AITH AT THE FANGORIA WEEKEND OF HORRORS- PART
1
Part 1 / Part 2
Hey guys and dolls, Arrow here with a
head’s
up on the latest FANGORIA WEEKEND OF HORRORS
which took place at the Crowne Plaza, on September 24-25, 2005 in Secaucus,
New Jersey. Now I’ll be honest, the Convention was a tad a mixed bag for
various reasons. First, my good buddy JoBlo was tied up (by men?) hence he
couldn’t make the convention with me.
Second of all, the Convention was
WAAAAY
less packed than the last one I attended which affected the
energy level of the weekend. Felt more like a humble “get together” most of the
time than a full
blown convention to me. With that said, I still had a good time, got to meet
some fine peeps and was happy to break in my good buddy, actor Deke Richards,
who attended the convention with me (as my photographer). Here’s what I got out
of this weekend!
NOTE: We were not
allowed AUDIO RECORDERS during the panels hence I got what I got on the fly. So
this is the best I could do with my trusty pen and my wasted brain cells.
SATAN’S LITTLE
HELPER
JEFF LIEBERMAN
You remember
writer/director Jeff Lieberman? He was the lad behind the groovy SQUIRM,
BLUE SUNSHINE, JUST BEFORE DAWN and the so cheesy it was a hoot
REMOTE CONTROL in 1987 which starred Kevin Dillon’s mullet. Well Jeff is
back on the genre shooting range with his newest hand canon SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER.
Jeff showed us an hilarious clip from the film before blabbing away.
CLIPS: A kid in a Halloween mask sitting in a grocery mart
carriage is being pushed in a parking lot by his friend. They count “points”
every time they crash into an individual. So they crash into a blind man, a
woman pushing a baby carriage and more! The clip was definitely politically
incorrect and me in freaking stitches! If it was any indication of the whole of
the film then we’re in for a treat.
I also learned via this panel
that:
–
The flick was shot in HD 24p.
– That Jeff deviated from
horror after REMOTE CONTROL in the fear of being pigeon holed as a horror
director (what’s wrong with that?)
– His cult hit BLUE
SUNSHINE is on the path to being remade. He’s been hired to be a consultant on
the film but ONLY when in production. If finds that strange where he feels that
consulting during development and pre production would be more beneficial.
– The SQUIRM score is not
and won’t be available on CD anytime soon.
– When asked why Just
Before Dawn didn’t go theatrical, he answered that he was given the choice
between fame (by going theatrical) or money (by going straight to DVD and saving
up in terms of marketing cost hence making more from the back-end), he chose the
money.
– Did you know that the
worms in SQUIRM were mostly real worms (mixed in with fakes one) that were
animated by being electrocuted? Now you know! It seems that burnt worm smells
exactly like burgers. I’ll take Jeff’s word for it.
–
He got the idea for
Satan’s Little Helper when he was at a costume party. You see he was dancing
with a dude dressed up as an ape and was assuming that it was his friend. That’s
until he saw his friend nearby and realized that the Ape man was a stranger.
That freaked him out (he was high…that didn’t helped) and that was the spark
that launched the idea for the film.
Jeff’s panel was an groovy one; he’s definitely cynical and jaded when it comes
to the movie business (it does that to you) which led to him having a killer
sense of humor while saying it like it is.
LEARN
MORE ABOUT SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER HERE
MASTERS
OF HORROR
MICK GARRIS/JOHN LANDIS
Well this was by far my
favorite panel with writer director Mick Garris and writer/director John Landis
making a dynamic duo that never failed to entertain. Garris was low key, Landis
was uber animated and together they made a great team.
CLIPS: We we’re shown two clips from Landis’ episode DEER WOMAN.
The first had to do with a gruesome autopsy (ouch) while the other was a suspense
laced one which ended with a woman kicking some dude with her “deer legs”…yes
you heard me…DEER LEGS! The clips were well shot, the effects were seamless and
I found them to be entertaining. I am now pumped for the show!
Here’s what I retained from
their panel.
–
The episode line-up for MASTERS OF HORROR (debuts
October 28 on Showtime) goes like this: Episode 1: Don Coscarelli’s INCIDENT ON
AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD Episode 2: Stuart Gordon’s DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE,
Episode 3: Dario Argento’s JENIFER, Episode 4: John Landis’ DEER WOMAN, Episode
5: Mick Garris’ CHOCOLATE.
– Every show is very
different from each other and according to Landis if these episodes would hit
the big screen they’d be rated NC-17. Well that’s good news!
