March 23-25 as spring was given a snow flaked backhand by the last of winter’s cold touch the Sharonville convention center hosted the years first HorrorHound convention. The event featured Sons of Anarchy and Hellboy’s Ron Perlman as featured guest as Henry Rollins carried the black flag Friday evening presenting a spoken word performance. The Ramada hosted Saturday’s special after sundown event including the adult costume contest, DJ Joel, The Monster Dolls, The Big Bad, The Undead and Clownvis w/Mister Hamilton.
The late March madness began Friday with over 60 celebs, wrestlers, directors, artists, musicians and performers visiting Sharonville that weekend as hordes of cosplay characters, casual, die hard fans and freaks in general plowed their way in.
The hallways ran a mock with grizzly goons, monsters, serial killers, silent predators, fictional characters like a never ending, mobile cosplay, blood splattered carpet affair.
Over 70 vendors filled the rooms creating a truly bizarre, bazaar. Creepy dolls, black shirts with everything from the macabre to the movies were strewn everywhere. Artwork, movies, books (skin-bound and other), masks (non-Gein) and methods of murder and mayhem were on display. Novelties, trinkets and keepsakes for every individualized torture chamber, hostile man room, or creepy dollhouse could be taken into possession.
The weekend also celebrated those that do whatever it takes, putting their vision on screen, regardless of budget and limitation. Short films and features were shown all weekend at the Hyatt Place and Ramada.
The IFC Films room at the Hyatt Place and H2F2 at The Ramada Hotel spent the weekend showing films from around the world to audiences thirsting for things indie, gory and non-mainstream. Cinematic talent spanned the globe with work from Canada, Germany, Spain, Finland, Russia, Iran, Mexico and elsewhere. Friday night 14 features and shorts screened in both hotels with over 30 on both screens Saturday and a few on Sunday.
The Jimmy Psycho Experiment also spun in the main hallway, giving fans and cosplayers some background music for posing and stalking.
The ladies and gents of Ink Fusion were ready and willing to create some buzz with lasting memories and hauntingly beautiful nightmares on all manner of skin.
Friday’s show started with gory twin magic with the Soska Sisters and The Walking Dead. Saturday was Indie Filmmaker, Horror Host Hall of Fame, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Child’s Play, Bigfoot and kids costumes. Sunday finished with Guardians of the Galaxy, Stranger Things and E.T.
The Soska sisters began HorrorHound panels with Rabid intent.
They usually hated remakes but when approached to do a David Cronenberg movie they had a fan moment and said yes. It’ll be a companion piece to the original. Some say it can’t be improved upon and they agree. It’s a psychological vampire movie.
He wanted to make a vampire more without any supernatural elements. It was originally called Mosqueto which explains her tentacles coming out passing along disease, which you wouldn’t know unless you listened to the DVD commentary. There will be an adult film star in their version. There’s a big challenge in respecting the original while adding to it. Going above and beyond what we’ve seen.
There will be things you’ve never seen. That’s as much as they can say. It’s their first wide screen theatrical. Even if you don’t wanna see it, go to the theater, buy a ticket for Rabid, and go see something else. They’ll be filming very soon.
It’s a female driven horror film. Rose from the original doesn’t have a last name. You’re watching this girl go through this horrible transformation and know nothing about her. It’ll be the best art and tentacle movie ever. They’ll use elements of trans-humanism in their version wanting to add something new and enhance the movie.
Any film they do is extreme. Dead Hooker in a Trunk was a romantic comedy, road trip movie. It was their first big break. American Mary was a horror movie that anyone could watch. Some people called it gory while others called it torture porn.
February celebrated women in film with women directors in horror. When they first started, the business wasn’t celebratory of women in film. The sisters were disrespected, called names, and were told people watch their stuff because they want to be with them. Feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Now people are afraid to be nasty to women. Some are intimidated by a strong woman.
Though some of the guys in the room were gentleman allies. They asked, what’s the difference between a man and a woman doing the job?
They discussed Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female director of fiction making over 700 movies. Starting with The Cabbage Fairy (1896). Women have done this for years without acknowledgement, support or celebration.
