Horror Gossip: 05.06.2009

Overview:
Of corpse the bulk of this new-fangled column is going to be the foundation of Texas Frightmare Weekend that I attended last weekend. The outcome was pleasurable, edifying, and enthralling. The main topics are going to be; Alice Cooper’s Horror Lifetime Achievement Award, ScreamTV, Wicked Pixel Cinema, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Thomas Mason, and Jason Mewes.

Events for Texas Frightmare Weekend:
The main events revolved around Alice Cooper getting a Horror Lifetime Achievement Award for being scary.

He was the main attraction of the entire weekend and he was there all weekend meeting fans, signing autographs, and taking pictures.

On a tight schedule no less. It was quite an honor for me to meet Alice Cooper. If only I had more time.

I love how he combines hard rock, horror, and theatrics. Metal-Rules.com posted a video with the footage. The totally random and bizarre thing is that while watching this I noticed Chester Moore (Who is a local and I guess the founder of Freak13?

And who use to tour and go to horror conventions) was the one who introduced Alice Cooper. For me that is pretty random. Anyway here is some awesome footage…..

Thursday night was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Screening. Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive till Friday night. It was a Vintage 35mm screening of the 1974 classic at Studio Movie Grill Lewisville. Q&A with director Tobe Hooper and stars Marilyn Burns and Teri McMinn. I’m so sad that I missed this but enjoyed meeting the three. Marilyn Burns is so tiny. I missed the Black Sunday screening but did get to meet Barbara Steele. This was the biggest one for me guys. I was speechless. The whole time I was talking to her trying to tell her my name, I kept getting interrupted by that guy on the microphone walking around.

They made the awesome decision to put the speakers right next to Steele’s booth which had her pretty pissed off. She got so mad that she stood up and attempted to walk over the this guy upset. Thankfully they fixed the problem and then she was all smiles. Adrienne King (Friday the 13th original) had gotten pretty upset as well. It had nothing to do with her stalker. I think there were complications with her booth and too many fans trying to take pictures that she just got so annoyed.

Meeting Brooke Lewis (iMurders, Slime City Massacre) was fun and interesting. What a sweet f*cking girl. And she’s so little and so nice. Oh while I’m on the subject of the sequel to Slime City…..you wont believe how many people at this convention had never even heard of Slime City. Who doesn’t love 80s cheese? Anyway, Brooke was very nice to me introducing me to people and putting me at ease about being all by myself at the convention not knowing what the f*ck to do haha. There was a screening of iMurders and I was going to go but thanks to all the unfortunate accidents that kept happening to me, I had to leave early. I really hope to cross paths with Brooke again. She’s pretty hot. Check out Slime City Massacre out in the near future. When I find out a release date I will inform you.

The President (Christopher Yeary) and Managing Director (Joel Evans) of ScreamTV happened to be around with a nice set that was bounded with nifty props. I’d say it was my favorite vendor to visit. There were suppose to be “Scream Girls” there to support with the two but never showed. They shared my attitude over the dissatisfaction that is FearNet and the Chiller Channel. I’m not trying to knock either one it’s just that ScreamTV has more to offer as far as rarities go.

Christopher Yeary articulated his feelings further, “We differ from the competition for several reasons. Fearnet offers on demand but is not offered on all cable providers. Many have complained that it is hard to find, usually at the far end of the channel spectrum and programming is limited. Time Warner has recently canceled it’s Fearnet programming all together, a trend I would not be surprised to see continue with other providers. Chiller offers round the clock programming but is limited by FCC standards of broadcasting, something that hardcore horror fans do not appreciate at all. If there is anything I have learned in the ten years ScreamTV has been around, is that horror fans want uncut uncensored horror, something any broadcast channel will never be able to provide.” I wondered what they had to offer that the two haven’t and he replied with…

“The thing that separates us the most from the others is our close relationship with independent filmmakers. Coming from a film background ourselves, we understand how important it is to not only get your film made, but to actually have it seen. With ScreamTV.net we offer filmmakers the opportunity to have their latest masterpieces viewed for free worldwide, whether it’s a ten minute short or a feature length film, we give them that outlet. With ScreamTVondemand.com there is an opportunity for them to actually make some money when people download their film from our site. Having your film seen is nice, but if you can make a little scratch too, all the better.”

