Chiller Theatre: October 2019

Yesterday, October 26, 2019, my friends (Alan and Freddie) and I took another trip down to New Jersey for another edition of the best convention in the universe: Chiller Theatre! This Chiller had an insanely awesome guest list. It was stacked with cool celebs that we couldn't wait to meet. The result was one of the most fun and best Chillers ever (which honest to God is saying a lot!).

The first celeb that I went up was the beautiful Jordan Ladd. I had passed up on meeting her before, but that was no longer gonna happen! The star of Death Proof, Cabin Fever, Club Dread, and Grace was so friendly in person! She actually left her table and just started talking to us. She is a wonderfully sweet and down to earth beauty.

Next up were the gorgeous twins from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Camilla and Carey More. They were the people I was most excited to meet, being as they were my biggest Friday crushes growing up. I told them that I had huge, huge crushes on them as a kid. To which they said, "Aww!" They still look great!

Another person that I was super pumped in meeting was the absolutely beautiful Kassie DePavia of Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn fame. This still stunning actress (and Horror Crush on this site) was amazing in person! She was so sweet and friendly, as she talked to my friend Freddie and I for a bit. She has a southern drawl which despite living in New York City has not left her. I found it added even more to her natural charm. I told that she made my day, as I had such a crush on her as a kid. Meeting her was a one of the very top highlights of the con!

The last person, that I went up, on my own, was the stunningly beautiful Cynthia Gibb. I been a fan of hers forever, and yes, that means childhood crush. The star of Death Warrant, Jack's Back, and more is still breathtakingly gorgeous! She was all smiles and sweet, as I told her how much I loved Jack's Back (a very underrated horror/ thriller) and her interview on the Scream Factory Blu-ray. She thanked me and said she didn't remember doing the interview. That was a funny and cool highlight!

The next couple of stars I met, when they let us all join them in my friend Freddie's (the man of fine wrestling taste with the awesome AEW wrestling tee) pics:

Larry B. Scott of Revenge of the Nerds (there was a big reunion of that comedy classic) who was one of the coolest and nicest celebs of the entire show. This fellow New Yorker was a blast to talk to.

Bobbie Mannix is the amazing costume designer for the cult masterpiece The Warriors (for which there was an almost definitive reunion for going at the con!). She is such a wonderfully talented and sweet lady!

Timothy Busfield another one of the stars from Revenge of the Nerds, who was also extremely nice and friendly.

At some point later in the day, there was a fucking bomb scare that someone called in, apparently. They evacuated the hotel, so we headed out for dinner. After that we came back and all was back to normal and hours were extended.

Freddie went up to horror legend and all around goddess Cassandra Peterson, AKA Elvira! She is an ageless beauty with the sarcastic sense of humor that makes her so awesome! I must say that I was the happiest dude ever, as I had finally met Elvira (yet, another childhood crush)!

After that wen went up to Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of one of my utmost favorite bands ever, thrash metal gods and one of the Big Four: Anthrax! This led to other biggest highlight for me: Scott Ian being like we have met before right? I was so flattered that he remembered me from the time that I covered his and Keith Buckley's book reading at Saint Vitus. I mentioned that was were we had indeed met before. Seriously, you can't beat one of the founding members of one of your most favorite bands ever remembering you!

We, of course, hung at the party for a little while, where we had more fun! The Dead Elvi rocked the house, as they always do!

There was also some kick ass cosplay. Here are some of my favorites:

 My friend Maria always such awesome cosplays!

 This King Diamond fucking ruled!!!

Devil horns with motherfucking Satan!

Here is the swag that I got:

- I bought a copy of Screem magazine which won me a free copy of The Human Monster starring Bela Lugosi on Blu-ray

- the Amityville the Cursed Collection from Vinegar Syndrome (at their booth, of course): which comes with The Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes, Amityville 1992: It's About Time (my favorite from these), Amityville: A New Generation, and Amityville: The Dollhouse (the only one I have not seen from this batch from the franchise).

And, here are the autographs:

- Camilla and Carey More

- and, Kassie DePavia, who signed my old Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn DVD (which was signed ages ago by Bruce Campbell, himself):

And, so ends another AWESOME edition of Chiller! Until April (which already can't fucking wait for), that is when we shall return!

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Chiller Theatre April 2019

On April 27, 2019 it was time to make another trip to the greatest convention in the universe: the legendary Chiller Theatre! And as such, my friend, Freddie, and I headed from New York City to New Jersey for another fun day of horror fandom and meeting awesome celebrities.

