My First Time – Crypticon 2008

WE’RE BACK! No, this blog entry isn’t about the fright fest “Poltergeist” but about Warren and my safe return home.  We have returned from a wonderful, fun-filled three and a half days in Minneapolis.  To check out our adventures throughout the weekend, head over to our blog at “The View On Superior”.  There Warren recaps the highlights of our weekend away from home and away from the stress (work for me)!

Well, today I’m going to tell you all about the Minneapolis Crypticon festival which I attended on Saturday at the Radisson hotel in Roseville, MN.  Warren didn’t attend the convention as he is not a horror movie fan, but as for me, I love movies and horror movies are a favorite of mine.  This was my very first horror convention, a “convention virgin” I guess you could say.  Anyway, I was very excited to attend the event as I was hoping to meet a couple of stars from horror past, and even find a few DVDs and/or other items to add to my personal collection.  So, on Saturday morning I got out of bed after a late night of drinking and sex, and headed over to the Radisson around 10:30am.

Crypticon: Until 2 years ago, Minnesota was devoid of an event for the true horror connoisseur. Sure, we’d have the occasional Zombie Crawl, an independent theater would show “Evil Dead”, or a local Haunted Hayride would get a horror celebrity for a one night only autograph session. Then Crypticon clawed its way from the depths of hell to deliver a true experience to the horror fan. Finally Minnesotan’s (and horror fans everywhere) had a place to come to meet their favorite horror stars, buy horror related toys, DVDs, posters, shirts, and even get a tattoo. A place to watch horror classics on the big screen then ask the actors and people involved in the film questions. A place for local horror film makers to showcase their work to fellow fans and filmmakers. Crypticon…..was my soul prepared?

I answered a resounding…Yes!!!

Here’s a rundown of the guest list on Saturday.

John Kassir: John’s voice can be heard from many sides of the entetainment industry.  He has voiced characters in video games such as Halo 2, EverQuest 2 and Syphon Filter.  He has been the voice of cartoon characters in Tiny Toon Adventures and Samurai Jack.  Yet, he is most well known for being the voice of the infamous Crypt Keeper from the HBO series “Tales From The Crypt”.

Kelli Maroney: Minnesota’s own, Kelly Maroney, has starred in such films as “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”, “Night Of The Comet” and “Chopping Mall”.  She recently starred in the HBO original show True Blood.

Chris Sarandon: Chris has performed in such cult-classic films as “The Princess Bride”, “Fright Night”, “Bordello Of Blood”, “Dog Day Afternoon” and many more.  He is the voice of the character Jack, in “A Nightmare Before Christmas”; both in the movie and the games Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2.

Doug Jones: Doug has an amazing career with such well recognized films as the “Hellboy” franchise, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”, “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Men In Black II” just to name a few.  He is currently in pre-production for Super Capers and it is rumored he will star in a Silver Surfer film.

Richard Brooker: Richard is best known for his role as Jason Voorhees in the movie “Friday The 13th: Part 3”.  He later starred in the films “Death Stalker”, “Deep Sea Conspiracy”, and is currently in pre-production for “Black Friday”.

Charlotte Kemp: Charlotte, or Charlotte Helmkamp, was a Playboy playmate in December of 1982.  She has starred in such films as “Repossessed” with Leslie Nielson, and the cult classic “Frankenhooker”.

James Duval: James has a long career behind him and in front of him.  He has starred in many films, including, “Independence Day”, “SLC Punk”, “Gone In Sixty Seconds”, “Donnie Darko” and many more.

Tom Morga: Tom has been cherographing stunts and performing his own for almost 4 decades, and he is still going strong.  His credits include “Ghostbusters”, “Halloween 4”, “Child’s Play”, “Wayne’s World” and many other incredible films.

Michael Berryman: Back by popular demand.  Michael Berryman has returned to Crpyticon.  He has starred in such films as “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”, and the movie he is most well known for “The Hills Have Eyes”.

