By Mike Lera
An event that needs no introduction amongst pop culture fans is the world famous Comic Con International, held every summer in San Diego, CA, and while superheroes and spacemen tend to hog the stage there, monsters and creepers also share the spotlight, this year’s CC (held July 23-26) making certain horror fans were kept “fed”.
In celebration of its 34th annual Chainsaw Awards (slated for Oct. 25th), Fangoria Magazine held a panel at Comic Con with its staff members and contributors, discussing its “Oscars for Horror Fans” and talking scare shop with director Zachary Wigon (Victorian Psycho, Sanctuary) and actor Devon Sawa (Final Destination, Hell Motel).
In response to Sawa expressing interest in playing Freddy Krueger in past social media postings, a fan asked him at the panel if that interest still stands.
“Yeah! Short answer!” Sawa responded. “One of the first horror films I rented was A Nightmare On Elm Street, so I’ve always been a huge fan. Whoever plays him needs to play Freddy, the version Robert Englund created, because he’s sort of like Darth Vader – we don’t need to be giving our own take on him.”
It was announced at the panel that Sawa will host this year’s Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.
Walking Dead groupies enjoyed a panel featuring the cast of the franchise’s (5th) spinoff and first direct sequel, Dead City, including actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Aimee Garcia and Raul Castillo, talking with fans about the series’ new season 3 (weekly episodes currently on AMC) at the con’s highly honored “Hall H”.
After a fan inquired if Cohan’s character “Maggie” and Morgan’s character “Negan” – long time volatile rivals – would ever “hook up”, Cohan replied, “You… don’t want to see this happen.” Morgan, however, simply said, “Yes!”
Other cool zombie stuff at CC included Zach Cregger promoting his upcoming Resident Evil (Sep. 18th) and a panel presenting a new Night of the Living Dead/Official Story of the Film retrospective book with Judith “Barbara” O’Dea and Russell Steiner (via video) in attendance.
Director Guillermo del Toro and actors Doug Jones and Ivana Baquero reunited in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, reminiscing over their behind-the-scenes shenanigans and how much of an impact the film had made – and still makes – on its viewers, particularly amongst young artist in the Latino community. Also in attendance was the 2006 film’s cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, who won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for PL.
Shown at the panel was a sneak peek of an upcoming retrospective documentary on the making of Pan’s Labyrinth and its exploration of its cultural significance and legacy. In addition, Pan’s Labyrinth will return to the big screen this year in 3D in celebration of its 20th. Both the documentary and film will be released on del Toro’s birthday – October 9th.
The panel was topped off with Comic Con presenting del Toro with its annual Inkpot Award in recognition of his major contribution to film, television, animation, comic books and science fiction.
Del Toro boldly spoke on Pan’s Labyrinth’s metaphor on artists’ and creators’ constant battle with fascism, and the importance of stories, imagery, art and beauty remaining sacred.
“It’s a movie about the clash of two wills – the will of a girl that has no power in the real world, and the will of a fascist that has the all the power in the real world, but nothing inside. I mean, they tell us what they think we are, but we know what we are. That’s a power evil doesn’t have.”
For video footage of the panels and celebs mentioned in this article, visit Mike Lera’s YouTube channel @MikeLera.
ALL PHOTO CREDIT TO MIKE LERA
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