David Ellefson is making his first post-MEGADETH public appearance this weekend (September 10-12) at Crypticon, a convention celebrating all things horror, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ellefson is attending the event to promote "Dwellers", a found-footage horror film he produced, which will be released October 12 on Blu-ray and digital streaming services. A short video message Ellefson recorded for a fan at this year's Crypticon can be seen below. "Dwellers" was written and directed by Drew Fortier, who also stars in the film. Described as "'C.H.U.D.' if it were shot like 'The Blair Witch Project'," the movie also stars James L. Edwards ("Her Name Was Christa"), Douglas Esper ("The Nutshell") and Omar Baig ("Let's Make A Movie"). It also features cameos from Ellefson and former MUSHROOMHEAD vocalist Jeff Hatrix. The film's plot is as follows: While shooting a documentary on the suspicious disappearances within the homeless community, a filmmaker and his crew go missing while uncovering a terrifying and vicious secret below the city's surface. Ellefson was dismissed from MEGADETH in late May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving him were posted on Twitter. A short time later, he released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, when the claim "David Ellefson of MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on Instagram. Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14 by MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired. Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. In July, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP. On May 24, Mustaine — who formed MEGADETH with Ellefson in 1983 — announced the bassist's departure from the band. Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.
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