Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Another week’s gone by, and we’ve just been to hell and back at our favorite toy store where we got the chance to hang out in the presence of one of the biggest and most celebrated names in horror today, Kane Hodder! His extensive filmography as an actor and stuntman in both movies and TV sparked plenty of questions for the most famous guy to ever play Jason Voorhees, but unfortunately we couldn’t pin him down long ‘nough to record a video interview for our show. That said, we still managed to walk away with an unforgettable experience our favorite ghost girlfriend Mandy’s just thrilled to share with ya. Take it away, Mandy!
“Deadwest and I recently spent time with some horror icons who were gracious enough to greet fans at one of our favorite stores, Toy Federation, a paradise of retro playthings in Upstate South Carolina.
This weekend, the guest of honor was superstar slasher Kane Hodder.
Going in, I expected to emerge with previously unpublished tales of Hodder’s career and confirmation that the scariest man ever to don a mask is what Felissa Rose called him in To Hell and Back, “the coolest man walking.”
He is, in fact, that cool . . . mesmerizing, menacing and genuinely friendly—to the degree those adjectives can converge in one person. My deep dive into his IMDb and other telling sources led to big laughs about his unlikely role as a ninja on The Dukes of Hazzard and his stint as stunt coordinator for Who’s the Boss?
We also discussed some disgust over a film that got mired in Muck and speculated about future Friday movies in which his character has a female nemesis—spoiler alert: He says telekinetic Tina would be Jason’s Jamie Lee, and the name Charlize Theron may have come up when we were picking players for our fantasy league.
The real story, however, may be the fans. One couple waiting in line had come from Ohio, and the wife, recovering from back surgery, was defying doctors’ recommendations to celebrate her birthday. The trip was preceded by a Cameo.com video her husband had commissioned from Hodder. In addition to the virtual well wishes, interstate travel, hotel costs and related expenses, the couple not only sprung for VIP tickets, but also returned for the general admission event on Saturday to possibly score a little more face time.
Throughout the weekend, Hodder instantly transitioned from comfortable conversation to cold-blooded killer, giving each person his all as he posed for picture after picture—no shot seeming like an aggrandizing selfie. To describe what took place, we turn to another formidable character, Aunt May of Spider-Man fame, who said this:
“Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names . . . and years later, they’ll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them to hold on a second longer.”
One man in the crowd, a law enforcement officer, said he looked up to Hodder so much as a kid, he was afraid to talk to him because he didn’t want the image he’d always had in his mind to change. Clutching an autographed machete on the way out, his childlike smile proved Hodder is a hero who never disappoints.”
Sweet summary of the events, Mandy! Thanks again to Kane for such a fun time cuttin’ up with everyone who hung out both days of the event, and an even bigger thank ya to the gang at Toy Federation for pullin’ all this together for the horror fans who’ve been disappointed by all the con cancellations lately.
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 video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74!
See ya later, Scream Freaks!
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