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.

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......."

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.

So.  It's been a while hasn't it.  Given that this particular site report is oh.....*checks calendar*....about 4 months coming...yeah.  Granted, the last time I tried to write this, I had actually finished it.  And then my hand moved wrong on my computer and I went back a page and lost everything.  As you might expect, that might turn you off to blogging site reports for a while.  Well that, plus general busyness from one's day job...and being sick (still am, *cough cough*)...and a minor car accident...can really tangle up your time constraints.  But I've got the time now...while these strange infomercially ads air on chiller (seriously?  The shakeweight?  A stuffed animal that becomes a pillow?  A little ball that looks like something a magician would use?  Now THESE are scary).

Monstermania.  You know I love it, I don't have to go to deeply into it, I've done it before.  The bullet points basically:  Great and unusual reunions, great set-up and structure, respect for guests and convention goers, and great Q&As and movies.  This time around, nothing's changed.  This time, the focuses were a Night of the Creeps Reunion, a My Bloody Valentine Reunion, and unofficial minireunions of Nightmare on Elm Street 2:  Freddy's Revenge and Repo!  The Genetic Opera as well as some guests who speak for themselves and are awesome on their own and some guests who I'd met before (but are always awesome).  First up, a new spin on an old idea:

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA:

In Order:  Zdunich, Zdunich and Moseley, Shilo in the Mausoleum, Legal Assassin, Thankless Job, Who Ordered Pizza, Blame Not My Cheeks, Chromaggia

At every Cherry Hill Monstermania I've been too, the Transylvania Nipple Production does a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcast.  This was no different (though lightly unexpected due to a scheduling change I'll come back to).  However, I've realized...they weren't very good when I saw them.  Yeah, I had a decent enough time, but it just didn't seem right.

At this particular Monstermania, though, there was also an unofficial Repo reunion by way of Bill Moseley and Terrance Zdunich.  I've met Bill Moseley before, hence no picture, but I feel like I should mention that Bill is one of those celebs who loves his fans.  Consider:  On two separate occasions when I went to speak with him, he had agreed to speak with people's friends on the phone (once leaving a message as Choptop from TCM 2 on someone's phone, once asking questions of someone based on "Mark It Up" from Repo.)  I had him sign Repo, but I also wanted to tell him how great he did in Dead Air, a Pontypool-like movie that came out around the same time as it did itself.  (Incidentally, Corbin Bernsen was also around, the director of Dead Air (and general actor...i.e. Dr. Feinstone from The Dentist).  He's working on a family movie next.)  However, Bill (and Terrance, shown above) really do love Repo and its fans in particular.  Bill, for instance, gave me some free autographed Repo posters and such from Comic-Con.  Terrance gave me a free autographed 8X10 (a gift I was getting for a friend) and also was selling copies of a new comic series he's working on called "The Molting".  It's okay...seems to improve as it goes on.  At the time I picked up the comics, he was through 3 issues.  Any Repo sequel plans are on hold while he works on that.

Further proof of their love of Repo fans came later on Friday, at something I stayed for (even though it meant driving home through a basic monsoon down the New Jersey Turnpike.  Now THAT'S horror).  Basically, Repo! was being shown as a midnight movie with a full shadowcast by the Midnight Surgeons (PS:  Remember my review?  I do believe I called it.)  After an epic intro by Bill and Terrance (during which they riffed on the rip-off Repo Men by claiming they were Forest Whitaker and Ewan MacGregor and would rip off anything you wanted), the showing began.  How was it you might ask?  Well, independent of how I feel about the movies, the shadowcast of Repo was just plain better.  The casters, of course, tried to get the audience involved but Repo shadowcasting is still in its infancy.  I did help though...got a few great lines out, spur of the moment.  The key difference is that in a Rocky Horror shadowcast, there's a structure, very strict.  This Repo shadowcast played with the material.  So you get things like Rotti presenting Shilo with a lollipop while in the limo, Nathan resurrecting his wife with the Necronomicon during Legal Assassin, and a rubber chicken that doubled perfectly well for multiple props.  For sample shots of the shadowcast, see above.  I highly recommend a Repo shadowcast and, at the moment, think that Repo shadowcasts are better than Rocky Horror ones, sacrilege as it is.  I'm willing to accept that that might be due to the particular one I saw, so I reserve overall judgement until I see another that happens to be near me.  But those damn Twilight fans screwed up my last attempt to do that a few weeks ago.  I'll see at some point.

