Day 15 - Grace

This was the fourth of my four movies in four days. The third was 9 - I went out to catch one of the last shows before it left the theaters. And as it was ending its run, it was relegated to one of the smaller venues, as is usually the case. Which just so happened to be theater '6'. And - every theater in this particular chain is lit up with first: the number of the theater, and second: the title of the movie. I'll pause for a moment while you go back and put those two together.

I almost stopped and yelled back at the counter, 'Did y'all do this on PURPOSE??'
This is probably why Plan 9 started 20 minutes late last week - all the kids that work there were probably out back having a smoke and laughing their asses off.

Back to Grace. This straight to video gem is about Madeline (Jordan Ladd) who is pregnant for the third time - and kind of already a little nutty about doing all the 'right things for her unborn baby - avoiding chemicals, eating vegan, finding the right doctor (she finally settles on a midwife who happens to be an old friend of hers). But Madeline has already had two unsuccessful pregnancies, so she's understandably a little paranoid.

But sadly, life takes a tragic turn of events when Madeline and her husband have an accident which leads to the death of her unborn child. Unfortunately, hubby bites it too, and Madeline decides to not let the doctors induce her labor - and decides to carry the fetus to term and give birth.

The birth is painful and sad, and the midwife delivers the stillborn child to Madeline to say goodbye. But after everyone leaves Madeline alone to mourn, they return to find that maybe the baby isn't so stillborn after all......



Madeline takes Grace home to start her life over and celebrate her 'miracle' daughter. But soon Madeline finds out that her daughter isn't quite like other babies - breast milk won't quite cut it. No, it turns out that Grace needs the red stuff to survive.

This movie was directed by Paul Solet and will definitely go on my short list of best horror films I've seen this year. Halfway through the movie I thought I'd figured it out - only to keep changing my mind every five minutes. I still don't know if the story is literal - is this just the story of a child born to drink blood and the lengths a mother will go to make sure her child survives? Or is it a psychological tale of a woman who has been so scarred by tragedy that she creates a fantasy world that takes her deeper and deeper into her own madness?

I'm still not sure. But if you're read my reviews before, you know this is the kind of film I live for - one that makes me think about it for days afterwards - a movie that doesn't have all the lines drawn in. I know I'll still be pondering this one in the weeks to come.

One thing I am sure of is that Jordan Ladd did an outstanding job as Madeline. Ladd, who is starting to build up her horror resume with films such as Cabin Fever, Hostel II, and DeathProof (Shanna Banana!!), makes you want as badly as she does for that baby to just be alive, and even though you know in your heart of hearts that she's not headed to a good place, you still want her to be able to be that mother that she so badly wants to be.

The movie is fairly bloody (can't make a movie about a baby that drinks blood without lots of the red stuff!) but not overly gory. It also reminded me of another film about a baby who needs to drink blood, Grave of the Vampire. Which is a great film as well - but for completely different reasons. Who knows, it may warrant a review later on this month......
Mama F.

Day 14 - Terror From Beneath the Earth!

Yes, I'm a little behind in my posts - but I'm ready to catch up now. I've watched FOUR movies in the last two days - well, five if you include a French film that I suffered (read = napped mostly) through called The Class. After twenty minutes, Mother said, I GET it! Students are apathetic and hard to reach! But nooooooooooooo, we all had to sit around and FRIGGIN' TALK ABOUT IT FOR TWO MORE HOURS. Yeah. But there was some goooooooooooood sleepin' between the first and last half hours - and I'm happy to say that the other four films were MUCH better.

I also went to see Inlglourious Basterds last night - LOVED it - so I'm officially blaming Quentin Tarantino for my post being late. But - you can read a review of IB in oh, about a million different places. BUT -what you can't read just anywhere is a review of......
TERROR FROM BENEATH THE EARTH!


This is one of the films by Christopher R. Mimh that played at Zombie X Con last weekend in Milwaukee - and which I picked up a copy of (along with The Monster of Phantom Lake (review coming soon!).

