If you've been reading these for a while, you already know that I think Monstermania is far and away the best, and most underrated convention I've ever been to.  I'd say in the country, but I haven't been outside this little 5 to 6-state area in the mid-atlantic/northeast.  This particular run at the usual Cherry Hill location was slightly different for a few reasons...for one thing, I left early enough and my GPS took me on a certain route that actually bypassed the worst part of the traffic (thanks Garmin!).  For another, while I was once again staying with my convention-going friends Maura and Jess, as well as their friend Franklin this time, we instead booked a room inside the hotel where the convention was going on.  I also...unfortunately...had camera issues again when my camera died on me midday Saturday and there was no place for me to go to get a disposable replacement.  As a result, I'm gonna have to do something unorthodox and a little odd...I'm going to use pictures of things I got signed as replacements for panel pictures (I do apologize for that).  Suffice to say, no matter how much its charged beforehand, I'm charging my camera before every convention now.  In terms of guests, Monstermania did have a substantive number of good guests, but this time it did seem a bit culty, if you will.  We're talking a six-person Sleepaway Camp reunion and a large Friday the 13th Part V reunion after all.  But even then, the convention doesn't lose it's fun because it's held correctly and in a simple, logical configuration.  Real quick though, I gotta say in the interest of full-disclosure, no information about the following guests is presented below:  James Marsters, the Addams Family Reunion (John Astin, Felix Silla, Lisa Loring), any of the wrestlers (Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, and George the Animal Steele), Barbara Steele (regrettably, she cancelled).  I only have so much money and given that I forgot the pre-purchased tickets at home, I had even less.  Also, this time I specifically avoided the Friday the 13th 2009 reunion (Derek Mears and Travis Van Winkle) because I've done so many of those things even though they really are one of the nicest casts of any movie you'll ever meet.  So let's begin.

 

FRIDAY:

 

ADAM WEST:

 

 

I know what you're thinking.  What the heck does Adam West have to do with horror?  The answer?  Well...he was in an ep of Goosebumps and an ep of Tales from the Crypt.  Translation, not much.  But he's a nice enough guy,  He had his own room and table (its where they once put the Phantasm reunion).  Line moved VERY quickly which isn't surprising given it was Friday and very early on into the con.  He overcharges a bit, but seems generally nice (a lot of people seemed to be miffed about him but I think it was the price that did that, not anything he did).  I asked him if he'd been given a line on Family Guy that really really struck him as odd.  He went with "who stole my water?"  You'll also notice in the lower left hand corner...he has the "Adam We" photograph available for autographing.

 

MICHAEL BIEHN

 

 

My friends Jess, Maura, (pictured), and Franklin really really were jazzed to see Biehn.  He was there with his girlfriend (?) Jennifer Blanc (hence the banner since she was at the table next to him).  His line was absolutely crazy though.  It was a fairly short line, but he would talk to every single person who came up as long as they wanted to.  It's a nice gesture, virtually unheard of...but it really really drags a line out.  He was a really nice guy though, I have to say.  Later that evening, as we went back to the hotel room, we realized Jennifer Blanc was walking with us.  It turned out Biehn and Blanc were staying directly across the hall from us.  One hopes their room was better than ours though given they were guests.

 

James Duvall was also nearby.  I don't have a picture, but he's done a lot of conventions lately.  Was really really nice and spent a lot of time discussing film making and his upcoming projects with Franklin.

 

So during the hour of the Biehn line, I decided to get some other things done.  (One of the MANY benefits of not going to a con alone):

 

MICHAEL BERRYMAN:

 

 

Berryman was super nice.  Later on he was in an elevator with us and he just seems to be a super easy-going guy.  My greatest wish wouldve been if Monstermania had the time to do a panel with him and another awesome guest who sat at the table right next to his...Sid Haig.  Just a suggestion.

 

SLEEPAWAY CAMP REUNION:

 

     

 

In order:  Frank Saladino (Geno), Karen Fields (Judy), Paul DeAngelo(Ronnie), Desiree Gould (Aunt Martha).

Not pictured:  Jonathan Tierston(Ricky, who I met at Chiller the previous May), and Robert Hiltzik (Writer/Director...who I did meet, but had a bum camera by the time I did).

 

It has been long noted on these forums my deep, abiding love of the Sleepaway Camp movies.  The first movie was one of the two horror movies that started me on the path I am now when I was in college (the other being The Evil Dead).  So this was something I was really looking forward to.  I'm a bit surprised Felissa Rose was not there but I don't have a real problem with that.  The interesting thing about the stars and director of Sleepaway Camp....is that they don't like charging.  They charge very little, sometimes nothing for the autographs because they realize that it's the fans who built the movies up to where they are now.  DeAngelo only charged because I asked, for instance, and gave me an 8X10 as a bonus because he didn't feel right charging.  Hiltzik, when I asked about how much, he told me he should charge me.  The autographs (as you'll see later) all involved being a good fan or the "real star".  The humility of this cast is literally overwhelming.

 

WILL SANDIN:

 

 

The most amazing thing about horror conventions is that the people who appear at them are sometimes utterly iconic...yet you'd never recognize their names.  Will Sandin is a great example of this.  Sandin, when he was young, played child Michael Myers in the original Halloween.  He's seen literally for about 5 seconds of the movie yet the character is remembered forever since then.  He loves the conventions, meeting the fans, etc.  He wasnt the only one there as there was a minor Halloween reunion with PJ Soles and Tony Moran (who I've met at other cons).

 

KATHARINE ISABELLE:

 

 

The other big thing of the convention was a "Werewolf" reunion.  In addition to the next few photos, it included Belinda Balaski, Dee Wallace Stone, Dick Miller, and Katharine Isabelle(above).  It is here I would like to point out that I am an idiot.  I forgot that Dee Wallace Stone was the villain in The Frighteners and didn't get her to sign it.  Even more egregious to people who read my posts on the forums...I forgot Dick Miller was Uncle Willy in Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight.  So no pics of them.  I did remember that, in addition to Ginger Snaps, Isabelle was in Freddy Vs. Jason as "Gibb" and the little sister in one of my favorite movies, Disturbing Behavior.  She was really nice and surprised that someone had brought Disturbing Behavior to get it signed (it's better if you incorporate the deleted scenes...a lot better.  That's all I'm saying.)  More information is later about the panel with the rest.

 

AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON:

 

 

 

As part of the Werewolf reunion, they also had David Naughton and John Landis, representing An American Werewolf in London.  Naughton was supernice.  We talked with him about Brutal Massacre and about the difficulties of the famed transformation scene.  Landis, who arrived fairly late on Friday but still came downstairs and signed some, talked with us about the Masters of Horror dinners Mick Garris threw.  He still holds them now, just without the tv show.  Great guy.

 

FRED DEKKER AND NIGHT OF THE CREEPS:

 

   

 

Friday night's special event was a Q&A with Fred Dekker, director of The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps.  They also, afterwards, gave away the dvd artwork shown above as a special gift, for free.  This is an exclusive cover of the October dvd release.  It's NOT the one that was chosen (though it does match the Blu-Ray).  Instead, elsewhere on the forums there's a thread that has the three choices in it.  The garish, yellow one was chosen.  Also, the free autograph was a bit rough given people kept cutting into the line, but as I thought, they brought plenty enough for everyone.  Afterwards, they showed the Director's Cut of Night of the Creeps (though they originally messed up the dvd...it was only the secnod time it had been shown in public).  Id've stayed for it, but it was after midnight and I was dead tired.  Moving on to the ceremonial hail of bullets:

 

• On Robocop 3:  "I should've fought for more effects, directed my script."
• Directing Tales from the Crypt, Dekker did his favorite story, The Thing From the Grave
• Dekker is extraordinarily proud of the dvd and wants to use it to prove that there is a market for a sequel which he already has ideas for, though he doesn't want to say what they are.  However, "[He] would not make a sequel to Night without Tom Atkins".
• Is currently writing a sequel to Cliffhanger.
• Thinks idea of rumored sequel to The Monster Squad is a terrible idea.
• In Dekker's opinion, Monster Squad was revolutionary for it's time, and Harry Potter owes a large debt to it.
• On Rebooting, Dekker says that for all the ones that work, there are 12 to 20 that don't.
• DVD has tons of interviews on it.
• Dekker liked Slither.  He's facebook friends with James Gunn and thinks it owes more to The Fly because of the degradation of Michael Rooker's character.  Also says Night of the Creeps was not remotely original in and of itself.
• Dekker met Stallone through Demolition Man.
• Tom Atkins or Steve Marshall:  both had great personalities in different ways.  Steve Marshall was a character in Night of the Creeps, Tom Atkins WAS Night of the Creeps.
• Halloween 3 is his favorite Tom Atkins movie
• Atomic Age or Godzilla was his Monster Squad sequel idea, but Monsters vs. Aliens already did it.
• I asked him who he'd name the characters after, if there were any other directors he didn't use (he said he'd never been asked that).  He said he thought the original was kinda cute but it's been done since then, so if he did the sequel, maybe he'd use spaghetti western directors or something.
• The movie House had very little other than that it was his idea.  He was distracted, so his roommate took it.
• DVD will have 5 documentaries, all the deleted scenes, 2 commentaries, a trivia track, and both endings
• The TV Version of Night of the Creeps has many scenes that were put in to make the movie longer
• Demolition Man was meant to be Wizard of Oz, but they took out Kansas (needed to have the 80s, which he concieved but didn't write)
• His proudest moments as a director were the premiere of The Monster Squad and filming the scene in Night of the Creeps were Tom Atkins has his flashback and stutters while he talks.
• He reconciled with Tom Noonan after years of fighting at a Monstermania.  Bogus with a goofy grin was not what he wanted.
• When discussing Stan Winston, Dekker choked up.  Said he really missed him and that he was a geek.  He loved what he did and thrilled at reinvineting makeup.
• Wants to work with Paul Giamatti, Vince Vaughn, and Sarah Polley, and Colin Farrell.

 

SATURDAY:

 

I'm going to begin Saturday with the costumes of the con because they were the last shot I took with my camera.  I decided it was a tie between:

 

 

On the left, I have to give it Rorshach because of the grappling gun.  The Comedian's okay, but the Rorshach is dead on.  On the right, I have to give you props if you wander around the convention floor on stilts.  On Saturday, he had changed into a worse butcher outfit, so I will recognize him for this far better and creepier one.

 

Before I went in to take in the panels, I did go meet up with Lloyd Kaufman again.  I wanted to ask him about Bloodsucking Freaks because in an interview with The Onion years ago, he said he regretted picking it up.  I asked if that was still true, and he said it was because it's a very misogynistic film toward women on an almost mean level and that, while we've learned since then and it's a good and funny film, it's really a bit more extreme in that area than most Troma work.  Now then, panel time.  After skipping the Friday the 13th 09 panel, I was going to go see the Adam West one.  Then I stepped inside and heard someone ask him what else he had done besides Batman.  And that was when I realized that one wouldnt have enough respect.  So I left and came back in later for:

 

HALLOWEEN REUNION:

 

 

Again, I really apologize about having to do it this way.

 

PJ Soles, Tony Moran, and Will Sandin did the Q&A for the film.  All were really nice, receptive to questions and appreciative of the fans.  I learned such things as:

 

• For Halloween now, Soles trick or treat's with her son, Moran gives out the really good candy.
• Soles and Moran will be starring in a movie called Beg.
• Being in the mask and hearing himself breathe helped Moran get into the role of Michael Myers.
• On Rock and Roll High School, PJ Soles said the Ramones had issues with their lines but were still really cool to work with.
• For Will Sandin, to his mom it was just another role, his dad was okay with it, and his sister got scared at the premiere.
• PJ Soles says the remake wasnt better because she didn't like how Michael Myers was already on the path to serial killer-dom earlier in his youth in the Zombie film.
• According to Moran, Halloween is still effective due to its psychological impact.
• On working with Brian DePalma and John Carpenter, Soles said DePalms sets the scene and lets you go, while Carpenter is more tender and hands-on.
• Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to play Lynda originally and was a lot of fun.
• There was nothing in the script about Laurie Strode being Myers sister until the sequel hit.
• According to Soles, working with Bill Murray on Stripes was fun and he had his highs and his lows.
• At the time they didn't realize what it would become.  Moran thought it wouldnt last.  Was kinda jaded and told a funny story about how he didnt used to do conventions and tried to hide what he'd done, and then kids would come around his house on Halloween, every so often dressed as Myers and freaked him out, making him think they'd found him.  Said he's been humbled by what happened and is grateful for it.
• Soles wasn't told about the nude scene in the film, only knew Bob and Lynda "go upstairs".

 

SLEEPAWAY CAMP REUNION:

 

 

The Sleepaway Camp panel was really well attended, though Tierston and Saladino did not take part.  Really down-to-earth and humble toward the fans.

 

• Isaac Hayes (who Hiltzik directed in Return to Sleepaway Camp) was a tremendous guy who always loved to tell stories form his past.
• The cast was unusual when the movie was made because of how young they all were.
• Paul DeAngelo's two brothers ragged on him about his role, Desiree Gould gets recognized from time to time, and Karen Fields was totally in the dark about the reception the film and her character had gotten.  She'd never done a convention before.
• Hiltzik said Karen's original role was supposed to be for a blonde, but Karen did a fantastic job in the role in the end.
  
• Hiltzik thought that horror was the most accessible genre, and wrote the film at the age of 25.  He came up with the beginning and the end, then filled in the middle.  And no one on the cast knew what the ending was.
• MPAA:  "We're really sorry, but we're going to have to give you an R".  Hiltzik:  "Great!"
• Sleepaway Camp Reunion is written, but he needs money to make it and is contemplating 3D.
• The female serial killer came out of a "need to do something different".
• Finishing Sleepaway Camp was easy.  Return to Sleepaway Camp was harder cuz funding fell through.
• Once and for all, Hiltzik did not direct Sleepaways 2 and 3.  Three different people asked him about it.  Stop it.  He even said, given the choice again, he wouldn't have licensed it.
• Felissa was 13 when given the role, her parents were understanding and her role is totally opposite her personality.
• Favorite films, horror and otherwise:  Hiltzik:  Bride of Frankenstein, Fields:  Audrey Hepburn films, Gould:  Likes a wide, varied group specifically mentioning Psycho, DeAngelo:  DeNiro movies, Psycho, and Exorcist.

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V:

 

 

Apologies again.  Picture above used because it was directed by Danny Steinman who also directed Savage Streets.

 

The panel...which was fairly insane, but not Jason panel level nuts...featured Shavar Ross, Danny Steinman, Ron Sloan, Carol Locatell, and Miguel Nunez, Jr. (who was hilarious).

 

• Steinman insulated the cast from studio politics.
• In terms of plot, they were told to "turn Tommy into Jason"
• Working on Different Strokes with Gary Coleman taught Shavar Ross quite a lot.
• Kills were destroyed by the MPAA.
• Steinman was once attached to a sequel to Last House on the Left, but it ran out of money.  He made Friday the 13th part V first, then right before they started shooting it, the studio shutdown.
• Nunez mentioned how he loves going to conventions now because it allows them to meet genuine people, not hollywood phonies.
• Ross imitating Steinman during a famous.....water-related scene:  "That's not enough water!  Spray the breasts, spray the breasts!"
• Original name the cast heard when they were cast was "Repetition".  They were super pumped when they got to the set and found out it was a Friday the 13th.
• Sloan's favorite scene was when he died and his head was supposed to roll and look upward.  The MPAA cut that.
• Nunez was so cold, he didn't know if he could cry doing his scene.
• Locatell basically did her own makeup, making herself look dirty.
• Sloan got knocked out in a fight during the movie.  He also once went home to his mother...covered in stage blood.
• Steinman: The nudity amount...was very intentional.
• Shavar Ross had known Jaleel White of Family Matters since one of Flip Wilson's shows.
• Steinman's one casting gripe:  The mayor was a terrible actor.
• Nunez:  Return of the Living Dead was tons of fun, Life was great too.  They laughed and joked all night and played games for money.
• Nunez ran away from home with 3 bologna sandwiches to become an actor.
• The song Nunez sings in the movie was such that it had to be unrecognizable for copyright reason.
• Nunez:  Joey was the worst experience in my life.  The producers thought they were funnier than the actors.

 

WEREWOLVES:

 

No picture this time sorry.  I'd use the Katharine Isabelle autograph pic, but she actually didn't take part in the reunion.  So, the werewolf reunion was:  Belinda Balaski, Dee Wallace Stone, and Dick Miller.  Again, they were very nice.  Dick Miller seems a man of few words...and some minor hearing issues.

 

• Balaski's part in The Howling came about as being written into it after Piranha.
• Stone had to audition for Howling...and kinda pushed for them to cast her fiance...surreptitiously.  And succeeded.
• Miller didn't have to audition.  He usually doesn't have to.
• Stone on Halloween:  She was glad her character wasn't in the original and said it's not a remake really...it's a "robmake".
• Dick Miller always thought Little Shop of Horrors was a movie meant to be played straight.  If a movie is funny, and you play it funny, you're playing it straight.
• Stone:  Cujo was hell and gruesome.  They were freezing.
• Stone:  The Lassie she worked with was dumber than nails.  She couldn't catch socks.  The standin was smarter.  The dogs on Cujo were trained and very smart.
• Miller's favorite Dante films:  The Howling and The Explorers.
• Stone:  Longest day of the Howling was 15 hours.  In the script originally, there was no nudity.  Then they went into the barn and there were 8 topless women around the roof.  Stone objected, they called in the producer, he agreed, and they were pulled.
• Stone:  Working with Zombie is bliss.  Everyone brings their own thing in.
• Miller:  Gremlins was mostly adlibbed, Demon Knight was filled with problems.
• Miller on the Burbs:  "I get to play a garbage man", was also mostly adlibbed.
• Bucket of Blood was also mostly ad-libbed according to Dick Miller.
• Favorite directors:  Belaski:  Dante;  Stone:  Curtis, Dante, Peter Jackson; Miller:  Dante because he left you alone and directed by his castings.
• Stone on Peter Jackson:  He'll be in a new zealand winter...in a parka, shorts, and flipflops.  He's humane.  Zemeckis and Jackson paid for her flights during her husbands fatal illness and played with her daughter on set.  Special effects people even made a harness for her daughter so she could do what her mom was.  She also was the source of the idea that her Frighteners character would get younger as she killed (not older as was the original idea).  Jackson loved it and immediatly incorporated it.
• On remakes:  Belaski:  These movies are nothing like the movies of the 80s, Stone:  You can't capture the soul (she says that's why they're okay.  the other is still there with its soul)
• Stone further on Frighteners:  was immensely fun to shoot and to kill everyone.
• Stone on ET:  Shot in sequence, kids were great, Drew Barrymore was a director, lots of waiting, wouldnt let steven on set one day because he didnt have the ID badge, said the script was amazing and read it behind a locked door.  "It won't do a lot for me...but it will do a lot for a lot of people".
• Miller was asked how many movies he'd done.  He said well if I had to estimate I guess Id say...166.
• Roles they passed up: Belaski was offered Airplane!, Stone didn't really regret passing it up, but really wanted to do it and was working on a series.  They wouldn't hold it for her.  Miller was supposed to be the lead in Little Shop but turned it down for the smaller part.
• On Rob Bottin:  Was always excited about his work on The Howling, and was robbed of the Oscar.
• Fave scenes:  Balaski running to big ben, stone's husband slapping her in the bedroom, Miller explaining about werewolves in the bookstore.

