Back in 1998 I was a student living in Orlando, FL. I caught wind of a collectables show happening at the convention center on I Drive and promptly drove over to Waxtree Records to sell some of my black metal cds in order to acquire some money for bootleg tapes and admission. Upon entry, I found myself in a magical world of people selling goods ranging from yard sale junk to banofide collectable items. There were comic books, action figures, vintage lunchboxes at ridiculous prices, collector priced Transformers and so on. The main draw for me were the sprawling tables of bootleg videos. Entry to the show was cheap, but I didn’t have much money, so I blew it all right away on copies of Chinese Ghost Story and The Storm Riders.
I was also supposed to meet some friends at the show, but I got there before they did, so after I’d spent my money, I spent some time wandering around the floor, looking for them. I’d never been to a convention before at this point, aside from some comic shows, but those don’t really count. This was also more of a high-end flea market than a con, but as I wandered, I was surprised to see a “celebrity” area at the back of the show where people lined up to get autographs. The lines were huge! Lou Ferigno was there, Ron Palillo who played Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter, the guy who played Will Robinson on Lost In Space, Boomer from Battlestar Galactica. All of these people has crowds. All of them, that is, except for Tom Savini, who I discovered sitting mere feet from me.
Understand that Tom’s line wasn’t just small, it was non-existent. I looked down and to my right to see him sitting there and jumped back slightly. This was a shock. I took a look around. There were four or five sweaty fanboys standing around, wearing X-Files shirts, clutching their Xena action figues and staring at Tom as if they recognized him from somewhere, but couldn’t place him. He looks like that guy with the crotch gun in Dusk Til Dawn, doesn’t he? I quickly assessed the situation to make sure that these assholes weren’t, in fact, in some kind of zombified line to get the man’s time then I made my move.
See, the night before this show, I watched Maniac and Dawn of the Dead and this was some kind of coincidence. I approached Tom’s table quietly and tastefully expressed my appreciation for his contributions to that which I hold so dear.
“Hi, Mr. Savini. My name is Bryan. I’m sure you get this all the time, but I’m a huge fan and I just wanted to let you know that I love your work. It’s an important part of who I am today.”
Or something to that effect. I didn’t jump all over him and foam at the mouth. I didn’t speak a mile a minute and lay some heavy shit on him. I also didn’t buy any of his overpriced merchandise OR shell out for his autograph and that may have influenced what happened next.
At the close of monologue, I extended my hand as if to shake his. Tom, already looking grouchy, cast a cold eye to my extended hand where it lingered for a minute, as if he were trying to burn it off with his laser eyes. He looked back up at me, crossed his arms and sank back into his folding chair, casting his glance longingly to Horshack’s mile-long queue and casually blowing me off by spitting, “Yeah.” through that trademark moustache. His angry eyes returned to me, only this time he didn’t make eye contact, looking past me for another con-goer who might pay the 95 bucks he was asking for that photo of him in the Dawn of the Dead motorcycle rider getup.
Shocked, I looked around, hoping that these Xena-clutching jerks hadn’t seen me get burned, big time, by the man. Sheepishly, I retracted my hand and probably muttered something like, “See ya.” and turned to leave. I walked maybe ten paces before the outrage struck me. Had this really happened. Am I dreaming? Is this some kind of hallucination? I turned to see if Tom was, in fact, sitting ten paces behind me and there he was! Still trying to burn a hole in me with his angry, laser eyes.
It wasn’t much later when I found my friends and recounted the story. I guided them back to the table where Savini was sitting to point him out because they weren’t really horror movie fans and had no idea who I was talking about. Robin took one look at him and proclaimed, “The crotch gun guy!” The best part was that Tom honed in on me as soon as he had line of sight and recognized me immediately as that guy. He was still shooting daggers!
To this day I have no idea what caused that reaction. Fango loves to write about Savini and his interaction with fans. For years I’d been hearing about people running into him and striking up a conversation to find that he is the charismatic fan favorite that you think he might be. Not I. I got the distinct impression that Tom wanted to kill me. Maybe it was because I didn’t buy any of his overpriced stuff. Sue me. A friend of mine walked up to Michael J. Anderson (the backwards talking midget from Twin Peaks) at a con, bought nothing and did the same thing I did with Savini and he turned out to be awesome! What the hell, Tom? A few years back I recounted this story to another con guest who told me not to put his name to it, but he and his wife said that Tom is like that all the time and they get the Savini treatment every time they meet, closing the story by repeatedly saying, “Fuck ‘em. Fuck ‘em. Fuck ‘em. But don’t tell him I said that.” (fuck it, it was Joe Pilato). I don’t feel so bad about it now, but back then, that sucked! I was extremely disappointed and my impression of the man hit rock bottom.
