With a horror-rock tinged twist, this year’s CAPE – Cornwall and Area Pop Event (the fourth iteration), was a huge success. Uniting aficionados of motion pictures, comics, collectables, costumes and music (everything under the pop culture umbrella) together, the Benson Centre, usually a chilly ice rink, was hot with bodies, eager event goers, ranging from wide-eyed children to decades long collectors, exploring the varied booths, finding treasures for their homes, meeting friends old and new.
Gracing the floor were three horror related actors: Ari Lehman, Jayson Warner Smith, and Randy Havens. Ari Lehman can be best described as the “First Jason”, Voorhees, that is. . . playing the small but integral part in the first feature of the franchise, 1980’s Friday the 13th, directed by Sean S. Cunningham. He is part of one of the greatest jump scare moments ever caught on film (the genesis of a character that would become, by the third motion picture, the masked murderer that has been ingrained in the minds of countless generations of movie watchers). He has also frequented many Indie horror flicks, The Barn, Pi Day Die Day, Terror Tales and this year’s yet unreleased Rock Paper Dead (co-written by original Friday the 13th scribe Victor Miller and directed by Fright Night and Child’s Play director Tom Holland), to name but a few.
Jayson Warner Smith, who plays Negan’s trusted henchman Gavin on The Walking Dead (he manages the dealings with The Kingdom), was anything but threatening on the floor – a cute moment found Smith smiling and waving at an apprehensive youngster whose mother was reassuring him that he was just an actor from the show. With many other credits worth mentioning, he plays Wendall Jelks on the series Rectify, while on the silver screen, you can find him in films such as Mississippi Grind, The Birth of a Nation, and American Made (where he plays Tom Cruise’s most trusted pilot).
Randy Havens (below left) is the unmistakable Mr. Clarke, the kind-hearted, caring science teacher in the extremely popular Netflix series Stranger Things. A fan favourite with the kids, he has also had standout roles on Halt and Catch Fire, Sleepy Hollow, and Archer. . . keep an eye out for him as he will be seen next year in the new movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
There were also three iconic comic book artists on hand, Larry Hama (writer of the original G.I. Joe, as well as Wolverine, Avengers and many others – seen above right), Dan Day (Cases of Sherlock Holmes, Swamp Thing, and Doctor Strange), and Geof Isherwood (Dr. Strange, Suicide Squad, and Conan the Barbarian) – the creative minds behind the iconic characters that make billions on the big screen.
With a unique post-Saturday expo after-party, people were invited to head to La Maison, Cornwall’s historic bar (since 1935), where Lehman’s horror-rock band, aptly named First Jason, jammed a full length set for the enthusiastic crowd. Accompanied onstage by Jacques Boucher – a cosplayer dressed as Jason Voorhees (his realistic appearance adding a perfectly ominous onstage presence), Lehman sang lead and tickled the ivories in a most unique way (hitting all the right notes with his machete modified keytar) – their horror-centric lyrics setting the perfect tone for the event. It was a highly original way to wrap a great day, and a perfect lead into Sunday, when they would all be back on the floor. Check out the footage below as the band performs “Jason Never Dies!”, the last song of their set – you will spot Jayson Warner Smith flitting around, getting his own footage of the concert.
Look for interviews and star picks from the three above mentioned actors coming up in the near future. I’d like to thank all three of the men for being gracious with their time and passing along so many intriguing observations and tales from the set, their commentary providing an insiders’ look into these beloved movies and shows. I’d also like to thank Randy Sauve and Carol Grant for their continued efforts in making this event a bigger success each and every year. . . there is no doubt that next year’s festivities will be even more monstrous than Jason Voorhees, Negan and a Demogorgon combined.