 

AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON:

 

 

David Naughton and John Landis closed out my show with the American Werewolf panel (followed by a showing the movie, which I didn't stay for given time of night and need to drive home). Incidentally, the whole panel room was brought to us by Blood Night:  The Legend of Molly Hatchet.  Which we heard, many times.  It's out on dvd October 30.  I think it has potential.  The host of the show also thanked us for coming and broke down when we applauded him because he does this convention in honor of his late father who got him interested in conventions and the genre to begin with.  In terms of the panel though:

 

• The songs in American Werewolf in London were written into the script.  They got most of what they were going for.  Missed a Bob Dylan song(he was born-again at the time), Elvis's version of Blue Moon (he had to deal with Col. Parker), and a Cat Stevens song (he was Yusaf Islam at the time).  So as he put it, God, Allah, and Col. Parker.
• Makeup wise, the scleral shells in Naughton's eyes were very difficult to deal with.  When Rick Baker met Naughton, he told him "I feel sorry for you."  To do the shots, it was shot in reverse and out of order, sometimes backwards.
• Landis on Thriller:  Thriller was a good experience.  Michael wanted to be made into a monster.  Landis wanted a woman in it because, "Michael may be many things, but gay no."
• Landis on Black or White:  Michael was still sweet, but on another planet.  Tryed to fulfill his vision without it looking too crazy.
• On Comedy and Horror:  Landis wrote the script intending it to be horror.
• Things you mightve missed:  The main characters in American Werewolf are first seen in the back of a truck filled with sheep.  They're dropped off...outside The Slaughtered Lamb.  And are thereby doomed from the start.  Landis:  "I put the B in subtle".
• Landis pointed out, in terms of the silver bullet not being the killing implement:  "Vampire and werewolf mythos were created by Hollywood and an Edwardian (Bram Stoker)".  In other words, while there exist rules, they're malleable.  The silver bullet was added in "because he was listening to Lone Ranger while it was being written"
• I asked Naughton about how he responded when he saw he was gonna have to ask a boy for his balloons while naked.  He basically said it was par for the course.   Landis then learned something personal about Naughton through this that I will not repeat here out of respect for his privacy.
• Landis said he didn't intend to show the wolf that much, but fell in love with Baker's work.
• New DVD/Bluray will have documentary that has shot of Slaughtered Lamb from the outside.
• Landis once posed the idea of Creature from the Black Lagoon remake in 3D....they filmed footage as a test of their technology and the studio loved it.  In fact they loved it so much...they killed the project and rushed it, using it poorly on Jaws 3-D
• Landis wanted Jack Nicholson for a role he was casting at one point, Nicholson's agent said he wanted to meet with him.  At the time The Shining was out, so he went and saw it, was floored.  He then trekked up to Nicholson's cabin in Aspen...at which point Nicholson scared him half to death by diving out the door yelling "HELLO JOHNNY!"
• Landis's favorite Kentucky Fried Movie skit:  Fistful of Yen
• "Vampires all you need to do is put fangs on them.  Werewolves take work."
• On Twilight:  "It's written by a Mormon!"  Why the vampires can walk around in the daytime:  "Have you ever been in Salt Lake City at a time other than daylight?"
• The two most important things in directing for Landis:  directing and caring about the actor.
• On remakes:  He hopes they do because then he gets a lot of money.  The problem, according to him, is they're remaking bad movies.  That's the terrible ones, but good ones do exist (mentioned The Fly and The Thing)
• On Vincent Price and Thriller:  The song in the video is different.  To get such a long song they had to reloop the whole thing.  (They wouldnt give him the tapes, so Michael had to actually go down with them and take them so he could do so.  They duplicated them at 3AM, had them back by 430).  When Vincent ("call me Vinnie") had to redo his speech, it took him one take.  Then Landis asked for evil laughter...which is what you hear in the video.  One take.  Later Vincent would call him back because he had not gotten anything other than the 300 or so he'd been paid for each the song and the video.  Landis tried to get him the money, called Michael (who told him to call the higher ups), and they would not give it to him.  Later, when Michael was on trial the first time, Landis was in Tower Records in LA with Max, his son and Vincent was there.  He called to him from over the other racks.  "John, what do you think about our friend Michael?"  "Well, I think it's terrible and I really hope it all turns out in the end, I hope he didnt do it."  "WELL, HE CERTAINLY FUCKED ME!"

 

And on that note, this tired con goer is going to bed.  The next one I'm doing is gonna be a lot smaller and more lowkey so don't expect a huge report from that.

 

Until next time though, stick to the roads and keep clear the moors.  Beware the moon.

 

After 12 straight conventions in Cherry Hill, NJ, Monstermania decided to move northward and hold a convention near Hartford in Cromwell, CT.  I try to do conventions if it's a feasibly short distance for me to get to them or if there's something at them that I feel I can't miss.  Connecticut's not easy for me to reach from here, but it's not Pittsburgh or Cleveland either in relation to Jersey.  But mostly, Monstermania becaume the offer you couldn't refuse.  According to the staff, the goal of the convention was to gather, in one place, the most fan-friendly guests they've ever had....sort of make a good first impression.  This meant a 25th Anniversary Nightmare on Elm Street Reunion.  This meant an Evil Dead reunion.  This meant Derek Mears making his 3rd straight Monstermania (4th if you count the upcoming August Cherry Hill one).

 

Comparatively with the Fangoria convention from the week before, Monstermania is like a whole other....far better held part of the world.  Where Fangoria stupidly schedules movies and panels at the SAME TIME causing people to miss either great movies or good panels, Monstermania tends to schedule the movies on Friday evening and the panels all day Saturday, thereby allowing people to get the best of both worlds. Where Fango couldn't put the panel room in a separate place from the vendors, Monstermania put the vendors in one area of the hotel, then all the guests on the other end of the hotel and finally did their usual combination film room and panel room idea in a fully enclosed, separate room (the same general and very wise idea they use in Cherry Hill).  While this still works well, I have one complaint.  In Cherry Hill, the hotel is fairly linear, so it's fairly easy to reach each room and section of the convention off of one pathway.  At the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, the hotel has one of the most inane layouts I've ever seen.  While it's easy to reach the vendors rooms, the panel room is a bit off to the side and the guest room is literally hidden away in some kind of nook off the path.  Good idea in theory, screwed up minorly by bad hotel architecture.  Also, and I don't blame the convention for this, but getting there on Friday was nuts (I stayed over with a friend on Friday night).  A 2-3 hour drive, because of traffic, took 4-5 hours and was murder in the summer heat.  But I made it and I have pics and notes from panels for you.

 

FRIDAY:

I learned this technique at Monstermania that has never steered me wrong:  With special exception for big celebrities, on Friday I basically hang around the guests room and a bit in the vendor room, meeting EVERYONE on the quiet Friday.  (I tried once to meet people on a Saturday....it didn't go so well.  There's a reason this con was my 3rd attempt to meet Derek Mears at a Monstermania.)  So let's begin my run through every guest but one (On Saturday, I probably shouldve gone and seen Robert Englund again, but I figured I should save the money since I already saw him.  Wouldve been a lot easier though...all inside line.  WAY better):

 

JASONS:

 

   

 

Steve Dash (Jason 2) on the left, Richard Brooker (Jason 3) on the right.  Also at the con were CJ Graham and Betsy Palmer, but no photos, because as you saw in the last blog post, I met them at Fango.  I've seen Dash at another Monstermania.  He's kinda relentless on the the whole Warrington Gillette thing.  All his signage is for "The Real Jason" and he even will sign stuff that way.  Richard Brooker is kind of refined and a very nice, well-mannered kind of guy.  Very much like Angus Scrimm.

 

EVIL DEAD:

 

 

 

On the Left, Hal Delrich (who played Scott), on the right, the Ladies of the Evil Dead:  Betsy Baker (Linda), Ellen Sandweiss (Cheryl), and Sarah York (Shelly).  All four of these people charges substantially less each than every other guest, which is awesome and shows a lot of respect for fans, especially in times of recession.  Hal was really nice and was friendly to all the fans.  I was surprised he didnt take part in any of the panels.  The Ladies are great because they travel and do conventions and panels as a unit.  They have special things with the Ladies of Evil Dead logo, and are, just like Hal, really nice to fans.  The Ladies actually were a real highlight of the con and provided one of the most awesome events I've ever seen, but more on that later.

 

CHRIS SARANDON:

 

 

Chris Sarandon from Child's Play, Fright Night, Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, and Humperdinck from Princess Bride.  I really wish that the event I did on Saturday hadn't taken as long as it did since it meant I missed his panel, but I did get to talk to him about just how rough his makeup in Fright Night was.

 

NIGHTMARE REUNION:

 

       

 

In order:  Ronee Blakeley (Nancy's mom Marge), Amanda Wyss (Tina Grey), Charles Fleischer (Dream Study Lab doctor), Leslie Hoffman (Hall Monitor, and the only "Female Freddy"), and John Saxon (Nancy's father).  Not pictured are Heather Langenkamp (nice, also was there with the producer who made His Name was Jason, so we might see a similar Freddy one at some point), Robert Englund(see above), and Jsu Garcia (Rod, who was in the area but was unable to get away from a film he was shooting, even though he wanted to.)  Ronee Blakeley seemed a bit spacey but otherwise nice.  She went on after the movie to have a fairly decent singing career...but I'm not entirely sure what's going on now, she might not be able to walk easily anymore (had to ride up to her panel I think in a scooter....).  Amanda Wyss and I talked about how rough the filming of her death was and how iconic it became.  I didn't talk to Fleischer about Nightmare (because I'm weird).  I also didn't ask him about being the voice of Roger Rabbit.  Nope, if you know me, you know I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about his performance as the shy postal worker in Demon Knight.  Leslie Hoffman and I talked about how she's kinda like a "that girl" of horror, in that no one knows her name but everyone knows what she did.  She also said she loves cons, but people won't ask her to come, even though she was, truly, the only female Freddy (wore the glove for that scene and everything.  Had it playing on a small tv at her table).  And John Saxon and I talked about his great performance in Pelts, from the Second Season of Masters of Horror.  I told him I wished he'd lived longer in the movie cuz the character had a lot of potential.  At the later panel, Robert Englund talked about just how many roles and how many great actors Saxon has worked with (imdb him some time, it's kind of amazing).  All were super awesome and nice.

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH 2009:

 

 

 

On the left (finally), Derek Mears (Jason), and on the right Arlen Escarpeta (Lawrence).  (I couldve done better on my pose in the one on the left....apparently I don't show fear well.)  Derek continues to be one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever met and is literally born to do conventions.  I reminisced with him about his appearance at the March monstermania and his antics there.  (See prior site report for that one if you want more info).  The Mallrats poster is because he was next to another Jason...Mewes.  That becomes relevant in a Q&A (and I shouldve looked to see if he had Zack and Miri Make a Porno since I loved that movie).  Arlen, also a great guy, continued to prove my point I've made before that you can love or hate the remake, but the cast has some of the most amazing chemistry I've ever seen.  He said he'd just been to one of the cast member's baby showers.  He was also situated right next to Betsy Palmer who stayed the whole time (I told you in the other one that she was generally a good person).  And now for something completely different, the costume of the con.  As last time, it's not about what it is, it's about who it's on.

 

 

This the only time I've seen a girl wearing the Heath Ledger Joker costume.  (once again, like Fango, there wasn't much to choose from...and her friends were um....whorier).  After that I headed to the film room for one of the most awesome things I've ever done at a convention:

 

THE EVIL DEAD (W/LIVE COMMENTARY BY THE LADIES OF THE EVIL DEAD)

 

 

You can vaguely see Ellen Sandweiss coming in from the left in this shot.  They'd mentioned earlier in the day they were gonna do this if they stayed up late enough.  They all did.  It was amazing.  Covered everything from crushes on Bruce Campbell to Sam Raimi to the Tree rape to various behind the scenes tidbits, to just how many times Bruce Campbell ends up flying into a bookcase or shelves in the movie.  I'll have more of their thoughts in the discussion of the panel, but this was literally amazing on every single level.

 

After this, I headed over to a friend who I'm very gracious to (I'dve never made it back for the next day if I had to drive all the way back to Jersey again).  The next morning, I headed out bright and early, hoping to make sure to get a certain autograph...what I got...was yet another reason to appreciate this convention.

 

SATURDAY

 

BRUCE CAMPBELL(!):

 

 

How to properly run a massively important celebrity draw:  Bruce Campbell, in his appearances, has an agreement to only sign 400 autographs a day, one per person.  Monstermania gave out numbered tickets and actually was still giving them out later on (I got in fairly early given I was there an hour before the whole con started).  When the time came, they had us line up outside by number, then brought us in to a second, shorter, air-conditioned line, then to Bruce Campbell.  The system got us in in under 2 hours, and Campbell has this down to a science to the point of being able to get all 400 done in the exact 4-5 hours he says he can, even with talking to people.  This photo was the best of about four I have because how it works, is they have you give the camera to a worker who takes your picture candidly.  Works awesome because you have to be really unlucky to not get a good photo that way.  Super awesome.  And wait till you hear later about his panel.....But first, another interlude:

 

 

Normally at conventions, a group comes who brings some kind of prop from a LionsGate film.  Usually it's the Saw 2 Head trap or the Halloween Michael Myers costume or the Saw 4 blade chair.  This time, the My Bloody Valentine 3D screen worn pickaxe and costume were there.  And again, I won't pay extra to stand in front of a dumb background or get a photo on a corny plastic background.  Now back to the panels:

 

SID HAIG:

 

 

The blob in the middle there (I swear, it must be a law that every convention's panel room must have terrible lighting) is Sid Haig of...far too many classic horror movies to count.  It should be noted that, again, Monstermania beat the hell out of Fangoria by actually using mikes on the sides of the room to make it easier for the guests to hear you and for you to hear them.  Common sense really.  I liked the whole "bullet idea" from last report, so let's do it again:

• He liked Devil's Rejects more than House of 1000 Corpses, found it realer and more gritty.
• It is possible to see Capt. Spaulding's....coinpurse...in his sex scene with the pornstar in Devil's Rejects.
• At the time of the panel, he did not know when El Superbeasto would be released.  I've since seen info putting it at Sept. 22nd.
• Sean Connery, with whom he worked on Diamonds are Forever is a great guy.
• His role as the judge in Jackie Brown taught him that it was okay to hold out for the good scripts.  He had quit in 1992 and became a certified hypnotherapist because he believed he'd been typecast.
  
• On his dream scene with Ginger Lynn in Devil's Rejects:  "How hard could it be?"
• On Rob Zombie:  He's easy to work with, knows what he wants, tells his vision to you, and gets out of the way..but he "wasn't ready for [him]".
• Advice for getting foot in the door acting wise is Winston Churchill's "Never Quit".
• On David Carradine.  Great guy to work with, told him "There are no failures in Hollywood, only people who quit too soon."
• Has a future project called Dark Moon Rising and will actually sing on the soundtrack.
• Favorite directors he's worked with:  Zombie, Tarantino (is as crazy as he is), and Jack Hill for the history
• The tutti fucking frutti line was an improv that was one of many that made Rob Zombie fall out of his chair.
  
• There were two things Haig said that I will remember forever:  First, he mentioned Tarantino's level of respect for him.  At Spike TV's Scream Awards, Tarantino responded while recieving an award that "My hat goes off to any award show that will recognize the work of Sid Haig" (Haig had been nominated for Rejects and won).
• Second, and most relevant here, someone asked him about why he wasn't nominated for an Oscar for Devil's Rejects.  In response, he discussed his feelings and what he knows about the way studios percieve horror.  He said major studios shy away from horror.  To prove his point he told the story of what happened when House of 1000 Corpses was made.  Originally, Universal was distributing it.  They had a screening for many people including an executive from Universal.  She left the theater crying and shaking.  The film was axed the next day and later picked up by LionsGate.  Later, Anthony Hopkins would be in Hannibal, which would be classified as a "psychological thriller".  Hopkins recieved a nomination for his portrayal of Hannibal previously and the same woman was later asked in an interview why Hopkins can get nominations but people like Haig can't.  Her response:  "Because we know Anthony Hopkins isn't like that."  Food for thought.
  
• "Who needs an Oscar, I've got 9 Action Figures, FUCK!"
  

 

LADIES OF THE EVIL DEAD PANEL:

 

 

Sandweiss, York, and Baker (L to R).  To the rain of gunfire/list of bullets!

• On the Musical:  Tons of fun, Ellen's been to all 3 (Chicago, New York, and Toronto).  "Sea World with Blood"
• On Remake possibilities:  It will never be able to top the original, and they'll believe it when they see it.
• On the Sequels:  Ellen liked it's comedic style and setting.
• On the "Scene":  Sarah has a 19 year old daughter who hasn't seen the movie.  Betsy has a 22 year old and a 19 year old that she will show it at a reunion.  Ellen had an exhusband that refused to allow her to show their children.  She finally did when they were 15.  The script also originally said "Cheryl is attacked in the woods".  Sound effects were added in post so that it looked as it does now.
• Bruce Campbell was brought up Christian Scientist and had never taken aspirin at the time the movie was made.
• Movie most definitely involved much moonshine and weed.
• They got together 8 years ago, Ellen was in Detroit and Sarah and Betsy were in LA.  Betsy was a guest of honor at a convention and Rob Tapert gave her the idea.  They went to a convention in raincoats, incognito to get a feel and have been together since for this.  Ellen hadn't seen them in 20 years.
• Favorite actors they'd want to work with:  Sarah:  John Cusack, Betsy:  Meryl Streep, Ellen:  Phillip Seymour Hoffman
• Ellen was a seat filler at the Oscars and once sat as a result near Hoffman, Streep and Steven Spielberg.
• The set for My Name is Bruce was built on his Oregon property.  Ellen really liked working on it since she got to play Bruce's ex-wife, thereby technically making him marry his onscreen sister from Evil Dead (mmm...incesty)
  
• The biggest offscreen romance was really just "Bruce and Sam"
• Currently working on a web series called "Dangerous Women" in which they play suburban soccer moms who must do battle with their evil dopplegangers.
• I asked them about Brutal Massacre.  They said they actually had trailers.  Gary Bednob had a trailer with Ken Foree and Ellen and at some point, Bednob and Foree stopped being friends which was, of course, awkward.  They had a lot of fun filming it.

