I’ve spent the past 18 years bringing the news – both hard and soft – to people in places like Alpena, Lansing, and now Grand Rapids, and I have never lost an interest in film in that time. I spent many a childhood afternoon watching movies with my mom, and nothing was out-of-bounds. We saw all the Friday the 13th films, Nightmares on Elm Street, I even remember us watching the cult classic, Xanadu, at the theater!

Thanks to some strange twists of fate I’ve even been able to appear in some movies. My first were local productions, ‘Rita and Velvet Dan Save the World,' and ‘GR30K.’ I’ve since gone on to have speaking roles in ‘Scream 4’, and the FOX drama ‘The Mob Doctor’ as well as a “left on the cutting room floor” star turn on ‘Detroit 1-8-7.’ 

I can’t really pick a favorite movie line, but two come to mind as favorites:
“Oh, who’s being naïve, Kay” – Michael Corleone.  
And,  “But daddy says I’m the best at it” – Cousin Vicki.

Mark A. France, once again, joins a select few as a 2012 Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival judge, making this his seventh year and the only judge who has sat on the panel since the festival’s inception.  With over forty-five feature and short films under his belt, Mark began his film career in 1993, when he supplied special effects make-up for the killer-bug production of “Mosquito”, directed by Gary Jones. 

Over the following eleven years, Mark worked on a handful of projects, before finally creating his own film company, Sandstorm FX & Productions, in 2004.  Working with numerous talented filmmakers in Michigan, Mark is an award winning special effects artist and filmmaker, with such titles as “Nice Guy Blues”, “Fairview St.”, “Handlebar” and “eclipse” on his resume.  Mark recently finished wrapping his psychological horror-thriller, “Love In Dead Places”, which will be released in 2013.

Joe Osborne was raised on the movies of Peter Cushing and Vincent Price and has
been a fan of thriller chiller movies since childhood.

Joe has been a captive fan of zombie movies since Night of the Living Dead and especially enjoys the
journey into the world of each film.

Joe will also be selecting "Joe's Favorite Zombie Movie" this year at Thriller! Chiller! which will be announced during the awards ceremony on Saturday night!

John Serba is a semi-snooty film critic, rock critic and entertainment reporter for MLive Media Group and The Grand Rapids Press. He occasionally teaches Writing about Film and Drama at Aquinas College.

He is an unapologetic appreciator of heavy metal. He is a habitual tweeter (@johnserba). He likes a good beer and a brutal cup of coffee.
 
As a toddler, he was rewarded with “Star Wars” action figures during potty training, and would rather not be psychoanalyzed about it. He loves “Pulp Fiction,” “Unforgiven,” “Notorious,” “Aliens,” “Fitzcarraldo,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Robocop,” “There Will Be Blood” and, because this is a genre-film festival, feels the need to include “Drag Me to Hell” on this list. He once was the recipient of a hug from Werner Herzog. He also finds writing about himself in the third person to be a bit disconcerting.

Stephanie Webb is the Entertainment Reporter at WZZM 13 as well as a voting Film Critic for the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Broadcast Television Journalists Association, and the Detroit Film Critics Society.

She is also the co-host of Take Five & Company at WZZM 13, and when she isn’t creating awkward moments with celebrities, she’s pursuing the strangest paranormal and extra-terrestrial stories in West Michigan.

Her favorite horror films of all time are the “Evil Dead”, “28 Days Later”, and the original “Friday
The 13th."