Monster Mania 9 Phantasm Reunion Panel Q&A Session


The Phantasm Reunion Panel Q&A was to begin promptly at 6 PM following the Warwick Davis Q&A. Not surprisingly between the two sessions no one gave up their seats. I can't imagine anyone wanting to risk losing a spot in one of the most anticipated events of the convention. David and I were already on the front row chatting with other fans when the Regman swung open a door to the right of the brim-packed room. People were literally standing in the aisles and in the doorways.

Reggie makes his way onto the stage (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')
The Regman shows his support for 'Hush'. (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')


REGGIE: Am I in the right room?

(walks up to stage, taps on mic)

REGGIE: Is this thing on? Angus won't be here.... because I killed him and ate him in the hallway. I'd like to welcome you all here and thanks for coming... this is a full room. It'd be good to be here in New Jersey if only it wasn't so f*cking hot!

(applause)

REGGIE: I'm enjoying it here though. I'm on location right now with my wife and we run a production company providing everything from directors of photography to special effects. We do a lot of independent filmmaking and you know, in my 40 odd films I've never worked with a budget. Actually, we don't believe in budgets.

If any of you could ask a question right now I bet I know what it would be and I'll go ahead and clear it up for you. I don't know when Phantasm V is going to be made or if it is going to be made. It seems like every single time we shoot one of these pictures that it's going to be the last one so I don't know.

Right now, my wife and I are here in Jersey working on a film called 'Hush' and it's being shot in the Vineland area. The director, the producers and some of the lead performers are here and we've all been shooting for a week. Gigi is killing all sorts of people in wacky ways.

We actually closed down production and said "F*ck it, let's go to Monster Mania 9 for the weekend." After this, Gigi and I are back on it for another 3 or 4 days and we're done.

MODERATOR: Excuse me Reggie, I understand that Angus has arrived.

REGGIE: Oh, man!

(the room BURSTS into wild applause for Angus who makes his way to the stage)


Angus makes his way onto the stage (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')
Angus and Reggie fielding questions from the audience (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')

ANGUS: I'm sorry I'm late. I was caught up at the mortuary. I won't specify exactly by what.

REGGIE: Well that's what happens when you're cutting up bodies in your bathtub. Things get backed up.

ANGUS: Have we already started with the questions?

REGGIE: Wow, look at those hands go up.

FAN: Reggie, how was it making Bubba Ho-Tep with Bruce Campbell and was it hard to keep a straight face?

REGGIE: Oh we didn't worry about making straight faces, we just laughed our asses off. Bruce was great to work with and I've seen him at a lot of our personal appearances before but on-set it was a whole different ambience. For example, I love playing music with guys better than me... and it's like that with Bruce. Working with people better than you brings you up to their level.

Through the whole bug thing, Bruce just kept making stuff up and making us all laugh. I'm sure some of what Don wrote on the page wound up in the film but I'm thinking not too much of it did.

FAN: Angus, I wanted to ask you about a picture you did called The Off Season.

ANGUS: Oh yes,

FAN: I loved your performance in the film but I loved in the special features more where you sing the wonderful song about prairie dogs.

ANGUS: Did anyone else see that film? (hands go up) Oh, that many? Well.... that song appeared on YouTube and I think James McKenney is the culprit behind it. He directed the picture and decided that the song wasn't getting enough exposure so he put it online and I've heard it's gotten quite a few hits already.

The Off Season is a ghost story about a couple who leaves New York to go to a small Maine community so he can write his book, but the hotel room they rent out turns out to be haunted. My character lives next door, he's an ex-rodeo bronco-buster who can't sleep at night so he sings and they wanted a song that could be heard through the walls. You can't hear it very distinctly in the picture.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Sing it!!! Sing the song!!!

ANGUS: (very surprised) WHAT!?!?!

SEVERAL AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Do it!!!

ANGUS: Well it's about four verses and I know you don't want to hear them all.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah we do!

ANGUS: (audio clip) It gets mighty lonesome on the prairie, letters from the folks back home are few, when I get to thinking 'bout my little gal Mary, I kisses me a prairie dog or two.

(audience cheers loudly)

ANGUS: ...and to hear the other three verses you'll have to go on YouTube or buy The Off Season DVD.

FAN: Angus, I wanted to tell you how great you were on Alias and how you scared us all to death.

ANGUS: Thank you. JJ Abrams created that series. He's the brilliant young Steven Spielberg in Hollywood right now. He's directing the next Star Trek, I believe, and he also did LOST which hasn't done badly.

FAN: Do you remember who directed your episode?

