“After several days of rest, we have finally recuperated from the Cinema Wasteland convention. Those of you who didn’t make it, you simply missed one hell of a show. As I’m sure everybody knew, the show was put on and run by Ken & Pam of Video Wasteland. These two have been dealers since the beginning of time, and have seen all the mistakes, screw-ups, and everything that can go wrong at a convention (and that was just at one Fangoria show). So, when doing this show, they wanted to make sure that it would be great for the dealers as well as the people spending their hard-earned cash at the show. And they did just that and more.”

That was the first paragraph of my review I posted on my website of the very first Cinema Wasteland show, back in September of 2000. The funny thing is that I could use that exact same quote for the show that I was just at over the weekend. And the one before that. And before that one. I don’t know of another show that has remained true to way they started from the very beginning. Ken Kish wanted to put on a show that wasn’t like the rest of the shows going on, and he has kept it that way. It’s small, especially compared to these huge shows where it takes hours just to get in the door, not to mention having to mortgage your house to meet a few celebrities. That is the charm to Wasteland. At Wasteland, you have a roomful of dedicated cinephiles that are more interested in the films themselves, and who made them, rather than the latest Funko Pop figure. I know that sounds a little mean-spirited, but it is the truth.

In the last 25 years, I’ve never missed a single show. I couldn’t think about missing out on having such a great time. I know that I plan on continuing to come to them, as long as they have them. Which, sad to say, might not be too much longer. Due to a few different issues, starting next year, the show goes back to only once a year, which will be in April. For the kind of show that Wasteland is, I think it’s getting harder and harder to get guests. Sure, they could get the ones that are regulars on the convention circuit, but it would make them just like all those other shows. Plus, that is not what Wasteland is about. So, if you have plans to come out to the show, start making those plans now.

This year, I was smart enough to avoid any unwise food decisions while on our trip out there. As much as I love me a corn dog… sorry, not today! Then again, Saturday night at a Thai place for dinner, and asking the waitress for spicy, could have been one of those decisions. But have no fear, because my stomach was able to handle it. And it was damn tasty! But more on that later.

One of the things about Wasteland is the dealer room. It never stops being the one that I can spend way more money than I wanted to. At most shows, I’m pretty good because there just isn’t that much to attract this old school collector and know I’m not going to shell out a stupid amount of $$ for an autograph. But at Wasteland, there is paper, movies, shirts with more than Freddy and Jason, and so much more. And if you did want an autograph, Ken does his best to keep the prices affordable without having to sell an organ. We came home with a ton of movies, which was the main thing I was trying to limit. While I can make that hard choice to pass up a burnt corn dog, it’s not as easy on movies. Who am I kidding… both of those are hard decisions! I came home with about 20 titles. The worst part is that this month is going to be so busy, I won’t have a lot of time to dig into them. I know, real-world problems.

One of the dealers that I’ve been picking up stuff from for many years is Barry the Clayguy. I have the entire set of his Hammer Frankenstein series, which I just love. This time, while I was admiring the amazing work on his Vincent Price character of Matthew Hopkins from Witchfinder General, I completely missed that he had a new one of the “giallo killer”, which could be from a half-dozen films, but is really close to the one from Blood and Black Lace. No matter what it’s from, I had to add it to the collection, and it now proudly sets on my bookcase in front of my books on Italian giallo films!

I did pick up this amazing Italian fotobusta for Paul Naschy’s Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman, as well as 4 others. Fotobustas are kind of like American half-sheets size-wise, but much different. They will have one or two photos from the film with a larger photo covering the main part, or one like the one below, a couple of photos and some artistic background from the film. Trish, one of the amazing dealers at Wasteland, has just an incredible selection of these, as well as other Italian paper, all and even more amazing prices. Because I didn’t get to her table until the show opened, I found out another vendor had purchased most of the Naschy stuff. I was a little irritated but that’s all part of the collecting. Then I found out it was my friend Craig who runs Pallbearer Press. But before I could say anything, he told me to pick two from the ones he bought that I liked best as a present for my recent birthday. I swear, that kind of friend is yet another reason I love conventions. We all know each other’s favorites and passions and help each other when we see something we know one of our own would love that. Much love and thanks, Craig. You’re the best!

While I’m not a fan of the original Toxic Avenger, they had 5 different guests there, including Melvin himself, Mark Torgl! But the guest that I was excited to meet was Tim Ritter, director of the SOV film Truth or Dare? (1986). He’s done a few other features, such as Killing Spree (1987) and including making 4 sequels to Truth or Dare, but I’m fascinated by these guys that were creating these films way back in the ‘80s and getting them out to the video stores! No matter what you think of them, then or now, I’ve always got to give them credit because they were some of the first to do it. Now, everyone with a smart phone is attempting to make a film. Not even close to what they had to go with 40+ years ago.

Ritter was such a friendly guy, with us talking about Jess Franco before we even got to his work, even giving me an amazing Franco shirt he had brought, after admiring the one that I was wearing! He was so generous and great to talk to, seeming to be there more to talk to fans about film, than to make money. You don’t see that too often at most conventions where most of the “guests” are there for customers, not fans. So, I really appreciated Ritter taking the time to chat. Granted, I did end up buying a few things from him but was happy to do it. Looking forward to taking a dive into his Truth or Dare series, which I only had seen the first one, and that was way back when it first came out!

But honestly, the best part of any convention for me these days is getting to see old friend and meeting new friends, and then the conversations that come from that. And at Wasteland, let’s just say it’s easier to find someone that is a real fan of the genre, one that is excited to learn about new films, whether they came out 75 years ago or last week, whether it has a 20-million-dollar budget or 10 bucks. In other words, true passionate cinephiles. I know that might come off as a little bit of an elitist, but it’s the truth.

On Saturday night, we had the chance to hit an amazing Thai place that I mentioned above, Sweet Mango Thai Cuisine, where our regular gang of my wife Dawn, S.A. Bradley, Don England, and Gavin Schmitt, were joined by Steve & Melinda, who are fans of our Discover the Horror podcast, and have been loving discovering new titles together that they’ve never seen. Steve is like a sponge, writing down titles that we talk about so he can seek them out later. I’m excited that they get to discover so many great titles for the first time together. And then there is Chris, who has been a fan of both our podcast, as well as Bradley’s Hellbent for Horror (https://hellbentforhorror.com/), as well as my own website. Chris is even in the process of creating his own site, because like Scott and myself, he has that passion to spread his thoughts and feelings about the genre that he loves. I commend him, and anybody who knows what that is about. That is why a lot of us do this.

Our dinner was great because not only was the food amazing, but we just had a blast sitting around and talking about the horror film genre. Not only giving others some new titles to look into but also hearing their thoughts on movies they’ve recently seen for the first time. It really is a communal process and really is always the best part of conventions for me.

They have announced the dates and guests for the next show in April, which looks to be another great time, and of course we plan to be there. Haven’t missed one in 25 years and I don’t plan on it now! Keep tabs on their website HERE for all the updates and make those plans.