November 4, 2017

Photo Recap: Chiller Theatre Convention, Halloween 2017

It has been a week since the latest Chiller Theatre convention concluded and I am still buzzing about it. As always, it was an electric experience, chaotic, crowded, fun, and totally exhausting. I used to just go for a day, and that was enough, but now I have been going for a weekend and this allows me time to not have to rush around, but it triples the exhaustion level. No, I am not complaining, the exhaustion I experience after a convention weekend is a good one. It represents an escape from reality and spending time with friends, extended family, and meeting some awesome folks.



What you see below are some of the notable pictures taken throughout the weekend. Mostly of the celebrities I met. If we are friends on Facebook, you can see more pics from the show.

Anyway, on with the show!

Let's start with a fun compilation video chronicling the weekend:



And now the pictures!


Here is my lovely girlfriend with Allan Kayser. He famously played Brad in Night of the Creeps. He had stories to spare about the fun on the set and how he did not care for having a live flame thrower pointed at his face.



This is Kevin O'Brien who played Loco in Friday the 13th Part 3. He, as you can seem loved the poster I've been working on. He was very appreciative of the fans and had a good experience on the Friday set.


This is Leah Ayres, she starred in The Burning and also appeared in Bloodsport with Jean Claude Van Damme. She had a funny story about Jean Claude and tan lines. She also had a Harvey Weinstein story to share, proving how much of a scumbag he was right from the start.


Larry Joshua was the tough guy Glazer in The Burning. Still sounds the same. Very pleasant to meet and proud of the film.


Brian Matthews played the lead counselor in The Burning and was happy to hear my story of seeing the film play off 35mm to a sold out crowd,


Here is the Wizard Master from the Dream Warriors. Ira Heiden was having a blast at the con, but was also taking the time to keep up with his Dodgers (he also claimed to be a Mets fan) in the world series, sharing updates with Rodney Eastman and Heather Langenkamp (who was sporting a Dodgers Jersey on Friday night).


Rodney Eastman chatted with us for a long time about Dream Warriors, but more about I Spit on Your Grave, which he seemed particularly proud of, even calling it the best remake ever. Of course, we topped that with The Thing and The Fly.


Another Dream Warrior in the house is Jennifer Rubin, who gave my girlfriend a free autograph after she professed her love for The Crush. She also enjoyed the story of how I liked my girlfriend to her Elm Street character when we first started dating by calling her Beautiful and Bad.


It wasn't Rex Manning day but there was a Maxwell Caulfield sighting. He was very nice and even recorded a video greeting for my sister who had tasked with acquiring a Grease 2 autograph.



Another Empire Records alum was in attendance, albeit in a different room. Johnny Whitworth was hanging out and having a good time. We talked about his role in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which I love. He said he'd wanted to do Blackout's braid, but they wouldn't let him.


The star of Chopping Mall, Kelli Maroney joined Barbara Crampton and director Jim Wynorski on my Quiltface Studio designed print. She absolutely loved the print and insisted on showing it off in the picture.


Lance Guest, star of such favorites as Halloween 2 and The Last Starfighter was very friendly. We talked about the films and his going to school with Monster Squad director Fred Dekker.


Just one of the many packed hallways.


Lou Diamond Phillips was the nicest guy. He got a kick out of being asked about Demon Wind where he played a random demon. His then wife was an AD on the film which he agreed to appear in as a favor with a little demon make up on.


My girlfriend's mom and brother directing Heather Langenkamp to the autographing room. She got turned around and wasn't sure where it was.


Tim Cappello is one heck of a nice guy, Not sure why I took this long to meet him. If you don't know, he's the "I Still Believe" guy from The Lost Boys. He also played sax for a number of people, including Tina Turner, appearing on the soundtrack for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.


Of course, after the normal picture, Tim insisted on a little fun.


We ran into Vinnie Stigma of Agnostic Front just hanging out.


Another Agnostic Front band member, Mike Gallo, was also hanging around.


This is Domenick John Sportelli from the classic anthology Creepshow 2.


Another Creepshow 2 alum, Daniel Beer was on hand, telling us of how that famous scene in the Raft segment took a lot longer to shoot than anticipated due to his getting hypothermia.


One more Creepshow 2 castmember, Don Harvey. He appeared to be having a pretty good time with beer right at his table.


Artist Rick Catizone brought a couple of cool pieces that he had on display, the original stop motion animation armatures from Evil Dead 2, the one for the Henrietta demon and the one for Ash's severed hand.



This is Mike Gornick, director of Creepshow 2 and long time collaborator of George Romero's. He was having a good time and happy to meet the fans.


Cara Buono was very sweet. My sister wanted her autograph for Stranger Things while my girlfriend and myself brought up her versatility with our respective preferred films, hers being Beer League and mine being Let Me In.


Dan Roebuck was a pleasant surprise, he had a stack of headshots and was taking photos and signing autographs for free. He has had an amazing career appearing in everything from The Fugitive to 31.


Here were some fun cosplays, MST3K and Manos!


Chiller wouldn't be complete without a visit from Batman!


Where else can you see Travis Bickle, Frank Zappa, and Pogo?



Not to mention Beetlejuice and Jodi Foster!






On the con's last day, we had to say good bye to Tim Cappello, who calls us his Chiller family.


We also promised to visit Kevin O'Brien to show him Fright Rags victims and survivors Friday the 13th shirt.



My girlfriend was also keen to recreate the Blue Oyster Bar dance from Police Academy with Scott Thomson.



The last guest we met was Willie Aames, from Zapped and Charles in Charge.We share a love for horror films, he even gave me a free autograph photo from an upcoming horror film is working on with Ken Kirzinger (Freddy vs. Jason) and the Soska sisters (American Mary)

Overall, it was another amazing Chiller and I cannot wait to do it all over again next spring!
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