The first celeb that I went up was the one I was most looking forward to meeting: Dina Meyer. The beautiful star of Saw I-IV, Piranha 3D, Dragonheart, Starship Troopers, the Birds of Prey TV series and more, is one that I have been a long time fan of. Throughout the whole day, she had a line, as many fans wanted to meet her. Meyer was all smiles, as she met them all.

When, I finally got up to her, I told her that she was the person I had most wanted to meet. She then asked me if wanted a hug. I said yes, and she, awesomely, gave me one! First highlight of a what was shaping up to be an epic day!

The second star, I went up to was the awesome Christine Elise. The lovely star who played Kyle in Child's Play 2 and Cult of Chucky, Emily Valentine on Beverly Hills 90210, among other roles, posed with a Chucky doll (if you decided her to do so) and was really cool in person. She also wore a kick ass Beetlejuice/ Chucky hybrid tee!

 

The last star I up was the most awesome celeb of the day, the beautiful Liane Curtis. In fact, the star of Critters 2, Girlfriend from Hell, Sixteen Candles and more, might very well be the single most awesome celeb that I have ever met at a horror or comic-book convention. Which, if you know or have been following this site for a long time, know that this is saying a lot! She was hilarious, fun, and care-free, as she told us many a kick ass story. She is so energetic and real in person, that it is impossible to not be taken by her cool as hell personality. Here is hoping she returns to Chiller!

Outside of the convention there were some cool as hell parked cars from some classic movies:

The following duo is my favorite cosplay of the day. I have to say that this dude might just be the best Beetlejuice that I have ever seen. Lydia was fucking awesome, as well!

The party was a blast as we hung with friends and listened to awesome music like The Dead Elvi! As is the tradition celebs joined them onstage for all the fun.

I got the following swag at the con:
From Severin Films, I got Blu-rays of: The Horror of Beach Party, Emanuelle and Franciose (neither of which I have ever seen), and Death Warmed Up. The later is an awesome and gory New Zealand horror movie that I have loved since I first saw it on VHS as a teen. I wanted to own it forever. But, it was never available on DVD. Thank you Severin for this release!!!
And, I picked up Screem magazine which got me a free copy of Kiss of the Tarantula (which I have also never seen).

With convention prices getting so high, I only got one autograph. It was Christine Elise's, who signed my Chucky box-set Blu-ray.

So until, the next one, we had a fucking blast at this Chiller!

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Chiller Theatre April 2017

On April 22, 2017, two of my friends, Alan and Freddie, and I went to have another awesome time at one of the coolest and best cons in the world, Chiller! We were super excited as this marked the return to the old location at the Hilton Parippany in Parippany, NJ!!

The guest list was truly fucking awesome, one of the best I've seen! The three of us went up to a various celebs. The first one I went up to was the beautiful Veronica Carlson. The former Hammer beauty was part of a British invasion of actors and actresses, many of whom like her had worked for the legendary studio, who were signing at the con. She signed my Dracula four film collection DVD that I own, for her work in Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. She is still beautiful, as well as being a very classy and friendly lady.

Next up for me was Tracie Savage from Friday the 13th 3D. The still beautiful actress played the character of Debbie, IE the character that reads the first issue of Fangoria (with Godzilla on the cover) and later gets a knife through her back and out her chest, in that sequel. Tracie was very friendly, in person. I asked her how it was to shoot that scene, she told me that it took about 3 hours to shoot between the FX work and using the 3D camera!

Stacey Nelkin was who we went up to next. She talked to us for a good amount of time, telling us that now she is working with people who suffer from mental issues. She even asked us what we each do. She was so sweet and awesome in person! She is also still so pretty in person, with a really great smile. Talking and meeting her was such a pleasure. She signed my Blu-ray of Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

The last person I went up was the celeb that I was most pumped to meet, the gorgeous Alexandra Paul! She was so awesome in person! We got to talk to her about what Stephen King books to read (my top three favorites that I recommended to her were: Cujo, The Shining, and Salem's Lot). We also talked about Cujo, as in the actual movie, and more King books! As, I felt that I had to, I told her that when I was a little I had seen Christine and totally crushed on her! She was so sweet and humble, about it all.

As a matter of fact, all of the celebs, that we met, were so sweet, friendly, and awesome. What's great about Chiller is how one can actually talked to celebs. There is no pressure, and at this hotel, it doesn't feel horribly crowded. It was just a blast!

