Pant. Pant. At last, after four delirious days, it's over. San Diego Comic-Con International, truly the Super Bowl of Geekdom, dazzled upward of 100,000 pop-culture consumers this year and yours truly lived to tell its tales. Barely! Get my schlockified take on what Hollywood had to offer in this post-game podcast. Listen using the handy Online DVD Talk Radio Player or download the complete schlockcast (24 mins, 14 mb).

OTHER COMIC-CON SCHLOCKCASTS

- Devil's Rejects Premiere
- Lance Henriksen interview
- DVD Talk Roundtable
- Bruce Campbell panel
- David Cronenberg panel highlights
- New Line's comic books
- Dealer Delirium (very rough)
- Preview podcast

Join your representative among the leering press on the blood red carpet at the Comic-Con premiere of The Devil's Rejects. Sid Haig. Sheri Moon Zombie. Ken Foree. Bill Moseley. Hear from 'em all! Well, except for Rob Zombie. Tough break there. But, hey, 2001 Maniacs director Tim Sullivan was a dern good sport when quizzed about his potentially blasphemous Herschell Gordon Lewis update. Listen to the schlockcast (15 mins, 9 mb).

You know him, you love him, he's CineSchlocker idol Lance Henriksen! As previously noted, Lance spends his off-set hours on another, more hands-on form of artistry, which has wrought some amazing Alien vs. Predator-inspired pieces. Sideshow Collectibles recently began brokering his clay creations so Mr. Henriksen was on hand to celebrate the relationship, greet fans and share some insights on his work with yours truly in this exclusive interview (5 mins, 3 mb).

Blood. Booze. Bruce! All hail the Masters of Horror, baby!!! The House of Blues hosted a Friday-night wingding saluting Showtime's upcoming series of 13, one-hour episodes directed by such horror hounds as Stuart Gordon, John Landis, Don Coscarelli and Mick Garris, each of whom were in attendance. Their fellow masters include Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Takashi Miike and George Romero.

Gotta admit, I was the most starstruck by comic-book legend Stan Lee.

Stuart Gordon wants to do a Re-Animator sequel set in the White House, so Herbert West can revive Dick Cheney and Donnie Rumsfeld.

When there's no more room ... at the bar. Call Ken Foree!

Don Coscarelli epitomizes the notion that the nicest guys work in horror.

Yours truly is joined by DVD Talk regulars Tom, Mike and Jason for a half-time report from the Super Bowl of Geekdom. We talk costumed crazies like our Halo'd friend from Red vs. Blue. Compare notes on all the nifty stuff we'd seen in the dealer room, such as Land of the Dead action figures. And share a collective moment of trepidation about Saturday's non-stop slate in Hall H -- the 6,500 seat vortex of Hollywood hype. Join the roundtable (19 mins, 11 mb).

11:30-3:00 -- Lots of fun wandering the exhibit hall and still only covered about half of it! Forgive this dealer-room diary (19 mins, 11 mb) as it's very rough audio and exposes my frightful fascination with action figures. Highlights include:

- Rediscovering Full Moon Entertainment -- it's been reborn as Wizard Entertainment. Production honcho Joe Dain promises more puppetry! (See photo below.)

- Chatting with the folks at Blue Underground about their restoration of Fire and Ice.

- Checked producer Cliff Broadway's feet and, sure enough, they're just as furry as you'd expect for one of the documentarians behind Ringers: Lord of the Fans.

Oh, that's Christy Marie striking a luscious Leia pose. Does that make me Jaba? Other snapshots ...

3:30 -- B-R-U-C-E!!!!!! Phenomenal. Nobody can say it better than the man hisself -- so here's his whole goldang Q&A session (43 mins, 25 mb).

4:30 -- Boy, do I ever feel sorry for the guy who had to interview David Cronenberg. Just wasn't David's milieu, maybe? He mustered flashes of enthusiasm for A History of Violence, but not in the typically effusive "Hollywood" way. More like a professor who's quietly pleased with his star pupil. Consequentially, Cronenberg can come off sounding cold. Cruelly sarcastic even. But there's usually a sly grin there too. Fascinating fella. Here's a quick highlight reel (3 mins, 1.8 mb) in which he intellectualizes his flick's flashes of graphic violence, reveals a bit of his directorial philosophy and fields praise from a Fly fan even more elated than myself about the upcoming special edition DVD!

6:00 -- Caught up with William Christensen, editor-in-chief of Avatar Press, who has scored three hit comics in collaboration with New Line Cinema. Click for a convention-floor Q&A (6 mins, 3.4 mb) about Leatherface, Freddy and Jason's grisly off-screen exploits.

SCHLOCKCASTS

- Bruce Campbell
- David Cronenberg
- Dealer Delirium
- New Line's comic books

It's nigh upon us! San Diego Comic-Con International. The nation's largest pop-culture conclave and Hollywood's one-stop buzz builder due to the irresistible allure of more than 80,000 geeks of all ilks in one locale. Every major studio will be there in force and so will YOU thanks to your intrepid representative among the leering press!

In this podcast preview of the 4-day geekfest (July 14-17) find out who I'll be birddogging and which flicks will receive an early ogle -- Bruce Campbell! Underworld: Evolution! David Cronenberg! King Kong! Roger Corman! The Fog! Ray Harryhausen! The Devil's Rejects! Listen using the handy Online DVD Talk Radio Player or download the complete schlockcast (23 mins, 14 mb).

Attending Comic-Con too? Wanna participate in DVD Talk's roundtable podcast? Of course you do! Then drop me an e-mail! We'll meet at 6:45 p.m. Friday outside Room 21 on the Upper Level (adjacent to Ballroom 20).

Stay tuned for complete coverage!

COMIC-CON PRIMER

- Last year's coverage
- This year's schedule: Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
- Autograph opportunities