The women’s horror film festival is in October. It’s the most inclusive,non-cliquey event they’ve been to ever. Everybody was on the same level and wanted to know what you were doing. Everyone wanted to make films, not be famous.
They joked that they wanted to do Hellevator at HorrorHound.
They’re working with Dead Pools Daniel Way on their comic, Kill-Crazy Nymphos Attack! “If he knew what big fans we were he’d get a restraining order. It’s turned into a relationship now and he’s too far in.”
It’s about this scientist, Purvis Gunt, with a G. He’s the worst pervert in the world, always watching porn. His company makes a pill that will make all women perform like porn stars. He thinks he knows what women want, stealing this stuff but screws up making kill crazy nymphos. Now they’re super sexually charged be want to kill men. It’s satire, extremely sexual, extremely violent and most importantly tricks people into learning. “We were blessed that it came out later because the world needs more kill crazy nymphos.”
It should be out in the next month or so. With a forward from adult film star, Tommy Pistol.
On growing up with horror, their mom had Stephen King and Anne Rice novels. They were tricked into reading these bible sized books. They never noticed they were weird until they we went out around normal people. They collected bugs, drew decapitations. They never conformed, don’t know what normal means and never want to.
They saw The Exorcist and Poltergeist at a young age repressing certain memories and discussed first impressions of Audition. They said people seem to forget that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and started everything.
They discussed their admiration for American Psycho director Mary Harron and her cool handling of angry interviewers. “No matter how stupid the question she came back with such grace.” She’s making a movie Charlie Says about the Manson Family.
They advise to get whatever you can for free, people, cars, houses, locations. Make your first movie, the way you want. If you send them your movie on social media, they’ll watch it. Make it about what you want. They could talk about Dead Hooker in a Trunk the rest of our lives.
Favorite remakes include John Carpenters The Thing, Cat People with Malcolm McDowell, Piranha 3-D and The Fly.
Gavin, Jayson Warner Smith ended up the sole cast member for The Walking Dead panel. However he held his own keeping the crowd entertained with jokes and set stories.
His character has a very complicated relationship with Ezekiel which was in the script from the beginning. The first episode he worked on was with Greg Nicotero.
You’re soiling your pants watching Morgan and Carol just destroy everyone. Another episode by Nicotero, the largest episode with Smith. He says once he rips that guys nuts off it became a John Carpenter film. Its not gonna work out for you. You’re the victim. He watched them do that, it was disgusting at a real distance. They flipped the script where they have a human ripping up a walker. Rick ripped the guys neck off.
Maggie’s becoming more ruthless. Negan is showing more of a heart. He hopes for more background. He didn’t know if everyone liked his character or not, but thank you if you do. A lot of fans thought he would turn sides. He turned his phone off, during filming, turned it back on and got a “you’re dying “ call. He thinks bad guys should have some shred of sympathy from the audience. His boss is crazy but they think they’re saving people.
He a big Ryan Segal fan, he’s like that in real life. He really enjoys Morgan’s character, going all the way to the beginning watching him become a monster. He loves watching Simon.
He did wanna turn, having many email conversations about his lines. He talked about lying in the dirt, trying to not breathe, as Carol said, I’m gonna be dispatching you now.
During his final episode, he got chased, kept falling down, bumped into stuff, it was grueling. The throne room fight took three nights to film. With fill in’s, explosions and the kids had to be out by 8 o’clock. Both hips and knees were banged up. They shot, 12 hours straight.
He’s not a fan of the squishy gory stuff like when The Kingdom was introduced and they sliced that zombies face off. He wasn’t a fan of the sewer zombies either.
Haven’t seen a lot of George Romero films, liked Dawn of the Dead. Out of the blue one day, George Romero followed him on Twitter and he wrote back, saying yeah right buddy, but it was him. He’s a Shawn of the Dead fan. He saw Jaws in the theater and wouldn’t get into the water for a year and a half.
The scene in Terminus with the trough, he almost stopped watching. It was people killing people. Like they were cattle and there were kids watching the show.
Ricotero had to fight for that scene and Smith hated it. They shot with and without the blood. It felt like going to the gallows with a noose around your neck. He had to fall on his knees and it got really tight.
His favorite episode was his the last one. One on one traumatic moment with Lennie James on the world most popular TV show.