 

And now, what I call....THE BRUCE CAMPBELL STANDUP COMEDY HOUR:

 

 

I love how a photo comes together sometimes.  I had a few others...but the best just HAPPENS to be the one in which he is bathed in an otherworldly halo from the chandelier overhead.  He also asked that the mikes be removed because he prefers freeform Q&As.  BULLETS!:

• How to begin a Q&A:  Bruce asked the crowd who'd lost a job.  One guy worked for a bank and had lost his job. Bruce gave him a dollar and called it his bailout.
• People he'd like to have worked with:  Bob Hope, Danny Kaye
• On the reception of My Name is Bruce:  "I signed two of those fucking movies today."
• Adrienne King (Friday the 13th) lives up the road from him, Kirstie Alley does as well (she bought it from Johnny Depp)
• Loved Blair Witch but hated its sequel on principle without seeing it because of what it stood for in relation to the original.
• His next book:  Vagabond:  The Gypsy Life of an Actor
• Bulgaria:  Love the people, love Bulgaria...crappy place to make a movie.
• When did Hollywood lose its soul?  When they started "putting movies on Taco Bell cups".
• On Spiderman:  Raimi's started torturing Tobey Maguire now.  Also, his cameos are signifigant.  He gives spiderman his name (as wrestling promoter), he defeats spiderman (as the usher), and he doesn't help spiderman well because parker was being a douche in the restaurant (as the maitre d)
• Maniac Cop 2 was funded by "entrepeneurs"
• Freddy V. Jason V. Ash won't happen because he'd only do it if he could win and he'd only have control over the Ash part of the project.
• I asked him about The Woods....because I'm a Lucky McKee fan and I figure he hasn't been asked about it enough.  He said "McKee's a weirdo" and after reading the script, his only question was "How do we win?".
• On David Carradine:  Rational, peaceful, nice man
• On horror:  we cycle:  Shocking (NOTLD), Funny (Nightmare), Torture Porn (which he says are lazy filmmakers who find suspense difficult to pull off)
• On the possibility of Ashton Kutcher playing Ash in a remake:  "Wouldn't you love to see him raped by a tree?"
• Bubba Ho-Tep was the weirdest script he's ever read.
• And finally, when one person asked him if he could say hello to his friend on the cellphone, his response was "Sure if I was your little fucking monkey".

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH PANEL:

 

 

L to R:  Arlen Escarpeta, Betsy Palmer, Jason Mewes (really), Derek Mears, Ron Millkie (poor him, he didnt get to answer one question.  Played Officer Dorf in the original), CJ Graham, Richard Brooker, and Steve Dash.

 

Why Jason Mewes you might ask?  Well, he came in and mess with Mears a bit, so Derek invited him up (he is a Jason...get it?).  He didn't really jump in the convo much but it was still absolutely hilarious and surreal to see.  Mostly the panel was just as chaotic as at Fangoria and covered most of the same stuff.  The minor new stuff though:  Palmer said she did the role for 10,000 dollars, no residuals.  "I did it to buy a car".  She also didn't do Freddy Vs. Jason because it was a crappy line and "I have integrity".  Dash was offered the third movie, but was told he'd have to pay his way to California.  The Jasons were never played Englund money.  Freddy Vs. Jason was called what it was because Sean Cunningham wouldn't sign off on calling it Friday the 13th.  Derek Mears, as the new Jason, wanted to take it back to basics and make Jason into a character again.  Also, they're still negotiating the possibility of a sequel to the remake.  For more info on Friday the 13th from other cons, try the prior Fango and Monstermania site reports.  Moving on, we conclude with....

 

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET REUNION:

 

 

L to R:  Fleischer, Langenkamp, Englund, Blakeley, Hoffman, and Wyss.  (Saxon was tired, understandable).

 

One final blaze o' bullets:

 

• Englund is writing a book, due out in October, called Hollywood Monster.
• Hoffman was originally the stunt coordinator and they decided they wanted someone who looked different.
• Englund on his career:  He was the nerd for 5 years, the best friend for 5 years, the geek for 5 years.  He calls his career a happy accident of a career.
• Englund wrote a script for Part 3, parts of which would filter into later movies.  It keyed on Tina's older, wilder sister.  She went on to investigate the backstory of Freddy.  It became the pilot of Freddy Nightmares and big parts of Nightmare 5.
• Behind the Mask occurred because Freddy's Nightmares (the fearfactor like reality show) bombed.  It was the second script he picked up.
• Englund is a Penn and Teller fan
• On Johnny Depp:  They thought the town would tear him up, instead he's stayed earnest and has a sense of etiquette.
• As I mentioned earlier, Heather is making a documentary.
• Fleischer:  Kreuger has realism like Dracula and Frankenstein.
• Amanda:  All women read first for Nancy.
• Fan Favorite:  3.  Cast likes either 1 or 7.
• John McNaughton was once signed on to do a prequel.
• "Freddy is the damage under the grass in our suburban world" (Englund likened it to the opening of Blue Velvet.  He said he takes pop culture and beats you with it.)
• Englund's favorite kill:  "The hearing aid kid"
• Remake thoughts:  Fleischer:  Go for it, but it won't erase this, hollywood only has 36 plots and they recycle them; Langenkamp:  wants to see one she can get scared at;  Englund:  It's how hollywood works, he had problems with the King Kong remake; Blakeley:  Compared it to Body Snatchers; Hoffman:  Compares it to Star Trek and J. J. Abrams; Wyss:  mixed feelings but wishes them well.

 

In conclusion, Monstermania continues to prove they are the best convention.  Even at a slightly more flawed convention in a place less conducive to the convention, it still runs like a well-oiled machine and is a joy to visit.  I'll be attending the next one (end of August, back in Jersey) and probably every one of them for the forseeable future(something I can't say with every other convention).  As usual, brilliantly put together and showed deep respect to fans and guests.  I leave you with a final thought.

 

Fangoria had toilet ink.  And people from T-Mobile trying to get you to change cell providers.  Monstermania had rooms of genre vendors selling fanged teddy bears, tshirts, bootlegs, action figures, etc.  And a guy doing actual castings for dental acrylic vampire fangs onsite.  I wonder which convention really is better.....

 

This is Crypticpsych saying....don't fall asleep.

You know, my life is busy.  Very busy.  Also, my handwriting is sloppy when taking notes quickly.  Very sloppy.  These two factors contribute to me taking over a month to write this (and the next one about a con I went to the week after this one).  I uploaded the pics to facebook fairly early on (if you've added me, you've can see them) with captions but not with full report notes.  I saved those for here to save time.  Then life intervened.  But now, I have a spare moment, and I've transcribed three days worth of notes from a tiny press notebook into 6 pages of singlespaced Word notes.  So, let's get started.

FRIDAY:

It should be noted that Fangoria this year returned to Manhattan for the first time in at least a few years.  (They'd been in Secaucus for some time.)  They held their event in the Jacob K. Javitz Center, about 10-11 blocks south of Madison Square Garden.  It looks like this:

 

   

 

Ooo...modern-arty.  And yes, the quality of these shots is quite subpar and there's a reason for that, which we'll come to.  Now, before someone thinks this was a big convention, that registration table is for a home design and decor expo that was setting up for the coming week.  To reach Fango, you walk around that....go down an escalator...down another escalator...and into the room.  To put that in perspective, I was told at one point that the room in which they held the convention was the room in which they held JUST the panel discussions at the East Coast Comic-Con.  For the love of God, use the space. 

Now you might be thinking this is just the vendor's room.  You'd be wrong.  To the right (off camera) is the screening room (small).  To the left (off camera) is the photo-op room (small).  Inside is the vendors room....and the panel room.  In one.  Separated by a black curtain that only covers half the space, vertically between the two rooms.  Repeating.  Vendors room in SAME ROOM with the panel room.  Let the numerous flaws of that sink in for a second.  Then take a closer look.  See those little pink lines in the room?  Those are T-Mobile Mobile Makeover sales people.  Yeah.  One of the vendors at a HORROR CON....was T-Mobile wandering around asking people to change service.  Which tells you how much trouble they must've had getting vendors.

First thing I did when I went inside continued to set the tone for how angry this convention made me:

 

BETSY PALMER

 

 

Ms. Palmer was very nice (she does that pose without being asked....don't look at me like that).  There's also a reason these photos look better than the others...again, later.  But I also learned some very important things from her.  See, in order to do this convention properly, I learned last year to use package deals.  Last year, I was able to get a Silver pass and get into the party (saving a ton of money on photo-ops).  This year they closed it to all but Gold people.  So I bought a gold pass.  As part of that pass deal, you get a card.  Like so:

 

 

 

That card represents complimentary autographs...from basically everyone.  Now here's the flaw.  This pass cost me a substantial amount of money.  Enough that it was feasible that my theory that a buck or two would go to each celeb who agreed to the deal would make sense.  Which was why I was angry all weekend (and grew more annoyed as the same thing kept happening to Danny Manfredini, the cast of Last House on the Left, and Ari Lehman) when I found out from Betsy Palmer that either they did not tell the celebrities about the gold passes or did not make their benefits clear to the celebs.  This meant the celebs, who normally might charge 20 or 30 for an autograph...were getting no money for this.  Creation Entertainment and Fangoria took all the money from the tix.  Ms. Palmer left within the hour after the con began on Friday.  She didn't return until after her panel on Saturday...for a couple hours.  Then she was gone the rest of the weekend and frankly I don't blame her.  It's insanely disrespectful to not tell celebrities about this aspect, whether you agree with them charging for autographs or not.  Thus, the sad sorry state of this con (in terms of logistics and organization) began.  Moving on, I headed.....through the curtain (the pure unmitigated idiocy of that will become apparent more and more)....to the panel room.

 

GUILLERMO DEL TORO AND CHUCK HOGAN

 

(L to R:  Tony Timpone, Chuck Hogan, Del Toro, and the head of Creation whose name I don't know)

Let's get something out of the way right now. I really dont like Tony Timpone.  One of the many reasons I read Rue Morgue is because its current editor-in-chief is a tattoo covered woman with flamingly orange-red hair who speaks to her readers like one of them.  Their previous editor went on to make award winning horror shorts and still writes for the magazine from time to time.  As is obvious, they both have a love of the genre.  Tony Timpone dresses like a used car salesman.  He looks like a used car salesman.  He acts like a used car salesman.  At a convention, I have never once seen him effectively guide a panel.  I've also never once seen, on any level, him show true, honest, heartfelt love of the genre.  I.  Don't.  Like him.  Moving on.
Del Toro and Hogan were there to discuss their new vampire novel "The Strain".  They were on a book tour and literally ran in just to do this panel (which shows a lot of respect for fans that seems to jive with how unbelievably kind I've heard Del Toro is.)  As I usually do, here's stream of consciousness as to what was discussed:  Originally the novel's idea was pitched to Fox by Del Toro as a series idea.  After they declined it, Fringe mysteriously had a premiere involving a 747 much like the opening of The Strain does...but he's not claiming plagiarism.  Because Del Toro would not go PG13, The Strain did not become a movie instead.  Del Toro on Twilight:  "Vampires are brutal creatures, they do not fucking sparkle, they want to rip your throat out." and "I'm too fat and ugly to believe in beautiful vampirism." and finally, that Twilight "doesn't fucking peel [his] banana.".  The book, however was not writtten as a response to Twilight.  The book does go into detail about vampire biology and as Del Toro says, ""If you want to know what happens to vampire's peepees, this is the book.".  The novel's characters include a Mexican gangbanger and vampire hunters who are not professionals.  The idea of the novel was also based in the idea of the reality of coming home and feeling like you want to eat your family.  One of Del Toro's greatest vampire influences was a book called "Living Vampires, Dead Vampires".  They were stories told as matter of fact and "fuck you if you don't believe them".  There is humor in The Strain, but it isn't necessarily intentional.  Del Toro also believes that mystical creatures should be treated like real animals and like they exist. The Strain is the first part of a proposed trilogy.  The second book is well on it's way, and the third will begin after he films "The Hobbit".  Del Toro is also a gamer, having finished Call of Duty 4 and is currently playing Left 4 Dead.  Bookwise beyond the afforementioned stories, Del Toro was influenced on vampires by Dracula, I Am Legend, Count Magnus, Carmilla, and Salem's Lot.  Moviewise, his world is based in Let The Right One In and Martin (for it's portrayal of the loneliness of that life.  He loved the power of Martyrs but won't watch it again (much like he felt about Funny Games).  He loved Firefly, but True Blood didn't grab him and as for Buffy, "[he's] waiting for a boner to watch it, but it hasn't happened."  Del Toro called working on "The Hobbit" very nice karma and related a story of how Peter Jackson met him at the airport in New Zealand with a gift of Warhammer models that he has since painted and used.  He mentioned that his favorite special effects were in The Thing, saying "Bottin is a sick bastard" and his favorite prosthetics were in Amadeus and The Exorcist.

NOW.  About that panel room.  About midway through the panel, one of the members of GWAR took it upon himself to stand at one of the openings and yell that people should go to the GWAR table.  At what point did it seem like a good idea to the organizers to connect the rooms?

 

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS

 

 

Hey, you know what's funny?  When you put a panel room RIGHT NEXT TO A VENDOR ROOM.....the vendor room gets noisy.  And when the vendor room gets noisy, it drowns out the panels.  In theory that defeats the purpose, which is why you DONT FREAKING DO THAT.

 

So, the Godfather of Gore.  Smartly, they basically just gave Lewis a mike and let him roll whichever way he went.  Super nice guy (I'd talked to him beforehand at his table in the vendors room about the Grand Guignol).  First, he previewed his upcoming new film "Grim Fairy Tales" with a clip of a person playing on a game show called 'Uh-Oh" during which she loses an arm.  (and later has it sewn back on).  He says the movie is about a channel that discovers it has a hit with the violent game show "Uh-Oh".  In response, they request a new show called Grim Fairy Tales (that is also of course violent) from which the movie gets its name.  I asked him during the panel if he had a favorite current director to which he replied "Anybody who puts their head in that lion's mouth has my respect."  Lewis says the idea in Grim Fairy Tales is that no one gets killed.  It's more to make people say "Isn't that ridiculous."  Lewis believes that digital is the future (over film).  Lewis also mentioned that it is his voice on the soundtrack to 2000 Maniacs and proceeded to lead the crowd in a rousing rendition of the theme complete with yeeeeeehas.  The original guy they were going to use had a voice that was too high and Lewis took no screen credit for doing the song.  In terms of his impact, Lewis said that it made no difference how primitive the movie was back then and that as a result of their work, certain special effects and gore effects exist and are able to be purchased.  Interestingly, Lewis also mentioned that people protested his movies but that there was no legislation in place against violence (just sex and language).  As such, the government's hands were tied.  Lewis also mentioned a movie he's in development on and filming called "Mr. Bruce and the Gore Salon", about a weight clinic that removes fat from people and replaces with stainless steel. It has a London Sheraton character that is analogue of Paris Hilton.  Lewis believes the main idea of his movies is to have a good time.  On Wizard of Gore, Lewis called it Murphy's Law in movie form. Mitchell camera was supposed to be built to last but left them with a full day's worth of dead film, for example.  Also, a carcass was supposed to be ripped from top to bottom.  In so doing, they got carcass all over rug of house they were using, cops were called.

 

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT VILLAIN REUNION:

 

(L to R, not guy on right:  Marc Scheffler, David Hess, Fred Lincoln)

Three of the four Last House on the Left villains were there (Jeramie Rain was having knee surgery).  Regarding the remake they thought the direction and camera were good, but that that was to be expected, and the rest was crap.  Also, they believe the original was a product of it's time and had chemistry the remake did not.  Also, in the original people talked less about the rape (which was more implied) and more about the film as a snuff film (according to them).  In the remake, critics focused on the rape.  The actors bonded during the original and had lots of fun when they weren't acting.  Regarding the movie's ad campaign, the men said that it worked particularly because of the movie's verite style. There also was no true story, it was all advertising and the film originally had 3 other titles that failed before the actual one and the advertising campaign.  The film was originally inspired by Ingmar Bergman's Virgin Spring.The men are also pursuing a lawsuit over residuals.  Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham originally wanted this film to be a porno, but the actor's refused leaving us where we are today with both their careers.  Last House was also funded with money from a Marilyn Chambers movie.  The actors also believe that their characters never intended to kill their victims.  In terms of quotes, Sheffler said this has had the most impact of all the TV he's ever done, David Hess said in terms of acting, "It's easy to get into the dark side, but it's hard to get out without changing.  Lincoln was the most talkative and interesting.  He's still involved with the adult industry ("I'd rather fuck, kiss, suck, etc. than kill").  He also said the original script was one of the most disgusting things ever and mentioned he was supposed to decapitate someone and have sex with their neck and body ("Who does this?").  But the message that should be taken away from how they felt and feel about the role was probably when Lincoln said "If one asshole sees this and does something, I'd be ashamed for the rest of my life."

I then left the panel room to hit the film room to see the highly anticipated....

 

DEAD SNOW

 

Dead Snow, reviewed elsewhere on the site quite effectively by Will from the UK, is amazing.  Pure and simple.  Full disclosure, I missed roughly 10-15 minutes of the opening due to the other panel, but it appears all I missed was footage of them frolicking in the snow really.  This movie...is the Norwegian version of what happens when Evil Dead meets Dead Alive....with NAZIS.  The characters are engaging, the movie is fun on every level and the visuals are amazing (can you say on-rushing batallion of Nazi zombie soldiers?).  Best of all though is that Dead Snow has some of the most inventive gore shots in my recent memory and a brilliant sense of humor.  This is the tip of the iceberg:  machine gun snowmobile, hammer and sickle, chainsaw, beating zombies with parts of other zombies.  This is not just a must see.  This is a holy mother of God why are you still reading this go see it now movie.

 

SATURDAY

 

 

 

On Saturday, I met Marilyn Burns and saw a bit of a panel for the new Jack Ketchum adaptation "The Offspring".  I remember nothing of the panel as it was early, so I do apologize for that but I do have....

 

TRAILERS

 

There was a long...LONG...trailer reel.  I tried my best to pick out the ones that seemed either interesting, different, or new and I've uploaded my picks for the best to the video section for your perusal.  I make no claims on the movies themselves (with the exception of Dead Snow and as you will see momentarily, Dead Air) but the trailers do look good for low-budget movies, independent movies, documentaries, horror-comedies, and straight horror films.  My picks for the best trailers:  The Children, Grace, Hysterical Psycho, Skeleton Crew, Pig Hunt, Not Quite Hollywood, I Sell the Dead, George's Intervention, Dead Air, and Dead Snow.  I'd link to them, but it's just as easy for you guys, when this is done, to go take a look at the video page since they're all there, one after the other.  After that it was time for....