THOM MATTHEWS:

Oh by the way, Thom Matthews from Return of the Living Dead 1 and 2 was...randomly there.  A very nice guy, but I forgot to ask him how it was working with Dan O'Bannon.  Actually, though, I'm not too embarrassed of that now, though, because the Hunt Valley Monstermania will have a massive Return of the Living Dead reunion including Matthews and 8 other cast members.

CHAINSAW SALLY AND OTHER RETURN ENGAGEMENTS AND EVENTS

By the way, also making another appearance in her usual awesome way was April Monique Burril, aka Chainsaw Sally.  I'll always go see her given how much I love Chainsaw Sally, the webseries it grew into, and her general work.  Always super nice.  Incidentally, shortly after this show (at which Troma also appeared), April announced that Troma had picked up distribution for The Chainsaw Sally Show.  Huh.  First DVDs will be available soon (I'll be keeping my awesome Forbidden Pictures ones thank you). 

Also, I saw a screening of Demons (God I love that movie) which is just that much better in a theatrical-type setting (just like Evil Dead).

Also making return appearances:  Doug Bradley, Jake Busey, Bruce Abbott, and Corbin Bernsen.  William Katt was also there (from Carrie, House, and Greatest American Hero) and in fact appeared to have a great time at his Q&A which I caught on the way in to the next panel.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 AND NEVER SLEEP AGAIN

In order:  Mark Patton, Kim Myers, and the Panel

So, the people who brought you His Name Was Jason are back with Never Sleep Again:  The Elm Street Legacy.  At the time I was there, it had not been released yet, but I saw great footage of Dokken's interview about Nightmare 3 and some other interviews.  Basically, there's a lot of things I could say about this, but I'm gonna keep it simple.  1)  His Name Was Jason was okay, but it's minimally scoped.  Never Sleep Again...is 4 hours long in the main feature with an EXTRA 4 hours of special features.  It covers every film, the tv show, and the special features hit the comics, the books, the music, the posters, the video game, the set locations.  This is possibly the BEST horror doc ever.  2)  Almost everyone, including every director, is interviewed.  The only notable omissions:  Patricia Arquette and Johnny Depp who wanted to but couldn't get the free schedule.  In fact they almost flew out to the set of Medium to film Patricia Arquette.  Everyone is on this.  Everyone from Englund, Wes, and Langenkamp, to such obscure people as the kid quoting literature in the first movie and the actor who played Super Freddy.  Total interview count, over 100.  3)  There is no 3.  Buy it now.  Period.  It's available at fine retailers everywhere and at elmstreetlegacy.com and amazon.com.  This is one big reason to be proud to be a horror fan and a must-have for anyone with a love of the bladed one.

In addition, Monstermania is pushing the Nightmare movies as well.  At this one, a Nightmare 2 reunion (which was, until recently, quite rare), at the August Cherry Hill, a Nightmare 5 reunion, at the September Hunt Valley, a Nightmare 3 reunion.  But that's discussion for later.  Regarding Nightmare 2, I LOVE Nightmare 2.  It's one of the most underrated in the series and, much like Halloween 3, a refreshing spin that doesn't necessarily follow canon.  I honestly think far more people like it than claim to and that it deserves a better place in people's minds than it has.  So, Monstermania and Never Sleep Again brought the elusive Kim Myers (aka Lisa Weber) and Mark Patton (Jesse Walsh).  They are genuinely two of the nicest people you'll ever meet and are having a blast meeting the fans now that Nightmare 2 is gaining in fan respect (Nightmare 5 (my least favorite) and Nightmare 6 tend to be the most likely to get fan backlash now).

