Starring: Pete Ferry, Bogdan Pecic, Michael Grossi

Special 30th anniversary screening of the 2K restoration of Bookwalter’s seminal, Romero-inspired, DIY zombie epic The Dead Next Door presented by Horror Boobs and Saturn’s Core with director J.R. Bookwalter in attendance for a post screening Q&A.

Lauded as one of America’s most revered regional, genre filmmakers, Akron, Ohio’s resident indie writer / director J.R. Bookwalter created a broad cinematic universe far outside of the Hollywood studio system and inspired a whole generation of backyard movie makers in the process. Horror Boobs and Saturn’s Core Audio & Video are proud to present “Tempe Apocalypse”; a jam-packed weekend of screenings and events all featuring J.R. Bookwalter in person for the first time in the NYC area in over a decade.

Conceived in the summer of 1985 by a then 19 year old Bookwalter (and anonymously funded by The Evil Dead director Sam Raimi), The Dead Next Door would take 4 grueling years to complete and not reach video store shelves until the spring of 1989. Shot on Super 8mm film in various suburbs of Northeast Ohio, it features jaw-dropping practical gore effects, unfathomable guerrilla location shooting, and a cast of zombie extras numbering somewhere in the thousands. A vital cinematic testament to the rewards of sheer youthful tenacity, The Dead Next Door stands uncontested as one of the most ambitious and accomplished regional, micro-budget horror films in American history.

With the announcement that Bookwalter’s legendary company Tempe Video will be forever closing its proverbial doors and bidding adieu to the world of cinema, the “Tempe Apocalypse” weekend is certain to be a once in a lifetime, not to be missed happening celebrating the work of one of micro-budget cinema’s most beloved and influential filmmakers.