 

TOXIC AVENGER MUSICAL

 

Also known as:  two understudies (maybe?) perform songs out of costume on stage without any set pieces at all.  Don't get me wrong, I love the musical and will see it again before it leaves NYC, but this was just sad.  They performed "The Legend of the Toxic Avenger", "Evil is Hot", and "Hot Toxic Love".  Jesus, get a guy in a Toxie suite at least!  It was at about this point I realized just how stunningly empty this convention was for a Saturday.  Moving on was:

 

HELLRAISER REUNION PANEL

 

 

Doug Bradley and Ashley Laurence (who's wearing sunglasses because of cornea issues).

Doug Bradley's Favorite Hellraiser parts:  The tortures in 1 and 2 and the audience of death in 3.  For the most part, he's happy with the series but wishes some hadn't been taken to theaters.  Said 5 6 and 7 were all made into Hellraiser movies from pre-existing screenplays.  Ashley Laurence's first screen test was with Doug playing her father and Pinhead. Barker's initial direction to her: "Your uncle's in your father's skin and he's trying to have sex with you and kill you, maybe not in that order. Go."  Bradley also believes Pinhead's voice goes between a monk and a butcher, not like voice in hellbound heart who is supposed to be light and breathy.  It's also lower than his regular voice and played with in post.  Clive's one note on Pinhead to Doug: Do Less (was nudged toward standing in one place, no movement). Tribal makeup and scarring were an early Pinhead idea.  Regarding Hellraiser 4, Bradley wanted the unhappy ending with the merchant and Pinhead destroyed (welcome to Oblivion) instead of the corny pin on the floor ending they used.  Regarding Hellraiser 6, it originally had a character named Kirsty with a dog named Cotton. Bradley got Laurence back in on the condition she'd only do it if her sequence were to be a dream because she believed the character wouldn't act that way.  On the idea of a Hellraiser Remake: Laurence: "Shouldn't be made but there's a built-in audience."  Bradley: It's in Development hell, chaos and confusion, they don't know what they want to do. Every exec wants their snout in the trough. It's an admission of a failure to do your job which is to find the next Hooper, Craven or raimi. Money Is everything, and he's had no calls about the movie.  For fun on the set of the movies, Bradley enjoyed doing Monty Python sketches as Pinhead (this parrot is no more...).  Facts about horror you never realized you needed to know:  Pinhead could easily get through airport security after the first two movies because the pins were plastic thereafter.  Currently, Doug Bradley is working with Renegade Arts doing readings of Lovecraft and Poe.  I asked Laurence about being coated with blood for Hellraiser 2.  She discussed how she was coated with corn syrup and food coloring...and then they broke for lunch which she shivered her way through.  Regarding fan fiction, Doug Bradley said it was gratifying people cared enough about the universe to make their own version.  Finally, whats the status of Pinhead v. Myers you might ask?  Originally Doug Bradley was interested as an actor, Barker was going to write and Carpenter direct.  Barker wanted to make that world where they could coexist.  Pinhead mightve had a problem though since he likes a good conversation.  In the end, Moustapha Akkad kiboshed it.  (And for the record, Doug Bradley did not like how Rob Zombie removed the supernatural element from Michael Myers.

 

Then while I waited in line, it was DENNIS PAOLI:

 

 

Paoli wrote From Beyond, Re-Animator, The Dentist, etc. alongside Stuart Gordon.....but since Fangoria can't allow one line to die down, and since HAVING THE PANEL ROOM NEXT DOOR MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO HEAR, I have no info on Paoli since I couldnt hear him.  Up Next:

 

GLASS EYE PIX:

 

 

In this case, again, because it was a bit disorganized and hard to hear, I have no real info other than who everyone is and what they're involved with. From left to right:  Jim Mickle, Nick Damici, Glenn McQuaid, James Felix McKenney, Joe Maggio, Larry Fessenden, Graham Reznick, and Jeff Grace

And what they are involved with:
I SELL THE DEAD (Glenn McQuaid), SATAN HATES YOU (James Felix McKenney), STAKE LAND
(Jim Mickle, Nick Damici), BITTER FEAST (Joe Maggio) and I CAN SEE YOU (Graham Reznick), plus composer Jeff Grace (THE ROOST)

Want more info?  Google their upcoming movies:  Satan Hates You, Bitter Feast, Hypothermia, I Sell the Dead, and The Viewer (which I do have info on that will come up momentarily).  Up next,

 

JASONS

 

 

L to R: Kane Hodder (7-10), Warrington Gillette (2), Betsy Palmer (1), Ari Lehman (1), CJ Graham (6)

 

There is no greater craziness than Jason related panels at cons.  Palmer doesn't know how she had so many children. Didn't think anyone would see the movie, said "what a piece of shit". (always says those lines)  Lehman thinks he's a comic....good guy, but seems to almost think he's a standup comic.  Kevin bacon and Betsy Palmer got into the movie via NYC. Betsy Palmer, aka, how you can tell how crazy these get: "I never had sex on any playhouse, I had it out on a lawn."  Remake thoughts; Lehman: Fun film, Palmer, they're trying to make money (sean Cunningham and tom savini) Hodder, will see it and probably like it.  Lehman thought Jason lived, Savini said it was a dream. Lehman turned out right in the end.  The Friday the 13th 2 controversy over Jason is that Warrington Gillette is credited as Jason, but Steve Dash did all the stuntwork.  Kane Hodder's Favorite kills: Sleeping bag and frozen head.  Part 7 is his favorite.  CJ Graham was the second choice for his movie.  Palmer's seen the original movie three times, twice under duress.  Also, according to Betsy Palmer; In Ecuador they call it Tuesday the 13th (due to their superstition).  Warrington Gillette auditioned for John Furyk's role in the movie, but ended up as mongoloid hillbilly Jason.  And finally, Palmer did not originally know how Ari Lehman would look and was a bit offput by his mongoloid look.

 

So, much like the previous night where I avoided a fashion show hosted by GWAR, I then avoided a tattoo contest....mostly.  I went back out into the vendor's room.  I managed to meet up with Tatyana Kot, star of "Blitzkrieg:  Escape from Stalag 69":

 

 

And then a very important panel....

 

TRICK R' TREAT

 

Michael Dougherty and Dylan Baker

 

I SAW 20 MINUTES OF TRICK R'TREAT!  HA!  And all I will say is I saw a segment, very gory and darkly funny, based in the razor blade in the candy legend, a flashback story of a group of deformed children in halloween masks, and Brian Cox doing battle with Sam, the film's mascot.    The film looks absolutely amazing.  The film is a throwback to anthologies.  It is the holy grail of current lost horror films, having been sat on for 7 years after it was written in 2001.  Dougherty believes this is because studios don't know how to properly market anthologies.  Dougherty also believes the film fits because we're entering a fun cycle again (hardcore 70s, fun 80s, cycling around to fun again now.)  The character of Sam (see poster) is peripherally in every story as a spirit of the holiday.  Merchandise is out in stores (it came out before the movie by accident).  Dylan Baker's "Principal" character is said to be a cross between Norman Bates and Norman Rockwell (I saw it in his clip).  Which brings me to current release plans:  A road show started this month and will include ComicCon, Fantasia, After Dark, London, Toronto, and Fantastic Fest.  It will be out on dvd b4 halloween.  Also, comic books will be out in early October as a single graphic novel, and the soundtrack will be out in Late Sept.  The DVD, at least, will have commentary, a doc on halloween and its history, and the original short film that led to this.  Oh...and for you Spidey fans, Baker's been told The Lizard is coming...but has not been told when.  Up next:

 

PANDORUM:

 

 

We have Ben Foster of X-Men 3 (who seemed drunk) and mixed martial artist Cung Le.  I missed almost all of this panel while getting my free autographed Trick R' Treat poster (hell yeah).  But what I did see, and the trailer, failed to impress at all.

 

Then after a Walking Distance panel (Adrienne King's first movie in a long time), my camera died.  Hence the terrible quality back at the beginning.  It really sucked for a reason to be apparent.  So I went to the Hudson news inside the center and got a disposable.  Got back in time for:

 

DEAD AIR:

 

 

 

After a panel with some footage, I was actually very amped for this.  I went and saw it as a time filler before the Saturday night party.  (That's Josh Feinman and Elle Travis btw).  My opinion on Dead Air:  Well, you might want plot....it's the story of a grizzled radio veteran doing his show the night of a mass zombie outbreak in his town that threatens his and his team's survival...wait....*flips flips flips* oh these are my Pontypool notes.  Let me try again.  It's the story of a grizzled radio veteran doing his show the night of a mass zombie outbreak in his town that threatens his and his team's survival.  That's better.  In all seriousness, Dead Air is like the unintentional American remake of the great Canadian film Pontypool.  Here's the real shock though...IT'S BETTER THAN PONTYPOOL.  Bill Moseley nails the radio host role and the film also has a slightly different, more political, more conspiratorial tone that is very interesting and won't be for everyone.  A great, highly recommended movie that seems a good directorial effort by CORBIN BERSEN!

 

VAMPIRE BALL:

 

 

So then I headed to the New Yorker hotel.  Here's an idea...hold the party in the place you're holding the Con...LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR.  And give info as to where to go when you reach the hotel.  NO wait, i'm not done bashing this party yet.   Last year, it was an ice cream social with cash bar.  at 10 o clock, ice cream's good.  This year, it's a VEGGIE AND CHEESE PLATE THING IN A TINY ROOM WITH A CASH BAR.  And of course the shitty distorted posters and fango covers projected on the walls did NOTHING to make this seem like a "Vampire Ball" (though two people did have the balls to appear in costume).  I can't complain too much though...as it allowed me once again to save a load of money on photo ops even if I was still using the disposable out of necessity:

 

     

 

In order:  Coralina Cattaldi-Tassoni and Dario Argento (I think she was his date since I never saw her the rest of the con....and HELL YEAH), Doug Bradley, Tobe Hooper, and Ari Lehman.

 

I repeat...I hate the disposable camera so much.  Those photos at the top were me just burning film since I'd charged my camera before sunday:

 

SUNDAY:

 

Sunday began with the costume of the Con.  It's not often you see an age 10 or less Leatherface:

 

 

Then SMASH CUT:

 

 

Other than that the trailer looked hysterically funny and bloody and HG Lewis and David Hess are involved (as seen above), I don't know much about this one.  But I mention it here....BECAUSE SOME MORON DECIDED TO CHANGE A LIGHTBULB IN THE VENDOR'S ROOM WITH A CHERRY PICKER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PANEL.  THATS NOT DISTRACTING AT ALL IS IT?

 

Then it was LYNCH MOB:

 

 

With Tony Darrow of Street Trash and Paul Borghese of Sopranos.  I feel bad for Borghese, his name wasn't even on the screen.

 

This was a weird one.  The trailer never worked, Tony Timpone couldn't run this panel if he tried since no one asked a thing.  The info I do have though is that it was filmed in Lynchburg and has lots of gore, mobsters, and T&A.  The panel was filled with insult comedy and self-deprecating humor.  Regarding Street Trash, Darrow was told he'd ruined James Munro, Jr's movie since he'd made it into a mob film.  They also arrived at the premiere on a garbage truck.  His part was also 90% ad-libbed and his cane was due to a malignant melanoma in his foot.  Finally, Lynch Mob's promotional material says they used real blood.  What happened was Darrow was injured in the head on an effect, refused treatment, and his blood was part of the makeup they used in the shot.  Up next:

 

VINDICATION:

 

 

I'd give names but I lost track. Far left is definitely Alan Rowe Kelly, woman after Rowe Kelly is I think Zoe Chlanda, then Jerry Murdock, then Keith Frazer, then I'm not sure, then the far right bald guy is director Bart Mastronardi.

 

Vindication is an indie film about a boy tormented by his guilt.  It also has touches of discussions of sexuality in it as well.  The film recieved a great blurb from Clive Barker who got a hold of it through his life partner who knew Mastronardi.  More information later on.  (and I got another free awesome autographed poster)  Next (in case you couldnt tell, I'm getting tired.)

 

WILLIAM LUSTIG:

 

 

 

The owner of Blue Underground and director of Maniac brought release and remake news.  Blue Underground is moving toward blu-ray: current blu-rays: Stendahl Syndrome, Dead and Buried, Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Two Evil Eyes.  Coming soon: The Crazies, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, The Toolbox Murders, and New York Ripper.  In July: Bad Boy Barny.  In August: Fire and Ice.  In September: New York Ripper.  The company is now focused on repurposing, not gaining new stuff.  Maniac may be on blu-ray in a year. Caroline Munro, Tom Savini, and Joe Spinell all came onboard for the movie originally through Creation entertainment (the company who runs this con).  Lustig also says a Maniac remake is increasingly likely with at 12 million dollar budget.  He also thinks Joe Spinell's character could be played by Tom Sizemore.  Maniac's 16mm print was thrown out in the 80s, so the Blu-ray will be made from the negative.  New York Ripper will feature a new featurette comparing NYC of the movie's time to NYC now and the changes.  AND NOW THE MAN OF THE HOUR:

 

DARIO ARGENTO

 

 

 

Dario with his translator Paolo on his left, and Maitland McDonald, the moderator on his right.

 

Quick thoughts because i'm tired:

-"You're free to do what you want" on Masters of Horror. "You're sure?" ->The discussion that occurred before he made the censored ep Jenifer for MOH.
-Jenifer, Pelts, and Mother of Tears to a lesser degree were an experiment in blending sex and horror.
-Finishing trilogy: Suspiria, Inferno 2 years later, and then takes break to avoid having to expand on it over and over again. Seeing the restoration of Suspiria brought him back into the trilogy.
-Agatha Christie's 10 Little Indians was a big influence.
-Giallo: Didn't know what had happened to the film at the time. Doesn't speak with producers. Adrian Brody was very good and he had no problems with him. He knows music and cinema and he was friends with Asia Argento.
-Same thing on Two Evil Eyes with Harvey Keitel, he was very good.
-Actors he's had problems with: Tony Monsanti in Crystal Plumage. Had problems the whole film and afterwrs. Also, the Girl lead in Opera to whom he had to speak through an intermediary.
-"I do films because I like to do films. It's my life. Without films, it's nothing."
-Suspiria was inspired by school days, believed school was full of witches. "we were slaves of the teachers".
-Shot Do You Like Hitchcock and Stendahl Syndrome in Turin due to it's strange architecture.
-Martyrs is dedicated to him. Believes its similar to Spanish wave "interests"
-He's happy we have new people doing films similar to the way he did them.
-Digital is flat, 35 gives deeper bigger color, wanted to do same style as old Technicolor.
-Bava was not as much an influence as Hitchcock. He considers Bava too jokey.
-Ending of Suspiria and Third Mother: they laugh because it is finished, or because it's not real, it's a film.
-Never wanted to actually do a zombie film, only produce. Considers it romero's area.

And finally on the right, Dario recieved the lifetime achievement award (it's a hand clutching a heart)....BUT WE'RE NOT DONE!  After people paid too damn much for stuff at the auction and random time filler with new spooksmodel Danni Doll (it shouldve been BHM forum member Kaci),

 

TOBE HOOPER

 

 

 

More quick hits due to fatigue:

-Influences: Robert Weiss, Fellini, Antonioni, Welles, Hitchcock, Corman.
-His mother went into labor in a movie theater.
-Eggshells: Experimental comedy, first movie. Grueling difficult production whose nature helped the movie gain power.
-His films tend to have difficulties
-Masters gave him final cut and a budget.
-Working on From a Buick 8. Screenplay is done, and is working on casting.
-Lifeforce: mancini requested the scoring job, hooper liked him. Great experience. Blu-ray is in the works. Shouldve been called "Space Vampires".

-He likes adapting stepehn king because he loves his work. He tries to produce the feeling he had when he read the book.
-Invaders from Mars: Guy who installed a satellite dish on his house ended up doing the score for him.
-Craft services is better and you have more time on a big budget but the challenge is the same.
-Hooper's recorded a commentary for a new funhouse bluray or dvd but they're probably hanging on to it.
-"Rob Zombie is a dear friend and I sanction what he did. He's a cool dude." (On House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects)

Also, above is the Texas Chainsaw reunion panel.  Marilyn Burns, Tobe Hooper, Caroline Williams, and Tom Savini.  Me, I left.  Went to go see:

 

THE VIEWER/VINDICATION:

 

The Viewer, which I mentioned briefly earlier, is a 3D horror short by the people at Glass Eye Pix.  In it, you're accused of a crime and a profiler is attempting to read your mind and find out what happened.  The visuals get crazier and crazier and the whole short has a distinctly Warhol-esque feel to it.  It's very well done, both in terms of 3D and overall.

 

Vindication is a very unusual, very different film.  It's the story of a guy tormented by a violent visualization of his own guilt and inner feelings (sexual and otherwise).  It's a very interesting film and very well done considering we're talking a 3 year labor of love filmed on weekends made on a shoestring with paychecks.  It's very ambitious, very deep, and tends to stick with you a bit after the fact.  While it's, of the three movies I saw, the worst, it's still better than a lot of mainstream hollywood pablum that does hit theaters and deserves to be seen.

 

And with that, i'm done.  It's midnight here and my head hurts.  Overall, Fangoria massively disappointed me even while having a ton of amazing things.  It's like Chiller with more focus...and that's not a good thing.  Unless they pull something utterly amazing out of their ass next year, I ain't shlepping up to NYC for this next year.  So I leave you with a final thought.

 

When gothically designed and "Horror"...toilets....are your vendor....YOU NEED.  MORE.  BETTER. VENDORS.

First things first, I apologize for the delay in doing this...the week after the con, I had perfumery training in NYC for my job and shortly thereafter started having sinus problems....which then segued into a lovely chest cold.  But, I'm 95% healthy now, so I can do this more easily.

Now then, I'm also speechless.  It's no secret that I despise this show.  *Insert usual comment about it being too crowded, too expensive, too unfocused, and too apathetic about the fans here*  It still has problems, but to my utter shock, they've actually taken steps in the right direction this year.  For one thing, I avoided Saturday like the plague and had a FAR less stressful experience (hell on Sunday, I was done in an hour and a half because there were no lines).  For another, they expanded outward into the adjoining Hampton Inn, thus fixing overcrowding of guests.  They got far more horrorcentric guests then i've seen them do thus far.  And they managed to organize it in such a way that almost no line was oppressively long.  It wasn't perfect though...far too much of the program had people in the wrong places and I still think that if you need an exterior tent, you're TOO BIG.  But at least it's improvement.

 

FRIDAY:

I attended Chiller this time, once again, with my friend Rob (my other friend Jeff also joined up midway through the day).  Rob attends for the bootlegs, Jeff for the entertainment of the fans (Saturday's better for that though.  More costumes).  After first swinging over to the vendor room for a few things (I was buying someone a bootleg by request for instance....I do that if one asks nicely...not if someone from Belgium (I believe) anonymously writes on my profile.)  Then we headed to the Romero room.

