Friday the 13^th 25^th Anniversary Convention
by Erica-webmistress

 

May 13, 2005 (Friday the 13^th) at the Friday the 13th 25th Anniversary Convention in Hollywood, California.

Funny…as I’m typing this I got the TV on and I’m watching an all night F13 marathon in honor of Friday the 13^th

It was rough battling traffic on the freeway during rush hour (and anyone who is familiar with the 101 Ventura freeway knows exactly what I’m talking about) and finding the building where the convention was taking place was a bit tricky too. Fortunately, I spotted a poster with Jason’s hockey mask displayed in a window and knew that had to be the building. The convention was smaller than I anticipated and it wasn’t exactly a packed house, but there was still a stead flow of people. After all, it was Friday evening and I’m sure the weekend will be better. I think it actually worked out better for the fans that were there because we got to spend more time with the F13 celebrities then if it was packed, you know....wham, bam, thank you ma’am, whose next? But instead we really got to visit with them and get the most out of our experience. To be honest, this was my first convention and I didn’t know what to expect; I was more nervous because I was by myself and didn’t know how I was going to get photos taken with the celebrities, but when I turned around and asked perfect strangers if they could take a photo of me and the celebrity, they were more than happy to do it. It was pretty hot and stuffy in there and by the end of the evening my hair and makeup was a mess, so I’m a little embarrassed to post the images of myself on this page, lol.

This is how the night’s activities panned out: there was the convention on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland, then a half block within walking distance was the theater where they were playing the first Friday the 13^th movie and also had the Q&A session (sorry I can’t remember the name of it and no it wasn’t Grauman's Chinese, it was just past it) Then later at midnight the band, Freak13, was going to play at the Whisky-A-GoGo on Sunset Blvd.

Okay, now for the good stuff. Who did I meet? The first person I met was Betsy Palmer (Mommy Voorhees) and what a sweetheart she is!! She was very charming and friendly. She gave me a friendly two-handed handshake and seemed just as excited to meet me as I was to meet her. She autographed my “Friday the 13^th” novel by Simon Hawke and wrote "Kill her Mommy, Kill her." Mrs. Voorhees -Betsy Palmer. I also got an 8x10 photo she autographed as well. Now of course, being the shy person I am, I was tongue tied and couldn’t think what it was I wanted to ask her. 

Next, was Ari Lehman (Jason number 1), he was very outgoing, friendly, and has a sense of humor that broke me out of my shy shell. I felt like I was meeting an old friend. Ari also autographed my “Friday the 13^th” novel and an 8x10. The picture was the one of Jason leaping out of the water and grabbing Adrienne King (Alice), with Tom Savini standing in waist deep water (I eventually get all three to sign it). We chatted about the make-up he wore in part 1, how he really did scare Adrienne out of her wits in the canoe, and about his music career. He then gave me an admission ticket to see Freak13 play at the Whiskey later that night. He also said he was going get up on stage and perform with them on the last song, “Crystal Lake.” Did I go? Heck yeah.

I then went over to Tom Savini and I don’t know if he was having a bad day or what, but he was rather quiet and not too sociable (well, at least with me anyways), which isn’t really like him, and at first he barely acknowledged me, so I immediately clammed up in my shy shell again. Although, I will point out he didn’t charge a fee to autograph your own stuff and when I thanked him for the signature and coming out and making this convention, he gave me friendly nod and said “You’re welcome.” But surprisingly out of everyone I met that evening, he and I just didn’t click. Oh well, better luck next time.

I moved on to Adrienne King’s table and although she was being swarmed at the moment by other fans, she was friendly, bubbly and outgoing and made sure she took care of everyone before they walked away. Adrienne then added her signature to the 8X10 (see below). She seemed to be really enjoying herself and was getting a kick out of all the excitement. Later that evening at the theater when the first Friday the 13^th movie was being playing, the enthusiastic fans cheered and applaud throughout the movie and then broke out in a burst of applause at the end, which tickled Adrienne and I over heard her say excitingly to Betsy Palmer, “The movie still holds up.”

Next was stuntman Tom Morga (Jason number 5), and I’m sure most fans already know this, but it was he that played the Jason imposter in Part 5, not paramedic Dave Wieand. Tom was great -very sociable and friendly. Since I have an interest in stuntwork, we talked a lot about stunts and what projects he has been up to lately (Tom is currently working on the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean, that's why he's sporting that beard). He was really cool and I enjoyed visiting with him.

Warrington Gillette (Jason number 2) was great too. He was very  sociable and we actually chatted more than once that night and would later run into each other at the Whisky. He told me about his new movie in production, Bloody Social, and his website www.jason2kills.com. At the time, I didn’t know he was a horseperson too or else we would’ve really been talking away. Horse people never get tired of discussing horses :)

I then came across Steve Dash (Daskewisz), who -I believe- was making his first or second appearance at a convention. To be honest, until that day, I didn’t know about him. Steve was the actual Jason in part 2, while Warrington was the Jason in the disfigured make-up crashing through the window. Although his name is listed in the credits as Jason’s double, Steve was never really given recognition as playing Jason in part 2 and has now come forward with a book. Steve was friendly and talkative and understandably wants credit for the part he has played in Jason Voorhees history. His upcoming website is www.therealjason.com.

Lastly, I met Lar Park Lincoln (Tina). Boy, was she was getting bombarded. Every time I went by her table it was crowded with people. She was very sweet and didn’t charge a fee to sign your own stuff and because it was Friday the 13^th she had a special discount price of $13 on her 8x10s. She told me about her upcoming movie “Bit Parts” and her soon to be release book on acting and modeling. It got so busy at her table I didn’t get a chance to get a photo taken with her and ask her about working with Kane and so on. Well, I could’ve been assertive about it, but she was busy and the fans were waiting -had to keep the line moving you know. I got the 8x10 of her and Kane, so hopefully one of these days I can add Kane’s autograph to it.

