Before I give my report on this past weekend's convention, I want to make something clear:  Take a look at this:

What you see here....is my notes from something at the convention.  If I can barely read it, I KNOW you can't.  lol.  So, if I seem like I'm kinda jumbled in this, that would be why:  bad penmanship.  So, let's begin:

SATURDAY:

(I didn't attend Friday because there wasn't much interesting and I have a job and didn't have enough reason to take the day off to go.)

So I got there(Secaucus.  This is their last year there, btw.  Next year:  Javitz Center in Manhattan) at almost exactly 10, when pre-registration for us lucky silver registration people began.  Or so I thought.  See:

Silver package.  It consists of a reserved seat with special metallic purple wristband, a complimentary autograph from many guests who most have to pay for, and admission to something I'll show later.  Oh if only it was that simple.  I didn't get that card when I was supposed to.  (you'll notice many unmarked)  I got it about 8 hours later.  After a series of autographs and a rather interesting celebrity encounter that probably almost got me arrested.  But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ahem:  So I got in line.  With EVERYONE ELSE.  Never mind that silver package is supposed to be able to preregister, noooo...everyone goes in at once.  Not only that, but the vendor room didnt open for an hour, and many fans were mad at time changes from signs that were posted that led to them buying autograph tickets for people who werent going to be there until the next day.  Also, ALL tickets were available, which says something about the amount of people who showed up.  One might think the con was a bit low-key this time though since they're moving.  But come on.  I went to this con in 06, got a beautiful full-color glossy program.  This time, (Not pictured, I lost it), I got a photocopy one made of simple paper.  Thats just sad.

It should be noted this con is a bit different from most.  See, Fangoria is built on the PANEL.  So you're choices are 80 jillion panels, or movies, or the vendor room.  Most others tend to just be autographs mostly and some movies and a vendor room.  Maybe a couple panels.  Thus, you will be seeing many photos from their horribly lit panel room (thank god for the photo enhance button in easyshare.)  Anyway.  So I went to go to the vendor room to kill time.  Vendor room didn't open til 11.  Even though I had silver.  Rather annoying.  Finally opened, and I discovered....far fewer tables.  Maybe it's just me but the decline was really palpable.  Don't get me wrong, I had fun, but very surprising.  Anyway, I met up with some friends i'd met at another panel, and thought I couldnt hang with them because I was going to see a screening of Coralina-Cataldi Tassoni's new short film "The Dirt". 

REVIEW OF THE DIRT:  Sorry, not here.  Projector was broken.  So rather than wait, I went and hung with my friends in the vendor room.  Bought some nice asian dvds, an italian movie for later at the con, etc.  At 1230, I bid my friends farewell and headed to the panel room for:

SCREENWRITING 101 with John Esposito.  Mr. Esposito is the writer of Stephen King's Graveyard Shift, Tale of the Mummy, and the Masters of Horror episode "Right to Die".  (The guy in the chair on the left in the pic on the left is Tony Timpone, Fangoria's Editor-in-Chief).  A great panel once the guy operating the screen realized theyd MISSPELLED HIS NAME.  (Jon instead of John)  Mr. Esposito mentioned that he got his start at a Fangoria in 1985 where he met Tom Savini who was working on the Tales from the Darkside tv show at the time (btw, they're fielding dvd offers on that, he said).  That meeting and exchange of a script led to Savini calling him in to work on the show.  Regarding Graveyard Shift:  "No one realy sets out to make a bad story."  Said his original script had elements in common with the last 1/3 of The Descent and Unforgiven.  Said it changed because the studio wanted what was hot at the time (Alien...formerly would've wanted Fatal Attraction).  Stephen King understood though.  Esposito said King said:  "Great script kid, but wait till you see what they do with it."  And the rest is history.  His niece would call him, excited about his name being in the paper...but not connecting the dots to where they were putting his name with the "atrocious screenplay".  Tale of the Mummy-wise, he mentioned how much he enjoyed working with Christopher Lee who was "Like santa claus" to him when he was in school (his classmates thought he liked Bruce Lee).  Regarding Masters of Horror, he talked about how his episode came from a combining of Terri Schaivo and Scott Peterson in his head.  First though, he pitched them a version of the monkey's paw, which failed after an unimpressive meeting with producers.  Right to Die then hit because, at the time, they didn't have a ghost story and "were high on Homecoming".  I will mention his new project that I find VERY interesting, a new documentary coming to Starz in October on the history of makeup ("Fantastic Flesh") featuring interviews with Eli Roth, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Mick Garris, etc.  Right after that, we had:

