Texas Frightmare Weekend 2015: Day Two

 

This is the big day, guys, let's get into it. On the Thursday night before the con, the Alamo Drafthouse hosted a special 35mm screening of Scream, with a Q&A afterward with Neve Campbell. But of course I didn't plan ahead well enough and didn't make it to that event. While I was groggy and trying to get ready for the day on Saturday morning, I'm flipping through the channels on TV and they were actually showing footage from the Q&A on the hotel's channel. This just gets me so pumped up for the day and I'm ready to get back at it!

 

The first thing I did really quick was check out the Dark Arts Show, which was a horror art gallery. Some pretty cool stuff here, but the main attraction was the original "Grandma" prop from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Very, very cool.



 

My first celebrity meeting of the day was with someone I was incredibly stoked about - Kim Coates from Sons of Anarchy! I could just tell that he was going to be an awesome guy to meet, and I was not disappointed. We posed for our picture first and I had no problem asking him for a hug right away. Then the guy taking our picture didn't do it right, so we had to get all close and snuggly again, which I of course didn't mind one bit. I was SHAMELESS this weekend, guys. Absolutely shameless. I told Kim that my dad and I sort of bonded over watching Sons of Anarchy together, and he thought that was great and talked about how so many different kinds of people love the show. I mentioned that I was the one who got my dad into watching it, and that got me a high-five. Love this guy!

 

 

 

As most of you may have figured out, I am just a little bit obsessed with Child's Play. So you can imagine how much I freaked the fuck out when they announced Alex Vincent and Brad Dourif as guests this year. I still wasn't quite ready to meet Dourif, so I went to Alex first. Again, great guy. Great at keeping up a conversation with me and answering my dorky questions. He said I was very sweet, so go me. Ah, you have no idea how big of a deal this was for me. Andy Barclay, people! Amazing!

 

 

 

By the way, I carried my Chucky doll around with me all weekend. People really liked him and kept asking me where I got him, even though there were obviously a lot of Chucky dolls there, some way bigger and better than mine. I still love my little guy, though, and I'm not sorry at all to say that I scared a bunch of children with it this weekend.

 

Now the one guy that I was the most excited about meeting wasn't at his table at this time because he was doing a podcast, so I went up to my room to get the poster that I brought to be signed by the one and only Malcolm McDowell. Where do you even start with how awesome this man is? I'm glad I brought my own item for him to sign because he had a ton of pictures from all different movies to choose from at his table, and I would have never been able to make a decision. I had him sign a picture for one of my friends back home, and then I finally put good use to this Japanese poster for A Clockwork Orange that I bought about ten years ago. I didn't really rehearse what I was going to say to Malcolm beforehand, so I probably sounded like a nerd but who the fuck cares. I met Malcolm McDowell!

 

 

 

 

I came back down from my room and my most anticipated guest was finally back at his table. AJ Bowen has been my favorite actor ever since I saw A Horrible Way to Die years ago, and I have loved him in everything I've seen. And yes, he's adorable so I've also got a bit of a crush. He was no doubt my favorite part about the whole weekend, because he was so easy to talk to and didn't mind my fangirling one bit. He seemed to like it when I mentioned A Horrible Way to Die because like he said, nobody ever talks about that movie (when they totally should). I complimented him on his natural acting ability, which is the reason I love him so much, and we just had a really great conversation. The people behind me in line were listening in, and he had us all laughing and loving him even more. All I could find at the show for him to sign was a mini poster for You're Next, and I wish I had been more prepared and brought something from AHWTD or The Sacrament. But again who the fuck cares - I met AJ Bowen. I sat down next to him for our picture and had to give him a hug first. Did I mention how shameless I was? Then I got a great picture with him and another hug goodbye and this meeting became my absolute best memory from the convention. Thank you for being awesome, AJ!

 

 

 

 

Also, he was wearing a Camp Crystal Lake shirt so that gets him extra cool points.

 

Across from AJ was Elvira. She was only dressed in costume for that one day and wasn't allowing pictures with her at her table. But they were allowing you to take a quick picture of her, so of course I did! I did meet her as herself, Cassandra Peterson, the next day so look for that. I love the expressions I got on her face!

