This weekend of March 12-13, 2022, marks the return of one of my personal favorite conventions in the East Coast, WinterCon at Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York! After getting postponed from last December due to COVID, its back baby! And, it has one hell of a guest list!
Among them are a KILLER Alienscast reunion, as seen from the above pic. Long time readers and followers may well know my love this sci-fi/ horror/ action classic. So, you can only imagine how freaking pumped I am for that alone! Plus, they will also have Nick Castle who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter's Halloween, as well as in the 2018 movie and its sequel, Halloween Kills, cast members from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (including the lovely Kristana Loken who I met some years back at Chiller is so freaking awesome in person!), cast from The Warriors, and so many more celeb guests!
Not to mention all the awesome dealers (I have found some killer deals at this show), artist alley, and, of course, cosplaying! The later of which has me pumped to get back into, as I have not done that since last year's New York Comic Con. I will be Captain America, once again. So, if any of you reading this are there, don't be a stranger! Come and say hi!
Who amongst my readers will be there? What are you most looking forward to? Are you gonna be in cosplay? If so, as what? Let me in the comments section below!
Director: Thomas Hamilton Writers: Thomas Hamilton, Ron MacCloskey Cast: Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Pearlman, Guillermo del Toro, Sara Karloff, Stephanie Powers Year: 2021 Min: 99
This 2021 autobiographical documentary is about horror legend Boris Karloff's life and, in particular, his career. In the pre-credits, it mentions and talks about the later part of his career: IE Mario Bava's classic anthology Black Sabbath, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Peter Bogdanovich's Targets. From there it goes back in time, into his early work discussing his breakthrough role in James Whales' Frankenstein and his follow-up role in The Mummy. It is from here that we go into his rough upbringing and journey into his acting career, including his involvement with SAG, and his following roles, right into his passing.
Throughout its running time there are some great interviews with experts and legends on the genre and Karloff, as well as those who knew and/ or worked with him. Those interviewed include, but are not limited to David J. Skall, John Landis, Guillermo del Toro, Karloff's daughter Sara Karloff, Joe Dante, and many more. These interviews are informative, entertaining, and loving in nature. And, to be honest, I could listen to guys like Skall, del Toro, Landis, and Dante talk horror movies all day long!
Learning that he had a rough childhood, thanks to his father who was abusive to him and his mother, was wholly new information to me. In fact, I knew nothing about his pre-Hollywood days, till watching this douc. But, then there are many fascinating facts that are revealed both through interviews and the excellent narration. The documentary is never boring and always feels like you are learning something new about this legend or basking in the glorious admiration so many rightfully have for him.
A couple of moments even hit me and really warmed my heart, as in when the late, great Dick Miller (a cult horror legend and favorite in his own right) talking about working with him in Roger Corman's The Terror. Corman, himself, appears, and as is the case with any interview with him, provides truthful and insightful facts about movie productions. In this case being in reference to the aforementioned The Terror and the preceding flick The Raven, both of which, of course, featured Karloff.
Other captivating moments include the scene where Karloff, as the monster, throws the little girl into the water in Frankenstein. I knew the scene was cut back then but didn't know the exact details. And, I certainly didn't know Karloff's thoughts on this classic moment in the genre. Later we have various interviewees discussing one of my favorite movies of Karloff' and Bela Lugosi's career, The Black Cat. They mention its boundary pushing subject matters of Satanism and necrophilia.
Then there is talk of the struggle Karloff had finding work in the early days of the horror hating Hays Code. As well as, his work for horror producer Val Lewton, and so many more great moments. In fact, the discussion on the the three Lewton movies is extensive and fully engrossing. And, finally, as a long time convention goer, the part where his daughter Sara Karloff speaks of meeting fans and seeing and hearing their love for her father, is a truly touching highlight all its own.