 

THE ROMERO ROOM:

 

 

One of the smartest things Chiller did this year was expand outward into the Hampton.  By doing that, they basically created a secondary "Pit" FAR AWAY from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the show.  Wisely, they decided to put 90% of the Romero-related guests in this room.  This included George Romero (not pictured) who was super nice as usual (it's not pictured because i'd met him twice before then).  I did have him sign Day of the Dead and took a photo of him with Rob instead.  We also discussed site business.  I think I did okay with it....

 

Also in this room was the same Night of the Living Dead Reunion from Fangoria last summer.  They appeared to all be game as well.  The only member who wasnt in this room was Gary Streiner, the sound guy, who was iin the vendor room pushing the "Living Dead Festival" in Evans City, PA on Hallowen weekend.  Even more NOTLD people will be there as well (I can't make it...anyone else?).  He also hawked an indie film called Autopsy of the Dead which I will be messaging Don about shortly to see if he wants to try and get a pre-screener for review.

 

And there were a few people who weren't in Night of the Living Dead but were in Romero's canon.  This included Eugene Clark (Big Daddy from Land of the Dead).  Me, I went and saw those above.  On the left is Joe Pilato.  You might know him better as Capt. Rhodes from Day of the Dead ("CHOKE ON 'EM!!!!").  Was awesome.  Had my usual convention going friend duo, Maura and Jess been with me, I guarantee he wouldve loved to have gone to the bar after the con.

 

On the right, Lynn Lowry.  Romero-wise, you'd know her from The Crazies.  Otherwise, try...Cat People(remake), Shivers, and maybe Sugar Cookies (it's a Troma movie.  don't ask.  It's decent enough...but theres a weird pointless sideplot that distracts from the very well done erotic thriller.  But I digress...).  She was super nice.  Didn't realize I was waiting for her (she was on a cellphone) and apologized profusely when she did.  Like I said, though it's no big deal.  I mean, we're there for you, not the other way around.  We talked about that great banner in the photo.  She said a fan did it for her and she never expected something as big or well done as that which she got.  I only wish I had a larger shot of it because it really is one of the best I've ever seen at a con.  We talked about how good Sugar Cookies is as a movie (considering its basically a sexploitation erotic thriller....if you cut that stupid side story out).  She also talked with me about the remake of The Crazies which she said she's heard they're going in a different direction with it but that it sounds like they're doing good things with it.  She also mentioned her new indie movies Psychosomaticka, Basement Jack, and Schism (which she wrote, acted, and produced on).  Super nice...I only wish I'd thought at the time to buy a copy of Shivers like I did when I bought a copy of The Crazies from her.

 

After that, we specifically went to get one of the main things I came to the con for:

 

DEAN HAGLUND:

 

 

Dean Haglund, aka Langley of The X Files and the CRIMINALLY underappreciated The Lone Gunmen.  Great to talk to.  Discussed how Lone Gunmen was cancelled too soon.  We also talked about his invention, a laptop cooling device called the Chillpak which one places under their laptop to absorb heat from the running processor, thereby allowing the computer to process and run faster.  The invention went on to win awards and he now sells them at the site I just linked to and at the con.  While I didn't buy one, I did buy his self-penned comic book "Why The Lone Gunmen was Cancelled".  Super cool, easy-going kinda guy.  Now I just have to find a way to meet the other two....

 

Also in the same room was:

 

CORBIN BERNSEN:

 

 

You might know Corbin from...L.A. Law, Masters of Horror:  Right to Die, Psych, Major League, The Dentist, and it's sequel The Dentist 2:  Brace Yourself.  Great guy, we talked about how good he was in The Dentist (he grabbed a poster when I took a picture...his idea.  He does charge extra for a photo, which in some ways I don't understand.  However, I am thankful most people at Chiller this time didn't.  He also charges 60+ dollars to sign a baseball a la Major League.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.  He's a nice guy though, I definitely have no complaints.  (Matter of fact, I'll say here:  Val Kilmer at this con a few times ago is still the worst person I've ever met and I don't know if thatll ever change.)

 

After this we went across the hall to one of the best things Chiller attempted to do this year...

 

ITALIAN INVASION (AKA 30TH ANNIVERSARY ZOMBIE REUNION)

 

 

Last year, Fangoria did a Masters of Italian Horror Panel.  Got Ruggero Deodato, Lamberto Bava, Sergio Stivaletti, etc. (more info here and they're planning to sorta top it this year...with Dario Argento).  So, maybe in response, maybe not, Chiller got 16 different people in or related to Italian Horror.  People like stars of Cannibal Ferox (not pictured), much of the cast of Contamination (not pictured...I SAID IT WAS EXPENSIVE), Luigi Cozzi, and the director of a Lucio Fulci retrospective movie.

 

Non-Zombie wise, not pictured is Malisa Longo, star of Cat in the Brain.  She seemed super nice but there was definitely a language barrier so I decided not to pay for the extra picture after I bought the new awesome version of Cat in the Brain.  Pictured is Cinzia Monreale, star of Fulci's The Beyond.  It really was like Fulcimania.  Zombie Master would've loved it.

 

Zombiewise, we had Ian McCulloch, Al Cliver, and Richard Johnson (not pictured).  See, I didn't want to pay 100 dollars to get a copy of Zombie signed by 4 people....I did, however, decide to get Ottaviano Dell'acqua.  Why you might ask?  When many consider you THE definitive Zombie (see poster in background of him in makeup), you deserve my money.  I also apologize for the yellow photo.  It's a dark retouched.  It was that or horribly blurry.

 

Now....TO THE TENT!  (God I hate saying that...it's like you're relegating a bunch of people to "out back in the yard")....

 

E.G. DAILY

 

If there is ONE thing, besides overcrowding, that I know Chiller for, it's random people who have some odd tenuous connection to horror.  This is a perfect example.  We have E.G. Daily.  You might know her from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  Or as the voice of Tommy Pickles and Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls and Babe of Babe:  Pig In the City.  Or...here it comes....as "Candy" the prostitute in The Devil's Rejects.  E.G. (or Elizabeth) is super nice and is very devoted to her fans.  She also has a musical career as well.  You can add her on myspace here.  (And yes, I know, there are many other....reasons people might add her on myspace.  I don't judge.  lol)

 

DIAN BACHAR

 

 

Again.  Tenuous connection to horror.  You might know Dian from Orgazmo.  Or Baseketball.  Or South Park (voice of Satan's human lover who isn't Saddam Hussein).  He's a close friend of Matt Stone and Trey Parker.  Which also means....again, here it comes...he's in Cannibal The Musical as George Noon!  I highly recommend this movie.  He was super nice and actually didn't even know theyd released the new 13th Anniversary Tromasterpiece version of Cannibal.  I'm glad I was able to provide him with that info so he can get a copy.  Movie should be way more popular than it is.

 

JONATHAN TIERSTEN

 

 

Hey everyone!  It's foul-mouthed cousin Ricky from Sleepaway Camp!  Great guy, we talked about the movie's deserved cult status, it's recent direct sequel (Return to Sleepaway Camp) and the upcoming direct sequel to the direct sequel (Sleepaway Camp Reunion).  Much like Ms. Daily, he also has a musical career.  Definitely appreciative of the fans.  He even complimented our site when he signed the dvd!  Yep.  "Your Sight Is The Best!".  He mispelled site.  Hilarious.

 

MO MELLADY

 

 

Moving back into voice acting for a moment, is that a great shot or is that a great shot.  Perfect angle.  I'd like to mention now btw, that BHM does not necessarily endorse things like Esurance that I might mention in these reports.  This is Mo Mellady, the voice of Erin Esurance and one of the Gorillaz.  If I didn't tell you that that's a cardboard standup, you'd think I photoshopped it in.  Super nice, said the ads are gonna probably be moving back toward spy stuff and away from the musical stuff and star trek stuff they've been doing.

 

Not pictured:  Debi Derryberry.  Voice of Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner.  Hey, I've only got so much money folks in this economy.

 

SUNDAY:

After spending Saturday resting, which was very nice, I headed back down.  How uncrowded was Sunday as compared to a Saturday?  The following pictures were totally done in 90 minutes.  I'm never doing Saturday again unless something insane is that day:

 

DEEP SPACE NINE

 

 

I'm not a huge Star Trek guy.  But my friend is!  So I got some 8X10s signed for him.  This is Rene Auberjonois(Odo), not pictured is Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf).  Dorn actually signed a photo of the Family Guy shot of the whole cast animated from a couple weeks ago (for me anyway....for him I just got each to sign a DS9 related one).

 

BRUCE ABBOTT

 

 

Bruce Abbott, Dr. Cain from Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator.  Super nice.  We talked about how Jeffrey Combs had taken up all the space on the cover of my dvd, relegating his autograph to the bottom of the cover.  Great guy.  His....agent?...bodyguard?...whatever, told me that the star of Braindead may be in Ohio in October for another Con.  That's too far for me, but I'm sure someone out there will get there.

 

MIGUEL NUNEZ JR.

 

 

Miguel Nunez Jr., Spike from Return of the Living Dead...and the lead in Juwanna Mann(I did not know that until the con.  weird).  Said he had just been talking to Linnea Quigley recently.  We talked about how the movie was finally getting the respect and acclaim it deserved.  Appears he was in California a couple days earlier.  Travelling man.

 

JASON LIVELY

 

 

And finally, Jason Lively, Chris from Night of the Creeps!  I can in fact confirm the upcoming October DVD Release and also can say for sure that they're attempting to put serious special features into this.  Lively mentioned that he's been called to do a commentary and that they're gonna attempt to do deleted scenes, etc.  So, at least it definitely won't be bare bones.  I know I'm psyched.

 

And that's Chiller.  A BIG step forward this year, but still far too big for the place it's held and far too expensive....oh and if you're looking for a costume pick?  There weren't really any costumes at the con.  It's that whole Friday-Sunday thing.  Next time, economy and money willing, I'll be doing Fangoria (cruddy notes and panel photos galore!) and Monstermania in Hartford.  Until then, this is Crypticpsych saying....

 

I can't believe how big a line Peter Criss from KISS had.  Family Guy once said "Nobody wants to be Peter Criss, not even Peter Criss". Well, I guess you never underestimate the KISS Army.

It's no secret around this site that I hate Chiller Theatre with a raw seething passion.  It's too many guests in too small a place, autographs and photos INVARIABLY cost 10 dollars more than any other con, and they act like they're a horror con when, even this year with their Zombie 30th Anniversary reunion and NOTLD reunion, they're not and are more of a classic tv, regular tv, music con.

 

Thats why I always will attend, every time I can, my favorite convention, Monstermania.  Usually it's in Cherry Hill, NJ (in March and August), and this year they added a summer show (in June in Hartford, CT).  It's smaller, with all or almost all horror guests, cheaper autographs, and better organization.  9 times out of 10, its run like a well-oiled machine and has guests who respect fans and fans who respect the con and the guests as well.  It's also a very nice, cordial place.  Whereas at Chiller, I don't recommend it to people who don't own shoulderpads, a football helmet, a faceguard, a shield, a medieval lance, a suit of armor, and the ability to breathe fire on random passersby when they inevitably bump you, jostle you, and cut in your lines (but, I digress).

 

So here's my report from the convention March 13th-15th.  This was a little tougher a con because of my finger injury (for those not in the know, I have four stitches in my little finger from broken glass shattering and just WRECKING it) but it was also the best time I've had at a Monstermania because I split a hotel room with my friends Maura and Jess and had so much fun doing that (there is no fun like thin crust Dominos pepperoni pizza at 11PM on a friday with a light buzz) that ill probably do it whenever it is possible/feasible again. I should also mention this con was even BETTER put together than usual since they'd basically segregated the celebrities in two rooms before the ticket room and put all the vendor rooms beyond the ticket window.  Helped flow and traffic a ton.  On we go:

 

FRIDAY:

 

CAROLINE WILLIAMS:

 

 

Caroline Williams talked with us about two things mainly.  First, about playing Stretch Brock in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and the cult following the film has gotten.  And that...thing sitting over our shoulder.  Yep, Caroline Williams will be playing Dr. Maple in Rob Zombie's Halloween 2.  She said there are a lot of things she knows about the story but cant say of course because theyre still filming.  Also, she said her script when she got it was looked over by a psychiatrist (as Maple is a psychiatrist) and he had to have them rework the lines because he'd never talk that way.

 

After this, we met with Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango of Sci Fi channel (I refuse to type their new damn abbreviation)'s Ghost Hunters.  I'm personally not an avid viewer, but I freely admit I like that the show takes a skeptical look at the whole phenomenon and really does appear to be quasi...halfway...scientific about it.  Steve was just like he was when we saw him at Fango in June last year.  Seemed inconvenienced to be there.  Blah about the whole thing.  Dave on the other hand was talkative, lighthearted, friendly, and genuinely seemed happy to be there and interested in what the fans were saying.  So watch the show for Dave, not Steve is I guess what I'm saying.

 

PHANTASM REUNION

 

 

Clockwise from top left:  Don Coscarelli (director), Kat Lester (The Lady in Lavender), Reggie Bannister (Reggie, The World's Toughest Ice Cream Man), Bill Thornbury (Jody)

 

I'll talk more about what Don Coscarelli said about such things as Bubba Nosferatu and Phantasm V later when I talk about the panel.  For now:  Coscarelli seems to me to be one of the most genuinely nice directors and overall people I've ever met at these cons.  He answered all our questions, genuinely seeming to care that we understood him or wanting to know what we wanted him to tell us.  He talked about his body of work...Kenny and Company, Jim The World's Greatest, Beastmaster (in particular on that one, how HBO used to show it all the time back in the olden days).  We talked about how great a guy Angus Scrimm is.  How genuinely proper and a true gentleman he is (I should know, I spoke with him for 10 minutes at Fangoria.)

 

Kat Lester talked with us about her famed.....stunt chest....and how it came to pass that it occurred that way.  See, she'd agreed to do the entire lady in lavender scene in Phantasm.  She also had been told it would be a closed set.  And it was "closed"...except for everyone being there on set.  So they got someone else to do it.  You can imagine the fun of sitting next to your mother at the premiere.  Her mother knew though.  Told her she should have done it herself and would have done it better.  Fun story.

 

Reggie Bannister talked with us about my finger.  He was one of four people to do that.  Thatll come up later.  He also talked about the family atmosphere on Phantasm sets.  Great guy.

 

Bill Thornbury talked about how he's recorded the full version of "Sittin' Here at Midnight".  He sells it at cons.  He also happens to be a music teacher now.  He doesn't go out of his way to tell the class his Phantasmic life.  They just kinda discover it on their own.  And when they do, they start mimicking silver balls of death hitting them in the head.  Fun times. 

 

FAIRUZA BALK

 

 

Fairuza Balk talked with us about her work in The Craft, Pick Me Up, and Return from Oz (which I totally didn't know she was the star of until the convention).  We talked about working with Larry Cohen in doing Pick Me Up.  Really really nice and seemed happy to be meeting the fans.  And she's still hot.  There I said it.  Moving on.

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH PT. 2 REUNION:

 

 

Stu Charno(Ted), Amy Steel(Ginny), John Furey(Paul)

 

Stu Charno was Ted in Friday 2.  Ted was weird.  Stu is....Ted.  Seems the role was quite the stretch.  Let me put it this way.  That up there?  That's really his hair.  That's also what he freely chose for his pose.  He sells High Ku.  You know, stoner poetry.  And I'm not showing you the photo he took with Maura and Jess where he grabbed their heads and held them against his own then wouldnt let them go for a few seconds afterwards.  Nice guy.  Abnormally strange, but nice.

 

Amy Steel was super nice.  We talked about my thesis (which I'm nearing completion of the serialization of.  90s and conclusion left).  If I had seen the movie when I wrote it, I definitely wouldve talked about her as a strong protagonist since shes one of the slasher prototypes.  We also talked about her role in April Fool's Day and how good a movie it is.  As a result, she congratulated me on my movie taste.

 

John Furey just seemed genuinely happy to be there and talk with us.  The panel with the other victims that he was a part of later seemed to bear that out, as youll see.

 

ROBBI MORGAN

 

 

Robbi Morgan, Annie the hitchhiker from Friday, was F13's first ever victim.  She was really nice and spoke a lot about how fun it was to work with Tom Savini on her kill.  Also mentioned that shirt.  She said she went to go find clothing for the con and found the shirt seen here that almost matches her movie wardrobe exactly. She got so many comments on it that she wore it all weekend.

 

Not pictured are Betsy Palmer (long line, I was tired), Lance Henriksen (who everyone should meet now for the simple fact that I found out he cut his appearance fee and was planning to not let them pay for his hotel room when he agreed to appear on a weeks notice to replace Tobe Hooper.  Which shows you just how well stars are treated by this con...and how bad Corey Haim mustve been to have the head of the con say (while a Lost Boys trailer aired while they stalled for time) "Oh god, not Corey Haim again".  There were also Jasons and victims and much of the cast of F13 2009.  But thosell come up in the panels.

 

SATURDAY:

 

ALICE COOPER

 

 

This wasnt nearly as rough as Robert Englund.  I did have to wait like 4 hours though.  Avoided sunburn through cloudiness and strategic use of my coat.  Managed to actually read the issue of Rue Morgue I had him sign, cover to cover.  Spoke with people behind me about criminally underappreciated House of Wax remake and Paris Hilton and the brilliant Repo!  The Genetic Opera (now in a midnight screening and possible shadowcasting near you).  I also had him sign a photo for some guys at work.  He was another who asked about my finger, I talked with him about his interview.  I just wish he'd been selling his new album Along Came A Spider.  Had to buy it from Best Buy next day.  Really good.

 

THOMMY HUTSON AND ANTHONY MASI

 

 

These are the producers of the Friday the 13th retrospective documentary "His Name Was Jason", a really good piece that I highly recommend.  We originally met them Friday and then I came back once Id bought a copy in the vendors room.  They actually didnt have any to sell themselves but signed for free, which was nice.  They were fantastic and really enthusiastic.  We talked with them about working with Tom Savini (they've heard the good and the bad stories about Mr. Savini and since I have one of each, that's understandable).  We even saw them Friday night while drinking in the hotel bar.  Super awesome guys, BUY. THEIR. MOVIE.

 

LLOYD KAUFMAN

 

 

You wanna know how great and brilliant a man the head of Troma is?  How kind he is and appreciative of his fans?  He signs tromabilia free (whether you bought it there are not).  He answers all the fan's questions.  And, in my case, he actually reopened his line, just for me, because I'dve gotten in before they closed it (he had to leave at 4), but I was having someone behind the counter sign Poultrygeist(THATS a family.  THATS Troma.).  He also signed my copy of Direct Your Own Damn Movie, with the words "James is a genius" (hell yeah).  Buy that book, and his upcoming in August book, PRODUCE Your Own Damn Movie (as well as upcoming dvds for both).  I also met the director and the writer of Super Tromette Action Movie Go!, a movie Troma is selling that they allowed to be set in the Troma universe.  Whenever I get around to watching it (and you think YOU have a big "to watch" list ZombieMaster..), I'll give my thoughts.