– All of the directors
were left to their own device with Producer Garris staying out of the way
creatively to let them do their own thing.
– The terms “Masters of
Horror” was keyed by Guillermo del Toro who jokingly tossed it out there while
he had lunch with a slew of horror directors (Craven, Garris, Landis, Croneberg
etc,)
– David Croneberg refused
to do the show where he doesn’t consider himself to be a “horror director”.
They’re still working on convincing him for the next season.
– Roger Corman
had to bail out of the show after having a heart attack. He might be helming one for Season
2 if he feels better.
– Expect 13 new episodes,
with 13 new directors for Season 2!
– All of the episodes were
shot in 35 Mm.
– Lucky McGee (MAY) and
Takashi Miike (Audition) are presently shooting their episodes.
– John Landis wrote
American Werewolf in London when he was 18 years old and shot it when he was 20
years old. WOW! I feel like a failure!
– Landis is still trying
to find the money for his planned horror/comedy/musical Rat Boys!
– Landis and Garris first
met when Landis exec produced Garris’ TV debut “FUZZ BUCKET”, a film for kids
having to do with a boy and his invisible creature friend.
– What’s stopping Landis
from doing his own sequel to American Werewolf in London? Well he owns half the
rights and a German Producer owns the other half…which equal…CONFLICT!
– Landis expects a
Twilight Zone sequel to arise sooner or later. No word on if he’ll be involved
or not.
– Joe Dante (Gremlins)
will be doing a controversial MASTERS OF HORROR episode having to do with dead soldiers
killed in Iraq, returning to the USA as zombies to vote. YOWZER! This one is
sure to shake things up!
– Mick Garris would
love to tackle Stephen King’s Bag of Bones and Gerald’s Game next.
-Landis is still peeved at Jim Belushi for O-Ding. He went
on to profess an anti booze/drug tirade…then I went and got a drink…
This panel was filled to
the brim with behind the Hollywood scenes stories by Landis and Garris and it
resulted in a mucho engaging sit down. Inspirational is the word.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MASTERS OF HORROR HERE
SLITHER
JAMES GUNN/PAUL
BROOKS/MICHAEL ROOKER/GREGG HENRY/ELISABETH BANKS
I didn’t know much about SLITHER before this
panel, yes I know I run a horror website, hence I should, but I’m all over the
freaking place 24/7 so gimmee a break. With that said, what I saw of the film at
this panel has SOLD ME on it and it is now one of my most anticipated flick of
2006.
CLIPS: We were first show a clip that started off with a woman so
fat that she filled a whole barn. The woman’s flesh then went on to gruesomely
rip and a horde of “Night of the Creeps” like slugs poured onto the ground to attack
the human bystanders by leaping into their mouth. Tongue in cheek and gory
jamboree of horror fun came to mind…JAMBOREE I SAID! Talk about the balls on
Universal for distributing this! I’m impressed!
The panel revealed:
–
SLITHER rips off (I liked that they were honest about it) They came from Within
and The Blob. Surprisingly enough James Gunn claimed that he saw “Night of the
Creeps” after doing his film.
– Michael Rooker was all
over the place with his sense of humor being cranked to HIGH (weed?). When asked
about his bigot roles in Mississippi Burning and Rosewood by an audience member,
he went on to recollect in detail as to how hard it was to hang that poor guy while
shooting the film. You had to be there to get it, but the way he told the story
made for an hilarious and somewhat politically incorrect account. I didn’t
expect that type of answer for such a serious question.
– SLITHER sports both
prosthetic and CGI effects while leaning more towards prosthetic. Good news to
me!
– Gunn tried to cast his
usually typecast cast against their usual types in his film.
– Universal did NOT
interfere in the creative process of the picture and didn’t ask for it to be
watered down
– Michael Rooker still hooks up with his HENRY
co star Tom Towles to this day.
– The film was initially
supposed to open in January but Gunn is happy that its opening in March of 2006
instead. It worked for the Dawn of the Dead remake, hopefully it will work for
SLITHER.
– Gunn was living off his
credit card before he was offered the SCOO-BI DOO gig.
– Gunn found the internet
back-lash hard to digest when it was first announced that he would be writing
the Dawn of the Dead remake.
This panel rocked and it
sold me on Gunn. SCOO BI DOO or no SCOO BI DOO, the man is a huge genre fan and
it looks like he will deliver hardcore with SLITHER. Happy to know that a gore
loving psycho like him his working within the Studio system. I feel hope!
