2009 News Archive

December 2009

Soundtrack CD now on sale!

Have you purchased the soundtrack CD for Vampira: The Movie yet? If you were waiting for a sale, it's here! And if you were waiting for online samples, you can now hear clips at Oldies.com and Amazon.com, so enjoy. The CD includes all songs heard in the film: hard-rockin' tunes by Curse, Thee Merry Widows, and Mustang Lightning, the moving ode to Vampira by Count Smokula, and instrumental tracks by score composer Ari Lehman. Plus, the CD also includes six all-new tracks by Ari Lehman and legendary horror actor Bill Moseley, written in tribute to Vampira and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Bill recorded his tracks at Travis Dickerson Recording Studios, probably best-known for all those brilliantly quirky recordings by Buckethead and Viggo Mortensen -- if you like those, you'll like this!

CD's are available from Collectables at Oldies.com, from Amazon.com, and wherever CD's are sold.

Make an impact with T-shirts from Impact

Let's start by quoting Maila again, shall we? "I'm glad to see that people are joyfully expressing themselves in their clothing, in a way that I have inspired. I'm happy about that, when I see that. And sometimes I see someone stunningly turned out -- a goth -- just -- some of them have great taste, far better than any taste I ever had, but just really great. And I'm thrilled to know that I'm part of the seed of their doing that, this creative person doing this beautiful illusion that they do. I love that."

Let's face it, not all of us have Maila's great fashion sense, or we may not have the time to be as "stunningly turned out" as we'd like. Sometimes, we just want to throw on a T-shirt. For those times, why not joyfully express yourself with a Vampira: The Movie T-shirt? There are men's and women's styles (seen above), available wherever ghoulish clothes are sold. You can also buy them directly from Impact Merchandising, or from Amazon.com. But you'll still find the widest selection, and an always-changing stock of limited-edition T-shirts and sweatshirts, at our convention appearances. Be sure to check our website for upcoming events.

October 2009

Meet Kevin Sean Michaels and Bill Moseley at Fangoria's Trinity of Terrors in Las Vegas

Vampira: The Movie DVDs will be available to be signed by actor Bill Moseley and director Kevin Sean Michaels at the Hollywood Book and Poster booth at Fangoria's Trinity of Terrors convention in Las Vegas, NV. This brand new multi-media horror extravaganza fittingly takes place Halloween weekend, beginning Friday, October 30th and running through Sunday evening, November 1st at the beautiful Palms Casino Resort, home of Las Vegas' premier musical venue, the Pearl Concert Theater.

This unparalleled event will feature celebrity appearances, as well as signings, screenings, vendors, exhibitors, panel discussions, special FX make-up applications, video gaming, tattooing, collectibles, special VIP parties and much more. This all builds up to the special Halloween night performance in the Pearl Concert Theater by alternative metal masters Slipknot, who promise a truly unforgettable performance on Halloween night. Be sure to whet your appetite with the Trinity of Terrors video on Slipknot's YouTube channel!

Other guests include Roger Corman (pictured with Kevin Sean Michaels at right), Ted V. Mikels, George Romero, John Waters, FX legend Tom Savini, Malcom McDowell, Andrew Divoff, Fairuza Balk, Ken Foree, Richard Eden, David Hess, Jake Kennedy, Dee Wallace, and Tony Todd.

Tickets for the event can be ordered online through http://www.trinityofterrors.com and through Vegas.com. You may also order tickets from Vegas.com by phone - 1-888-LAS-VEGAS (527-8342) 24 hours a day.

Hope to see you there!

September 2009

We've got a mess of new press

As Maila Nurmi said, "Vampira was timeless." This is proven yet again as Vampira: The Movie is still getting reviews and press mentions almost two years after its release. Head over to our newly-updated Press page to find excerpts from and links to a review on Examiner.com, a discussion on BlogTalkRadio, a great interview with Ari Lehman on Friday the 13th Blog, and (from their January issue, but newly posted here) a rave review in the legendary Heavy Metal magazine! LA Weekly Blogs also posted a fun photo essay on the recent (and first ever) Vampire-Con, of which Vampira: The Movie was an official sponsor. Go read, look and listen!

August 2009

Meet director Kevin Sean Michaels at
Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto, Canada

Even a bloodied Bruce Campbell with a chainsaw (see right) couldn't keep us away from the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear, August 28 - 30 in Toronto! If you're equally daring, be sure to stop by the official Vampira: The Movie table to meet director Kevin Sean Michaels. Limited-edition Vampira: The Movie T-shirts and other mechandise will be available for purchase.

The Rue Morgue Festival of Fear is the country's largest horror expo, attracting an average of 40,000+ fans to the heart of downtown Toronto. This powerhouse event is an extravaganza of celebrity guests, autograph signings, parties, Q&A sessions, seminars and workshops, and a colossal selection of movies and movie memorabilia, including books, comic books, toys, video games, trading cards, posters, anime, manga, and tons more.

Hope to see you (and Bruce) there!

RiffTrax LIVE: Plan 9 from Outer Space
In Theaters August 20

Join the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the comedy event of the year!

Fathom Events presents RiffTrax LIVE: Plan 9 from Outer Space, an evening of LIVE riffing on the Worst Movie Ever Made beaming into movie theaters nationwide on Thursday, August 20th at 8PM ET/ 7PM CT/ 6PM MT/ Tape Delayed at 8PM PT.

