This website is dedicated to horror movies (independent and mainstream), beer, Full Moon, Spookies, Graveyard Shift, Leprechaun sequels, massacre films and watching every god damn horror film ever made or die trying!
Its hilarious I post about this book as it was my ultimate goal of making a coffee table book as it’s only available through me at the Grossfest table at conventions! Available for $20 and can be found at our table at Living Dead Weekend at Monroeville Mall June 12th-14th, 2026. The book has found new life recently as the best way to describe it is imagine if “Stephen King lived in Pittsburgh and wrote the Night Shift Collection” . The book contains 47 short stories written over a four year period that has already inspired a movie adaption along with several other possible projects coming in the future with several other filmmakers (whether any of that happens, who in the bleep knows?) Point is for whatever reason people are discovering something I wrote a few years back and yes I am super proud of what I wrote.
This show should be huge horror fans… We won’t just have my Tales from the Gross Side books but of course our $5 movies as usual along with our 2 for $30 VHS sale , but we will have a special guest at the Grossfest table and that is Ed Demko! He is keeping a lid on what horror stuff he is bringing but you will wanna get there early and often to see what Mr. Demko will have at the Grossfest table. Plus you never know what the Gross Brothers have brought out of the magical basement… So Indie horror fans come visit us and all the other cool vendors that will be there to celebrate one last time one of the greatest locations for a horror movie to ever exist!
Amityville Descendants of Darkness (DVD) – Well kids welcome to entry #80 into this long running series as this time around Phil Herman and friends decide to go with the anthology route as the theme here is: some evils never die they evolve. The project opens up with a gooey adventure of three individuals looking to dig up a pile of cash that was buried under a shed after a robbery. With it being Amityville these three don’t have a chance. The second story goes international that involves a cursed rocking chair that is a gateway to ruining a couple’s loving partnership. Our third part of the anthology deals with a retired detective who never got passed his last case as it continues to haunt him. The last case just doesn’t disturb the retiree but consumes him as evil tends to do. Our final tale deals with a house that has trouble keeping its occupants according to the weird ass neighbors as the structure was built on the original foundation of the legendary haunted house. All in all this was a solid effort from beginning to end that didn’t rely on comedy but old school story telling as this anthology is set up it for each story ramping up the creep factor trying to surpass the last. Even though this is an entry into the Amityville series with a few slight dialogue changes this could have been a great standalone independent anthology with some talented people involved as for that I give this entertaining entry 3 out of 4 stars.
Amityville Rex (DVD) – So Mark Polonia has given us entry #81 and this feels like the old bar joke in some form of: a priest, a detective, a young lady with a bag full of cash, and T-rex walk into a bar as Mr. Polonia just ran with it. T-Rex bones have been recently discovered under the streets of Amityville and have recently been put up for display for the community to enjoy but a priest is getting terrible visions of it and what is to come next? Meanwhile a perfectly casted Tim Hatch with mustache (folks, this thing steals the movie) as the hard-nosed detective is trying to lean on a suspect as she has hidden a mob connected guy’s $300,000. A lot of garble and gab about a “dark one” somehow resurrecting a dinosaur gets all of our characters in a building where the building caretaker (Mark Polonia) meets a terrible end as “the dark one” brings to life, evil! The folks run for their lives but cannot escape the building unless they defeat this evil dinosaur as only in Amityville would this whole storyline would be acceptable. Is this entry into the series crazy, absurd, and feel like I said before a bar joke gone too far, of course but once again Mark Polonia figures out a way to entertain you with an Amityville entry as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars. There is a director’s commentary on the DVD but for some reason it refused to work on mine but hey at least I got to watch the film.
Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!