• Mark went into hiding after the movie and has trained much of his family to not reveal his location.  Out of respect for that fact, I will not either even though he has in other places.  He was found for the documentary after the makers basically proved to a member of his family their genuine desire to speak with him.
• Kim:  Loyal to experience but didn't follow sequels, Mark:  Seen all the sequels and thinks #2 is out of continuity.
• Kim:  Unprepared for cultural impact and is still learning horror's impact on people.
• Mark:  Saw Nightmare 2 in a private screening before the showing.
• Mark:  Movie is twisted so much as he is playing a woman's part.
• Mark:  received Death threats and was accused of ruining the franchise.  Was offered horror movies tons of times for about 10 years.
• Tongue scene:  9 inches long, worked 9 hours with it without a break.
• Favorite scenes for Mark:  Transformation in Gray's room, driving in the car (had no shocks, gas backed up in the car.)
• Favorite scenes for Kim:  Confronting Freddy (Englund was professional, respectful, supportive of the other actors.)
• Mark owns all his costumes and pull off masks and a Freddy Glove.
• Mark also auditioned for the role Heather Langenkamp got in original Nightmare.
• On the gay overtones of Nightmare 2:  The director had to know there were gay overtones.  It is generally believed that the screenwriter was trying to add them in as a private joke...but that he wasn't a good enough writer to make them subtle.
• Director pushed for integration during the pool scene.
• Patton quit acting because of the backlash.
• Facebook (a recurring theme of the weekend) 25 years later showed him the positive feedback he was receiving now from fans of all stripes.

FEMME FATALES:

Above:  Scout Taylor-Compton, and Scout Taylor-Compton with Meg Foster

To this day, 4 months later, I still do not understand the point of this panel.  All I can think of is they had Scout-Taylor Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 and 2, April Fools' Day remake) and Meg Foster (They Live, Leviathan, Stepfather 2) and they wanted to give them a Q&A (I'd have given one to Doug Bradley, but that's just me).  There is one thing I want to say before the hail of bullets.  Scout Taylor-Compton...makes me WISH I liked Rob Zombie's Halloween.  She's probably the most genuinely nice person with the most amazing personality I've met since Derek Mears.  I had little money at the time left, but I really want to meet her at a convention now (which I'm sure will happen at some point) because she just seems like a super nice person (I've been meaning to rewatch the first Zombie Halloween to reconfirm my opinion anyway).

• There was an idiot from a blog about The Runaways that was asking them a lot of music questions.  I'd understand him asking one, but I swear to God, he asked like four and I was rows behind him and was two seconds from throttling the guy.
• It was Scout Taylor-Compton's 21^st Birthday at the time of the convention.
• They were never offered a role that they turned down that later became famous.
• Why Compton turned down H3:  She believes Myers needs to be the killer, not Laurie.  Since the con, H3 went into limbo.
• Compton on Strode in movie 1:   Made her "her".  Second movie, wanted her to be more realistic and hard.
• Compton:  Wanted to study Jamie Lee Curtis for role but Rob Zombie stopped her.  (Shocking)
• Foster was late to the Q&A.  Abnormally late.  She seemed nice enough though, so I don't hold it against her.
• Meg Foster adored working with Sam Peckinpah.  Showed her dangerous relationships.
• Musical tastes (because of Runaways IDIOT);  Compton:  Stones, Beatles, Crue, Danzig, Joan Jett, Alkaline Trio, Osbourne, Blondie, Cyndi Lauper.
• Foster:  Lauper, Blondie, Stones, Beach Boys, The Band,
• Compton:  The famed bagel scene in Halloween:  Rob came up with it.  (The degree to which this does not surprise me is immeasurable)
• Compton had short notice on the script for H2.
• Compton:  Film wrap on Runaways felt like the breakup of the band.
• Compton:  Took Halloween 2 because she thought it was realistically how Strode would react in the situation.
• Compton:  Halloween changed her career path
• Compton wants to work with Anthony Hopkins and wanted to work with Patrick Swayze
• Compton didn't know Rob's music at the time but knew Devil's Rejects and had watched it on set.  Zombie gave her his whole back catalog.
• Foster on Terry O'Quinn:  Comes from same eggshell as her, fine actor, fine gentleman and a fantastic guitar player.
• Compton:  Zombie's request for H2:  "Make her look crazy". "Yell really bad things, act like you're crazy".  (Again, this is my totally, and completely, and utterly shocked face.)
• Compton was intimidated by Danielle Harris at first and her death scene was difficult.
• Foster on working with Carpenter:  They Live was different for him, feels like 1950s not 80s, small cast, really fun.
• Foster on Masters of the Universe:  Fun, Dolph Lundgren was very smart and really sweet.
• Foster does not think she's been typecast.
• Working with Roddy Piper was one of the best things that ever happened to Foster.  She grew to be a wonderful mother because she worked with Roddy Piper.