Tom Noonan(Manhunter, Robocop2, Monster Squad, Last Action Hero):  (Thank god for big-screens, eh?)  While I missed part of his panel while in line for Esposito's autograph, I did hear some interesting tidbits.  For example, he used to knock on the Robocop suit on the set of Robocop 2 just to annoy.(I would.  lol)  He talked about working on Last Action Hero and being near Arnold Schwarzenegger while he was on the phone with George Bush, Sr. (Really!) telling him that "we need to go to war".  Mentioned a story about working with Director Michael Mann on Heat and Manhunter, particularly stories of him firing people at random and being extraordinarily anal about a crack on a van (he fired the whole dept.)  He also fired a dolly operator, then gave the job to a gaffer who said he could do it, screwed up, and was fired as well.  I'd mention the plot of a movie he wants to write (Scatterbrain), but I don't know if he's actually gonna do it or not.  Also mentioned the craziness of being locked in a cage with a tiger for Manhunter.  After that, I found my friends again who headed off for lunch.  Me, I did something that is quite possibly the farthest extreme from that possible:

20th Anniversary Screening of SLIME CITY with Director Greg Lamberson:  The year was 1988 (DUHHHH...20 years).  And Greg Lamberson had been working on this movie for almost 4 years.  Wrote it at 19, filmed at 21, finished at 23.  Total budget: 50,000 dollars.  Here's the barest minimum plot I can give this since, some point way later, I plan to review this in full for this site:  Guy moves into a tenement.  Neighbor gives him Himalayan yogurt(not making that up).  Guy begins to ooze slime.  But killing people...returns him to normal.  Also, he feels conflict between his straightlaced wholesome girlfriend and his hot goth neighbor(see that girl in the picture on the left?).  Who will he choose?  Why is this happening to him?  Will he be able to stop it?  WILL HE WANT TO?

-My feelings:  Everyone needs to see this forgotten classic.  Is it particularly good, visually speaking?  No.  Point of fact, I've never seen a more abundantly clearly low-budget b-movie in my life.  BUT.  This is quality B-movie.  You can feel the love that Lamberson and cast put into the movie and its zany lines and crazy intentional/unintentional humor.  It is a brilliant, hilarious, disgusting movie. (Now the movie I saw Sunday on the other hand....but I digress)  Lamberson was also super nice, loves this movie very much.  He's finally gotten proper dvd distribution through Retro Shock-O-Rama, after getting screwed numerous other times.  He's also planning a sequel, Slime City Massacre because "I want to make a good film too."  A noble cause, a great director, a fantastic movie, that I bought 5 minutes after leaving the screening room. 

After this, I headed to the vendor room where I got Ken Foree to sign my copy of From Beyond, and bought a copy of Diary of the Dead for George Romero to sign while in line with my friends I've previously mentioned.  Then I headed to the panel room again for one of the marquee panels and best ideas I've ever seen (I ran a bit late though but caught almost all of it)

The Masters of Italian Horror Panel:  ROLL CALL:  (L-R in pic on left)  Sergio Stivaletti(far right in pic on right), special effects coordinator for numerous italian horror classics such as Mother of Tears, Demons, and Phenomena; Corlina Cattaldi-Tassoni(off camera in pic on right), actress from Mother of Tears and Opera; Lamberto Bava(far left in pic on right), son of Mario Bava and director of Demons and Demons 2; and Ruggero Deodato(dead center in pic on right), director of that classic of controversy, Cannibal Holocaust.  This would be what those notes up there are from so...GOOD LUCK TO ME!  Ahem.