Since I started showing up to cons, I’ve had a lot of celebrity encounters and most of them are nice people who understand the power of the characters they have played. The understand what it means to be on the other side of the autograph table. However, I’ve also been burned by Bruce Campbell and The Misfits, which I may talk about later on.
In closing, I once told this same story in a much more truncated version on Ain’t It Cool News’ horrible, awful, talkback system for a report about how awesome Tom Savini is and how Vampirates was getting the greenlight (fat chance there). I wound up getting banned. It probably had something to do with me calling Savini a bag of dicks or the mere fact that I insulted a holy chao on the dorkiest fanboy website on the interwebs.
July 20, 2007 9:24 am
Ah, another tale of Tom Savini disappointment. During a promotional gig for my book at Horrorfind, I met a special effects guy who was hoping to show Savini his portfolio. I went with him to the Tom’s fanless table, watched him pay too much for an autograph, and hung back while he whipped out the portfolio. Savini became visibly annoyed, flipped violently through the book to the point that I thought me may rip a few pages, and then tossed the thing back to the guy while grumbling, “You’re an amateur.”
Needless to say, the guy was pretty upset. And while I’m sure Savini gets requests like this all the time, Portfolio Guy wasn’t looking for work or a hand-out — he just wanted to talk shop. Furthermore, why bother doing these fan-oriented conventions if you’re just going to treat the people who approach you like the scum of the earth?
I have a feeling Savini is a very bitter, very lonely individual whose career has taken a considerable turn for the worse. Most of his recent acting gigs are quite lame, as are the films he’s contributing make-up effects to these day. The guy’s a relic, a has-been, outsourced and outgunned by the generation that grew up on his work.
Sorry this turned into a full-blown rant, but I rarely encounter anyone who has anything negative to say about Mr. Savini.
July 20, 2007 9:37 am
I got the same impression from Bruce Campbell when I met him. He did a talking show at the Universtiy of New Hampshire, showed up extremely late and then spent a half hour casually reading the local ordinances of the town of Durham, NH before he leapt into a vitriolic rant about the quality of movies these days. He went on and about how many remakes and sequels were being released that year before he did some Q&A from the audience where he bitterly fielded questions from the audience. My question about him being in the last Phantasm movie was replied with “Sit down.”
There’s more to it than that, but some of these guys need to get a grip. I’ve been to a bunch of cons and, for the most, part, the guests a great! Bill Moseley, Betsy Palmer, Jeffrey Combs and Reggie Bannister know how to play the game. It’s these guys who haven’t acted much since their hey day that are a bunch of dicks. Howard Sherman took my money ($20!), silently signed my Day of the Dead and then tossed it back without a word. Nice to see you in that Aflac spot, Howard. Michael Berryman couldn’t have possibly been any more bored when I met him. You could tell Adrienne Barbeau would have preferred to be anywhere but the con when I met her. It’s such a bummer when these people turn out to suck, but the ones who know how to interact with fans make it all worth it.
Betsy Palmer stands as the greatest con ecnounter I’ve ever had. She reminded me of my grandmother and couldn’t be any nicer. She had us there talking for, like, twenty minutes. It still makes me smile when I think about it.
July 20, 2007 11:53 am
By the way, what’s the title of your book?
July 21, 2007 5:00 pm
The name of the book is “Found.” Just a small coming-of-age horror novel I wrote a few years ago. Nothing major. When I’m not reviewing movies no one watches, I can be found writing stories no one reads.
July 21, 2007 5:47 pm
Well, you still have a published novel and that’s cool as hell.
September 7, 2007 10:37 am
Woeful tales of the fanboy circuit: Bruce Campbell |[...] icons. While my encounter with Bruce Cambell was a far cry from the heart breaking meeting with Tom Savini, it still marks another moment of disappointment and the sudden realization that maybe Fango was [...]
September 9, 2007 1:45 pm
I met Tom Savini at the ComicCon in Novi. He was very cold and didn’t seem to be interested in talking to me at all. Not cool.
Contrast that to Tom Sullivan who did the special effects for Evil Dead. Tom absolutely loved chatting with everyone about anything and everything and especially his experience on the evil dead films. My friend and I talked with him nearly a half hour. Great warm friendly guy who enjoys the fans and loves horror movies.
Retroman DC
http://www.dchighway.com
November 25, 2008 9:17 am
Hey, I can relate with your story. It’s a shame that some people are just so full of themselves.
The guy reccently was pretty hostile to the angry video game nerd too in a video he posted on his site.
