Wow, it's been almost five years since we did our interview with Paul Campion.  We spoke with him after he made his awesome short films, "Eel Girl" and "Night of the Hell Hamsters", both of which screened at indie horror film fests.  If you go to Youtube, you can find clips from both... I'm not sure if they're on there in their entirety.  In any case, Campion's feature, "The Devil's Rock", was not only a great film, it was nominated for 3 awards at the New Zealand Film Awards.  Here's the press release and if you want to check out our interview from four and half years ago, here's the link.

Jacob Cooney, friend of Dead Harvey, sent us a link of his most recent project to share. It's a short called "Rocco" and revolves around the relationship of a man and his muppet who aren't on such good terms. Several friends of the main character, muppeteer Nathan Danforth are revealed slain in the beginning, then Danforth opens a small treasure box and "Reading Rainbow" style sparkling lights fly around psychotically and transform into the vicious muppet Rocco.

This is a fun short played deadpan and the results are very effective. The muppetry and music are fantastic as well. You can check it below...

ROCCO - a short film from Jacob Cooney on Vimeo.

For more information on filmmaker Jacob Cooney and his work, visit his website at: www.jacobcooney.com.

Also worth mentioning again is a short entitled "The Frolic" and we interviewed Cooney about it. It is further proof of Cooney's talent as a filmmaker and features some very impressive acting and directing.  You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

Just in time for the Halloween season, Irrational Films has made Dan Riesser's horror-comedy short film NIGHT OF THE PUNKS available for online streaming via YouTube.

In Night of the Punks, small town punk rockers The Brain Deads have their first out of town show, but there are a few problems: the venue is deserted, the promoter is a creep, their bassist has gone missing and the only kids in the audience turn out to be bloodthirsty punk rockers from Hell.

Drawing inspiration from Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons and the Evil Dead series, Night of the Punks is a blood-splatted love letter to '80s horror cinema. The cast includes industry veteran Luke Edwards (The Wizard, Little Big League, Newsies), sketch comedian Nick Munday, professional wrestler Vic D. Vine and L.A. horror punk band Murderland. The short has been Official Selection at more than 25 film festivals around the world and took home numerous awards and accolades.

Director Dan Riesser comments, "Making Night of the Punks and taking it to festivals was an amazing experience, and I'm glad everyone now has a chance to catch it on YouTube." Riesser plans to turn the self-financed, 19-minute short into a feature film. The script is complete and the project is currently seeking funding. In the interim, Riesser is focusing on his feature directorial debut, Stomping Ground. Billed as a scary comedy about love and Bigfoot, the movie enters production this month.

For more information on Night of the Punks, visit its official website at NightofthePunks.com.

   

--
Christopher Di Nunzio  writer/director/producer
www.creepykidproductions.com
http://www.facebook.com/CreepyKidProductions
http://twitter.com/Creepykid

I love it when we can share a film with our readers, then follow the film up with an interview with the filmmaker...  do yourself a favor, check out "Thy Kill Be Done" -- an awesome nunsploitation short flick.  It's embedded below.  Then, read up on the interview with Greg Hanson, one of the indie filmmakers behind the project!



Thy Kill Be Done (2010) from Greth Productions on Vimeo.

Tell us about your film, what’s it all about?

Thy Kill Be Done is a short nunsploitation/revenge film about an inner city church where the Monsignor Priest is killed by a gang of no-good hoodlums and their drug lord leader, so the nuns in the church’s clergy vow bloody revenge. But these are no ordinary nuns…

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget for the film and how did you secure financing?

The budget for the film was about $3,000. This was a student film and we were actually able to somehow get the school to pay for a large chunk of it through campus film organisations that make and finance films. We had to formally pitch to the boards – it was really funny. But everyone was really behind us and super supportive. The rest of it I put up from my bank account, haha.

As of right now, what are your goals for the film and what kinds of things are you doing to make sure you reach your goals?

The film has pretty well done everything we (my co-director Casey Regan and I) could hope for – it has gotten us some great press, it was the first of our films to play a film festival – it has now played more than 25 and still screens – plus we learned a ton from it. It’s now available online for people to enjoy, so I think it’s done pretty much exactly what we had hoped for!

