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Creep I.E. Con Returns With Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Scream Reunions
In 1974, Tobe Hooper‘s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre changed the face of horror. Next month, actors Ed Neal, John Dugan, Allen Danziger, Teri McMinn, and William Vail will participate in the first official 50th anniversary cast reunion at Creep I.E. Con in Southern California.
Brett Wagner, who donned the Leatherface in the 2003 version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre before suffering from heat stroke during the production, will also be among the celebrity guests. Dubbed “The Lost Leatherface,” he dawned the iconic flesh mask as he claimed the remake’s first victim, played by Eric Balfour.
“We were filming the summer months in Austin,” Wagner explains. “It was so hot. I felt it coming. I hit the ground.” He returned to finish the scene after rehydrating, but he describes the effects of the injury as “the most pain I’ve ever been in in my life.” Unable to wait for his full recovery, the production hired Andrew Bryniarski to replace him.
“I’m Leatherface for a week, as I like to say, but I still got the first kill in the movie!” As a fan who pursued the role, Wagner admits to being “embarrassed” about the situation for many years. He even purged his Texas Chain Saw collection, although he has since reconciled with his part in the Leatherface legacy and is bringing his own collectibles to get signed at Creep I.E.
Creep I.E. Con will also host a Scream reunion with stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kennedy, and Lee Waddell, who was the first to don the iconic Ghostface mask.
Waddell first worked with director Wes Craven on A Nightmare on Elm Street when his mentor, stunt coordinator Anthony Cecere, hired him as a stunt performer. When Cecere reunited with Craven on Scream, he entrusted Waddell to play the killer opposite Drew Barrymore, with whom Waddell had previously worked.
“Wes knew me, Tony knew me, Drew knew me, so it was a real nice fit,” Waddell explains. “Back then, I’m just a working stunt guy, so I’m like, ‘Yeah, cool. Let’s do a little bit of stunting, a little bit of acting.’ Now, here we are over 25 years later!”
Waddell is relatively new to the convention circuit, but the Scream team welcomed him with open arms. “They all took me under their wing and showed me the ropes,” Waddell adds. “Every time we do a con together, it’s just a big love fest. We have a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. We have a great time interacting with each other and the fans.”
Wagner cites Felissa Rose, Bill Moseley, and Doug Jones as celebrities from whom he learned how to interact with fans. “That’s how I learned to be gracious and humble at conventions. I see how they treat the fans. These conventions are awesome for when you’re not working and to get out there and meet your fanbase. If you’re friendly with someone one day, hopefully they’ll remember when your new movie comes out.”
The I.E. in Creep I.E. Con represents the Inland Empire region of Southern California. It’s a competitive area for conventions, but Waddell asserts that Creep I.E. is already among the biggest and best: “The promoters do a bang-up job. They spoil the guests, they take care of the fans, the price points are good. Usually it takes five-plus years for a convention to get to the status where Creep I.E. is already.”
February’s guest list also features a Sons of Anarchy reunion with Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Theo Rossi, David Labrava, and Emilio Rivera, plus Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth), Dermot Mulroney (Scream VI), Tony Revolori (Scream VI), Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), Bonnie Aarons (The Nun), Dana DeLorenzo (Ash vs Evil Dead), Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Christine Elise (Child’s Play 2), and more.
In addition to the celebrities, Creep I.E. hosts over 200 unique vendors. “I go make a couple bucks signing autographs, but then I spend half of it on all the cool vendors.” Wagner chuckles. Additional entertainment includes a haunt experience, arcade gaming, special effects demos by Face Off contestant Eric Fox, horror speed dating, tattoo artists, photo ops, and more.
Beyond Creep I.E., Wagner is excited for Desert Fiends, an indie horror-comedy directed by Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) in which he appears alongside Eric Roberts, Bai Ling, Tom Arnold, and Scout Taylor-Compton. “I think it’s going to be one of the grossest movies – and I say that in a good way – you’ve seen in the last 20 years.”
Wagner continues, “There’s so much bad in the world. Being able to spend an hour and a half in a movie theater and leave all your worries behind and get your adrenaline pumping, it’s a good thing, especially nowadays. These directors and writers are so creative, you want to see what the next thing is. I’m excited for that. Horror is a genre that’s never going to go away.”
