Cinema Wasteland Movie & Memorabilia Expo
April 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2009
Five years ago, Cinema Wasteland was the only fan show to celebrate the anniversary of Tobe Hooper’s horror classic, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Prompted by years of fan requests, we’re more than proud to celebrate the 35th Anniversary next April with a TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Cast Reunion as only Cinema Wasteland can present it.
MARILYN BURNS - Marilyn played “Sally Hardesty”, lone survivor of the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), but her other horror movie credits will be of equal interest to all Cinema Wasteland fans. Marilyn took the role of “Linda Kasabian” in the 1976 made for TV movie, HELTER SKELTER, she played “Faye”, a vacationer who unwittingly stumbles upon a hotel run by a madman who feeds his guests to his pet alligator in Tobe Hooper’s EATEN ALIVE (1977), appeared in the Drive-In stinker KISS DADDY GOODBYE (1981), rejoined fellow TCM alumni Ed Neal in the shocker, FUTURE-KILL (1985), and had an uncredited cameo role as a patient on a gurney in THE RETURN OF THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1994).
ALLEN DANZIGER - Allen played “Jerry” (Sally’s boyfriend) in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. After appearing in an early Tobe Hooper’s short film, EGG SHELLS, the part of Jerry was written for him by Hooper, and the rest as they say, is history. In 1978, with a newspaper ad that read, "Gorilla for Hire," Allen began Three Ring Service, an Austin, Texas based entertainment company that supplies anything from singing telegrams to sumo wrestlers or balloon twisters to belly dancers for any occasion from company picnics, to birthdays and beyond. Allen made his first ever convention appearance when we held our 30th anniversary TCM reunion five years ago, and we’re more than happy to have our ol’ friend back for round two this April.
JOHN DUGAN - If you do more theater than film work over the years like John Dugan has done, then having a film like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) under your belt is never a bad thing. John played “Grandpa” in Tobe Hooper’s original horror classic, and played the role so well that many people actually thought that the role was played by an old man. Twenty years after the original, John showed up in THE RETURN OF THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1994) as a Cop during the hospital scene. He was in the process of moving when we held our 30th Anniversary Texas Chainsaw Massacre Reunion back in 2004 and we just couldn’t find him to invite him to that show. Drag out all of your cool TCM stuff for another signature as John will be making up for lost time with attending fans at our 2008 “Spring Spectacular.”
GUNNAR HANSEN - While still in his late teens, Gunnar Hansen learned that director Tobe Hooper and company were in town shooting a movie and decided to go and try out for a part. The film, as we all know, was the 1974 drive-in classic, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, where Gunnar landed the role of “Leatherface” and went down in screen history as one of the most well known demented cannibal killers to ever swing a sledgehammer. In 1976 he appeared in THE DEMON LOVER (better known under its video release title, DEVIL MASTER) before making his living as a writer and editor for many years. In the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s and into the new Century, Gunnar has occasionally returned to the screen. He appeared in Fred Olen Ray’s camp horror classic, HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS (1988), CAMPFIRE TALES (1991), FREAKSHOW (1995) and HELLBLOCK 13 (1999) to name a few. He tried his hand at film making when he directed a documentary on Greenland a few years ago, and co-wrote and took a role in the enjoyable 1995 horror film, MOSQUITO. Gunnar has appeared in several films of note to Wasteland fans since he was last with us, including indy cult horror flick, CHAINSAW SALLY (2004), BRUTAL MASSACRE (2007), and the hippy cult indy, GIMME SKELTER (2007) to name a few. He’s also slated to star in director John Russo’s upcoming zombie film, ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD, along with fellow horror stars Tony Todd and Kane Hodder.
TERI McMINN - Houston born Teri McMinn studied and worked at The Dallas Theater Center after graduating high school. In 1971, she moved to Austin where she attended the University of Texas and St. Edwards University. While in Austin working in local theater, director Toby Hooper and producer Kim Hinkle saw an article about her in the local newspaper and had her audition for the role of “Pam” in their film, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE; and the rest, as they say, is meat hook history. After the film's 1974 release, Teri studied acting in Los Angeles and New York. Doors opened as a leg and foot model in commercials and print work while continuing with stage work. New to the entire convention scene, we’re more than happy to have Teri joining the rest of the cast this April (and showing her one helluva Wasteland time in the process.)