Terror is the fourth film by Mimh, and the plot involves atomic testing and what happens to one of the animals.....and you all should know, when you mix atomic testing and animals, the results ain't never good!!! Dr. Edward and his sidekick Rosemary are in the process of exploring the area when at the same time, two children have went missing in the same caves. The children's father, Stan, and the local sheriff enlist the help of Dr. Edward and Rosemary to help find the children and try to make sense of just what is going on in that cave!

The films are of course made in the style of 1950's B movie horror. As I said before, I would consider them to be a little more tongue in cheek than Alien Trespass - but still made with a lot of love and fondness for the genre. Everyone is respectful of the era they're representing and it shows.

If you live for the moments in classic B movie horror when you can see the zipper in the monster suit, you'll LOVE the special feature outlining how they made the monster suit in Terror. In less than two minutes - with drawings and pictures, they'll show you how to build a monster suit with duct tape, kitchen strainers, corn cob holders (!), cardboard, magic marker, and black fuzzy material. Oh and bear slippers - don't forget those. Other special features include an intro by Dr Ivan Cryptosis, trailer, photo gallery, and blooper reel.

This recent article here on MinnPost dot com says that Mimh spends 2,000 to 5,000 on each of his films, along with a lot of volunteer help. That makes me want to donate to his next project even more - and you can too, here. For a mere 50.00 you can be listed as an associate producer - along with many other fun goodies. You can also pick up a copy of Terror and the other three films on that link as well.





Rarr,
Mother Firefly

Day 13: Frontier(s)

Last night I finally sat down and streamed this French film on Netflix. On Netflix (and most other places I've read reviews) the movie seems to be kind of polarizing. People seem to feel it's either one of the best movies to come out of the 'torture porn' trend, or that it's just another entry in that fad and a not very well made one at that.
Comparisons to Hostel are sure to arise (for one, because the movie takes place at a Hostel) but this, for me, is the far better film.
For one - I cared a lot more about the characters in this movie. I've noticed this is much more common in French films - even though the three men and one woman are essentially criminals on the run, I was a lot more invested in their struggle for survival than I am in many American films. Similarly, even the villians in this movie were more fleshed out (and maybe one or two, as we find, are not so villanous).

This movie was originally part of the After Dark film fest, but was pulled due to the graphic violence. I think that's too bad since it's superior to most movies I've seen from that brand. And as far as violence, it's certainly no worse that Hostel, and as far as the 'torture' aspect of it - much more is implied (as far as what may be coming and what's been done to others) than is actually seen. This is a family raised on Nazism by a controlling and evil father, and oh yeah, they have a use for those bodies later on too.

Another thing I have to come to enjoy about French horror films is the tendency to have their central female characters fight back - with a vengenance. Not content to just try to get away, they want to take their tormentors out while they're at it. And not just take them out but make them pay for what they've done as well.

There's no lack of the red stuff here (one of the worst scenes for me, however, involved not blood but escaping from a pig pen) and there's at least one scene that is completely cringe-worthy. But the film is no worse than High Tension, and I don't think it's as violent or hard to watch as Inside or Martryrs.

Especially powerful is a scene where one of the other women preps our heroine for her 'debut' in the family and gives us some insight into how this family is run.

The only complaint I'd have about this movie is a side story involving someone's offspring - it's explained and briefly shown - but never gone back to. I would have liked to see that aspect of the story more fully explored.

Overall, I thought this was a tense and compelling film and I recommend it - especially if you're a fan of French horror films. And if you haven't seen one before, this would be a good place to start.

-Mother Firefly

Day 12: Satanism and The Deans

I'm calling this the Deans because WITHOUT FAIL, every time I go to say 'Dean Stockwell', my brain wants me to say 'Harry Dean Stanton.' Now, I KNOW the difference between these two fellas. Stanton = coolio cool in films like Repo Man, Wild at Heart. Stockwell= guy that goes beep-boop-beep-boop-boop in the TV show Quantum Leap. Not that he hasn't had his own moments. His line delivered in response to Dennis Hopper's Frank in Blue Velvet 'Very Well, Frank. Here's to your F**k.' and his expression following makes me fall over laughing every time.

