Flashback Weekend Horror & Sci-Fi Convention 3 : 2004
FLASHBACK WEEKEND
HORRO'RAMA DRIVE-IN & CONVENTION
JULY 30-AUGUST 1 2004
Holiday Inn O’Hare International
Rosemont, Illinois
Our third annual Flashback Weekend Horror convention was an exceptional success! CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES FROM THIS EVENT We would like to thank everyone who made this the largest, most spectacular open-air horror film festival in the country! The weekend featured two extraordinary events:
Chicago’s most complete Horror/Movie Memorabilia convention by day featuring a stunning dealer’s room and special events …and
A marvelous, nostalgic recreation of the Drive-in at night featuring not only 35mm screenings of classic and premiere showings of horror films, but timeless, vintage trailers, live celebrity introductions and a fantastic concession stand!
A splendid time was had by all!
The weekend received major TV coverage from “E” (Entertainment Channel), CBS Channel 2 News and coverage in all of the main Chicago area newspapers.
Nightly Outdoor Drive-In!
There was nothing quite like the drive-in experience in the 50s, 60s, and 70s! Our nostalgic Drive-In festival recreated the experience and featured a colossal 20’ x 40’ outdoor full-size Drive-In screen with 35mm projection and stereo sound - the likes of which is not to be seen at any other US horror convention! Guests were treated to live appearances by renowned celebrity guests, screenings of full-length features, memorable vintage drive-in intermission trailers, and classic horror drive-in coming attractions. Of course, to make the experience complete, there was a full concession stand selling drive-in style snacks and beer.
Guests captivated by event!!
Guests were enthralled by the kick off event - Joe Bob Briggs leading the audience in the Drive-In Oath. They were awed by a festival of classic 60’s and 70’s drive-in and cult coming attractions courtesy of Ban 1 Productions (check their site http://www.ban1productions.com for DVD compilations of some of these rare finds). During intermission, they were charmed by rare vintage retro drive-in intermission ads.
Our sponsor for Friday evening was Anchor Bay Entertainment and the program featured the Chicago premiere of the bold, new Dario Argento film "THE CARD PLAYER"! Prior to which, guests were treated to a restored print of the classic Wes Craven thriller, "THE HILLS HAVE EYES" (introduced by Dee Wallace Stone)!
A capacity crowd packed the drive-in Saturday evening for a screening of a rare 35mm print of the classic "DAY OF THE DEAD". They received the ultimate treat when icon and director George Romero and the “DAY OF THE DEAD” cast members introduced the film, with an extensive pre-commentary! At intermission, Bill Moseley took the stage and entertained the crowd by performing famous lines from many of his classic films in character as Chop-Top (“TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2”), Otis (“HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES”), and Johnny (“NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD”).
After this extravaganza, Flashback featured the Chicago Premiere of Tobe Hooper's "THE TOOLBOX MURDERS". Not to be outdone, star and goth classic actress Angela Bettis introduced the movie! Guests were fascinated by the scope of the event and after the features ended, left the drive-in breathless in anticipation of the next event!
After all that excitement, Sunday evening was designated as time to sit, relax and enjoy the show which featured an hour-long marathon of classic drive-in trailers from the 60’s and 70’s courtesy of Ban 1 Productions. The evening was topped off by a screening of the retro-drive-in "classic", "INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS" (courtesy of Hollywood Book and Poster).
Guests entered our Drive-In event by “walking in”! They enjoyed the evening’s open-air motion picture entertainment from the comfort of their own lawn chairs. The weather was perfect! The drive-in was a massive success and will return at future events.
Special thanks to Michael Felsher and Laura Jerome from Anchor Bay Entertainment, Taurus Entertainment, Exhumed Films, Jacky Quella from Toolbox Films, Ban 1 Productions, and Hollywood Book and Poster.
Convention Activities!
