For Immediate Release: 16 September 2010
He terrified millions in his role as Jason Voorhees in horror film ‘Friday the 13th’, now American actor and stuntman Kane Hodder is headed to Australia to rein fear on thousands of guests at the fourth annual Melbourne Armageddon Expo.
In what will be chillingly coincidental, the 6ft 3.5inch tall Hollywood star will touch-down in the state on the 13th of October, just days before the Expo to be held on the 16th and 17th at Melbourne’s Exhibition Centre.
Hodder will be the first ever horror star to grace the Armageddon Expo and will meet and greet with fans over the weekend together with fellow celebrities from Futurama, Doctor Who, Terminator and Babylon 5.
The Armageddon Expo will mark the actor’s first trip down under and he is thrilled to be representing the horror category of the show.
“This is my first ever visit to Australia and I’m very excited about it. I have wanted to come here for a long time and I’m told there are a lot of horror fans in Australia and I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
“I feel that it is quite an honour to be the first horror actor to come to the Armageddon Expo and I look forward to experiencing as much of the show as I can. I feel that my first obligation is to be as available to the fans as possible.
“Along with meeting fans and taking pictures, and maybe trying out some new weapons on selected people, I’d like to check out the masquerade ball and see some of what vendors might have to offer,” he added.
The actor was recently in London to celebrate the world premiere of Adam Green’s ‘Hatchet 2’, where he plays Victor Crowley. The film will be released without an MPAA rating, marking the widest release of an unrated genre film in more than 25 years.
“I’m very excited about the release of ‘Hatchet 2’. We had the premier in London last weekend and it was very well received. I also have four other films coming out in the next few months, including ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ where I run a mortuary and I kill people, ‘Sickle’ where I’m the Sheriff of a small town and I kill people, and ‘Exit 33’ where I run a gas station and I kill people. Is there a recurring theme here? There’s also ‘The Afflicted’ where I play an abused husband. That’s right, I don’t always have to kill people in films, but I do enjoy doing that – very much.”
Hodder is the only actor to have portrayed Jason Voorhees more than once (parts VI through to X) and is recognised for his portrayal of horror icon Leatherface in the stunts of the 1990 film Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. He also played Victor Crowley in Hatchet and serial killer Dennis Rader in the film B.T.K.
Bill Geradts from the Armageddon Expo said, “We are extremely excited to announce Kane Hodder as our first ever horror guest to go to the show. He’s a horror film icon and an all-round great actor and stunt man.”
“He is set to be a massive hit at the show, especially for scary movie fanatics, and I know there are loads out there. Don’t be afraid to go up and say ‘hello’ to Kane and ask him about his fascinating movie roles.
“There will be celebs from all types of movie genres attending Armageddon and it’s not often a mixed group of famous Hollywood actors come to Australia, let alone, are in the same room,” he added.
To add fun to fear, Director and co-founder of Troma Films Lloyd Kaufman will also be in attendance at the show.
Lloyd is known for his direction in comedy horror flick ‘The Toxic Avenger’ and ‘Tromeo and Juliet’.
Anticipated to beat last year’s crowd of 13,500, the bigger and better 2010 Armageddon Expo will showcase the latest in sci-fi, anime, cartoons, gaming, comics and much more.
Originally from New Zealand, the huge fiction and fantasy gathering will be Melbourne for the fourth time this year and, following a recent announcement, is set to launch in Tasmania in June 2011.
Head to Ticketmaster to purchase general admission tickets to the October event or, for more information, visit armageddonexpo.com/au. You can also ‘fan’ or ‘follow’ the Armageddon Expo on Facebook and Twitter to find out the latest