But since my brain wants to confuse the Deans, I can't help but wonder what this movie would have been like if Stanton had the lead instead of Stockwell. For one, we wouldn't have been treated to facial expressions like this one:

Booga.

Believe me, there's many more where THAT came from.

I'm talking about The Dunwich Horror. I've got another confession to make about this movie. I ordered it during some online sale - thinking I knew what I was getting - which was a movie I'd seen about ten years ago about witchcraft. I realized right away it wasn't the film I thought I'd ordered - which my friend KK recognized right away when I described it to her. As the DEVONSVILLE TERROR. Ah well.

Our film opens on a sweaty woman giving birth with some strange symbol written on her forehead. Can't be good. What happens to her? Don't know, because the credits start....

Now we're at college - Nancy (Sandra Dee) has just gotten out of class and her professor wants her to run an errand for him. Nothing too hard, just run the Necronomicon back to the library. Wait, what?
None of these burly dudes can do it?

Nope, I guess it makes total sense to ask the perky blonde to run it back - especially since this dude is lurking about:


And just so the book doesn't get put back in the wrong place: we have this nice case with a handy dandy label:

but just after Nancy puts it away, Wilbur (Creepy Dean) asks her if he can take a look at it. Nancy says, Sure! Why not? Her reasonable brunette friend thinks that's not the greatest idea, but Nancy says, It'll be okay.....besides, did you see his eyes?? Oh Yes we did, Nancy, and we'll be seeing ALOT more of them by the time this movie is throught......Wilbur gets all excited and has weirdo flashbacks with people in capes and trees 'n shit ...... But hold up, here comes the Professor, and he's all, Step away from the book, dude.

But before the Professor can get his panties in too much of a twist, it comes out that Dean is the grandson of some dude that was hung because of something to do with the book, and knows who the Professor is, and somehow this is just all O-TAY with the Prof, and then they all go out to dinner for drinks and to talk about the occult. But the Prof still won't let Wilbur study the book.

So the Prof and the Reasonable Brunette leave Nancy and Wilbur in the restaurant - until Wilbur figures out gee, he's just missed his bus - and Nancy offers to drive him home. Of course, Wilbur wants Nancy to come in for a cup of tea, and well, you probably start to see where this is going....especially when the house looks like this:


You can't see this, but there's a pumpkin in the front yard. A PUMPKIN. Lol.

They get in the creepy house, Nancy goes to freshen up, Wilbur waves his hand over some big green rock, which turns.......not sure what that has to do with ANYTHING about anything, but when Nancy tries it five minutes later (while Wilbur is busy spiking her tea), it falls off the table. An old guy shows up, (Gramps, apparently, according to Wilbur), he leaves and Nancy starts gettin' itchy to leave. Only Wilbur wants her to finish her tea first:


I ain't drinking no kind of tea from ANYONE who looks at me like that while I drink it.

But no, Nancy still wants to go, but wait, Whoops, car won't start. Which is probably because Wilbur managed to sneak out and disconnect her distributor cap inbetween making tea and playing with green rocks. (that was one LONG bathroom break, Nancy). Well, I guess Nancy just has to spend the night now. Wow, I never saw THAT coming.

Sooooo.......then we learn there's SOMETHING locked upstairs, and then Nancy has a bad freaky dream involving people in weird makeup chasing her. Now it's the next day, the Prof and the Reasonable Brunette are on the road looking for Nancy, and Nancy and Wilbur are relaxing on a grassy hillside discussing Nancy's dream and Wilbur's life in the country...to which Nancy finds appealing and she's never 'felt so relaxed'.

HUH? After a night of dreaming about this?


Guess that's her idea of peace, because she accepts Wilbur's offer to spend the weekend. Then her friends arrive looking for her:

Here we are, just strolling amongst the gargoyles.....


They leave the house and Nancy has more tea...which leads to a nap....and then Gramps is all over Wilbur for bringing the girl there and warns him 'to let the book be!"
I'll beat you with my Keith Haring stick!


