Chiller Theatre: October 2024

The weekend of October 25-27, 2024 marked another epic edition of Chiller Theatre, the greatest con in the universe! This was a stacked guest list, so my friends, and I were pumped as fuck for it! We went on that Saturday, the 26th, prepared for the epic time that we would be having.

The first person that I went up to was the celeb, that I was most pumped to meet on this day: the gorgeous Jill Schoelen! Schoelen starred in many a horror film including The Stepfather, Phantom of the Opera, Popcorn, Cutting Class, and more. I let her know that I had the biggest crush on her as a kid, and that she was one of my all time favorite scream queens. While, she thanked me for the former comment, it's the later one that she seemed to appreciate the most. 

She signed my recently purchased copy of the recently released 4K disc of The Stepfather. Put out by Scream Factory this is superlative transfer of this masterpiece. I actually also told her about my love for that classic, and it was cool that she was wearing a tee of it that day! Schoelen was so sweet in person, that she talked to my friend Freddie and I for a while. 

She gave out a folder with her picture, listing all her work, and promoting her upcoming (next year to be more exact) horror/ comedy Christmas movie: Twist. This movie will also mark her return to acting which is awesome as fuck! She is honestly one of the sweetest and most amazing celebs, I have ever met. I cannot possibly say enough good things about her. 

The next celeb I went up was Ian McCulloch, star of Italian horror favorites Doctor Butcher M.D. and Lucio Fulci's classic Zombie, that later of which is one of my all time favorite movies. As such, I was so excited to meet him. That's another thing that made this Chiller so awesome, we had the return of stars of Italian horror and Godzilla movies return (more on that in a bit). 

Anyway, McCulloch told me that he had met his youngest fan ever, the day before in the form of a seven year old! That's crazy! I think letting kids watch bloody and wild Italian horror movies is parenting done right! Anyways, he also told me that the dude who played the famous worm-eyed zombie (from the posters and artwork) was a stuntman with a huge car and World War II memorabilia collection, as well as a staff of ten who work for him! What a cool and wild fact! He also told me that about ten years ago he did this con with him. Man, I wish I had known/ been there! That guy is one of my favorite zombies ever, and I'd would love to meet him! Anywho, McCulloch signed my Blu-ray copy of Zombie.

As I said, Godzilla stars also returned to Chiller. There were two, I only went up to the lovely Tomoko Ai. She was my favorite female character/ actress in a Godzilla flick, having played the complex and lovely cyborg from the awesome last movie in the Showa era: Terror of Mechagodzilla. She is also the only actress to ever appear nude in a Godzilla movie, well sort of. As the character is topless. But, her boobs are prosthetics, cuz she is a cyborg being operated on, Makes sense, I suppose. She didn't know much English but was very pleasant to meet being all smiles, sweet, and grateful. She signed the page of Terror in the amazing and, apparently, now out of print Criterion Godzilla set.

The last celeb I met that day was the gorgeous Jill Terashita. She was in Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland and, another one of my favorites, Night of the Demons (she is also this site's inaugural Horror Crush). She was so sweet in person! Incredibly talkative and energetic, she was a pleasure to converse with. She told and showed me her ghost photography that she is doing now. It was very cool and intersting to see and hear about. 

There were many more guests that I wanted to meet, but I did want to get some merch (you can see that and my autographs towards to end of this article). And, I couldn't afford it all. So, I opted to end my autographing with her and went to dealer's room. Afterwards, we all got dinner, so that we could then return for the famed Chiller party!

This was the first time in years that we actually stayed for the party instead of cutting out early. Being able to stay at my friend Alan's place meant we could drink and party! The party was a complete blast, of course. There was not a whole lot of cosplay (well that we saw, anyways), but the two dudes doing Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the Kiss Dressed to Kill cover were awesome! 

Anways, we drank, talked, met some cool new friends, saw old ones, and, of course, talked to the great Kevin Clement, who without there wouldn't be any of this. He is truly the man, an awesome person, a friend, and my fellow May 29er! 

At one point during the party, I commented with my friend scream queen, Brandy Noir about how weird it was to see the party stop so that con attendees could watch the Yankees and Dodgers game on the TV. That was definitely a first! We mentioned our disdain for sports, but you probably don't care about. Unless you agree with us, in which case, yay for you! 

