Reverend Matt’s Monster Science: Gillman Genesis (Guillermo del Toro Variant)

Reverend Matt’s Monster Science is the banner under which Matthew Kessen performs comedic but factual lectures about Monsters. A staple of the festival, I first saw his lecture entitled Feminine Inhuman when I was covering the TCHF my first year of reviewing. This year the lecture is entitled Gillman Genesis but there is an interesting twist – he has two different lectures that perform on different nights. The Milicent Patrick variant which I saw on opening night centers around the woman whose credit for creating The Creature From the Black Lagoon has only recently been restored after decades of being wrongly attributed to a her ego bruised white male boss. The second variant which I saw yesterday focuses on contemporary horror master Guillermo del Toro, who created his own Gillman for his masterful film The Shape of Water. In this lecture he explores del Toro’s biography a bit but mostly delves into his monsters. I won’t give away any of the details I’ll just say that I find these lectures to be highly enjoyable. As a fan of monsters who poured over books about them, particularly the old Universal Studio Monsters as a kid, I feel a kindred spirit with Rev. Matt. His love of his subject matter and his wit drive these fun filled lectures.

​Remaining Show Times
Monday, October 24th 7:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)
Saturday, October 29th 4:30pm – World Full of Monsters (Guillermo del Toro)
Sunday, October 30th 1:30pm – Mother of Monsters (Milicent Patrick)

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 0
Violence – 0
Blood – 0
Jokes – 5
Suggested Age: 13+ 

Edgar Perry

Edgar Perry is written and performed by Katie Hartman and Nick Ryan, known as The Coldharts. It is a fictionalized version of the life of Edgar Allan Poe during young adulthood. It’s central idea is that Edgar is mentally ill, and there are two sides to his personality competing for control. It’s also a musical. This is one of the best shows I’ve seen so far at TCHF. It’s also the one that clearly needed more rehearsal. Hartman and Ryan are very good performers, and their script is unique and clever, but they do stumble over their lines occasionally and had a couple of minor issues technically as well. That said I’m sure every performance after this will be better and better. The Lighting and costumes are also especially effective creating some moments of actual fear towards the end. Their run was cut short by the opening night performance being cancelled so there are only three performances left. I highly recommend this one!

Remaining Show Times
Monday, October 24th 9:00pm
Thursday, October 27th 7:30pm
Sunday, October 30th 3pm

Ratings (1-5)
Language – 3
Violence – 3
Blood – 1
Suggested Age: 13+

For more information about the TCHF in general, each of these shows, and to purchase tickets go to https://www.tchorrorfestival.com/

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