A day at a virtual con
It’s not everyday that you can chat to multiple stars of TV and cinema from the comfort of your living room but these are unprecedented times. Not wanting to stop people from getting their comic con fix, “The Geek Asylum” hosted “Virtual Con 2020” on Sunday 26th April. Truth be told, I was skeptical when I bought my tickets as I just couldn’t work out how it was going to work but thought “fuck it”, it was under £3 a ticket so what was there to lose… apart from £3 obviously.
The event was hosted via a private group on Facebook. From 10am until 11pm traders, artists, actors and cosplayers posted/live streamed what they had to offer, with the ticket paying public able to ask questions, bid or just watch the event as it unfolded. Normally at such “physical” events I would load up on whatever obscure horror or exploitation films I can’t find through more conventional purchase platforms but sadly the traders at “Virtual Con 2020” weren’t able to help me scratch that itch. For the most part, the goods on offer were “Game Of Thrones”, “Marvel”, “Disney”, “Star Wars” etc, none of which I have any real care for and even then there didn’t seem to be a huge amount of original memorabilia. No matter, as this stuff clearly interested a lot of people and it was nice to see what other people were into even if it wasn’t my bag. For me where the event really excelled was the question and answer sessions with the actors, and “Virtual Con” certainly had a lot to offer in that respect. Each guest was given a half an hour slot to live stream from their homes and answer any questions the attendees may have. Given the event ran for 13 hours, there was certainly a lot of content to enjoy and whilst not all of the guests were familiar to me, there was something great about hearing them talk with great passion with their fans.
The first guest was Clive Mantle, a staple on British television having appeared in shows such as: “Casualty”, “The Vicar Of Dibley”, and more recently, “Game Of Thrones” to name just a few. Clive also has a wealth of theatre experience and has appeared in a fair few movies including “Cannon Films” low budget but actually quite fun entry in the Christopher Reeve “Superman” franchise, “Superman IV: The Quest For Peace”. Sadly Clive’s part was ultimately cut from the final film but since its original theatrical release, Clive’s scenes have been made available on DVD releases.
The film that truly sticks out from Clive’s cinema outings for me though is “Alien 3”, which unashamedly, is one of my favourite films. Before you stop reading and unsubscribe to my blog, hear me out. “Alien 3” is not better than “Alien” or “Aliens”, I’m not that deluded, but despite the film’s problems (and there are a few) it is the set design, the oppressive nature of the story, and the excellent cast that have made me watch the film more times than I could possibly remember. I even like the gutted theatrical version of the film. There’s something about it’s hopeless and depressive vibes that I find weirdly comforting and wrapping myself up in its negativity makes me feel strangely at ease… now you can unsubscribe!
The production troubles on “Alien 3” are legendary and I often dream about writing a book about it, which I would call “On set everyone can hear you scream!”, collating all accounts of what happened to try and make sense of it. Or maybe someone that can actually write would be a better choice! Despite all of this, the finished film is far better than it really should be, largely down to the strong will of director David Fincher, who at the tender age of 27 managed to (for the most part) hold the whole thing together until just before the production was wrapped. Clive Mantle has a very small role in the film, and sadly to the untrained eye, could just blend in with the rest of the bald actors playing the inmates of the prison planet “Fury 161”.
I asked Clive what his lasting memories were working on “Alien 3” and he gave a really in-depth and passionate answer, which surprised me as I was expecting him to be a bit dismissive about the project. Clive said it was magnificent and would often spend time wandering around the intricate sets which took up 7 sound stages at Pinewood Studios. It sounded like Clive had a great time making the film and very fond memories but due to the production overrunning he was unable to travel to LA to film his death due to being contracted to appear in a play which he was disappointed about (although obviously pleased to be in the play). Instead Clive’s character dies off screen, with only the sound of a scream to indicate his demise. During Clive’s answer to my question he mentioned that one of his lines, where he refers to “Ripley” as Shirley Temple (due to being the absolute opposite of what she looked like) was ad-libbed during camera rehearsals. After delivering this line to a room of bewildered executives from “20th Century Fox”, some of the production crew “scuttled” off to find out if legally he could say that in the film, with Fincher returning with a big grin and thumbs up to say he could. It’s a great bit of detail and I was very grateful that Clive shared it with me.