 

There'd be an autograph of Walter Phelan here...Dr. Satan from House of 1000 Corpses and the monster in Fair-Haired Child...but the damn ATM guy couldnt fix the ATM fast enough.  I had to walk all the way down rt. 70 to a pizza place for money, and by the time I got back, he was done for the day.  I guess I'll get it at some other point.

 

PHANTASM REUNION PANEL:

 

 

L to R:  Bannister, Thornbury, Lester, Coscarelli

 

First off:  Phantasm V.  They're trying to get something together for the 30th Anniversary but it hasnt fully come together yet.  Bubba Nosferatu?  No matter how hard they tried, Bruce Campbell will not be donning the Elvis outfit again.  Instead we have an agreement with RON PERLMAN!  Could work.  Other things:  Reggie has no sex scenes and gets the shit kicked out of him in the Phantasm series because 1) it's in his contract (joke) and 2) "This is how I treat my friends".  Also, apparently we don't have Phantasm 2 over here because Universal is still smarting over Anchor Bay buying Army of Darkness from them and doing a bunch of releases.  Kat Lester was never told how she was related until the Tall Man while she was acting.  Mike wasn't in Phantasm 2 as A. Michael Baldwin because Universal told Coscarelli that he could have Bannister or Baldwin, and he chose Bannister.  Don's middle of the road on a Phantasm remake because he feels that it could be improved in someone elses hands, but its also his baby and he wants originality more than the same thing redone.  Coscarelli also said he chooses to do horror because he likes to elicit that reaction from an audience (if you do comedy, for good or bad, for example, the audience laughs at your work).  Fave horror:  Bannister is a Hitchcock guy, Thornbury a Body Snatchers man, and Lester likes The Exorcist.  Coscarelli also mentioned that it was an honor to work with Ossie Davis on Bubba Ho-Tep and that he wished that Ossie could see the following that film generated and attend one of these events.  Oh, and Angus Scrimm wasnt Coscarelli's first thought for the Tall Man.  Reggie was.  But he thought better of it.  MOVING ON

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH KILLERS:

 

 

L to R:  Steve Dash (2), CJ Graham(6), and Richard Brooker(3)

 

These men VOLUNTEERED to be here when they heard they were gathering F13 people.  That's fan devotion.  (Betsy Palmer was sick, so while she was able to sign all day, she'd become to tired for this, which is understandable) Also, the Jasons are kind of like a fraternity (as such they're kinda breaking in and "hazing" Derek Mears.  But in a nice way).  They want to know, also, why the person who plays Jason doesnt get a starring credit (example:  Robert Englund plays Krueger, and his names on the poster.  Jasons usually arent.)  I agree with their logic in that, as they put it, you don't watch these movies to see who he's killing, you watch to see how he kills them.  They talked about how each Jason adds their own moves to the mythos and style.  They ragged on each other of course.  Richard Brooker mentioned (over and over) that the hockey mask was not in the script and was an ad-lib.  He also mentioned he was supposed to kill the final girl in his movie in the original script.  Steve Dash mentioned that he became Jason because Warrington Gilette couldn't do the stunts.  CJ also mentioned how hard the underwater kill was since he kept needing air so often.  And finally, in terms of favorite kills, Dash is a fan of the wheelchair, Graham likes the sheriff.  And we won't mention the drunken idiot who got thrown out for beligerently asking about the remake when no one was talking about it.  ONWARD!

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH VICTIMS:

 

 

L to R: Robbi Morgan (F13 1), John Otrin (F13 7), Judie Aronson (F13 4), VC Dupree (F13 8) surrounded by Camilla and Carey More (F13 4), Amy Steel (F13 2) and John Furey (F13 2).

 

These guys, like the Jasons, continually mentioned how much they appreciate the fans.  Half of these people had never done these before and they really valued our admiration.  Other things:  Robbi Morgan did her own stunts, Judie Aronson nearly got hypothermia filming her death because of how she had to be partially under freezing water for most of it.  John Furey's character, famously with an unknown death, was left to the imagination.  Though in a draft Amy Steel was sent for F13 3 before she turned it down, he died.  So theres the answer to that mystery.  VC Dupree liked the remake, the More twins thought that Crispin Glover was just wildly eccentric, including the famed dance.  And most of them liked their deaths, though one of the More's said she shouldn't have died because she was a good girl in the movie, which is true.  And Amy Steel related how she almost severely injured people on set with Jason's machete in a famous scene because she swung too soon.  NEXT!

 

FRIDAY THE 13TH 2009 PANEL:

 

 

L to R:  Arlen Escarpeta (Lawrence), Derek Mears (Do I really need to say?), America Olivo (Amanda)

 

You can love or hate this movie.  I don't really care.  Personally, I liked it.  But I'll say this.  From meeting these three, and talking to Arlen in particular, I can honestly say these people are genuinely nice people who love the genre, love the fans and have a lot more respect than some might think people in a remake do for the fans.  Derek's actually a big Jason fan but he wisely chose not to look at the past for inspiration and made the character his own.  Arlen is an NES freak and actually has one in his car.  I also found out about a lot of things that were cut.  For example, Jason kills a certain pothead near a pot bush..because when he pees, hes peeing on Jason's or Jason's mothers grave.  That was cut out.  Also, Amanda's death was longer when they made it and they actually trimmed it (shes the bait hanging over the fire) because THEY SAID AUDIENCES WERE LOSING THEIR LUNCHES.  Regarding sequels?  Mears has a two picture deal with Dunes...but he doesnt have to use it on F13 2, and they havent asked him to yet.  He also believes, as do many, that Jason is one of the ultimate victims, not so much a villain.  These three and everyone else seem to have great chemistry.  They still get together all the time.  Tis probably because they actually got them together two weeks early, told them to live it up, and they got to know each other that way.  America also mentioned that the sex scene was ad-libbed in terms of dialogue, but the "closed set", as Derek so beautifully reenacted, was indeed closed.  Except for the grips who kept walking by pretending to drop stuff.  Arlen also mentioned choosing the wok and poker as a premeditated ad lib to pick up the least useful items possible.  Finally, Mears actually called Travis Van Winkle ("Trent") who was supposed to be there.  He's a jackass in the movie, but he's a great guy.  Apologized to everyone.  Answered questions...said that famous line about stupendous tits.....discussed his decidedly revealing attire in Meet the Spartans.  One of the most enjoyable, truly fun panels of them all.  And really, they all were fantastic panels with lots of fun and banter.

 

After that, I had a chicken caesar salad.  No dressing.  And a snickers.  And a can and a half of coke.  It was 1030.  This was so I'd be able to stay up for....

 

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

 

I've never seen this movie.  I went to the shadowcast.  They sold bags of the usual throwing stuff (i'm not a complete dunce here).  Lots of yelling back at the screen as to be expected.  I loved the movie.  I just wish I could've heard half the dialogue over the roar.  lol.  Great fun.

 

And lastly:  Costumes:

RUNNERS UP:

 

 

Anyone can wear slutty clothing and fishnets...whether they should or not....and there were many of both.  But I will always recognize the creativity and work that comes from making your very own Saw Jaw trap.

And that brainzombie...So close, but that brain's so fake looking.  The makeups great, but you could tell it was makeup...which is why he's a runner up.  As opposed to:

 

THE COSTUME OF THE CON:

 

 

Yes really.  I thought it was a mask.  He never moved his face a muscle.  He was PERFECT.  Up close, it was literally like standing next to Frankenstein.  This may be one of the best costumes I've EVER seen at a con.  And it sure made the 4 and a half hour Cooper wait easier.

 

So that's that.  I've actually finished this.  I tried to write it last night, but one of my friends aimed me a link, I open it and firefox go crashy crashy and delete everything.  All you need to know is that if you're in the PA, NJ, DE, NY, etc area, GO TO A MONSTERMANIA.  In Hartford, they've got all the Nightmare people, and they're gonna have Derek Mears and some other....rather evil people (I'd say who but they havent posted them yet...but I do know who).  And as for August...all I will say is itll be hairy.  And awesome.  This is the only con that truly respects its fans and it has my undying dollar and ticket money.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

By comparison, begrudgingly, next up will be Chiller in April.  I'm avoiding Saturday like the plague.  One of two things will occur.  Everyone will buy Sat. tix in advance and Sunday will still be clear, or they'll all move to Sunday and I'll still get screwed.  Either way, at least Friday will go well...if crowded and badly organized...and just generally unfocused.

 

Until next time, this is Crypticpsych saying....

 

...that "a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason......."

*cheesy classical music plays*  Mmmmyessss, hello and welcome to masterpiece theatre.  For I am your host, Chester P. Farnsworth Johanssen Worchestershire III.  Today we will be examining an exhibition at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City on the artistic merit of rich, colorful clothing about beautiful flowers and happiness to understand better that the world is in fact a beautiful, merry place filled with people who are genuinely good, outside and in....*record scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch, sounds of a massive scuffle*.........

 

You know for a wiry guy, he's got a mean right cross.....

 

 

 

*Metal and rock and roll play*  Greetings denizens of the underworld.  Today, I, Crypticpsych, will lead you on a journey through the dark and the macabre that is the "Gothic:  Dark Glamour" exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.  Above, you see the only picture I'm legally allowed to take.   Seriously, photography prohibited.  After entering the building, a friend of mine and I hung a left at the swarovfski crystal dress and happier looking exhibit....and headed down the stairs into the basement of the building, the only appropriate place for this type of exhibit.  Through the doors, we find first a quick examination of the history of Gothic clothing and Gothic style from clothing worn for mourning purposes in Victorian times all the way up through modern usage in general involving infatuation with death and decay and in movies (including a costume from Bram Stoker's Dracula).  Here, i'm going to cheat.  At the end of this, I'll direct you to the exhibition's website since, today was unfortunately the exhibition's final day and I have no idea where it will end up next.  But since it has a website, it means I can technically swipe photos.  So, for example:

A mourning dress from the 1870s, and:

Kambriel's "Midnight Bustle" from 2005.

 

On the wall nearby this, Gothic photography is seen including an interesting piece that appears to be a woman held up by a series of cords and strings off the corner of the photo.  The photo at the beginning of this report was also included, used for the exhibitions program and promotional materials (imagine that hanging from lightpoles on 7th ave.)

 

Now, also in this room is "The Cabinet of Curiusities", a gallery of Gothic accessories from the past and present.  Poison bottles, bottles of laudanum, a human skull obtained from an anonymous donor, a death mask, animal claw brooches, necklaces that seem to be made of bone, bird skull necklaces, gothic crosses, pocketwatches, etc.  For example (since the top hat tatooed with the bat on it isn't working today):

A Bat Belt Buckle from Early 20th Century Europe

 

After taking in the Cabinet, you head into the exhibition proper.  The exhibition itself is divided up into 7 stages in a single room with black walls and minimal light outside of mood lighting (as it should be).  Depending where you enter from, first is "Night".  This part of the exhibition is devoted specifically to the use of the color black in Gothic fashion and the interesting connection that developed between black clothing and elegance, as in the 1400s and 1500s, black dye was expensive.  So we have such modern designs to showcase this point as:

Kazuko Ogawa's "Elegant Gothic Lolita dress", representing Japan's Gothic Lolita style of the 1990s, and:

 

Alexander McQueen's "Hooded Suit and Thorn Necklace" (I particularly like the necklace) from 2007 England.

 

After "Night", we have the "Ruined Castle", depicting Gothic clothing's connection to the ideas of decay and decomposition alongside some pieces that showed the influence of the clothing of priests and nuns in Gothic styles.  Unfortunately, I cannot show you two of the dresses that were shown here, no matter how much I may want to, as they were not in the online version of this.  Both of them were outstanding in that one of them, paraphrasing the placard in front of it, was made to look as though it was decaying to show the layers of clothing beneath, showing the history of Gothic fashion all in one place.  The other was made out of numerous fabrics and materials, including plastic, silk, etc, to create a stunningly elegant flowing dress that also evokes the idea of a dress made out of the dregs of other dresses or even out of the most beautiful garbage possible (yes, I realize how bizarre that sounds, trust me on this one.)  I can, however, show you a dress from this section that showcase French Revolution influence:

 

Christian Dior's Evening Dress and Cross Necklace.  While this photo makes it difficult to see, this dress is based in the writings of the Marquis de Sade.  The Cross Necklace appears to be made out of large metal nails or spikes, while the dress itself actually has an embroidered image of De Sade himself with the quote "Is it not by murder that France is free today?"

 

Moving past "Ruined Castle" along the wall, we enter "Haunted Palace", showcasing more on disintegration and madness.  This section was relatively small and quickly over, so I only have one photo and it's actually of one of my least favorites in the whole show.  But since I liked 90% of them, damnit, I'm allowed one that makes me think "God what the hell were you thinking":

 

Alexander McQueen's Sleeveless Evening Dress from 2001.  It's made with feathers, and those are glass microscope slides on top.  While I freely admit I like the creativity of doing that, it just doesn't work up close.  The placard says it evokes "beauty, horror, and madness".  Well, I'll give them two of those....

Next along the wall we have the "Laboratory".  Ironically, me being a scientist and all, this WOULD BE the one that is not pictured at all on their site.  SO you have to rely on my descriptions.  Basically, this section focused on the fusion of fashion with science.  What do I mean you ask?  Imagine a dress with a piece on back that leads to a separatory funnel and tubing that wraps around the arms.  Or a dress that, in its torso, features what appears to be broken glass with two strategically placed magnifying glasses positioned out over it.  Or shoes that have metal heels that force you to have good posture.  Or a corset of weathered leather stitched and sewn together, a la Frankenstein.  Very interesting and I wish I had a picture because words really can't do it justice.

 

Next, we have "Strange Beauty".  This particular section discusses Gothic as the outsider and points out strange inspirations in some of the clothing.  Not pictured was an amazing piece inspired by Mexico's Day of the Dead.  It featured a skull head and a series of bright, sequiny skulls and macabre images as well as a stocking underneath with fabric bones on it, creating the idea of your body becoming an actual skeleton.  Very original.  But this was also...where my favorite outfit of the whole exhibition was, and one that was perfect for this site.  I give you:

 

Rodarte's "Evening Dress".  Now if I had you guess the inspiration for this for hours, you'd probably never nail it down.  This dress...is inspired by Japanese Horror Movies.  See how it looks kind of like a Japanese kimono in style?  How the black has the distinct feel of long-flowing asian ghost hair?  According to the placard, they even experimented with the dye used to make the red in this dress because they were aiming to nail down "blood in water".  Just an outstanding piece.

 

In the center of the large room, you see the "Cemetary".  It's surrounded by a fence to evoke the cemetary feel, but also because this is where the Gothic fasination with death and decay meets "being fenced in" and claustrophobia.  Corsets and high collars were heavily featured within.  This included an amazing piece that was a corset but also a high collared piece that basically held the head almost completely still.  As well as:

Jean Paul Gaultier's Dress and Neckpiece.  See what I mean?  Claustrophobia and limited head movement.

 

Finally we conclude, with the "Batcave", named after the famed London punk club whose motto was "Blasphemy, Lechery, and Blood".  In the Batcave are offshoots of Goth such as Punk, Cybergoth, Gothic Lolita, etc.  It was set up a 7 windows made of two-way glass.  Every minute or two, the lights would shift for 30 seconds, allowing you to catch what was billed as "a lightning flash" of the clothing.  Innovative...though annoying if you're trying to see everything.  For example:

 

A Cyber Goth ensemble by Dane.  (I liked it actually, though I also think if the wrong person wears it in the wrong context, tis a bad scene), and:

 

H. Naoto's Elegant Gothic Lolita Ensemble with Angry Doll.  Supposedly, this design was actually created with the assistance of the real Gothic Lolita's of Japan's Harajuku district.

 

And thus ends the tour.  Mostly, the clothing was women's fashion, but there was some men's clothing.  Cloaks, capes...the punk stuff for men in the Batcave, but unfortunately, no photos on the site to show you.  Also, as i've mentioned, I was unfortunately only able to see this on the absolute LAST day of the exhibition.  I believe the website of it will continue to be up though for quite some time.  It can be found here, where you can see the pictures which i've posted here and some others.  Also, I'd be remiss to mention that this whole exhibition was put together by Dr. Valerie Steele, author of The Corset:  A Cultural History and Fetish:  Fashion, Sex, and Power.  This piece actually exists because, in I believe August-September, she will be releasing Gothic:  Dark Glamour in book form.  All the pieces in the exhibit will be in this as well as other pieces, and a precopy was at the exhibit.  All in all a fantastic exhibit that, once the book comes out, you too would be able to use to prove that Gothic...and in some ways horror (besides the J-Horror inspired one, one piece was claimed to be inspired by Elvira Mistress of the Dark [I disagree], another by The Wicker Man [definitely agree]) are not ugly, but are darkly beautiful and deep and deserve more respect than outsiders tend to give it.

So I only did Saturday of Sawmania for many reasons.  One was that I've done a lot of conventions this year (Thisll make 7 I think), another was that I was tired from work.  So I hoped to be able to get this whole thing done in one day.  Oh how right I was.  I've never been able to be done with a convention faster than this one and probably couldve been done even faster had an unforseen holdup not happened.  So, by virtue of having a silver pass, I got into the convention an hour early (at 9).  However, I had a feeling itd be crowded, what with it being in Manhattan.  So I hopped a train in at about 714 (later than I wanted), and got there at 830(also later than I wanted.   I was planning on 7). 

 

 

I get in line to get in to the show just before they take all the silver and gold people to the side for early entry.  And that was how, inadvertently, I jumped half the line.  I tried to let everyone in front of me, but when you get a crowd of 20-30 rushing you, its hard to get everyone in front.  This is blvd, the Soho nightclub where the convention was held.  By virtue of the fact that the club is way on the Southside of Manhattan, it was raining, and the economy sucks.......

 

 

There was no one there (for a convention..there were people but the turnout was sad).  The first photo is of the line for Tobin Bell.  There wasn't one.  For a good 20 minutes.  I was no. 2 in line.  People came down the stairs to the room in the second photo where he was signing soon, but in total I waited (once he was there) 0 minutes for a Tobin Bell autograph.  That's unheard of.  (The guy in front of me thought hed be selling 8X10s and taking money down there, thus I took his place.)  The nightclub has this kinda postmodern industrial style to it...every room was kinda darkened and had red lighting...very appropriate for a Saw convention.  They also had the saw movies playing on flatscreens and the soundtrack going over loudspeakers.  After about 20 minutes...

 

TOBIN BELL:

Tobin was great.  He wasn't taking pics with people because of time constraints (I wanna think the people doing the show put them on him since there were so few people there for a convention on a Saturday it was sad).  I asked him if he ever thought that the role would become what it became at the beginning, to which he said they really had no clue even as they made Saw 2 and now he finds it fun!  After that I headed upstairs and got a second autograph ticket to go with the one I'd bought in advance for....

