Cinema
Wasteland is like my home away from home. I’ve been going for a long time and
hardly ever miss a show. For this show the focus was on the old days of the Mom
and Pop video store. The guest list and movie showings reflected that and it
looked like another great weekend was about to happen.
My Friday
started like most Wasteland Fridays with me sleeping late. It is important to
get ready for a couple of late nights so adjusting to “Wasteland” time is a
must. Especially since I chose to drive back and forth. I’m fortunate that I
live near enough that I can sleep in my own bed and save some money for the
dealer’s room. More on my purchases later. I got up late and had a nice lunch
before heading up to the convention. I arrived early and picked up my weekend
pass and took a seat in the bar waiting for the festivities to start. Not a big
drinker, but it is a good place to see some familiar faces. Sure enough I saw
one of the vendors who also happens to be a pal of mine named Scott. We chatted
for a bit and before you knew it the show had opened for business.
It has been
a long time since I had an extensive wish list of movies that I wanted to add
to my collection. The last few years I’ve been weeding things out and
downsizing. During that process, I realized there were some must have flicks
that I’ve never owned on DVD or Blu-Ray and haven’t seen in a while. Plus, some
killer stuff has been coming out. With that in mind my first stop was the
dealers room. The highlights were Rawhead Rex, the killer House and House II
Blu-Ray from Arrow video, the Warlock Collection, and a Paul Naschy movie I
recently heard about called The People who own the Dark. I also checked in with
42nd Street Pete to pick up my copy of Grindhouse Purgatory. I
highly recommend the magazine and not just because I write for it! Pete also
hooked me up with a bit of Charlie Chan memorabilia that I’m getting framed.
I’m a huge nerd for that series.
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| Some of my Friday pickups |
The rest
of Friday was spent hanging out with friends. Went to supper with the Flemings
and Tim Gross of Gross movie reviews. Tim was the guy who turned me onto the
Naschy flick I mentioned earlier. We ate and shot the breeze about horror. The
only event that I attended on Friday was the guest event with Dyanne Thorne.
She talked about her career and chatted with the fans. There was a good crowd
and it was fun to hear her discuss the Ilsa series as well as the movie they
screened before the panel, Point of Terror. Hell, we even got some classic Star
Trek series in there as well.
That
wrapped it up for Friday. Saturday I got up early, fortified myself with my
McDonald’s breakfast (not healthy but you got to live it up sometimes) and
headed back. I browsed the dealer’s room again until 10:30 came. Hangover
theater is a tradition on Saturday mornings at Wasteland and they always play
some old movie. If you have payed attention to this blog at all you know I’m a
sucker for this stuff. I have seen Michael Landon in I was a Teenage Werewolf
many times, but never on film. I love that they play this stuff on 16 mm and it
was cool seeing it like it was meant to be seen. I spent a few minutes with my
friends Eric and Angie who came up before heading back into the film room for
some Three Stooges, also on 16 mm, thanks to the Son of Ghoul.
When the
Stooges were over I grabbed some lunch with Eric and Angie. Again, I got to
spend some time shooting the breeze with other fans and get some movie talk in.
Where I live I don’t have many people who like the same stuff that I do so
Wasteland is a great place for me to get my movie nerd on. We got back in time
to sit in on the panel with David DeCoteau, Linnea Quigley, and Brinke Stevens
after the Nightmare Sisters screening. Just like the Dyanne Thorne panel the
night before it was great. Between the three of them they have worked on so
many killer projects and with so many interesting people it made for a
fascinating hour. The stories about coming to Hollywood and seeing each other
at auditions were fun. Speaking of fun, I had no idea that DeCoteau was so damn
amusing. This was the highlight of the weekend for me.
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| Not Wasteland without some Stooges |
I did some
shopping on Saturday. I picked up some Blu-Rays for Demonoid, Hobgoblins,
Frightmare, and Blood Diner. Honestly it was about time for me to finally
retire my bootleg DVD of Blood Diner. I can’t wait to check out the special
features and see the movie all cleaned up. I know that a lot of fans hate Blood
Diner but I’m a huge H.G. Lewis fan and love the vibe that the movie has. Blood
Feast had to of inspired them! I’m interested in Hobgoblins as well. I mean I
love all things Ghoulies so this seems like a movie that I might enjoy. And I
almost forgot that I also picked up the Arrow Video Blu-Ray set of the first
three Hellrasier movies. That is a series that I need to revisit and now I can
do so in style. The other thing of note that I picked up was the book put out
about Empire Pictures. Since the theme of this Wasteland was the VHS days I had
to add this to my library. Love or Hate him Charles Band put out a lot of the
tapes we were all renting back in the day.
The
dealers room closed at seven and I grabbed supper with Scott and Amanda. There
is a killer Shawarma place down the street from the hotel and it has become a
tradition that at some point in the weekend we eat there. Afterwards we headed
back to the show. I normally stay and hang out with everyone or catch a
screening. I did spend a few minutes in movie room two but the movie that I
won’t name here was garbage. I chatted for a few minutes but for whatever
reason the crowd was thin and things were dead. Neither of the movies playing
on 16 mm interested me that much so I left by 10 p.m. for the first time ever.
Not going to lie it was a disappointing end to a decent weekend.
Since I
don’t want to end things on a downer I thought I’d talk about the April show.
Ken always announces the guests for the next show at the current one. There are
some familiar faces coming back and there is one big surprise. Never in my
wildest dreams did I think I’ve ever meet someone involved in Manos the Hands
of Fate. Well come April that is going to change. Jackie Neyman-Jones who
starred as a child in the movie is coming to Wasteland. Maybe there is
something wrong with me but I’m genuinely excited by that. Between her and me
finally getting a Michael Berryman autograph I’m looking forward to it! See
everyone in April!
© Copyright 2017 John Shatzer
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