Facts learned at this panel:  Lamberto Bava dislikes the current remake mania.  Ruggero Deodato thinks it's impossible to remake Cannibal Holocaust.  Cannibal Holocaust sprung from Deodato's desire to make something independent.  The things that the masters believe define their careers:  Deodato:  The impalement in Cannibal Holocaust during which the camera is shaking while someone laughs which he calls the message of the movie; Bava:  In Demons and Demons 2, scenes in which characters come out of screens, crossing over from fantasty into reality; Tassoni:  Dying in many elaborate ways on screen; Stivaletti:  Same scene in Demons as Bava and the work of Tom Savini.  Motivations:  Bava:  Dario Argento; Tassoni: Opera maestros; Stivalleti:  an old creepy house in which he lived.  What do Italian Horror directors do better than any other:  They're better chefs, meaner, and they try to capture realism.  Sergio Stivaletti's favorite effect:  A stomach rip in Mother of Tears.  Deodato on Blair Witch:  He was too late to catch it in theater, said the story was "nothing", had an issue with people saying their treatment was the first since he'd made Holocaust, but was thankful in the end as it drove people to his movie.  Deodato and Umberto Lenzi were not exactly genial with each other, with Deodato saying there was a "war" between them; Bava has reason to be mad at him too since he did Demons 3 without consulting him.  Deodato on the response to Cannibal Holocaust:  he was told to come see the film because it was a hit, he quickly was arrested; a sound guy claimed he really had killed the actors; the French began referring to him as Mr. Cannibal; He would not kill the animals were he to remake the movie, called the act "stupid"; the pig died in the movie because the crew had eaten nothing but fish for days and he agreed to have the pig killed so they could have different food.  Bava on his father:  He liked practical jokes; once told him "Never do movies, do a serious job."; Mario was happy Lamberto decided to do it and did it on his own without much of his help.  Deodato on cameoing as a butcher in Hostel 2:  Tarantino was squeamish at Cannibal Holocaust (which he showed him during the production); Roth didnt tell him what the role was until he got there; he had fun, and when he got there the whole crew was wearing Cannibal Holocaust t-shirts which moved him considerably.

Holy hell, I actually managed to decipher it all.  Wow.  Um....after that, I went to the vendor room to get their autograph.  Here I will mention that card again.  See if you'll notice I mentioned I got Ken Foree, but he's not marked.  Thats cuz I didnt have the card, so I had to pay.  Youll notice none of the directors are.  Didn't have the card.  But they understood....but I'm pretty sure Sergio wanted to punch me.  I kinda lost my cool and had him sign three things (Phenomena, Demons, Opera) rather than my plan of one...I only got one for free supposedly...But he didn't charge!  He understood even though it was frustrating!  And in that photo, he actually smiled, if you notice.  They were all great.  I then gathered myself, and went back to the panel room to meet up with the panel my friends were waiting for:

Steve Gonsalves of Sci Fi Channel's "Ghost Hunters":  I don't know tooo too much about Gonsalves's show but I do have tremendous respect for him.  As he mentioned in his panel, he and his team investigate paranormal claims.  But they don't push for supernatural causes.  They scientifically analyze them and make ABSOLUTELY sure they can't find any scientific explanation for certain things, which I appreciate in a show like that.  I may start watching as a result.  He also mentioned how he dislikes TV psychics because they can't read you without seeing you or without asking questions.  His favorite investigations:  For Activity, The Bedford Armory, For history, The Birdcage Theater.  He also mentioned that his team does some work with EVP, but they tag EVERY sound that they make so that they dont confuse themselves later and trick themselves into thinking something they did was a supernatural occurrence.  A great guest.  Went out into the crowd and everything.  After my friends got a photo signed, I bid them farewell and headed back in to see another reason I came:

