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Chicago – It began with a boy and his dream (nightmare?). John Laflamboy, to be exact, as he took an idea he had in college and made it his life’s work. He owns and operates the HellsGate Haunted House in Lockport (Illinois), which was designed, built and put together by Haunted House experts expressly for the spookiest month of the year. For info on how to purchase tickets, click HellsGate.

HellsGate is from the mind of John Laflamboy, as he took an idea he had in college to the ultimate realization. As a actor, he knew he didn’t want to wait tables, so how could he provide for himself and his fellow actors while still actually performing? Enter the Haunted House concept, which has grown exponentially every year since Laflamboy had his brainstorm. The culmination was the property where the current House is being performed, a 60 acre lot in...

Written by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com

Being a property owner can be difficult. Bad tenants, old buildings that require constant maintenance and significant expense, and carnivorous molemen that come up through old Chicago Prohibition tunnels. Wait, what? Yep, subterranean humanoid underground dwellers. SHUDs maybe? Nah, let’s just stick with The Moleman of Belmont Avenue. It sounds more B movie anyway, and what would any B movie worth its salt be without the anti –hero, or even better, a duo of anti-heroes.

Enter Marion and Jarmon Mugg, two brothers that inherited a brownstone from their mother, and seemed to be trapped in a situation that they neither want, or are any good at. Their longtime tenants are leaving them, the building is falling into disrepair, and the boys just can’t seem to catch a break. When tenant’s pets start disappearing, something sinister seems to be afoot.

When they...

“Doobie doobie do, we-oh we-oh.” So goes the infuriating song that plays throughout The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue. The song in question is sung by lead actors and writers and directors of the film Mike Bradecich and John Laflamboy in one of the various absurd fantasy/dream sequences that populate this comedy horror film—hormedy? comedorror? Not surprisingly, this little ditty is the least offensive thing about this low brow, low budget movie.

Having inherited a sprawling brownstone apartment building from their deceased mother, the slacker Mugg brothers—Marion (Bradecich) and Jarmon (Laflamboy)—have driven this property into the ground. Most of the renters have left and the inexplicable bar in the basement is all but defunct. Yet what’s most troubling of all is that the pets in the building have been disappearing. The culprit, of course, is the titular Mole Man, creeping around the building eating tiny animals.

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details for Inbred, Blood, and 4 Dead Girls, a trailer for The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue, featuring Robert Englund, details on a Jason Voorhees-inspired charity, an interview with Nick Basile, the director of Dark, and much more:

The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue Trailer and Release Details: “Two years ago, the Mugg Brothers, who have never worked a day in their lives, inherited a brownstone apartment building. In that short time, their slacker ways have run the building into the ground. Tenants are moving out, no one drinks at the bar downstairs, and the building’s pets are going missing. If all that isn’t enough to make them sit up and take notice, they soon discover a mysterious creature is hiding in the basement and trying to...

Level 33 Entertainment is introducing horror fans to The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue, a new title arriving on DVD and VOD September 10th.

Written and directed by Mike Bradecich and John Laflamboy (who also star alongside Robert Englund).  Two years ago, the Mugg Brothers, who have never worked a day in their lives, inherited a brownstone apartment building.  In that short time, their slacker ways have run the building into the ground.  Tenants are moving out, no one drinks at the bar downstairs, and the building's pets are going missing.  If all that isn't enough to make them sit up and take notice, they soon discover a mysterious creature is hiding in the basement and trying to eat every living thing in the building one by one!  A trailer awaits inside.

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Directors/writers: Mike Bradecich and John Laflamboy.

First time directors Mike Bradecich and John Laflamboy take on comedy in their feature The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue. Trained at the Second City theater in Chicago, these two writers have a knack for writing great dialogue, but there plot seems scripted more from "Scooby Doo." The story is very straightforward with a creature invading Marion (Bradecich) and Jarmon's (Laflamboy) recently inherited apartment building. Then the plot is forgotten in a pot haze as the writers take a pointer or two from Kevin Smith's slacker comedies such as Clerks and Mallrats.