EDWIN NEAL - Ed Neal was everyone’s favorite “Hitchhiker” in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, where he turned the phrase, ”Do you like head cheese?” into a line every horror movie fan in the world knows, recites, and still gets a respectful laugh out of from time to time. Ed is sort of a jack of all trades. He’s done stand-up, acts, he’s a known and respected poster dealer, and he’s spent a lot of time doing cartoon and animation voice work and dubbing, often times voicing several characters in the same show. In 1985 he wrote, produced and starred in the future-is-bleak shocker, FUTURE-KILL alongside TCM alumni Marilyn Burns. Ed’s had small roles in big “hollywood” movies like JFK (1991) and has had some interesting roles in small budget films like ZOMBIEGEDDON (2003) where he plays... “God”...? You can also find Ed in SATAN’S PLAYGROUND (2005) which costars Felissa “Sleepaway Camp” Rose and Ellen “Evil Dead” Sandweiss, as well as starring alongside fellow TCM alumni, Gunnar Hansen, in SHUDDER (2007) to name but a couple of his recent projects.
WILLIAM VAIL - Bill Vail played “Kirk”, our cannibal families first victim, in the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. As an actor, you can also find him in POLTERGEIST (1982) and the cult horror outing, MAUSOLEUM (1983). Bill has also served as art director on the TV movie, CHERNOBYL: THE FINAL WARNING (1991), has been nominated for two prime time Emmy awards, and has been the set decorator on several television productions over the years. Bill hasn’t done but a couple convention appearances, so we couldn’t be happier he accepted our invitation to join us next April.
LOU PERRYMAN - Lou is a real double whammy to attending TCM fans. A long time friend to director Tobe Hooper and many of the original TCM cast and crew, Lou served as the director’s assistant and an assistant cameraman on the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (and has had quite a few great stories to tell about the making of TCM as well.) As an actor, Low also played “L.G. Peters”, radio-man-turned-victim in TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. Other than the dearly missed Jim Seidow, Lou is one of the few people with a tie to both of the Tobe Hooper’s ‘Saw films. Lou also played “Pugsley” in Hooper’s POLTERGEIST (1982), “Kyle Boatman” in THE CELLAR (1990), and was the voice of “Falon” in the Japanese animated CITY HUNTER film. A few notable non-Wasteland roles that may be of interest to fans include THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980), LAST NIGHT OF THE ALAMO (1984), and TRESPASSES (1986).
Continuing with our quest to bring Cinema Wasteland fans the best in first time European Guests!
CHRISTINA LINDBERG - Swedish born brunette beauty, Christina Lindberg, grew up in a working class family with dreams of being an archaeologist when she grew up. That all changed when she started modeling bathing suits in high school and went on to doing layouts in popular men’s magazines soon after. (She was the Penthouse Pet of the month in June 1970.) After a small role in the thriller, DIARY OF A RAPE (1971), Christina made her starring role debut as the naive 16 year old “Inga” in MAID IN SWEDEN (1971) and became an international star on the success of the film. She appeared in YOUNG PLAYTHINGS (1972) and SWEDISH WILDCATS (1972), two well received soft core flicks from American director Joe Sarno, and took the lead role in ANITA (1973) before being cast in the cult role of a lifetime as “Frigga”, the abused one-eyed-mute-junkie-prostitute out for revenge in THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE (1974), better know on these shores as the drive-in classic, THEY CALL HER ONE-EYE. In between MAID IN SWEDEN and her role in THRILLER, you can find Christina Lindberg in the comedy, THE SWINGING CO-EDS (1972), the pseudo-documentary SCHOOL GIRL REPORT 4 (1972), as well as the Japanese “pink film” crime story, SEX AND FURY (1973), to name but a trio of her other popular roles. She took a few film roles as the 70’s wound to a close, appearing in the thriller OUTRAGE (1980), as well as the Pier Oscarson comedy, BATTLE OF SWEDEN (1980), but as her acting career began to slow in the late 70’s, Christina studied journalism and began writing articles for various men’s magazines. She made a cameo appearance as “Frigga” in the parody, SEX, LIES AND VIDEO VIOLENCE (2000), and took over as the owner and editor-and-chief of the aviation magazine “Flygrevyn” in 2004. With thanks to our friends at Synapse Films, we’re more than happy to host Christina’s first ever US convention appearance next spring.
