The prospect of meeting famed director John Carpenter was certainly exciting and he was the major draw for attending the Flashback Weekend event in Chicago on Sunday, August 12, 2012. After all, he had directed what was probably the most famous and acclaimed of all horror films, Halloween. Sure, he’s had more than his share of clunkers, but scattered between them were blockbusters and cult classics such as Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Christine, and They Live. He even tried his hand at comedy by directing Memoirs of an Invisible Man with Chevy Chase. Carpenter is also a talented composer and has written music for many of his and others’ films.
Many other fans had turned out to see John Carpenter, and consequently there was a long line right off the bat for his photo op. I debated about paying the $30 for this, but in the end I wanted to make sure that I had a good shot with this legendary director, so I did it. It was a nice touch to have someone dressed as Halloween killer Michael Myers standing behind us with a knife.
I nearly regretted it when I then saw his price list at the table where he was signing. Photo ops came free with the $30 autograph. But in the end, the pictures were crummy over-the-table shots and mine came out blurry anyway.
Since his masterpiece had been Halloween, I was hoping that he would have a photo from the set of that film, but by Sunday, the only photo he had left was from They Live (as seen at the top of the posting) – and it cost an additional $5. But what could I do? He was a nice enough guy, friendly both during the photo op and the signing, writing whatever was requested of him on the photo.
I hadn’t actually seen They Live at that point, but I’d catch it before my next encounter from that movie. It certainly didn’t make it to the top of any of my beloved movie lists, but it was entertaining enough. The reason I made sure to check it out was that both Roddy Piper and Keith David, the leads in the film, were scheduled to appear at the Days of the Dead show in Chicago on Sunday, November 18, 2012.
Sadly, it ended up that Piper, of whom I was extremely fond from his hilarious wrestling career, only appeared at the show on Saturday. I’m still holding out hope of meeting him at a later date.
But Keith David was there, so I had him sign the photo. I actually knew Mr. David best from his role as Cameron Diaz’ step-father in There’s Something About Mary. He’s had a plethora of film roles over the years though – in such flicks as Platoon, Road House, Reality Bites, and the Oscar for Best Picture, Crash.
Our meeting in which I paid him $25 for a signature and $10 for a photo op wasn’t all that memorable, as his handler spent the whole time asking me about meeting Peter Criss, and with Keith David on the phone with his wife (you can see the phone in his hand in the photo above). It was all good though. I got what I wanted and moved on down the line…
Celebrity encounters from the 2012 Flashback Weekend will continue…
Celebrity encounters from the 2012 Days of the Dead will continue…
You should’ve tried to talk JC down to a $15 photo on account of that awful Escape from LA.
Eric Hubble
December 8th, 2012