What about film festivals? Are you going to enter your film? If you have, how did it do? Tell us about your feelings around the indie film fest circuit.

The film has played more than 25 festivals worldwide so far and it’s still playing every now and then. It did pretty well but definitely had its fair share of rejections. That’s the way it goes. I love the indie festival circuit – we had some amazing experiences, met lots of great people, had a lot of fun. The indie festival route is sometimes tough but often rewarding. We ended up screening to more than 600 people in a huge amazing theater before Hobo with a Shotgun when we screened at the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival in Spain. Sitting next to Jason Eisener and Michael Biehn (who was there with The Victim) and a ton of other great people, it was very surreal and wonderful. It’s a great experience to finally sit back and enjoy your film with a great audience after it’s all said and done. It’s an amazing feeling of satisfaction.

Talk about distribution. Have you secured distribution? If so, how did you go about doing that? If not, what’s your plan?

Distribution is a slippery thing, especially for shorts. We have talked to a few people over the last few years but it really comes down to a lack of market for shorts. With a few exceptions (the occasional such-and-such director’s early work or Wholpin compilation), shorts are typically special features if they even make it on DVD. So, not surprisingly, nothing has happened on that front. So, instead we put it online for anyone to check out and enjoy!

Where can people find out more about the film and/or get their hands on a copy?

https://vimeo.com/31342303 or go to Grethproductions.com

Talk about the production. How did it go? Tell us one good or funny story that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of being an indie filmmaker.

The production was definitely tough – we had to push the shoot back a few months from late October, 2009 to late January, 2010 because we had to figure out money stuff and get all the pieces together. As you could imagine, a January shoot outside of Boston was pretty brutal – we were pulling 17 hour days because we had to get it all done in a weekend, so we were shooting night exteriors in the middle of the night in 20 degree weather. We had no such thing as a warm room or tent. We were so worried that everyone was going to hate us afterwards and that we wouldn’t finish, stuff like that.

On the last day of the shoot, I had gotten about an hour of sleep before I had to wake up to go to pick people up. But when I got up to get ready, I fell to the floor. I couldn’t really walk or form sentences because I was so delirious. I called up my producer Ben Brewer and tried to ask him something about his car that I was using to pick people up. But I couldn’t finish the sentence. I kept slurring my words and nodding off. After a few minutes of arguing, he said he was pushing the call back. After some fighting, I rolled back over, sprung up three hours later feeling like a million bucks, and we went and shot the whole final sequence of the film. After a long three days, we got everything we needed, it looked great, and everyone had an amazing time.

What about you? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into indie horror.

I got into horror movies late in life. This is, in part, because horror movies did what they were supposed to do – they scared the shit out of me. So much so that I wouldn’t sit and watch one until I was 10 or 11, and even then I typically stayed away. But when I was about 13 or so, I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) for the second time and suddenly everything clicked. It all seemed to make sense. It was the first time I watched a movie and I noticed the beautiful art of filmmaking. I noticed cinematography, the eerie sound design, the atmosphere, and I was hooked! The movie ended and I said, “That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen!” and I wanted to immediately go back to the video store and pick up something else. It didn’t take long for me to get my hands on the classics – Suspiria, The Hills Have Eyes, The Fog – and that’s when I knew I wanted to make movies.

Talk about the indie horror scene. Where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

I love the indie horror scene – it’s pretty much the only horror scene, as far as I am concerned. Big budget horror is pretty much dead – the indie scene is where the innovation happens and horror is and has been such an innovative genre. I love the old school vibe of a lot of the films happening, the mixing of genres, the absurdist edge, comedic twinges. There has been this great movement to make films that channel the best elements of yesteryear – funky music, crazy costumes, real suspense, horror, dread – and employ them in modern stories. It’s great to see less and less straight gross-out films happening and more imagination and experimentation. There are so many talented people making stuff right now - people like Alex Chandon, Ti West, Jason Eisener, Lucky McKee, Alex de la Iglasias, and countless others are making some of their best work right now!