As far as future projects for ScreamTV go he says, “Some of the other things that separate us are our original programs, and series as well as the 1000’s of titles available from our distribution partners, VCI Entertainment and Tempe Video. Not to mention “Phantasmagoria” where you can upload your own horror creation for free on ScreamTV.net and of course our “Screamer of the week” section where horror babes from all over send us their hottest photos. ScreamTV is always looking ahead toward bigger things. We feel that producing original programming, supporting independent films, and getting more and more film distributors to supply us with movies will eventually lead us to the holy grail of broadcasting…Satellite. Until then we’ll keep plugging along toward that goal while others fall to the wayside. It’s been a long and sometimes difficult ten years but I can’t imagine doing anything else.” I’d like to keep up with ScreamTV as
much as possible.

Heading over to the comic books portion of this column. I had a chance to talk with the artist for Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, His Name Was Jason, Grimm Fairy Tales. Thomas Mason is actually a pretty good artist and he let me check out some of his up coming art work which I will write about next week. I don’t want to spoil too much but lets just say it involves a sock, a penis, and a lot of gore. The good news is that another Grimm Fairytales will be out. The bad news is that he is not the artist L In the first-ever Wonderland Annual Dan Wickline (30 Days of Nights) brings you a tale of madness and horror unlike any seen before in the pages of Zenescope’s hit Wonderland series. Once upon a time a young girl name Alice went to a place called Wonderland. It was a place that wasn’t very nice. She came back and had a nice little family and then her daughter, Callie went to Wonderland too and soon their nice little family was no more. Now a new family has
moved into the Liddell house but Wonderland is still there trying to get out – and it doesn’t like the new tenants! * source: zenescope.com I had a chance to get an interview with Thomas Mason on his new projects and well keep your eyes open for it!

Wicked Pixel Cinema was present sporting their DVD collection. One of the topics we discussed the most was about the film “Scrap Book.” Apparently, it’s so heinous and so vile people are actually sending it back says Jason Christ and Jeremy Wallace. I haven’t seen it and now I’m intrigued to watch this fanatical award winning project. Dying for official synopsis? OKAY! “Clara is beaten, raped, starved, and locked up like an animal, filthy and naked. She is forced to write in the scrapbook, adding her agony to the pages. She soon realizes that her only hope for survival is to manipulate Leonard through her writings in his cherished scrapbook.“ There’s also the contest for your shot at a signed copy of SAVAGE HARVEST 2: OCTOBER BLOOD and a copy of the recently released motion picture soundtrack. The contest ends on May 15th. I’ve been talking to Jeremy Wallace about the film and I will have more on the issue next week.

Jason Mewes was at the convention and I was so excited I almost wet myself. Why was he present at a horror convention? Maybe it has something to do with Kevin Smith’s long awaited horror film project? I DON’T KNOW! What does this mean for his heavily anticipated horror film Red State? After all, that particular project was said to be the followup of Zack and Miri, but there has been no word saying either way. How long will it be until movie audiences can finally experience a horror movie by Kevin Smith?! Last I heard Smith is working on a project with Tracey Morgan and it’s called “A Couple of Cops.” Oh well that just sounds awesome. I am being sarcastic. I hope he doesn’t let me down, or all his fans for that matter.

Misc. Texas Frightmare Weekend Projects/Shows:
On the music front, Ghoultown had their own booth. Unfortunately, I did not have much time to speak with them. The band I spent more time talking to was Calabrese. They call themselves The Traveling Vampire Show. They didn’t actually perform but their presence had me captured right away and I felt the need to check out their profile and seek an interview. So hopefully I will have more word on that. They’re like The Misfits, The Cramps, Nim Vind. A lot like your basic horror punk bands. Here’s a nifty video down below…….

There’s a club out there called the “Horror Drunx.” There are chapters EVERYWHERE and the Colorado chapters was along for the weekend sporting their fantastic horror icon tattoo art. I happen to know that the official Horror Drunx website is searching for more staff members. If you go over to The Horror Drunx store called Mad Love you will find all kinds of t-shirts boycotting horror film remakes and all kinds of cool sh*t. Today, many of the chapters are also becoming known for their special events… Be it movie screenings at theaters, music events at clubs, parties, barbeques, and other social mixers where like-minded horror fans can meet.

