Chiller Theatre
Written by: James "Francostein" O'Hagan
Chiller Theatre kicked off their first show of the year on April 16 and ran through the weekend with a huge list of guests. I was very excited for this show because they had many guests from Cannibal Holocaust and other fantastic films. Mike Baronas of Paura Productions labeled this as the Italian Invasion 2. Chiller usually has a massive guest list with guests from TV, music, and film. This show’s main guest was Alice Cooper. He attended all three days to sign autographs. I’m not a fan of his and figured he would have a huge line and would not be able to get his autograph anyway. There was a charge to take a picture with him which pisses me off and my biggest gripe about this show. More on that later.
I did budget more for this show and skipped a few other shows for this Chiller because it had the most guests I wanted to meet. I also planned to go an extra day as well to make sure I would see everything. First up on Friday is to get in as early as possible because the hotel runs out of parking spots and you have to walk far to get to the hotel. I got there around 6:30 which was great time to get in with a smaller crowd. After I got my armband, I did a quick tour around the dealers’ room to see if there was any other things that I could get signed by the Italian guests but no luck. I did pick up three shirts and a DVD.
Next up was the Italian guests. I walked in the room and saw that it was missing one guest, Robert Kerman. He was not feeling well and may be there on Saturday. Ok no problem because I could get him then. My first stop was Camille Keaton. I really was excited to meet her because I had missed her at the last Chiller show. She was very nice but was charging twenty dollars to take a picture with her. This is ridiculous because she is a smaller known guest and I did buy a picture from her table so what’s the deal? This trend needs to stop and people should not pay forty dollars for a signature and picture with a guest. Cerina Vincent also pulled this and charged ten for a picture with her. Now Cerina is hotter than Camille; it still is not right.
Chiller Theatre kicked off their first show of the year on April 16 and ran through the weekend with a huge list of guests. I was very excited for this show because they had many guests from Cannibal Holocaust and other fantastic films. Mike Baronas of Paura Productions labeled this as the Italian Invasion 2. Chiller usually has a massive guest list with guests from TV, music, and film. This show’s main guest was Alice Cooper. He attended all three days to sign autographs. I’m not a fan of his and figured he would have a huge line and would not be able to get his autograph anyway. There was a charge to take a picture with him which pisses me off and my biggest gripe about this show. More on that later.
I did budget more for this show and skipped a few other shows for this Chiller because it had the most guests I wanted to meet. I also planned to go an extra day as well to make sure I would see everything. First up on Friday is to get in as early as possible because the hotel runs out of parking spots and you have to walk far to get to the hotel. I got there around 6:30 which was great time to get in with a smaller crowd. After I got my armband, I did a quick tour around the dealers’ room to see if there was any other things that I could get signed by the Italian guests but no luck. I did pick up three shirts and a DVD.
Next up was the Italian guests. I walked in the room and saw that it was missing one guest, Robert Kerman. He was not feeling well and may be there on Saturday. Ok no problem because I could get him then. My first stop was Camille Keaton. I really was excited to meet her because I had missed her at the last Chiller show. She was very nice but was charging twenty dollars to take a picture with her. This is ridiculous because she is a smaller known guest and I did buy a picture from her table so what’s the deal? This trend needs to stop and people should not pay forty dollars for a signature and picture with a guest. Cerina Vincent also pulled this and charged ten for a picture with her. Now Cerina is hotter than Camille; it still is not right.
I went down the room with each of the Italian guests and met: Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Martino, Francesca Ciardi, Carl Gabriel Yorke, Barbara Magnolfi, Geretta Geretta, Irene Miracle, and David Hess. All of these guests were great and very nice to see fans that admire these films. I spoke with a Ruggero for a few minutes about how Cannibal Holocaust still hold up today as a film that shocks people and filmmakers want to rip it off. He agreed and was a joy to talk to. Geretta was cool and I told her that Demons is underrated and more people should check it out. I can’t say enough how much fun I had just meeting them and talking with them. The only down side was they were charging twenty each for autographs. I knew that this was the only time I would have to meet them so it was ok.
Next up was the main autograph room for Sherilyn Fenn. Her line was not long and she was very nice she was also charging twenty and you could take a picture with her for free. I said I was a big fan of Meridian and that it’s a shame no one has put it out on DVD. I went over to Caroline Munro to get my Italian poster of Maniac signed. She never saw this poster and was amazed how big it was. This poster is in two pieces because it’s too big. Nice lady and should be in more films today. After that I ran over Kristanna Loken from Terminator 3. She charged thirty for her autograph and a picture with her was free. She was cool and was worth the money.
That was it for Friday and planned to go back out on Sunday because Saturdays are too crowed and figured I could get some deals on DVDs before the show closes.
That was it for Friday and planned to go back out on Sunday because Saturdays are too crowed and figured I could get some deals on DVDs before the show closes.
I arrived on Sunday about 1:30 and there was a good size crowd around the main autograph area. I took some pictures and went into the dealers’ room to see about some deals. No luck, everything at this show is way over priced and not worth the money. The dealers’ room has a lot of bootleg DVDs. Not too many poster dealers which I was looking for and no dealers with any VHS tapes. I went to meet Ruby Larocca who is a filmmaker and has appeared in a lot of Seduction Cinema films. She was nice and picked up one of her DVDs. I wanted to meet Terry Alexander and Gary Klar from Day of the Dead. Gary is a great guest and is really funny. He has a lot of great stories and is great to talk to. He charged fifteen and took a great picture with me. Terry was laid back and also a great guy. Two class acts and should do more shows. I avoided the Dawn of the Dead people because I was not going to pay twenty dollars for someone who was in a film for two seconds. They all seemed very nice and were happy to be there but I just couldn’t do it.
My final stop was the main autograph room where I met Christine Elise from Child’s Play 2. This was her first con and seemed very nice. I told her I like her character on 90210 and Child’s Play. Her autograph was twenty and picture with her was free. She let me take another one because she thought the first picture was too close. I wanted to get Frank Vincent’s autograph, but the line was too long and he does this show a lot so next time for him. After this I was done and did everything I wanted to do.
This show also marked the 20th anniversary of Chiller Theatre and was the 20th anniversary for me going to this show. I have been to this show since the beginning when it was called Horrorthon. I enjoyed this show as much as the first show I attended. There were a lot of great guests who were all happy to be there which is rare for this show. I hope that the October show is just as good as this one.
My final stop was the main autograph room where I met Christine Elise from Child’s Play 2. This was her first con and seemed very nice. I told her I like her character on 90210 and Child’s Play. Her autograph was twenty and picture with her was free. She let me take another one because she thought the first picture was too close. I wanted to get Frank Vincent’s autograph, but the line was too long and he does this show a lot so next time for him. After this I was done and did everything I wanted to do.
This show also marked the 20th anniversary of Chiller Theatre and was the 20th anniversary for me going to this show. I have been to this show since the beginning when it was called Horrorthon. I enjoyed this show as much as the first show I attended. There were a lot of great guests who were all happy to be there which is rare for this show. I hope that the October show is just as good as this one.
Chiller Theatre
http://www.chillertheatre.com
April 16th-18th, 2010
Hilton Parsippany
One Hilton Court
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Back to Convention Reports
http://www.chillertheatre.com
April 16th-18th, 2010
Hilton Parsippany
One Hilton Court
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Back to Convention Reports
