This weekend, a few friends and I will be making a trip up to Merrill, Wisconsin, which is about a 5–6 hour drive for us. Why, may you ask? Because the Merrill Historical Society there is having a special Bill Rebane exhibit, which Mr. Rebane himself will be attending, possibly along with some other cast and crew from his films.

Bill Rebane, to those that don’t know, is probably most known for his film The Giant Spider Invasion (1975), but he had made quite a few other titles, such as The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow, Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake, and Blood Harvest, which even starred Tiny Tim. One of the things that set Rebane apart from most directors is that he made most of these films without leaving Wisconsin. In fact, in the town of Gleason, he created his own little film studio, called The Shooting Ranch, where he could film, edit, looping, everything else needed to make a film start to finish. Sure, some of his budgets were pretty low, but that doesn’t mean they are not entertaining.

That is why we are making this long drive up north, to show our respect to this iconic filmmaker, but also see what interesting things might be there in this exhibit. I’m told that the metal cage that housed the “eating spider” used in The Giant Spider Invasion will be there, so that will be pretty cool to see. This is film history, folks, and to some of us, it is important. Important enough to make this crazy drive.

For all the information, just click HERE.

And speaking of crazy, depending on when we get back into Chicago, I may just then head over to the Music Box for their annual Music Box of Horrors, that I have missed the last two years. I’ll be already going on very little sleep, but again, these events are important and need to be supported, otherwise they will go away. Or maybe this is a way to try to prove to myself that I’m still young enough at heart (or crazy enough) to attempt to stay up even longer to watch some horror flicks in the theater until the wee hours of the morning. I mean, this is what we live for, right?

Keep a watch on our Instagram and Facebook pages because I’m sure we’ll be posting a photo or two.