Below is some ready-made PR for film fans to sink their teeth into regarding our upcoming screening at Healdsburg’s AVFest…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

‘Werewolf Serenade’ Film Howls in Healdsburg

Locally-Made Feature Makes its Film Festival Premiere at AVFest

PETALUMA, Calif. (FMRL) April 16, 2024 –Those looking for a fangtastic date night will want to see the new film Werewolf Serenade, a campy comedy made entirely here in wine country. 

The locally produced feature makes its film festival debut at the tenth annual AVFest, 9 pm, Saturday, May 4, 2024, at Longboard Vineyards, 5 Fitch St., Healdsburg, CA. Werewolf Serenade joins over 70 films from around the world over 10 days of film and festivities celebrating the art of cinema. Tickets are available here: bit.ly/wolf-avfest.

The 80-minute film marks the latest collaboration between Writer-Director Daedalus Howell and Producer and Production Designer Kary Hess. Hess and Howell’s previous movie, Pill Head (​​“Possibly the most bizarre film ever made in Petaluma…” — Petaluma Argus-Courier), is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Synopsis: When the Chair of the Parapsychology Department at the Freestone School of the Arts turns up dead, burnt-out film professor Peter MacTire is asked to step in and complete his generously endowed research project. With the school’s fate —and his marriage — on the line, MacTire accepts, not knowing the task will bring him face-to-face with an evil occultist and transform his life forever. 

Howell stars as Peter in this cleverly written B-movie horror opus full of werewolf lore and double entendre. Shot at recognizable locations throughout the city, this over-the-top action comedy will have you cheering for its bumbling protagonist as he struggles to foil a nefarious plot.

Werewolf Serenade also stars Emily Keyishian, Mark P. Robinson, Alia Beeton, Christopher Sawyer, Rapheal Gavin, and Natalie Crafts.

Howell and Hess will participate in a Q&A at the May 4 screening.

“‘Werewolf Serenade’ leans into lycanthropy with a nod to screwball romantic comedies and the expressionistic horror films of the mid-20th century,” says Howell. “It puts a comic spin on the ‘mid-life crises’ — from increasingly complicated relationships to body horror — mostly that of Gen X.”

As an extra layer of fun for local audiences, Hess points out that “The film is a love letter to Petaluma and its history of filmmaking—from local places and faces—to touchstones of the genre that are accentuated in a way that can only happen in a town like ours.”  

“We shot the film mostly at recognizable locations in Petaluma, which is an extra layer of fun for local audiences,” says Hess.