Screaming Soup!

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Woowee, what a weekend we had at ConCarolinas! Bein’ our first time there, we didn’t know what to expect, but it was slap full of friendly cosplayers, music acts, indie authors, scientists, filmmakers, burlesque dancers, and more alternate universe Wonder Women than you can shake a lasso at. Should have seen that last one comin’ with the new super flick out and all.

So, we rode in on Saturday and grabbed a strong drink before pullin’ into our first panel askin’ us to speak about horror’s worst tropes. Pretty much a round table discussion among knowledgeable horror fanatics, this was a well rounded group made up of indie filmmakers, horror critics, and special effects wizards who were all very cool to shoot the shit with. We bitched about everything from found footage to remakes like the newest Cabin Fever and Fright Night 2, and one fella even said he’s sick of seein’ unrealistically beautiful people actin’ in horror flicks. That’s one to think about, we guess? The biggest contributions we made to this panel had to be our opinion on how tropes are fine, but audiences need a good mix-up of them from time to time to help tired formulas feel fresh again like with Fender Bender and Darkman.

As time went on, and a few more drinks were had, we found our way to the next panel which was supposed to be about the show Stranger Things and how retro is makin’ a comeback. Too lazy to brush up on the events in the show, we were more focused on discussin’ the return of retro which luckily steered the majority of the panel. When asked about retro, we explained how everything’s retro, and it comes in cycles. Children grow up on entertainment they enjoy and then mimic it when they’re old enough to start creatin’ entertainment for new generations to eat up. Case in point, Hammer Films remakin’ the Universal monster flicks. Or directors from the ’80s reimaginin’ their favorite atomic monster movies from the ’50s like Invaders From Mars and The Fly. And today’s filmmakers are now creatin’ works echoin’ styles and formats from the ’80s like The Barn. From there, it just got out of hand with retro includin’ remakes and reboots of superhero flicks to cartoons and video games, but it was a lot of fun and we joked a lot with a new film buff friend who sat next to us.

Finally, the night wrapped up with a panel about zombie films. This panel was packed with zombie experts, and the moderator had a whole slideshow presentation prepared for sharin’ flicks he thinks mainstream zombie fans may not have heard of. Dead Next Door, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Tomb of the Blind Dead, Dead Snow, Fido, Cemetery Man . . . just a whole slew of them. There’s probably 1/3 of his list we hadn’t seen or even heard of, and doin’ our best to rectify that now. This panel was probably the most fun for us at the con, but also the most awkward, because we quickly noticed we were doin’ a lot of the talkin’. What was supposed to be a panel of experts commentin’ on all these zombie flicks suddenly felt an exclusive group among the moderator, Screaming Soup!, and one other person. The other 3-4 folks never said a word and made us wonder if we were comin’ off like oversteppin’ jerks domineerin’ the conversation with no chance for them to spit their two cents in. But when all was said and done, we feel everyone was an adult and could have jumped in the conversation anytime with us more than willin’ to shut up for them.

Overall, our first time at ConCarolinas was decent. Not the most amazin’ con we’ve ever been to, but far from bad, and we got to meet some fun and talented people we’re sure to stay connected with. If you ever get a chance to check out their stuff, click the links here and look up Jason Gilbert’s review of scary movies called Fail-Flix, the amazin’ make-up effects by Joh Harp, Sammie Cassell’s indie film company Wreak Havoc Productions, and the hilarious music talent of Mikey Mason who’s got one cool Stranger Things song.

Other than that, be sure to catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent reviews for the newer horror films and comics we’re checkin’ out in our blogs, R-Rated Reviews and Sequential Slime, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail coming.

Warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns scheduled to play on Sluggo’s The Vortexx (after 9PM EST Sunday and Wednesday nights)!

If you need the hook-up with instant Troma and Full Moon movies, we’d suggest watching Troma’s films for free on their Youtube channel, and you can get full access to Full Moon’s catalog of work from their movies to their Videozone clips at Full Moon Streaming and their Amazon channel.

See ya later, Scream Freaks!