Neighborhood Watch, a Graeme Whifler Film at Shriek Fest2006 in Los Angeles

Graeme Whifler’s “Neighborhood Watch” ,a profoundly disturbing comedy will have its West Coast Premiere Saturday, September 23, 6 PM at the 6th annual Shriekfest Film Festival that runs September 22-24, 30-Oct. 1 in Los Angeles. Strong reaction from viewers are expected by the film director and festival’s organizers, “It’s going to be fun to see if the audience in Hollywood are a bunch of cry babies like those in NYC, Europe and Montreal, you know, getting hives, passing out, and losing it mentally”, smiles Whifler.

Of his dark sardonic vision of the world as presented in a NBC network two-hour prime time specials titled, ANCIENT PROPHECIES, The Wall Street Journal wrote, “One of the great assemblies of whackos, mystics, oddballs and assorted spooky mumblers, ANCIENT PROPHECIES is as much fun as you can have contemplating the end of humanity... a wonderfully cracked program.” With “Neighborhood Watch”, Graeme demonstrates once again that his creativity is as warped as ever and challenges its viewers into confronting their most basic repulsion and fears while simultaneously accomplishing the rare feat of keeping them amused and even, one could say, giggling throughout this descent into a young couple’s suburbia personal hell.

Whifler who first gained notoriety collaborating with the avant-garde San Francisco recording group, The Residents, as in-house rock video cinematographer, writer, producer, and director has been inducted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The videos were heralded as “a tour de force of short filmmaking hilarious, often stunning and usually twisted… adventures into the subconscious (which) appeal to people with a taste of the bizarre”. While directing videos for more mainstream acts like Devo, Danny Elfman, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Graeme wrote his first screenplay, SONNY BOY, a movie that was to become an instant cult classic due in part to David Carradine’s portrayal of a hairy-chested, cigar-smoking transvestite mother. Graeme’s second screenplay, DR. GIGGLES was produced by Largo Entertainment and released by Universal Pictures.

Neighborhood Watch will be shown at the Shriekfest Film Festival in Los Angeles at 6:00PM Sat. Sept 23rd. Also by special invitation, it will be playing as part of a Graeme Whifler retrospective at the Pacific Film Archive, UC Berkeley, CA, October 29th.