I have very mixed feelings about Tom Savini.
I, of course, have always been a fan of his work. I saw Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead, and others well before I knew his name. I began reading Fangoria, and he was regularly featured in its pages. He was a hero to the readers of the mag. Even more so than Romero. Carpenter, Englund, or Cambell. Savini was the rock star, the magician, the badass.
I rented the Fangoria videocassette, Scream Greats: Tom Savini, in the first week I owned a VCR. I loved it, as did everyone I watched it with. Even those who didn't care for horror were moved by Tom Savini's talent and his personality. He was one of us, who made it big, a fan of the genre and a big kid who loved playing in it.
Slasher films dwindled away and horror itself was scarce in the nineties. Savini didn't work as much as in the previous decade. His popularity among the fans did not diminish in the least. Tom Savini was a hero to all of us.
I finally had the opportunity to meet Tom Savini in 1998. It was at Dragoncon, and I was excited. I made my way to his table and told Mr. Savini how much I loved his work. He was completely dismissive and made me feel about two inches tall.
I didn't think too badly of the man. I know celebs are people too, and we all have lousy days. Maybe I caught him at a bad time.
I went to Dragoncon again the following year. I approached Savini once more, and his reaction was almost exactly like it was the first time.
It hurts. I'm not one to feel that Tom Savini or any other celebrity owes us anything, but is it asking too much to at least pretend to be gracious? Success does things to people, I know, but I also met Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Forrest J Ackerman, and Harlan Ellison at Dragoncon. All were great. Sure, Ellison was grumpy, but at least he was funny about it.
Tom Savini was a regular at the Horrorfind Convention in the 2000s. I went every year, and if anything Savini got worse. I learned to avoid him. So did a lot of other fans. He'd sit at his table with a pissed-off look on his face and fewer people stopped by.
They say to never meet your heroes. I say, bah. I've met a lot and most were just fine. I've only met a few genuinely unpleasant stars.
I don't understand why anyone would even come to conventions if they didn't want to interact with fans. What's the point? Money? Well, duh, but I can't imagine being rude to people who merely wish to express their appreciation for you.
Life goes on, and I pretty much wrote him off. It's not like Tom was working a lot, anyway. I still, and always will, be in awe of his accomplishments as an effects artist and a performer. I particularly love his role in Knightriders.
There's a new documentary about Tom Savini out, and I wasn't going to bother with it, but I heard it's good, so I bought the DVD for old time's sake.
And it is good. Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini is an intimate and revealing look at the man behind the legend. Sure, there's a lot of smoke blown up the man's ass, but it also penetrates the veneer of Savini and discloses some things behind it. I knew of his involvement in Vietnam, and I was aware of how it probably affected his life. There are disquieting hints of pain in his family history as well. Plus there are plenty of behind the scenes footage from his iconic movie work.
Savini mentions at one point that he started enjoying conventions again. He clearly was not enjoying them when I attended shows with him. He struck me as an unhappy man
Quite a few genre luminaries speak of Savini's good nature, his spirit of fun, how wonderful he is. From what I witnessed, he treated professionals much better than he did commonplace fans. Horror documentarian Michael Felsher states that Tom was rude to him on their first meeting, but they became friends later. Later, after Felsher became a person of importance.
Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini helped me feel more sympathetic to the man. He, like the rest of us, has had his share of heartbreak and disappointment. Still, it's hard to erase the negative experiences I and many other had in the past.
Tom Savini appears to be happier now, and by all reports I understand he is a lot more pleasant. I'm glad to hear it. I enjoyed this tour of his life, which brought back many memories of when I was a naive young fan. It's an extremely well put-together presentation that will appeal to old fans as well as those who know little about the man.
Written by Mark Sieber
I, of course, have always been a fan of his work. I saw Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead, and others well before I knew his name. I began reading Fangoria, and he was regularly featured in its pages. He was a hero to the readers of the mag. Even more so than Romero. Carpenter, Englund, or Cambell. Savini was the rock star, the magician, the badass.
I rented the Fangoria videocassette, Scream Greats: Tom Savini, in the first week I owned a VCR. I loved it, as did everyone I watched it with. Even those who didn't care for horror were moved by Tom Savini's talent and his personality. He was one of us, who made it big, a fan of the genre and a big kid who loved playing in it.
Slasher films dwindled away and horror itself was scarce in the nineties. Savini didn't work as much as in the previous decade. His popularity among the fans did not diminish in the least. Tom Savini was a hero to all of us.
I finally had the opportunity to meet Tom Savini in 1998. It was at Dragoncon, and I was excited. I made my way to his table and told Mr. Savini how much I loved his work. He was completely dismissive and made me feel about two inches tall.
I didn't think too badly of the man. I know celebs are people too, and we all have lousy days. Maybe I caught him at a bad time.I went to Dragoncon again the following year. I approached Savini once more, and his reaction was almost exactly like it was the first time.
It hurts. I'm not one to feel that Tom Savini or any other celebrity owes us anything, but is it asking too much to at least pretend to be gracious? Success does things to people, I know, but I also met Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Forrest J Ackerman, and Harlan Ellison at Dragoncon. All were great. Sure, Ellison was grumpy, but at least he was funny about it.
Tom Savini was a regular at the Horrorfind Convention in the 2000s. I went every year, and if anything Savini got worse. I learned to avoid him. So did a lot of other fans. He'd sit at his table with a pissed-off look on his face and fewer people stopped by.
They say to never meet your heroes. I say, bah. I've met a lot and most were just fine. I've only met a few genuinely unpleasant stars.
I don't understand why anyone would even come to conventions if they didn't want to interact with fans. What's the point? Money? Well, duh, but I can't imagine being rude to people who merely wish to express their appreciation for you.
Life goes on, and I pretty much wrote him off. It's not like Tom was working a lot, anyway. I still, and always will, be in awe of his accomplishments as an effects artist and a performer. I particularly love his role in Knightriders.
There's a new documentary about Tom Savini out, and I wasn't going to bother with it, but I heard it's good, so I bought the DVD for old time's sake.
And it is good. Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini is an intimate and revealing look at the man behind the legend. Sure, there's a lot of smoke blown up the man's ass, but it also penetrates the veneer of Savini and discloses some things behind it. I knew of his involvement in Vietnam, and I was aware of how it probably affected his life. There are disquieting hints of pain in his family history as well. Plus there are plenty of behind the scenes footage from his iconic movie work.
Savini mentions at one point that he started enjoying conventions again. He clearly was not enjoying them when I attended shows with him. He struck me as an unhappy man
Quite a few genre luminaries speak of Savini's good nature, his spirit of fun, how wonderful he is. From what I witnessed, he treated professionals much better than he did commonplace fans. Horror documentarian Michael Felsher states that Tom was rude to him on their first meeting, but they became friends later. Later, after Felsher became a person of importance.
Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini helped me feel more sympathetic to the man. He, like the rest of us, has had his share of heartbreak and disappointment. Still, it's hard to erase the negative experiences I and many other had in the past.
Tom Savini appears to be happier now, and by all reports I understand he is a lot more pleasant. I'm glad to hear it. I enjoyed this tour of his life, which brought back many memories of when I was a naive young fan. It's an extremely well put-together presentation that will appeal to old fans as well as those who know little about the man.
Written by Mark Sieber
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