by Beth
It took some doing, but I was able to secure myself a press
pass for Days of the Dead which will be taking place at the downtown Sheraton
February 2-4. Actually, I got 2 passes so Mr. Tibbs will be coming too so that
he can take pictures for me (I'm terrible at getting pictures of the cool stuff
I see. I can take notes or take pictures. I'm not great at doing both), and
he'll allow more "divide and conquer" than I can do on my own. I may have
to start doing this at Dragon Con if it works out well. Days of the Dead is a horror based convention that's been happening every February for
several years. It's been a long time since I've been, but really enjoyed it,
and thought I'd try my luck at getting in as press. It worked, and now I'll be
able to tell you about all the great things you missed (in case you can't come)
and things you might miss if your plans and panels don't match up with mine. Not
everyone who will be appearing has a panel so I'll break this up into 2 parts.
The people, and then the panels or events I want to see.
Let's start with who's going to be there that I particularly
want to see.
Malcolm McDowell
Yes, he was in A Clockwork Orange, Caligula, and the rebooted
Halloween movies. But he's certainly done many, many other movies over the years.
I happen to be one of probably 5 people alive who liked Tank Girl. The other
week one of the premium cable channels had a Star Trek movie marathon, and my
dad and I watched the last half of Star Trek: Generations. I'd forgotten all
about him being in that, so had also forgotten the old man fight that takes
place at the end between McDowell, Shatner, and Stewart. This also led to a
revival of the age old argument of who was the better captain. I'm still firmly
on the side of Picard. It doesn't matter which of his 262 acting credits you choose;
Malcolm McDowell has been in something that you liked.
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka
I can think of little horrifying about The Karate Kid
(unless you think about how awful Daniel-san was to everyone. Listen to Schweck
go off on what a bully he is sometime, and you'll never look at this movie the
same way again), but if you grew up in the 80's you at least know the movies.
Zabka was also a bad guy in the 80's classic Back to School, and starred in
both Python movies so maybe he's our horror connection. There's a Cobra Kai
series coming out soon which I assume they will be giving more information on.
I've heard it's going to be a comedy so I'm definitely interested in hearing
more.
Ernie Hudson
Most notably from Ghostbusters and The Crow. I still enjoy
both movies, and have always just generally liked him. He was in one of my
favorite crappy 80's sci-fi movies too. If you haven't seen Spacehunter:
Adventures in the Forbidden Zone you should do so. If for no other reason than
it has Ernie Hudson and Michael Ironside. Oh and Leviathan and a few episodes
of the new season of Twin Peaks. He's been in a ton of stuff, and is certainly
worth checking out.
C. Thomas Howell
Hear me out. He was in The Hitcher, and Red Dawn, and Soul
Man. In the last 10 years he's also done a bunch of SyFy channel type movies,
and those used to be a lot of fun. I mean he's not at the top of my list or
anything, but he's someone I've never seen at a convention before so I think
he's worth a look.
Ray Wise
You might remember him best as Leland
Palmer in the original run of Twin Peaks. He was downright terrifying in it
too. But that's not the only reason to see Ray Wise. He was in Swamp Thing,
Robocop, he played the devil in a TV show I liked called Reaper, and lent his
voice to the recent Batman: The Killing joke (which I did not like). After
being so freaked out by him in Twin Peaks I don't know if I could talk to him
in person, but he's probably one of those people who plays bad guys really
well, but is super nice in real life.
Heather Langenkamp
The Nightmare on Elm Street movies are pretty much the only
things she's known for, but I love those movies. True, she wasn't in The Dream
Warriors (which is my favorite installment), but she was in many others. I for
one, would like to hear just how badly those movies messed her up. I can't
imagine that she didn't walk away with some kind of weird phobias.
Kane Hodder
He's been in a bunch of horror movies, but I will always associate
him with Friday the 13th. He played Jason in 4 of the movies including my
favorite, Jason X. I will not defend myself here - I love it. We were listening
to the How Did This Get Made episode of Jason X, and they mentioned that Kane
Hodder wanted to do Freddy vs. Jason for years. When it finally happened he
wasn't cast as Jason. That makes me a little sad for him, and I want to know
how he feels about it.
There are also going to be several wrestling personalities
like Shawn Michaels, and "Mean" Gene Okerlund. I'll stop by for some
of the old school guys, but I haven't really been into wrestling in at least 10
years. I know that tons of people still are, and their inclusion will be a
welcome breath of non-horror for everyone.
Now onto the panels/events I'm looking forward to.
