Comic-Con 2008 Report, Part 4 of 4

By Sunday, the homestretch of the world's biggest geek-feast, I was in a Comic-Con coma. I was still reeling from the raucous Wrath of Con Party the night before; there was some serious agony of de-feet going on in my black boots; and my brain was a flatline-blipless blank.

Yet, I still managed to enjoy the day (I do have the greatest job, ever) — it began fairly early with an off-site press junket for Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of the Roger Corman / Paul Bartel classic, Death Race.

Sunday, July 27

For Universal's Death Race TV junket they had all the hot cars (The Dreadnaught, the Mustang GT, and the Dodge Ram) and hot bods (Jason Statham, Paul W.S. Anderson, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez, and Ian McShane) on display.

Gibson was the sweetest, as he personally fixed my hair so it was "just right" before our interview, but I heard rumblings that McShane (a fave of mine, whom I've never met before) was crankier than a broken crankshaft, so I guess I didn't miss anything when he took a long break to do print interviews and I had to run along for my date with Jason Voorhees.

The Friday the 13th panel was only one of two at this year's Comic-Con I absolutely swore I would not miss (Repo! The Genetic Opera was the other one; it was on Thursday). I was late, and had no choice but to do the perp-walk right in front of the stage while everyone was in full swing (at which time Friday the 13th producer Brad Fuller called me out — at least there wasn't a spotlight, ala Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy!).

There were some voices of opposition about the remake at the Con; namely because Platinum Dunes, the production company headed by Michael Bay and flanked by Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, has puts its own brash, modern stamp on some revered classics (next up: Rosemary's Baby, and possibly The Birds).

True enough, many of these movies are untouchable (or as actor Gary Oldman recently told me in an interview when I brought up the Rosemary's Baby remake, "There should be a moratorium on certain films") — but the fact is, somebody's going to remake them whether you like it or not. (Personally, I've been half-and-half on PD's output to date: I liked 2003's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2005's The Amityville Horror quite a bit; but felt less favorable toward for their two most-recent flicks, The Hitcher and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.)

Fuller addressed the concerns about naming the movie Friday the 13th, and all that that means. "We were terrified. We still are terrified. Obviously, people have a lot of passion for this property and whenever you take on something this big, you open yourself up to all sorts of scrutiny — which we get every day. Our job as producers is to do as good a job as we possibly can and try to inject what the audience wants to see."

The din of dissent may not have been entirely quelled, but they were mollified when the trailer for the new Friday the 13th was revealed (not once, but twice! To major applause!). I think it's the new Jason, Derek Mears, who really won everybody over. The actor's intelligence is remarkable, and his enthusiasm for the character is infectious. The trailer, making its debut at Comic-Con, showed off a lot of slick scenes, including a look at creepy Camp Crystal Lake, the decomposed head of Jason's mother Pamela Voorhees, as well as the discovery of the iconic hockey mask the killer later dons.

Photo: Staci Layne Wilson

Photo: Staci Layne Wilson

Also on hand for the panel discussion were stars / victims Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti. Later on, after the panel, I got a chance to remind them of horror.com's visit to the set a few months back, and ask them about working inside the cramped quarters of an actual overturned school bus. They, as well as the film's producers, explained that the movie isn't really a remake. "That was definitely something we considered," Fuller told the packed house. "I think that at the end of the day with today's audience, it would be difficult to make it believable that Pamela Voorhees was killing Jared Padalecki." (Ooops. I hope you've already seen 1980's Friday the 13th!)

While on set, me and a few other horror-hound writers witnessed some pretty serious skull-bashing between Mears and Padalecki (guess who was on the receiving end of that beat-down) — when asked if he dies in the movie, Padalecki dodged and said several endings were shot, but "I am trying to push for the prequel, Thursday the 12th." (Hey, anyone remember the first real "Scary Movie" — Saturday the 14th, starring Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss?)

Mears added that stunt-doubles were seldom used while shooting the film in Texas. "I thoroughly manhandled them and beat the crap out of them every single day! I asked Jared and Amanda if they'd want to get their doubles and they went, 'No no no. It looks better with me so we can get the full shot, so let's do it'." We'll all be doing it when Friday the 13th comes out in theaters every on (naturally) Friday 13, February 2009.

I also had the opportunity to interview David S. Goyer, and hoped he wouldn't remember my review of The Invisible (just in case… here it is! One of the worst movies of 2007, IMO). If he did, he didn't show it. And actually, I like Goyer as a person — and he's one hell of a screenwriter and storyteller.

Goyer was on hand at Comic-Con to talk about his upcoming supernatural thriller, The Unborn. The Unborn feature the aforementioned Gary Oldman (who was not at Comic-Con), the super-sizzlin' Idris Elba (who was there; check out the pic he took of us!), and beauties Odette Yustman and Meagan Good. Yustman plays a twin whose worst-half was absorbed somewhere in her body as a fetus, and is now hankering to get out. The Unborn will be in theaters in 2009.

Photo: Idris Elba

Photo: Staci Layne Wilson

Sunday Panels:

Supernatural Screening and Q&A— Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles (Smallville) and Jared Padalecki (House of Wax)—along with creator/executive producer Eric Kripke (Boogeyman), co-executive producers Ben Edlund (Angel) and Peter Johnson (Supernatural: Origins comic book series), and supervising producer Sera Gamble (Eyes)—present exclusive sneak peek footage from the highly anticipated fourth season premiere of this thrill-ride series, answer questions, and show a portion of the special features from the upcoming third season DVD release. Produced by Wonderland Sound and Vision in association with Warner Bros. Television, Supernatural airs Thursdays at

Emily the Strange — What's black and white and strange all over? Emily the Strange comics from Dark Horse! This is your chance to get a behind-the-scenes peek at the world of Emily the Strange. Panelists cover everything from the inspired and slightly insane comic book series, the best-selling books, news from the movie front, and much more! Emily's legal guardian and creative monstermind Rob Reger will be there, along with artists Buzz Parker and Nix Turner, writer Jessica Gruner, Dark Horse editor Shawna Gore, and a two-headed kitty who lives on the moon. (Okay, so no promises on the kitty, but she said she'd try to make it.)

Rogue Pictures — Rogue Pictures presents select footage, key cast members, and filmmakers from its upcoming 2009 slate. Scheduled appearances included writer/director Wes Craven, discussing his suspense thriller 25/8.

Ghost Whisperer Season Four: The New Spirit Mythology of Melinda — Revelations about the mysteries that will unfold in the upcoming season of the hit television series, the introduction of a new cast member Jamie Kennedy, and an exclusive first look at video clips from the season premiere episode. Panel will feature Jamie Kennedy ("Eli"—a new series regular cast member in season four), and executive producers Kim Moses, Ian Sander, and PK Simmons.

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Staci Layne Wilson reporting