Cinema Wasteland Report Part 3: Other Stuff

So what else went on at the convention? Well, there were tons of outside-the-mainstream actors there to meet with fans. Besides Reggie Bannister (mentioned in part one) there was Kane Hodder, Eileen Dietz, Sybil Danning, and a swarm of Night of the Living Dead actors. I didn’t stay for Saturday night or Sunday, so I missed out on some films and talks, but I felt like I got my money’s worth.

The convention’s coordinator is Ken Kish. He’s the definition of fanboy, which can be hard to handle at times, but he put together one heck of a show. He prides himself on tracking down unusual guests that don’t do conventions. Plus, his idea of attaching a film festival to the convention has been well received.

Ken acted as emcee to several talks, including the Reggie Bannister appearance, a talk with Exorcist actress Eileen Dietz, and the exemplary “Al Adamson Remembered” panel. Filmmakers Greydon Clark, Gary Kent, and Bud Cardos reminisced about working with the legendary schlock producer/director. I have yet to see any of his films (they showed some Sunday, after I left) but I’m looking forward to tracking them down. There were some in the audience who seemed to think that the biker flick Satan’s Sadists deserves an honored place in history. Not usually the sort of thing I’m interested in, but I’m intrigued now.

The one time I felt like a fawning fanboy was when I met Tom Sullivan, animator and artist who made huge contributions to Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. These are two of my favorite films ever, so it was quite something to look at his display cases full of original props. Evil Dead 2 was a movie I ended up watching about once a week my senior year in college. If there was a party going on at my apartment, sooner or later someone would stick the tape in the VCR. There was always someone new to turn on to the movie. “What? You haven’t seen the Evil Dead? Sit down, you’re in for a treat.” I even painted our phone to emulate the Book of the Dead and named it the “Necro-phonicon.” Yeah, dumb, but it was fun to hear my roommate pick up receiver and say “Greetings from the flying eyeball…” whenever it rang.

So… I took some pictures, bought a signed print of the cursed Candarian tome, and had my picture taken with Tom himself. I’m a geek, so sue me.

One drawback of attending events like this is the drain on the wallet. I stocked up on fives before I left home, and with good reason. Everything is 10, 15, or 20 bucks. I bought a bootleg of Sam Raimi’s short films, a bootleg of the Quark comedy series, horror host videos, and a book on British horor. I knew if I stayed at the convention longer, I would be tempted to buy more.

So I left Cleveland at 7PM Saturday. The problem was it had been snowing all day long. Driving home in the dark without snow probably would have been okay. Driving home in the day with snow probably would have worked. Driving in a blizzard in the dark is no picnic. It turned a jaunty 4 1/2 hour drive into 6 hours of drudgery alternating with white knuckle terror. Luckily, I had a nice collection of comedy tapes and Green Hornet episodes (borrowed ’em from Ryan — thanks bud) to keep my brain occupied. If only I hadn’t spent the previous day and a half sitting in theater chairs, my back may have felt more up to the drive. Next long distance convention I’ll stay the extra day for sure.

I don’t have my pics developed yet, but you can check out someone else’s Cinema Wasteland April 2005 pics at the official website.