So Chiller finally put up its opening lineup for the April ’14 show, and I’ve got to say, folks, I’m not exactly thrilled thus far.
As I expected, twice Chiller’s added guests to its list, and even so things are coming up pretty bare for me. Guests such as Lori Petty, Dean Cain, Angie Everhart, David Faustino and the guy who voiced Oogey Boogey Man in A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS are all return guests, and Tawny Kitaenm would’ve had my blood pumping if it were 1988 and she were rolling around on David Coverdale’s white Jaguar.
There is one big prize so far: Fred Olen Ray. A few Chillers back, I met Michelle Bauer, scream queen and busty babe star of Ray’s HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS. Now I’ll meet the man behind the hookers. I’m not at all a “so bad it’s good” guy, but Olen Ray is one of the few directors I can dig for making cheesy horror. This could be awesome.
But still…
Look, this show is supposed to be special. It commemorates ten years I’ve been attending shows, a decade through which I’ve always been loyal to Chiller. I’ve travelled with it to four different venues in three different cities; met over a hundred celebrities, and scored interviews with Judith O’Dea and Larry Cohen. I met Kevin McCarthy for the first time at Chiller, as well as Dee Wallace and George A. Romero. Some of my fondest convention memories derive directly from Chiller Theater. So if I expect this show to offer a little more than a retread of Dean Cain and David Faustino for the umpteenth time, I say I deserve better. As of now, I’m going because I expect it of myself to go. Here’s hoping that will turn into me going because I want to go. I acknowledge that there’s still plenty of time for the guest list to turn itself around, and offer me those four or five or seven guests I’ve wanted to meet forever. And so on.
So far, Chiller has offered me Fred Olen Ray and a lot of disappointment. Let’s go with the idea that there are much better days to come before April 25 through the 27th hit.
-Phil Fasso