Waltz (YouTube) – An interesting take on the Alice in Wonderland story where Alice is from across the pond and has come to the states to get away from mother but also find steady work as a copyrighter. When her job goes south Alice leans on her good friend and photographer Calvin looking for answers on what to do next? But when she struggles mightily to find a job in her field she becomes more desperate for money as she comes across an opportunity to do erotic photos for the website “Biggest Fan”. Calvin who actually likes Alice but Alice only sees Calvin as an end to a means and ignores his warnings; Calvin begrudgingly helps Alice anyway with the erotic photos. As the money rolls in Alice ups the ante with a date with a fan that helps bring in a stalker to Alice. Now said stalker dressed as the Mad Hatter kidnaps and tortures Alice for the mere purpose of teaching her a lesson! The small cast is wonderfully talented including David Dietz who gives viewers someone to really care about in the end. The movie is an entertaining tale of terror but the one flaw of the picture might be the torture scenes or back and forth between the characters of the stalker and Alice that felt like it was giving away a little too much or leaving nothing to the viewer’s imagination. No matter what I think this is a super solid independent terror that all involved should be proud of as I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.
The Actor’s Curse: A Tale of Twisted Fate (DVD) – This anthology involves an older man full of regret and booze as he sits to write in his journal four stories. These stories involve an abusive filmmaker getting his dick hacked off, an overlooked actor seeking revenge from beyond the grave, a down on his luck Spanish filmmaker who is given his 100th chance on a documentary about South American vampires that he doesn’t take seriously, and the troubled past of a make-up artist catching up to the individual. Once written all the tales come to life all at once causing horror to the troubling older man. A very serious and direct anthology that really could be taken several different ways by several viewers which means great work to all involved as I am not a huge fan of anthologies but liked this stuck to good storytelling and not using filler to fill up a feature as I give the anthology 3 out of 4 stars.
Plus you can always go to the greatest T-shirt place online or if you are in Texas visit the store of “Fast Custom Shirts” where T-shirt Joe is the only place you should purchase your horror T-shirts: Go to www.fastcustomshirts.com and support!
Infinite Santa 8000: Web Series (YouTube) – Before there was a full feature there was this holiday animated horror treat that was just mind blowing and thought it was time for a revisit for those of yinz that haven’t witnessed the awesomeness. The web series was conducted into 13 short episodes that ran a little over two minutes (a couple seconds less or more on a couple) paired with some bad ass thrashing music for the intro and outro. This story is set in a post-apocalyptic world a thousand years from now where all that is left is mutants and Robo people. Believed to be the only one left Santa lives a quiet life but he also must kill for food these days in order to survive these harsh future times. The mystical man is also a gun totting, machete wielding, flame throwing son of a bitch as mutants find ultimate death at his hands. But in a world with no hope a young girl named Martha comes into Santa’s life as they become quick friends. Unbeknownst to either Martha is a pawn used to get Santa out of hiding for an evil doctor to do experimentation on the fat jolly old fool for his magical powers of survival all these years. Santa and Martha escape the evil doctor’s clutches for now in search of a safe place in the wasteland but in this sadistic creature filled future there is nowhere to hide! The music is bad ass, the animation is wonderful, and after all these years the story still holds up as I always like to call this “Animated Santa in Mad Max world”. So this holiday season do yourself a favor and go watch this “FREE” web series on the YouTubes n’at to check out what some cool Indie folk did about 15 years ago as I give this project 4 out of 4 stars.
Well we got one more guest for yinz to enjoy at Grossfest 2026 but for Friday only as they couldn’t stay away from Grossfest any longer and beyond ecstatic to be hanging with us meeting all the Grossfest fans. You remember those beer commercials “with the most interesting man in the world”? Well this person is the real life version of that as they had to miss the past few Grossfest shows because of their investigating, writing, acting, panel production and starting new shops with jewelry and clothing! No lie this person is also an expert on the Bigfoot, werewolves, and those pesky aliens if you are keeping track… Without a doubt we could only be talking about “the most interesting and pure bad ass woman in the world” we like to introduce yinz to Christine M. Soltis!