November 25, 2008 10:08 am
Yeah, maybe you guys are getting burned because you are mouthbreathers with bad hygiene. Take a shower, chew a tic tac and think of something to say that your idol hasn’t had to answer or feign gratitude of several hundred times before.
November 25, 2008 10:42 am
Yeah, that must be it. We’re all a bunch of greasy losers with nothing to say and a steady stream of drool. You got my number. Such insight. Such wisdom. I’ll be sure and take your advice the next time I decide to shell out $15 for some hack actor’s autograph.
Asshole.
November 25, 2008 5:56 pm
Actually Kristian I’m not a fan of Tom’s work at all.
January 15, 2009 9:03 am
I hate hearing these stories but some actors dont appreciate the people who put money in their pockets. NO Fans=no work opportunities. Being a nice human being goes a long way.
I attended a screening for A Better Tomorrow at the MFA in Boston in 1996 while I was attending school. Chow Yun-Fat spoke afterwards for an hour and took some questions from the audience. What an extremely humble charismatic guy! At the time his english wasn’t very good but he was a trooper, even singing at one point to a cheering crowd. He signed items for another 1/2 hour before jetting off with his wife and manager. As he left the theater he shook hands and mingled as he left and I got to high five him! Here was basically the biggest actor in Asia at the time tipping his cap to a small crowd of strangers from a strange land.
Guys like Savini and Cambell are benifiting from work they did over 20 years ago. Cambell has no excuse for his career, or lack of. It’s obvious he’s no master thespian and most of the stuff he’s in is low grade. He should be happy he’s still working. Know your audience and appreciate them, no matter how smelly or awkward they seem! They can quickly forget you….right Tom?
January 15, 2009 9:29 am
Chow Yun Fat’s another one of those guys I would kill to meet. I’ve heard that he’s a stand-up guy through and through and that really does go a long way. There are some guys like Bill Moseley and Reggie Bannister who routinely do these shows and love the fan interaction. Joe Pilato always seems extremely fucked up when I see him (Michael Rooker, too) but they’re both killer at the fan game.
Part of Savini’s career failure is that bitterness. He’s not nice to the fans so he slips further and further away.
February 27, 2009 9:46 am
Why don’t you fat nerds get a life? You’re all nerds…and you’re…fat. Fat…nerds! FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT! Nerds!
May 14, 2009 3:57 pm
I am really surprised by Tom’s reaction to you guys. I met him at Dragon Con in Atlanta back in 1990. Not only was he pleasant with me, but when I mentioned that I had been doing makeup since I was 15 (I was then 26) he gave me his business card with his fricken’ address and phone number ! I have remained in contact sending him emails and on a few occasions phoned him. I agree with Bryan’s remarks regarding Tom’s career or lack there of. I don’t think he is happy with his career curently but that does not give him the right to be a dick. If he is gonna be that was towards his fans he should stay home and/or retire. Regarding Bruce Campbell, I met him at the very same Con I had met Tom. He was funny as hell and very accomadating taking pictures and signing autographs. (I think it sucks that stars started charging for autographs, I always got them for no charge.)
- GEM
May 28, 2009 10:15 pm
Dang….i REALLY wanna meet Betsy Palmer….is she still around?
As for Gemini’s observations, i have no doubt that Savini and Campbell were nice guys when you met them. But you DID meet them in 1990.
And as everyone’s been pointing out, they’re far from their hayday, which may be why they’re so bitter. Back in the good old days though it probably would have been a joy to hang out with their jolly and successful personas.
May 28, 2009 10:52 pm
I challenge anyone to digitally re-create the Friday the 13th Part IV scene where Tommy slices the machete into Jason’s face and he slides down it.
Granted the eyebrows moved too mechanically, but it is still more real than anything that can be done with CGI today.
That is the problem. Audiences have come to accept crappy digital FX work and gore masters such as Tom are out of jobs. It is a shame really.
Savini’s career will surge again…always happens to actors like that. Look at Mickey Rourke.
June 1, 2009 4:54 pm
I certainly hope if I ever run into Savini he doesn’t swallow my soul with his moustache. There really seems to be no magic word to please a guy like him. Anyway, you guys should check out my horror film PUREE. We shot it on 16mm black and white and made three hands for blending. Tell me what you think….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Q7Ij-TEwE&feature=channel_page
June 15, 2009 2:37 pm
I met and had the plesure of working with Tom in the early years…at the fort bragg playhouse..and the fayetteville little theater..in north carolina..he was always nice to me and the fellow actors..and a great talent..to work with…make-up skills..as well as acting skills…(1973-1976).
July 1, 2009 1:59 pm
While I am not a big Savini fan-I salute him for him being such a big fan of Lon Chaney Sr & recognising Lon’s awesome make-up mastery. Tom goes up in my estimation for that! Theres a common vein there!
