Principal photography of the next Mihmiverse film, "The Giant Spider" has begun!

Commander Lambent!

Above is the first official image to emerge from the shoot, and... it is quite cryptic! All we've been told is that this shadow belongs to actor (and son of the writer/director) Elliott Mihm, who is apparently reprising his role of Danny Johnson, who was last seen in the flesh in 2009's "Terror from Beneath the Earth" and in digital, interactive-fiction style in the exclusive "text adventure" game "Danny Johnson and the Lucky Coin" (written and programmed by writer/director Christopher R. Mihm)! Obviously, the photo doesn't show us any oversized arachnids, BUT we're told loyal Mihmiverse Bonfire Podcast listeners should find this image particularly interesting!

Principal photography is scheduled to continue through the end of the year with the finished film HOPEFULLY slated to premiere around Memorial Day 2013!

Don't forget: the ever-popular associate producer program is back! For as little as $50, you (your significant other, friends, pets, business...whatever) can become an associate producer and get your name listed in the end credits of "The Giant Spider." As a bonus, you'll also receive a pair of collector's tickets to the premiere, five copies of the film on DVD, and a frame-able certificate with your name and title—perfect for your own "wall of fame!" (That's a $75 value!)

For more information, visit the merchandise page at SaintEuphoria.com, the online home of the films of Christopher R. Mihm. To learn more about some of the folks who have already become associate producers, check out the Meet the Associate Producers interview further down in this newsletter!



Zombie Night at the Saints!

Come join us as the Mihimiverse takes over the St. Paul Saints Midway Stadium with a free "Attack of the Moon Zombies" screening in the stadium parking lot on Monday, August 20th!

A rogue group of "Attack of the Moon Zombies" cast and crew will be tailgating at the St. Paul Saints Midway Stadium parking lot in conjunction with the Saints' own "Zombie Night." Game time is 7:05 PM with tickets still available at the stadium box office (651-644-3517) or at saintsbaseball.com. For those more interested in the party than the ballgame, Administrator Ripley (Sid Korpi) will run the "Parking Lot Games," so bring your knowledge of all things and possibly your singing voice (or lack thereof).

PLUS, Stephanie & Mike Olson (owners of the Blue Moon Dine-in Theatre, which features the films of Christopher R. Mihm at the Minnesota State Fair!) are planning to attend the event. They have donated some Blue Moon "FREE ICE CREAM" poker chips as prizes for the Parking Lot games!

Our group will be setting up on the west end, opposite the stadium, when the parking lot opens around 4:00–4:30 PM.

The official start time will be around 5:00 PM and the movie will start as soon as it's dark enough to see it on the building wall nearby. This is a "Pot Luck" event and we'll have a grill running with burgers and brats available as long as supplies last. If you have a special dish/meat item to share, bring it along! And be sure to bring your own beverages! (NOTE: Mondays are $1.00 BEER nights at the Stadium!)

Midway Stadium is located at 1771 Energy Park Drive, just west of Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, MN. You can pay $7.50 to park in the actual Saints parking lot or find a place along the street to park for free and walk in. We will also save several parking places in our area.

Come and enjoy an evening of Mihmiverse-style FUN!

Please RSVP to Anthony Kaczor, a.k.a. Dr. Phillips/the "Pajama Zombie" at anthony.kaczor@peoplesco.com.




The full set of writer/director Christopher R. Mihm's films is now ON SALE! For only $49.99 (+$9.99 shipping & handling), you get all seven Mihmiverse films on DVD! You'll save more than $27 and that, by far, is the BEST DEAL around!

Set of 7 Mihmiverse DVDs

$49.99 (+$9.99 s&h)

The set includes: "The Monster of Phantom Lake," "It Came From Another World!," "Cave Women on Mars," "Terror from Beneath the Earth," "Destination: Outer Space," "Attack of the Moon Zombies," and "House of Ghosts!"

Visit the SaintEuphoria.com merchandise page to order OR click the Add to Cart button above to order RIGHT NOW!



The Bequeather
Sixteen days in the can; two days to go. Principal photography for Justen Overlander's (Ray/Sheriff Elliott/Jonathan) "Airplane/Young Frankenstein"-style comedy "The Bequeather" began in May and will likely not wrap until October.

"We've hit a few snags in the scheduling," says Overlander, "but such is the world of independent, low-budget filmmaking. Luckily, I'm able to edit while we take a little break from shooting, so the delay in photography shouldn't delay the completion of the project."

In this month's still from "The Bequeather," we see the main cast, from left to right: Justen Overlander, Tiffany Cornwell, Keri Bunkers, Meisha Johnson, and Gary David Keast.