The time came for the Q&A panel and I headed on down the street for the theater with a handful of other fans and in our group was also Betsy Palmer and Ari Lehman. It was fun watching Betsy looking down at the Hollywood Walk of Fame and pointing out stars she knew. “Hey, there’s Doris Day, I knew her.” As we passed the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater there was a line of Star Wars fans camped out for the Revenge of the Sith movie that’s opening in theaters on May 19^th.  Geez, people really do that sort of thing. Anyways, we went into the theater and the last 15-20 minutes of the Friday the 13^th movie was still playing. So all of us that walked in stood to the side and waited. I was lucky enough to be standing next to Betsy as she watched herself on the screen and giggled at herself and making fun of her own acting. When it came to the part of Mother Voorhees getting her head chopped off, the audience applauded and Betsy playfully said, “Oh, she wasn’t so bad. It was only because they killed my boy.” At the end of the movie when Betsy’s name showed up on the credits, the audience burst into loud applause and I could see Betsy blushing.

After the film, it was time for the Q&A session and Sean Cunningham made his appearance. The one thing that struck me about Sean was how short he was. Sean wasn’t at the convention, but showed up for the Q&A and then disappeared again; so needless to say, I didn’t get to meet Sean. Since I was standing right next to Betsy (before they got up on the little stage for the Q&A), I had the privilege of seeing a warm reunion with Sean, Betsy Palmer, Ari Lehman, and Ron Millkie (Officer Dorf). Later that evening, back at the convention, Ari told me he hasn’t seen Sean since they shot Friday the 13th. The Q&A last an hour or so; it involved, Sean Cunningham, Harry Manfredini, Betsy Palmer, Ari Lehman, Adrienne King, and Ron Millkie. Each one was introduced and called up on stage and when Betsy was called up, of course everyone applauded and Ari, who was standing off to the side of the stage waiting to be called up next, was clapping and cheering “Mom! Mom!” During the Q&A sessions I learned that originally Sean Cunningham was going to play Officer Dorf and how Harry Manfredini came up with the famous Friday the 13th "kill, kill, her, her," theme. Towards the end of the Q&A another actress from Part 1 got up there, but it was so dark in the room and the sound wasn’t too good, that I couldn’t see or hear who she was.

After the Q&A, I returned again to the convention and was one of the first ones to walk in. All the celebrities that weren't at the Q&A were mingling around the room and some were preparing to leave or had already left. The night was wrapping up. I immediately walked into Warrington and he asked how the Q&A went and I also had a quick chat with Ari when he told me how long its been since he has seen Sean Cunningham. During the last hour of the evening, I talked periodically with other fans and the Con volunteers and they were also friendly and sociable. Then I had a long talk with artist and writer, Dave Shelton. He was extremely nice and talkative and we really struck it off. It was fun to visit with him and he even  sketched out a cartoon for me. Dave’s table was right next to Betsy’s and I noticed she was packing up to leave so I said a quick goodbye to her and once again she was very sweet and even gave me a huge and a kiss.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet all the celebrities on the guest list that night. I spent a fair amount of time at the Q&A panel and by the time I got back, most of the celebs I hadn’t met yet had already left and only a handful remained. On top of that, not all the celebs that were expected to be there on Friday night showed up, but said they'll be there for the weekend. John Buechler (director & special effects of F13 pt 7) and Richard Brooker (Jason number 3) couldn't make it Friday night. Buechler was busy filming Hatchet, but would be there for the weekend and Richard Brooker, who was scheduled to appear only on Friday evening, missed his flight. NecroComicon didn’t hear back from Brooker and didn’t know if he’ll at least show up for the weekend. Then of course, Kane Hodder (Jason number 7-10) and C.J. Grahman (Jason number 6) had to cancel their appearances prior to the convention. C.J. had to take care of personal business back home and  Kane cancelled to attend another convention for the same weekend. The Con organizers and some of the fans were miffed about that and I’ll be honest, I was disappointed too, but I’ll give Kane the benefit of the doubt...he must have a good reason. Well, it's not the end of the world, there will be other conventions and another opportunity to meet Kane.  Anyways, NecroComicon felt so bad for the fans, because not all the celebs were present Friday, that they offered to refund their admission fee. I’m sure the weekend will turn out much better. I must say NecroComicon and the promoters did a wonderful  job and their people and volunteers were very helpful and amicable. I've heard from others that this was the most friendly convention that they had ever gone to.

 I left the convention by 11pm, by that time most, if not all, the celebs were gone and only a few fans were around talking with each other. So I headed over to the Whisky. I saw Freak13 perform, as well as Ari who jammed with them on the last song on keyboards. I really enjoyed it...the band Freak13 was great. At the Whisky I spotted Lar Park Lincoln and Warrington Gillette and once again Lar was surrounded by fans. I was on my way out when I ran into Warrington and his lady friend and we talked for a couple of minutes. We discussed again about his projects and even talked a little about Kane Hodder and how wild he is –wild in a complimenting way. Then before I went out the door to head home, I said goodbye to Ari and thanked him for inviting me to the gig and he thanked me for coming and wished me well.

It was the end of a long night, but I had a BALL! It was better than I anticipated and I couldn't believe how friendly and pleasant everyone was. Although there were a few celebs I didn't get the chance to meet, but the ones I did were wonderful.