13th DREAM NEWS - July 30th, 2007

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July 30th, 2007:
DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION to be shown on the BIG SCREEN in Wichita Kansas and is voted #5 on the HORROR DVD Forum's GORIEST FILMS OF ALL TIME!

Hey everyone,

As you may have observed the updates are coming a bit slower lately. Frankly I've been busy working on some new scripts and since it has now been over a year from when the 2-Disc Limited Edition DVD of DARKNESS was released on May 30th, 2006, there hasn't been as much news activity to report lately. However, I do have a couple of fun new tidbits to share, so let's get right to it!

DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION on the BIG SCREEN at the PALACE WEST THEATRE in Wichita KS this coming weekend -- Friday and Saturday night, August 3rd & 4th! Only $2.50!

As a horror fan I'm incredibly excited to announce that here in Wichita the Palace West Theater has scheduled John Carpenter's horror classic THE THING to show in August as part of their ongoing "Retro/Cult Film Series"! This amazing monster masterpiece is being show in addition to other such retro-favorites as ANIMAL HOUSE and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Other films already shown in the series so far include the original versions of PSYCHO and THE OMEN, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, THE GOONIES, SPACEBALLS, OFFICE SPACE, PULP FICTION, FIGHT CLUB and the one and only JAWS -- all for only $2.50 each! PLEASE show up and support these screenings so we can continue to experience such fantastic big-screen programming here in the heartlands! A round of applause to everyone at the Palace West for all their hard work in making this series happen!

As a filmmaker I'm thrilled to announce that they are also including Wichita's own horror movie DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION as part of the series. The Warren Theatres held the big screen premier of this new version of DARKNESS, as well as a week long theatrical engagement, at the Oldtown Warren back in October of 2004. Then in May 2006 they allowed us to hold the DVD release party at Oscar's Sports Bar and Grill, also at the Oldtown. And now on August 3rd and 4th they're showing the film on the big screen again, this time at the Palace West. It is very exciting and encouraging to see such a huge entity like the Warren Theatre chain continuing to support a small, locally produced indy feature like DARKNESS and I can't thank them enough.

Despite a lot of promotion and a great turnout during that first week long theatrical run of DARKNESS I've met many Wichitans, some who actually appeared in the film, who never even heard about the screenings, let alone were able to attend any of them (hell, I’ve met a number who had never heard of the film at ALL) so I'm really hoping to get the word out on these four showings in a big way. If you live in the Wichita area, or you just want to support local/indy type filmmaking, please copy and repost this news as a bulletin, blog or mass e-mail to your friends and/or associates -- it would be HUGELY appreciated

Spread the word! Support DIY/Indie filmmaking! Support Kansas filmmaking!

The screening schedule is copied below! Hope to see you all out there!

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THE PALACE WEST CULT FILM SERIES!

For those who wish to watch something DIFFERENT on a Friday or Saturday night The PALACE WEST has the solution. On Friday and Saturday evenings we will be showing "Cult" Films. They will be shown twice both evenings between 9:30-10 pm and again between 11:30- Midnight.

TICKETS are ONLY $ 2.50. Tell your Friends!!!

Here's the line up to date:

August 3 & 4 - DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION (Filmed Locally!)
August 10 & 11 - John Carpenter's THE THING (1982)
August 17 & 18 - ANIMAL HOUSE
August 24 & 25 - THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Proof of age is required for all R rated films. Under 17 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. Note: Though DARKNESS is "UNRATED", it contains scenes of shockingly graphic special make-up effects not recommended for viewers under 13 years of age. Under 17 must be accompanied by a legal guardian.

Keep checking www.palacemovie.com for more updates.

The Palace West
535 South Ridge Road Circle
(near the intersection of West Kellogg and Ridge Road)
Wichita, KS 67201

If you live in Wichita or the surrounding areas, please repost this new as a bulletin on MySpace!

DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION voted #5 on the HORROR DVDS.COM Forums "11 GORIEST HORROR MOVIES" list!
I was thrilled to recently discover that the readers/contributors to the HORRORDVDS.COM Forums voted DARKNESS #5 on their "11 GORIEST HORROR MOVIES" list including us in the company of such classic films as George A. Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD, Sam Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD, Peter Jackon's DEAD ALIVE and Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR! Check out this list:

11 GORIEST HORROR MOVIES!
1. DEAD ALIVE
2. DAY OF THE DEAD
3 . RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY
4. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD
5. DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION
6. THE EVIL DEAD
7. HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II
8. THE TOXIC AVENGER
9. THE WIZARD OF GORE
10. ICHI THE KILLER
11. RE-ANIMATOR
Posted by: Hellbilly - HORRORDVDS.COM/Readers Forums
Read the Full forum thread by clicking HERE!

Huge thanks to everyone on the HORROR DVDS board that voted for our flick!

Check out other REVIEWS & "TOP/BEST OF" LISTS on our REVIEWS page by clicking HERE!

Well, THAT'S ANOTHER WRAP!
Thanks for visiting and be sure to check back soon for our next update!