Marion and Jarmon are not really up for the case, when a monster moves into their multi-storied abode. These landlords can hardly keep the lights on and here lies their charm. Struggling to get by, these brothers have to team up to find a monster eating their tenants' pets. Then,...

Now, there isnt much gore in Moleman, or nudity, or scares.. but what it does have is a fresh blend of comedy and horror which to me, after viewing it, am expecting it to become a cult classic in the likes of Idle Hands or Shaun of the Dead.

It pretty much is about- Two Brothers who run an apt complex in Chicago that was once used for Bootlegging. Leaving unknown tunnels beneath the basement, which the basement itself is a bar that happens to be the meeting place constantly for the Brothers.. When all the occupant’s pets end up disappearing, the brothers are determined to find out why to make their tennants happy, and to avoid more comlaints. Leading to them having brushes with the “Moleman”, eating up all the pets, and eventually going after the tennants. They aim to find it, in the abandoned tunnels beneath, and kill it.

In The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue (which has to be one of the catchier names on the indie horror scene these days), we meet down on their luck brothers Jarman (Laflamboy) and Marion (Bradecich). Just back from a failed stint raising llamas, Jarman has just returned to the rapidly depopulating Chicago building managed by deadpan brother Marion who's got his own struggles to contend with.

See, the gas has just been shut off in the building and Marion's been left to deal with the fact that their building's electricity is being stolen from a church next door. The only tenants that remain are a generally disagreeable bunch including a couple of cranky oldsters (including horror icon Robert Englund), a prostitute and an apartment full of stoners.

As if all of that wasn't enough to deal with, the brothers suddenly realize that all the pets in the building are disappearing...

As a Chicago native, I spent many fond weekends as a fan attending Flashback Weekend so it's an incredible honor for me to be returning to my hometown this weekend to serve as one of the convention's co-hosts. I'll be moderating some panels and running around enjoying all the horror hoopla so if you happen to be there, make sure to look for me and say hi!

And now that the show is just a few days away, we've got the official schedule for Flashback Weekend right here for you fiends. Check out the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention schedule below to get the lowdown on when and where you'll get to see some of your genre favorites including Robert Englund, Lance Henriksen, Michael Rooker, Malcolm McDowall, Sid Haig, Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence and so many more!

For those of you who may not have thought to get your tickets in advance,...

This Saturday August 14 Chicago fright fans will have a rare opportunity to meet John Harrison director of Clive Barker's Book of Blood and the rarely screened Tales From The Darkside The Movie as well as the composer of Creepshow and Day of the Dead. 

The schedule is looking great and Twitch Has Four Pairs Of Tickets To Giveaway!!!!!!!

Doors open at 7pm

7:30pm - Trailer Trash (Vintage Horror Trailers & Short Films) 

8pm - Creepshow 

10pm - Clive Barker's Book of Blood (U.S. Theatrical Premiere!) 

Midnight - Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (20th Anniversary) 

Plus: Clive Barker Original Paintings from the Packer Schopf Gallery in 

the lobby of the theater. This is a very rare opportunity to see this 

stunning work!

And: Live Horror Burlesque by Viva La Muerte performing The Cryptkeeper& The world premiere of John Laflamboy's "The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue" trailer starring Robert (Freddy Kreuger) Englund.

Making a documentary is a true test of a filmmaker's stamina. After shooting hundreds to thousands of hours of footage, you have to hope you've caught enough interesting moments to string together a compelling story. Now try doing that on a time crunch because the subject you are covering is time sensitive. Oh and there are zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. That is exactly what Joone Studios and Zombie Army Productions are doing with their reality-based web series Days of the Living Dead. The show follows a rag tag group of renegade actors, artists, technical directors and filmmakers working together to produce one of the largest and most heralded haunted houses in the country, Statesville Haunted Prison. If you've ever wanted to know what Hunter S. Thompson looks like as a zombie, wanted to watch people play a game involving kicking around severed heads, or wondered at the proclivities...