LIVE FEED
RYAN NICHOLSON
I didn’t know jack about
the low budgeter LIVE FEED but I do know the chaps behind CREEPY SIX
FILMS (who are Producing) and they’re all good in my book. Fellow Canuck (BC
baby BC!) and Special Effect guru Ryan Nicholson (Final Destination/Scary Movie)
tackles his debut. We we’re shown clips from the film and here’s what I got out
of it.
CLIPS: Kids get locked in a porno theatre, some huge dude dressed
in a SNM like leather get-up butchers them and the Asian mob is tossed into the
mix for good measure.
Although obviously low on
budget, with so-so acting and at times choppy editing (in terms of the trailer) there was enough
good joo-joo on display to peek my interest.
Here are couple of eyeballs I
picked up at this panel.
– The
film is a mix of gore film and Kung Fu opus.
– Remember the Asian guy
that slices Sly Stallone’s chest in First Blood during a Nam flashback? Well
he’s in Live Feed!
– The film was shot in 17
days in a porno theater.
– They got in the porno
theater at midnight after it closed, cleaned up (gross) and then shot till 10 AM
the next day. Ryan was surprised that at 10AM, people were already lined up,
waiting for the theater to open. I guess I’m not the only one who loves that Porn!
– Expect a sequel and
prequel to Live Feed.
– Ryan Nicholson’s dad
co-wrote and exec produced (financed) the film. Shite, I wish my dad was that
kool! All mine does is steal my booze!
– The film was shot in HD
and is slated for a Winter 2006 release.
A panel that I could relate to being that I am also
dabbling in the low budget scene. Hence…a panel that was "all good" to me!
VISIT THE CREEPY SIX FILMS WEBSITE HERE
FEAST
PANEL
JOHN GULAGER/CLU GULAGER/
DIANE GOLDNER/JUDAH FRIEDLANDER
I didn’t follow the
PROJECT GREENLIGHT SHOW (which aired on Bravo) so a lot of what was spat out at
this panel went over my balls. With that said, I did see the FEAST
trailer here and totally loved it.
CLIP:
The trailer showcased a bunch of peeps getting trapped
inside a bar by a large flesh craving monster that’s roaming about outside. We
didn’t get a good look at the beastie but I can assure you that he’s a big mofo.
Fly shots and witty dialogue filled this trailer and from what I saw, it looks
like a decent ride. The presence of groovy duder Clu Gulager also made it happen
for me. Remember him in Return of the Living Dead? He stole the show then
and now!
And the panel said!
–
Expect a Mortorhead song called FEAST for the movie FEAST! MOTORHEAD = BADASS!
– They haven’t shot any
pick ups yet but director John Gulager sure wants to!
– Producer Wes Craven
had no creative input in the film but did act as mentor for the cast/crew.
– Actor and great man
Clu Gulager, went on to lambaste the Emmy’s (I guess they didn’t win),
blatantly telling them to go f*ck themselves.
Neat trailer and a cussing
Clu Gulager aside, this panel was somewhat tedious to sit through where all they
talked about was PROJECT GREENLIGHT and the drama/back stabbing behind that. I
was more interested in FEAST the film than the soap opera stuff but that’s just
me. Looking forward to the film though!
THERE IS NO FEAST SITE OR TRAILERS ONLINE…BUMMER
SAW
II
LEIGH
WHANNELL AND JAMES WAN
CLIP:
Didn’t learn too much from
this panel that I didn’t already know but here are a few stabs.
–
Wan said that this sequel makes the original look like a Disney movie in terms
of violence.
– The flick explores the
“why” behind Jigsaw’s lunatic actions.
– Both Wan and Whannell
want to eventually work outside the genre .
– A SAW 3 is highly
feasible if SAW 2 makes it dough.
It’s always great to see
Wan and Whannell again; they still come across as genre fans who are making
genre films and always sport an appealing easygoingness. The slick VENUS FLY TRAP
scene aside; I didn’t get much out of this show though; we needed Bousman there to grill
his ass!
EXTRA PICS 4 U
Me and Kelly Stable (Evil Samara in RING 2)
If only I knew she was 21 BEFORE the convention…NEWMAN!
Me and the ever so classy Debbie Rochon!
Sacha Crutchfield and Brunilda Zekthy
from Hoodoo for Voodoo!
Sacha Crutchfield and Brunilda Zekthy how I dreamed of
them that night. Visit the HOODOO FOR VOODOO WEBSITE
HERE
That was it for my first day at the FANGO CON!
Stay tuned for PART 2 of this zany REPORT!