More more information about the film, check out the Kenzie Productions website or contact info@kenzieprod.com.



The newest episode of the Mihmiverse Bonfire Podcast is now available for download!

Back around the bonfire, hosts Rhuby 'n' Hater hang out with writer/director Christopher R. Mihm, fire tender Maggie Schultz and "deputy fire tender" Tori Fox, and interview two of the newest Mihmiverse players, Mark Scanlan (Isaac) and J. Andrew Wilkins (The Medium), both of whom were featured in the recently released "House of Ghosts."

Also airing, the latest episode of "Commander Lambent: Space Explorer... in Space!," and, in lieu of the usual "bad poem," writer/director Christopher R. Mihm does a dramatic reading of his first official piece of hate mail!
 
Part 1 (full version) — Part 2 (full version) — Part 3 (full version) — Rhuby Edit

The Mihmiverse Bonfire Podcast was created as a supplement to this newsletter and will be released on or around the 15th of every month. Moderated by hosts Rhuby 'n' Hater, this free-to-download monthly audiocast offers exclusive news, interviews with the folks who make the Mihmiverse possible, shameless self-promotion, and original recurring content!

If you'd like to ask a question of the hosts, writer/director Christopher R. Mihm, or any of the show's upcoming guest(s), click HERE to submit your queries! If we like them, we may even include them in a future podcast! OR, you can "like" the Mihmiverse Bonfire Podcast page on Facebook and "participate" by posting to the podcast's wall during recording!



Every month, the Mihmiverse Monthly, the official newsletter of the films of Christopher R. Mihm, includes an ever-changing array of guest-written columns.

This month you'll find:
  • The Cinema of Bigfoot
    Mihmivite Oreta Samples takes over the Classic Movie of the Month column with a double-dose of 1970s-era Bigfoot B-movie cheese!
     
  • Monster Hits!
    Mike Cook (Gustav/Dr. Edwards) gives us a historical (and hysterical) perspective on some of the original "popular music" created for the schlocky drive-in films of the 1950s and '60s!
     
  • Puzzlin' with Sid
    Another puzzle created just for the Mihmiverse Monthly by super-actress and wordsmith Sid Korpi (Leigh/Administrator Ripley)!
     
  • From the Mihmiverse Test Kitchens
    The first lady of the Mihmiverse, Stephanie Mihm (Rosemary/Ursula), shares her favorite recipes that are sure to satisfy any monster-sized appetite!
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for other columns, OR if you're interested in writing one, please contact us at info@sainteuphoria.com and let us know what you think!



This is the section where we normally feature a "Classic Movie of the Month," but this month we instead present a specially-themed column guest-written by dedicated Mihmivite and Bigfoot-movie-enthusiast Oreta Samples!



For those wanting to be convinced of the existence of Bigfoot, there are two "must see" films: "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and "The Creature of Black Lake." Both films can be found in DVD outlets such as eBay, and an internet search turns up several merchandisers of B-rated movies that have been preserved to DVD format.



The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)
Directed by Charles B. Pierce
Starring William Stumpp, Chuck Pierce, Jr. and Vern Stierman

In 1972, Chuck Pierce created what is still considered by many to be the definitive work regarding the existence of the creature known as "Bigfoot," "Yeti" and "Sasquatch." Shot in documentary style, the movie is filled with interviews with residents of the sleepy town of Fouke, Arkansas. "The Legend of Boggy Creek" was filmed entirely on location in and around the swamp area through which Boggy Creek runs and features many of the 350 people who populate the area. The tale these people tell is one of scientific mystery and fear relating to their encounters with the seven-foot hairy creature who, throughout the film, routinely terrorizes teenagers, scares a cat to death, and tosses any coonhounds that cross him through the air like limp stuffed rabbits. The movie, because of the local flavor, is (to me) all the more creepy and believable. This one is not to be missed.



Creature from Black Lake (1976)
Directed by Joy N. Houck Jr.
Starring Jack Elam and Dub Taylor

Following on the heels of "Boggy Creek," this movie was produced in 1976 and is filled with many old timers who play their roles with relish, including western staple Jack Elam who is at his best as a trapper who encounters the beast while in a john boat and survives. This movie closely mimics the earlier Pierce release but is no less entertaining. Many of the scenarios in "Black Lake" are reminiscent of "Boggy Creek," including Elam's portrayal, which is eerily similar to the interview of the swamp rat Herb Jones who lives on the banks of Boggy Creek and is introduced as a man who "once accidentally shot part of his foot away in a boating accident." The movie follows two anthropology students who are on the trail of the Bigfoot creature that has been reported in a small rural town. Along the way, they encounter a local family (headed up by Dub Taylor as Grandpa) that claims to have seen the creature, a couple of local girls flirtatiously looking to have an "encounter" of their own, and finally, almost at the cost of their lives, the Bigfoot creature! Although not a documentary, this is also one not to miss. As a side note, John David Carson, who plays one of the students, is "missing" in real life. An actor in several other B-movies such as "Empire of the Ants," Carson is supposedly dead as of 2009, but an internet search did not turn up any cause of death.



