This weekend in Burbank, Monsterpalooza haunts the Marriott Burbank Convention Center.
Along with OCSWA board member, producer/director Eric Hensman and seemingly everyone from his immediate family, I ventured forth into the stinking bowels of hell (or actually the front lobby.)
Eric was there to promote his latest project and I was there to pass out cards for our May 22nd event. And we were both there as fan boys eager to drink in the
aroma of the undead and the hauntings that give us the creeps late at night.
I did run into screenwriter/producer Bill Martell and had a nice talk with him but otherwise I didn't know many people there personally. However, the amount of B-movie stars and special effects houses was plenty to keep both Eric and I more than entertained.
People like actress Eileen Dietz, who was the devil/body double in the Exorcist, and comedian Jonathan Winters (although I wasn't sure why he was there) populated the main floor and many rooms at the Marriott. I had a great conversation with retired actor Joe Turkel, who played Dr. Elden Tyrell in "Blade Runner" and with Tony Todd who's done a ton of B-movie roles including the remake of "Night of the Living Dead." I ended up buying a photo from Joe and he wrote on it "More human than human is our motto." Brilliant!
Producer/writer Sean Clark and the cast and crew of new horror flick "The Black Waters of Echo's Pond" (link) were there to do a signing. The movie looks scary and creepy - just perfect for the fans who lined the hallway to wait for a signed poster. We're (OCSWA) going to try to get a screening down here at the Regency.
The show itself was great fun; the people there were having a grand time and I just walked the floor and drank in all the cheeseball I could handle. Even though a show like this pales in comparison to something like San Diego ComicCon, it was big enough to enjoy and small enough to cover in a reasonable amount of time. It's spring convention-time, folks, and starting with this cool mid-sized event was the perfect warmup for the monster (no pun) show in San Diego in July.
Geared primarily to the effects masters who bring you all the weeping, puss-filled, seepingly disgusting wounds that we see our horror and scifi actors adorned with, Monsterpalooza had many effects houses featured in the various rooms. There were hands-on demos and activities for kids. The level of artistry is breaktaking when you see it up close and many sf/x houses had their models on display.
This is why it's so cool living in SoCal - industry events that are only minutes away and filled with both the wonder and sometimes-painful reality of show business (if you've ever seen autograph-signing scene in"The Wrestler" you know what I mean.)
Only in its second year, I predict big things for this show. Founders Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX have done a credible job of putting together a good mix of fan-intensive and industry-related events and presentations.
The cost is resonable ($20.00) and we were even able to buy tickets on Eric's iPhone while we standing in line.
It's running one more day (today, Sunday April 11) and if you can get out to see it go. If not, mark it down for next year. (link)
Like I said, it's convention-time - go see as many of these shows as you can and take advantage of all the film culture you're surrounded with here in Southern California.
