mercredi 29 octobre 2014

Monster Bash 2014


Once again, the organizers of Monster Bash outdid themselves ​​for this new edition dedicated to gothic Hammer films.
The famous ​​Pittsburgh convention, this October, gave a tribute to classic actresses of English horror. Along with my friends Suzanna Leigh (Lost Continent, Lust for a Vampire), Veronica Carlson (Dracula Has Risen from the grave, Horror of Frankenstein, Frankenstein must be destroyed), Martine Beswick (Prehistoric women, One million years BC, Dr. Jeckyll and Sister Hyde) and Caroline Munro (Dracula AD 1972, Captain Kronos vampire hunter), we once again formed a happy team, as you'll discover.

Right to left: Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick,Veronica Carlson,
me and Suzanna Leigh
The first day was devoted to autograph signingsThis gave me an opportunity to meet my neighbors at the table: actress Elizabeth Shepherd (she was remarkable in the film adaptation ofPoeThe Tomb of Ligeiaand the wonderful Victoria PriceShe was signing pictures of her illustrious father, the unforgettable Vincent Price. I had the pleasure of talking with her in French and discovered she had a great cultural backgroundwas very athletic and had an undeniable taste for foreign languages​​. Alongside the signings, film screenings and conferences allowed the public to rediscover classics of fantasy.

With a fan disguised as Frankenstein's monster
Christopher Lee style

Saturday was a special day, ending with the wonderful show of my dear friend Zach ZitoA multifaceted artist whose performances are always eagerly awaited at Monster Bash.
This time, the show focused on the poems of Edgar Allan Poe.
Martine BeswickCaroline Munro and Veronica Carlson impersonated three witches. As for me, I was the Spirit of the Clock in relation to Baudelaire's poem of which I read some excerpts.

An unforeseen mishap delayed the delivery of the costumes made with such creativity by Zach and deprived us of that would have been a welcome fitting session, because when I finally quickly put mine in my hotel room, I discovered that it was a big apron of embroidered tulle representing clock dials that did not fully covered the back of my anatomy !
I had to find a solution very quickly. Equipped with safety pins and a providential shawl in guise of a skirt, I improvised the missing piece I took my poem, adorned with skulls shaped clips, and immediately went down to join the teamI walked like a crab, lest they would see the back of my new outfit !

Still, the show was great. Zach captivated audiences with his thirty-minute monologue, consisting of extracts from Shakespeare's plays and poems by Poe, punctuated by the intervention of the "hammerian" witches. Zach then led me to a seat on the stage where I said my poem while a remarkable actress wearing a disturbing wax mask of the two faces of destinywandered in the audience.
Once again the Zach Zito show ended with a standing ovationWe were all thrilled to have participated.

With my dear Zach Zito

The next and last daylate morningBrides of Dracula was screened and followed by an interview during which the public could participate and ask me questions about the film and my career. 
A public of film fans with very specific questions. I evoked my Hammer days and Eddie Constantine. I also fondly remember the smiling and caring face of a young Kurdish woman in theaudience. I had autographed pictures for her the day before. She was exiled with her family away from her country at war. I admired her courage, and her interest in me reminded me thatthe beauty of being an artist is also the ability to make the public forget the hardships of life, if only during a show. Monster Bash 2014 was decidedly as friendly and warm as the previous edition.

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