Although both movies share many of the same storylines, "Boggy Creek" is filled with beautiful scenery and original music that, at my ripe old age, I still find myself humming. After all, who can forget such a catchy little banjo tune as "Hey, Travis Crabtree?"


— Oreta Samples



Since so many fans and supporters have contributed and become associate producers, we wanted to take time to highlight some of these wonderful people! Thus, every month between now and the release of "The Giant Spider," we will randomly choose and interview one of them.

This month, we interview Michael Vieths.

Introduce yourself to the Mihmiverse!

I'm a geek, gamer and gay bear. I work as a software developer at Dell Compellent and am pursuing a master's degree in biomedical informatics and computational biology at the University of Minnesota. (Work and school aren't particularly related; grad school is more of a hobby right now.) My big sister got me hooked on comic books and sci-fi when I was a kid, and I've been going to conventions since I was 12.

When and how did you discover the films of Christopher R. Mihm?

Back when "The Monster of Phantom Lake" came out, I lived in Columbia Heights, and picked up my comic books at Twin City Comics across the street from the Heights Theatre (where all Mihmiverse films have premiered). I liked "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" and this looked to be in a similar vein, so I decided to check it out (for science!).

Which of the seven released films is your favorite and why?

That's a tough one, but I'd have to say "It Came From Another World!" Who knew Canoe Cop Sven had such hidden depths?

You recently became an associate producer of "The Giant Spider." Why?

I really enjoy these movies and am willing to contribute some money to make more of them happen. It's also a great deal between the tickets and the DVDs. Any time I visit out-of-town friends, I bring some of the movies to share, and having extra copies to send to them is very handy. Also, I once vowed to destroy San Jose with giant spiders and having an IMDb entry to that effect seems more attainable. ;-)

Interested in becoming an associate producer? For a miniscule monetary investment, all associate producers will get their names listed in the end credits of "The Giant Spider," a pair of collector's tickets to the premiere, five copies of the film on DVD, and a frame-able certificate with their name and title—perfect for your own "wall of fame!"

Visit the merchandise page at SaintEuphoria.com, the online home of the films of Christopher R. Mihm, for more information. Who knows? Maybe next month we'll be interviewing YOU!




 
If you thought all those American International "surf/horror/musical/comedies" we've been highlighting in recent months were bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

In 1967, a screenwriter named Duke Yelton had a thought: "Hey, if they can make rock and roll horror movies, why can't I make a COUNTRY music horror movie?"

Since no one came up with an answer in time to stop him, he put pen to paper and came up with "Hillbillys in a Haunted House:" a sequel to the 1966 box office bomb "The Las Vegas Hillbillys," which had starred Ferlin Husky, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren.

Of course, on paper, it almost looked like a good idea. First, hire Ferlin Husky (a bona fide country music star at the time) to reprise his role and sing a few songs. Then, choose some eye candy for the young fellers in the audience. Since Mansfield had died in a horrible traffic accident and Van Doren was unavailable, Yelton stayed with the "hillbilly" theme and hired Joi Lansing, who had a small, recurring role (as Lester Flatt's wife) on TV's "Beverly Hillbillies."

For "horror" fans, he was able to corral three legends: John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Basil Rathbone.

Unfortunately, the plot was also on that paper, and it was ridiculous: Country singers on their way to Nashville for a concert have car trouble, forcing them to stop at an old haunted mansion. Soon they realize that the house is not only haunted, but is also the headquarters of a ring of international spies after a top-secret formula for rocket fuel.

Somehow it all gets resolved and the country singers get to Nashville in time for the concert, which gave director Jean Yarbrough a chance to toss in some actual concert footage featuring Mr. Husky, Sonny James ("Young Love") and Merle Haggard, among others.

The acting was uniformly terrible; even Carradine, Chaney and Rathbone couldn't make it work. Sadly, it was Rathbone's last film, so he never got a chance to redeem himself.

And speaking of terrible, they gave Joi Lansing a song to sing, and she apparently recorded it while standing in a barrel. Enjoy it, if you can!
— Mike Cook



Each letter in the sentence below has been consistently substituted for another letter. (For instance, to get you started, every S below stands for an T in the puzzle's Mihmiverse-related solution sentence.)



