Central Track Contributor
The Must Sees Of Texas Frightmare Weekend.
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Sure, most folks generally reserve that phrase for describing things like the winter holidays, but if you're a gore geek or horror nerd this weekend is sort of like your Christmas. When Texas Frightmare Weekend — the Southwest's premier horror convention — ascends upon the DFW Hyatt Regency this evening, expect three days of Texas-sized terroristic debauchery.
If you're a TFW virgin, that's okay too. After all, the virgin is typically the sole survivor in most horror films. Well, when they're not being used as human sacrifices at least. In either case there'll be a lot to see this weekend. Here's a breakdown of the sights and frights you won't want to miss.
The Panels
With past guests including John Carpenter, George Romero, Tobe Hooper, and Clive Barker, TFW puts you within zombie arm's length of the genre's greats and gives you the opportunity to hear about the classics straight from them. And this year's no different, boasting an impressive lineup that includes an ALIEN retrospective panel featuring Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright (hosted by yours truly), as well as panels with south of the border badass Danny Trejo and Gary effing Busey! Yup, Trejo and Busey will be within a one mile radius of one another. There might be nothing left of the place by the time this thing wraps up!
A few other panels you won't want to miss: FX wizard Tom Savini (the man who gave us the modern look of the zombie in Romero's Dawn of the Dead); a panel for Rob Zombie's new flick The Lords of Salem; a Jason VS. Michael Myers panel that features Ted White (who played Jason in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) and Nick Castle (the original Michael Myers); and a Q&A with Dee Wallace, who aside from being the mom in E.T. has appeared in numerous horror films including Cujo, The Howling, and Rob Zombie's Halloween remake.
The Photo-Ops
The half con/half film fest format also gives fans the chance to meet and mingle with the people who have both haunted and inspired their dreams. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead, you won't want to miss the chance to meet some of the cast from season's two and three. Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints and the upcoming season of Dexter) will also be on hand, so bring your rosary and pea coat to get signed. And when they're not taking part in their respective panels, all the folks mentioned above will also be out on the floor signing autographs and posing for photos!
The Films
Frightmare Weekend's film screenings are not just about catching classics of the past, but films that are destined to become the cult classics of the future as well! TFW always programs great indie horror you might not have the chance to see anywhere else. There are even panels for future fright-makers including ones on FX, make-up, and post-modern horror films.
This year there will also be screenings of that Maniac remake that stars Elijah Wood, and the Neil Jordan flicks Byzantium, Sightseers, and The Last Will & Testament of Rosalind Leigh among others. Not to be forgotten is a movie called Axe Giant about a killer 15-foot tall axe-murdering Paul Bunyan.
Check out the full lineup of guests, panels, films, vendors, and more here.
