Cast, crew gather at the New Beverly
The beloved New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles presented a double-feature of The Return of the Living Dead and Feast – hosted by actor and New Bev fixture Clu Gulager – last night. Personally, it was a treat to see a print of Dan O’Bannon’s punk rock zombie romp on the big screen since I missed it (in the eyes of my folks, apparently nine was not a suitable age for me to see the film). The added perk was finding much of the cast and crew descend on the theater to mingle with fans and take part in a lengthy “tell all” Q&A moderated by director and Gulager family friend Jeff Burr.
This included Dan O’Bannon (looking spry and owning up to the fact he was an “asshole” sometimes on the RotLD set), FX artist Tony Gardner, William Stout, James Karen, Brian Peck, Beverly Randolph, Thom Mathews, John Philbin, Don Calfa, Jewel Shepard and FX artist Kenny Myers. Their conversation touched on a variety of hilarious subjects surrounding the making of the film such as crematorium research in pre-production (hurray for cremated babies and necrophilia!) and the short window of time Gardner and Myers had to prep for the zombie FX.
Gulager, of course, played a part in the discussion and started the evening with a bit of levity by walking in with massive foam penis. You see, he had misconstrued the term “Walk softly and carry a big stick” for, well…you get it. Oh, Clu. He toned down the (welcome) crass humor before playing a touching video tribute to New Bev founder Sherman Torgan who passed away last year.
If you live in the L.A. area, The Return of the Living Dead encores again tonight. Head to the New Beverly’s official site for more details.
Click below for our photo gallery from the evening!
Source: Ryan Rotten