CFFJ AFCKOBP SUGBWSBJ SF OJQWHB BWGSU! JF FJB RODD KB PXWGBH; OJ FSUBG RFGHP, WDD RODD KB "PXFGBH."



Scroll to the bottom of the Mihmiverse Monthly for the solution.

— Sid Korpi



When your sweet tooth is calling, but the oppressive summer heat makes it impractical to turn on the oven, check out this "no-bake" dessert recipe to satisfy that craving!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Treats
No-Bake Peanut Butter Treats


Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
Directions

In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the milk powder, oats and graham cracker crumbs. Shape into 1-in. balls. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Yield: 15 servings.

1 treat equals 70 calories. My "main monster" kept coming back for more (and so will the rest of your family)! 5 out of 5 "screams!" Enjoy!

You can find this recipe (and many more like it) and its corresponding nutrition information on the Taste of Home website!
— Stephanie Mihm



August 5 - 11:00AM–5:00PM

Sid Korpi (Leigh/Administrator Ripley) will be appearing at the Can Do Canines' Woofaroo, an event celebrating International Assistance Dog Week.

Can Do Canines, 9440 Science Center Drive, New Hope, MN
August 10-12 & 17-19

J. Andrew Wilkins (The Medium) will be directing a production of "The Odd Couple" at the Lakeville Area Arts Center.

Lakeville Area Arts Center, 20965 Holyoke Avenue, Lakeville, MN
August 16 - 9:30PM

"House of Ghosts" screens FOR FREE at the Lake 5 Theatre for a very special edition of Edwood Grimm's Thursday Night Fright, a bi-monthly event that features classic horror films like 1956's "The Mole People," 1960's "The Time Machine," and 1955's "This Island Earth!"

Lake 5 Theatre, 1480 South Lake Street, Forest Lake, MN
August 18

Sid Korpi (Leigh/Administrator Ripley) will be appearing at Dog Days Westonka, a fun-filled pet-centered festival in the heart of Mound, MN!

Visit the event's website for location and a full schedule of events!
August 20 - 4:00PM

Come join us as the Mihimiverse takes over the St. Paul Saints Midway Stadium with a free "Attack of the Moon Zombies" screening in the stadium parking lot!

Midway Stadium, 1771 Energy Park Drive, St. Paul, MN
September 7-8

"House of Ghosts" screens as a special "Indoor Drive-in Midnight Movie" at the Florida Independents' Film Festival on Friday night.

Saturday afternoon from 2:15 to 3:30, writer/director Christopher R. Mihm conducts an event entitled "Ask Me Anything," a filmmaker-focused workshop in which Mr. Mihm shares his secrets of indie film success!

Wyndham Tampa Westshore, 700 North Westshore Boulevard, Tampa, FL
September 22

The Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild presents the Western Wisconsin premiere of "House of Ghosts" at the Grand Little Theatre in Eau Claire!

The Grand Little Theatre, 102 West Grand Avenue, Eau Claire, WI


Keep track of all of Sid Korpi's (Leigh/Administrator Ripley) signings, interviews, appearances, and other promotional events for her book "Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss" by visiting the appearances page at her website: www.goodgriefpetloss.com.
In addition to shooting his feature, "The Bequeather," and rewriting his Christian-themed screenplay, "Away," Justen Overlander (Ray/Sheriff Elliott/Jonathan) is working as an editor for Minnesota-produced outdoors program, Backland Outdoors. See new episodes weekly on The Pursuit Channel (channel 240 on Dish Network, 604 on DirecTV) Thursday evenings, 8:00PM Central Time. Also, be sure to "like" Backland TV on Facebook.



"The Monster of Phantom Lake," "It Came From Another World!," "Cave Women on Mars," "Terror from Beneath the Earth," "Destination: Outer Space," "Attack of the Moon Zombies," and "House of Ghosts" DVDs are now available at SaintEuphoria.com, the online home of the films of Christopher R. Mihm.

In addition, exclusive movie posters, patches, collectibles and other merchandise are now in stock. Everything is available in extremely limited quantities, so get yours today before they run out!



Puzzlin' with Sid solution:
MOON ZOMBIES THREATEN TO INVADE EARTH! NO ONE WILL BE SPARED; IN OTHER WORDS, ALL WILL BE "SPORED."

 


Copyright © and All Rights Reserved Saint Euphoria LLC 2012

If you no longer wish to receive the "Mihmiverse Monthly," send a blank email
with the subject "unsubscribe newsletter" to info@sainteuphoria.com