Night of the Creeps

Above:  Tom Atkins, Jill Whitlow, Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, and the group in the bar.

One of the relatively recent DVD releases that can basically be traced back directly to fan demand was the epic Night of the Creeps DVD (even if they did release it with cruddy cover art).  The cast (Tom Atkins, Jill Whitlow, Blake Lively, and Steve Marshall) are genuinely nice people.  Incidentally, this is also an example of why conventions are great since (as shown above), it's possible to head over to the bar and meet the celebs there too for photo ops or have a drink with them.  And, unlike Fangoria, who thinks they need to have a "cover charge" of only allowing VIP pass holders into their party, Monstermania usually lets anyone in who wants to go.  The Q&A was also massively playful and one of the more hilarious, fun events of the weekend.

• "Who else can countdown from 10 to 1 in 4 and a half minutes?" (Lively on Atkins)
• Lively on working with Feldman:  he was late to set and having problems at the time but was a great guy and he's glad he overcame his issues.
• Jill Whitlow had food poisoning during her scene in Weird Science but John Hughes was great to work with.
• Discussions are ongoing for Creeps sequel, written by Dekker.
• Was tough for Lively to film European Vacation because of how funny Chevy Chase was in his scenes.
• "Beer just came out of my nose, this is a great weekend." -Marshall, after laughing at a comment.
• Ending:  Lively likes both but prefers spaceship, Marshall prefers spaceship, Whitlow likes both and claims she turned her head in the dog ending.
• "Jason just said I feel like Blake" (his famous sister)
• Jason and Jill basically look the same, Steve became a lawyer and Atkins just looks old. (A comment on how they aged by Lively)
• Steve Marshall just learned about the cult following 5 months prior.  "Bootleggers helped the people with the intellectual properties."
• Atkins was stunned it died at the box office.  Tristar had no clue what to do with it, everyone always asked about it and dvd at every convention.
• MBV 3D for Atkins was great fun, Lussier is an old fan, told him "You have one of the best deaths in the movie but you may not want to do it when you hear it." "Yeah, that sounds great, sure."
• Atkins on having a mustache:  "Always loved having a mustache.  Claims he has an upper lip like Elmer Fudd.
• Atkins:  It was a good time working on Halloween 3, but he's not a huge fan of John's reclusive style.  Calls him a good director, a good man, but hard to communicate with.
• "When I read I was gonna kill a zombie with a lawnmower, I was like, Sign me up!" -Lively
• Explanation for Stryper rules on bathroom wall:  Makeup artist was dating the lead singer.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE REUNION

Above:  Lori Hallier/Neil Affleck, Rob Stein (who got in the picture even though I'd run out of autograph money)/Helene Udy, Jim Murchison/Tom Kovacs/Al Humphreys/Peter Cowper, Chris Carnel (MBV 3D), Panel  

Thus far at Monstermania, I've seen reunions for movies like Phantasm, general werewolves, Friday the 13^th Part 2, etc.  One of the things that makes the con work is that they understand the benefit of unusual or moderately rare reunions.  To this day, I've never seen mention at any other convention of a My Bloody Valentine Reunion.  I've seen special reunions at a showing of MBV (which again, is why Rue Morgue rules), but never seen a reunion at a convention.  Nine different actors from the movie were listed as guests which, granted, also poses a problem of money.  It sucks when you want to get everyone but only have enough for 3 or 4 autographs.  They were all having a great time though and definitely enjoyed their time there.

