2016 Year in Review

Another busy year movie-stuff-wise for me, but then again, what else is new, right?

At the beginning of the year, I was about halfway shooting segments for BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR. Here are a few screen shots from "Walking The Dog."

I had been sold out of both DRIFTER and BLOOD CREEK WOODSMAN for a little while and got them back in stock at the beginning of the year with updated cover designs. Check out trailers, pix and more at http://www.skullfaceastronaut.com

My SCENT OF THE SASQUATCH (a segment in BENEATH A DEAD MOON) played as a part of a new local film festival at the beginning of February and they used my "Monster Carrying Girl" promo shot at the top of the front page as well a on the inside of the local newspaper:

I was thrilled to be a guest at the SCREAM AND INK Tattoo, Horror and Pin-Up convention in Salem, Oregon. My booth was next to Robert Mukes from House of 1000 Corpses! I got to judge a scream queen contest and the con showed BLOOD CREEK WOODSMAN as their Saturday Night Grindhouse Show!

Here are a bunch of pics!

My weirdo sci-fi horror flick ODD NOGGINS screened at Crypticon Seattle last year and when I released the DVD, I offered a selection of “Odd Packs” where you could get the DVD along with other movies or props or other oddball things. One of the packs was “Dinner With Mr. Birch,” where you not only got a DVD of Odd Noggins, but also were involved in a short film about someone having a dinner date with the mysterious weirdo from the movie. Well…the short is now available for your viewing pleasure right here, right now!!!



And check out info about ODD NOGGINS at http://skullfaceastronaut.com/oddnoggins.html

My good buddy Mike snapped this pic of the graphic novel I illustrated, DEMONIZED, at Excalibur Comics in Portland, Oregon. Cool!

You can check out preview pages and pick up a copy of DEMONIZED from me here.

Shooting on BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR continued into the spring:

I was THRILLED to announce that actor GEORGE STOVER agreed to a cameo in BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR! George has not only been featured in four of John Waters' movies, but also my favorite Don Dohler flicks THE ALIEN FACTOR, NIGHTBEAST and FIEND!

I was equally thrilled that actor TOM GRIFFITH plays a small role in BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR! Thanks to Steve Foley of Foley Video for shooting Tom's scenes in Florida! Tom was also in THE ALIEN FACTOR and NIGHTBEAST!

At the end of May, I went to Crypticon Seattle 2016 and had a great time. I have been so busy I have not had time to put together my usual trip diary, but I'll get to it one of these days.



The world premiere of BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR was fantastic! The room was packed - amazing for a midnight show - and everyone seemed to have a good time with it!


I saw Deanna from Living Dead Magazine.


I was a part of the MANOS RETURNS panel and it was a blast!



I finished up a short called HOUSEWARMING that I contributed to a new horror anthology called FRAMES OF FEAR. One of the actors in it runs a weekly free movie night at the local indie theater and offered to show the short after the regular show. It was a blast!



After showing BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR at Crypticon Seattle, I felt the running time was just a bit short, so I shot another segment for it, a fun and bloody homage to Scanners!


The BIG thing that happened at the end of July/beginning of August, was that I was the director of photography and co-producer for MANOS RETURNS, a sequel to the cult classic and MST3K favorite, Manos: The Hands of Fate.



I've known director Tonjia Atomic for about 4 years but never worked with her in person. Making this film was an AMAZING experience. I learned a lot, got into an uncanny sync with Tonjia (so much so the crew called us the Wonder Twins) and we all created something very special.



I love this shot of Nuria in front of the painting of THE MASTER!



Setting up a shot of the Valley Lodge sign.



Look at all these people!! We're making a movie!!



One day Tonjia wore a her Skullface Astronaut shirt and I wore my Tonjia Atomic shirt - unplanned! That was yet another sign that this team was going to work well together.



Bowl of blood. Of course.



Lighting, make-up, acting, art direction, etc. were all stupendous on this thing!



The son of the original actor who played the Sheriff in MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE came in to play the sheriff in our sequel. The deputy was played by one of the kickstarter backers.



Dale poses next to the sheriff rig we put together.



Everyone working together to create magic!

Like I said making MANOS RETURNS was an amazing experience and I can't wait to see the final product put together!



The Northwest Comicfest convention in Salem, Oreogn offered to host the Oregon premiere of BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR in August. We were right after Brian Posehn!




I finally got all the BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR preorders mailed out and was able to make the DVD and the soundtrack CD available at http://www.skullfaceastronaut.com/store

In October, I showed DRIFTER as a part of the B-Movies & Beer series at the cool f/Stop Fitzgerald's pub in Salem, Oregon.

I also added an item to the store - the glow-in-the-dark embroidered Skullface Astronaut baseball cap! http://www.skullfaceastronaut.com/store




The world theatrical premiere of BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR was held on October 22, 2016 at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon. A great crowd showed up, we got great reactions, gave out some prizes and had a fun Q and A. Afterwards a bunch of us went to My Father's Place for drinks and food. Great times!

Held the last BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR screening in November at Salem, Oregon's f/Stop Fitzgerald's!

As the year winds down, I've been busy consulting with post-production on MANOS RETURNS and it is going very well.

Finally, I got around to setting up an official Skullface Astronaut Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/skullfaceastronaut

Check it out, like and follow to keep up with all the cool stuff going on!

Well, I'm ready for a week-long nap, so I'll see y'all in 2017!