The Karate Kid panel
As it will also have the guy who played the leader of Cobra
Kai I assume this panel will mostly deal with the first movie as well as get into
more about the upcoming series. It will be on Saturday at noon, but I don't
know if you can get out of it in time to make the Malcolm McDowell panel at 1.
You may have a tough choice to make.
Malcolm McDowell panel
If you skip the Karate Kid panel you can get in line for a
good seat. If you don't you'll have to take your chances with standing room
only. This may be a good time for Mr. Tibbs and I to split up. I want a good
seat for Malcom McDowell dammit!
Ray Wise panel
Is Friday at 7pm, and there are several panels back to back
that night that I want to see. The great thing about this taking place all in
one hotel is that you should be able to run pretty easily between panels.
Especially on Friday night. I can't imagine things get too crowded and crazy
until Saturday. So go to see Ray Wise and then immediately run over to...
The Jason Takes Manhattan panel
Not only will Kane Hodder be there, but also several of his
co-stars. I haven't seen this movie in a few years so I'll need to give myself
a refresher beforehand. I know I liked it, but it's been way too long for me to
have clear memories. With that many movies sometimes they run together when
you're out of touch for a while. Then you can run along to...
"IT" Past and Present panel
This will feature kids from the new movie as well as several
people who played the kids in the 90's version. I'd be interested in hearing
thoughts on both versions from those who still are kids and from those who were
kids when the original was made. That gives you just enough time to hit the big
event of the night...
The Dirty Dirty Con Con Game Game Show Show
I swear to god that name is just too unwieldy not to
abbreviate. Anyway, the DDCCGGSS crew is bringing the Dragon Con hit show to
Days of the Dead for the first time. I'm sure Dave and company have some
exciting, scary, and sexy things planned. I don't know what they might be yet,
but I wouldn't be allowed to tell you if I did. If you've never seen the show
before or even if you've seen it at Dragon Con you should definitely go. You
won't regret it, except for maybe the things you can't unsee.
Elzig and The Casket Creatures
They're both playing Saturday night starting at 10pm. I remember
the last time I went to Days of the Dead there wasn't much of a nightlife going
on. Looks like that's all changed, and these guys are plenty of reason to stick
around late. I've never seen either band, but have heard great things about
Elzig. The Casket Creatures played at a bar literally 5 minutes from my house back
in October, and I had to miss it because of my damn job! Ryan Cadvader probably already thinks I'm an asshole for not seeing his band sooner after we met at Dragon Con last year so I can't miss this one or my asshole status will be firmly solidified. I'm glad that I
finally have the chance to see them, and in a much larger venue.
There's also an independent horror movie track with intriguing
titles like I'm Dreaming of a White Doomsday, Space Babes from Outer Space, and
something called Terror from the 80's. They're taking 2 mystery movies and
giving them a 35mm treatment to give them a retro vibe. There will also be surprise
celebrity attendants so it will be worth checking out just to see what the
movies are, and who shows up for them.
There are many other celebrities and panels, but these are
the ones I'm most interested in seeing. Dave will also be doing his "Toy Stories" panel with a horror theme on Saturday. I know he'll do his own post about it so I might stop by, but I'll probably keep it moving. Nothing against him or his panel, but I'm just not a big toy collector. It'll probably be fun though so you should bring some toys and check it out. If you want the full breakdown go to
daysofthedead.net/atlanta/. You can also buy tickets there, and if you hurry
you can get them cheaper than at the door. See you spooky people in a few
weeks.
Beth got her start writing for a site called Movie Criticism for the Retarded (which has been reborn as dorkdroppings.com. Check it out sometime), but was pulled out of an early retirement to write for Needless Things. When she isn't writing she plays video games and watches bad horror movies while eagerly awaiting the zombie apocalypse. She may try to save her husband and/or their cats, but luckily hasn't had to make those tough decisions yet. Follow beth0rama on Instagram or on Twitter @NeedlessBeth where she doesn't post often enough to be annoying, but updates way more than Google+
Beth got her start writing for a site called Movie Criticism for the Retarded (which has been reborn as dorkdroppings.com. Check it out sometime), but was pulled out of an early retirement to write for Needless Things. When she isn't writing she plays video games and watches bad horror movies while eagerly awaiting the zombie apocalypse. She may try to save her husband and/or their cats, but luckily hasn't had to make those tough decisions yet. Follow beth0rama on Instagram or on Twitter @NeedlessBeth where she doesn't post often enough to be annoying, but updates way more than Google+
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