It's also great to hear how TV airing classic horror movies revitalized his career the 50s and 60s . We learn that thanks to this, he got to do a lot of television roles and appearances and a string of movies in this later part of his life. Among these include the beloved Targets, highlighted by an interview with its director Peter Bogdanovich. His words on the making of it are inciteful and captivating. The fact that he so recently passed away makes this interview with the legendary and respected director that much more memorable.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster is a wonderful, informative and, above all, affectionate documentary. It serves as both a testament to Karloff's incredible body of work and as a loving tribute to him. The interviews speak with a great amount of deserved reverence and admiration for him and his movies and roles. The facts revealed are illuminating and fascinating. The docu, itself, is never, not even for a split second, boring, as it is always entertaining watch. As such, its an absolute must watch for fans of Karloff and classic horror, in general. The documentary also ranks as one of the finest, utterly enjoyable, and perhaps most heartwarming ones on horror movies. You'll be able to see it and enjoy it yourself, when it begins streaming on Shudder on January 27, 2022.
Sunday, October 10, 2021, was the final day of the returning New York Comic Con (NYCC), and it was actually the most packed day! Yes, that means even more so than Saturday was! I don't know if they suddenly opened up more spots or not, but my friend was abele to get a ticket just the day (despite it being declared as "sold out"). And, like I said there was definitely more people than I saw on the previous day. Now, this was still less than in the pre-pandemic days but still.
Anyway, my friends and I had a great time. As the con was in full swing, and we took full advantage of all the fun there was to be had.
There was lots of cool cosplay to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites that I caught:
My friends are big fans of Sunny in Philadelphia, so they were, understandably, flipping out over this fun and humorous cosplay that brings to life one of the net's most famous memes.
I actually just saw Black Widow, earlier this week. And, I quite enjoyed it, save for the overdone, overblown climax. Anyways, these lovely ladies did an incredible job with their cosplays. They looked and felt very much like cinematic counter parts. Every time they would pass me by, I would be blown with how fucking accurate they looked!
Speaking of be blown away, this incredible Zatana cosplay is one of the absolute best cosplays that I saw all of the days, at this con. The gorgeous cosplayer really did an amazing job bringing a favorite character of mine to life. Her poses further added to her look and representation of the character. She looked just like Zatana would on the cover of a comic-book. I don't know the name of her, but if you do, please let her how fucking cool and awesome her work is!
Despite being a life long horror fan and writer on the subject, I have yet to see Midsommar. Admit ably, I am not a fan of most, if any, of the so-called "elevated horror films" (Jesus fucking Christ, how I HATE that term!). In fact, I thought the same director's, Ari Aster, Hereditary was only alright and mostly overrated. Whatever, the case maybe, this cosplayer's Midsommar inspired cosplay is fucking incredible! The amount of time and work that must have gone into making this is, alone, worthy of admiration. It's beautifully done, too. I don't know if she had to ride the train with it on, and if so how she did that. But, either way all of my compliments go to this amazing and jaw-droppingly great job!
As a life long Godzilla fan (who was coincidently wearing my recently purchased Godzilla: King of the Monsters baseball tee from Cavity-Colors on this day) I had to get a pic with this Godzilla. Based on his Legendary Pictures look, he was fucking awesome!
Finally, I did get to do a little bit of shopping on this day, as well. I picked up the NYCC exclusive Funko Pop of Paulie Pigeon, which I got to do thanks to lucking out and gaining a scheduled time on this day. Even better, they still the exclusive Pizza Rat, which wasn't available when I had signed up for being able to shop on Sunday. I also finally got the NECA Halloween II Michael Myers, at a different booth, of course, which I had been meaning to get for the longest of time.
And, that dear friends and readers, is it for this Comic Con. I am so glad that cons are back (and hope that this recent Omnicom variant doesn't fuck things up). I look forward to next year's NYCC, when I expect to be back to three days of cosplaying. Until, then thanks for reading and let me know if any of you went to this con, and you're experiences in the comments section below.
As I mentioned in the first part of my New York Comic Con (NYCC) report, while I was there on Thursday, I couldn't make in on Friday, but I was back on Saturday. This was also the only day, that I choose to cosplay. I'll definitely do more at the next comic or sci-fi con, but for now, this was fine. And, once again I was Captain America from Avengers: Infinity War.
Due to the pandemic related limited attendance, this was definitely the least packed Saturday, that I have ever seen at NYCC. But, regardless, it was an absolute blast to attend, and I had an even more awesome time than I had on Thursday!