BeAst WisheS!
LEIF JONKER
President - 13th DREAM Entertainment
Wichita, Kansas July 30th, 2007
On MySpace visit us/add us as a friend at:
http://www.myspace.com/13thdream_entertainment

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December 20th, 2006:
DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION 2-Discer included on three internet critics "TOP 10 DVD RELEASES OF 2006" lists! DARKNESS posters at BNAT8 and mentioned on Aint-It-Cool-News! FEAST OF HORORS! BLOOD GUTS AND GORE! Plus Cast & Crew news update with Randall Aviks (SAGA), Seth Greer (THEY AWAIT) and Bert Carranza (ARMED FORCES RADIO)!

Hey everyone,

Sorry I missed last month's update but frankly, I didn't have much to report. That said, we've received some really great news and honors this month, so let's dig in! First up:

DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION 2-Discer included on three internet critics "TOP 10 DVD RELEASES OF 2006" lists!
Last time we updated the news we were thrilled to report that FANGORIA Magazine had given us a 4 Star review and deemed the release the "DVD OF THE MONTH"! Well, this month we're once again floored to be reporting that our good friends at online movie sites I SPIT ON YOUR MOVIE and 10 THOUSAND BULLETS have included our little movie on their TOP 10 DVD RELEASES OF 2006 lists! This is a wonderful and unexpected honor and we want to send a huge thanks out to Feral Cat and Proteus out at ISOYM as well as Michael DeBoer at 10KB! I know it's frowned on to "name drop" the titles of other (greater) movies in association with promoting your own flick, but as a film geek/fanboy I just can't get over the fact that these three writers included us on their year-end lists alongside other such prestigious DVD releases as:

Tobe Hooper's TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Ultimate Edition (Dark Sky Films)
Michelle Soavi's CEMETARY MAN (Anchor Bay)
James Muro's STREET TRASH: MELTDOWN EDITION (Synapse Films)
Richard Stanley's DUST DEVIL (Subversive Cinema)
Brian DePalma's PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (Opening/Gaumont)
John Woo's A BETTER TOMORROW Ultimate Edition (Optimum Asia)
Akira Kurosawa's RAN (Optimum Asia)
Sony Chiba's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection (Ronin Entertainment)
Ingmar Bergman's THE VIRGIN SPRING (Criterion Collection)

Truly staggering. Here's some exerpts from their writeups on the lists:

"Barrel Entertainment put out a definitive edition of the underground horror classic, Leif Jonker’s Darkness. ...a fantastic example of micro budget horror film making, heavy on the splatter gore, but still managing to offer more than just that including some very cool scenes. Sure it’s a little ruff around the edges, but it’s a low budget film I would highly recommend even to people who would normally avoid such stuff. If you liked early [Sam] Raimi and [Peter] Jackson you should get a real kick out of this movie from Leif Jonker."
Feral Cat - I SPIT ON YOUR MOVIE

To check out the rest of Feral Cat's "Favourite DVD releases of 2006" click HERE!

"The horror genre has long been a breeding ground for aspiring filmmakers who want to make it big. Filmmaker Leif Jonker’s first attempt at making Darkness in [1988] failed and few years later he would start all over again and what he created would become an instant underground horror classic."

Michael Den Boer - 10,000 BULLETS
To check out the rest of Michael Den Boer's "Best DVD releases of 2006" click HERE!

"Another film that took its sweet time coming to Region 1 with Barrel seemingly all but off the radar as far as new releases were concerned. They only released one new DVD for the entire year, but boy is it a doozy. I would rather one marvel of a release then 50 shoddy films any day and the quality of this DVD package shows the love that the people behind Barrel have the film. Their love wasn’t wrongly placed as it’s truly a great example of low budget independent film making. I couldn’t help but think however if this was initially picked up by a bigger label back in the day of VHS ([Film Threat] had it before) that it would've become a sure fire cult classic and a huge hit. Now thanks to DVD Technology and tender love and care from all those behind the DVD release it’s now easily assessable for a new generation of potential fans and I'm sure its popularity will grow. "
Proteus - I SPIT ON YOUR MOVIE
To check out the rest of "Proteus's Top Dvd Releases Of 06" click HERE!

Again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone at ISPOYM and 10KB!

DARKNESS posters at BNAT8 and on AINT IT COOL NEWS!
We're very happy to report that 250+ signed and numbered 11x20", double-sided promo-poster for DARKNESS were handed out in the "GEEK BAG" to all of the attending guests at the 8th Annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon 24 Hour Film Festival (aka BNAT8 aka OctobButt-Numb-A-Thon) held in Austin, TX at the world famous ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE! The festival, proceeds from which go to charity, is programmed by Harry Knowles at AINT IT COOL NEWS and Tim League at the ALAMO. Huge thanks to Harry, Tim and everyone out at BNAT8 for letting us, and our movie, be a small part of the fun! And thanks to Gary Miller and Randall Aviks for joining me in the signing of 250+ autographs each!

Also, following the fest Harry Knowles ran a post by Augustus Gloop on AINT IT COOL NEWS where he detailed all of the gifts and promo-items included in the GEEK BAGS handed out to the guests. This was the very first mention of the film on AICN (that we know of) so a big thanks to Augustus as well! To read the entire list of goodies handed out at the fest go to AICN by clicking HERE!

