Actor Clint Howard will meet fans at Spooky Summer film fest at Circle Drive-In in Dickson City on June 12
Typically held in the fall, the NEPA Horror Film Festival is hosting a special Spooky Summer event at the Circle Drive-In Theatre in Dickson City on Saturday, June 12, and with the warmer weather comes the ice cream man.
Actor Clint Howard will be meeting fans, taking photos, and signing autographs starting at 3:30 p.m., and later that night, the drive-in will show “Ice Cream Man” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” two of his most memorable films.
“He’s a legend in the film industry and has been acting since the 1960s, so it’s going to be a surreal experience for me for sure,” festival organizer Jess Meoni told NEPA Scene.
“There is the double feature, plus short films during the intermission, including an encore screening of Beverly Bonner’s ‘Steamed.’ We are also doing a tribute to the life of Alex Seeley and Beverly Bonner’s life and career as well,” festival founder Bobby Keller added.
“One of the short films is directed by one of the winners of our Miss Spooky Scranton contest, Laurel Creighton, a.k.a. Zombi Girl.”
Seeley was a prolific and beloved Scranton photographer who was a big fan of horror films and music, and Bonner was an actress and comedian who attended the “Basket Case” reunion at the 2019 NEPA Horror Film Festival. Her other movies include “Brain Damage,” “Frankenhooker,” and “Bad Biology.”
In addition, the Scranton Punk Rock Flea Market & Zinefest will host over 50 vendors from noon-8 p.m. while DJ Quoth spins punk, post-punk, and goth tracks. A variety of local bands – The SW!MS, Fat Chance, Video Massacre, World Breaker, Unstable Minds, and Wife Swamp – will also perform live from 2 p.m.-8 p.m.
Gates at the Circle Drive-In (1911 Scranton/Carbondale Hwy., Dickson City) open at noon. Tickets are on sale now via Eventbrite. For more details, see the Facebook event page or visit nepahorrorfilmfest.com.
62-year-old Clint Howard is a character actor and the younger brother of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard. He began his acting career at the age of 3 when he played the role of Leon on “The Andy Griffith Show.” He starred opposite the titular bear in the popular late-1960s CBS television series “Gentle Ben” and has gone on to act in countless TV shows and films over the years. Among his credits are “Star Trek” in several its television incarnations, “Apollo 13,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” “Seinfeld,” “Arrested Development,” “The Waterboy,” “Austin Powers” and, of course, many horror films.
Playing killers in some and victims in others, his horror roles include the title character in “Ice Cream Man,” “Evilspeak,” “Disturbed,” “Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation,” “Ticks,” “Leprechaun 2,” “The Dentist 2,” “Blackwoods,” “House of the Dead” and the Rob Zombie movies “Halloween” (2007), “The Lords of Salem,” and “3 From Hell.”
Ron Howard is one of his generation’s most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas “A Beautiful Mind,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Rush,” and “Apollo 13” to the hit comedies “Parenthood” and “Splash,” he has created some of Hollywood’s most memorable films. He made his directorial debut in 1977 with “Grand Theft Auto.” He began his career in film as an actor, performing in “The Journey” when he was just 4 years old. He also starred in “The Music Man,” the long-running television series “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days,” and in the George Lucas film “American Graffiti.” His most recent films as a director are “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Hillbilly Elegy,” and the upcoming “Thirteen Lives.”
Clint has appeared in many films directed by Ron, including “Cocoon” (1985), “Gung Ho,” “Backdraft,” “Parenthood,” “Far and Away,” “Apollo 13,” “EDtv,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Together, they wrote a book titled “The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family” that will be published on Oct. 12 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. With the perspective of time and success, the Howard brothers delve deep into an upbringing that seemed normal to them yet was anything but, examining their childhoods in detail for the first time. By turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing, it is a dual narrative that lifts the lid on their closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived “child actor syndrome” to become fulfilled adults.
