives will change forever in this heartfelt low budget comedy."

I've heard great things about this film, and would love to keep it for myself... especially since it is signed by Writer/Director Chris Watson and the cast! Want to win this signed, limited edition (#37 of 100) DVD? Well here's how!

Send an e-mail to vault_master@bmoviefilmvault.com with DEAD IN LOVE DVD in the subject line. In the body of the e-mail, include your full mailing address, and in a few lines (or paragraphs if you're into sending long-winded e-mails) tell me what you would do if you were a ghost. Would you seek out your long-lost love? Play pranks on people? Do some hardcore haunting? Be a total pervert? Tell me; and have fun with it! The person with the funniest and/or most imaginative entry gets this DVD! Contest will end on April 29th; winner will be announced on the 30th!

For those of you who do NOT want a mushy supernatural romantic comedy, I present to you an alternative: You can win BOTH of the original "The Hills Have Eyes" movies on DVD! Both discs are in mint condition (Part 2 has never been watched) and they can be all yours!

To win these two movies, drop me an e-mail at vault_master@bmoviefilmvault.com with HILLS HAVE EYES DVDS in the subject line. Include your name and mailing address (natch) and, since the films both star Michael Berryman, tell me about your favorite Michael Berryman role/scene/moment from any of the films he has starred in. Personally, I totally dig the guy in the first live-action "Guyver" film as Lisker. He goes from goofy to menacing in mere seconds and the practical effects in that movie rock my world! Now that you know what you must do, get your entries in by April 29th; I'll randomly choose a winner on the 30th!

Also, I'm still giving away two tickets to see THE DEMON MESSENGER on Friday, April 13th. It will be premiering at the Art Mission Theater in Binghamton, NY at 7:30 PM, and the cast, crew, and monster-suit maker Ron Chamberlain will all be attending as well. As stated in my previous post, all you've gotta do to win these tickets is e-mail me (vault_master@bmoviefilmvault.com) with a quick note about your fave Bigfoot and/or demon movie! It's quick, simple, and you've only got until April 6th to get your paws on these tickets! Hit me up ASAP before you miss out on this unique opportunity!

Finally, before I call it a night, I just want to do a quick shout out about the upcoming SALT CITY HORROR FEST! I heard about this show when I attended The Hudson Horror Show in Poughkeepsie, NY last December, and I am ready to rock n' roll! The event takes place at the Palace Theater on Saturday, April 14th and kicks off around noon! There will be food, beer (for the 21-and-over crowd), vendors, and an amazing lineup of EIGHT Horror films including:

The Bride of Frankenstein
Creature from the Black Lagoon (in 3-D!)
Tremors
Troll Hunter
Popcorn
Army of Darkness
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Last House on Dead End Street

All films will be featured in glorious 35mm, with Tremors and Last House... boasting remastered prints! I'm getting giddy just thinking about it! Tickets are currently on sale for $15.00, so pre-order now (CLICK HERE for info) to reserve your seat and 3-D glasses!

Also, for anyone in the area on that weekend, Horror Movie Empire will be vending at this film festival and will be giving out refunds to anyone who has an invoice for items they have not yet received. Don't come down and try to pound the guy into dust, but do show up if you want your cash or movies that he owes you. Then when you get that unpleasant business out of the way, you can chill out with fellow Horror fans and watch eight awesome flicks with a cold beer in your hand! I'll be attending (as will Bill from Radiation-Scarred Reviews) so maybe I'll see you there!

That's all the news that's fit to print at the moment, but stay tuned for new reviews (like the one posted on the site yesterday for EL MONSTRO DEL MAR), b-movie news, and more as we MARCH into APRIL! (Zing!)

Win tickets to the premiere of THE DEMON MESSENGER + The winners of the MY BLOODY VALENTINE GIVEAWAY!

Hey all! Yeah I know... long time no post. I've been busy, and tired, and sick, and sick and tired of being sick and tired. But now I'm back to bring you good tidings. First, I would like to announce that I have TWO TICKETS to give away for the world premiere of THE DEMON MESSENGER, a new indie monster movie that was filmed in and around the Southern Tier of NY / Northeastern PA. I got to catch a sneak peek of it this past Saturday and I gotta say, few micro-budget films can boast a monster as impressive as the one featured in this movie.

The film debuts at the Art Mission Theater in Binghamton, NY on Friday, April 13th at 7:30 PM. Seating is limited so get there early and get your tickets... or save yourself the trouble and enter right now to win the aforementioned free pair of tix! Just send off a quick e-mail to vault_master@bmoviefilmvault.com with a short note about your favorite Bigfoot and/or demon movie, and you're entered. I'll choose a winner on April 6th and either mail you the tickets or give them to you in person at the film's premiere! (I'll leave that up to you!) For the full list of showtimes, check out the image below. (Click to enlarge.)