Angus Scrimm (Phantasm Series, Incident On and Off A Mountain Road):  Yes, THE TALL MAN himself, Angus Scrimm.  Or...at least at first...he said Scrimm couldn't show up and he was an english professor.  He read horror poetry and haikus before returning to himself.  He mentioned his upcoming projects (Automatons, Satan Hates You, I Sell The Dead, and Phantasm V(they're looking into that one)).  He said he thought Reggie could beat the Tall Man if it came to a fist fight, Said Don Coscarelli's sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep (Bubba Nosferatu) is on ice since Bruce Campbell doesn't want to.  Coscarelli's next project is an adaptation of "John Dies at the End".  Said that his role in Subspecies was fun, but the wig he wore was absurd.  Said Phantasms 1, 3 and 4 were independently financed while 2 was bigger budgeted and got swallowed up.  Anchor bay, according to him, tried to get Phantasm 2, but Universal is asking too much.  They're planning a Phantasm 1, 3, and 4 boxset he said.  Also, he said he loves doing conventions and got a lot of offers this year.  He joked that he was going to claim that this was his last year, then come back for a retirement tour or two like Cher.  lol.  At this point, I was FINALLY given a ticket.  Entitling me to one free autograph.  So what did I do?  I got him to sign both Phantasm and Incident.  They really werent watching close enough.  lol.  Which brings us toooo....

COSTUME CONTEST:  We have here(left to right) zombies from a special effects group(third photo for detail), the joker and his clown posse (my favorite.  He interrupted Tom Noonan's panel and asked Tom if he knew where he could find Harvey Dent.  second photo for detail), another zombie from another special effects group, Columbia from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and (i kid you not) Cloverfield's ex-lover.  Finishing together in last:  Solo zombie and Columbia.  Finishing third:  Cloverfield's ex-lover.  Finishing Second:  Joker and posse.  Finishing first:  the zombie duo!  Be happy for them as they won money in decent amounts.  Be sad because they gave away dvds as prizes.  And by "prizes" i mean the Day of the Dead remake and Swamp Thing, the series, so interpret that word as you will......

BUT WAIT!  THERES MORE!  For as I mentioned earlier, on Saturday, the silver package gives you admission toooooo:

Dessert and Cocktail Party:  Let me guess.  You're thinking the room looks empty.  Thatd be because everyone's behind me.  They're in line getting ice cream.  I had a better photo of this, but you KNOW it's bad when even enhance looks awful.  Ice cream was great.  I had a scoop of each (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) with about 5 different toppings.  I made them bring water in (because I didnt know why the hell we didnt have it), and the coffee....ehhhh for free coffee it was ok.  Cocktails you ask?  Cash bar, I was out of money.  lol.  What you also don't see here was that the party was with the celebrities.  Basically everyone was there.  I served as photographer for the awesome people at my table for George Romero, Steve Gonsalves, and Ken Foree.  The people at my table were great.  They're massive memorabilia collectors and halloween decorators.  Really nice cool people who I hope to see again.  They also served...as my photographer for Deodato and Scrimm:

Can't explain the halo on the Scrimm photo.  Angus came to our table and was real personable.  Told us funny stories from the sets of Incident On and Off a Mountain Road and Freakylinks.  Also gave us a preview of his panel the next day that would produce one of the greatest things I've ever seen.  More on that later.  In case you're curious, btw, the reason I don't have photos with most of these people is, like autographs, Fangoria believes in Photo-op tickets taken by a pro.  Me, I believe in going to the party and getting them for free so HA HA.  Which brings us toooooooooo

SUNDAY!

Can't believe i'm fitting this in one post.  lol.