 



 

The next thing on my agenda was my first of only two panels. I went into the room a little bit early and actually caught the last few minutes of Udo Kier's Q&A. I immediately wished I had been there for the whole thing, because he was so adorably funny. I heard the story of how he kissed Elizabeth Taylor and it was awesome.

 

 

Anyway, the thing I came into the room to see was actually a very cool and unique event. Victoria Price, daughter of the incomparable and amazing Vincent Price, gave a presentation in honor of her father and his legacy. She began the presentation by playing an audio clip of the voiceover that he did for "Thriller." I've always loved Vincent Price and the joy and glee that he seemed to have about his work, so hearing that actually almost made cry a little bit of happy tears. It was cool because that's what Victoria's presentation ended up being about - the memories of what her father was like off-screen and all the joy that he took out of his work, the people he met, and life in general. She had hilarious pictures and stories about him, and now I just want to go and watch all of his movies. Lovely lady.

 

 

Panels are always a good time to sit down for a bit and get your momentum back because the day was definitely not over. I did some more wandering, and actually went over to where to Victoria Price had a table, so I could talk to her more but she wasn't there. However, her table was near where Neve Campbell's room was and she had literally no line, so I had to take the opportunity to get her autograph. Like I said before, she wasn't allowing pictures with her at her table, and for some reason my mind went all blank on what I wanted to say! It was still very cool to meet her, because Scream was another big movie for me in terms of developing my love of horror. Neve needs to do more cons! I know she'll love it!

 

 

I ran into my TFW friends, Heather and Acacia, again several times over the weekend and we hung out together around this time while they got some of the autographs they wanted. Acacia and I spent some time at the table of Joseph Gatt (from Star Trek and Game of Thrones) and then Heather got in line for Angus Scrimm. I'm pretty sure Angus was staying in a room down the hall from mine, by the way.

 

 

Anyway, we all decided to get Brad Dourif together so I could have a photographer to take pictures for me, so my moment has finally arrived! Brad Dourif is freaking AMAZING, you guys, and I have been dreaming about meeting him for years. He was obviously very popular with everyone else, too, because whenever he was at his table, he always had a line. I just told him what an honor it was to meet him and how big Child's Play has been in my life. I also had to give him praise for the phenomenal One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which is still one of my favorite films of all time, and he was a very nice, cool guy with a great smile for everyone. So going back two years when I met Chris Sarandon, and now Vincent and Dourif, I have actually met three of the major stars from the horror film that has probably been the most influential one in my life. I never thought that would happen.

 

 

 

 

I am now the happiest horror fan on the planet.

 

The show was almost over for the night, so Heather, Acacia, and I parted ways so we could have a dinner break before meeting back up again in an hour for another movie. We saw the vampire horror-comedy Bloodsucking Bastards, and it was really good! It's a very simple, straightforward story about a lowly office worker whose colleagues start turning into vampires, but the comedy is non-stop and perfect, and the minimal locations is something that I always like in movies. It stars Fran Kranz from The Cabin in the Woods and Joey Kern from Cabin Fever. Hey, they both got out of the cabin! Haha! Um, yeah... definitely see Bloodsucking Bastards if you get the chance!

 

 

After the movie, the three of us took our yearly picture together in front of the Texas Frightmare Weekend backdrop. Man, we're adorable.

 

 

This is also when a guy dressed as Ghostface came by and tried to scare Heather. He was literally the only Ghostface we had seen so far all weekend, which is weird because I expected there to be a ton of them there. Anyway, I grabbed him for a picture.

 

