As we celebrate this Summer of Savini (cover story of FANGORIA #304; directorial comeback THE THEATRE BIZARRE debuting at Fantasia this month), I decided to share with you my first-ever professional interview, which I conducted with the King of Splatter as a 17-year-old high school student in 1980. Part one appeared here.

“You know something, Tony,” Tom Savini said to me. “We’ve known each other for 30 years, and this is the first time we’ve ever actually socialized.”

This spring, from April 20 through May 1, I attended the ever-growing Tribeca Film Festival again (see more here, including info on the fest’s new distribution platforms). It’s always a gas when you have a major film fest in your town and just a short subway ride away. I thought I’d share some of my experiences and screening comments based on the movies I took in during Tribeca’s 10th edition run.

When my personal remembrances of Sir Christopher Lee left off in the last edition of Elegies (see here and here for previous installments), the actor had just survived the clutches of three obsessed fans who hounded him at his one and only FANGORIA convention appearance (see backstage footage of the event at the bottom of this blog). I thought I’d been lucky to meet the genre legend once, but as fate would have it, I would have two more memorable opportunities to hobnob with Lee in the years that followed…

When my personal remembrances of Sir Christopher Lee left off in the last edition of Elegies (see here), the British scream titan was hanging out with a few select enthusiasts and staff backstage at the 1990 FANGORIA Weekend of Horrors convention. Slightly frazzled by a trio of psycho fans who had accosted him earlier upon entering New York City’s fabled Hotel Pennsylvania, he’d leave all that behind as he took the stage inside the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, introduced by convention co-producer Adam Malin of Creation Entertainment.

Genre legend—in every sense of the word—Sir Christopher Lee will be honored at Britain’s BAFTA Awards this Sunday with an Academy Fellowship, an award honoring his lifetime achievement in cinema. The 88-year-old actor is all over the place these days, including a cameo in the recent SEASON OF THE WITCH. Here in NYC alone, fans will get to see Lee on the big screen courtesy of Fango’s February 22 screening of his Hammer return THE RESIDENT (1st photo below; see here) and Lincoln Center’s special showing of John Landis’ BURKE AND HARE on March 3 (see here).

In the last edition of Elegies (see it here), I began my list of Top 10 Movies I Am Most Looking Forward To in 2011, which included DRIVE ANGRY, THE INNKEEPERS, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FULL SEQUENCE), INSIDIOUS and SUPER 8. Here are the final five: