CONVENTION WRAP-UP: DAYS OF THE DEAD CHICAGO 2012

SHU-IZMZ and SID!

This past weekend me and my little lady decided to check out the DAYS OF THE DEAD convention in Schaumburg, IL (a northwest suburb of Chicago) because, frankly, it had a solid line-up and it involved little traveling. We were able to crash at my family’s house when we were done with the con’ for the day and not have to pony up money for a hotel room. As well as free room and board, there was a filled refrigerator with lots of goodies to munch on. As much as we tried to keep things cheap, we still ended up having a few lunches and dinners at the Marriott Chicago (where it was held) at the bar and restaurant. The food was pretty good (if only the usual high hotel prices) and it wasn’t a hassle to get a table.

The focus for the convention for me was to see Keith David (THEY LIVE, THE THING) and Zoe Bell (XENA, DEATHPROOF, KILL BILL). The funny thing is, I am not much of an autograph hound (primarily due to the cost of most autographs) and usually just want a picture taken with the celeb and feel wrong about paying $10 to take a picture with my own damn camera. So, me being the cheapie I just got a kick out of seeing the actors and actresses speak at the panels and in passing in the dealer showroom and in the hallways.

My girlfriend REALLY only went with the hope of being able to meet Zoe Bell…and she cancelled due to a filming engagement. Sadly, this bummed my lady throughout the whole convention. I, on the other hand, was happy to have told Keith David that he ruled by shouting to him at Saturday night’s after-party, “KEITH DAVID- YOU RULE!!!” and have him smile and pat my shoulder as he walked by (sometimes I just get star-struck) and ask Sid Haig (at my girlfriend’s insistence) why he decided to take on the role of Joa, a witchdoctor of some sorts, in the film THE FORBIDDEN DANCE (1990). The film revolves around Lambada and is pretty cheese-tastic. Sid’s response as to why he made the film was simple economics: Money. I think if I had not started out the conversation by saying that my shy girlfriend loved the fucking film he may have started into a tirade about how much he hated the film or thought it was ridiculous. Also, Mr. Haig is wearing a sexy loincloth in it at one point. Seriously, check the film out. It is good for quite a few laughs.

After Sid said it was quite alright to take some photos with him, FOR FREE!, I talked to him about a little known movie (to most fans of his work) that he was in entitled PIT STOP (1969) that he starred in as a demolition car driver who is at the top of his game. The legendary Jack Hill directed it and Roger Corman was involved with the project as well (even though no mention of his name is in the IMDB.com listing). The film is great and has some awesome stunts and driving in the movie. Sid told me that all the drivers in the film were actual drivers (minus some of the actors who drove in some scenes–including Haig) and that Coors came with tons of beer for the drivers to drink after work and also to be used as a promotional measure in the film. Free beer for cast and crew and free advertisement for Coors. Also, the announcer in the film was the racetrack’s actual announcer and because he was in the film the crew was allowed to film at the track for free. Jack Hill didn’t even want to do a race car film but I think it is an incredible movie. George Barris was even in the film.

After Sid being so nice, I broke my autograph rule and paid the $20 to get a pic of him as Capt. Spaulding since I adore clowns so much and as a reminder of just how cool some celebrities can be. He was such a nice dude and it was a pleasure to send some money his way. Mr. Haig has been in so many awesome films (SPIDER BABY, HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) and I enjoyed our brief chat.

SHU with SID HAIG at DAYS OF THE DEAD.

Aside from some terrific panels including the FRIGHT NIGHT panel with CHRIS SARANDON, AMANDA BEARSE, STEPHEN GEOFFRIES, WILLIAM RAGSDALE, and JONATHAN STARK (which was my favorite panel!), there was RODDY PIPER and KEITH DAVID talking about THEY LIVE, wrestling, and acting (in general). I really enjoyed hearing the girls of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET chat about their experiences with the film with HEATHER LANGENKAMP, AMANDA WYSS (who is smoking hot still!), and TUESDAY KNIGHT. Wait, did I also mention that the director and screenwriter of THE COLLECTION was there, also? Yeah, the energetic director MARCUS DUNSTAN and screenwriter PATRICK MELTON (an Evanston, IL native) talked about the sequel to THE COLLECTOR, as well as showed everyone the first 7 minutes of the film. I actually thought they were showing the whole film in its entirety (because there was a short film screening entitled THE COLLECTIVE that also screened) and many thought so, too. Needless to say, the film does look pretty polished and reminded me a bit of the SAW franchise, with the film’s mechanized gadgets and mousetrap-style death machines. JOSH STEWART (lead in THE COLLECTOR) was back in the sequel, as well as EMMA FITZPATRICK. I have to say that the first 7 minutes looked cool. The scene reminded me a little bit of BLADE, as it takes place in a seedy night club with tons of hot, young adults dancing and whoring it up. I seriously thought Snipes was going to jump down from the ceiling as the crowd turned into blood-thirsty vampires! Needless to say, Traci Lords was not in the scene and neither was Snipes.