Each episode on The Walking Dead was shot within 8-9 days. The final episode he worked on was five to nine days. He’s worked with four directors.
He had a bonding experience with Nicotero painting him with blood the way he wanted. He wasn’t happy being taken out by a kid.
He’s met Norman Reedus in passing and Andrew Lincoln’s the dad on set. He said his character questioned Negan’s motives and didn’t want to chase people or kill them but he had to.
As far fetched and outlandish as the show is, it’s based in reality as things are territorial and alpha dogs will rise and take charge.
They get great directors for the show and just have to know how to work with them. As long as your good at your job and everyone listens.
He didn’t take anything off the show. As soon as they say you’re a wrap, they take everything off you. Though he saw a lot of props in the makeup trailer.
He says Jeffrey Dean Morgan is pretty much Negan and though he’s a mess right now, Rick’s still the man.
The Indie filmmakers panel featured Michael Leavy (Abnormal Attraction), Brian Conley (The Basement), Brooklyn Ewing (She Was So Pretty 2), Christopher Bickel (The Theta Girl), Seth Breedlove (The Flatwoods Monster), Matthew Rosvally (The Miranda Murders), and Samantha Kolesnik (I Baked Him a Cake), Dr. Michelle Conty moderating.
If you want to make a horror film on a shoestring budget, call in favors if you can. For ultra-low budget, use creativity in visuals and do something different if you can.
Producers are vital as they can get you resources, like locations for free. They do everything push, pull, sweep up in the end and make sandwiches, etc. They’ll multi-talented one man or woman bands.
It’s an important job to get resources. Wrangling up resources is vital, pulling them together and not blowing a huge amount in one area. Know where to put the money. It’s the same with a big budget or no budget movie. One of the most important things is getting everyone together to keep up production value.
When digital happened, it changed everything, making everything possible. Even with $100,000 budget there are limitations. Whether it’s The Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity approach. Don’t be afraid to write, act and produce on your own. Utilize books, and YouTube videos and internet for advice on DIY film making.
Your first film won’t be your best and hopefully not your last. But you learn every step of the way. Being involved in every aspect, the panel could write volumes.
Thanks to digital, everyone can make films now. When does it stop being a hobby and become a profession? How do you jump from hobby to making money?
How do you cross that line from hobby to professional. Create an audience willing to support what your doing. Go on radio, podcasts get social media views, Facebook likes and Twitter followers. Put out quality work. If people enjoy your work, you’ll make money on it. Make it your sole goal and eventually you’ll make money.
Put yourself in the deep end, you’re gonna slip but you’ll be more motivated and aggressive networking more.
It looks like we’re all in competition, it looks like the wild west when it comes to distribution. A few years ago you couldn’t do what we’re doing now.
Talk to distributors, once you get it on the platform, get people to watch. You could learn a lot from the band Poison. They had $400 in L.A., and spent the money on fliers, meeting people, hitting the town. Getting out there, getting dirty with the folks. You can still make it for art, you don’t have to make money if you don’t want to.
Save up for conventions, get a table or sometimes walk around, meet and greet, meet people that will make contacts and memories. Come to the convention, have a good time. It’s about honesty, really connect with the people there.
There’s immense value in being there, and meeting people. Build your audience, always crowd fund, not just for money but prove through your campaign that it’s a good product. That’s your first street team, they’ve invested in your product and done work for you. Find your niche and demographics.
The Horror Host Hall of Fame ran shorter this year without the screen and projector aid. Though several hosts were honored regionally and nationally from the vintage era to modern day. Captian Krypt, A. Ghastee Ghoul and Dr. Mortose hosted the ceremony.
PBS’s Nightmare Theatre was given a short hand honoring the doll house and E. Nick Witty of Syracuse New York who passed away in 2012. He hosted from 1964-1980. Rumored to be so hideous, he let the hand do everything.
Indiana’s The Horror Dungeon hour was honored. All the organizers and hosts that helped with the convention were thanked.
A.Ghastlee Ghoul inducted Night Shadow, hosting 27 seasons of Horror Kung-Fu Theatre in East L.A.