After we were done with getting our autographs, a couple of us went to a Hammer Horror panel with Caroline Munro, Christopher Neame, Janina Faye, Martine Beswick, Mark Lester, and Veronica Carlson. It was an awesome, albeit short panel. As a huge Hammer fan, I am glad  that we attended it!

 

 

 

Later in the day, we got to meet up with our friend Liz and met her friends. We had dinner with them, then headed back to join the party. As always, it was a great time to be had, as music was played with celebs joining in, like Bai Ling who joined The Dead Elvi onstage. She sang and sexily danced the night away. Below, is a video of her dancing, shot by NegativePop!

 

I got some really cool stuff at the con: Blu-rays of Venom (which I got for free for buying Screem magazine), Hammer Double Feature of The Two Faces of Doctor Jekyll and The Gorgon, Jack Frost, and The Dario Argento Collection (The Cat O'Nine Tails, Deep Red, and Inferno). As well as Funko Pops of Paige from WWE and Mr. Poopy Butthole from Rick and Morty.

These are the aforementioned autographs that I got:

We had an AWESOME time! This ranks as one of the best Chillers ever! We can't wait to come back!

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Chiller Theatre April 25, 2015

This past Sat, April 25, 2015, I made my return to what remains one of the very best conventions in the world: Chiller Theatre!! This time around I was accompanied by one of my best friends, Alan. Our friend Matt would join us, but not till much later, for dinner and the party.  

The first person that I met was the beautiful Angelina Pivarnick of Jersey Shore, Couple's Therapy, and TNA wrestling. She's such a babe! She was always a favorite of mine, and I flipped out when I saw that she would be at Chiller! I told her that I was really happy when I saw her on the Chiller guest list. And, she high-fived me! This set the bar high for the rest of the show, which thank God, the con more than lived up to!

The next person, I met was Fred Olen Ray. The cult director was selling blu-ray copies of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers! I had wanted to see that movie in what amounts to forever! I couldn't find it on blu-ray on Amazon, and with the gorgeous Michelle Bauer signing next to him, I knew that picking it up here and now was a no-brainer of a decision!

Michelle is always such a sweetheart, in person! She is very personable and friendly and loves to talk to her fans, a lot! We talked about Nightmare Sisters, a movie I had only just seen recently amd absolutely loved. She told me that the infamous (and hot) bathtub scene was shot until the soap was tiny! She's awesome in person and still looks great! 

Next up for me was Robbi Morgan better known as Annie, the camp counselor who hitchhikes and gets her throat slashed in the classic Friday the 13th. We talked about what a huge fan of the movie I am as it's one of my favorite movies of all time. We also talked about her getting made up by Tom Savini and how much fun that was.

The last person I met was the absolutely gorgeous Christy Carlson Romano. She is best known for being the voice of the title character in Kim Possible. I've thought she was gorgeous for the longest of time, and had seen her in a couple of horror movies on the SyFy network, and, as such, she was another celeb that I was excited about meeting. She asked me if I was a Kim Possible fan or an everything fan. Told her that I was an everything fan. The, she asked me name for the autograph, I told her it was Gio. She liked it, and then I explained that it was a nickname for my actual name, Giovanni. She said that it was a great nickname, and the guy next to her (her rep? Assistant? I don't know), asked me if I was Italian. I told him that I was. Christy was so sweet in person and all smiles, I even told her that she was a sweetheart. She thanked me.

After this I got to buy some swag, including a Famous Monsters Hammer horror t-shirt, a DVD of the infamous Nazipolation film Gestapo's Last Orgy, Destroy All Monsters on blu-ray, and a Michael Myers Funko Pop figure. Below you will also see my autographs. The DVD of Friday the 13th is my old copy which I no longer watch (since I have the unrated DVD), but I keep to get signed (and thus don't get rid off), cause it's already autographed by Sean Cunningham and Tom Savini.

From there I conducted an epic interview with the beautiful Gianna Michaels. My cameraman and video editor Negative Pop is currently working on that, but it should be up very soon! Soon afterwards, we met Matt and went to dinner. Then we hit the party!! There was some really cool and scary cosplay present, throughout.

Pumpkin dude was back!

 Pogo the Clown, AKA serial killer John Wayne Gayce was at the party! Be sure to hide the kids! Lol!

As always there was lots of cool music and bands kicking ass onstage. Including, but not limited to, The Dead Elvi (of course), and my favorite Chiller band, Ingrid and the Defectors!

Overall we had a fucking blast! Chiller is always a great experience, and we already can't wait for the next one!

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