Need a Living Dead fix? How about a few “Zombie” related guests that have never done our show before... and well, one who has?!
CHARLES CRAIG - Chuck Craig is one of the few remaining people with actual screen time from George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) who hasn’t appeared at a Cinema Wasteland show. He was the newscaster on the farmhouse TV keeping people up to date on rescue centers. He also played a zombie in the film giving him the advantage of a double whammy for fans. You can also catch Charles Craig in the drama CHASING DREAMS (1982), as well as the indy race film, BORN TO RACE (1988).
DAVID CRAWFORD - Die hard living dead fans fans will remember David Crawford as “Dr. Foster”, the on air doctor trying to make sense out of the living dead at the beginning of George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978). He’s also one of the few remaining credited cast members from DAWN that hasn’t made a Cinema Wasteland appearance so we’re more than happy to have him. David started his acting career playing Brock Peters son “David” in TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD (1962). You can also find him as a teenage in an episode of THE DRAGNET TV series, in the Diana Lane thriller LADY BEWARE (1987), and in the recent horror outing, SABBATH (2008), to name but a few of his other roles.
LEONARD LIES - Our old pal Len Lies wasn’t just the infamous “Machete Zombie” in George Romero’s horror classic, DAWN OF THE DEAD. No sirree, Len has also worked behind the camera on many a film project including DAWN OF THE DEAD, and Romero’s KNIGHTRIDERS (1981). Len also writes, produces, and directs his own projects; which consist of everything from industrial films, kids movies and shorts to feature films. Len Lies, along with writer Len Barnhart, are still looking to get Barnhart’s horror novel, “Reign of the Dead” into production as a film project and we wish them all the best. Find out more about the continuing “Reign of the Dead” film project, as well as any number of things Len is currently working on when he makes his CW return next April.
FRANK SERRAO - Frank was the “Gray Suit Zombie” in George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978). He’s easy enough to spot. You’ll find him trailing behind our old friends Clay Hill (Sweater Zombie) and Sharon Ceccatti (Nurse Zombie) in at least one or two key zombie scenes from the film.
How about another First Time Wasteland Guest next Show?!...
DANNY STEINMANN - Writer-director-producer Danny Steinmann made his directorial debut with the funky adult film, HIGH RISE (1973), before turning his attention to TV commercials and other production projects. He returned to writing and directing feature films with the underrated horror outing, THE UNSEEN (1981), and followed that film with the rape-revenge thriller, SAVAGE STREETS (1984), which starred Linda Blair and Linnea Quigley as Blair’s rape victim sister. He was set to hit the Hollywood big time when he wrote and directed FRIDAY THE 13th PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING (1985), but the film was an extremely troubled production and it proved to be his cinematic swan song when a proposed sequel to the notorious exploitation classic, “Last House on the Left”, never came to be. Early on, Steinmann even gave acting a shot, and you can find him in THE HALLUCINATION GENERATION (1966), directed by Edward Mann, (the guy who wrote “Island of Terror”), as well as THE DESPERATE ONES (1968). With a total of only one other appearance to his name, we here at Cinema Wasteland couldn’t be happier that Danny will be with us come April.
Let’s Not Leave Out These Equally Important Returning Guests!
