Bruce Hallenbeck’s “Cannibal Church”

All this week, Nippertown.com is celebrating the haunted Halloween season. Here’s the first of our three-part offering for today…

Yes, vampires are all the rage these days. Books, movies, TV shows, etc. – they’re all about the blood-sucking’ Undead.

Apparently, back in back 1983, Nippertown’s premiere horror film auteur Bruce Hallenbeck – who was at the time a film critic for Metroland and the public access television show “Real George’s Backroom” – was way ahead of the curve. He was just finding his footing as a pro neck-biting filmmaker in 1983, when he shot his first 16mm footage for what he hoped would be his feature length debut, “Cannibal Church.” He wrangled a number of Nippertown’s rock elite as his actors, including Kevin Bartlett, Jim Furlong and Sarge Blotto. Alas, the original film was never completed, but the script was re-worked with a new cast and eventually saw the light of day – ARRRGH! – as “Grave’s End.”

But as a special Halloween season presentation, Nippertown.com has unearthed some of Hallenbeck’s original “Cannibal Church” footage, which was broadcast back in the mid-’80s on “Real George’s Backroom.” Stay tuned for two more installments of “Cannibal Church” later today on Nippertown.com, and be warned – this vintage scary stuff is not for the faint of heart (and NSFW):

PREVIOUS HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS:
Halloween Freak-Out at Valentine’s Music Hall in Albany on Friday
Hear the Mysteios’ new single, “Cemetery Girl”