• Facebook was helpful in getting everyone together.
• Recently, Cowper was told that in a sequel, Lori would've been the police chief.
• They don't get tired of Valentine's decorations
• Cowper's son was born on Valentine's Day
• Hallier and Stein did not appear for the panel because Hallier had a health issue and needed to be taken to the hospital by Stein.  I'm unsure what the actual issue was but I presume everything turned out okay.
• Mihalka, the director, has linked MBV's treatment at the censors to the Lennon murder in interviews, claiming a backlash.
• Udy was flown to Los Angeles for a body cast for the shower impalement.  Later saw her cast on sale on ebay.
• Kovacs wanted photos on his iphone as it was his first con.
• 60W bulbs in a methane environment....the lights on the helmets had to light some scenes.
• Carnel and Cowper claim the best part about miner outfit:  You can mutter to yourself in it and no one will hear you.
• Carnel got the job in the remake because previous actor couldn't see out the mask.  Had no ventilations, lenses fogged.
• Male actors were made to go into the mine beforehand 2 or 3 miles underground to see how the miners worked.
• Alf- bandana and jacket he wore down there that day were totally black.
• Kovacs:  Remembers seeing a miner burying charges in the mine and feeling the shockwave when they blew.
• Axel:  The guys tried to use chewing tobacco to be like the miners, but it made them turn green and one person on the crew swallowed it.
• Scene where the auger is actually shown drilling through the two lovers is apparently lost to time.  Only the shot of the aftermath survives.
• There was only hot water for 2 takes of the shower scenes
• The late Keith Knight had impeccable timing, asked for two nails in the head instead of one because he was a big guy, compared him to John Candy.
• Some were tracked down through their union checks from the movie.

MALCOLM MCDOWELL

Every convention needs, for lack of a better term, a Bruce Campbell.  Even though I've met Malcolm McDowell multiple times, it's still just as much of a thrill to see him as it was the first time.  I'd never actually sat in on his Q&A though.  What I saw was utterly amazing.  He owns the room, much like Campbell does.  He'll also tell stories you'd never hear otherwise spanning his entire career (even though he'll tell you not to put most online.  I've tried to honor that request.)  In terms of pure unmitigated entertainment, McDowell was probably the winner and I highly recommend that if he's ever at a convention near you to make sure you make time for him or his Q&A.  Hell, I've even seen him hilariously interplay at a con once at his table with Udo Kier.

• Malcolm doesn't have a favorite between the two Halloweens.  He likes the first for young Myers, and likes the second for being able to play Loomis as a total asshole (his idea).
• "The only preparation is how much are they paying me"- How he claims he prepares for some roles.
• Put off filming on The Mentalist to make an appearance.  Yet more proof of both how much respect Malcolm has for his fans and how well this convention treats him.  (He's appeared at it twice in the last 2 or 3 years)
• Kubrick hated Spartacus and wanted to have his name taken off it.  Was a chess grandmaster, but McDowell could kick his ass at ping pong.
• Drove Kubrick somewhere once, almost drove him mad with driving him super fast.
• Kubrick:  "Can you dance?"  McDowell:  "Can I DANCE????" *singing in the rain improv*...and thus was born the "Singing in the Rain" scene.
• Singing explanation:  Alex was euphoric.  He was beating and raping and euphoric.
• Sex scene with the two girls in Clockwork:  28 minute scene sped up to 2 (the sex scene with the two young girls in Clockwork).  However, McDowell was also continually pulling Kubrick's leg, and in this case knew that he kind of liked one of the girls in the scene.  So when Kubrick called cut multiple times, McDowell yelled back "I'm not finished Stan!"
• Caligula story involving a drunken Peter O'Toole that I will not discuss because I can't tell it as well as he can.  Just trust me...ask him about it at a Q&A and buckle in.
• The Lid locks in Clockwork:  Patient is supposed to lie flat, but he's upright.  Eyes anesthetized, then the anesthetic wore off on the way home.  Felt like a blade down the eye.  Most painful.  Which led to morphine:  "Have you ever tried morphine?  "Count to 10."  I got to 3."

