Fear gets festive

Horror movies haven’t frightened Derek Morris from thinking big. His love for the creepy genre inspired this Baton Rougean to shift from the publishing industry to the festival industry and create an event centered on scary, gory, thrilling, campy movies by local and non-local filmmakers alike. With help from festival partner Keith Duncan Morris, Derek Morris has lined up the inaugural Fear Fęte Horror Film Festival to be held Oct. 28-30 at Rave Motion Pictures 16 on Hatters Avenue—in theater 13, of course.

“Ever since [deciding to put on Fear Fęte], it has been Halloween all year long for me, and I love it,” Morris says. “We really want to entertain local horror fans, as well as promote and showcase the talented filmmakers that exist in this state and all over the world.”

Films will be scheduled in four-hour blocks, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The blocks will be broken into horror sub-genres like zombie, paranormal, thriller, comedy, and a cumulative “best of the festival” block. Out of the more than 100 entries the organizers received—a few local and many from outside the state—six feature-length films and 16 shorts were chosen.

When Morris first had the idea more than a year ago, there were no Louisiana film festivals dedicated to horror. In the time since he began organizing, a New Orleans horror festival has also developed. Morris hopes Fear Fęte will not only entertain horror-film fanatics like himself, but also promote Louisiana’s film industry by showcasing local filmmakers and attracting more non-local filmmakers to our state.

Awards will be presented and include a special category for the best Louisiana films. Winners include the films Cell Phone Psycho (Best Louisiana Horror Film), Shock (Best Louisiana Fantasy Horror Film), Project Z (Best Louisiana Zombie Film), Killing Time (Best Louisiana Thriller Film), and The Final Textination (Best Louisiana Comedy Film). There will also be awards for directing and acting in both the feature and short categories.

The festival will open with a “Dead Carpet” VIP Party, held at the Al Azar Grotto on Florida Boulevard, with proceeds supporting cerebral palsy research and dentistry for handicapped children. The party is only open to sponsors, filmmakers and VIP All-Access pass holders and will feature cocktails, Cajun cuisine and music by Jason & the Kruegers, a horror music band.

For more information on the “Dead Carpet” VIP party, to purchase all-access passes or to see a complete schedule, visit fearfete.com.