Mania Entertainment already publishes the premier magazine of sci-fi, horror and fantasy films -- Cinescape -- and produces what it calls "the Golden Globes of sci-fi, fantasy and horror movies" -- the Saturn Awards.
Now the company is launching Mania Fest, a film festival that Mania CEO Chip Meyers plans to turn into the Sundance of genre movies. The festival runs Sept. 18-21 in Santa Monica, California, with premieres of the spoof Monster Man and Beyond Re-Animator, the sequel to the 1985 horror classic Re-Animator, along with a dozen screenings of new and classic sci-fi, fantasy and slasher movies.
Mania Fest presenters and panelists include directors Clive Barker (Hellraiser), George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street) and Guillermo del Toro (Blade II). The 10-time Oscar nominee Stan Winston, who created the special effects for films including Jurassic Park, Terminator 2 and * Terminator 3*, Aliens and Artificial Intelligence, will be given the inaugural Maniac Award for lifetime achievement.
Mania Fest is part of an explosion of B-movie festivals. In September and October alone, the Los Angeles area hosts Mania Fest, A.K.A Shriekfest, Creepfest and Screamfest.
Though some of the stereotypical festivalgoers -- dressed-in-black cineastes -- may attend Mania Fest, Meyer also expects the fanatical genre fans -- the Trekkies and Lord of the Rings devotees -- to come in full costume. Meyers believes this blend of audiences will set Mania Fest apart from the dozens of sci-fi, fantasy and horror film fests.
"For the Saturn Awards, we get the biggest names in the industry, but we also have a level of fan involvement that other shows and festivals don't have," Meyer said. "There are people who dress up in costume, but (Steven) Spielberg also attends ... I want to create that with Mania Fest -- to have the seriousness of a major film festival that has fans who are totally involved. I hope this can become a serious place to see sci-fi, fantasy and horror."
Of course, Mania Fest won't elevate slasher films into the realm of art cinema. But the idea that genre movies -- once relegated to drive-in theaters -- now deserve serious consideration is something of a new idea. And the increasing number of B-movie festivals, conventions, fan sites and magazines, including Cinescape, Fangoria and Cinefantastique, are serving as an alternative marketing system for the films.
Though genre film fanatics have always existed, comic-book artist Stan Lee said, they are growing more powerful, using new technologies to flex their muscles. And Lee, the creator of superheroes including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and the X-Men, should know -- he has himself been a hero to comic-book fans for 40 years.
"The fan base for these movies has grown, and the Internet has given it more of a voice," said Lee, who will participate in the Mania Fest panel, Comic Books to Films. "These fans are increasingly important to the industry and can have an enormous influence on a film. One fan who spends a lot of time on his website and on bulletin boards can have a huge impact."
According to the Internet Movie Database, 20 of the top 25 highest-grossing films of all time come from the sci-fi, fantasy or horror genres. Still, these films seem to suffer from something of an inferiority complex.
"A lot of festivals thumb their noses at sci-fi, fantasy and horror," Meyer said. "And the Academy (of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) doesn't give it credit. The fact that the Lord of the Rings has not won Best Picture is ridiculous."
Europeans, who always seem to be first to recognize the underappreciated in American culture, still have the biggest genre festivals, including the Cannes of B-movies, the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film. In March 2003, that festival screened 150 films for more than 60,000 attendees, including 350 members of the media from around the world.
One of the goals of Mania Fest, Meyer said, is to de-stigmatize genre-film fandom in America.
"Science-fiction, fantasy and horror films are not a niche," Meyer said. "They are as mainstream as it gets. The biggest authors in the world are genre authors. Taken together, these genres represent the biggest form of entertainment in the world, which people still don't understand.
"Everyone thinks the fans of these films are the same people who go to Star Trek conventions, but that's just a small element."