Dario Argento

I've seen Dario Argento at an appearance at Fangoria the previous year, but my camera was dead at the time, and so my photo with him and Coralina-Cataldi Tassoni...sucks.  But I do believe I've fixed that issue.  Argento is truly a wonderful person, open to talking about much of his career and interacting well with his fans.  Incidentally, I liked this Q&A more than the one at Fangoria that was moderated by the author of "Broken Minds, Broken Dreams" because it seemed too scholarly.  This seemed far more relaxed and Dario seemed more at home.

• Dario loves Philadelphia area as Suspiria got its American premiere in Philly.
• Was inspired by newspaper critics, theater and film.  "Teacher is the film."  Was a fan of expressionist film.
• Door into Darkness: Italian TV proposed it to him, it was an easy process. (my question, because I'm odd and obscure like that)
• Fan of Antonioni, Luis Bunuel and the films of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
• "Color is Suspiria".
• Wants to work with John Carpenter
• Like prosthetics way more than CGI.  (I see this as why, in some recent things...like Pelts and Mother of Tears, while there might be some CGI, there is a definite attempt to continue the use of practical effects.)
• Dario's explanation for his fascination with animals:  World is full of animals, likes to see human intereaction with them.
• Does not find dogs frightening and has a dog himself.
• Easy to work with his daughter.
• Tenebre is set in the future.
• Dario has nothing to do with Suspiria remake rumors and has no desire to do a prequel to Deep Red.  Both would be from other people doing it all for the money.
• Favorite scene in Suspiria:  first 15 minutes building to the massive kill.
• "Follow your inspirations."- Dario's advice to filmmakers.
• Big Fan of Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper.  Has more American director friends than Italian.
• Karl Malden on Cat O' Nine Tails:  Marvelous Actor, unforgettable.
• Originally met George Romero in NYC many years ago.
• Giallo:  Adrian Brody is a good actor, and it's a good film, but it's a "Black hole" in his life.
• Jenifer:  "I liked Jenifer" (the character).  "Ugly is beautiful."
• His favorite films are his difficult films...Opera and Suspiria.  They are rewarding through their difficulty.  In general though, in personal taste, he doesn't have a favorite.
• His films aren't European because they are loved around the world.  Doesn't follow European ways, they're just his inspiration.
• Quote of the weekend, from a fan thanking him for coming:  "We don't often get God coming down to Philadelphia."

MONSTERMANIA ROLLS WITH PUNCHES, AKA THE CHARLES BAND FULL MOON HORROR ROAD SHOW

Above:  Charles Band, The auctioned off Puppet Case, Gary Busey, The auctioned off Chair, Band and Moseley, The wolf in the chair.

So, the week before this convention occurred, Corey Haim passed away.  At a previous Monstermania, Corey Haim put in an appearance.  Granted, it was quite clear he wasn't himself at the convention, but he was still having a great time with the fans.  In one week, Monstermania put together the footage of the Lost Boys Q&A he took part in, they added Lost Boys and Silver Bullet to their film schedule in open spots, and Brooke McCarter flew out on his own dime to basically eulogize him after they showed the Q&A.  That's respect for a guest.