DARKNESS crew at the FEAST OF HORRORS!
We just recently received an invite from our friend and event organizer Albert Berry (aka Peter Pixie) to appear as guests at the FEAST OF HORRORS convention in Wichita, KS on March 17-18th. So far DARKNESS cast & crew members Randall Aviks, Gary Miller, Derin Dopps and myself (Leif Jonker) are all confirmed to attend. We are all particularly stoked to be appearing at the con alongside 80's Creature Feature Horror Movie Hostess CREMATIA MORTEM! Very, very cool!

We'll have more information for you regarding the fest over the next couple of months. Till then, check out the FEAST OF HORRORS MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/feastofhorrors
You can also check our their main website at: http://www.feastofhorrors.org/

RANDALL (Liven) AVIKS Artwork News!
Not many fans of DARKNESS know that our good friend Randall Aviks, who played the main vampire LIVEN in the flick, is also known as an accomplished artist in the Wichita, Ks area. A few weeks back on our MySpace profile we received a Bulletin from Mr. Aviks announcing the availability of his GODDESS & DEVILGIRLS 2007 calendar. The MySpace Bulletin from Randall read:

Date: Dec 6, 2006 6:20 PM
Subject: 2007 GODDESS/DEVILGIRL Calendar-Buy One for X-MAS!
Body: Full-on 12 month calendar featuring some of my favorite GODDESSES and DEVILGIRLS that i've drawn over the past year. Please buy one -- they're only five bucks, and all of the proceeds from the sales of these calendars go to a good cause-BOOZE! Let me know if any of youse wants one, as I'm only making a limited run, and I want to make sure that they all go to a good home.

To see more of Randall's work, order a calendar or simply to drop him a line, click on the GODDESS images above or go to one of his now many MySpace pages at: http://www.myspace.com/aviks To see even more images of his work go to: http://everythingsdangerous.com/pix/

PLUS, we've also heard the exciting news that Randall is currently working with BLACK RAVEN COMICS contributing to the creation of the debut issue of their new comic book SAGA!

To find out more about SAGA click on the banner above or go to their MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/blackravencomics Or you can check out their main website at: http://www.blackravensaga.com/

ARMED FORCES RADIO live show in Sacramento tomorrow! PLUS, watch their performance on YouTube!
Our old, great buddy Bert Carranza, who is heard with me on the commentary track for the Original Release Version of DARKNESS (found on Disc-2), will be playing live with his band ARMED FORCES RADIO tomorrow, Thursday, December 21st at Old Ironsides in Sacramento, CA!

Also, you can find a bootlegg/camera phone recording of AFR playing a live show on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZslYy2azo

I know this is late notice on the show so if you can't make it, be sure to check out AFR's MySpace for news on other upcoming shows! http://www.myspace.com/armedforcesradio

THEY AWAIT show at JC's HOUSE OF ROCK in Wichita, KS!
The almighty SPAZZ (aka Seth Greer), who acted as a sound engineer on the dialogue re-recording and commentary tracks on the DARKNESS dvd will be playing live with his band THEY AWAIT at JC's HOUSE OF ROCK in Wichita, KS on January 27th, 2007!

THEY AWAIT will be playing with A NEW REVOLUTION, DOWN FOR FIVE and WHEN IT RAINS. It's going to be a great show so don't miss it! For more info go to any or all of the MySpace pages below:

THEY AWAIT MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/theyawait
SPAZZ's MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/the1truespazz
KC's HOUSE OF ROCK MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/houseofrock1 or click HERE for more details on the event via MySpace!

DARKNESS gets a 10 at BLOOD GUTS AND GORE.com!
And lastly, I was looking around the web for new reviews of the DVD when I stumbled upon a very interesting, detailed breakdown of all the gory special effects sequences in DARKNESS. BLOOD GUTS AND GORE is dedicated to listing and giving an overall rating for the "carnage factor" of any and all horror films. This is part of what they had to say about the CLIMACTIC MELTDOWN SEQUENCE from DARKNESS: THE VAMPIRE VERSION:

"This is the only time in 316 films and 2521 scenes that one sequence added more than two points (3) to the AR. It was just unbridled bloodletting, flesh-tearing and sepulcheral moaning. SR: EXTREMELY HIGH, WAY OFF THE SCALE!" - BLOOD GUTS AND GORE.COM
Check out the rest of the breakdown by clicking HERE!

Thanks to everyone at BG&G!

Well, THAT'S ANOTHER WRAP!
Be sure to check back soon for our next update! Oh, and before I forget:

HAPPY LATE DECEMBER (and all pertinent Holidays) TO EVERY LIVING ORGANISM ON THE PLANET EARTH FROM EVERY LIVING ORGANISM AT 13TH DREAM ENTERTAINMENT!

BeAst WisheS!
LEIF JONKER
President - 13th DREAM Entertainment
Wichita, Kansas 12/20/06
On MySpace visit us/add us as a friend at:
http://www.myspace.com/13thdream_entertainment