Turns out that Prof and co. have not left town but instead are poking around, looking for info on the family. They find out that Wilbur's mom originally gave birth to twins, but one died, and now she's in the looney bin:



And also Wilbur is giving Nancy more info on Grandpappy - who apparently believed in a pre-human superior race of beings that he wanted to resurrect....and then the town just went and hanged him after he tried to sacrifice some girl!
Of all the nerve!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Just a little tour of the family sacrificial grounds!

Wilbur gets Nancy to lay down on the stone table - with more funky eye movements, apparently, since she sort of just does it with no real coaxing:


And then the real fun begins with chanting and this:
I have no words.

Then there's the writhing, and the trees, and the people and robes....and we find that Wilbur has this under his clothes.
Can't be good.

Then for some explicable reason, Nancy's friend goes back to the house alone and forces her way in past the old man. As you can imagine, she goes immediately to the locked door and...colored lights and screaming ensue


Can't be good.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Wilbur and Nancy return, all - a -post-ritual-glow, but not for long. Gramps is all upset and bitching that the girl came and claiming that Wilbur's plan won't succeed. Gramps claims that he tried once and destroyed Wilbur's mother. Gramps attacks Wilbur and falls down the stairs to his death.

What happens next is the fastest funeral ever - as we see Wilbur doing all kinds of freaky deaky spell like things over Gramps' grave, and Nancy just taking it all in stride....

Then Wilbur's mom kicks the bucket, Wilbur and Nancy drive back to university (when did the car start running again?) and Wilbur steals the Necronomicon. So he can take Nancy out to the family sacrifical grounds and start this bullshit again:


Meanwhile, the neighbors are getting attacked by something we never see, and then we're back to Wilbur...who proclaims to Nancy that's she's 'One of us now'.
What, she's going to start making overly dramatic eye movements???


I guess SOMETHING they did in the ceremony led to SOMETHING because the wind picks up and the trees shake violently and we get a lot of this kind of thing:
Yeah. Scary.

Then the ranch is burning down and the Prof and the Doc have somehow managed to organize the townspeople, and they all stand around watching the wind blow through the grass. Or something.

Wonder what they're all scared of?

Yep, that shit is TRULY frightening.

Guess this is the longest ceremony EVER, because Wilbur is still looking at the book, Nancy is writhing on the stone table, and the townspeople are on their way.

But suddenly they're attacked by the WIND:
Jesus God.

FINALLY the Prof and Wilbur meet up and have a squinting contest:

Wilbur must feel pretty good about that, because he's right back at this crap:
Yep, that's pretty much how I feel about it.

But the Prof keeps yelling some word at him over and over - which only takes about thirty times before it has this effect:

LOL

Wilbur tries to do his backwards-ass horn thingie again, the Prof keeps yelling, and Nancy keeps writhing.
Then this:
FINALLY.


It ends with this um, thing that flashes in different colors:

Then Nancy snaps out of it, and the Prof is all, Hey, the other baby didn't die, it was stuck between two worlds, and its real father was 'not of this world', but you know what, it's all good now because the last of the family line is dead for reals.

Uh, what? (that's a transposed FETUS over her dress just in case you can't make it out) HAHAHAHAHA

God how i WISH this movie had ended with 'The End?' in big letters. Then I could have fell off my chair laughing. Which I might have done through the whole movie if I hadn't watched it with a puzzled 'Huh?' look on my face. It was sort of fun but on the other hand all the rituals and 'other worlds' and people apparently from them that we never really see......I don't mind not having ALL the answers but sometimes it just seemed sketchy because the filmmakers couldn't be bothered to come up with a better explanation. I know this is based on Lovecraft but I don't know enough about it to know if it's close to the original story or not. But I'm sure that googly eyes were not a part of the source material. Just a hunch.

Booga-booga,
Mother Firefly

Day 11: Zombie Con Day Two: Puppets and Zombies

On Day Two I spent the majority of my day in the Panel Room. Not only was my new BFF Tom Atkins having his own Q & A all to his own self, there were more paranormal stories and yes, even more kissing to be found there.

