The Horror Of It All
I have a confession. I do not like horror movies. In all the Girls, on Film issues that lean toward the genre (Robots, Aliens, Ghosts, etc.), I avoid horror at all costs, even if it means writing about a movie I absolutely hate. And I feel like I am in the minority of movie watchers. At every event we attend, people always want to buy issues specifically about horror. I absolutely hate the jump scare, and I have a hard time understanding why people enjoy it so much. Life is scary enough; I do not need my hobbies to also be terrifying.
Anyway, in September, Girls, on Film tabled at Norfolk Zine Fest (which is a great event if you ever have the chance to table or attend). My husband and I booked a hotel only a few minutes from the fest venue, and, as we drove up to check in, we realized that our hotel was hosting Tidewater Horror Con that same weekend. What are the chances? While I despise horror movies, our long time GOF writer Rhonda loves them. So, when I texted her about the event, I got a very excited response about James Duval.
Duval was in a movie called The Doom Generation (1995), and since Rhonda mentioned she was planning a Halloween costume based on Rose McGowan’s character from that movie, I figured the least I could do is go and meet Duval. By the time we got there, it was already 8pm and we only had an hour left before everything shut down for the night. The guy selling tickets was super nice and let us in for half price, but he also mentioned that after 10pm everyone heads to the hotel bar for horror trivia, so we should stick around to check it out. That’s a no from me, Dog.
We headed into the room where all the celebs were signing autographs and made our way over to Duval’s table. He was so great. I explained to him how I don’t generally watch horror but that my friend Rhonda sure does. He made out an autograph to Rhonda, and we talked a bit about SLC Punk (1998), another one of his movies, which stars Mathew Lillard, who is great in it, and Annabeth Gish. I was thrilled to learn that, like all of us at GOF, he is also a big Annabeth Gish fan. It was a lovely interaction, and I love when celebrities meet or even exceed expectations. James Duval, if you’re reading this, thank you for being so nice and so willing to chat with us.
While we were talking to Duval, I noticed that the table next to him was reserved for Michael Berryman. Berryman has had a long career as a character actor dating back to 1975. I originally know him from an episode of The X-Files (Season 3, Episode 11). However, for Issue 1 of GOF, I wrote about a movie called Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) in which Berryman plays a character named Chainsaw because he goes around murdering people with a chainsaw. Back in 2017 when I wrote this essay, I didn’t like the movie (if I give it a second chance at any time, I think I might be more charitable). However, my husband loved it.
Berryman was not at his table at Horror Con. He had already closed it down for the night, and we were a little bummed out because we were planning on talking to him about Voyage. But, since the ticket guy told us most people head to the hotel bar after closing, we went to see if he was there. And, sure enough, Michael Berryman was sitting at the end of the bar eating dinner.
We took the seats next to him and ordered drinks. Not wanting to interrupt his dinner, we waiting while he ate, and eventually my husband walked over and said, “Mr. Beryman, I don’t want to bother you during dinner, but I loved you in Voyage of the Rock Aliens,” and he turn to us and said, “You saw THAT?!?” It was the perfect response.
He told us a few great stories about his time working on Voyage. In his younger days he would perform tree removal services with a chainsaw, so by the time he was playing Chainsaw in this movie, he had a ton of experience. There is a scene in the movie where he’s supposed to cut through a wall while a person stands on the other side of it. However, he couldn’t see the other person, which made it very dangerous. He refused to do the stunt because the risk was too high. That scene is still in the movie, but they edited it so you don’t know it isn’t Chainsaw cutting through the wall. He also told a story about a prop guy who was about to start a chainsaw after he had put the chain on backwards. Berryman had to step in and explain how to do it correctly so the prop guy didn’t lose an arm.
Berryman also defended Pia Zadora, the star of Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Zadora married Meshulam Riklis when she was 23 and he was 53. Riklis was an Israeli financier and businessman, and he would go on to bankroll a decent part of her career during their marriage (based on initial research, there seems to be some problematic stuff with Riklis and Zadora and her career, but that is a story for another time). Berryman implied that Riklis had funded Voyage, but I couldn’t find any source to back that up. He did, however, say that it wasn’t her fault that her husband had the money to do it, and that she did a good job in the movie.
We chatted with Mr. Berryman for 30 minutes, and it was a lovely conversation. We covered a lot of ground talking about Voyage, AI (he’s very anti AI), why we were in town, the zine, and my day job (because he asked). Once I explained what I do, he said, “You seem like someone who would have a library card,” and I totally do. He was exactly right.
As we said goodbye to Mr. Berryman, I told him I also loved him in The X-files. He mentioned that the episode he was in was a very special episode because the plot line required the characters to switch places; in that episode Scully was the believer and Mulder was the skeptic. I said, “she thought you were a saint,” and he immediately replied, “Saint Owen.” That episode of The X-files aired in 1995, and he remembered the plot and his character’s name. I was pretty impressed. I often see interviews with actors who can’t remember a lot about the roles they play, but 31 years later Michael Berryman didn’t even hesitate when I brought up the episode.
As we were leaving the bar, there were three guys sitting at the end talking about Mr. Berryman. We stopped and told them how lovely our conversation was, and one of the guys said he’s met him several times and he’s always very nice and very smart. I’m glad those guys had the same experience that we had.
All in all I have to say Tidewater Horror Con was a success for us. When we saw the hotel lobby decorated with cheesy Halloween decorations and the people walking around in cos play, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve been to cons before and GOF has tabled at a few, but those were more generic pop culture cons. The celebrities at those cons were less accessible. There were long lines and very high fees to get autographs and pictures (on top of the admission price). And while I did have to pay for the Duval autograph, all we had to do was walk up to his table and shake his hand. He was so friendly and easy to talk to that it made the whole experience a joy, and Rhonda loved her autograph.
And it was great that Michael Berryman was so willing to talk to people even though he was off the clock. I saw him talk to other fans that night while he was sitting at the bar; he didn’t turn anyone away (that we saw, anyway). I’m glad we went to Horror Con even though we hadn’t planned on it and didn’t even know it was a thing. However, it does not change my opinion on horror movies. I still won’t watch them.
The Horror of It All
Blog by: Stephanie McDevitt
I thought I didn't know either Micheal Berryman or James Duval until I looked them up. Sounds like everyone had a really fun experience!