A. GHASTLEE GHOUL - The host of the Dayton and Springfield Ohio area’s long running, late night, horror-comedy schlockathon known as “The Ghastlee Movie Show” just rounded out twenty years of spewing video-vaudevillian cheese and sleaze to the untold millions... ah, hundreds... OK, dozens of fans held captive by his wit and wisdom over the years. Regularly joining Ghastlee for a Cinema Wasteland weekend is long time cohort in crime, Jeff McClellan: American, as well as Louu the XXXmas Devil, Suspira, and Mayhem Zann; members of the garage-punk band, SPLATTERTUDE. In addition to having Ghastlee and his band mates prowling our dealer and guest room all weekend long, why not join A. Ghastlee Ghoul and the motley band of “Ghastlee Nite Players” every Saturday night, beginning at 8:00pm in Movie Room 1, as he presents A GHASTLEE NITE AT THE MOVIES LIVE SHOW, where he hosts a night of music, comedy, skits, interactive games and prize giveaways that has become somewhat of a drunken Saturday night tradition at Cinema Wasteland over the years. A. Ghastlee Ghoul has been with us since our very first show and we’ve sort of adopted him as our official Wasteland horror host. And although many a horror host has come and gone from Cinema Wasteland shows over the years, you can always count on Ghastlee, (along with Son of Ghoul), to be with us twice a year. And if you need a Ghastlee fix between Wasteland shows, don’t miss A. Ghastlee Ghoul’s Splattertude radio show, which has recently moved to his own splattertude.com site so fans can now download the shows.
AMY LYNN BEST - Amy Lynn Best, a Pittsburgh PA native, has studied acting and dancing since she was three years old. She co-produced and co-starred in the independent feature horror film, THE RESURRECTION GAME (2002), and like many independent film producers, she learned the film business from the ground up. On the short haunted house film, TENANT, Amy studied cinematographer from that film's director of photography, Bill Fuller. Out of necessity, she learned the basics of grip work, camera operation, and the fine art of line producing. Since meeting her film making husband, Mike Watt, she has acted or worked on nearly a dozen films, including the critically-acclaimed feature, AMERICAN NIGHTMARE (2000), DR. HORROR’S EROTIC HOUSE OF IDIOTS (2003), along with ABATTOIR (2007) and SPLATTER MOVIE (2008), the latest from her and Watt’s Happy Cloud Pictures.
RON BONK - Ron began making movies in 1992. Although his main interest was in directing and producing, the necessity of making sure his movies sold with honest accounting also fell on his own shoulders, so he ventured into distribution. With the success he had marketing his own productions, other filmmakers offered Ron their work to distribute as well. It wasn’t long before the demands of a running a successful B-movie distribution company took over any time he had left for directing so in recent years, Ron has become more of a producer; establishing two production divisions of his company in St. Louis and Lexington and making movies to meet marketplace demands. His company, SRS Cinema, now represents over 200 movies and Ron has directed or produced over 24 feature motion pictures over the years. Among his many ventures, Ron established the B-Movie Hall of Fame in 1998 and the B-Movie Film Fest in 1999. Both have gone on to great acclaim and he hopes to establish a museum in Syracuse for the Hall of Fame one day.
COUNT GORE DeVOL - Count Gore De Vol has been hosting horror movies since 1971 in three markets: Paducah, KY, Washington, DC, and The Entire World! After a year at WDXR in Paducah, he moved to WDCA, Channel 20 in Washington, where he hosted Creature Feature and competed with Congress for the title of chief blood sucker for more than 15 years. In 1998, Count Gore responded to the calls of his fans and returned to his chosen profession by becoming the first horror host on the Internet with “Creature Feature”, his Weekly Web Program at www.countgore.com that continues to this day. In 1999 he triumphantly returned to Washington to host Channel 20’s "Countdown with the Count" Millennium Special. Count Gore is a semi-regular guest at Cinema Wasteland who hasn’t been with us for a couple of shows now. Look for Count Gore to join in on Saturday night’s “Ghastlee Nite at the Movies” festivities when he presents his hypnotism act this time around too.