FILMS:
Unfortunately, I didn't watch one entire film today. I did, however, see a trailer for an upcoming film called The Amateur Monster Movie. All I have for you is their MySpace page which doesn't have the trailer on it yet. The movie was shot in Wisconsin, and looks really funny. Hope to hear more on it soon.




The Landlord: I saw some of the middle of this movie and I wished I could have seen more. But since I can't bi-locate, I had to choose - and I chose a panel over the movie. I'll definitely be watching for it to be released (the website hopes for next year on DVD) because I'd like to see the rest. It's about demons that inhabit an apartment building. And they're HUNGRY.





PANELS:
Wisconsin Paranormal: Another entertaining talk about ghost hunting. Their presentation focused more on how they get started, their procedures, and their experiences. I also stopped and talked to them at their table - very nice people and easy to talk to.

Tom Atkins: I was glad to see Tom get his own Q & A - he was kind of overshadowed at the Zombies Everywhere! panel - since the conversation revolved around Romero films. It was a good time, and I hope to see Tom at more conventions in the future.

Men Behind the Monster: Ari Lehman (Friday the 13th) and Eugene Clark (Land of the Dead). I really enjoyed Eugene - so much so that I stopped at his booth and had him sign my Land of the Dead DVD, and since he was having a fire sale (his words!), I ended up with a signed photo as well. Nice guy with great stories about working on Land. Jonathan Breck (Jeepers Creepers) was supposed to be a part of this too, but he wasn't there.

The Cave - Day of the Dead:
Last panel of the day with Joe Pilato and Gary Klahr. These two have remained good friends since doing Day and have done many cons together - and their camaraderie is apparent on stage. They talked about their experiences doing Day and stayed for after the show photo ops. I hadn't gotten anything signed by Joe - although I do want my copy of Day signed - it has to wait for another time. But I did go up and talk to him and shook his hand, to which he replied, Oh thank you, Sweetheart, and KISSED ME ON BOTH CHEEKS.

Twice.

Freaking Captain Rhodes kissed me FOUR times. Damn. I'm going to start expecting this from now on!

Also talked to Gary briefly - just both of them great guys and so happy to talk to and meet the fans.

Night of the Living Dead Puppet Show:






This was playing at the It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival two years ago but I didn't get to see it there. I thought I was going to miss it again - and it probably was a large part of the reason I did the second day. I found out today that it was developed for the Lake Mich Festival and played there both years. They also announced after the show that they had just created new puppets and this weekend was their debut.







HYSTERICAL. If you live in Milwaukee, they're going to be doing shows at MOCT (website here -although there's no info on their site - the flyers they handed out said they'd be there Friday, Oct 23rd at 7, Friday Oct 30th at 8, and Sat Oct 31st at 8). The director told me (through his puppet) that they're going to make this a yearly event. If you love NOTLD, you will love this show. It's funny, it's unique and it captures the spirit of the movie completely. Even Joe Pilato (who attended) said that they broke it down to the essentials perfectly and that he had just gotten free inspiration for his upcoming voice portrayal of Harry Cooper (he announced this weekend that he'd just been cast) in the computer animated Night of the Living Dead: Origins.

If you don't live in Milwaukee, you can watch the show online on Youtube here. It's in four parts and it's still funny , but they've added to the show with new props, puppets, and the actors now wear all black and cover their faces so the puppets are more prominent. I also don't think the videos do the show complete justice, but at least you can see it. I can see this gaining momentum and being a cult sensation if they keep doing the show.

Overall - a job well done, ZombieCon! Can't wait for next year!!!!!

Rarrr and smooches,
Mother Firefly

*UPDATE*
Official site of Angry Young Men Ltd (and Night of the Living Dead Puppet show)

watch show here on blip

And Joe Pilato's comments on the show here.

Day 10 Zombie Con Day 1: And Then He Kissed Me

Wow. What a GREAT couple of days. I've seen so much and met so many AWESOME people, I don't know if I can remember them all. But I'm going to try.

