Event Review: ‘HORRORHOUND WEEKEND: INDIANAPOLIS’

Every March for the last two years I have made my annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis for the Horrorhound Convention. I have come to expect several things from this event: A killer guest lineup, tons of cool stuff to buy, and for the event to be even bigger than the year before. After Dario Argento’s cancellation as headliner, my friend that usually accompanies me to the event decided not to go and many people on the message boards were ringing with the same sentiment. This made me worried that this year may not live up to the previous two. Read more…

This year was every bit as good as last year and much more. Last year, one of the biggest complaints attendees expressed was that the convention center was too crowded. No one can argue that this was a major concern as the line to enter the vendor room was ungodly long on Saturday and the convention was almost shut down by the fire marshal. This was not an issue this year as the entire hotel was booked by Horrorhound and the convention space allotted was nearly twice as big. The vendor room was in the usual ballroom, but the major headliners had their own room, the horror hosts had their own room, and mask-fest had it’s own room. With the exception of midday Saturday, fans could easily maneuver through the isles and with the exception of Corey Feldman, most of the lines for guests weren’t more than 10 or 15 minutes.

It seemed like the guest list this year lacked many of the big headliners that usually anchor a convention i.e. Romero, Elvira, or Englund, but I would say that it was probably their most creative lineup to date (Lisa Marie, Barbara Steele, the Killer Klowns, and Halloween  III reunions come to mind). Argento’s cancellation was a personal disappointment but there were still plenty of guests there for the Euro film fans. All hail the Italians! I cannot express enough how charming and pleasant the House by the Cemetery folks were. Gioovanni Frezza (most famously known as kid with the terrible dubbing from House by the Cemetery) made his very first convention appearance on Saturday and he seemed to be truly dumbfounded that anybody still cared about this movie. He was a really nice guy and I caught a picture with him as he was getting ready to leave on Saturday. Stefania Casini and Barbara Magnolifi from Suspiria were very sweet and signed a Joel Robinson SuspiriaPoster for me. I was so impressed by the poster that I also bought a shirt of the same design. If you haven’t heard of Joel before, he is a great guy and does some amazing work. He is doing the artwork once again for the upcoming Contamination convention this year in St. Louis, will have an upcoming art show at Starclipper in the Loop, and will be attending the upcoming Vincentennial Celebration. That means you St. Louis Fiends have no excuse not to check this guy out.

The after hours entertainment this year appeared to be a big hit. While I am not a Mushroomhead fan, most of the crowd seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and their booth got a lot of foot traffic most of the weekend. I hope they can bring more horror themed bands in future years. Due to the Argento cancellation, Horrorhound opened up the after party concert to everyone, and I think that was a great idea. It made the room that much more full and made me feel like I was getting more bang for my buck. Friday and Saturday included a performance by a freak show called the Invisible Man Corp. based out of Texas. Audiences were treated to a performance that included balloon tricks, sword swallowing, nail walking, eyelid lifts, and much more. They were very nice and put on one hell of a show (hint hint to anyone from Horrorhound reading this, you should bring them back). If you get a chance, check them out because they are always touring. In fact, I was so impressed with their performances last weekend that I saw them on Monday night as well.

One highlight of the convention was the guest panels. Friday’s Killer Klowns panel was pretty lightly attended (probably about 100-150 people), but it was very entertaining. The panel lineup included Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, and two of the actors who portrayed clowns in the movie. One tidbit that was shared was that the long talked about Grant Cramer and Chiodo Brothers script to a sequel is done but they are still looking for financing.

On Saturday I attended three panels and a film screening (yes, my ass was about ready to fall asleep through five hours of sitting) but I am glad that I saw them all. Up first came the Halloween III panel which was heavily attended, very well organized, and was probably the most complete of all the panels. Sean Clark was fantastic as the mediator as he has a real passion for the Halloween films and asked intelligent probing questions. Having Tommy Lee Wallace there reminded me how important of a role that directors have and that they should be featured more at conventions. He was very charming and informative, giving insight to what happened in front of and behind the camera. One interesting tidbit I learned was that Don Post Studios is in talks to bring the iconic masks from the film back into production, complete with the Silver Shamrock logo. The studio originally produced these masks around the time the film was released but soon stopped because of the box office disappointment of the film. The next panel was the slasher stars panel and that was interesting because many of the guests had never done conventions before. Ted White, who played Jason in Friday the 13th part IV, seemed like kind of a grump ass but most panel guests were awesome. Hearing some of the real life horror stories of what Derek MacKinnon from Terror Train had to endure on the set shows that not all of these films were a blast to make . By this point I was starting to drag but there was no way I would miss the House by the Cemetery panel. Blue Underground was filming for a special edition documentary of the film. I am guessing we should expect a Blu- ray soon. Many of the guests had very broken English but were very pleasant to listen too. Cantriona MacColl seemed so thrilled to be there and had an appreciation for the fans.

All in all, I would say that most of the guests there were a pleasure to meet and the weekend was a success. If a person has never been to a convention before and is looking for a recommendation, I would recommend Horrorhound Indy in a heartbeat. The hotel staff is always very nice and accommodating, the Horrorhound volunteer staff was much more knowledgeable than last year, and the city of Indy itself is well laid out. I have never been to the Cincinnati edition of Horrorhound but they have already announced a Pet Cemetery reunion for November 11-13th. I can’t wait until next year and I hope to see you all there!!