Cinema Wasteland

I spent the weekend at Cinema Wasteland with my friends Andy, Beth and Dawn. They’ve been attending this event for several years now, and have regaled me with stories of the zaniness that can occur there. When I was extended an invitation to join them this time, I quickly jumped at it.

The event this time was marked by the attendance of several cast members from the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, most notably Gunnar Hansen who played Leatherface. Although the show runs from Friday through Sunday, we opted to only attend Saturday’s events. We arrived shortly after lunch, and the convention hall was already fairly well populated with shoppers and fans. Most of the tables offered a variety of interesting memorabilia, clothing, and videos. I particularly liked the zombie hamsters.

There were lots and lots of zombies wandering about. There were lots and lots of people wearing a variety of interesting clothes. I was, at first, worried that my own shirt would be out of place at such a macabre event – where everyone else had zombies and violence, I was sporting unicorns and rainbows. Much to my delight, I was told by half a dozen people that they liked my shirt, and many many more people smiled or laughed aloud as they noticed it.

We wandered around the convention floor for several hours, perusing, and comparing prices. I bought a couple of t-shirts, and took a bunch of photos. I uploaded a number of photos from my phone to keep all my Twitter friends entertained.

Andy was super excited to meet Gunnar, the actor who played Leatherface. A friend of Andy’s had given him as a birthday present a painting of Leatherface, and the plan was to have Gunnar sign it. The painting is really superb, with rich colors, and when Andy asked for it to be autographed, Gunnar smiled broadly.

After a few more laps around the convention floor, we made our way into a viewing of Sex Galaxy, “the world’s first recycled sci-fi/horror/soft sex movie ever.” It was part Mystery Science Theater, part What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, and 100% hysterical. We laughed out loud almost the entire film, and it’s absolutely the kind of movie I’d like to own so I can show it to all my friends.

As the evening wore on and our energy diminished, we switched gears to casual socializing. Andy, Beth and Dawn recognized a lot of people at the show, and made some small talk. For my part, I enjoyed watching all the interesting people, and photographing as many of them as I could. I particularly enjoyed meeting Satan.

All in all, it was a superb weekend, and I’m very interested in going back in six months for the next Cinema Wasteland!