Saturday night, after I left, I went out with friends (this was at about 1130 or midnight), and played pool at a bar and was up till 430.  Thus, again, sorry buuuuut:

Review:  THE FOET:  Nope, not today.  I got there a bit late for it so I skipped it.  Wanted to see the short film too.  Pro-life woman gets addicted to Manhattan's newest trend.  PURSES MADE FROM THE SKIN OF BABIES!  Come on, now that's friggin original.  Now then:

Media Blasters Trailer Panel:  Why, you might ask, did I attend a 30 minute trailer presentation?  Step back and be amazed.  For, besides the trailer for the asian horror comedy about the j-horror ghost trend "Hair Extensions", there were three other trailers.  One was for "Wicked Lake", an indie film I was planning to see that night.  Ever have one of those moments where you realize you may be making a huge mistake?  Yeeeaaaah....that was that moment for me.  More on that later.  BUT  more than that I was there for two asian trailers.  Sure, you've seen trailers.  We all have.  But you've never seen trailers like this.  I already have the first one, I bought it at Chiller.  And when the second comes out on dvd, I'll get that too.  These may be the greatest two trailers ever. (click for links to youtube):  The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police.  And yes, before someone asks, OH HELL YES, I'm uploading both to the video section later.  Now that you've all had your fill of AWESOME FREAKING VIOLENCE,

I should mention that before Media Blasters, I saw a great trailer for Jack Brooks:  Monster Slayer, which looks good.  I also saw a trailer for Gingerdead Man 2:  The Passion of the Crust.  You have no idea how much I wish I was making that up.  I also saw trailers for Asylum (eh) and...I saw a preview of Joy Ride 2.  And....I'm not sure I like where Joy Ride 2 is going.  Not at all.  But that's just me.  Now, after a skipping music cd to fill time and the stupid annoying fangoria related screensaver that they played the whole show we haaave:

Brutal Massacre panel with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) and Ken Foree:  This was a huge disappointment.  Not because the movie sucks.  Point of fact, I think it's going to be the next great horror comedy.  I agree with those who call it the "Spinal Tap of Horror".  It's a mockumentary of the filming of a horror director's latest horror movie.  The crew of the movie is genre stalwarts (Foree, Hansen, Ellen Sandweiss, David Naughton(playing the director)), while the actual cast being filmed is pretty much not.  An interesting twist.  Would you know anything from this?  Well, lets see.  Half the cast was in Pittsburgh for Horrorhound, Ken Foree ran waaaaaay late.  Thats why he's not in photo one.  In fact, he was so late, that idiot doing the interview on the right got Mena talking about Malevolence and its prequel (upcoming), and sequel(in the works) instead, thus pretty much removing Foree from almost the whole discussion when he got there.  Really sloppy.  Plus side, I got the miniposter signed by Mena though.  Now, theyd need a real huge panel to fix that failure.  And they nailed that:

40th Anniversary Night of the Living Dead Reunion  (POSSIBLE SPOILERS):  Back row:  John Russo, George Kosana, empty chair that would've seated Marilyn Eastman had she not been sick, Judith O'Dea, Kyra Schonn.  Front row:  Charles Craig(his first ever convention), Bill Hinzman, George Romero, Russ Streiner.  For those not in the know, thats (in order I typed them):  Writer of movie, Sheriff, Barbra, Karen Cooper, Newsman, Cemetary zombie, director (duh), and producer/Johnny.

Ho boy...more illegible notes:  Facts from the panel:  One reason they ended up in horror:  wanted to do scifi, but was too expensive.  Original ending they never filmed:  Ben still dies, but Barbra survives and she cries in an ambulance and drinks coffee as they burn Ben's body.  Reason for Johnny's gloves:  That way you're sure to recognize him later on.  Judith O'Dea's story about makeup:  On the naked lady-"Would anybody want to help put makeup ont he naked lady?" *rush of people*.  George Kosana's alternate role:  Kosana was the firearms guy who made sure the guns were safe, worked with the company for commercials before being given the part, mentions the unfortunate death of Brandon Lee as a story telling the need to have a firearms pro, was glad that the movie was not one of those movies that were an attack by a giant grasshopper with the movie ending when the giant shoe crushed it, and wrote his own lines.  More on the ending:  there was very little discussion of a happy ending since they didn't want the studio to make them do it.  Kyra's tales:  Karen Cooper's part was originally written for a boy, the man playing Harry Cooper was her real father, and George Romero was the first adult to "drop the f bomb" in her presence.  Irony of Judith O'Dea:  She went to hollywood for a movie career, ended up being called back home for this role.  The Graveyard zombie story:  When George wanted Johnny to die, he was originally going to try to help Bill Hinzman cope with how to do it, and instead said "Ah fuck it, just kill him."  Memories of Duane Jones:  Judith O'Dea remembered him as having a large intellect and reading often; he also had large problems with the violence because it was not in his nature.  Fact of Helen Cooper's Death:  They didnt show the trowel going in because they didn't know how to.  Themes of film:  The idea of progressively taking things away, which was new to film at the time and helped it stand out.  Political and social ideas were not in the film originally.  For example, "Ben" was to be shot before he was ever cast as a black man, the King assassination happened shortly after it's release, thus making the impact even greater of a message the film never originally had.  Romero also said that the idea of adding social commentary and thematic elements started when the FANS found them in NOTLD and expected them from him.

