Growing up in the 1980's and seeing Tom Savini's name attached to 1/2 of all of the significant horror films in my golden age sort of sets me up to really admire what Savini has done. I remember reading about him in Fangoria and thinking how cool this guy must be. Sadly, this is not the case- my only encounter with Tom was not bad, however no words were exchanged so I can not have an opinion good or bad about the guy. It just seems that the fans are split half and half- one half thinks that he is burnt out to the point where he hates conventions and in turn treats his fans like shit. The other half is completely opposite- they think he is super nice to the fans and is very fan oriented.
"When I see him at conventions, that's usually what he's doing.. setting there in his own world, checking his watch every so often. Not a person visiting his table."
I personally think that Savini thinks of this all as a 9 to 5 job, a job where he has been working so long and to the point where he is just counting the days to retirement. It sort of looks like he has become bored of it all and unfortunately sometimes inadvertently takes it out on his fans by being distant and rude. I see it two ways- Savini can be how he wants towards his fans and that's his own prerogative. I subscribe to the theory where nobody woes nobody nothing- everything given is given and if you want to pay your dues then so-be-it. However, at the same time it's hard not to say "if you are so miserable at these conventions then don't attend!" It's no secret how distant Savini can act- it's regularly discussed on message boards and Dead Pit Radio and he has been defended my just as many people, so... what is the verdict?
"From my personal experience, it seemed he was only interested in 3 things......
1. Himself
2. If you had nice tits
3. If you had $$$$ to spend at his table "
It's true, Savini has been really hard on Friday The 13th fans with saying things like "If you watch any Friday The 13th after Part 1, then you are stupid" and "there's no such thing as Jason". That again is Savini's own opinion and he is entitled to it. It seems like fans are really bitter for the fact that Savini acts that way towards the franchise despite working on Parts I and IV. It again is his prerogative to be in it only for the money, to do it for himself and not fans- that's life. But, if that is the case then don't sugar coat it Savini- be like Ted White and tell it like it is.
I really won't say much more on this, but it's really sad when an unknowing young kid who has idolized Tom Savini stands in line, pays entrance fees and walks up to Tom's table all excited to meet him and in turn gets treated like shit and ignored all for a $20 signing fee. Hell, I guess that is better than walking up to Tom, give him a picture to sign and he gets up and goes and talks to someone for a few minutes and comes back, signs your picture and shoves it towards you. Dude, lighten up or quit the fucking convention circuit!
If he doesn't want to talk about his classic horror movies then stop fucking doing HORROR cons. There are literally tons of stars and non-stars who are cordial, gracious and thankful for fans like us. Without paying fans he would be a total nobody.....period.
I've met Savini three times now. The first two times he acted like a prick and the third time he was very friendly and nice. Is it a coincidence that the third time my girlfriend was with me?
ReplyDeleteEither way, I still love the guy.
I don't know... I personally feel like he is hit or miss and perhaps just tired of it all. In videos on you tube of people meeting him he generally never looks people in the eye or answers "uh yeah" when people ask things like "So was it nice working with Stephen King on Creepshow?". Hell, I dunno what his problem is.
ReplyDeleteI first met him back in 1990 and he was very friendly and chatty. I saw him again 2 years ago, and he wasn't rude, but he did seem bored by the convention scene. I've been reading all these negative stories about him, and all I have to say is, if he doesn't want fans telling him how much they love him and his work, he should just go home. That said, the picture I have of me and Savini is still a prize possession!
ReplyDeleteSavini is a prick
ReplyDelete"Dude, lighten up or quit the fucking convention circuit!"
ReplyDeleteIndeed Jack my good man; that would be my proverbial two cents as well, too. At first in the early '2000s I was texting based chatting with a Pittsburgh native that basically told me "Dude stop asking me about Savini---I saw him in two ocal super markets and both times he was buying shit for his make-up F/X school and walked right past me".
And yeah, after I read what I feel is roughly the 60% "he is a total prick" and then the roughly the barely 40% when he is REALLY defended on his more rare "good' days.
I dunno. I heard that by te time the late '90s came along a construction worker working on his house stole like well over $400,000 (bac when our money was worth much, much more as ya know) from his safe from the projects that he worked on, and that from my important DVDs & Blu Rays from Arrow Films from Britain genre journalists like my old pal Calem Waddel from my ancesstors home land of Scotland that "He is overly kind in person and is just plain super tired of hearing about Friay's Parts 1 & IV and Creepsho and his Romero work and directoring Night of the Living ead '90, ect".
Well now I can minorly respect that. HOWEVER, he needs to take two steps back and to realize that while I don't personally wanna ever attend a g enre film convention as I am increadily shy, have my severe Asperger's Syndrome & I don't care to have to pay #20 bills just to meet a fellow human being that in the general pubic's eyes, outside of the genre film loving & collecting world such as me & you and others is a relatively obcure person such as I, then he needs to realize that hay: There are still many people willing to buy a fuck ton of your stuff because of your late '70s and '80s work and because you appeared in cult favorites too like Martin & From Dusk Till Dawn and hey, I'd LOVE to sit around & to be sedentary while others paid be several $20s for my time & mostly useless signature.
He has it fairly easy. I'm sure we ALL have our shit days because of our personal lives & with others treating us badly and such, ya know. HOWEVER, it most certainly WOULD NOT hurt for him to throw on the occasionally "auto answer" for under the five hour mark every few months whenever he is at a genre film convention. :( Least I don't think that it is. Mean while: Like you I enjoyed the retro slashers & retro zombie epics that he worked on. I mean the guy on Letterman seemed to have this fine, quiet enthusiasm. HOWEVER, indeed from the many stories that I've heard of him he DOES come off as a prick.
ESPECIALLY in the UK liner notes to my Day of the Dead imported Blu Ray and in other fascitants such as the DVD her ein North America of the overrated The Burning, ect. I fully realize that in his peronal life he is much more of a "subtle" film lover & collector. HOWEVER, it wouldn't slay him to talk about his more viscual F/X work every few weeks in which he used to make a fairly comfortable living at. I mean holy hell,t here is NO reason now for most stories of him online to be such overly negative to most of us. Also his make-up F/X hasn't aged THAT well these days, too--so sorry to him, but its merey a film factoid. And whom knows? Maybe Vietnam REALLY changed his perspective on life when he was a Combat Photographer for the U.S. side of the world here, eh?
Whom all knows???