Do you have any more projects in the works? What’s next for you?

We have a short black comedy that we are editing right now called Ipecac about a gambling addict who realizes he can cough up money but rather than pay off his debts, he creates horrible new ones. Casey and I just premiered our latest short, our family drama in a town full of cannibals Meat Me in Plainville at the amazing PiFan Film Festival in South Korea, so keep a lookout for that! Past that, we have some fun scripts coming together involving screwed up families, feudal dojos, post-apocalyptic pimps, and more! So the future holds some fun stuff.

David Blyth's "Wound" has done what most indie horror filmmakers could only hope of for their films...  first off, and most importantly, it's a completed film.  That can be a big hurdle for a lot of us.  After that, it kicked some serious ass.  It had a great festival run, it won various awards and it secured world wide distribution.  So, what's it all about?  How did David do it?  Read on....  


Tell us about your film, what’s it all about? 

WOUND is a Supernatural Horror Film that explores the dark worlds of mental illness, incest, revenge and death. We follow Tanya as she searches for the mother she has never met – a mother (Susan) who gave her up for dead after being abused by her own father who remains stuck in her present life. Tanya returns from the dead to confront and possess Susan with all her deepest fears and desires, sending Susan into a state of madness and gore filled retribution. WOUND explores and confronts the dark, distorted supernatural world that lurks within us all. Check out: www.woundmovie.com and www.davidblyth.com

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget for the film and how did you secure financing? 

The budget for Wound is commercially sensitive, but lets just say it’s very low budget. Financing came from two long time friends who wanted to give me the opportunity to make Wound exactly the way I wanted.

As of right now, what are your goals for the film and what kinds of things are you doing to make sure you reach your goals? 

My goals with Wound were to get noticed at Film Festivals and secure distribution deals in the main territories. Two years on from making Wound, the film has achieved these goals.

What about film festivals? Are you going to enter your film? If you have, how did it do? Tell us about your feelings around the indie film fest circuit.

Wound has been selected for over 12 International Film Festivals worldwide, where it achieved good audience responses including winning Best Film , Best Director and Best Actress at the Night Of Horror International Film Festival Sydney Australia 2011.

Talk about distribution. Have you secured distribution? If so, how did you go about doing that? If not, what’s your plan?

Wound has secured distribution in USA Britain, Germany, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand. I was lucky to have an Independent Sales Agent friend, Lars Bjorck, who was able to make connections and eventually deals at the various markets ( Berlin, Cannes and AFM)

Where can people find out more about the film and/or get their hands on a copy?

In the USA, Breaking Glass Pictures through “ Vicious Circle Films “ is releasing the DVD of Wound in March 2012 . This will be followed by VOD and Itunes releases. Check out Breaking Glass Pictures for release information. http://www.breakingglasspictures.com and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BreakingGlassPictures For more info via Facebook check out my site https://www.facebook.com/WoundNZFilm

Talk about the production. How did it go? Tell us one good or funny story that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of being an indie filmmaker. 

Wound was shot in 12 days over one month. This allowed for more preparation during the actual shooting which was split up into short shooting bursts where you could then focus your resources in the best possible way. My story, from Wound. Arriving at location one morning to see 20 chairs laid out in a row for the film crew to sit on to be lectured by the irate bookish home owner who informed us he had found in his house after filming, two books sitting on a window sill, that may have suffered “sun strike” damage, thus reducing there monetary value and wilful misuse of his property. Turns out the books in question were supplied by the art department and cost two dollars for twenty at the local hospice charity shop. Plus the day was overcast and there had been no sun bursting through to brighten the day yet. So because of long shooting days the home owner had become delusional. Moral of the story, securing locations are a key part of low budget filmmaking, and if you can’t afford to pay a fee for the main location and pay for the home owner to stay in a Hotel then you have to factor in the unexpected, if they are present during shooting.

What about you? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into indie horror.