 

SHAWNEE SMITH:

Shawnee was super nice.  Total wait:  10 minutes.  (again, unheard of.)  I mentioned how I was able to write about the arc her character takes from Saw 1-3 in my thesis (haven't reached that part in serializing yet).  I also feel I should mention her current reality show, Scream Queens, on VH1 (where they look for an actress for Saw VI), and that she has a band called Smith & Pyle alongside fellow actress Missi Pyle.  Here's their myspace and website.  Have a look...it's kinda a country-folk-southern rock thing.  Pretty good music I think.  After that I headed to see...

 

BEVERLEY MITCHELL:

 

Total wait:  0 minutes (I said this was crazy easy.)  Beverley and I talked about the fact that her character's name (Laura) isn't really mentioned in Saw 2.  Like the victims are less the focus than Jigsaw and his philosophy on life.  She said she actually had to talk to the directors and writers because she had a feeling she'd need to know it for press things and conventions, etc.  She was great, energetic and seemed to be happy to be there and meet the people.  Then I headed back out front for:

 

COSTAS MANDYLOR:

This photo was at a terrible angle.  Total wait....wait for it....0 minutes.  Costas was a great guy...this photo's at kinda an awful angle because he's a huge guy and also the guy taking the photo was tall so I'm looking up at the camera.  I've heard rumors about him getting a bit tipsy at the party the night before.  He seems kinda like a guy who's glad he's got this guaranteed 4 picture deal the film gave him.  He was basically the host of everything from a tattoo contest to the parties each day.  So at this point...it's 1030.  I've done these 4 people in 1 hour.  Have I made it clear how INSANELY fast that is?  That left one other person:

 

BETSY RUSSELL:

Total wait...2 hours 40 minutes.  But I'm not mad about that (truth be told, I was mostly mad I forgot to bring Everything's Eventual...though I finished that this morning.)  Her flight had gotten screwed up so she had to catch a red eye and they let her actually get sleep which was nice of them.  She didn't get there till 1230, when she went to do the Q&A that was going on.  I have no report on that because I was in too good a spot in line for her.  I was on a couch and I was not gonna give that up when the line went crazy long.  I spent the two hours watching cartoons and Mythbusters on my Ipod.  And watching the guy next to me play Castlevania on his DS.  All and all, everyone was great and it was a good little convention.

 

There were problems though.  False advertising for one.  Betsy Russell being delayed so badly not withstanding, then there was the Scream Queens people (who I didn't care about) who rumor has it were supposed to be there at 430.  I was gone by 130.  Then there was the egregious error of the Saw Bathroom.  All the info said "Get your photo taken in the saw bathroom."  What they mean is:  HEY we've got a green screen.  Lie down, and we'll photoshop you into a photo of the bathroom badly.  That'll be 10 bucks.  (Um...no.)  They had a bunch of supposed contests they were going to do and trivia games...that didn't happen.  So while the celebs were nice, it wasn't much more than that.  Except for....

 

SAW PROPS:

I kinda tried to pick the best of the best of what I got.  There were a lot of tapes and a few other random things but at least I tried to go recognizable with what I presented here.  In picture order, you can see:  Release button from Saw 4, Saw from Saw, Syringes from the syringe pit in Saw 2, the one and only reverse bear trap from Saw, Jigsaw's blood soaked pillowcase and hair from Saw 3, a key used in the tunnel trap in Saw 5, Jill's keys from Saw 5, Jigsaw's syringe from Saw 5, a prosthetic appliance used in the pendulum trap from Saw 5, Jigsaw's last will and testament from Saw 5, Strahm's key from Saw 4, Jill's dress after the events of Saw 4, Dr. Gordon's foot, a fatman prosthetic I don't remember, Billy the Puppet (the icon), the trap Strahm ends up in at the beginning of Saw 5, and the chair and prosthetic "corpse" of the chain man from Saw 3.  (Phew)

And thus, after that, I headed out.  I was not about to wander around doing nothing for hours to go to the (rumor has it) ridiculously overpriced bar at the after party.  I was home by 430.  It was a very good convention for what it was and I'm thankful that I finally got to meet all these people (particularly Bell and Smith (who cancelled from two separate shows I was gonna go to.)  And thus I have no conventions...for about 4 months.  Before Monstermania with its Tobe Hooper and Fairuza Balk (sweeeet) and a massive Friday the 13th series reunion in March.  They may never do this one again since it was such low turnout, but I'm glad I was there for it when it happened if this was the only time and it was money well spent.

 

Until next time this is Crypticpsych with a final thought:  If you're going to hold your convention about the industrial gritty styled Saw movies at a trendy nightclub dimly lit and with an industrial architectural style with Saw music playing and Saw on tv screens, then....

 

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TAKE DOWN THE FREAKING DISCO BALLS!

 

I will never attend this convention on a Saturday again.  There I said it.  Fridays and Sundays for me.  Other conventions, they can handle Saturdays.  Like Fangoria and Monstermania.  Chiller unfortunately still hasn't grasped the concept that the hotel in which they hold it is TOO SMALL and that their physical setup is TOTALLY disorganized.  Let me explain:  Chiller puts "big people" in "the pit".  In that pit, it's like barely controlled chaos.  Lines intersect, people mill and cut.  The crazed Saturday version is not something I'd wish on anyone.  They then splinter the rest of the guests into 7-9 separate smaller rooms and a tent in the back of the building.  Methinks if you need to do that, you have too many people.  And that doesn't include the massive dealer room.  Doesn't mean I don't have stories and pictures though.  But from now on, if I do this convention again, it ain't gonna be on Saturday unless they have something really special that day.

 

Oh and one other point:  As you'll learn very quickly, this convention has NO IDEA what it is.  It's website has a blood red background, and they like to pretend to be a horror convention, but last I checked, the cast of Welcome Back Kotter wasn't really horror...Ralph Macchio wasn't horror....Erik Estrada wasn't horror....etc.  So I took pictures with who I wanted to (not those people who I mentioned.  This convention also tends to charge more for stuff and usually doesnt have celebrities who will take free photo ops.  Thus while I may have wanted Ralph Macchio or Jeremy Bulloch (The original Boba Fett) that didnt happen).  Even that failed since, as usual quite a few people didn't show (like Andrew Divoff of Wishmaster fame which I really wanted).  Oh and...no panels.  They don't really do panels.  Even if they did, they'd probably mess them up.  So yeah, here's my quasi-random exploits:

 

FRIDAY:

At this moment, I'd like to thank my friend Rob for attending with me to pick up some bootlegs for himself and taking the Friday photos you'll see below.  Now then:  After we hit the vendors room for many things (a few of which I'll disclose later), we headed to the pit.  On Friday, it's easier to do the line for the biggest celebrity because it doesn't go out into and around the hotel's courtyard.  So we only had to wait about an hour for:

 

LESLIE NIELSEN:

 

Leslie was great to talk to.  I told him it was hard to pick something for him to autograph since he had been in so many good things.  He appreciated the compliment and also appreciated Rob telling him that he liked his narration work in An American Carol.

 

FABIANA UDENIO:

 

I believe I once said on this site something along the lines that Chiller tends to get the people who no one knows...and simultaneously, everyone knows.  Example above.  This is Fabiana Udenio.  You know her better as Allota Fagiana from Austin Powers.  Or, if you're a fan of forgotten horror sequels, Dr. Hill's girlfriend in Bride of Reanimator.  She was really nice and still looks good considering Austin Powers was something like 10 years ago.  I asked her about my favorite subject:  censorship.  Namely how cable censored her character's name into Alotta Clevage because apparently we can't have the chill'ens hearing the name of the female no-no part.  She said they actually filmed it that way and planned it (the dubbing I mean) since they assumed it would have to be cleaned up for the basic cable folks. She was seated next to Kelly Jo Minter.  Why do I mention this?  She's from Nightmare on Elm Street 5.  I love the series, and I have no idea what role she played.  I'm not insulting her mind you, really.  But I gotta say...what the heck was she doing out here while Ed Asner was in a room with a bunch of people no one really cared about?  Again...organization.

 

I'd also like to randomly point out my awesome Return of the Living Dead shirt that I got at the last convention.  Ahem...MOVING ON:

 

DANNY WOODBURN:

 

Danny Woodburn was Angelo the Rhinette in Death To Smoochy (my interest) and was also featured in Seinfeld (which might be yours).  Was really cool.  Surprisingly, he hasn't been given any 8X10s from Death to Smoochy.  Says he's asked for them many times but they just won't give them to him.  This is actually the second attempt.  The first time, his Starbucks cup was in the shot and he didn't want to do the accidental endorsement.  He also got the Robert Englund treatment (meaning they put him next to Corey Haim).  Haim seemed to be better this time though.  He still took a ton of smoke breaks though.

 

GEORGE KENNEDY:

 

George Kennedy, star of numerous films like The Naked Gun and Creepshow 2.  He's a good guy.  His agent charges too much but he's a good guy who I still have a lot of respect for.  I think I was also pretty angry about how they set this up.  See, this isn't in the pit.  This is a room off the courtyard.  A very small one with Erik Estrada, Angie Dickinson, Linda Evans, and Morgan Fairchild.  I have never seen so many people in such a small place.  I'm shocked I didn't suffocate.  Erik Estrada might deserve that treatment, but not the other four.  This is why I don't like this con so much.

 

TIFFANY SHEPIS:

 

And this is why one does go to this con:  Tiffany Shepis from numerous movies including Nightmare Man and also formerly known as Super Tromette Dyslexia (hence why I had her sign my two volumes of Edge TV).  Shepis had a roll of stickers and was giving them to everyone.  There was a sign saying something along the lines of if you don't take a sticker the terrorists win.  Awesomely hilarious.  And, AND....she signed and took photos for free.  I know.  Shocking isn't it.  No one else at the whole con did it.  Shows a lot of respect for her fans.  She's definitely one of my favorite guests of the convention.

 

RON LESTER:

 

And now:  Ron Lester.  Remember when I said you wouldn't recognize people?  You REALLY won't recognize him.  Want some help?  Tack on 340 pounds.  Ron Lester was Reggie Ray in Not Another Teen Movie and Billy Bob in Varsity Blues)  He was an awesome guy, totally enthusiastic and appeared to be game for anything.  A great guy who also seems to be thankful and appreciative of his fans.

 

And now something more this site's speed:  WEDNESDAY 13:

 

Rocker Wednesday 13, of the albums Bloodwork and Skeletons.  Pretty chill guy.  Found out from his security or agent that the interview that introduced me to him on Rue Morgue Radio was done with Wednesday 13 in a parking lot.  Cool.  He autographs with just a W13.  I think I nailed the appropriate facial expression.  And he had an equally awesome shirt to mine (that's Johnny Cash flipping off the camera).  Which brings us to:

 

SATURDAY:

Just me and my abbreviated shirt o' 3000 filthy words and phrases shirt now.  Not pictured are me meeting up with Erin Brown again as well as Erika Smith (both from one of my favorite independent movies, Sinful) and Darian Caine.  Is pictured after TWO HOURS OF ANGER INDUCING PIT WAITING:

 

LINDA HAMILTON:

 

Linda Hamilton of Children of the Corn and Terminators 1 and 2.  This took more work and patience than you know. Imagine a rectangle.  Put Ms. Hamilton at one corner.  Then draw a line.  Going to each other corner in succession.  That's the line to her.  Now draw lines from the sides randomly bisecting it of other people's lines that started to cut in and hold the line up.  Took TWICE as long as it probably should have and was one of the most mishandled things I HAVE EVER SEEN.  But thankfully, Ms. Hamilton was awesome.  She was really enthusiastic.  Explained that the corn crucifixion at the end of Children of the Corn was uncomfortable but easier than it looked since they gave her footrests.  And we got into a minor discussion about how digital cameras take the review photo away too quickly.  She was great and seemed both enthusiastic and understanding about how annoying that long wait was.  A great ending even if it was unforgivably near-impossible to get there.

 

Two other special points:

1)  COSTUMES OF THE CON:

 

 

In order:  Ray Finkle Dolphins jersey (Ace Ventura originality there.  Gotta love it.  LACES OUT!), A Blackwater operative (used to be politically relevant..., Ghostbuster with actual autographed proton pack (proton pack's the only reason he's here), and Kid Rock (No, it's not really him.  He looks A LOT like him though.  He's just too tall.  Rob and I actually saw him swimming in the hotel pool on Friday and we really thought it might be the actual Kid Rock in town for a concert).  Not pictured:  The girl I saw from behind who was wearing a black thong and no bra.  Instead she had a wolf pelt.  The head was on her head, and I think the arm went over her breasts.  So my apologies to the men reading this...and maybe the women for all I know.  BUT:  The costume of the convention is:

 

 

REALISTIC BOBA FETT!  This gets it for its relevance to the presence of Jeremy Bulloch at the convention and it's detail.  (Note the missiles on the jet pack, the gun, and the slightly visible electrical message board on the chest.)  Outstanding.

 

and Finally, 2)

 

CRYPTICPSYCH'S DISCOUNT DVD TUTORIAL:

 

 

Here we have three photos:

A)  Grindhouse:  In this photo you see the two American two-disc grindhouse releases.  They were 10-13 dollars if memory serves, each.  Now, you can get them at 7.50 or 6 each at Target.  You also see, on the right, a bootleg I bought for 15 bucks.  It contains the Grindhouse theatrical cut and a bonus disc from the famed elusive Japanese 6-disc box set.  They even have the JAPANESE MENUS INTACT!  (I can figure out what they mean either by context or from the info on the dvd cover.)  Now:  That's roughly 45-48 dollars for the whole 6-disc set that is in Japan (the other 4 for them are our two 2-discs).  Now, it can be 26-29 bucks.  If I was to say...order the original from Japan, it'd cost however much the yen to dollar exchange would be...AND overseas shipping.  Do it yourself is always best.

 

B) You Can't Do That on Television:  (yes, I know a bootleg of Nekromantik is also in this photo.  It was 15 if anyone cares and has all the extras of the original foreign release.)  The You Can't Do That bootleg cost me 35 bucks.  It has menus, and good quality eps.  I believe they're taped off a vhs, which most of these bootlegs are.  If I'm reading the first disc right, this contains every season after 1984, or about 6 YEARS of episodes.  For 35 bucks.  I defy you to find that much of ANY series at that price.  (yeah I know, quality isn't dvd perfect, but when no one's gonna get off their butt anytime soon and make a legitimate release, sometimes you gotta make the sacrifice.) (EDIT:  OK, I'm still happy with my purchase, but I just examined the disks.  I got Eps 53-90. Not six years...more like two years.  And two additional classic eps.  This is what happens when you don't use a bootlegger you trust.  I may at some point try and obtain the whole series.  Or more than what I got here.  What screwed me up is the first disc has 10 eps.  He showed me that.  Not four of the other five that only have as little as 4.  So for now, I'm happy.  But if I see someone who legitimately has the whole series or DAMN CLOSE, I'm going with that.  I still heartily recommend bootleggers though.  And this very well may be the best I can do as The show is exceedingly rare.)

 

and C)  Ultimate Versus:  (Also got some midnite movies there including the spectacularly hilarious Food of the Gods and some classic Vincent Price, but Versus it the real star here.)  Say you want to buy Versus.  Usually you can go to...say Best Buy.  Maybe you can pull a 30 dollar deal.  Maybe a 40.  Or maybe you get the white dvd that is basically the simpler extras, etc for about 20 or 25.  This is the Ultimate Steelbook.  The one that would cost 30 to 40 bucks.  It cost me 20.  Because I bought it direct from the Tokyo Shock companies table since it's their release.  (I'dve bought Tokyo Gore Police, but that got pushed back to January, so they don't have it.)  Big time discount, no coupon.  And it's brand new.  So my general point is, if you know what you're doing, there are serious deals in bootlegs and regular dvds at conventions.  Use them to your advantage if you can (Rob picked up Are You Afraid of the Dark's 6 season run for 25, the criminally short run of FreakyLinks for 15, the show Monsters for 25(I think) and The Head MTV tv movie for 10. (Discount cuz he bought freakylinks from the guy earlier.  Great deals, none officially totally released in the US.)

 

So in conclusion:  Chiller is disorganized and horribly overcrowded particularly on Saturdays.  Outside of the novelty of most of their guests and the outstanding vendor room deals, there is very little I can recommend about this GENERAL convention.  It's still worth a look, but A) not near as good as ANY other con, and B) not even worth trying on Saturday unless someone amazing is there.  And now to rest for two weeks before what I'm sure will be a BARREL OF LAUGHS....Sawmania in Manhattan.  Thank God I'm going two days.  I can only pray that Sunday will be easier, but it being NYC I doubt it.

 

This is Crypticpsych saying:  LONG LIVE THE BOOTLEGGERS!

 

-Well honey, what do you want to do tonight?

-We could go see that musical about the movie that most people only saw when they were REALLY stoned!

 

After digging around frantically for five minutes to find a digital camera I didn't even use, and then driving around New Brunswick, NJ for a place to park, I am proud to say that I did see a performance of THE TOXIC AVENGER:  THE MUSICAL at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ where it will continue to play until November 2nd and then will move on probably to places currently unknown.  The play is many things.  For one thing, at least here, it's a charitable donation set up for the Edison Wetlands Assocation of Edison, NJ.  (hence the two girls in toxic waste spattered bunny outfits at the door.)  The play is also just as manic and madcap as the movie it's based on and the film company that originally believed in that movie.

 

I had seats far left second row.  (I couldve had front row, probably should have....I didnt know how large the stage would be.  Had I done front row, I'dve been able to interact possibly with the actors since they came off the stage a few times.)  Now then.  For those who don't know, The Toxic Avenger is the heartwarming cult classic story of a 90 pound weakling who is picked on by bullies and popular kids until he is inadvertently thrown into a bucket of toxic waste, becoming THE TOXIC AVENGER!  As such, he crusades against evil, violently murdering criminals while protecting little Tromaville, NJ from evil and falling in love with a hot blind woman named Sarah.

 

That's the movie anyway...Play's a bit different.  The play is the story of how Melvin Ferd the Third, the 90 pound weakling and secret admirer of blind hot librarian Sarah, attempted to save Tromaville from the evil polluting mayor and was duped by her flunkies into believing she'd help the cause.  In reality she has said goons beat him up.  They throw him in a barrel of waste, bringing the avenger to life.  He then tears them apart and rescues Sarah from danger but has to hide his mutant murderous ways from her seeing as she's a pacifist.  Meanwhile, the mayor lurks trying to take The Avenger out and pollute the planet.  Will she succeed?  Will Sarah love Toxie for who he is come what may?  Will Melvin's mother ever respect him?

