NOVEMBER 5, 2004—Scream and scream again.

That could be the mantra of Blaine Kimball and Pete Mongelli, the maniacal minds responsible for the most shocking convention to be held in South Florida.

Screamfest 2004, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Plantation, promises a bloody good time for horror fans. The convention includes film screenings, panel discussions, workshop demonstrations, magic acts, live music and—most important—enough celebrity guests to fight off an army of darkness.

And these horror idols love to mingle. Just ask the fan who sat down to watch the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre during last year’s inaugural Screamfest.

“This guy was sitting there watching the movie and Gunnar Hansen sat right next to him,” Mongelli recalls. “The guy freaked. He said, ‘You just made my life. This is the greatest moment of my life sitting here watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with (the original) Leatherface.”

This year’s guest list includes Doug Bradley, Pinhead from the Hellraiser series; The Creature From the Black Lagoon’s Ricou Browning; Ken Foree from the original Dawn of the Dead; Alex Vincent, now grownup after spending his preteens being stalked by Chucky in the Child’s Play films; Bill Johnson, Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2; Warrington Gillette, the original Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series; David Naughton from An American Werewolf in London; and Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman

By no means are Bradley and his merchants of the macabre household names, but horror aficionados can recount their every kill or grisly demises at the drop of an severed head.

“We didn’t know a zombie would be that popular,” Mongelli says. “Everyone knows who these people are, whether they were in a costume or not in the costume. And they know who’s the best ones are. we had the original Leatherface, Gunnar Hansen, last year. We thought any Leatherfaces would be good, but no, people wanted the original. They want a certain Jason.”

“Mention a scary movie that most people haven’t heard of and they’ll go, ‘Yeah, can you get someone from that film?’” Kimball says. “It funny how these people really pay attention to who’s in the movies.”

Gorehounds will flocks to the panels: B-movie pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis and Miami-born Mako director William Grefé , both favorites at last’s convention, return to share their secrets to shocking audiences; Ricou Browning celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Creature From the Black Lagoon; and Doug Bradley and Simon Banford discuss their demonic doings in Hellraiser.

One panel destined to be more jam-packed than the House of 1000 Corpses: a discussion on The Devil’s Rejects, the upcoming sequel to rocker-turned-director Rob Zombie’s throwback splatter yarn. Costars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Irvin Keyes and Ken Foree will spills the beans on what to expect when the sequel opens next year.

“Rob Zombie wanted to come, but he’s filming and editing,” Mongelli says. “But he’s going to send us a trailer. I’m a huge fan of House of 1000 Corpses, and his music, and I think the panel will go over very big.”

When not gabbing with Jason and Leatherface, attendees can attend makeup seminars, purchase memorabilia in the dealer room, listen to book readings, wander through a haunted morgue, and cheer on the evildoers in new indie horror independent films unearthed for the convention.

“We learned last year that people wanted to see these movies that they couldn’t get from Blockbuster,” Mongelli says.

Screamfest returns for a second year, vindicating Kimball and Mongelli’s initial efforts to bring the convention to Plantation. Nay sayers told them they had more chance of raising the dead than staging a successful horror convention in the Sunshine State. Screamfest was so successful that Kimball and Mongelli—who previously managed conventions for other organizations—staged the Scifi Comic Anime Convention in June and are now putting together the Pop Culture Convention in March.

“We took the chance and proved to everyone it worked,” Mongelli says. “When we were starting out, putting the show together, everyone said it wouldn’t work, that Florida is a bomb state. Things like that won’t go over. We learned that it worked and people wanted it in South Florida.”

So expect Screamfest to haunt South Florida—especially the usually peaceful Plantation—the weekend after Halloween every year.

“There’s far too many events that get lost on Halloween,” Kimball explains. “This way, with Halloween over, everyone gets to see more monsters and they might be more interested in (the convention).”

SCREAMFEST HORROR CONVENTION 2004:
Time: 10 a.m. through 12 midnight Saturday, Nov. 6; and 10 a.m. through 5 p.m.
Location: Holiday Inn, 1711 N. University Drive, Plantation
Tickets: $15 (one day), $20 (two days)
Information: (954) 565-6588
Web site: http://spookyempire.com/screamfest2004/index.html
Schedule: http://spookyempire.com/screamfest2004/
screamfest_schedule.html

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