Yes, I said "nifty" and "keen" in the same sentence; that is extra points for me.
You know, I always find it tough to start out a 'review' of a convention or festival of any sort. I don't really know where to start; so I hope I won't bore you too much while I get into the swing of things. Of course, if you get bored you could always go over to our Movie review section, or the Soap Box and read some of the fine comments there.
I can wait. I got no life; after 19 years of marriage all the life has been sucked out of me. Which is why I go to conventions and festivals. Don't tell my wife I said that.
This years ShockerFest took place at the beautiful Galaxy Cinemas in Riverbank, California. The Galaxy is a twelve screen theater nestled about half-way between Oakdale (The Cowboy Capital of the World) and Modesto (The Meth Capital of the World) in the Central Valley of California.
I arrived about 11:30 because the person who was supposed to ride with me was late and had to go to the store for film but I won't mention Brenda Potter's name. After speaking with George Baker, the promoter and half of the brains behind the new film "Greeley's Field" I turned and who did I see but an old friend, Bill Herrell.
Bill used to run a Comic shop in Stockton, and did Comic shows up and down the valley for years. In fact it was at his store that I first met Ron Lim and got my first sketch from a professional artist. Still got it too.
Bill was there
promoting a new film he is starting to work on called "Blood Gulch",
a horror western. Along with him were Diana Kyle and Cheryl McIntire who will
both be in "Blood Gulch" when it starts shooting here in the valley
next spring for a fall 2007 release. I visited with Bill for a while and went for my first film of the day, "Diabolic Tales, Part 1." I had no idea what was in store for me.
My review appears in the DVD section of the PCU at this link…
Hopefully you have read it by now, so I will continue. The director, Brandon Kane as well as Brian Bedell and Mike Larose who starred in the film took questions after the movie was over, and from the reaction of the crowd it went over pretty good. Turns out that they had as much fun making it as we did watching it.
As the theater was clearing out for the next film Galaxy did something I think is positively great business; they sent in a couple of people with trays of Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke and Popcorn. I think there was even some candy in the mix. So, you could stay where you were and still get fresh hot popcorn and a cold drink. Convenient.
Turns out, there was a movie starting up about time travel. It was titled "The Time Travelers" and I think that was about as simply named as it could be. You certainly knew what you were getting there. It starred Tom Baker (former Doctor Who) as the 'time guard' named Sarge, who directs the two stars in their travel throughout some 7,000 years of history. The review is located here….
Sometime during this period Brenda stole my popcorn bag so I couldn't get my free refill. There is a special place in Hell for people like that.
I went looking for her and wound up instead getting a chance to speak with Steven Shepardini with the short film "Mother" which can also be seen at the New York City Horror Film Festival on October 21st.
Then I got to spend some more time with Brandon Kane and the cast of Diabolic Tales.
We talked
about some of the current films that are out, both mainstream and lower budget,
as well as what we all thought was good and bad in today's horror and Science
Fiction film genre. Frankly, I hope to hear more from these guys and see a lot
more of their work. They have great ideas on humor, and on what horror and Sci-Fi
is supposed to be. My next film was the short film Assumption. Not a great effort, but not bad. It was completely predictable, being almost a knock off of at least one Twilight Zone and two or three movies that come to mind right off the bat. Of course, most people under 20 would have no idea about this, so it is probably a success in that area.
My plan next was to go watch "The Monster of Phantom Lake" but only got to see a few minutes of it before I realized the time and had to take a break. I hope to get a chance to watch this one all the way through sometime soon.
I made it back in time to speak with Ms. Adrienne Barbeau
and trust me, she looks as good today as she did when "The Fog" first
came out. The woman is beautiful and friendly. And she has great handwriting.
We were all lined up getting ready for the stars of both "The Fog" and "Greeley's Field" to come strolling down the red carpet that had been laid out, and for the life of me I wanted to join them as they walked by. God, I am demented at times. Of course, this means I have to start on my own film now.
Anybody want to sleep with a director?
"The Fog" was just as amazing to watch today as it was 25 years ago. Especially on the big screen, where you could truly enjoy what was happening.
Watching Ms. Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis took me back to a time when a horror movie was about horror and not just blood and gore. Yes, there is a place for blood and gore, but without a decent script and good characters it is nothing more then a mess.
And I heard some of the audience after the film saying they didn't like it, 'It was not bloody enough.' Sometimes, it is enough to make you want to cry.
Ms. Barbeau took questions for about 15 minutes after the film, and she certainly knew how to handle an audience. She should, from her days as a dancer in some pretty rough places. She was funny, courteous and treated each questioner with respect and warmly.
Right after "The Fog" was the world premiere of the locally filmed "Greeley's Field" (review). That served to satisfy the gore-hounds in the
group, and
it also proves my point. "Greeley's Field" was filled with a lot of
young and inexperienced people. But, they were all quite good at what they do,
the script was well written and executed, and even though the ending was predictable,
it was still a lot of fun to watch. It was funny where it was supposed to be and suspenseful where it was intended to be. All in all, it was a very good film.
During the question and answer period after the film, Bill Herrell presented George and Louise Baker with a plaque thanking them for ShockerFest and their work in local films and in horror.
And then, Saturday was over; people were leaving or standing around chatting. But, the theater was fast emptying of attendees. It was only the truly desperate fan who hung around when all the others were gone just to rub shoulders with the guests and celebrities who were there.
And yes,
I am talking about myself. I stayed taking photos, talking with people like
Debbie Rochon, Scream Queen, star of over a hundred film and co-host of FangoriaRadio
who actually By God KNEW WHO I WAS!!!! HA! Eat your heart out, Ms. Angeledies
my seventh grade teacher who said I would never be a success in life!Guess I showed her, huh? Honest, Ms. Rochon recognized my name from having read some of my work. My head swelled so much, I was not sure I was gonna be able to get into my car.
I finally made it home around 1:00 AM with plans to do much the same thing on Sunday.