This was the day that I decided to some celeb meeting. First and foremost I met legendary wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone. The former voice of WCW and currently AEW Dynamite, he was and is a huge part of my wrestling memories. I honestly believe that he is doing some of his finest work in AEW. In person, he was so nice and down to earth. It felt like he genuinely loves meeting his fans, even a dorky loser like me, who was like, "I'm such a huge and long time fan!" Jesus Christ, could I have sounded lamer if I tried?
I also met one of the artists that works on Garbage Pail Kids (GPK) trading cards. He was at the Topps booth and was signing an exclusive set of Oh the Horrible, their horror movie parody GPK cards.
And, now here are some more cosplay highlights, including some of my own:
Honestly, this might be my favorite cosplay that I saw at NYCC this year! As a life long Jaws fan, I found it to be both awesome and hilarious! If someone reading this knows and her and could let her know how incredible this is, please do so!
And, on this day I bought, besides those GPK horror cards I mentioned earlier, a Toy Tokyo exclusive Masters of the Universe Zodac Funko Pop.
On October 23 & 24, 2021, the first ever edition of the annual Brooklyn Horror Con was held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. This marks the first horror convention held in New York City, since the by gone days of the old Fangoria Horror Weekend of Horrors (who here remembers those? Let me know in the comments section below!). Like all NYC events they checked for vaccination cards, which is great in my book!
As I was not going be at any of the other East Coast horror cons held this year, so I was really looking forward to this event. For someone, like me, coming from shows like Chiller and MonsterMania, though, this con really came off as small. But, it turned out to be awesome to meet celebs!
The first one I went up to was the lovely Samantha Scaffidi from Terrifier, one of the finest slashers of the last couple of years. She was a sweetheart to talk to, as we discussed where the movie was shot, the most brutal kill, and other aspects of this kick ass gorefest. She was so friendly and down to earth and absolutely awesome to meet!
Up next was Beatrice Boepple who played Freddy Kreuger's mom, Amanda Krueger, in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. She was so nice and awesome in person! Super friendly and sweet, we took some awesome pics, as she posed with a Freddy glove.
The last person I met was the fucking beyond awesome and kick ass Dana DeLorenzo who starred in one of my favorite shows of all time: Ash Vs. Evil Dead! She had the most continuously active line at the con. DeLorenzo really loves talking to her fans and shows that she genuinely cares about them. Aside from being even more beautiful in person, she is fun and ball of energy. Honest to God, she ranks among the best celeb meeting experiences, I have ever had at a con, top five possibly. I was the last to meet her at that moment, as she was gonna take a bathroom break right after me. But, I didn't mind the wait at all, as I loved seeing the way she treated all her fans, especially the special needs guy that was two fans ahead of me.
When, she finally got to me, she was so sweet that I was further blown away. We talked about my love for the franchise and how Evil Dead 2 made me want to get into film due to its camerawork. She was surprised to hear that at 13 I was already thinking about the way something was shot. She told me that if I wanted to get back into film, that I should. Honestly, it touched me so much that she would say that or even care. And, she gave me a free autographed poster, on top of the autograph I had bought off of her (scroll to the bottom to see all the autographs that I got at this con). We got two pics together, one normal and one where she is strangling, both fucking kick ass!. Guys, if you ever get a chance to meet her, do not fucking hesitate, not for motherfucking second!
As far as dealers go, this con was really tiny. It kind of felt like a flea market meets a very mini-Comic Con's artist alley with an emphasis on horror. Sadly, there were no dealers really selling horror flicks or a huge T-shirt selection. I'm sure it was due to it being new and being held the same day as MonsterMania in Philly and Spooky World in Florida. So, all I really ended up getting, cause it's really one of the few things that caught my eye, was this super cool Undertaker figurine sold and made by Ruined Creations.
There was were some cosplayers around, representing their love for the genre. Including a lady who bought her super adorable doggy, a Pomeranian. Both of them were cosplaying as Freddy together! That little doggy was one of THE main highlight, for me, outside of the celebs. Anyway, you can see them here, along with a few others.
Finally, here are all the autographs that I got:
I hope to be back to this convention next year, but hopefully it won't be booked on the same day as other major horror cons, especially none in the northern East Coast. And, hopefully they get more dealers next time. But, for meeting awesome horror celebs and having a nice little time, this con definitely delivered the goods! Did any of you guys attend this con? What were your thoughts if you did? Who did you meet? Will you return next year? Let me know in the comments section below.
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