JOE KNETTER - Joe Knetter hails from Rochester Minnesota. He writes sick and twisted horror stories and began his career writing for Splatbooks where he was part of four short story collections entitled “Self Mutilation” (Volumes 1-3) and “Bodily Fluids”. In late 2004 Joe left Splatbooks and released the short story collection, “Twisted Loneliness”, which features an introduction by long time character actor, Sid Haig, who also plans on recording the audiobook. Joe's ready to roll with his debut novel, the much talked about “Zombie Bukkake”, and is just waiting for a publisher. Joe Knetter has been a part of Cinema Wasteland pretty much since the beginning and proudly declares it one of his favorite conventions... And that’s not just because we pay him in cheap booze and bong hits to say that! On Saturday, you’ll be able to join Joe in Guest and Screening Room 2 for a reading of some of his work, a few stories, or some sort of inane drunken silliness of sorts. We don’t ask so he don’t tell. Be both surprised as well as possibly irritated or shocked for all we care...
SON OF GHOUL - With over twenty years and somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 shows or more under his belt, Son of Ghoul is Akron and Cleveland’s longest continuous running horror host, as well as a long time regular here at the Cinema Wasteland show. Live in the Cleveland or Akron area? Then by all means, see if you can’t catch Son of Ghoul’s movie show every Thursday afternoon and Friday night. A life long Three Stooges fan that can actually boast that he owns all 190 Columbia produced Three Stooges shorts on 16mm film, Son of Ghoul presents a trio of Stooge Shorts every Saturday at Noon in Movie Room 1. After all, Cinema Wasteland and the Three Stooges go together better than drunks and strippers!
TOM SULLIVAN - Tom was the makeup effects man, prop builder, stop motion animator... ah, hell, he did so much behind-the-scenes work that I feel Tom is at least partially responsible for the entire look and feel of Sam Raimi’s cult horror favorite, EVIL DEAD. He also worked plenty an uncredited job on EVIL DEAD 2 and did some work on THE FLY 2 for Chris Wallas. A talented artist, Tom has also done illustrations for collectible card games, film production companies, book illustrations, and designed the ultra-cool “book of the Dead” DVDs for the Anchor Bay limited edition EVIL DEAD and EVIL DEAD 2 releases. Currently, Tom worked on TOM SULLIVAN’S BOOKS OF THE DEAD comic series from Dead Dog Comics. Tom is a regular here at Cinema Wasteland and has become a real fan favorite guest. He has his own “Sullivan Museum Room” at the show where he puts original EVIL DEAD props, storyboards and artwork on display for all attending fans to see up close and personal. It’s always our pleasure to have Tom as part of our Cinema Wasteland Family and let him get a little credit where credit is due - with the fans. Be sure to stop in and see what Tom has in store for all you fans this time around. Could be new art, new film projects, another comic book series...
MIKE WATT - Writer, director, and journalist Mike Watt wrote and directed THE RESURRECTION GAME and Bloody Earth Film's A FEAST OF FLESH (aka "Abattoir") through Happy Cloud Pictures, which he co-founded with the lovely and talented Amy Lynn Best and the less lovely but also talented Bill Homan. He also wrote the screenplays for SEVERE INJURIES, WERE-GRRL, SPLATTER MOVIE: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, DEAD MEN WALKING for The Asylum and THE SCREENING for G. Cameron Romero. He's the current editor of Sirens of Cinema Magazine - if you aren't reading it, that's proof that children have truly been left behind.
** ALL GUESTS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR ALL 3 DAYS OF THE SHOW UNLESS NOTED **
Guest appearances are based on schedules permitting. Guests do charge a nominal fee for autographs. Show events are naturally subject to change.
ALL OF OUR GUESTS WILL BE SET UP IN AMONGST THE VENDERS IN OUR 10,000 SQUARE FOOT DEALERS ROOM FOR EASY ACCESSIBILITY ALL THREE DAYS OF THE SHOW.
Cinema Wasteland
P.O. Box 81551
Cleveland, OH 44181
(440) 891-1920