Come with us on a Journey to the Horror Hound Convention in Indianapolis!
Greetings, my friends! It’s the Phantom of the Ville here, just settling back into my favorite easy chair after returning home from a weekend at the Horror Hound Convention two hours North of us in Indianapolis. I saw a lot of creepy, but friendly faces at the show including Louisville Halloween’s own Pumpkin King and the amazing crew of the Movie Meltdown Podcast show ( www.moviemeltdown.com ). This post is obviously intended to be less news oriented and more “show and tell” for those of you who were unable to be there in person, so let’s start the tour, shall we?
There was an incredible assemblage of cast members from both the “Aliens” and “Terminator” franchises including, from the “Terminator” series, Linda Hamilton (Sarah Conner), Michael Biehn (Kyle Reese), Edward Furlong (John Conner), Kristanna Loken (The Terminatrix from “T3”) and others. From the “Aliens” franchise, Horror Hound brought out Lance Henriksen (Bishop), Carrie Henn (Newt), Jenette Goldstein (Vasquez), Mark Rolston (Drake), Ricco Ross (Frost) and Cynthia Scott (Dietrich).
Other horror celebrities included Timothy Balme, star of Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive,” Cassandra Peterson (better known to us as Elvira Mistress of the Dark!), “Nightmare on Elm Street’s” Heather Langenkamp and Jenny Wright, star of “Near Dark” and “I, Madman.” All of the monsters from “The Monster Squad” were there except the Gillman. Tom (“Manhunter”) Noonan was the Frankenstein Monster, Duncan (“Zorro”) Regher was Dracula, Michael Mackay was the Mummy and Carl Thibault was the Wolfman.
I had the opportunity to visit with an old friend, Ken Foree, star of George Romero’s uncontested zombie classic, “Dawn of the Dead.” Foree has been to Louisville before, signing autographs and meeting fans both at Wild & Woolly Video and at Louisville’s best fantasy and toy expo, Wonderfest. He told me that he still has and loves the Louisville Slugger baseball bat with his name on it that I gifted him on his first visit to the Ville and that he wants to come back soon and see his Louisville fans.
One of the most exciting moments for me at the show was meeting the Chiodo Brothers! You may not immediately recognize the names of Stephen, Edward and Charlie Chiodo, but you’ve likely seen and enjoyed a lot of their special effects work. These guys were the creature designers of the “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” and the little furballs with razor teeth in the “Critters” franchise as well as the puppet supervisors for “Team America: World Police.” I surprised them with the DVD cover for “King Cobra” (1999), for which they built the giant snake used in the movie. They had never seen the DVD box for that obscure monster flick before! Should I have been surprised?
The greatest joy for me at big horror conventions like this one is just wandering around the dealers room and the Artist’s Alley checking out all the amazing toys, props and monster masks on display. This year the show was co-sponsered by the Halloween Mask Association ( www.thehma.net/hma/forum.php) and there was an entire, gigantic room filled with monster masks and Halloween displays. My favorite display was put on by the Universal Monster Army ( www.universalmonsterarmy.com) who set up an elaborate tribute to the history of both Topstone and Don Post masks. Skeletal hands down, the absolute coolest thing on display was the heads and hands of two figures used for advertising the release of “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” from 1943. Theatrical ballyhoo for movies from this time period is extremely rare, and these Frankenstein and Wolf Man heads are amazing to behold because they have a direct link to the theatrical releases of the classic Universal Monster series that started it all! I’ve posted a photo of the figures from the 1943 premiere and also a photo of the heads as they appear today for comparison. And, yes, the Wolf Man’s eyes still light up!
Also found in the HMA room were Trick-or-Treat Studios news masks for 2012, including two licensed masks from “Halloween II” (1981), one of which depicts Michael Myers with the “blood tears” as seen from the end of the film after Laurie Strode shoots his eyes out in the hospital operating room. (Apparently, Michael grew his eyes back 10 years later for “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers”!)
I saw the three new officially licensed Universal Monster masks, two of which will be available to purchase at Caufield’s before Halloween. Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon can be pre-ordered now at www.caufields.com, but the Wolf Man won’t likely see release until 2013.
I also had a chance to catch up with Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate (www.midnightsyndicate.com) who continues to release symphonic Halloween CD’s used in many haunted attractions across the country. The band is currently promoting their latest CD, Carnival Arcane, based on turn of the century carnivals and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury.
Check out the photos for an idea of the things you could see at a show like Horror Hound, and don’t forget that a similar show called Scarefest (www.scarefestcon.com) is taking place in Lexington from Sept. 28- 30. Maybe you’ll find me there!