I made an indie horror classic, Death Warmed Up in 1984 down here in New Zealand, which turned out to be seen all around the world. I worked in North America doing amongst other feature films, four early episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. More recently I have reconnected with my indie roots through producing writing and directing a number of documentaries including Bound for Pleasure and Transfigured Nights. Check out my website for details www.davidblyth.com

Talk about the indie horror scene. Where do you think it is now and where do you see it going? 

With the digital revolution in full swing the Indie horror film has been opportunities in front of it. Low budget Indie horror can translate to the one genre where you can make the film you want to make without having to compromise with the generally old fashioned and conservative distribution demands. Uniqueness and originality have real value in a market swamped with sequels, remakes and derivative product.

Do you have any more projects in the works? What’s next for you? 

Yes I am working on several new project ideas in the low budget arena. This has proved to be quite hard to do as, you need to tell a story in an affordable way on a micro budget that can crossover into the mainstream market based on your unique angle.

Sometimes you get to do a wicked interview and sometimes you get to do a WICKED interview... and, what can I say?  This interview was particularly wicked.  Why?  Because we're talking with Drew Daywalt.  Who's he?  Well, Drew Daywalt is a name you should know and, if you don't know it, get to know it.  He's truly someone that all of us indie and micro-cinema horror filmmakers should look up to and strive to be like.

He first came to our attention with his short horror films on Youtube and when he was doing that, he was one of the first.  Fast forward a few years, he's now at the helm of a big project for SyFy called "Leprechaun's Revenge".  What's next?  I can't wait to find out.  

Anyhow, let's cut to the chase here... You need to see "Leprechaun's Revenge", which premiers on SyFy this weekend, but before you do... you need to read this interview.  Trust me, you'll be glad you did.  

We’ve been following your career path for a while now, but for those who might not know, please give us a bit of a recap. Tell us a bit about yourself and some of the projects that you’ve worked on.

Thanks for talking to me Ted! I actually think you were the first person online to interview me ever, come to think of it, and I’ve always been really grateful of your support. I love Dead Harvey.

I have been a working screenwriter and director in Hollywood for 15 years. I used to do big studio action stuff. I’ve written for Tony Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer, Brett Ratner. Lots of high octane, young male driven action and buddy stuff. But I was in that loop in the studio system where I was making a living but nothing was getting made. So when the writer’s strike happened in 2007 -2008, I decided to make a bit of a career change. I saw how horror films were getting made so readily, and they were done on these controled budgets. I also realized how much influence watching monster and horror films as a kid had influenced my going to work in Hollywood -- and I decided I would pursue my heart’s desire and try and make a go of it in horror films.

So during the WGA strike I got together with friends and we made a bunch of horror shorts, only a few minutes long each, more like skits, and we posted them online. One of the first ones I made, BEDFELLOWS, went viral and had 2 million hits in the first week, and I knew I was onto something. It was a weird thing discovering I could scare someone.

Your latest project is “Leprechaun’s Revenge”. So, what’s the quick synopsis?

A young girl picks a red four leaf clover and inadvertently releases an ancient creature that was magically imprisoned beneath the roots of an oak tree by her ancestors. The thing gets loose and terrorizes her small New England town. And now the girl and her drunk grandfather and hapless sheriff father must stop it before it kills everyone.

You worked with some great actors on this film, including Billy Zane, William Devane and Courtney Halverson. How was it working with such a talented cast?

Even I’m shocked at how good the cast is. I think that speaks to the script and the work of my team, in drawing them in on such a small budgeted project. Billy Zane and I immediately bonded and it was like going to work with your brother every day. He’s smart and intuitive and put a lot of work into his character. Every day he’d come to set with new thoughts and ideas on how to make his character and the film a sa whole, better.

I hate to call anyone an icon because it’s like short hand for “old” but damn it, William Devane is an icon. And he’s such a great guy. He’d come on the set and have everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. And he really dug in to the light spirit and fun of the piece. We took the work seriously and tried to make an entertaining film, but god forbid we ever take ourselves seriously.

Courtney Halverson is a dear friend of mine now. I first worked with her on Death Valley at MTV and we hit it off immediately. I remember reading this script and instantly thinking it had to be her. And I’m really proud of her. She carries the entire throughline of the film and does a great job of bringing real moments and real pathos to a character that could easily been another horror damsel in distress. I know everyone’s going to be impressed with Courtney’s work on this. I know I am.

