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20
Apr|09
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I just returned from the Chiller Theatre show in Parsippany, NJ last night around 10 PM. It was probably one of the craziest trips that I have ever been a part of, since we decided to pinch pennies and sleep in the truck. Under normal circumstances we would have gone Saturday, but Chiller was not selling tickets at the door in order to control crowds on Saturday. Instead of driving up there early Sunday morning and leaving right afterwards, I though it would be a good idea to drive up Saturday night and sleep in a parking lot. I ended up only catching a wink of sleep (and by wink I mean about an hour) but it turned out good for the most part. My friend Jimmy drove us since my car probably wouldn’t be able to handle the six hour drive.
This article is very image heavy. I would not recommend a 28.8 dialup modem.
We arrived Saturday night at 2 AM without a hitch. We went into the hotel, and unfortunately we seemed to have just missed musical performances. It seemed to be a pretty cool after party though, definitely something to catch the next time around. We tried to sleep in the car, and it was a little harder than I thought. The truck seats don’t go back very far. At about 6AM Jimmy went into the Hampton to use the restroom and came back with juice and doughnuts. That was great. About two hours later, we made a return visit to the continental breakfast and ate all kinds of stuff. We also made another trip to it before it closed down.
The stunning view from our bedroom window, aka a parking lot
The set up of Chiller was very different, it was in a Hilton hotel. It was set up very maze-like and celebrity guests were strewn about. There were probably 13 rooms set up with celebrities. They were set up all over the place, so it was pretty easy to walk right up to anybody you wanted to meet. I had heard that the guests charged a lot of money at Chiller, but that really wasn’t the case. It was your normal 20 dollars an autograph and free picture deal. A select few charged separate for pictures. Edward James Olmos from Battlestar Galactica must have thought he was a superstar, because he was charging 50 dollars for an autograph and another 20 to have your picture taken with him. He was the only person I saw charging a ridiculous amount.
The vendor room was probably the largest I have seen. There were actually two vendor rooms. Lots of good stuff and some really unique things. I am more into the one of a kind art products that vendors sell and not bootleg videos and junk. So here are some of the vendors I really enjoyed.
Little Replicants: When I took a look at these, the lady who makes them was not standing there, but another guy told me about them. They are little sculptures made out of different colored clay, with no paint whatsoever. They were really a site to see due to their extreme detail. They wanted 40 dollars a piece for them which is not a bad price since they are one of a kind collectibles.
Little Replicants
Little Replicants
Little Replicants
Little Replicants
Terry Cruikshank Creations: These were some really, really cool custom dolls. He had all sorts of different ones. They had a pretty hefty price tag on them, but what can you expect from one of a kind artwork. Works like this probably don’t sell extremely well at a convention like this, because I don’t think anyone really appreciates one of a kind artwork there. Really cool stuff, and I think you should go buy one.
Terry Cruikshank Creations
Terry Cruikshank Creations
Terry Cruikshank Creations
Terry Cruikshank Creations
Mad Geppetto : Another artist group, more custom dolls. I didn’t manage to take any pictures because they were tearing down when I finally decided to get over there, but check out the site. It’s cool stuff.
Finally, here are two snapshots of the different vendor rooms.
On to the celebrity guests. Chiller had the hugest and most impressive line up I have ever seen. It didn’t stop at just horror, the guests were from all corners of cinema.
Everyone was great for the most part. I don’t really feel like explaining what I talked about with everyone, because it’s not really important, but I did ask Dian Bachar if he was working on any films with Trey Parker and Matt Stone because I want that very badly, and he said that Trey and Matt were done with films because they don’t think they are good actors and just wanted to do South Park. That made me cry. If you like Trey and Matt in films, you should contact them and let them know. And make sure Dian is in the films too.
Ami Dolenz (Can’t Buy Me Love, Witchboard 2, Ticks, Pumpkinhead 2)
Micky Dolenz (The Monkees, Halloween)
Erika Eleniak (Baywatch, Under Siege)
James Duval (Donnie Darko)
Jason London (Out Cold, Dazed and Confused)
Miguel A. Nunez Jr (Juwanna Mann, Return of the Living Dead)
John Russo (Night of the Living Dead)
Russ Streiner (Night of the Living Dead)
Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot, The Defiant Ones)
William Forsythe (Halloween, Devil’s Rejects)
Zach Galligan (Gremlins, Waxworks)
Larry Storch (F-Troop)
April Hunter (Pro-Wrestler and Playboy Model)
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Corbin Bernsen (Major League) | Jeremy London (Mallrats) |
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Dian Bachar (Basekeball, Orgazmo) | Dean Raglund (The X-Files) |
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George Romero (Creator of the “Dead” series) | Frank Stallone (Musician, actor) |
Tom Noonan (Monster Squad, Last Action Hero, Manhunter)
That’s about it, special thanks to Tom Towles and Dean Raglund for being really nice guys and posing in pictures with us for free. Dean also had this really funny 8×10 photo of himself from 6th grade that he was using for autographs.
Til next time Chiller, thanks for the great time.
Last edited: Jul 01, 2009 @ 10:54 PM, 261 days ago |
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Comment
really excellent write-up. I went on Friday. There were a lot of guests for an April show. Edward James Olmos must have really upped his price because on Friday his table said either $20 or $25 I believe.
Man weren’t those little replicants awesome!! Did you by any chance get a card with her website? I had one and it seems to be the only one I lost :(
Glad to see you had a great time like I did! My website will be up soon complete with chiller page.
Psy-Ko, her website is www.deanasite.com. Also www.littlereplicants.com. Let me know when your site is up so I can check it out.
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That looks like it was an awesome show. All of those collectibles were amazing, especially the “Where the Wild Things Are” Little Replicants…wow! I’m glad you had fun.
Left by Tom on Monday, April 20 @ 05:09 PM / Permlink