The convention activities included a spectacular gigantic dealer’s room, autograph sessions, a DVD screening room, live entertainment and more! We pride ourselves on bringing in the biggest names in the business, and this year was no exception. Our extensive list of celebrity guests includes:
Director George A. Romero (“NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD”, “DAWN OF THE DEAD”, and “DAY OF THE DEAD”), Joe Bob Briggs (Drive-In expert and author of “PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING”), Dee Wallace Stone – (“THE HILLS HAVE EYES”, “THE HOWLING”, and “CRITTERS”.), Angela Bettis – (“MAY”), and a “DAY OF THE DEAD” cast reunion including Lori Cardille (“Sarah”), Joe Pilato (“Rhodes”), Gary Klar (“Steele”), and Antone DiLeo (“Miguel”).
Are you breathless yet???? ‘Cause there’s more…
The weekend also included a “CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON” 50th anniversary celebration featuring the star of the film Julie Adams and the creature himself Ben Chapman, Bill Moseley (Otis) and Sid Haig (Captain Spralding) from “HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES”, Eileen Dietz from “THE EXORCIST” (Eileen portrayed the possessed Regan during many of the film’s controversial scenes), and from “DAWN OF THE DEAD” Leonard Lies (the machete zombie).
Still not had enough???
Also appearing were Bill Johnson – (Leatherface from “TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2”), James Bond author Raymond Benson, Tom Sullivan (The special effects and make-up artist of “THE EVIL DEAD”), Scream Queen Brinke Stevens, Jason Paul Collum (The director of “SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT”), and Irwin Keyes- (“Ravelli” from "HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES").
More Classic memories!
Every horror fan in Chicago grew up watching “SVENGOOLIE”. We were thrilled to have Chicago TV legend Horror host Svengoolie (Rich Koz) for a personal appearance featuring photo-ops and autographs.
Whew!
Our Master of Ceremonies was the esteemed Dann Gire - Daily Herald film critic and President of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Always cool and groovy WGN 720AM film critic Nick Digilio and “Ain’t it Cool News” always hip critic Steve “Capone” Prokopi were the renowned co-hosts of the weekend’s events.
“BOOMSTICK! A Musical Parody of Darkness”
New Millennium Theatre Company, who brought the ORIGINAL 'Evil Dead! The Musical' to the 2003 Flashback stage returned in 2004 with 'BOOMSTICK! A Musical Parody of Darkness'. 'BOOMSTICK!' finds our hero flung into the past and faced with 'possessed primitives, 'Evil Doppelgangers' and a beautiful Medieval Maiden. BOOMSTICK” was a major hit and rocketed our guests back to medieval times and roaring with laughter and excitement! We look forward to future productions from Chad Wise and the New Millennium Theatre Company.
Toe Tag Pictures
Toe Tag Pictures presented incredible make-up demonstrations during the weekend. The guests were terrified by the full prosthetic zombie make-up and intrigued by how to apply a slit throat effect. A special thanks to Fred and the gang from Toe Tag.
Live Commentaries and Screenings
“MAY” star Angela Bettis and WGN’s Nick Digilio presented a DVD screening of “MAY” with a live commentary! Joe Bob Briggs provided a live commentary for “I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE”. Thank you to ‘GRAVE” director Meir Zarchi for allowing us to do this!
Film Panel
With all these renowned and talented artists, Flashback decided that it would be exciting to hear their views live during an independent film panel discussion!! Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire moderated the discussion and the panel included George A. Romero and Joe Bob Briggs in a fascinating dialogue of how the MPAA holds big-budget mainstream films and independent Horror films to two very different standards.
Wow!!
A special thanks to the celebrities and attendees - they made the event an enormous success. We will be back…Look for the Horro’Rama drive-in experience to return next year at our July 29-31, 2005 convention! Bookmark our website now so that you don’t miss anything!!
2003 Event Photos
Cocktail reception of the dead Ultimate package holders were able to attend an exclusive cocktail reception and visit with many celebrities including George Romero and Bill Moseley (pictured top left in the photos below).
Click thumbnail images to open a pop-up window enlargement (you must have javascript enabled, and turn off pop-up blockers).
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