You worked with Jeff Farley, one of our favorite effects guys. Talk about the effects and will the gore-hounds have something to look forward to?

Jeff saved the day on this film. It was awesome. I knew that if we went full CG on the creature in the short time we had to make this film (5 months, by the way from start to finish) then the creature would look like dogshit. There’s just no way to do good CG on this budget and this schedule, but if we went old school physical effects, and just enhanced it a little bit with CG, then we could pull it off. But even that was going to be tough. Jeff came in and made it work. He’s really a great joy and a creative force. There’s no “We can’t do that,” with Jeff Farley. He just rolls up his sleeves and makes it happen. It’s inspiring to work with him. I think gore hounds and creature fans will be more than pleased with his work, as well as the work of Ashley Walsh who supervised all of the gore while Jeff focues on the monster.

Do you have a favorite moment in the film? Tell us about it… and why?

I have a few. The thing about creature features is that we’ve seen every kind of kill you can imagine. There’s nothing knew under the sun, in that regard. I also had no money to do the kills right, so instead of going for super realistic gore, we did a stylized thing and most of the deaths are hysterical to me. But my favorite has to be one of the main characters who gets it in the end. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Do you have a favorite behind-the-scenes story? If so, what is it?

Thanksgiving fell into the middle of our shooting schedule, and we shot the film in Baton Rouge, Louisiana so a bunch of us were orphaned on location over the holiday. But I flew my wife and children out and we had a great thanksgiving dinner with the cast and crew. It was really nice. There was a great bonding that occured on this film and we felt like family. Billy was my surogate brother at the table and there was William Devane, our family patriarch watching football and enjoying the little kids. It was awesome.

You come from very indie roots and this is a pretty big project. Tell us, how did this project come about?

Oh man. This one came out of nowhere on me. It was so fast, it sent me reeling a little bit, actually. I was developing a really dark and horrific script with After Dark when they told me that Syfy had approved me to direct this other thing they had that was going right away. It was about a town caught up in it’s own dark history with a mythological creature, in this case a leprechaun. I read the script, it made me laugh and I thought, what the hell. I’ll try a creature feature. And we were off to the races.

When we first started watching your films, you were making short, indie films on low, low budgets. Since then, you’ve directed some episodes of MTV’s “Death Valley” and now “Leprechaun’s Revenge”. What are the most important skills that you acquired from your indie days?

Somehow, being able to work fast and cheap is still one of my greatest tools, much to my own damn chagrin. The thing is, the more money they give you, the more they ask for. So while my early stuff was indie short film horror, we didn’t have much, but we had time to deliver. Here I had more money, but the demands were much higher, the bar is raised, so I really felt very much the same as in my early indie stuff. The pressure was on, but in a different way.

I’m sure that a lot of our readers would aspire to follow in your career path… if you could pass on a few pieces of advice to them, what would that be?

My advice is that, with the advent of digital DSLRS and wide bandwidth to boradcast on the internet that occured last decade, you need to buy a camera, write short films, then film them and post them. It’s way easier than in the 90’s when I started and you had to save up to rent film cameras and buy film stock. It’s crazy how easy it is now to access the gear. The saying has always been “Writers write.” Well now it’s “Filmmakers film.” I really believe in just going for it and practicing your craft until people notice. I really do. I love the age we’re in.

So, tell us, where can people find out more about “Leprechaun’s Revenge” and when does it air?

You can see a trailer of it here -- and it airs This Saturday night March 17th at 9pm and I think again at 11pm. So it’ll make a great St. Patrick’s Day party viewing. Just make sure to have some green beer on hand!

What’s next for you? Do you have any more projects in the works?

I’m off to do a high profile web series and after that I’m directing another feature. A ghost story. This one is incredibly dark and character driven. It’s so completely on the other end of the horror spectrum from lighthearted murderous Leprechauns.