Portlands, Tarantula Ghoul aka Suzanne Waldron was inducted though unfortunately no footage and very few photos have survived. The pre-Elvira horror host appeared on House of Horror in the late ‘50s introducing campy horror films with comedy skits. She was chosen for the role after producers saw her performance in Macbeth. Her character bore resemblance to Morticia Addams . After cancellation she acted through the ‘60s and ‘70s before passing in the early ‘80s.
Commander USA, James Hendrix who passed away on St. Patricks Day, was honored with a moment of silence.
The Dexter panel featured Julie Benz and James Remar.
Their characters helped Dexter be the person he really was. And the person he thought he needed to be in society. Remar said it was the best pilot script he’d read. His character was Dexter’s conscience.
Benz said we questioned Dexter’s moral code but we loved him for killing people.
Remar said it redefined what an anti-hero could be.He loved how far they went and loved the character. He asked how many people there, given the chance, would be that guy? Remember, don’t get caught.
When we first meet Rita, she’s so damaged and made a great cover for Dexter. A woman that had been abused for years and distanced from her sexuality. Then she put on that Lara Croft costume and started feeling more comfortable.
He wasn’t interested in sex and it wasn’t about sex. As the show progressed she became more free from season one. Benz didn’t do hair or makeup. Whatever she looked like in the morning was how she looked on camera. Her wardrobe, was over-sized covering everything. Slowly you saw more of her, shedding the abuse from the past. Thriving in a relationship with this amazing, wonderful man, without knowing the truth.
The time frame’s incredibly short for script reading and character development.
Benz had the honor, though we didn’t see it, of having the best kill in the series. Remar joked that if they didn’t know by now they’re in the wrong room.
Benz wasn’t engaged in the process of Rita’s death. Didn’t know if there was any thought to filming her death. She found out a couple days before and they didn’t tell her how till the day off.
Remar said the Dexter we all know ended that season. Benz Ioved being entertained but didn’t watch the final season or episode.
If you’re gonna die, die with John Lithgow, though Benz didn’t get to work with him.
Benz loved working with Jimmy Smits. Got to table read with Lithgow. Hard to internalize he was playing this horrible character.
Remar said Lithgow was masterful at acting. When you got to Lithgow, he was a very scary villain. We have an academy award winning actor and established star for 30 years. He’s coming to do our show. We felt we’d really arrived. The killer was so f’n nasty, just the worst. And it took a lot of guts for him to say the c word on national television. For an academy award winning actor, Harvard educated guy to say that. its kind of a big deal.
South Florida’s still very grateful that Dexter belongs to them. During the first season, guys were going to Goodwill and buying Barbie Dolls.
They had no way of knowing that Dexter could’ve influenced so much.
Benz said Dexter’s iconic in its genre and known everywhere in the world. Always get recognized somewhere. She wants her work known, its great to be a part of something that lives past its time on the air. We’re at 10 years from Dexter’s premiere.
Remar was in Vatican City, thousands of people, during the mass, doors up in the Papal Palace. There was a 35-40 year old man dressed in robes, looks like Friar Tuck. It was 2015 or 16. It could’ve been a thousand years ago, one says excuse sir, you are Dexter’s dad? It happened just like that.
Benz asked if the pope came up to him.
He did The Warriors 40 years ago. How to do you put into words something you love and has history? We’re trying to create history.
They both read the first two Dexter books and were told not to read more because they wouldn’t follow them. Benz noted that Rita lived in the books.
Benz’s a fan of horror but it takes a lot to scare her. She watched the original Dracula at her Grandmothers house, she had a really scary house. There’s nothing scarier than black and white. She read all the Omen books, hiding them from my parents and Sweet Valley High covers on them. The Saw movies were a real challenge because she found them so psychologically disturbing. She can’t watch the one she’s in.
She said she wouldn’t have come back as a spirit or memory because her character didn’t know that side of him.
Remar said when Harry cried in seasons two, Dexter says, I’ve never seen you shed tears before, Harry says, they’re not mine, they’re yours. Because I live inside you. There was a scene when Remar dresses in the same kill suit as Dexter and he’s mad. You’re screwing up.
The cast still sees each other and are friendly with each other. They said the baby was a real prankster on set and Michael could be very grim and serious on set.