I went to Zombie Con on Saturday - and I had planned to start my day with a movie called The Rage. I'm not sure what happened, but I think this film was canceled for whatever reason - and I walked in on the end of a film called It Came From Another World:

I only saw the last ten minutes but right away I knew this was a film I would have enjoyed. It was on par with the film I reviewed the other day - Alien Trespass - in that's it's a tribute to the wonderful B & W sci-fi and horror films of the 50's. Only I would classify this film as a little more tongue and cheek. Later I went into the vendors room to find that the director, Christopher Mimh, has made FOUR films that are all tributes to the same genre! I ended up taking these two home:




I'll be watching and reviewing these later on this week.

Website HERE:




They're also looking for donations for their upcoming film, Destination: Outer Space.
For a mere 50 bucks, you can not only help finance the film, you also can get other cool things such as free copies of the film when it's released, tickets to the premiere, and your name listed as an associate producer in the credits. Check that out HERE.

Then I took a walk around the vendors room. Many of the tables were devoted to films playing at the festival. Unfortunately (and my only real suggestion to improve next year's festival) there weren't many vendors selling memorabilia or movies. There was one artist, a few authors selling their books, and many of the tables were devoted to the independent films that were playing that weekend.

My favorite vendor was this lady: Black Cat Babies. I even bought something:



It's a zombie baby - it's a PURSE!!!!!!!!!!
Too EFF-ing COOL.
She had so many fabulous babies there - unfortunately for my cheap ass (read=grad student) I could not afford them - YET. But I will be watching her website in the future for another adoption. She was wonderful to talk to and explained to me how she makes the dolls and that she will do custom orders. Check out her website above. Right now there's nothing listed as available - she did have about a dozen dolls there for sale - maybe what's left will be posted again now that the show is done.


FILMS:
I didn't have much chance to watch films - I was too busy attending the panels and other presentations. But I did see two shorts: Better Off Undead and Mary's Friend.


Better Off Undead was a zombie short involving a group of three guys and how they deal with the zombie uprising. The best part was the interaction between the three friends, all of which are pretty unprepared to deal with zombies taking over their neighborhood (although one has some drunken aspirations of zombie killing).




Mary's Friend - as I found out at the con - won the Milwaukee Film Festival award for best short. It was very short - four whole minutes - but very creepy. It was narrated in the style of a children's story about a girl named Mary who just wants a friend.




I also saw the end of a film called Deadlands 2 : Trapped. This film looked quite good. The director was at the show also. I can't find a website but the trailer is here. If you like zombie films, I think this one would be worth checking out. What I saw was scary and the quality of the film was very good as well. I'm adding it to my Netflix.




PANELS:
Kenosha Paranormal: Three women from this group (including the founder) talked about their group, some of their experiences, and how to choose equipment for amateur ghost hunting.

Captain Spaulding Show: How I love Sid Haig. The man is so entertaining, I would have gone to listen to him talk about tax shelters. Seems like a lot of people agree with me, since this was the most packed I saw the panel room and I overheard people saying many times throughout the convention that he was who they came to meet and what a great guy he was. I heart the crap out of Sid but I've got a signed photo, a signed copy of Spider Baby, and a signed 24 inch talking Captain Spaulding doll. I did stop and talk to him (to tell him that the commentary with him, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Bill Moseley on Devil's Rejects is my favorite ever and I've listened to it about as many times as I've watched the film) but I didn't get anything else signed - I had a budget and other fish to fry.....but I'll get to that later.

Zombies Everywhere!: A panel with David Emge and Scott Reiniger (Dawn of the Dead), Eugene Clark (Land of the Dead), Joe Pilato and Gary Clark (Day of the Dead), Kyra Schon (Night of the Living Dead), and Tom Atkins (Night of the Creeps).
This was a fun panel - mostly it centered around the Romero films. I've met David and Scott before at Cinema Wasteland a couple of times - they're both terrific and very gracious gentlemen. More on the rest of everyone later.

I also went to the best zombie contest - I had met four kids who came from Illinois and were hoping one of them won so they could go to Olive Garden after the show. Not too many zombies showed up - about 10 - but most of the costumes were pretty good.