The following are my movies that I got signed that day:

Terror of Mechagodzilla (from the Criterion Godzilla Showa Era set)- Tomoko Ai
The Stepfather (along with the free folder she handed out to her fans)- Jill Schoelen
Zombie- Ian McCulloch

Swag that I bought that day:

Screem magazine (LOVE that Creature from the Lagoon and The Shape of Water cover!) that got me a free copy of Ruby on Blu-Ray. I've never seen that blaxploitation movie but have wanted to for ages. The other two movies, that I bought, I've seen and love.
The Sadness 4K (I actually got that at the Vinegar Syndrome booth)

Cemetery Man (at the Severin booth. I bought the Blu-Ray cuz the 4K set, which, to be fair, does come with amazing soundtrack was $60. Meanwhile, the Blu-ray was only like $20 and was selling like hotcakes. I bought the last copy!)

 

And, so ended another edition of the greatest of all cons! As always we're already pumped for April's edition. Who amongst you went this time around? Who did you meet? What were the highlights for you? Let me know in the comments section below. 

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Brand New Toho Figures from Super7!

There are some brand new Toho action figures from Super 7 available now/ coming soob! And, they are all awesome, especially the massive Super Shogun Mechagodzilla, which looks absolutely killer! Check them out, each followed by official press releases from Super7:

Now In-Stock!

With a shiny metallic exterior, the latest Toho Super Shogun Mechagodzilla looks like it just came off the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens’ assembly line! Standing 20” tall, Super7’s Super Shoguns are the next evolution of the jumbo-scale toys made popular in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Here to do battle with your vintage Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this Toho Super Shogun Mechagodzilla features three missile-firing fingers on each hand (six total!), poseable arms, legs, hands and head, and wheels below the feet for that perfect vintage touch.

You can order him from Super7 here.

Godzilla (Model Kit on Card)

Rest easy, Godzilla fans – the new Model Kit Godzilla comes fully assembled and ready to display in your collection!

The new 3.75” scale articulated Toho ReAction Figure of Model Kit Godzilla is inspired by the Canadian variant of the original model kit developed under the Toho license in the 1960s and features the mighty prehistoric monster posed among a removable, soon-to-be-destroyed cityscape. 

You can order this Godzilla directly from Super7 here. You can also preorder him over at Entertainment Earth, where you can get free shipping if you spend $99+, here.

Godzilla Skeleton (Glow)

You can’t escape the mighty Godzilla just by turning the lights out! The new 3.75” scale, articulated Toho ReAction Figure of glow-in-the-dark Skeleton Godzilla is inspired by the 1954 film Godzilla and depicts the aftermath of Dr. Serizawa’s terrifying weapon – Godzilla’s skeletal remains in glow-in-the-dark green – packaged on a glow-in-the-dark die cut cardback.

This Godzilla is available directly from Super7 here. Or you can preorder from Entertainment Earth here,

Did any of these catch your eye? I know they all caught mine! As, I said before this is most true of that Mechagodzilla, who looks so cool and massive. But, he is sadly out of my budget right now.

Are you guys getting any of these? Let me know if you order/ pre-order them in the comments section below. And, be sure to use any of the links above to do, cuz your intrepid reporter gets a commission. Your support is always appreciated, especially right now, when I could really use it. 

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Five Points Festival 2024

On the weekend of June 8 & 9, 2024, the annual Five Points Festival once again took place at ZeroSpace in Brooklyn, NY. Dedicated to designer toys, indie comics, beer, tats, and more, it's always a good time and a feast for the eyes. I, of course was there to bring you all the sites. Here are some of my favorite things that I saw on that Saturday:

I love the emphasis on horror on the merch sold at this booth.

HeartBat Studio has such cool merch! I especially love her pink and purple take on classic Toho monsters.

Once again, Super7 returned making them one of the only, if not the only, major toy company with a booth at Five Points. And, as always they have some of the coolest product anywhere! 

I really loved the socks that Pals had on display at her booth. It's awesome that their socks come with designs that while not matching still go together as a pair.. The product is cute, fun, and colorful. And, I even bought a pair! You can see it towards the end of this post.

This Children of the Corn doll is from Psychedelic Safari.

I can't go Five Points and not enjoy a nice refreshing craft beer. So, I did, and it tasted great! To me, this is always one of the highlights at this festival/ con. I also love that the seating area looks like an old NYC subway car.

Before I headed home I took a look outside to see the painting contest, which was right next to the food trucks and beer garden. People were gathered to eat, drink, and just have a fun time outside.

Finally here are the two things that I bought myself on this day.  It was a Godzilla Series 2 mystery box, which ended up containing a 1974 Godzilla figure (all the Kaijus are in black and white, by the way. in this series) and from Pal, the Dog and Cat socks (cause I am a dog person, of course!).

I had a great time attending and covering this event. Did any of you go? If so what did you like the most there? Or are you planning on going next year? Let me know in the comments section below.

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