Grossfest 2026 – July 31st-August 1st
Friday 4-10pm
Saturday 11-7pm
Tickets: $15 for one day or $20 for both days
Vendor tables are $100 each and come with two passes
Movie room schedule will come closer to event and of course we have a tattoo room
Oh Grossfest fans we got one more for yinz to meet, enjoy, and have fun chatting with in August at Grossfest 2025. This person has taken an interesting path to get where they are as they are out of the state of New York. I would say they are a fresh face to the genre but they have done so much in a short span of time in front of the camera as an actor and behind the camera also that it makes you wonder when this awesome talent has had time to sleep. You may know this impressive talent in such films: She Kills, It Kills, Frozen Sasquatch, House Squatch, Cocaine Werewolf, and more shark films than Maddie Deering (the shark film expert) could imagine! A lot of yinz Indy fans will quite enjoy this major staple in and around Polonia Brothers Entertainment allow us to introduce yinz to the super cool Jamie Morgan!
This announcement should come as no surprise as this person has been one of the biggest supporters of Grossfest but also they are a local (Pittsburgh) talent with an exceptional personality that just stands out like non one you ever met. They are not just a triple threat but a whole lot more as they are a writer, actor, and director, you name it this person has done it or about to accomplish it. We at Grossfest would like to introduce yinz all to the wonderful, the handsome and always smiling… Jason Burke! Go check Jason’s work out:
Well fans we have another guest announcement and yinz can thank us at the show for this one. This person had busted out onto the Indy scene in 2018 with acting in a few short films but got their big break with the feature ‘The Curse of Lilith Ratchet’. Ever since then this person hasn’t looked back on becoming one of the hardest working actors in the Indy scene. Their talent, charm, and work ethic make them hard to miss on screen as their presence on film has made them one the hottest upcoming actors to have in an Indy project. You may know them from such titles: Debbie Does Demons, XXX-mas, Waspzilla, Killer Campout Part II, Crackcoon, Blood and Breakfast, with a host of other upcoming projects! But wait there is more as this wonderfully talented person is about to add writer/director to their list of credits with their own project ‘Martian Girl Massacre’ segment that will be a part of the ‘Amityville Aliens’ project (so of course massacre and Amityville made the Gross brothers ears perk up). We are proud to announce someone we know yinz are all gonna love having at Grossfest 2025… we like to introduce yinz to Morrigan Thompson-Milam! We enjoy this young lady’s passion and drive to conqueror the Indy genre in 2025 so please go check out her work sooner than later:
This announcement should come as no surprise as this person has been one of our biggest supporters of Grossfest but also they are a local (Pittsburgh) talent with an exceptional personality that just stands out. They are not just a triple threat but a whole lot more as they are a writer, actor, and director, you name it this person has done it. We at Grossfest would like to introduce yinz all to the wonderful and always smiling Jason Burke!
Okay Grossfest fans we got the date, the hotel, the guests, and we will have the vendors so mark your calendars!
The Mummy and The Monkey
Mark Polonia
Jeff Kirkendall
Tim Hatch
Jessa Flux
Mel Heflin
Phil Herman
Steve Rudzinski
The official Grossfest tattoo artist and all around coolest horror movie fan ever to exist Angel O’Connor!
(Again no one under 18 will be allowed to get a tattoo so please don’t ask. Also you will need a Grossfest wristband in order to make your appointment with Angel the tattoo artist.)
August 1st, Friday 4-10pm
August 2nd, Saturday 11-7pm
(Movies and/or panels will be announced closer to the show)
Contact us with questions or vendor application questions at grossfest@gmail.com
For show info: www.grossfest.com or go to our Grossfest Facebook group or event page.Vendor tables are $100 each and come with two passes contact grossfest@gmail.com .
Cinema Wasteland and The Cinema Wasteland Film Appreciation Society Presents:
A ONE DAY COLLECTABLE SHOW and RETRO MOVIE NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE!
Saturday, June 4th, 2022 At our usual haunt: Which is now a BEST WESTERN PLUS (Formerly The Holiday Inn we’ve always held our shows at.) 15471 Royalton Rd., Strongsville, OH. 44136
This will be our Only one-day show and film night of 2022.
It’s a One Day Collectable Show featuring approximately 35 tables of Movie Collectibles, DVD and Blu-ray, Movie Posters, Autographs, and More from 10:00am until 5:00pm.
Then, catch Two Classic (or not-so-classic, as the case may be) Drive-In Movies on 16mm Film. Complete with a Cartoon, Short Film and Original Intermission Reel beginning at 7:30pm.
