Topeka’s Slash + Bash Festival back and bigger than ever.

Slash + Bash Film Fest Schd:

Friday, 6/24
On the outdoor screen
9:00 pm – Lawrence Filmmaker Patrick Rea Presents two short films
with Q&A – “Time’s Up Eve” & “Get Off My Porch”
10:00 pm – “Aliens (Special Edition)”

Saturday, 6/25
The Break Room (Main Screen)
11:00 am – Ghostbusters
1:30 pm – War Of The Worlds (The Original)
3:30 pm – Insanitarium
5:00 pm – The Slash And Bash Short Film Contest
7:00 pm – The Descent
9:30 pm – Bonnie And Clyde Vs. Dracula with Q&A with KC Filmmaker Timothy Friend and actress Jennifer Friend

Saturday, 6/25
Field Of Greens (Second Screen)

11:30 am – Monster Squad
1:30 pm – Night Of The Creeps
4:30 pm – Without Warning
6:30 pm – Scream
9:00 pm – Carrie
Film titles and times subject to change.

Read about the Slash + Bash film festival:

The fifth annual Slash and Bash Horror/Sci-Fi Film Festival is slated for June 24 and 25 in downtown Topeka. Expanding to twice a year and now centered around The Break Room and Field of Greens, the festival is preparing this year to be better than ever.

This would have been the sixth year for this Topeka-based, homegrown movie event, but founder and organizer Keith Van Sickle experienced a setback last year when he suffered a series of strokes, a lingering viral infection that landed him in the hospital in ICU and near death on at least two occasions.

After more than a month of recovery at the Kansas Rehabilitation Hospital, Van Sickle was able to continue his recuperation at home while going to therapy at the hospital every day.

“The strokes were so debilitating that when he first went into therapy, he couldn’t even speak or w

rite his name,” family said. “He is so fortunate to have regained those abilities and so much more.”

Nearly a year later, he still undergoes about three hours of therapy a week, he said, and continues to improve every day. He is grateful for all the people who visited him and supported him during his recovery. The ordeal has changed his perspective and now he relishes even the most mundane of tasks.

“I have a better feeling about everything now. I look at everything differently, and I’m so grateful. I’m just thankful that I get do things like mow the lawn,” he said, laughing.

Van Sickle, who has worked as a film critic on radio, television and in print for the past 15 years, is healthy enough now that he and a group of organizers have decided to rekindle the festival he first created in 2005.

“I started Slash and Bash because I noticed nobody in Kansas was running a horror film festival,” Van Sickle said. “I just think horror and science fiction do not get their due, whether it is in awards or box-office receipts. There are many talented filmmakers and actors in this underappreciated, but popular, genre.”

The first Slash and Bash Festival was only one day, and the screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was extremely successful, he said. The following year, the event was expanded to two days.

Slash and Bash has continued to grow over the years and has featured appearances by such special guests as actress Dee Wallace (ET, Cujo), stuntwoman Eileen Deitz (The Exorcist) and cast members from the Halloween franchise and Night of the Living Dead.

In 2009, Van Sickle brought Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing, The Fog, Escape From New York) to Topeka as the special festival guest, with Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten declaring a day in her honor.

This year the spotlight will shine on Kansas talent, Van Sickle said, and the festival will feature local filmmakers, actresses and artists.

Lawrence filmmaker Patrick Rea will introduce his shorts, Time’s Up, Eve and Get Off My Porch, which are screening later this month at the Phoenix ComicCon. Newly released on Blu-ray and DVD, the 2008 film, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, by Kansas City filmmaker Timothy Friend, also will be shown during Slash and Bash. Friend and his wife, actress Jennifer Friend, will conduct a Q&A and sign autographs in conjunction with the screening.

In addition to highlighting Kansas moviemakers, the festival will be highlighted by mainstream horror and sci-fi favorites such as Carrie, Scream, War of the Worlds and a pinnacle outdoor showing of James Cameron’s Aliens.

“I think this is going to be our best festival yet because of the outdoor movie screening and the incredible support we’ve had from The Break Room/Field of Greens and other downtown merchants,” Van Sickle said. “Come on out and watch some great films and be prepared to scream.”