Meanwhile, that same night, there was scheduled a performance by Powerman 5000.  However, apparently, the band couldn't get together to get over to Jersey and it was cancelled approximately a month before the show.  Spider One still showed up (which was, to be honest, kind of like a taunt but a nice gesture), but the organizers of the convention still needed to piece together a new replacement.  In addition to bringing in Transylvania Nipple Production again for the late night, they put in a call to Charlie Band, of Full Moon Pictures, who basically built a mini version of his famed "Full Moon Horror Show" and brought it to the con himself, along with putting in a Saturday appearance.  He even auctioned off a replica of the Toulon puppet case, with puppets, shown above, as well as some props from the show (the chair, shown above).  This show was welcome and appreciated as a replacement for Powerman 5000, but was kind of a mixed blessing too.  After all, the show was pushed WAY back in start time as they added more and more seats to the room, creating a massive crowd.  A massive....mildly drunk...crowd.  First, Band told a hilarious series of stories about working with Gary Busey on The Gingerdead Man (yes, he was there too, as shown above.  You'll notice I didn't take a photo with him.  Sorry Attrage, I only have so much money).  Basically, what it comes down to was that you never knew what Busey you'd get when he came down to do a scene, nor did you know exactly what he would say.  In fact, some of his lines in the film were full improv that were left in.  He also talked about breaking into the industry through Ghoulies.

Band then showed off the trailer for the upcoming Puppet Master:  Axis of Evil film before bringing out Bill Moseley, who talked about working in Crash and Burn (clips were shown) with Band, one of the many movies he did with Full Moon.  And then began...the audience participation.  I'm going to copy this directly from the caption I put on one of these photos on facebook: 

"Now, the ad for the horror show promises Blood, gore, women, and boobs. This is happening at 11 something at night (Would've happened earlier, but apparently we needed to fill the room with chairs, eating up like 30 minutes) in a room filled with drunk men who continually asked for hot chicks in a hotel that randomly started playing muzak that was visibly pissing Band off (they killed it after a while).

Band then cast a short skit. This short skit made my head hurt. Follow along: First a hero was cast (a former marine who security guards at the con). Then a villain (that would be her in the realistic wolf mask with light up eyes.) Then a damsel-esque character (narrowed down from a 17 year old (illegal), a girl who had no problem showing her boobs but her bf was there, a girl who dressed as a sexy nurse (but whose mother was there...explain that one), and a regularly dressed girl...who had no problem flashing her breasts. Here's the scene. The wolf gets electrocuted and breaks his bonds when he discovers that the woman he loves also loves the hero and the nurse loves the damsel too. As the wolf is electrocuted, the hero and nurse kinda hug the damsel, the wolf gets angry, breaks free, knocks out the hero, is going to kill the crowd and then is calmed....by the damsels bared breasts.

I think we're all just a little more stupid for hearing that. This was played out...in full...3 times. (the damsel kept screwing up the cue to bare her goods, ironically, which, maybe it's just me, but raises a question of self-esteem if you have no problem doing it 3 times.)"

It was funny...at first, but seeing it over and over was just painful.  Afterwards, he slashed prices by at least half at his table (he was leaving that night and was reducing what he needed to bring back with him).  I personally got the 18 movie Archive set for about 35 bucks.  Probably the best deal I've ever gotten...which I tend to think I deserved, given how horribly disorganized the line was.

COSTUMES:

This was not an easy decision this time as a lot of great costumes were around.  Runners up included the above girl who, I think, was doing a very passable Blind Mag, and this Salem's Lot-style vampire that was literally mind-blowing but didn't fully surprise me or seem as labor-intensive as the Nav'i seen above that was done in full make-up with tail.  (Her friend might've been going for an Amber Sweet (I told you, Repo! was big and is big), I'm not sure.)  The costume was just so perfect and takes so much work to pull off perfectly.

Well that's one site report down.  I've got a few more to do before I'm actually up to date....

Until next time, this is Crypticpsych saying....Buy Never Sleep Again.  Seriously.  Go do it.  Now.