preparing for BYOM month in cinema history class

Tomorrow begins BYOM (bring your own movie) month in Keith's cinema history class. That's the month where the tables are turned, and each person in the class takes the reins for a week and presents a movie that matters to him. Technically, it's two months; there are six people in the class now, and there will be a couple of down weeks.

Dave is showing Psycho, a classic Hitchcock thriller which I have somehow never seen. Sounds like a good choice, and I am looking forward to finally seeing a movie that has become such a cultural touchstone. Scott will be showing Cannibal Holocaust, which I understand was influential in pioneering the "found footage" style of moviemaking. I also understand that the background of the movie is more interesting than the movie is good, and that some of the scenes are truly revolting. "Don't eat before class," is the advice we were given. I am tempted to bring a veal parm hero to class. Just to be a jerk. Ethan picked Vampyres, which is kind of a modern-day vampre story with lesbian vampires and erotic overtones. He and I saw this last year at the "Pay to Get Out" Horror Movie Marathon at the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington. I wrote about that here. Joe and Sean aren't telling us in advance what they're showing. This will be Sean's first time, and I have no idea what he will show. Joe, for his part, likes to think outside the box and turn his turn into a presentation. The first year, instead of showing a movie, he picked two episodes of iconic 1960s TV shows that had horror movie icons as guest stars. Last year he showed a short movie and then a TV show based on the same work. The key was that both were owned by the same company, and in fact the TV episode recycled footage from the movie.

For my presentation -- and I am going first -- I will be presenting I Am a Ghost, a 2012 ghost story written and directed by HP Mendoza. This was an independant film which didn't get a wide release. I wouldn't have heard of it myself if not for the fact that HP and I were friends when he made it. That friendship has since ended, but the movie still matters to me for two reasons.

• It is one of two movies that list me in the credits. This lists me because Blair and I contributed to his Kickstarter campaign. The other movie to list me was a 1999 independant film called Auditions. In that, I am listed as "Man in Bar." If you know when to look, and you squint you can kind of make me out in the background of one scene.
• I was very excited for this movie's release when it came out, and I guess that excitement has stayed with me.

Anyway, here's the trailer.