One of the main reasons I decided to attend the Fright Night Film Fest in Lousiville was due to the addition of Gillian Anderson a.k.a. Agent Dana Scully from The X-Files. Like most of their top celebrity draws, she’d also represent one of their pricier ones. The cost for her autograph was $65 and an extra $20 if you wanted her to personalize or write anything in addition to her name.
It was around 8am on Friday, July 26th when Russ Wrangler and I began our journey to the Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville, Kentucky. This annual event (merged in with the Fandomfest Comic & Toy Expo) offers big names in the genre world…be it horror, sci-fi, or comic books.
2013 proved to be no exception with the convention boasting such notable guests as William Shatner, Gillian Anderson, Gene Simmons, and Stan Lee along with a slew of others farther down the celebrity food chain.
Friday night at Days of the Dead didn’t have quite the after party Russ and I hoped for. That wasn’t shocking since Saturdays tend to be when convention festivities kick off and it certainly wasn’t everyone else’s fault that we were only staying over on Friday. After we ate dinner the convention rooms closed but Days offered activities in the hotel lounge which included a monster burlesque show.
Next to where the cast members of THE THING reunion were signing, was the amazing THING-FEST! This private collection owned by super-fan, Joe Hart, would feature the largest acquisition of props and memorabilia from the 1982 John Carpenter classic.
Though born and raised in New Jersey (a childhood friend of Kevin Smith), Hart now resides with his wife in Canada. What makes him so exceptional isn’t simply that he’s a fan who’s amassed lots of amazing goods, but that he’s one who willingly shares them with the rest of us. He does this utilizing his own time and resources and, in doing so, enhances the overall experience for everyone; something never more evident than at the Days of the Dead Indianapolis!
I am constantly looking for new monster movies to watch, hopefully enjoy and then add to my movie collection. Unfortunately, more often than not, these films end up being comparable to a Syfy Channel movie of the week (in other words, it sucks). Thankfully, every once in awhile one comes along that stands out. Such is the case with the 2012 release of GRABBERS.
Days of the Dead’s THING-FEST; which not only included the largest gathering of actors from John Carpenter’s THE THING but also the biggest collection of props and collectibles, was well worth the trip to Indianapolis in itself. Russ and I are both huge fans of the movie and I’m expressing no hyperbole here when I say we were ECSTATIC to see a convention finally give it some proper attention.
From the film’s first pulse-pounding moments (enhanced even further by Carpenter’s fantastic score), I was captivated by it. And, in keeping with the film’s overall theme of paranoia, I also found myself rooting for the wrong side even before the opening credits had finished. Perhaps my devotion to THE THING is a prime example of how we, as adults, tend to be enthralled by the very things that provoked us as children.
…and seeing a “defenseless” dog getting shot at by a sniper in a helicopter absolutely provoked me.
Terror from Beyond the Dave 