It Came to Texas is one of the truly unique film festivals to ever grace the Lonestar State. There are dozens of film festivals every year in Texas, but not one that caters to films that were specifically made in Texas. Arriving Halloween weekend in downtown Garland, just a little outside of Dallas is one of the best film festivals that you’ll ever attend. There may not be major movie stars or big-name movies, but what you’ll find is a selection of cult-films favorites that were made right here in Texas, especially B-Horror movies and one really famous movie that made Texas a hotbed for horror movies. Yes, I’m talking about the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974. True film aficionados celebrate movies from every genre, but not many film festivals actually cater to films that were made in the state where the film festival takes place. When we think of the mecca of filmmaking, of course, Los Angeles and New York are at the top of the list, but Texas has its own unique history in the movie business dating back to when silent films can be shot, edited, and released within a week. And that’s what this Film Festival truly celebrates. But don’t take my word for it, listen to what the creative directors had to say about the film festive.  Watch the interviews.

Learn more about the festival from the festival director, Kelly Kitchens

Two weeks following the reopening of the Downtown Square, the Plaza Theatre in Garland (521 W. State Street) will host its first film festival, IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival. Festivities kick off on Saturday, October 28, and Sunday, October 29 will be full of b-movies that spent their time at the drive-ins around the country in the 1950s and ’60s. Sponsored by the City of Garland and Garland Cultural Arts, the event is a first for the city.

“With a nod to the old Dallas Producers Association fundraisers, It Came From Dallas from 2005-’17 that Gordon Smith and I worked on together, all of the elements were right there to make this a state-wide celebration of many of Texas’ best features through the years as well as some of the campy, quirky, at times cringe-worthy fun films of days gone by. We are grateful to the City of Garland and the Garland Cultural Arts team for cheering on this quirky effort so joyfully,” said Kelly Kitchens, film festival director. “While future IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival will feature films in various genres and eras all made in Texas, this inaugural Festival pays homage to the horror/Sci-Fi films that went to the drive-in theaters in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.”

THERE’S A B-MOVIE FILM HISTORIAN CATEGORY?

Gordon K. Smith, the unofficial film historian specializing in B-movies made in Texas, brings his deep-dive knowledge to this effort.

“We have a carefully curated collection of horror and Sci-Fi B-movies made in Texas that have all become cult classics thanks to decades of drive-in, TV (including “Mystery Science Theater 3000”), home video and web showings. It’s a rare chance to celebrate some movies you may have grown up with on your TV at home and see them on a big screen with fellow fans and learn some fun facts about how they got made across Texas.  This is the perfect way to spend your Halloween weekend!” Smith exclaimed.

CULT CLASSIC FOREVER CHANGED THE HORROR GENRE

Seeing the horror films of the 1950s and ‘60s, audiences will see the stark difference between those movies and the Spotlight film of the festival, TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Celebrating its 49th anniversary this year, CHAIN SAW gained a reputation as one of the most influential horror films for future genre films.

John Bloom (AKA Joe Bob Briggs) wrote in Texas Monthly, Nov 2004

“TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE was the first real ‘slasher’ film, and it changed many things—the ratings code of the Motion Picture Association of America, the national debate on violence, the Texas Film Commission, the horror genre—but it remained a curiously isolated phenomenon. The film itself, involving five young people on a twisted drive through the country, is a strange, shifting experience—early audiences were horrified; later audiences laughed; newcomers to the movie were inevitably stricken with a vaguely uneasy feeling, as though the movie might have actually been made by a maniac….”

UNCOVERING INFLUENTIAL FAN-INSPIRING FANS

Filmmaker Joe O’Connell’s 2020 documentary focuses on one of those “maniacs” who formed the look and feel of TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, Robert A. Burns. RONDO AND BOB, screening right before TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, focuses on Art Director Bob Burns, the horror film legend who created the look of the seminal film. 
Burns was obsessed with the 1930s and ‘40s B-Movie actor Rondo Hatton (AKA The Creeper), an average man whose face was transformed into a distorted mask by acromegaly.

The film celebrates the true, deep fandom of Bob Burns for Rondo Hatton and in turn, reflects on TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE fans.

GARLAND HIGH SCHOOL IB SHORT FILMS PROGRAMMED 

Sprinkled in with three of the film slots will be short films made by the Garland High School Reel Owl Cinema film program students. Reel Owl Cinema (ROC) will begin its 19th year a little differently. Having received an invitation to participate in the IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival, the students’ first project will be to create horror, campy horror, or just campy films. The program has always had a horror component including the history of the horror genre and discussing and viewing horror films, but they have never specifically had a horror project.

“The kids are excited, and we are proud to be invited to participate in our first City of Garland film festival to premiere these films. Over the years, we have partnered with several film festivals both in North Texas and internationally, so we are so glad to showcase 45 minutes of our student’s films to a hometown crowd,” said Thomas Schubert, ROC Film Department Head.

“To have IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival invite our program to participate is such an honor.  It validates the program at the highest level of community support.  Thanks to everyone from the city to the organizers working on the Festival for supporting us with this privilege,” Schubert concluded.

QUIRKY CONTENT CONTINUES

The final night of the festival won’t be a quiet one. That’s because the Festival will close things out with a live riff on one of Texas’ biggest and baddest Monster Movies with Texas’ only interactive movie mocking comedy troupe. The Mocky Horror Picture Show (mockyhorror.com) performs regularly at the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, and they’ll close out the IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival with a live riff of Ray Kellogg’s 1959 cheesy horror classic THE GIANT GILA MONSTER in which (wait for it) a giant Gila monster (actually, it’s a Mexican beaded lizard) wreaks havoc on a small town. The titular monster shares the spotlight with B-movie staple, Don Sullivan; France’s 1957 Miss Universe contestant, Lisa Simone; and Dallas radio legend, Ken Knox.

Mocky Horror stars comedians Liz Barksdale, Danny Gallagher and Albie Robles riffing on movies in the theater for a live audience, and the fun doesn’t stop there. Timed prompts appear on the screen with instructions for the audience to do or say things at just the right time. The comedians provide props for the audience to make fun of the movie with them!

~ From Kelly Kitchens

One of the best things about this Film Festival is a unique show that comes straight from Dallas-Fort Worth, The Mocky Horror Picture Show. It’s a live show in the vein of Mystery Science Theater 3000 where a group of fantastic comedians rift horrible, but kind of wonderful movies. This year they will be performing at the film festival and taking aim over one of the worst B movies that sort of became a cult hit. They close out the film festival on Sunday, October 29th with a special show that you definitely don’t want to miss.   For more information go to…

https://garlandarts.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3012