Join Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot), now of RiffTrax.com, as they are reunited in HD for the first time ever on the big screen! This event will feature the world premiere of a brand new, never-before-seen short and non-stop hilarious riffing on a COLOR version of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" featuring Vampira.

For all the details about locations and exclusive digital goodies, visit the official site.

(Can't make it to a theater and want to do your own riffing at home? Buy the color version of Plan 9 at Amazon.com and riff away!)

Meet Count Smokula at Vampire-Con in Hollywood

Vampire-Con 2009 is the world's first festival devoted exclusively to Vam-Pop culture. The weekend-long event debuts August 14th – 16th, 2009 in Hollywood, CA. Vampire-Con kicks off on Friday and Saturday with a Vampire Film Festival at the New Beverly Cinema featuring special guests and prizes, then on Sunday moves to The Music Box Theatre @ Fonda for a day of celebrity panel discussions, vampire merchandise and contests.

Knowledgeable vampires (and their fans) will certainly recognize many of the Con's distinguished guests, a couple of whom appeared in Vampira: The Movie. Count Smokula is booked as their Emcee for the daytime convention on August 16th; he will also be selling DVD's and will have some Vampira: The Movie DVD's to give away as prizes!

Author David J. Skal will be on the panel "Why We Love Vampires: A Brief History of the Undead" and moderating the panel "Hot-Blooded: Vampires & Sexuality" -- don't those sound fascinating?

As the Examiner said, we're sure "vampire enthusiasts will find something to sate their unquenchable thirst for the genre during this fabulous weekend!"

Visit the official site for all the details.

July 2009

Hello dahlings! No, we're not dead; why do you ask? Is it our ghostly complexion? The stench of rotting flesh which seems to follow our webminion everywhere she goes? The fact that we haven't updated the website in months? Never fear, we just stepped away from our usual haunts to haunt some more haunted haunts. But we shouldn't flaunt that jaunt when news is what you want, so . . . .

Soundtrack CD available --
now with online song samples!

Have you purchased the soundtrack CD for Vampira: The Movie yet? If you were waiting for online samples, you can now hear clips at Oldies.com and Amazon.com, so enjoy! The CD includes all songs heard in the film: hard-rockin' tunes by Curse, Thee Merry Widows, and Mustang Lightning, the moving ode to Vampira by Count Smokula, and instrumental tracks by score composer Ari Lehman. Plus, the CD also includes six all-new tracks by Ari Lehman and legendary horror actor Bill Moseley, written in tribute to Vampira and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Bill recorded his tracks at Travis Dickerson Recording Studios, probably best-known for all those brilliantly quirky recordings by Buckethead and Viggo Mortensen -- if you like those, you'll like this!

CD's are available from Collectables at Oldies.com, from Amazon.com, and wherever CD's are sold.

The Russians are coming!
Er . . . clicking!

We weren't familiar with this Russian site Dirty.ru, but it looks to have a fascinating collection of links, and apparently its readers are big Vampira fans! We've been getting gazillions of hits since someone there posted a link to the court decision in Nurmi v. Peterson. You can read a (semi-sensical) Google translation of the original Russian comment here. "Oh, those outfits gotichnye and sepulchral humor!" Indeed.

That's it for now . . . until next time, stay sepulchral!

Jan. - June 2009

Maila Nurmi to be recognized in Oscars'
"In Memoriam"

The 81st Annual Academy Awards on February 22 will include Maila Nurmi in their "in memoriam" segment, honoring celebrities who passed away during 2008. The Academy has selected a short clip from "Vampira: The Movie" to represent Maila Nurmi in this segment. We are pleased that she is receiving this recognition.

Update: The "in memoriam" segment is available on YouTube (Maila Nurmi appears at approximately 1:51):

Forrest Ackerman R.I.P.

Forry was a good friend and will be missed.

We've won a Craggy Award!

We're honored to announce that Kevin Sean Michaels and Vampira: The Movie have won this year's Craggy award for Best Independendent Artist. The Craggy Awards are hosted by Cult Radio A-Go-Go! (C.R.A.G.G., get it?), "Your only cult genre internet radio station, featuring 24 hours of rare unique cult programming, on 365 days a year!" The Craggy Awards' "Best Independent Artist" category is broad and includes "any independent film directors, writers, artists, convention organizers, actors, or websites who were on CRAGG Live as a guest over the year."

Winners were announced live on Cult Radio A-Go-Go!, and the Craggsters assure us that a "website post complete with pics will be up soon." In the meantime, here's the complete list of winners:

Controversy of the Year:
Runner up: Borloff in the Dust (Karlos Borloff gets lost in the desert on the way to the studio and has to be rescued)
Winner: Fraud De Madame (Phoney director convinces Terry, Tiffany and the CRAGG audience to help him make a movie that never existed.)

Best Independent Artist of the Year:
Runner up: www.mynerdgirl.com
Winner: Vampira: The Movie by Kevin Sean Michaels

Best Band / Musician of the Year:
Runner up: Astro Al
Winner: Rob Zombie

Biggest Contributor to Cult Radio For the Year:
Runner up: Clint Lewallen
Winner: Karlos Borloff

Favorite HHRN Horror Host of the Year:
Runner up: Ormon Grimsby
Winner: Dug Graves

Best Celebrity Interview of the Year:
Runner up: Elvira
Winner: Geri Reischl

Ms. Cult Radio A-Go-Go!
Runner up: Brinke Stevens
Winner: Dita Dirt Nap

Thanks to everyone who voted, and congratulations to all the winners!