Neal Hallford | |
---|---|
Born | October 17, 1966 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Video game designer, film director |
Years active | 1992 – present |
Known for | 1995 Palo Verde derailment |
Notable work |
William Neal Hallford (born October 17, 1966) is an American game designer, book author, screenwriter, and independent film director. He is best known for his work on the fantasy role-playing games Betrayal at Krondor , Dungeon Siege , and Champions of Norrath . [1]
On October 9, 1995, Hallford was in a train wreck aboard Amtrak's Sunset Limited, westbound from Miami to Los Angeles. An unknown perpetrator or perpetrators signing themselves the "Sons of the Gestapo" left four notes on the site claiming responsibility, two of which were found by Hallford. [2] Hallford had been asleep, waking just before to the sounds the train braking and screaming passengers. [3] Since that time, Hallford has appeared in two television specials about the event, When Trains Crash: Blood on the Tracks and Derail: America's Worst Train Wrecks, which were broadcast in the US, UK and Canada.
Hallford created the film The Case of Evil in 2014. [4] The film premiered at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. [5] Hallford was among a panel of locals at San Diego Comic-Con in 2016. [6]
Faerûn is a fictional continent and the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described in detail in several editions of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting with the most recent being the 5th edition from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more depth in separate campaign setting books. Around a hundred novels, several computer and video games and a film use Faerûn as the setting.
Betrayal at Krondor is an MS-DOS-based role-playing video game developed by Dynamix and released by Sierra On-Line in the summer of 1993. Betrayal at Krondor takes place largely in Midkemia, the fantasy world developed by Raymond E. Feist in his Riftwar novels. The game is designed to resemble a book, separated into chapters and narrated in the third-person with a quick-save bookmark feature.
Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of role-playing video games created by Richard Garriott, originally released for the Apple II. It was first published in the United States by California Pacific Computer Company, which registered a copyright for the game on September 2, 1980 and officially released it in June 1981. Since its release, the game has been completely re-coded and ported to many different platforms. The 1986 re-code of Ultima is the most commonly known and available version of the game.
The Sunset Limited is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a 1,995-mile (3,211 km) route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 through the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Sunset Limited is the oldest continuously operating named train in the United States.
On September 22, 1993, an Amtrak Sunset Limited passenger train derailed on the CSX Transportation Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was caused by displacement of a span and deformation of the rails when a tow of heavy barges collided with the rail bridge eight minutes earlier. Forty-seven people were killed and 103 more were injured. To date, it is the deadliest train wreck in both Amtrak's history and Alabama's railway history. It is also the worst rail disaster in the United States since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident, in which 48 people died.
The 1995 Palo Verde derailment took place on October 9, 1995, when Amtrak's Sunset Limited was derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona on Southern Pacific Railroad tracks. Two locomotives, Amtrak GE P32-8BWH #511 leading and EMD F40PHR #398 trailing, and eight of twelve cars derailed, four of them falling 30 feet off a trestle bridge into a dry river bed. Mitchell Bates, a sleeping car attendant, was killed. Seventy-eight people were injured, 12 of them seriously and 25 were hospitalized.
Planet's Edge is a 1992 space science fiction role-playing video game developed by New World Computing with Eric Hyman as the lead designer. The game's plot centers on investigating the sudden disappearance of planet Earth, by venturing out into the universe from a Moon base. There are two main play modes: real-time exploration and combat using various spacecraft, and turn-based exploration, problem solving, and combat on the surface of dozens of planets. The game features a variety of objects, weapons, and missions, though it lacks any detailed experience or stats system for the four characters the player controls.
The GE P30CH was one of the first brand-new diesel-electric locomotives built for Amtrak by General Electric during Amtrak's early years. The design was based on the GE U30C, but had a cowl carbody like its EMD competitors. Amtrak operated them between 1975 and 1992.
The Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game has been adapted into many related products, including magazines, films and video games.
Dungeons & Dragons is a series of comic books published by IDW Publishing, under the license from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, based on the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. From 2010 to 2024, IDW Publishing released two Dungeons & Dragons ongoing series, fifteen Dungeons & Dragons limited series, three crossover series, two annuals and a graphic novel.
Redondo Junction, California is the site of an Amtrak maintenance facility. It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Los Angeles Union Station, southwest of Boyle Heights near Washington Boulevard and the Los Angeles River.
The Phantom Hour is a 2016 comedy horror short film written and directed by Brian Patrick Butler. The film stars Luke Anthony Pensabene, Raye Richards and Connor Sullivan and premiered September 8, 2016 at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival.
Luz also known as Luz: The Flower of Evil or Luz, la flor del mal is a 2019 fantasy-western horror film written and directed by Juan Diego Escobar Alzate, featuring Yuri Vargas in the lead role. In October 2019, it was a contender in the Official Fantastic Competition at the SITGES Fantastic Film Festival in Spain. The film gained international recognition as it was part of numerous international film festivals, including the Glasgow Film Festival, Indiecork, Nocturna Madrid, Almería Western Film Festival, Horrible Imaginings, Fantaspoa, Insólito and Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre, among others. It garnered accolades for Best Iberoamerican Film, Best Photography, Best Editing, and Best Acting at various festivals. 'Luz: The Flower of Evil' also clinched the prestigious Silver Skull Award at the Morbido Film Fest in Mexico, marking its Latin American Premiere.
Randy Lee Davison is an American actor who appeared in the films The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) as Joseph McCarthy, Mank (2020), Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023), Not This Part of the World (1995), and Touch (2022). In the 1990s, Davison appeared in the television show America's Funniest People as Edith Bunker and as Senex in Boise State University's production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Brian Patrick Butler is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is known for writing and directing the film Friend of the World (2020), writing and performing in the film Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023), and appearing in the films South of 8 (2016), Thane of East County (2015) and We All Die Alone (2021).
The Horrible Imaginings Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival originally based in San Diego until 2018, when it moved to Santa Ana. It was established in 2009 by Miguel Rodriguez.
Ray Gallardo is an American film director and cinematographer who directed the films At the Frontera (2018) and Callejero (2015) and was the cinematographer for the films Friend of the World (2020),The Fifth of November (2018) and Touch (2022).
Hush is a 2016 horror drama short film written and directed by Michael Lewis Foster. The film stars Rachel Barker, Luke Bedsole, Eric Casalini and Ghadir Mounib. It screened at San Diego International Film Festival and Catalina Film Festival and won awards at Oceanside International Film Festival and Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. The film was distributed by Seed&Spark and Bloody Disgusting.
The Case of Evil is a 2014 horror drama short film written and directed by Jana and Neal Hallford. The film stars Merrick McCartha and Rebecca Sausedo. It premiered at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival on October 12, 2014.