And again, I got pretty much all of it.  And I haven't been doing this but, I'm quite proud of this:

Why am I proud of this?  Cuz A, it's awesome, B, Everyone was super nice, and C, these autographs were all free.  Now that I've finished gloating....

Erin Brown: was there in the vendors room.  I recommended one of her films to someone (Sinful, about a barren woman who develops an violent obsession with a pregnant woman), talked with her about Nerds (really.  the candy.  We had an extended discussion about them, Nerds Rope, and Giant Crunchy Nerds.)  Then, after taking the photo, we decided to have some fun.  Thus, the second photo where she's reenacting my shirt.  Nailed it pretty well actually.  We had her open her eyes more.  After that we traded Carrie quotes.  awesome.  AND NOW:

Troma:  What do these two photos possibly have in common?  Well on the left we have an empty corner.  Duh, right?  But this is a special corner.  Two years ago, the whole corner was taken up by a Troma table, Lloyd Kaufman signed things, I took a pic of the Toxic Avenger and a tromette.  Awesome.  But at a poultrygeist screening in new york, I found out they probably wouldn't be here.  Thus, empty corner.  But Troma's spirit is always evident somewhere.  Thus how I ran into Robin Watkins, aka General Lee Roy from Poultrygeist, at Erin Brown's table.  Super nice, slipped into the southern voice a moment, seemed glad to meet a fan.

Vendors:  Many celebs actually had tables in the vendor room this con, which was a change from two years ago.  The whole NOTLD crew was in here as was Ken Foree, Erin Brown, and Kristina Klebe (not pictured, from Rob Zombie's Halloween, who I had autograph an 8X10).  This meant, though, that there were fewer actual vendors.  I still got cool stuff though.  Shirts related to The Shining and Night of the Living Dead, etc.  And now, BACK TO THE PANELS:

Angus Scrimm 2.0:  Angus is always popular at Fango so he had a double slot.  In his second slot he did the coolest thing I've ever seen.  He recited all 18 verses of The Raven.  It's good to begin with, but his voice made it amazing and an experience I'll never forget.  He also mentioned the stories from the night before.  On Incident, they joked that he might forget his lines, and Coscarelli tested him knowing he would get them right.  He did.  On Freakylinks, he couldn't get a certain line in a guest spot he did, so the next day they were jokin around and holding up his lines on cue cards.  Still great even though I'd seen him the day before.  NEXT:

Ray Wise:  Oh if only I'd had something for him to sign.  Wise was awesome.  Had fun with the Q&A, very cool.  Facts you learn at a Ray Wise Panel:  David Lynch is laid back while Paul Verhoeven is hysterical.   David Lynch interviewed him for Twin Peaks by asking him about cars and a friend of theirs.  Then he gave him the part.  He performed a poem or two he wrote at age 16, like Scrimm.  The original cut of the Twin Peaks movie was massive.  Reaper's been renewed, they're moving away from soul of the week type things and moving toward interpersonal relationships, the setup of hell, etc.  He's against remakes and wouldnt think a PG-13 Robocop remake would work.  Wouldnt be in it unless they seriously paid him.  Said it was a very loose shoot.  On Jeepers Creepers 3:  We'll see more of the Creeper's underground lairs and his body mosaics, will start shooting in January, will blend both casts together and be set 23 years later.  And finally, regarding the twist in Twin Peaks, he was told about it in a dark room lit by a lava lamp, and accepted it because of the picture of the scene that Lynch described.  Also said they filmed the final scene three ways so no one on the crew knew the real ending.  And, in case you couldn't tell, I've never seen a whiter, more winning smile.  And now....finally...ho boy.....