As I arrived at the convention and checked in with my pre-paid ticket, I headed inside and picked up a few free items including a “Saw IV” movie poster.  I headed over to Michael Berryman’s table first, introduced myself and was able to take a picture with Michael.  He is a very nice person, and far from the very evil character he played in “The Hills Have Eyes”.

Next, I headed over to the CD Warehouse table where they were selling a large amount of used horror DVDs.  I found two that I had to add to my collection which were “Cameron’s Closet” and “Basket Case”.  After purchasing these DVDs, I walked over to John Kassir’s table, yes the Crypt Keeper himself!  Another friendly person; he asked me where I was from and we proceeded to discuss the climate here in Northern Minnesota.  John stated that he has wanted to visit my hometown area, but hasn’t been able to thus far.   John has a voice that is so distinguishable, especially to those of you who have watched all of the Tales From The Crypt episodes on HBO back on the 80’s as I did.  Here’s John in character…

After speaking with John, I continued on and looked at some other merchandise and then ended up at Richard Brooker’s table, another icon for any horror fan, playing Jason Voorhees from the classic Friday The 13th film series.  Richard was the first to dawn the mask of this infamous killer.  I talked with Richard and took a picture with him as well.  He stated that he usually asks that a person purchase a $20.00 picture and autograph (which I wasn’t going to do) in order to take a personal picture with him, but offered to take the picture for free…what a guy!

I then decided to step away from the tables and take in a movie.  They were playing “Bordello Of Blood” starring Corey Feldman, Dennis Miller and Chris Sarandon.  I have seen this film a few times, but thought I would catch it again while taking a short break from the tables of merchandise and the former “stars of horror”.  The moive was once again a fun time for sure.

After the movie I headed back to the convention and looked at a few more vendor tables.  I ran into the table seating Charlotte Kemp, a previous Playboy playmate but more importantly the star of a horror cult classic, “Frankenhooker”.  I had yet to buy this DVD and have wanted it for sometime.  Charlotte was selling the DVD, but for much more than I wanted to pay ($40 with a signature).  I decided to keep looking around and luckily found this DVD at another vendor table for only $20.00 brand new, needless to say I snapped up that copy without thinking.  I continued on my journey thru the convention, stopping to talk with Tom Morga the only person to wear both the Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers (Halloween series) masks.  I talked to, Chris Sarandon, Doug Jones as well as Kelli Maroney.  Kelli stared in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”, which I had to share with her.  I talked with Kelli for a few minutes and I was once again on my way.

It was time for another break, so I decided to take in a second move, “Fright Night” starring Chis Sarandon who also was a guest star at the convention and whom I spoke to earlier.

“Fright Night” is a classic vampire film, and I enjoyed it in it’s entirety.  Afterwards, Chris sat down in front of the viewing audience of his movie and did a short Q&A session.  I stayed for a bit, listened the audience questions and Chris’ answers.  When I left after the Q&A session with Chris, I made one more quick stop back in the convention to pick up a couple of t-shirts, the official Crypticon 2008 tee and also an awesome “Re-Animator” classic t-shirt.  I also bought one additional DVD, “Intruder” from the Full Moon Pictures table.

After spending some money, and meeting some stars of past and present, I decided it was time to call Warren and have him swing over and pick me up at the hotel.  Warren was there a couple of minutes later, and we headed out to grab a bite to eat.  I had a great time at the convention, and am in the process of making plans to attend the upcoming Horror Hound Weekend in Indianapolis, IN in March of 2009.  It’s going to be a “Lost Boys” reunion in March at this convention, and as you all know, this is my favorite movie.  I can’t miss the chance to meet the cast including Corey Haim, one of my favorites!

To those of you who enjoy horror flicks, especially those from the 80’s, I highly recommend that you find a convention closest to you and make plans to attend.  Maybe I will see you there!

Take care,

Steve