I think we're all well aware of the fact that the online world is the future of distribution for us indie horror filmmakers.  It sounds stupid to say that, actually.  I mean, we all know it to be true and people have been saying it for years, but... it hasn't really happened yet.  The technology is all there, it's all possible, yet, for some reason, we're just not there.  Having said that, there's a few guys out there that are blazing the trail and Douglas A Plomitallo is one of those guys.  Check out this great interview about his web based project, "Scared Stiff". 

Tell us about your project, what’s it all about?

“Scared Stiff” is an anthology series of short horror films. The show features a variety of stories featuring an assortment of zombies, ghosts, vampires, serial killers and other fun creatures.

If you don’t mind us asking, what’s your budget for each episode and how do you secure financing?

The show is completely self-financed. Our talented cast and crew graciously volunteer their time to help make the show the best it can be. Over the course of the past three and a half years, I have been slowly purchasing higher-end equipment to help achieve the high production value that we strive for. As far as budget for each episode goes, not counting the cost of the equipment purchases, the cost of each show is actually quite minimal. It is actually rare for the cost of each production to go over 100 dollars. On some of our productions, the only cost will be food and refreshments for the cast and crew.

As of right now, what are your goals for the project and what kinds of things are you doing to make sure you reach your goals?

As the show goes on we aim to continue to raise the production values and to reach a much larger audience. On top of investing money in new gear, we’ve continued to gel as a team and strengthen our talents to help improve the product. We’ve been trying to do some new stuff with the show and add different kinds of content to attract different audiences. We try to give a little something for everyone on the show and I’m confident that with our high quality entertainment and original stories, fans are bound to come across “Scared Stiff” at one point and share with other horror fans. On top of that, we’ve been more active in the social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to try to spread the news of our product.

You’ve chosen to distribute your project online in webisodes. How’s that going and what are your goals now that it’s out there?

On top of creating new content, our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to our existing episodes. “Scared Stiff” is available to watch for free on many sites including YouTube, Vimeo, and Blip and can be downloaded for free on our own website, ScaredStiff.tv. We are confident that by allowing the viewers free access to the content, they will like what they see and want to watch more. We hope to grow our fan base to the point where we can show investors that we have a big enough following where they can help fund our future films with little gamble.

Where can people find out more about the project and watch it?

People can watch and download our shows for free on our website, www.ScaredStiff.tv or they can watch the shows in high-definition on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/scaredstifftv.

Talk about the production. How did it go? Tell us one good or funny story that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of being an indie filmmaker.

Well one story from last summer I won’t forget anytime soon. We were shooting in an old girl scout camp in Kent, CT that had been abandoned for the last 20 years. (The camp is less than a mile way from the location used as Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th Part 2!) To avoid any possible interference, I always kept the gate to the camp locked whether we were in there or not. One afternoon, I was coming back to the camp from lunch and there was a state trooper’s car blocking the gate. I got out of my car and slowly walked up to the patrol car to find out what the deal was. As I approached the car, a trooper immediately jumped out, pointed his gun at me, and yelled “Hold it right there”! He questioned who I was and why I was there. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on but told me to open the gate so he and another trooper could check the premises. The whole time I had no idea what was going on and thought that the production was going to be shut down! To make a long story short, there had been two guys who had been pool hopping around Kent and decided to go skinny-dipping in one of the pools. Little did they know that they had jumped into former speaker of the house Henry Kissinger’s pool and it had now become national security! One thing I am glad I did was before the Patrolman left to go into the camp I warned him that we had a prop gun on set and that one of the actors might have it on him. It turns out that at the time we were driving down to the set, they were testing out the prop gun. The thing looks and sounds like a real gun. I could only imagine what would have happened if the patrolman happened to arrive on set as that gun went off without warning!

What about you? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into indie horror.

I had always been a big horror fan and always wanted to make horror films since I was a kid. A few years ago, I was working a job that regularly had me there for 60 to 70 hours a week. As a creative outlet, I decided to start writing a book of short horror stories to keep myself sane during the demanding schedule. Always being more of a film guy, I couldn’t help but visualize them as movies. I had always being a fan of anthology horror shows such as “Tales from the Darkside” and “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” so I was excited about the idea of actually shooting these stories. I wouldn’t have time to shoot full-length television episodes, and at the time there were no other horror shows on the web so I figured short mini-horror movies would be a novel idea.