While we are on the subject of ‘art’ I also wanted to express my feelings for Latex Design. Wearable Latex Art is an ingenious technique Taught by the inventor, Mark Mc Cord back in 1995. The technique is a combination of drawing, painting and sculpting. There is no use molds or die cutting. Each piece is made by hand, one at a time by the artist. The finished piece is a low relief wearable sculpture: necklace, choker, bracelet, necktie, anklet, pasties etc. And can be as detailed as a portrait or as simple as modern art. You can Purchase Directly off the site also subscribe to the site and have a chance to win a necklace of our choice every month. I know the models I worked with on Deadlycreations.org and Suicide Girls have worn many items by Latex Design.

Of corpse there was a screening for Laid to Rest and the cast was present taking pictures and signing autographs. The Crew for horror comedy ‘Retardead’ probably thought I was a real treat (I know how to make an impression). Teddy Scares and Genuine Evil Brand swore I looked like Jail Bate with my pig tails, which ended in me getting a free t-shirt that says Jail Bate. ScreamTV was helping to get word out on the upcoming film Trace. You can go to the official Trace website by clicking here

The Next Monkey chicks were also there. Next Monkey Horror Films is owned by 2 female horror fans. These crazy ladies have completed 3 feature length movies that are in world wide distribution. They will go anywhere and do anything to promote the horror movies they create. It’s not enough that they are the entire crew… but they are also driven to produce award winning movies. I had a chance to talk with Dana and Darla and well, they weren’t wearing any clothes but it was nice to meet them. Among their promotions were the films; The Stitched (which is based on a true story), Branded, and Toe Tags. Darla and I talked further about the projects that you can see in the near future.

All in All, Texas Frightmare Weekend was a great experience that I will always be happy about. I got to interview many people and learn all kinds of things I didn’t even know. I met some of my favorite celebrities, and everyone put on a good show. I’ll make a point to go to every horror convention that comes this way.

Basic News:
I’m not going to make the entire column about TFW. I want to keep you informed on the things going on. So how’s about the things we discovered this week? Horror News is now on You Tube. Hmm, you should look into that? You think? You will find 50 New Horror Trailers. Looking at the new art work for Dog House, I am a little creeped out. You can see it out in June. The Rec 2 site is up, we got to see pictures of a Mega Shark chopping through a gigantic bridge and McG feels strongly about Terminator 5. “I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011. John Connor is going to travel back in time and he’s going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion.

They’ve figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than one naked entity. So you’re going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with
conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be f*cking awesome. I also think he’s going to meet a scientist that’s going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.”

I added the new promo for HBO awesome vampire series True Blood Season 2. If you haven’t watched this you need to do it now. The show might surprise you.

A little news on horror comic books? OKAY! Angel: Not Fade Away #1 will arrive in stores on May 13 from IDW Publishing. The issue is written by Joss Whedon, Jeffrey Bell and Scott Tipton, with art and cover by Stephen Mooney. Here’s how IDW describes the issue: “Before Angel: After the Fall… there was Not Fade Away. The final episode of Joss Whedon’s beloved Angel television series is being adapted in a three-part miniseries that leads to a climactic battle in an alleyway that fans now know was only the end of the beginningŠ” Angel: Not Fade Away #1 will be 32 pages and will cost $3.99. Army of Darkness #20 will arrive in stores on May 6 from Dynamite Entertainment. The issue is written by Mike Raicht, with art and cover by Scott Cohn.

Here’s how Dynamite describes the issue: “Ashley J. Williams goes to Europe! See what happens when America’s most beloved Chosen One travels across the pond and explores the legends and mysteries of Chosen Ones past, including a certain ripper in old London town!” Army of Darkness #20 will be 32 pages and will cost $3.50. And I got word on Beyond Wonderland! Once upon a time a family was torn apart by a world intent on escaping into our own, a world called Wonderland. The portal to this world was a large looking glass that sat innocently in the basement. But this was no ordinary mirror, the Liddles were no ordinary family and after the horror was unleashed all that remained was an empty house with a terrifying past. Now a new family is about to move in to a home infected by madness and intent on taking whatever it wants and this unsuspecting family has no warning and no way to stop what is coming… If walls could only talk, these ones would scream. Price: $5.99

Last week I didn’t get much done with the reviews. Evil Dead Trap II will be the next one. With the whole weekend shenanigans, it was hard to get that done. Look forward to more reviews this week and next week. I’m expecting a couple of books in the mail I hope to discuss as well. How I have the time for all this is beyond me.