ANGUS: JJ directed the pilot where I got to work with the lovely Jennifer Garner who was instantly made into a star. In the third or fourth season when they finally killed my character off, who directed that but Jennifer Garner! It was her first and I think only directing job and she was wonderful. She came prepared, brimming with so many ideas that I was unable to incorporate them all into my performance. She upheld the great tradition of good directing on Alias. I do like that series.

FAN: -- question removed --

ANGUS: It's curious about ---------. I heard from ----- that.... well, this is something we really shouldn't be talking about here. For God's sakes, don't put this on the internet.

REGGIE: For God's sake.....

[Honoring the gentleman's request... what was said next will not be posted. Although I don't see why... it was nothing of substance or consequence either way. Regardless, if you were in attendance at Monster Mania 9, you know what was said.]


More Angus and Reggie fielding questions from the audience (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')

FAN: Angus, I heard you can recite every last word from your performance in Phantasm. Can you do that here?

ANGUS: I gladly would but I haven't done that routine in fifteen years. I've forgotten all my lines, do you know all your lines Reggie?

REGGIE: I do not. I just remember that it gets hard on the road.

RANDOM FAN: (yells) What's your favorite?

ANGUS: (audio clip) Oh, my favorite line in all four films is... "Let me release you from this imperfect flesh that ties you to time and space. All that is unknown will be known to you once more."

(wild applause and cheering)

FAN: Reggie, I'm a big fan of your first CD and I read in the tabloids that on your next album you're going to have Avril Lavigne and Puff Daddy do some guest feature work. I was wondering what else we could look forward to...

(awkward pause; reggie is speechless)

REGGIE: .......... I did hear that, yeah, and I think in the next issue of STAR it's going to talk about how we'll have Lindsay Lohan on there too.

(laughter)

REGGIE: Yeah, that's not gonna happen. The new cd, though, is a great one and we recorded it right around the corner from here in Pittsburgh. I play all acoustic stuff on I'm really excited about it. We hope to have it manufactured next month by CD Baby.

By the way, Angus wrote the liner notes for my first CD and did a terrific job. He actually listened to the music and then wrote the notes, what a concept! What people don't possibly know about Angus is that he wrote for RCA Records before doing Phantasm. He wrote the liner notes for 'Meet the Beatles', the first Beatles album.

ANGUS: Oh, that was a great time. Capitol Records was a wonderful place to be. I was able to write for Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and Judy Garland. These names don't mean much today but they were huge back then.

FAN: This is a kooky idea, but if the original cast of Phantasm never makes Phantasm V, you guys should put together a band and call it the Phantasm 5 and do a musical interpretation of the whole story.

REGGIE: I think that's not a bad idea. You've got Bill Thornbury who can play and sing, Kat Lester is a hot talented singer/songwriter for more reasons than just her music. I think Gloria sings too and Michael plays the guitar.

We literally could put some sort of band thing together. You know, Alice Cooper is a big fan actually. I wrote a scene for him in Phantasm: Oblivion and it was going to have Alice and myself in it. I thought it was great but Don said "That's gonna cost too much. I like it, but we can't do it on the budget."

ANGUS: I have a question.... how many aspiring filmmakers do we have here?

(a few hands go up)

ANGUS: Well that's not enough. How are we going to find work if you people don't get busy?

REGGIE: It's so great that with new technology, whole new types of filmmakers are making movies now. Before digital, Angus and I only worked infront of 35mm cameras and that was only up until a few years ago. Now it's all digital photography.

ANGUS: Reggie, you know we both have a picture together coming up.

REGGIE: You're right, Satan Hates you. We're both in it.

ANGUS: My character has already wrapped shooting. It's an interesting film from James McKenney. He claims it's an homage but I think it's a satire on the old christian scare flicks made in the 40s and 50s by small companies in the South and Midwest. They were essentially designed to portray the evils of alcohol and drugs and smoking and sexuality.

REGGIE: Basically, life.

ANGUS: These scare flicks were often far more graphic than the Hollywood pictures coming out at the time. It's a terrific script.

REGGIE: It is a good script. I loved it as soon as I read it. I'm yet to shoot my part in it.

FAN: Reggie, what was it like driving the Cuda?

REGGIE: A lot of fun. I wasn't very good at it because I actually blew up the Cuda in Phantasm III.

ANGUS: Was it intentional?

REGGIE: It was not intentional.... I didn't mean to blow up the engine but I certainly meant to go fast. I had my foot all the way down on that thing. But yeah, it was a great ride.

Truthfully, this isn't all of the Q&A but only the questions I felt were worthy enough of transcription. There were some dumb ones asked that would've been a waste of my time to type up and a waste of yours to read so I left them out. After the Q&A was finished, it was up to Reggie/Gigi's hotel room for an interview. Fun!
An empty Ballroom C earlier that morning (click to enlarge). (Photo Credit: David Smith aka 'theinferno')