Wisdom of the Masters (Music Box Massacre 2009). By Brian Kirst

Experience, intellect and horror bound trivia were on display at this October’s Music Box Massacre in Chicago. Guests Stuart Gordon, Art Hindle and JD Feigelson proved to be genuine and giving guests; each sharing nuggets of cinematic history.

Stuart Gordon( Reanimator, Stuck) revealed himself to be a political force reiterating his belief that terror filmmaking reflects the world at large, passionately. His firm stance that the recent wave of torture-porn horror (particularly the Hostel and Saw series) is a reflection of the war in Iraq and the government’s covert acceptance of sadistically abusing its prisoners gave a true sense of purpose and import to this oft maligned genre – and a genuine uplift to the eager audience listening.

Art Hindle (Black Christmas, The Brood) revealed that David Cronenberg was quite the jokester on the set of The Brood (despite the fact that the film was based on his recent and very vicious divorce) and stated that he would count himself among those who would warmly welcome a comedy from this twisted maestro. As for co-star Samantha Eggar (Curtains, The Collector, Exterminator), though, Hindle admits he found her very stand-offish on set – but not without reason. Hindle determined it must have been a lot for her to grasp. She was only on set for a few days and to be thrown into Cronenberg’s world of rabid children and mutant tumors was assumedly quite a lot for her to handle. Earlier in his career, though, Hindle, found himself in a more encouraging relationship with another future genre icon. Called into double duty on the set of Black Christmas (he not only played his role but helped rehearse a nervous Olivia Hussey in co-star Keir Dullea’s absence), Hindle was noticed by Margot Kidder (Sisters, Amityville Horror, Superman) who encouraged him to try his luck in Hollywood.

JD Feigelson (Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Wes Craven’s Chiller), meanwhile, talked of how he and Tobe Hooper helped each other out in the beginning of their careers (with Hooper even staying with Feigelson upon first arriving in Hollywood) and how they each went onto define their specific genres – the chainsaw horror and the ghostly scarecrow film. Feigelson also noted  that, almost 30 years after its initial television release, he was able to film (and insert) a defining shot – a shot of gears shifting by themselves – for the upcoming, highly anticipated DVD release of Dark Night of the Scarecrow.