Monstermania took place over the weekend in Cherry Hill, NJ.
I was excited to attend the event and see some of my favorite actors .
As I stood in line to meet Andrew McCarthy I met a very nice man infront of me . We chatted and as the line moved forward I watched as he approached Andrew’s table. he placed his bag down and Andrew glanced at the bag, at him and then me . I looked at the bag and then up at Andrew as he said “ well what do you have there ?” Just as the anticipation grew the man pulled out a medium sized puppet like figure of Bernie Lomax the character in Weekend At Bernie’s . Andrew and I both looked shocked and giggled . It was pretty cool!
Anyway this inspired me to think about what makes us fans ?
The definition of a fan is an enthusiastic devotee ( as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator .
For me being a fan means I am a fan of the art and hard work that goes into making movies . Movies allow me to escape my real life for a few hours and pretend I am experiencing what the main characters are experiencing.
I like to meet the actors or directors and tell them that I loved their work .
When a film is good and I really get into it I find myself talking about it for days after I’ve seen it with anyone who will listen to me.
Since this is a horror site let’s now take a journey into the other side of fandom . The deep dark sinister realm that blurs the reality between make believe and real life .
Here’s my top scariest fan movies .
1992’s Single White Female. Bridget Fonda takes out an ad for a roommate and Jennifer Jason Leigh shows up and reminds us all why roommates are never a good idea. Jennifer’s character becomes obsessed with Bridget’s character Allie . She kills Allie’s puppy , cuts her hair like Allie , hooks up with Allie’s fiancé and then kills him.
Her character wasn’t just a fan of Allie she wanted to be Allie at any cost .
I’ve definitely had “best friends” copy my style and even sleep with my boyfriend. None have killed any of my boyfriends with a stiletto so that’s good.
1990 Misery is about a novelist who crashes his car during a blizzard and wakes up to find that he is in a fan’s house named Annie. Annie is played by Kathy Bates and explains to Paul that she is “ his biggest fan”. At first we believe that Annie is a hero for saving Paul and nursing him back to health but it suddenly takes a very dark turn when Annie finds out that Paul’s new book is killing off her favorite character . Annie goes ballistic and burns the book, tries to smash him over the head with a table and then in one of the most gruesomely iconic scenes smashes his ankles with a sledgehammer .
2002 Swim Fan. Ben is the star swimmer at his school, just earned a scholarship and had a beautiful girlfriend Amy . Madison becomes obsessed with Ben and after hooking up with him decides to try and kill Amy . She wanted to be in Ben’s life at any cost. Madison was a fan that went to far . That must have been one heck of a hook up in that pool to send this girl off her rocker.
2002 One Hour Photo . Robin Williams plays a man who works at a photo developing lab and obsesses over a family for years. Making copies of their photos and hanging them on his walls of his apartment .
After he catches the father being unfaithful he goes over the edge and involves himself in the family’s real life . This is probably one of the creepiest roles I’ve ever seen Robin Williams in .
The character believed he was actually part of the family.
1993 The Crush . Alicia Silverstone becomes obsessed with a writer who is renting a room in her parents home . After he fends off her advances she begins to destroy his property and attacks his friends . I’m sure there are people that would love to have Alicia Silverstone stalking them lol.
Obsessive fans are the scary kind of fan . They know everything about their fandom. They have it memorized . They blur reality and fantasy. Their stories have contributed to so many horror stories.
Tn the great words of Wes Craven “horror fans are smart and intelligent and mainly know how to deal with their fears, what most people find hard to do.”
So in honor of all of the horror fans keep being inspired by your favorite actors and directors just remember they are people too.
Thanks for taking a walk on the dark side.
I can’t wait to see all of you at the next horror con !
Until next time hugs and hisses
Jenny