One thing I have to say about the crowd at this show - every time I've been to a Con - and I went to Wasteland about four or five times, and It Came From Lake Michigan once - horror genre fans are some of the nicest, greatest people you'll meet ANYWHERE. I may be biased - but the first time I went to Wasteland, I had no idea what to expect. From that show to this one - every single time without fail - people are friendly, polite, and so easy to talk to. Us that love the Scary, we're just good folk. I went to the show alone but I wasn't at a loss for people to talk to. From the Zombie Dolls working the show who accosted me on Sunday, to all the staff who kept asking if I was having a good time and asking for feedback; to all of the fellow attendees - everyone was so approachable and friendly. I was kind of bummed about not having anyone to go with - but I never really felt alone. As the weekend went on, people started to recognize me and acknowledge me - as I saw them do to many people. The show was fairly well attended - I think- but it could do MUCH better. Hopefully it'll grow and grow in the next few years and continue as a yearly tradition.

CELEBS:
Dee Wallace: I'd never met Dee before. When I decided to go to the show, I put her and Tom Atkins as the people that were most important for me to meet. I took my copy of the Howling for Dee to sign. It took me a few tries to time it just right - she must have been taking a break - but finally she was there, and I took my moment.
Wow. This woman is AMAZINGLY beautiful. I always thought she was pretty - but you really have NO idea until you see her in person. And her personality matches. She just gives off an aura that you really have to experience. If you ever attend a con that she is at, even if you don't get her autograph, I'm telling you, TAKE THE TIME to talk to this lady. You won't regret it. I happened to catch her at a slow moment. We talked about The Howling, took a picture, and she asked me what I did for a living (!) When I told her, she asked me about it - and I think she really was interested. I had a moment when I think I left my body because of the sheer surrealness (I'm explaining wound care nursing to ET's MOM!!). Amazing. If nothing else had happened this weekend (but it did...tee hee), this would have been worth the price of admission.

Tom Atkins:
Oh, Tom. Herein lies the biggest reason I wanted to go to this convention. The Fog. Halloween III. Creepshow. Night of the Creeps. Right away when I walked into the Guest Room, I made a beeline for his table. I walked up to him and said, 'You are the reason I came here today!' and he asked me my name, and then he said, so help me God, 'Hi! I'm Tom.'

Oh. It gets BETTER.

I had brought my copy of The Fog, and he signed it (after i told him I'd had a hard time choosing but that was probably my favorite of his films). Then came the photo op, after which I shook his hand and again expressed what a pleasure it was to FINALLY meet him - after which he said, 'You too, sweetheart', and then HUGGED me....and then it happened.

TOM ATKINS FREAKING KISSED ME.

OMG. oh oh OM FREAKING GOD.

I'll never forget the heavenly out of body experience of the famous Atkins mustache grazing my cheek. I have met a LOT of people I've loved, but I've never been kissed by one. Immediately I called my best girl, KK, and told her. This is also proof of how far I've come since I started going to shows. The first time I met Ken Foree, when I walked away, my knees literally KNOCKED. I shit you not. I didn't even think that really happened to people. But I held it together and managed to just almost cry instead when I said to him, OMG You just made my day.

This story would be great enough (and I'm sure based on how friendly I saw Tom with others over the weekend, that he kissed many cheeks - I just had never had that happen before. Although - and I'll explain on Sunday's post - I'm going to start expecting it now!) But I saw Tom three or more times over the course of the weekend, and he never failed to greet me. Once I was in the panel room and as he came in, he stopped, sat down beside me, and asked me how my weekend was going(!). He also said hello (and addressed many others in the room by name!) when he arrived for his Q & A on Sunday, and also pointed at me and asked me to 'ask him a question' during his talk. I had heard that he was an awesome guy, and I just can't reiterate that enough. I've met some wonderful people but he has to be among the most gracious and warm I've ever met.

I ended the day with the zombie contest and when I left, I knew I was going back. Next year I'll definitely get the weekend pass - but - and I feel slightly bad about this - I didn't realize what a great time I'd have.

Oh - and btw, one of my young friends ended up winning the contest! I hope him and his friends enjoyed their pasta last night. Congrats, guys!

Smooooooooooooooch,
Mother Firefly