Remar enjoyed The Quest and Mortal Kombat. They’re both pretty silly movies but he loved doing them. They shot in amazing locations in Thailand. He got to see more of the country during The Quest. Mortal Kombat was shot in Jordan and Thailand.
The Sons of Anarchy panel featured Tommy Flanagan, Ryan Hurst, and David Labrava. The cast said there were several heartbreaking episodes. Several questions and conversations circled around Opie’s character and death.
On the day of his death, everyone came in to witness during the last scene. From the crew to catering everyone was crying. They pounded the walls of the studio, the place was shaking. It was a major touching moment.
The cast made some jokes about Peggy Bundy off camera. Katey Sagal was unbelievably cool. They said they were on TV with American’s favorite mom. She said you have to stop doing that. I get it. You grew up with that show.
Henry Rollins was like, Henry f’n Rollins. Hurst talked about Rollins’ stage and scene preparation being the same from Black Flag to Sons of Anarchy. Just being in his presence was f’n cool. He’s a really cool guy with superior intelligence.
Hurst’s beard cutting was done in old Bushido like fashion, when a sumo wrestler retires members of his camp, cut off a piece of their top knot. Hurst on his acting range, “I’m a paid chameleon, that’s what I do.”
Flanagan said it’s a beautiful transaction for a person to go though who they were when they started the show and who they were when they finished are totally different. Growing a character is kind of a new art form for an actor.
It’s truly a miracle nobody died on their bikes.
Stephen King, from a writers stand point was like Saint Peter coming down.
Hurst told a story of a guy that walked up to him at a convention and asked to sign a receipt. He said it was for a new TV, when your character died I took my beer and threw it at the old TV.
Everybody were friends with everybody, it was mutual respect. Its pop culture, without the fans there’s no show. The show is truly global with fans in Indonesia, Thailand and elsewhere.
Jimmy Smits was cool saying, “I don’t know if ya’ll get it, but you’re like lightning in a jar.”
The club house table was auctioned off and most members kept their patch.
Bigfoot witness Bob Gimlin closed Saturday’s panels saying a fairy tale starts once upon a time, but this really happened. Gimlin began not knowing much about Bigfoot or Sasquatch. He and Roger Paterson rodeo’d together in the late ‘50s though Gimlin quit for safety reasons and his family.
A while later Paterson showed him a big plaster cast footprint and said it was Bigfoot. Gimlim said you dat gone right it was a big foot. A friend played Gimlim testimonials of people who said they saw Bigfoot in the area.
Gimlin and Paterson went to California 30 miles back in Onion Mountain to Bluff Creek. Gimlin got to the location of the prints but were so beat up by human gawkers and rain. He was very disappointed, there weren’t any decent tracks.
They rode around for a few days looking for evidence, never saw a track but saw every kind of print but a Bigfoot print with 20 days of hard riding.
On October 20, three and half, four miles from camp, they came to this big root system downfall. As they went down, one was standing at the bottom. About 45-50 feet. It happened so fast. Paterson got off his horse, grabbed his camera, trying to film it. He stumbled, jumped up, stabilized himself and got good film.
The Patterson Gimlin film was made in Oct 20, 1967. That’s what changed his life. It never made a sound that he heard but left lots of tracks. He went back to the site in 2003, though it changed dramatically. He’s seen other Bigfoot’s since and been close to them in the dark.
Skeptics and science say, they gotta have a body to prove Bigfoot. People think you’re a little different if you believe.
The kids costume contest finished the days events hosted by Lady Glamorstein . Before the adults purged their way to the Night Terrors after party across the street. The kids played and portrayed masked killers, monsters, cosplayers and young slashers taking the stage. Strutted and stalked their stuff for the audiences, judges and proud parents.
Massive time and killer creativity were spent making the elaborate décor. The youth gone wild ranged from child’s play to cartoon classics, to classic literate killers. Jigsaw puzzled the crowd while Negan batted some eyes and heads. Jason, Leatherface and Michael Myers all gave the silent treatment.
It was a long, tough decision but in the end Chucky, the killer clown from the sewer and Edward the Great.. with Scissors won the loot.
HorrorHound returns August 24-26 in Indianapolis featuring Robert Englund.
Photos by Mike Ritchie