July 25, 2009 2:33 pm
I didn’t meet Tom personally but he judged a horror film contest in KC in which I was a entrant, and I went to a Q&A with him and Romero. They came off as unpretentious and down to earth. He did talk about some personal stuff and I don’t think he’s so much bitter about his work as he might be about his divorce and maybe some stuff going on in his life we may not know about.
The warmest most personable and social person from this particular circle was Brinke Stevens. Incredibly charming she posed with every fan that wanted to take a pic with her including me. She’s about as real as it gets.
July 27, 2009 10:25 am
Here is a recent Interview I did with Mr.Savini.
http://amediamnhorror.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tom-savini-interview
July 28, 2009 2:57 am
I go to Tom Savini’s School in PA and in your first semester you get to go to a “talk with Savini” he gives a couple hour lecture on his life and shows the video “the many faces of Savini” and then answers anyone that has questions. I think hes a big pothead with a wealth of awesome fucking stories. I just wish i had more questions for him cause he would have stayed there all day to answer them. The only thing that really bugged me about Savini was all the movies he put down. He talked shit about all these new movies that had just come out and Halloween and Child’s Play and a lot more. I also played volleyball with him at the school’s picnic and he came by our class once to drop in and he looked at my stuff and said i had a lot of style. So that is all my encounters with the man. I vouch for his good side.
July 28, 2009 7:52 am
That’s cool! See, for every story like mine and Todd’s, there’s usually a story like this one. Which leads me to think that Tom might be bipolar and how you’re treated depends on his mood at any given time of day.
August 7, 2009 3:21 am
I met tom a couple years back at the pittsburgh comic con. once again no line, he was talking to someone at his table i stood there for 5 min before i said excuse mr savini i just wanted to say im a fan. he gave me a nasty look and said thanks and continued talking to his friend/
September 18, 2009 5:51 pm
tom savini is, like you and me, a human being. he has good days and he has bad days. that doesn’t make him fucking bipolar. to put so much emphasis on meeting someone is sure to lead to let down. stop idolizing people and just enjoy their work. and all this “I will destroy your career if you don’t love my portfolio and buy me a drink, and tell me you love me” talk? put yourself at his end for 1 year. then try 25.
The only thing you owe the public is a good performance – Bogey
October 12, 2009 3:48 pm
I saw the same thing at Horrorfind ‘07 (I think it was 07, Rob Zombie’s Halloween cast was their) I saw Mr. Savini’s table and he looked pissed and it was a ghost town around his table. IDK what the problem was. I was too scared to say anything to him with him lookin that pissed, the other celebs were much much nicer.
October 12, 2009 3:57 pm
Bullshit. If you hit the convention trail and your intention is to meet and greet your fans, you’re going to sit at a table for a couple of days and take their money for a litle bit of your time, you owe them something more than a sneer and a shitty attitude. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a con or something to that effect, but the prices for these people to write their names on your merchandise are getting out of hand and Savini’s were some of the highest I’ve ever seen.
Some “celebrity guests” at horror shows like being there and interacting with the fans and it’s very clear that they’re into meeting you and your appreciation of what they do actually means something to them. There are others who clearly don’t like doing the con thing but the money is too good to pass up but they at least put on a good face and humor you. That’s also acceptable. Savini does none of this. He slips your $20 into a fire box and then blows you off.
December 21, 2009 4:14 pm
nux vomica is an idiot. If you take someones money you OWE them. Screw you.
January 31, 2010 6:20 pm
I AGREE WITH ALICE!NOX VOMICA IS AN ASS!IF IT WASNT FOR US FANS WATCHING THEIR MOVIES AND BUYING THEIR MERCHANDISE THEY WOULDNT BE AROUND OR POPULAR.WHY EVEN GO TO ONE OF THOSE EVENTS IF YOUR GOING TO BE IGNORANT?BECAUSE HES A GREEDY IDIOT WHO DOESNT CARE ABOUT HIS FANS!I,FOR ONE,WILL REMEMBER THAT WHEN I SEE THAT HES GOING TO APPEAR SOMEWHERE OR WHEN ONE OF HIS MOVIES COME OUT IN THE THEATERS.JEFFREY COMBS IS ONE OF THE BEST OUT THERE!I WOULD LOVE TO MEET HIM AGAIN.
February 1, 2010 9:47 am
I HAVE ALSO MET JEFFREY COMBS AND HE IS, INDEED, THE SHIT! I LOVE THAT GUY! WHY ARE WE YELLING??
February 10, 2010 11:44 am
A certain prominent person in the horror world said to me that they wished that they could have a dollar every time they heard someone mention Tom’s off -hand attitude.