Ok, next order of duty is to salute the winners of my recent My Bloody Valentine Giveaway which ended this past Saturday. The grand prize, which consisted of a brand new super limited edition My Bloody Valentine t-shirt from Fright-Rags, an 11 x 14 photo still of Harry Warden, and both "My Bloody Valentine" movies was (the epically named) Jesse James Hennessy. He sent in a video he posted on Youtube that is just... plain... awesome. Here is his entry, entitled "Poetry is Torture:"



The first runner up was Mike MacConnell who turned in a cool drawing featuring two of his most beloved cinematic monsters. It wasn't technically a valentine to his favorite Horror characters, but a bit of love for Freddy and Frankenstein's Monster obviously went into this. Great job Mike; enjoy the "My Bloody Valentine" DVD! (Don't forget to watch it UNCUT!)

The second runner up was a man that seems to be able to win stuff from me on a frequent basis, and at this rate, he's going to need a bigger DVD rack. Chris Laycox (a.k.a. the enigmatic Chris L.) won me over with a well-written poem in honor of his favorite Horror film, and its resident monstrosity, Belial. Check it out:

What's in the basket? - By Chris L.
It's not Easter eggs or laundry,
nor tools or a severed head.
But if I knew what was in the basket,
I'd probably end up dead.
I really want to know,
there's some people who found out.
Doctor Liflander was first,
and his midsection was ripped out.
Harold Needleman got a visit,
he soon won't forget.
He tried to warn another,
but that night he paid his debt.
That poor little O'Donovan,
was greedy to say the least.
Went in to steal some money,
looked like he got killed by a beast.
A simple trip to the vet,
turned into a hellish place.
Veterinarian Doctor Kutter,
got 5 scalpels in her face.
I really want to know,
but I might end up in a casket.
Maybe I should stop asking... what's in the basket?

Great stuff Chris; your "My Bloody Valentine" DVD will be in the mail soon; hope your son enjoys it!

Well that's all I've got for now b-movie fans! Hurry up and enter to win those DEMON MESSENGER tickets, and prepare for more giveaways and (GASP!) new reviews! That's right, I have a new review for "The Demon Messenger" in the works (rough draft is nearly complete) plus I've gotten two new capsule reviews to post from the Vault's newest contributor, Kenny B. (Be sure to check out his other reviews over at Cinema Head Cheese!)

Stay tuned for more awesomeness, and don't forget to like the Vault on Facebook and follow me on Twitter!

Horror Movie Emp...ty Handed? Maybe I can help!

Ok, so by now many of you have heard of the whole HORROR MOVIE EMPIRE debacle. This gent had a crazy Blue Underground Blu-ray sale on his site in late December and now, three months later, a huge number of people have not gotten any product or refunds. It is a total mess and there's a lot of anger and frustration out there on the world wide web. Why did this dude pull this stunt? Will he actually ship product or give refunds like he's promised? Who can we turn to for a resolution to all this bullsh*t?!

I have personally tried to speak with "The Emperor" over at HME and though it seemed like I was making some headway, he vanished as suddenly as he had appeared. Though he has shown some signs of life lately, the majority of customers who shopped at his site are pretty pissed off. He has been slow to answer e-mails and doesn't seem to be in a hurry to help the hundreds (thousands?) of angry folks who are walking away empty-handed.

Don't give up without a fight fellow Cult/Horror/B-Movie fans. E-mail this guy, bug him on Twitter (@horrorempire), and send in your grievances to www.horror-movie-empire.com. (A site set up by the guys from Film Rant in response to this entire fiasco.) If you used a credit card, dispute your purchases ASAP! If you bought stuff from HME via PayPal and it HASN'T been 45 days, dispute it! (After 45 days, PayPal will calmly tell you that you are SOL, and I don't mean "Satellite of Love.") Act quickly or you will find yourself cheated out of money and movies.

For those of you (much like myself) who are totally screwed at this point (unless "The Emperor" actually does follow through and fill orders like he has promised), I am giving you a chance to at least walk away with SOMETHING after suffering through this "nightmare."

Send your UNFULFILLED INVOICES (i.e. receipts for the stuff you never got) to vault_master@bmoviefilmvault.com! And when you send me your invoice(s), make sure that you highlight TWO of the discs that you wanted the most. Then cross your fingers because I will choose one lucky person each month (at random) and mail them a brand new, factory sealed, Blue Underground Blu-ray disc (or two, depending on their price and my available funds). Don't worry about shipping or anything else; I'm footing the bill for this.

Yeah I know this doesn't seem like much, but it is the best I can do. And why am I doing this? Because I'm pissed that someone has once again ripped-off the Horror community and seemingly gotten away with it. (There's some shades of John Gray here...) Even if "The Emperor" intends to fulfill all of the orders, he has tarnished his name permanently because Horror fans have a looooong memory.

In any case, get those invoices/entries in to me ASAP and we'll get this show on the road. If I can pull it off, I'll pick more than one winner a month, but for now let's just keep this small and see how everything pans out.

Good luck to you all, and godspeed!

UPDATE: The trickle of invoices has stopped so I'm setting a cut-off date of April 6th to get your unfulfilled invoices in to me. Also, you can only enter once and can only win once. This way a large number of people will walk away with a Blue Underground Blu-ray that they had originally missed out on during HME's sale. ALSO, Horror Movie Empire will be at the Salt City Horror Fest in Syracuse, NY on April 14th. I will be heading there so I'll be getting some movies or a refund from the proprietor in person. If you live nearby, come to the film fest and chill out with me... after you get your stuff from Demetrios that is.