Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival Serves Up Monsters, Mayhem, and Music

Featuring the most twisted independent films from around the world, the 7th annual Twisted Dreams Film Festival takes place October14–16, 2022 with an in-person edition happening at Avalon Atmospheric Theater, 2473 South Kinnickinnic Avenue, Milwaukee, WI. For full information including schedule and tickets, visit http://www.twisteddreamsff.com/. Following is the official press announcement.

Fri 14th: Grindhouse Tease Burlesque troupe, Lloyd Kaufmann and Brinke Stevens meet and greet, Wisconsin premiere of Shakespeare Shitstorm, live band Inbound and filmmaker after party.

Sat 15th: Wisconsin Twisted Shorts, Spook Show featuring Kyle Basset, Backbone of Wisconsin Horror Award Ceremony.

Sun 16th: Nosferatu 100th anniversary screening with Ratbatspider performing an original live punk rock score.

Twisted Dreams will be returning to its roots for a star-studded 7th annual Film Festival. Films and all live events will be at the historic Avalon Theater Friday Oct 14th–16th. Friday Night’s launch party will include a burlesque performance by Grindhouse Tease Burlesque Troupe, and a once in a lifetime premiere of Shakespeare Shitstorm. Legendary Troma creator Lloyd Kaufmann and Horror Icon Brinke Stevens will have merch tables and be offering autographs. 

On Sunday, Ratbatspider will be performing an original score live during a screening of Nosferatu. We will also be screening the new acclaimed documentary Living With Chucky with interviews of stars, producers, and fans including Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, and John Waters on Friday and the U.S. Premiere of Ghanaian film African Kung-Fu Nazis. All Q&A’s with the exception of Lloyd Kaufmann will be live and free from our social media pages.

This year we are honoring Mark Krawczyk with the Backbone of Wisconsin Horror award. For over 16 years on YouTube, Mark has been a tireless advocate for independent horror films, and is always willing to support Wisconsin filmmakers. He was also one of the original judges for Twisted Dreams and we are honored to present him The Backbone of Wisconsin Horror Award.

Joseph Perry

Joseph Perry fell in love with horror films as a preschooler when he first saw the Gill-Man swim across the TV screen in "The Creature from The Black Lagoon" and Mothra battle Godzilla in "Godzilla Vs. The Thing.” His education in fright fare continued with TV series such as "The Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits," along with legendary northern California horror host Bob Wilkins’ "Creature Features." His love for silver age and golden age comic books, including horror titles from Gold Key, Dell, and Marvel started around age 5.

He is a contributing writer for the "Phantom of the Movies VideoScope" and “Drive-In Asylum” print magazines and the websites Horror Fuel, Diabolique Magazine, The Scariest Things, B&S About Movies, and When It Was Cool. He is a co-host of the "Uphill Both Ways" pop culture nostalgia podcast and also writes for its website. Joseph occasionally proudly co-writes articles with his son Cohen Perry, who is a film critic in his own right.

A former northern Californian and Oregonian, Joseph has been teaching, writing, and living in South Korea since 2008.