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Jenny Wright, Eduardo Sanchez (Fest Round-up)

On Jenny Wright, Fred Dekker and Charles Busch (Late 2009 Festival Wrap Up). By Brian Kirst.

As a horror fan it is always amazing to hear artists talk about their careers. With so many events in the Midwest (and nearby regions) in the past month or so, scare geeks have had plenty of opportunity to soak up some atmosphere from their favorite fright film folks.

At the Cincinnati Horror Hound, the weekend of November 20th, scream queen lovers got a chance to visit with low budget legend Linnea Quigley, the Night of the Creeps’ Jill Whitlow (looking better than ever in her streamlined maturity) and in her first convention appearance, the irreplaceable Jenny Wright (Near Dark, I, Madman).

While Quigley (looking like that sexy hippy from next door, owner of a miniature beagle named Roach) eagerly chatted about the creation of the upcoming Return of the Living Dead Trash doll and Whitlow admitted that she “is working some, but I’m busy being a mom”, it was Wright who truly captivated the minions on the enjoyable fest’s final morning.

“I’m shooting ‘Murder for Dummies’ in December,” Wright recounted. “It’s a black comedy with something offensive in it for everyone. I may never work again, again, after it comes out.”

Wright, also lamented the absence of former co-star Daniel Roebuck (who canceled out of the event.) “We worked together everyday – he was my sidekick – on ‘Capital News’. It lasted one season, it didn’t take off. It was kind of smart – different from the things that were popular at the time. – I haven’t seen him in forever, but I am sure we would have picked up right where we left off.”

It was the filmmakers who revealed their secrets at Movieside Production’s Terror in the Aisles 3 at Chicago’s Portage Theater on December 5th, though. Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps) pointed out that he loved the idea of building excitement for the next film with the present film (often done when he was a child) so he included shout-outs to The Monster Squad (seen being heralded on the bathroom wall as J.C. is attacked) in Night of the Creeps and for Johnny Quest in The Monster Squad. (Quest was supposed to be Dekker’s next film, but it never came about.)

Eduardo Sanchez, co-creator of The Blair Witch Project, demonstrated how much a director can shape a vision by recounting how co-stars Heather Donahue and Joshua Leonard had a very stormy onscreen relationship from the get-go. In order to create structure and build tension, Sanchez and co-director Daniel Myrick had to trim a lot of Donahue’s and Leonard’s interactions and were able to create a product that indicated that Mike Williams and Donahue were the characters’ butting heads and that she and Leonard were fairly friendly – making the twists in the trio’s relationships powerful and extremely natural.

Horror references could even be found from theater legend Charles Busch (Psycho Beach Party) at in the Victory Gardens in Chicago on Monday, December 7th, as well. Busch recalled his days on the set of ‘Addams Family Values’.

“I had a nice part. I was on set for a month – and they cut it all out! I remember thinking, Ha, I’m in a movie – take that Jane Halston (a fellow performer and past rival)! Then I found out Paul Rudnick wrote a role for Jane, as well. And, of course, she still has a nice part in the movie – and I have this little cameo!” Of course, Busch (long since reconciled with muse Halston) mutters about this jokingly now, while Halston admits, ‘I saw that it was on TV the other night. I thought, Oh good, here come’s another check! – (In this economy) I could use another check!”

On stage, though, Halston provided a reality check. When describing the real life horrors of the early to mid 80’s AIDS epidemic in NYC, she recalled (of Busch’s legendary campy stage shows), “it felt like we were performing for the troops.” Both entertainment juggernauts asserted that it was a blessing to feel like they were providing comedic therapy during such bleakly desperate times.

And so it goes, whether somber or sparkingly grim filled, everywhere that entertainers gather – the stories flow, the heads roll and, ultimately, all are bloody well informed.

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