In July of 2018, The Hollywood Horror Fest international film festival pulled all the stops, celebrating and honoring some of the most revered horror films and their creators from Night of the Demons to Elvira’s Haunted Hills. For their presentation of John Carpenter’s They Live, a packed house of attendees were immersed in a night both of film and music.
Truly a unique experience, the evening began as a rock concert with a live performance by They Live composer Alan Howarth. With theatrical lighting, and a screening displaying clips from throughout his career, Howarth took attendees on a retrospective journey utilizing classic synthesizers to reproduce his work from such films as Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York. Howarth upped the ante in the second part of his performance by breaking out on electric guitar, flawlessly acting as his own rock band.
Moderated by Pat Jankiewicz, a Q&A with Alan Howarth, editor Gib Jaffe and effects artist Whitney Bane followed the film. Alan Howarth revealed that in the tradition of inserting the director into the film, à la Alfred Hitchcock, director John Carpenter provided his voice for sound effects work on the film including the droning word “Sleep.” The film itself was produced on an extremely tight budget. When asked about the building the world of They Live, Whitney Bane explained that “we put together all kinds of scrap and everything and built Justice Town just on junk that we had. We pulled in from junkyards and anything we could find.”
For information on future screenings, visit the Hollywood Horror Fest at hollywoodhorrorfest.com.
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