While Waddell has retired from stunt work, he stepped back in front of the camera last year for a bit part in The Night Butcher Volume 2. “It was so refreshing. It was small, ultra-low budget, but it was a blast. To have this kind of fun, stripped-down filmmaking experience took me back to film school again. I enjoyed that experience so much that I’m gonna probably try to pursue more acting.”
Until then, he’s excited to meet fans at Creep I.E. “It’s just full-throttle fun for three days,” Waddell says. “From the fan’s side of the table, and even mine – because you’ve gotta remember I’m still a horror fan! – it’s a great show. To be able to go and see some of these iconic celebrities and other stuff, how cool is that?”
Creep I.E. Con takes place February 2-4 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. Tickets are available now.
A luxury team-building trip descends into a bloody fight for survival against a vengeful retreat leader in Corporate Retreat, out today in theaters. It’s the latest entry in a cathartic subgenre of workplace horror that examines every harrowing aspect of job employment.
No job is safe from horror, either, from babysitting to even the most white-collar gigs. But if you work an overnight shift? All bets are off. Vengeful co-workers and bosses aside, the night shift is likely to come armed with witches, creatures, demons, and all manner of things that go bump in the night. Even deadly outbreaks.
Corporate Retreat, along with these five horror movies centered around some of the worst night shifts, will make you glad the weekend has finally arrived.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Passenger director André Øvredal goes full throttle for the scares in this quiet little chiller that sees a father and son coroner team stumped over the bizarre mysteries contained within the body of an unidentified young woman during an unexpected night shift. Well-executed scares, clever twists, and earnest performances by Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch give this supernatural haunter serious heft. While the narrative bides its time unveiling the truth behind Jane Doe’s battered body, it’s heavily steeped in witchcraft. In other words, The Autopsy of Jane Doe presents a new take on the subgenre. More importantly, it’s seriously scary.
Cold Storage
COLD STORAGE, StudioCanal 2023
A lethal, mutated fungus breaks free from confinement deep within the bowels of a storage facility. At the frontlines of the madness are Teacake (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) and Naomi (Barbarian‘s Georgina Campbell), two employees thrust into the middle of the chaos when they investigate an alarm beeping somewhere deep within the building. Director Jonny Campbell (Netflix’s Dracula), working from a script by David Koepp based on his novel, helms the goopy madness with workman efficiency. This lighthearted, goopy horror comedy romp makes the deadly night shift a bit more bearable.
Graveyard Shift
Graveyard Shift follows new hire Hall (David Andrews) tasked by his mean boss Warwick (Stephen Macht) to assist with the insane rat infestation beneath their mill. They find something much most monstrous as the cause. Though the film was panned, it’s a fun creature feature with an always welcome appearance by Brad Dourif as the intensely eccentric exterminator. The film also opts for a happier ending, whereas (spoiler), the story sees both Hall and Warwick getting devoured by the mutated rats, the crew in the upstairs mill none the wiser.
Last Shift
‘Last Shift’
Rookie Officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy) has been assigned to watch over a closing precinct on its final night of operation…alone. With nearly everything already moved over to the new station, including rerouted 911 calls, it should be a pretty quiet night as she waits for a Hazmat team to arrive to remove biohazardous waste. Instead, it becomes a waking nightmare as she’s forced to deal with unsettling visitors. Last Shift, co-written by Scott Poiley and director Anthony DiBlasi, brings the scares.
Intruder
The overnight stock crew of a local grocery store finds themselves falling victim to an unseen killer in this highly infectious late ‘80s slasher. The deaths are delightfully gruesome and inventive; look for this killer to make excellent use of grocery store items as weapons. Frequent Raimi collaborator Scott Spiegel directed this bloody slasher, which means a lot of overlap with the Evil Dead II. That means putting Sam Raimi in front of the camera for a change, along with Ted Raimi and Evil Dead II’s Dan Hicks. Look for a cameo by Bruce Campbell as well!
Corporate Retreat releases in theaters today; get tickets now.
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