The Mecca of Horror film conventions landed in Cherry Hill, New Jersey this past weekend for its 49th edition. Three days of mayhem and shenanigans. Let’s review what was good, what was bad and what was shall I say, a bit disorderly. One thing is for certain, there’s never a dull moment at Monster-Mania.
The Good
Star Power
This has always been Monster-Mania’s greatest strength. The talent they get rivals the biggest of conventions and this 49th edition does not disappoint especially if you are a fan of the series Dexter. The Dexter crew was led by Dexter himself, Michael C. Hall making his first con appearance ever and Jennifer Carpenter. Joining them was veteran actor James Remar, C.S. Lee, Erik King and David Zayas.
If Dexter wasn’t your speed, stars like Anthony Michael Hall, Thora Birch, Stephen Dorff, Devon Sawa, and Jeffrey Combs were all present for the 3-day event. Even Logan Kim from Ghostbusters: Afterlife made this event his first ever convention appearance. Any fans of Friday the 13th? No worries, director Steve Minor and several Jason’s appeared including Kane Hodder, Derek Mears and Warrington Gillette.
Most if not all stars you meet are both kind and gracious with their time. They genuinely seem to enjoy meeting and interacting with the fans. Because it’s setup at a hotel, it is very commonplace to sit at breakfast or dinner or at the bar across such stars. I personally had the pleasure each morning to sit next to and chat with Anthony Michael Hall. This sort of thing doesn’t happen at other conventions.
Photo Ops
Celeb-Photo Ops handles all the professional photo opportunities at the event. They are excellent and efficient. The process is seamless.
Vendors
There are plenty of vendors to satisfy your horror fix. Whether it’s t-shirts, socks, magnets, posters or DVDs, there is no shortage of merchandise. Tea or coffee lover? This con has vendors that can take care of that as well. Prices are generally reasonable. But it’s easy to drop a thousand in a weekend.
The Panels
The highlight of Day 2 was the Dexter Panel. Despite the absences of Hall and Carpenter, CS Lee, James Remar and Erik King were awesome. All three were wonderful to the fans. The bond the entire cast appeared quite strong. A genuine respect which you don’t always see. Learned some interesting nuggets along the way. Apparently, Erik had no idea until mid-season 2 about the future of his character. It didn’t appear that James was happy about not being invited to Dexter: New Blood. When asked about it, he stated he hadn’t watched it. I appreciated his honesty. As well as from C.S. Lee who felt the same and hasn’t watched either. They did ask the audience to write to the producers to have them appear should a 2nd season occur.
The concluding panel of the evening was a Friday the 13th Jason reunion of sorts. Director Steve Minor was joined by Warrington Gillette (Jason of Part 2), Derek Mears (Jason of the reboot) and Kane Hodder (Parts 6, 7, 9 & 10). A fun time as the gentlemen reminisced about their experiences. We learned about the origins of the hockey mask. Apparently, the replacement of the sack from part 2 to the hockey mask in part 3 stemmed from the movie poster of The Elephant Man. Minor didn’t like the resemblance. Then one day one of his assistants who happened to be a hockey goalie, suggested the mask. The rest is movie history. Something so simple has become the ultimate image of a franchise that has lasted over 40 years.
The Bad
The venue is the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The building and its décor have gone through a lot. She is in dire need of an upgrade. Fortunately, an upgrade is exactly what it will be getting in the coming months as Crown Plaza turns over to the Hilton. What this location suffered most from was a lack of staffing. Just ask the wait staff at the restaurant and bar. The waiters, waitresses and bartenders were outstanding despite the numbers stacked against them. I call this section the bad because this event and this location may not be right for each other. At least not anymore. There are pros and cons when it comes to convention hotels versus convention centers. Neither is wrong nor right. It simply depends on volume and a level of expectation.
The Disorderly
Now comes the aspect of this review that calls for constructive criticism. For nearly a month prior to the event, convention promoter Dave Hagen reminded everyone through social media that tickets to the con itself were REQUIRED to get in. The operative word being, required. Advanced purchases of photo ops is not your ticket to the event. Pretty straightforward right? Well, on Friday evening the first of many photo sessions with Michael C. Hall was about to be lined up. A convention volunteer held a sign ‘Session A’ and asked those with that session to follow him. And here is where the problems began. Like a cattle call, we all followed the leader but no one from Monster-Mania scanned passes to see if we had tickets to the event. Daily constant reminders fell apart from the start.
Later that evening after we had dinner and well after our photo op, we returned to the main convention area. This time a convention volunteer used a scanner to make sure we had the proper ticket before allowing us in. THIS is what I had expected from the beginning. However, this wouldn’t be the case for the rest of the weekend. When asked why scanners weren’t being used, a female volunteer said, “it takes too long”. I understand wanting to get people into the con as quickly as possible but not following your own rules can lead to problems. And problems are exactly what happened.
The Weather
At the start of Day 2 the weather outside was getting messy and it was going to affect the mood of those of us inside. Rumors began to circulate that the Fire Marshall had warned of overcrowding. The Marshall demanded that certain areas, in particular the hallway that led to the autograph area in the Riverside Pavilion. If you wanted to enter the pavilion, it was decided that we must stand outside first in the rain and bitter cold.
To be fair, weather conditions surprised everyone. So much confusion due to miscommunication between volunteers led to anger for those braving the elements. It didn’t get much better in the evening prior to the panels. If you were a VIP, you were allowed to line up inside. Individuals with General Admission tickets (which make up most of the convention goers), were told to wait outside. Standing outside where temperatures at this point in the evening had dipped below freezing. For many that I talked to, this was unacceptable.
When looking back at how the day and night unfolded, one can’t help but wonder if the volume of people had been compromised by those without an event ticket? Was it this that led to the Fire Marshall mandate? The short answer is unfortunately we may never know. We’ll never know because those scanners weren’t used consistently to begin with.
Is there a better solution? Would walkie talkies work to help with communication? I think signage like those at theme parks showing where the end of the line is would be extremely helpful. Especially if the celebrity you wish to meet is as popular as Hall or Carpenter.
Overall Thoughts
Defenders of Monster-Mania and its promoters don’t take well on social media to negative feedback. Some can be downright cruel. That’s a shame because this event is awesome, and its promoter Dave Hagen is a good man. It does beg the question whether this convention with its increased popularity and growth have outgrown the Cherry Hill location, or did they oversell the event? Hagen to his credit prior to the Dexter panel did his best to explain why the awkward lining that plagued the entire day. Not sure of that warmed over the icy feelings of those affected.
I am a huge fan of Monster-Mania as a whole. It’s a show that is very dedicated to the fans and a great representation of the horror genre. And there is a greater sense of community amongst its fans that you don’t see everywhere. For that, it makes Monster-Mania quite special. However, feedback whether it be positive or negative, should always be welcomed. It’s through feedback that the future of this or any other convention can either improve or enhance one’s experience.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