After this, I had to say goodbye to my friends so I could attend the cocktail party that was just for VIP passholders and celebrities. Again, I missed the beginning of the party so maybe there were more celebs there earlier, but I did see Don Coscarelli, Alex Vincent, and Jennifer Lynch hanging out and talking to people. Lynch was chilling with Sherilyn Fenn, who I really wanted to get a picture with, but they were both grabbing food and seemed to want to be left alone. When Sid Haig showed up, people yelled and cheered and he was cool about stopping to talk to people and take pictures with them. Camille Keaton asked me what I was drinking and got the same thing. Later I asked her how it was and we chatted for a bit. Probably the coolest thing about the party was that it was after midnight and Angus Scrimm was still there! I was so dead tired and he looked awesome. I talked to two other guys for a while, then headed over to the hotel bar to see what was going on. I was just hanging back checking my phone at one point when I catch eyes with Kim Coates as he's walking in front of me and he says, "Hey, sweetheart." I melted. Then I went outside to talk to more people, and one girl pointed out Loyd Cryer, the founder of Texas Frightmare Weekend, to me and I had to go over to him. I thanked him for the show and the great memories that he's helped to give me over the years, and he was a really cool and sincerely appreciative guy. Are you ready for ten more years, Loyd? Because I know I am!

 

Oh, Frightmare, why does my time with you have to go by so fast?? There's only one day left!

 

 

Read my Day One recap right... about.... HERE!

And read all about Day Three here!

Movie Review: I Sell the Dead (2008)

Though this movie has been sitting unwatched in my instant queue for so long, it often seemed to beckon to me whenever I was scrolling along, looking for something to enjoy for the evening. "Hit play, already! You know you're going to like me!", it would call to me. A comedy about the infamous 18th century grave robbers who used to steal corpses and sell them to doctors? Heck yes, I should freaking LOVE that. And you know what? I did.

With his fellow grave robber Willy Grimes having already been executed, Arthur Blake is about to meet the same fate for murder. A few hours before his own date with the guillotine, Arthur confesses to Father Duffy, telling the fantastical story of how he got into the grave robbing business - and the strange things he encountered along the way.

I Sell the Dead is at first a cheeky little black comedy about the wacky antics two funny dudes who dig up dead bodies, and I was totally cool with that and enjoying it a lot. As the story progresses though, they introduce a few different horror-related elements that could make the story go off in a totally different direction than audiences are not expecting. What are these two bumbling fortune hunters going to have to deal with next? Vampires? Aliens? Zombies? Turns out its a form of the latter, although no other information is given about them other than the fact that they are basically zombies and getting bitten will turn you into one. Not that zombie lore was really important to the story or anything. Just sayin'. This turn of events makes the movie all the more fun to watch

Dominic Monaghan is quite cute and adorable as Arthur Blake, and Ron Perlman seems to have fun with his small role as the priest, but I loved this Larry Fessenden guy as Willy Grimes. He's the perfect cheeky drunkard with unbelievable comedic timing and wonderful physical comedy. His look is great and his actions are spot on, but Fessenden is really a job to watch in the final scene of the movie, where he completely steals the show. Did I mention that Angus Scrimm is also in the flick? Yup, he totally is. A bit of a small role, like Ron Perlman's, but genre fans will get a kick out seeing him.

The style of the movie also makes it quite interesting and adds to the comedic element. There are lots of CG backgrounds under the live actors and comic book-like sketches in specific scenes, plus a few awesome transitions like push wipes (ala Star Wars) which is something that is hardly ever used. Call it cheesy or amateur, but I love these kinds of transitions, especially in comedy movies because it obviously adds to the comedy. And I gotta say that I love an Irish accent, which is just funny on its own. So I Sell the Dead definitely does a good job with the comedy part of the film - but what about the horror part?

The scenes that stand out the most for me are when Arthur is telling the story of two "very unusual" grave robbing jobs that he and Willy were involved in. In one hilariously tongue-in-cheek scene, they start digging into a grave that is frozen solid, with the coffin almost frozen too. Though they of course don't know what it is, inside the coffin is small alien. The scene seems so out of place and yet so perfectly in place at the same time. The other part I like is when the men find one of their corpses with a string of garlic around her neck and a wooden stake through her heart. I won't describe this brilliant scene in too much detail because it's best to just watch it for yourself, but I will say that it is a sort of old school vampire attack scene with a gothic feel - plus, of course, a bit of light comedy. It's great. I loved it.

I'm probably gushing over this movie a bit too much, but I Sell the Dead seemed to have the power to bring a little joy into my day with its wonderfully candid and tongue-in-cheek attitude toward a fairly gruesome and disturbing idea. The movie sometimes feels like it moves too quick, and that's more of a sad thing than a bad thing. I wanted more fun but I was really happy with what I got.