Film Notes: Fright Freebies
Thursday, October 25, 2007
By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nobody does the dead like Greg Nicotero. Just look at the zombies he helped to create for George Romero's most recent installments of his fright franchise.
Tom Savini, an effects wizard who occasionally steps in front of the camera, gave him his start on "Day of the Dead," and Nicotero has since worked on special effects for "Diary of the Dead" and "Land of the Dead," plus "Transformers," "Spider-Man 3" and "The Chronicles of Narnia," to name just a few titles.
Nicotero, a Sewickley Academy graduate who jettisoned pre-med for monsters, will join Savini at 4 p.m. Friday to talk about their craft and showcase their work. The event in Room 324 of the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt, is free and open to the public.
At 7 p.m., there will be a free screening of "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It" at the Frick Fine Arts building, Oakland. Seating at both events is limited and will be first come, first served.
Nicotero's company created the animatronic monster for the movie, shot in Western Pennsylvania a year ago and recently released on DVD. It also aired on the Cartoon Network.
When Nicotero returned to town for the 2005 "Land of the Dead" premiere at the Byham Theater, he met Carl Kurlander and unwittingly set the wheels in motion for the Stine film to come here. Kurlander, co-founder of Steeltown Entertainment Project, later suggested Pittsburgh would be the perfect location, and its makers and backers agreed.
Steeltown and Pitt in Hollywood are sponsoring Friday's events. Go to www.steeltown.org for more information.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07298/828165-42.stm
Post-Gazette movie editor Barbara Vancheri can be reached at bvancheri@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1632.
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