Make an Entire Day and night out of it! Come in during the day to hang out with friends. Do a little browsing and shopping with our Vendors. * Grab a bite to eat and a couple of drinks at the hotel bar (or nearby restaurant) and return in the evening to watch the films.
* The Hotel will have a concession stand open from 11am – 4pm, then Vinney’s Bar will open at 4pm with food and drinks available. Food and drinks are allowed in the Movie screenings.
The Film Show if Free if you attend during the day, so your Admission gets you into both events all day and night!
Our Saturday Night Film Screenings will Include:
A “Damsels in Distress” Double Feature –
ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN (1959) While flying to an international news conference in Melbourne, radio commentator Mark Bradley (Jeff Richards) and his pilot, Joe Walker (John Smith), are forced to crash land on an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean after they run into a storm. They find this island is inhabited by Dr. Paul Lujan (Alan Napier) and his three beautiful daughters: Venus (Venetia Stevenson), Mercuria (June Blair), and Urana (Diane Jergens). Lujan, a nuclear scientist, has fled here with his family to escape from the civilized world after seeing the the power of the nuclear bomb. He doesn’t want his two visitors to leave, lest they reveal his whereabouts, so he destroys their plane. With help from the two older daughters, however, the men begin to construct a raft. (Naturally, Mark and Venus have fallen in love as have Joe and Mercuria). A fire in Lujan’s solar furnace causes an explosion which nearly wrecks the island and attracts the attention of a search plane. Mark, Joe, and the three young women look forward to being rescued; Lujan has doubts but is resigned.
And…
OPERATION DAMES (1959) During the Korean War, a troupe of traveling USO entertainers (including Russ Meyer’s buxom blond wife, Eve Myer, along with Barbara Skyler, Cindy Girard, and Alice Allyn) find themselves trapped behind enemy lines when their South Korean escorts are killed. Now, chased by the enemy, they run into a lost patrol of US soldiers, join forces, and make a desperate attempt to cross the lines and meet the US army on the other side. Mindless drive-in fun with the Hollywood hills passed off as Korea and some stock footage tossed in for good measure.
Plus…
WASTELAND INTERMISSION REEL – A terrific 22 minute reel of classic trailers, shorts, and drive-in intermission bits will screen between feature films.
And of Course a Cartoon and a Couple of Shorts…
A BROKEN LEGHORN (1959) Down on the farm, an egg in slow-witted hen Miss Prissy’s nest hatches, and out pops a baby rooster. Fearing he will be replaced by the kid and sent off to be slaughtered, Foghorn Leghorn plots to do away with the little tyke before that can happen.
THE THREE STOOGES (1953) “UP IN DAISY’S PENTHOUSE” – The Stooges father (played by Shemp) strikes it rich in oil and immediately issues divorce papers to his wife. He plans to marry Daisy, a gold digging younger women unless the boys can disrupt the proceedings. It’s a remake of THREE DUMB CLUCKS (1937) with Shemp replacing Curly and actually one of the better Stooge Shorts.
THE LITTLE RASCALS / OUR GANG (1930) “DIVOT DIGGERS” – When the caddies at the local golf course go on strike, the gang (and their mischievous chimpanzee) step in to cause chaos in one of the funniest Our gang shorts made.
WHEN: Saturday June 4th, 2022. 10am – 5pm and movies start at 7:30pm
WHERE: Best Western Plus (formally the Holiday Inn) – Same Place as Always just the name has changed 15471 Royalton Rd. Strongsville, OH. 44136
* This is the same hotel we hold our Cinema Wasteland Movie and Memorabilia Expo’s in twice a year. We’re just taking over one large room (in the back) for this event and not the entire hotel.
ADMISSION: Admission is only $5.00 There will be no advance ticket sales for this event.
VENDORS: Found a bunch of unwanted stuff cluttering the attic or basement? Got something to sell? Tables for the One-Day Show are open to anyone and everyone. If you’d like to give the smaller one-day collectable show a try, then this is a great way to make a few bucks between the regular Cinema Wasteland Movie and Memorabilia Shows.
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