I almost forgot about one panel that was really interesting: ROCK N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL panel with MARY WORONOV, DAE YOUNG, and PJ SOLES. For the record, Mary Woronov really made this panel interesting. The woman is full of spunk and attitude. She really played a big bitch in ROCK N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL as Miss Evelyn Togar and I think that role is not too far off from her actual personality. The woman does not take shit from no one. She is a character all unto herself. It was quite interesting listening to her talk about the RAMONES, JOE DANTE, ANDY WARHOL, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, and ALAN ARKUSH. The woman has definitely been around!

SHU holding his BAPHOMET custom-made figure from CURIOUS GOODS! Thanks Mike!

Things at the convention ran smooth and I had a blast seeing many familiar faces, as well as some new ones. One cool dude I met was MIKE SMASH from CURIOUS GOODS (yes, the name of his shop pays homage to the FRIDAY THE 13TH television series whose cursed antique shop goes by the same name!) who sells a number of cool things, but most cool of all are his hand-made, one-of-a-kind toys. To be specific, he makes action figures and dolls that never were made or never will be made. His toys are very detailed and some of your favorite cult, exploitation, and horror films now have an action figure or doll for one to remember their character by. I was blown away to find that Mike had created figures from the Swedish metal band GHOST, a number of KING DIAMOND figures, and even a 9 or 10 ” GAAHL doll—complete with real tiny, metal-spiked, wrist guards: worn by every true metalhead warrior! Hell, the former member of GORGOROTH and somewhat crazy Black Metal icon should have his own figure! Some of the figures can be pricey (as most unique, handcrafted items generally are), but Mike was really willing to work with his customers and usually went down in price significantly and sometimes sold things at only $10 or $20 above cost. Shit, where the hell are you going to find a meticulously detailed DEAD SNOW Nazi General or a HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 figure with a giant cock raping a helpless victim? I thought so. You won’t find this kind of stuff anywhere but at Mike Smash’s booth at a horror convention or contacting him via his website and ordering from him. There is a website with some of the product but he also does commissions on items for things he has not yet created. I am currently in the process of talking with him about having him make something totally sick and twisted for my own, personal needs and will post the end product up when its completed. To show the guy that I really dig his work and support cool artists, I found a reasonably priced piece that looks great on my bookshelf next to all my books on Satanism, Vampires, Werewolves, Slasher films, and Zombie films: BAPHOMET!

As well as picking a custom-made figure, I also grabbed a bunch of t-shirts from various vendors. One in particular only had a small selection (design-wise), but the ones he had were awesome! I picked up a ALUCARDA t-shirt and a TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD design, which was drawn by CRAIG MERRIT from PALLBEARER PRESS! Check out the website for their designs and other cool shit like toys, masks, and pillows. Wait, pillows aren’t really that cool…but these are!

Of course, who can go to a horror convention without picking up a few, or twenty movies. I didn’t grab that many films because after buying shirts from HorrorMerch.com and Pallbearer Press, I had to conserve my funds but I had to see what goodies the VHSPS booth had for sale. Yeah, this booth sold direct transfers of forgotten and hard-to-find VHS tapes thrown on to dvd. Most of the films offered for sale were only $10 (less if bought in groups of 4) and are films that don’t have a dvd release. Most of them are awesome flicks. I picked up a bunch and am having so much fun watching them. I love VHS tape quality and think it has a place in any film collector’s heart, but VHS tapes more often than not get eaten by VCRs and it is nice to have a copy on DVD to watch over and over again. VHSPS is a website that VHS geeks need to check out! To show my support, I also bought a t-shirt from them.

I found it truly refreshing that the organizers of the convention were so nice and totally excited about doing it. They truly have a passion for the guests, the films, and the fans of them. I highly recommend going to DAYS OF THE DEAD when it comes to your town. It was one of the better cons that SHU-IZMZ has been to! Enjoy some of the pics taken at the event from STEPHANIE REYES below!