News

The Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed 14 of the fake Republican “electors” who schemed to overturn their states’ 2020 election results by signing forged documents submitted to the government.

“The Select Committee is seeking information about attempts in multiple states to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the planning and coordination of efforts to send false slates of electors to the National Archives,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in a statement. “We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme.

Just a few weeks ago, Dread Central had the privilege of hosting the online premiere of Christian Ackerman's horror comedy short Hell's Belles which follows two badass chicks that are called upon to battle a demonic entity that has captured a young girl and is holding her as his prisoner.

Starring Ariel Teal Toombs, Mayra Rodriguez, Trista Robinson, Bonjah and James Cavlo, Hell's Belles was also written by Ackerman and produced by Drina Durazo. For Indie Horror Month 2013, we recently caught up with Ackerman to hear more about his latest short film as well as more on his plans to develop Hell's Belles into a feature film project and more. Check out all the highlights from our interview below!

Dread Central: So what inspired you to write this story about these two female badasses that deal with demonic forces?

Christian Ackerman: Well, a few years ago, I imagined...

We’ve been following this one from the beginning, and as promised, Dread Central delivers up today the online premiere of Christian Ackerman’s horror-comedy short Hell’s Belles.

Written and directed by Ackerman, Hell’s Belles was filmed in 2011 just outside Los Angeles (see our set visit here) and had a glitzy premiere earlier last year in Hollywood, CA (we were there to cover that, too; see our red carpet coverage here).

The film, which was produced by Drina Durazo, stars Ariel Teal Toombs (daughter of pro wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) and Mayra Rodriguez as inexperienced occult specialists called by the local sheriff to help rescue a young girl from a lascivious demon from Hell. Rounding out the cast are Bonjah, Trista Robinson, James Cavlo, Paul Gebeau, and Buffy Dakan.

Chatting with Ackerman, who recently completed the feature script version of Hell’s Belles (with co-writer Chuck Foster), the...

We’ve been following this one from the beginning and thought we’d give you an update on Christian Ackerman’s short horror/comedy Hell’s Belles, which is currently making the festival rounds, as well as a look at some new exclusive art.

Written and directed by Ackerman, Hell’s Belles was filmed last year just outside Los Angeles (see our set visit here) and had a splashy premiere earlier this year in Hollywood, CA (we were there to cover that as well). The film stars Ariel Teal Toombs (daughter of pro wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) and Mayra Rodriguez as inexperienced occult specialists called by the local sheriff to help rescue a young girl from a sadistic demon from Hell. The film also stars Bonjah (yes, like ‘Madonna’), Trista Robinson, James Cavlo, Paul Gebeau, and Buffy Dakan.

Chatting with Ackerman, who recently completed the feature script version of Hell...

Short Film “Hell’S Belles” Continues Its Run With 8 Upcoming Festivals

Hell’s Belles, the new short film written and directed by Christian Ackerman, began its 2012 film festival run at the Horrorfind Film Festival in Pennsylvania. It will screen at 8 other festivals in the coming months with many more to come.

The Horror-Comedy stars Ariel Teal Toombs (daughter of Pro Wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper) and Mayra Rodriguez as inexperienced occult specialists called by the… More...

With Christian Ackerman’s short film Hell’s Belles having premiered this past Saturday, March 24th, in Hollywood, California, we thought we’d bring you a photo gallery from the red carpet invitation only event, as well as word on the audience’s response. Read on!

“The premiere was kick-ass!” said Hell’s Belles writer, director and editor Ackerman of the event, who along with producer Drina Durazo organized the premiere, which was co-sponsored by Dread Central. Held on the picturesque rooftop of the Cosmo Lofts Building overlooking Hollywood, the Hell’s Belles premiere kicked off with a red carpet, two open bars, hors d'oeuvres and appropriately rocking music spun by DJs Xalox B and DJ Devious prior to the screening.

“We had a huge turnout, and I was happy to unleash the Belles onto the world,” effused Ackerman. “I tried to make it an experience everyone would remember, and...

With Christian Ackerman’s short film Hell’s Belles having a Dread Central co-sponsored "invitation only" red carpet premiere this Saturday, March 24th, in Hollywood, California, we thought it time to offer you an exclusive look at the film’s trailer. Read on!

Co-produced with Drina Durazo and written, directed and edited by Ackerman, Hell’s Belles revolves around (according to the official synopsis) “best friends and inexperienced Occult Specialists Adria Blackmoor and Helena Garcia, who on their way to a bar get sidetracked by the local sheriff to save a young girl from being kidnapped by a sadomasochistic demon. The girls must figure out a way to stop him from taking her to Hell as his personal sex slave and get to the bar before last call!” Ariel Teal Toombs and Mayra Rodriguez star along with Bonjah, Trista Robinson, Paul Gebeau, James Cavlo and Buffy Dakan. Dan Crawley (Watchmen...

While co-hosting (with festival head Rachel Belofsky and Jonna Jackson) last week’s Screamfest La mixer at Te’Kila and 504 on Hollywood Boulevard (in attendance were horror movers and shakers John Skipp, F. Javier Gutiérrez, Stephen Goldmann, John Michael Elfers, Drina Durazo and more), I caught up with Re-Animator filmmaker Stuart Gordon in order to discuss his current projects as well as the currently previewing play Re-Animator – The Musical.

Opening on March 5th at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood, CA, the stage musical incarnation of Gordon’s 1985 filmic hit (both of which center around Dr. Herbert West, a medical student obsessed with reanimating the dead) runs Friday through Saturday nights through March 27, and Gordon told us of the play over a cocktail amid the boisterous din, “Audiences seem to really like it, which is great! We’re previewing all weekend, and those nights are already sold out, which is a wonderful thing.

“The idea came to me a few years ago when I began writing a feature horror/comedy around a young female who drives a hearse,” writer, producer, and director Chris Ackerman told Dread last Saturday night on the set of his then-shooting short film Hell’s Belles. “The main character, ‘Adria Blackmoor’, lives a sheltered life as a morgue technician at her grandfather’s cemetery when unfortunately the gates of hell open, and she’s forced to battle a strange assortment of creatures to save her town.”

Hollywood being Hollywood, however, burgeoning filmmakers are keenly aware of the distinct lack of imagination most suits have during the pitching process (a manuscript seldom cuts it any longer in communicating one’s vision), so Ackerman, who previously served as an associate producer on Yossi Sasson’s 2008 horror feature Dead and Gone, took it upon himself to helm a shortened version of his script,...