Business is good at the Embassy Suites Buffalo. So good, in fact, that the hotel chain operating in Uniland Development’s recently completed Avant mixed-use building on Deleware Avenue is expanding. The eighth floor, previously reserved for office tenants, will be converted to additional hotel rooms. When completed in April, the 29-room expansion will bring the total number of rooms at the hotel 182 and help to accommodate more meetings and events. “The Hilton/Embassy flag has been more powerful than we could have ever imagined,” explained Michael Montante, vice president with project developer Uniland Development Company. “Guests can’t say enough about how impressed they are with…
Author: m_j_lambert
When people think of movies based on video games, they conjure up different images. Many of them are traumatic in nature. Whether it was Bob Hoskins as Mario, the eyesore IGN-made Legend of Zelda April Fool’s trailer, or the Dead or Alive adaptation that no one with common sense saw, this particular genre niche has done little to show an active form of entertainment like video games as translating well to a passive form of entertainment like movies.Fortunately, a group of local filmmakers combined their love for both media into what has garnered a growing, cult, and loyal following with…
In the midst of the good times over the weekend, people had to know it was going to come to an end. Thankfully, Greg Lamberson made it a point to mention that there will be another Buffalo Screams next year for sure. Buffalo now has a yearly counterculture outlet for its horror lust to be quelled.Opening the day was Jay Mager’s bloody biker drama, Born to Die. It was previously covered in Buffalo Rising during the Buffalo International Film Festival here. Only now it was presented to a bigger and more appreciative audience.Next was Brett Kelly’s campy superhero film, Avenging…
Canadian independent filmmaker Brett Kelly was recently in town for the Buffalo Screams Horror Festival to showcase his “More Than Horror” entry, Avenging Force: The Scarab. He was also the recipient of the Independent Spirit Award at the festival for the 16 independent films he’s worked on since starting in 2001. His other films include Iron Soldier and The Feral Man. With the help of two diehard Brett fans – Madeline and Jared Ciricillo, I was able to set-up a brief interview with Mr. Kelly, along with his lovely wife Anne-Marie, at My Tomato Pie (plug!) on the day before…
The third day of the Buffalo Screams Horror Festival offered a wide selection for diverse palates. Unlike Friday’s zombie theme, there was no set theme for the day. Even with the films outlined in the program, it was unpredictable to say the least.The opening short, A Study In Red, hearkened back to two classic cult films: Roger Corman’s Bucket of Blood and Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Color Me Blood Red. At 7 minutes, the feature went from blissful to disturbing. It centered on an eager painter (Krista Webb) who worked on abstract art with blood. There isn’t much else that is…
Finally, there is now a festival that isn’t rooted in a joke from a bad Farrelly Bros. animated movie. The First Annual Buffalo Screams Horror Festival kicks off tonight at the Screening Room* and runs through Sunday, October 24th. Founded by Buffalo’s own Emil J. Novak and Greg Lamberson, the festival hopes to showcase various genre fare made outside of Buffalo as well as made in Buffalo. In addition, there will be many guests that will be honored at the convention.The guest of honor would be none other than legendary scream queen, Debbie Rochon. You may have seen her in…