 

The play is fantastic on every level.  Stagewise, it's performed in the midst of numerous waste barrels that open, close, and turn to form various pieces of scenery (library, science lab, barbershop, mayor's office, toxic waste dumping site, etc.)  There's also a very good house band who performs from just above the waste area as part of the stage, providing the music for the show.  No orchestra here folks.  Violence and sex are of course plentiful (no nudity, of course, just to make that clear).  We're talking arms, spleens, legs, heads, intestines being removed.  The lines are all fantastic as are numerous styles of physical comedy (example:  During a love song, Sarah walks off the stage, out the theater, around the back, and comes in through the opposite door, singing and blindly oblivious the whole way.)

 

Songwise, the music is great with the lyrics being hilarious.  Songs include "Who Will Save New Jersey?", "Thank God She's Blind", Hot Toxic Love", "Kick Your Ass", and the immortal classic "Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore".  It's also impossible to single one person out for a good performance.  Nick Cordero makes a brilliant Toxie while Audra Blaser's Sarah is a great package of hotness, humor, loyalty, and kindness rolled into one.  Nancy Opel nails a minor role as a nun before knocking roles as the Mayor and Melvin's mother out of the park.  This includes the afforementioned "Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore" in which she basically sings with and gets into a fight with herself, singing as both the Mayor and Melvin's mother ("I can't even see her coming in here and talking to me....ITD BE IMPOSSIBLE!").

 

And lastly but DEFINITELY not least:  David Josefsberg and Demond Green as White Dude and Black Dude.  Never have two roles been so unbelievably oversimplified in a program.  Josefsberg and Green (over the course of the play) play:  Two toxic cleanup workers, the goons Bozo and Sluggo, old ladies, a mugger, a folk singer, various cops, the citizens of Tromaville, a scientist, a doctor, Sarah's best friends, Lorenzo and Lamas the hairdressers, garbage men, and members of a lynch mob.  And I'm probably forgetting something.   They deserve a standing ovation every night.

 

Overall, I can't give this a higher recommendation.  Like when I first saw Evil Dead the Musical in New York City at the New World Stages, it may have been based on a previous movie, but it's original enough to feel like something totally new.  Having seen the movie beforehand just allows one to get even more out of it.  Two thumbs way up and I recommend anyone who can get to New Brunswick before the end of the month go see it.  Tickets cost roughly 55-80 dollars depending on where your seat is.  Also:  Attending on October 30ths 8PM show will get you into a special post show party with Toxic drink specials, and an appearance by Lloyd Kaufman.  Halloween night will be a Halloween performance where showing up in costume can win you FABULOUS PRIZES!  Visit either linkor link for more info (and in the case of the first link to listen to samples of six songs from the show!)

And now for a final thought, here's a word from Uncle Lloyd:

 

 

Hello. 

Before we begin, I should point out this will be different from the other site report.  For one, Fangoria is panel structured.  Monstermania has panels, but fewer of them.  Also, because of what happened Saturday, I missed all but one panel and all but one screening.  But that's ok, most were simple Q&As.  Also, Monstermania (rightfully in my opinion) tends to believe in free photos with celebs once you buy their autographs.  No tickets needed.  So lots of my freakish (heh) mug with famous people.  And, as a result of that difference, don't expect tremendous things like I did with each of the panels before.  While the signings were cool, I don't have paragraphs of material from them.  Still, as I've said before, I love this convention.  At it, the celebrities really seem to be glad to be there and the convention generally respects the fans. (with one notable exception.)  Oh, and I might mention things I got signed.  Hope no one minds.  So here we go.

 

FRIDAY

Remember kids.  Friday is always best for a convention like this.  Lines are short to non-existent in most cases, and the vendors have primo stock.  I NEVER had to wait more than about 5 minutes (but OH would I pay for that on Saturday).  Away we go:

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET REUNION FOLKS FOR FRIDAY:

We have:  Penelope Sudrow(nightmare 3 "Jennifer Caulfield"..."Welcome To PRIME TIME BITCH!"), Brooke Theiss (Nightmare 4 "Debbie Stevens"...Roach Motel), Lisa Wilcox (Nightmares 4 and 5 "Alice Johnson"), Rodney Eastman (Nightmares 3 and 4 "Joey Crusel"...the topless women), and Lin Shaye (Original Nightmare (Teacher) and New Nightmare (Nurse with Pills)).  I also met up with Heather Langenkamp again.  But I already took a photo with her before so I sub that in here. (MY GOD...THAT HAIR....*cough*...never mind.)

So  Some of the people from the movie hadn't arrived yet (as you'll see on Saturday's group).  In general, all were awesome.  Sudrow asked for my email so she could get a copy of the picture.  Hasn't emailed yet, but I'll give it to her when she does.  Theiss, Wilcox, and Eastman were all genuinely nice.  Shaye was cool too.  Commented on her clothing chose.  Seems bright, fun, and cheerful doesnt it?  All were a bit surprised because the entire Nightmare group were in the room next to the Anchor Bay Booth...and Anchor Bay likes audience participation.  Over a microphone.  Thankfully I'd seen it before and was able to explain it to them.  Langenkamp was there for this and to promote her new directorial move in an upcoming anthology film called "Prank".  She, Ellie Cornell, and Danielle Harris (Halloweens 4 and 5) each directed a component.  I wanted to go to their panel early Saturday...but I was in a line.  Still, it sounds awesome.  I also inadvertenly minorly smudged an autograph I got from her.  She responded (awesomely) by putting her thumb in the smudge saying "now you've got my thumbprint".  Cooooool.

 

CORALINA CATTALDI-TASSONI:

 

Coralina Cattaldi-Tassoni of Demons 2, Opera, and most recently, Mother of Tears.  Super awesome.  I will come back to Mother of Tears in Saturday.  As for Ms. Cattaldi-Tassoni, she signed things for free if you bought an 8X10.  So i have an awesome Mother of Tears one with Argento doing his trademark, namely being the killer's hands.  Also, as a testament to her greatness, notice the open cell phone on the table.  When I walked up, she was on the phone.  I didn't mind and wouldve let her finish her call, but she actually put the person on hold and did my autograph.  Really nice.

 

JASON MEWES:

 

This is me...cheating again.  I've met Jason 3 times now, and I got a photo the first time, so I figured, why keep pestering for that.  Anyway.  Fact:  Apparently Jason's publicist doesn't know how to spell his name.  His poster (with photo of Jay) said he was (not kidding) "Jasen Mewes".  They had added red marker to turn the E into an O....sorta.  How do you mess that up, in THAT way?  He was super nice.  I was at the convention with my friends from Fangoria Con.  Jason had a hilarious conversation with one of them.  All in all, his usual awesome self.

 

KANE HODDER:

 

Somebody give me an acting gig.  lol.  This is actually the culmination of a mistake at my first con two years ago, Fango Secaucus 06.  At that con, Kane was there for Hatchet.  At the time, I didnt realize celebrities could charge (at that con, most I saw werent.)  So I saw a 25 dollar charge and said heck no.  Then.  Now, I'm not an idiot.  So here I am with Kane Hodder.  We got into a discussion about how Jason is similar to James Bond since so many people have played him (CJ Graham was next to him for example.)  He said he thought CJ did a great job as him and that each one brought their own thing.  He...also signed my copy of Hatchet with the word "Jason", but I think he was going on autopilot and its still cool either way.

 

A. MICHAEL BALDWIN:

 

Mike from Phantasm.  It goes well with Angus Scrimm's autograph from fango.  Great guy.

 

JOHN KASSIR:

 

You know those moments in life that you know are really important to you?  This is one of three from this con.  John Kassir, voice of The Cryptkeeper, Buster Bunny, and Santa's Little Helper.  (plus a stampede of wild animals Bart once unleashed.  Apparently you make a lemur sound by blending a Cat with a Raccoon.  The more you know.)  He slipped in and out of the Cryptkeeper voice FAR easier than I expected which was awesome.  For 25 dollars he'd also do your voicemail as Cryptkeeper or Buster Bunny.  We also talked about his acting episode of Tales from the Crypt, Oil's Well That Ends Well.  He talked about how much he liked doing it, how they incorporated the Cryptkeeper laugh into his character.  He also told me (I did not know this) that one reason they did that was that they thought it was one of the last eps.  But the show was picked up for another season shot in England.  Great guy.

 

JEFFREY COMBS:

 

This is the second one.  Jeffrey Combs, Dr. Herbert West (among many other things).  It occurs to me now, I really should have had him sign "The Black Cat" episode of Masters of Horror (as well as the Re-Animator he signed for me) so that i could continue my Masters quest.  Either way he was great.  We talked about his most recent role, that of the "Geek" in the Wizard of Gore remake.  He hasn't seen it yet.  I told him how much I liked it and asked him about his role and how they did it.  (As the geek, he bites off a rat's head and sticks his tongue in maggots and eats them)  He said the maggots were rice.  Also asked me if they'd CGI'd them so they looked like they were moving on his tongue.  I said, if they did it was barely noticeable as such, which is a compliment compared with a few bits of CGI in the film.  Also, while I was there, an employee brought him drinks from the bar.  Hilarious response when he tried it and saw its strength.  This is actually the second attempt.  The first photo was hilariously interfered with by.....

 

JAKE BUSEY:

 

Jake Busey of Starship Troopers and The Frighteners.  Jake was at the table next to Jeffrey and was messing with him (makes sense as they were both in Frighteners).  Their chemistry rivals that of Malcolm McDowell and Udo Kier at another con I went to who were sniping each other over their makeup and showing each other stuff they were signing. Awesome.  Also wrote "Got 1 More than Starkweather" on the dvd which is supercool (if you get the reference that is).

 

Not Pictured:  Derek Mears (new Jason from Friday remake).  Seemed super nice, but I just didnt have time;  The Lost Boys Reunion:  I'm sorry if you like the movie, but I've never seen it so I didnt spend the money on it.  My apologies if that disappoints you.  But speaking of the Two Coreys (who were there)

 

HOTEL BAR:

 

See?  Friends from Fangoria, Maura and Jessica (thanks again guys.)  It should be noted the next day I also ran into the folks from the Fangoria ice cream party.  lol.

 

Who else you ask?  Well that's where the Two Coreys come in.  The guys on my left and right are security guards.  The guy in front...is Corey Haim's assistant.  And thus, the one notable exception.  Corey Haim, from all I've heard, was not ideal.  He had a habit of leaving over and over to smoke packs of cigarettes, he was continually sipping his coffee cup (interpret as you will), he probably drove the other guy signing in the room nuts (more on that in a moment), and he lost it at one point.  See, Corey Feldman and his wife were elsewhere (smart).  But when someone mention in Haim's line that he had gotten her to sign her Playboy, Haim flipped out that she was there and signing, left the room, was seen gesturing pretty hardcore outside, then came back and did everything in his power to pretend to be happy etc.  Not Cool man.

 

I should also note, that this is far better than Fangoria's idea.  I just pay for the drink.  I don't pay extra on my ticket.  And after autographings close, the celebs filter through.  I saw the Nightmare reunion group, Coralina Cattaldi-Tassoni, the Lost Boys Reunion, Kane Hodder, and Derek Mears all passing through and ripe to have a photo taken if you were nice to them (i'd imagine).  Rather than stay to watch a midnight showing of Nightmare 3, I was tired and left sooo.....

 

SATURDAY:

 

THE LINE AND THE BURN:

 

Welcome to the first 5-6 hours of my Saturday, through which I missed the Prank Panel and Q&As for Jake Busey and Jason Mewes.  Where was I?  Outside.  In line.  I never even went inside.  Here we see the people who kept me sane in that line.  Not sure of the names of the two on the left.  They left when the wait crossed about 4 hours.  On the right (I think...) we have Heather and John.  Having people to discuss movies/remakes etc. with was invaluable in getting me through the wait.  Mostly the line moved at slow increments.  Took 2 hours to get shade (at least.  and me with no sunscreen, I got a minor burn).  I also didn't bring my book, even though it occured to me.  Heather was the smart one who did.  lol.  Also, a vendor came around at one point and doled out free comic books.  I got a copy of Ghost Rider.  Very smart of them.  The line stalled (while under the awning thank god) for an hour and a half while the person took a lunch we had been told about 45 minutes earlier (not his fault, he cares for his fans, thus he wanted to make sure they were all served).  Similarly, the previous night, Heather and John were shut out of autographs when the signing closed with 10 people in front of them.  (the person signing had been doing so for 5 hours, no breaks.  Definitely understand).  So.  Who was all this for?

 

ROBERT ENGLUND:

 

Now that's a photo.  I could've gotten my tongue out more though...I kinda look like I'm rolling my eyes.  Englund was awesome.  Highlights of his fans:  one person tried to get him to sign a Jason mask.  Don't know why, don't do it.  (he won't.  it's not his place.)  Another had him sign her arm.  She's going to get the signature tattooed on (AWESOME).

Corey Haim was also being annoying as all hell  (Englund was the guy I pitied for having to be in the room with him).  Random loud comments  when Robert would switch to Freddy voice (which is just as great as you'd think.)  You could tell Robert was really annoyed.  Englund also was selling various charms and actually, the backplate to the Freddy pinball machine (150 dollars).  I had him sign my box set along the side (he didn't like the effect because it meant they had to be together to read the signature...sorry about that mr. englund, just trying to be economical).  I also had him sign Dance of the Dead.  We got into a discussion about how I'd seen people bash it and didn't know why to which he wondered how people could bash Richard Matheson.  Awesome.  Oh. and...quoting:  "You got tongue, that's for the refrigerator!"

 

NIGHTMARE REUNION SATURDAY FOLKS:

 

We have:  Andras Jones (Rick Johnson of Nightmare 4...invisible karate), and Toy Newkirk (Sheila Kopecky of Nightmare 4..."wanna suck face?")  Not pictured:  Ken Sagoes(Roland Kincaid of Nightmare 3 and 4) who was there, but who I missed, timingwise.  They had both at the same table (space issues I'd wager).  Both were awesome.

 

TYLER MANE:

Tyler Mane, Michael Myers from Rob Zombie's Halloween.  Needed to have him sign an 8X10 Kristina Klebe signed at Fangoria.  Was super nice and liked what she wrote.  Note to myself though...if I'm going to try to mimic the person who I'm takin a photo with's hand gesture, I should probably LOOK WHAT HE'S DOING!  (IDIOT!)  After this, I headed upstairs for....

 

MOTHER OF TEARS SCREENING:

 

So.  My thoughts on Mother of Tears.  First of all, I should note, off the bat, that I have NOT seen Inferno.  It's in the mail and has been on backorder for over a month.  However from what I saw, that doesn't matter, as I still understood the plot.  Number Two:  See where that poster says "An Instant Cult Classic"?  Truer words have never been spoken.  Not kidding:  This movie contains:  a howler monkey of death, nudity, lesbians, gore, and a couple moments of ABHORRENT CGI.  The acting...particularly of Asia Argento...is pretty average.  And the script.  Oh.  My.  God.  The script...I have no idea what happened to it.  All that said....It's genuinely creepy, has fantastic gore, and, somehow, still has this feel of quality to it.  In other words, with all those problems, I LOVED THIS MOVIE.  Put another way, Troma once got a hold of Stendahl Syndrome and did a release of it (Blue Underground has the rights now).  Troma SHOULD have pushed to get this.  It would've fit right in.  A fun, popcorn, entertaining, cult movie.  Just don't go in expecting a life-changing experience.

 

 

NIGHTMARE PANEL:

 

Apologies for grain, but I was front-row, standing room and the light was dim (this is post photo-editing).  Left to right:  Lin Shaye, Rodney Eastman, Ken Sagoes, Lisa Wilcox, Andras Jones, Brooke Theiss, Toy Newkirk, Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund.  Penelope Sudrow was there at some point I think, but I'm not sure.  I applaud Robert and Heather for steering questions and getting everyone involved since the crowd was asking them questions only pretty much.  Things you learn:  Kincaid and Joey would be an even match in a fight, Robert never understands how people claim there's misogyny in the Nightmare movies when a strong woman ALWAYS beats Freddy (I show that in my thesis), Robert's "suck face" with Newkirk was ruined on the first take when his Freddy dentures fell into her makeup prosthetic mouth, some of the scenes they filmed led them to nightmares later (like Heather having nightmares about Freddy's tongue wrapping around her head in new nightmare); Robert thinks that the original is scariest, Dream Warriors and Dream Master are best two-pack, and New Nightmare is his current favorite (it changes); Makeup is tough to do over such long periods, Robert has a lot of respect for Andrew Dice Clay, and lastly, Robert didn't know how he was going to do Freddy originally...until he channeled his jealousy of the looks of Heather and Johnny Depp into it and created Freddy, fittingly, out of it.  Great panel.  Overflowed out into the hallway and the head guy of the convention had them open the doors so the rest of the crowd could here.

 

SAW IV TRAP:

 

The knife trap from Saw IV.  Costs nothing to take a photo of it.  Costs 20 bucks to get in it for them to take a pic of you and put it in a stupid liner.  I like my choice more.

 

And now, my COSTUME OF THE CONVENTION:

 

 

This woman came dressed as Baroness from GI Joe.  Points for originality at a horror convention and the fact that runners up (Jason from Freddy vs. Jason complete with Freddy Head, and perfect Predator costume) didn't consider how hot it was and had to keep leaving and taking a breather.  And if anyone out there was going to say something about the fact that I chose a woman dressed in leather, I say, you must not have been at a horror convention before.  This is tame.  There were also schoolgirls running around among multiple other scantily clad women.  So give me more credit than that folks.  lol.

 

Up next:  PERICLES LEWNES:

 

Let me guess.  You're thinking "WHO IS PERICLES LEWNES?"  Pericles Lewnes has been mentioned on this site, here.  Yes, that's right folks, it's the 20th Anniversary of his Troma classic, Redneck Zombies.  Pericles was awesome, loved my shirt, and was also there promoting his new film, Loop.  I also mentioned our site to him and he gave me his business card.  I need to discuss something with Horror Czar about this which could be super cool *crosses fingers*.  Pericles was an unannounced guest fooooor.....

 

TROMA!!!!:

 

See, THIS is what Fangoria was missing.  I bought FAR too much at this table (don't ask just how much) and I still didnt' get all I wanted.  If they show at Chiller in Parsippany in October, I'm gonna nab copies of Special Needs and Dracula v. Frankenstein.  They were great to all comers.  This is the abbreviated version of their table.  Lloyd had the big stuff with him in Toronto at Rue Morgue's Festival of Fear.  It was, and is still, always a highlight of the show for me, seeing that the table is still there.

 

And with that, I bid you farewell.  It's 1151PM here on the east coast of the US and I am VERY tired.  Spent all night uploading photos, etc.  Had a lot of fun though doing this.  It was far easier than putting them on facebook, which I did first.  I really need to put away everything I bought.  I'll also be heading out of town Thursday night through Monday afternoon (going home home to New Orleans for the first time in four years (i was born and lived there 15 years).  Shouldnt cause problems though (liveblog's off for a couple weeks.  Dem and Republican Conventions.)  I will also be site reporting again in October for Chiller in Parsippany.

Until next time, this is Crypticpsych saying:  Always wear sunscreen.  And don't...do...smack.