Wicked Lake:  So I decided to see this rather than the performance by the band Witches in Bikinis.  Methinks I made the wrong choice.  Plot (Such as it is):  Four women/bisexuals/lesbians/Idontfriggingknow travel to a cabin in the woods for the weekend.  They are attacked by a group of guys who want them to perform sexual acts on them.  But when the moon rises, these women's secret will be revealed.  Meanwhile, two cops are hunting them down for suspicion of previous murders.  Sound interesting?  Doesn't does it?  There are 3 good things in this movie.  One is the soundtrack by Uncle Al of Ministry (featuring a great cover of Bang a Gong over a wildly out of place set of credits).  Unfortunately, it's not used much.  What's that?  I said 3?  Oh RIGHT.....the other two.  The other two good things are on the four lead actresses chests.  You see them.  Often.  (hear me Madmolly?)  And what's sad is, about the copious nudity...this movie is so bad that NUDITY GETS BORING!  It's steadicam/indie to the max, the characters are so unlikeable its not even funny, the gore shots have a strange tendency to cut away or not show certain key aspects they probably couldn't do, and the acting is STUNNINGLY subpar (with the possible exception of the older cop character).  This movie even manages to make a two-minute cameo by one of my FAVORITE horror actresses (Angela Bettis) out of place, random, pointless, BARELY funny, and completely disappointing.  This is her WHOLE cameo:  The women reach a gas station.  One heads over to the bathroom.  Angela Bettis goes over there, with her kid and asks the girl to watch him, goes into the bathroom.  The woman tells the kid something about hell and sin that I don't remember, Bettis comes back out, takes the now traumatized kid away.  And that's it.  And for that, Bettis gets momentarily seen in the trailer.  Just.....wow.

How to put this.  Overall:  WICKED LAKE IS OFFICIALLY THE NEW "WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN"!  And I don't mean so bad its entertaining, no no.  I almost left the room about 5 separate times but...I stayed....I tortured myself just so that I could accurately convey the pure abject shittiness of this movie properly.  When I left, I was one of two people in the room.  We both left without saying a word.  This movie is an hour and a half of my life I will never get back.  It is a horrible travesty of film and mockery of entertainment that I hope never sees the light of day and I hope every copy burns in hell.  (Did I mention I didn't like it?)

And that's it.  After that I left, went home, discovered Shawnee Smith pulled out of August's horrorfind so I'm probably not doing that one.  But I am still lined up for the Monstermania in August, the Chiller in October, and NOOOOOW:  SAWFEST NYC in NOVEMBER (was just sent info yesterday)!

I thank you for reading this far, if you still are.  Before I end this, there is one thing I have to do.  There are six people I need to thank(above).  My totally super awesome convention-going friends I spent most of Saturday with (You guys are so great it's not even funny and I'll definitely get in touch with you for Monstermania), and the four folks who were at my table in the dessert party (I'm sorry the auction didn't go too great for you guys but that's what the other conventions are for!  You guys rule and I hope your collections keep on growing.)

And with that, I will now rest my hands.  In the end, Fangoria's guests and great friends helped the convention to overcome it's flaws that i've mentioned to become a great memorable experience.  I have no idea if I'll do next years NYC con when it moves.  I have a feeling itll be more expensive and busy so they better have damn good guests if they want me.  (Rumor has it they're talking Italian horror actors and Japanese directors.  interesting to say the least.)

Feel free to ask any questions, etc.

Until next time, may your dreams be dark, your eyes not be strained from reading all this....., and your moviegoing experiences "Wicked Lake"-free.