Clive Mantle seemed like a genuinely lovely man, excited to talk about projects old and new and was warm, friendly and thanked me for my question and even gave it a “thumbs up”. I had no reason to think otherwise but I was surprised how friendly and personable he was, even when he would have been just looking at himself and reading questions via a comments box. After getting in touch with Clive’s agent, Clive sent me the below for a small fee, which has immediately become one of my most prized possessions!
Later on in the day we were treated to an Italian double bill, starting with the gorgeous Cinzia Monreale who you will probably recognise from Joe D’Amato’s excellent, if vomit inducing, “Beyond The Darkness”, Lucio Fulci’s “The Beyond” and… ahem… “The Sweet House Of Horrors”. I asked Cinzia if Fulci directed any differently between the two films seeing as 7 years had passed to which she went into great detail explaining her experiences, especially the solitude she felt playing Emily in “The Beyond”, a blind girl sent from another realm, but ultimately said “Lucio Fulci was the same, the same man the first time I met him and the last time I met him”.
Another fan asked what Joe D’Amato was like to work with on “Beyond The Darkness” and Cinzia explained he was a “nice man, full of happiness for life, work and cinema”. She went on to say he was an inventor and an improviser and would often come in at the beginning of a day with new ideas on how to shoot the film. From what I have seen of D’Amato in interviews, he always seemed quick to put himself down and yet from what I hear from people who worked with him, they have nothing but compliments for his skill as a filmmaker whilst also being a nice bloke. Again, Cinzia was warm and bubbly and gave a huge cheer when she saw that Giovanni Lombardo Radice was watching the session which was lovely to see.
Giovanni was the next guest and I took the opportunity to ask a couple of questions that I wasn’t able to fit in when I interviewed him last year. Sadly there were some connection issues during his session so I couldn’t catch all of his answers fully but I asked Giovanni about his experience working with Pupi Avati (director of the excellent “The House With The Laughing Windows”) on “The Hideout”, to which Giovanni explained he did not enjoy it and that he didn’t get along with Avati at all, and made reference to Avati even trying to put him off during takes.
I also asked him about his relationship with actor Venantino Venantini (“Cannibal Apocalypse”, “The Beast In Space” etc) and if the pair built any kind of rapport having appeared in many of the same films. Giovanni said that they were on friendly terms when they did meet on set but a friendship was never built. He went on to say that Venantini was a strange mix of actor, extra, and body builder. Giovanni has previously stated that Venantini was a little bit rough with his attempts to hold him down for the drilling scene in “City Of The Living Dead”, seeming to forget that they were meant be acting and not actually trying to inflict pain onto each other. Giovanni mentioned he was still in touch with Michele Soavi but mostly via WhatsApp as he is incredibly difficult to see face to face as Soavi is so busy with his television work, but it was nice to hear that friendship was still there. Hopefully some day we will see them collaborate together again.
Another fan asked about “Cannibal Ferox” and what “Ferox” actually meant (something which I had often pondered), to which Giovanni answered by saying it meant “ferociousness”. Of course Giovanni also took the opportunity to vocalise his distain for the film, but I have to be honest, I do agree with him, it is a rotten movie. The discussion then moved on to theatre work, specifically Shakespeare, which Giovanni seemed to relish the opportunity to talk about. Giovanni has a huge passion for Shakespeare and translates the texts to Italian for theatre while being respectful to the verse; a feat which I am sure is challenging but worthwhile. It was nice to hear Giovanni talk again and hopefully when life is back to normal Cinzia and he can make it to the UK for a physical convention.
The evening came to a close with a Q&A session with special effects artist Nick Bateman who worked on Brian Yuzna’s brilliant cult classic “Society”, as well as “Bride Of Re-Animator”, “Tremors” and “The Blob” to name just a few. Nick gave great detail about the films he worked on and was really appreciative of the fans that stuck around to ask him questions, coming across at times like he was chatting to a group of friends rather than a message box full of strangers.
All in all, I had a great day at “Virtual Con”. Will events like this take over the traditional comic con or film fair events? I hope not because there is something special about meeting your heroes face to face and trailing through all the wonderful things for sale at the stalls which an event like this will never be able to replicate. But for the times we are in and for bringing together a roster of international guests, this was a perfect way to do it and I would definitely throw my few quid in to attend another.
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