Talk about the indie horror scene. Where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

There are so many different options for distribution now than there were just 5 or 6 years ago. The Internet has completely changed the game. Now with YouTube, Vimeo and other video sharing sites, people can share their work all over the world. It is now possible for even low budget indie films to get a distribution deal with Netflix and Hulu. And with niche market message boards and with the influx of social media sites, it is much easier to introduce your film to an audience. Although the other side to it is, with so much material out there, it is easier to have your films get lost in the shuffle so filmmakers need to use that as motivation to try harder to make their films stand out.

Do you have any more projects in the works? What’s next for you?

In addition to “Scared Stiff”, I am constantly working on new projects. Last summer, I produced a feature length zombie film that we hope to have in film festivals this summer. I am also currently editing “The Housesitter” which is the first in a planned trilogy of horror films. Also, very recently I started shooting a documentary that will be released next year. When I am not making movies, I run a production company, D2 Media, which produces television commercials and corporate videos. On top of my film work, I also have several web projects I am working on and am currently writing a book that I hope to have out next year.

It's a remake, sort of, of the 1968 Romero classic, "Night of the Living Dead". What's interesting (and what a lot of people might not know) is that it's completely legal to rip off the original movie, as it's in the public domain due to a mistake made by the original distributor. Because of that, we've seen a few notable re-imaginings, including last year's "Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated", which was very different and very entertaining. 

Now I'm excited to check this one out. James Plumb, the director, offers us up a great interview here, but before we get to it... he'd like to duly credit Victoria Rodway for all the stills that you see here.

Tell us about your film, what’s it all about?

Well, our Producer hesitates to call "Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection" a remake, preferring the phrase "companion piece", but essentially it's a remake of the 1968 Romero classic, set in the UK. However unlike a number of the studio-driven remakes of the past few years, NOTLDR is not a straight, shot for shot remake. Instead it looks at the core concept that made the original NOTLD so powerful, and then goes in its own direction.

For examples of how to do a remake well, I looked to John Carpenter's version of The Thing and Cronenberg's The Fly. Beyond the central idea, these films keep very little of their originals.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget for the film and how did you secure financing?

We're not at a stage when we can throw that figure around yet. But like the original, NOTLDR is a low budget, independent film. Shot in the style of our low budget, independent predecessors. We secured financing through private investors that our producer had worked with in the past.

As of right now, what are your goals for the film and what kinds of things are you doing to make sure you reach your goals?

Well the first goal was to make a feature film! It's my feature film debut and it was a hell of an opportunity. I also wanted to make a real effort to try and redeem remakes. Most of us groan at the thought of another remake, but really we're just not looking forward to a BAD film. My main goal for the film was to make a horror film that was a straightforward horror film. Sounds simple, right? But there are so many action films out there with horror genre set dressing, masquerading as horror films. A girl, two guns and a thousand zombies/vampires/werewolves to be shot at. That's not a horror film.

With NOTLDR we went back to basics, we had characters that the audience could empathise with, so that when horrible things did happen to them (spoilers!) the audience would care and get upset.

What about film festivals? Are you going to enter your film? If you have, how did it do? Tell us about your feelings around the indie film fest circuit.

What's odd is that, in the UK at least, the majority of horror film fests are around Halloween time. By that time I imagine, due to the interest so far, our film will have been released already. Which is a shame because in the UK we have some great horror fests including my personal favourite Abertoir, Wales' only horror fest, run by the wondrous Gaz Bailey. Usually five or six days long, it's a great place for horror fans and filmmakers to get together, drink and watch horror films for 15-16 hours a day. A great atmosphere, I'd definitely recommend it to fans and filmmakers alike.

Talk about distribution. Have you secured distribution? If so, how did you go about doing that? If not, what’s your plan?

It's still early days, at this exact moment we just sent off the picture lock to the Sound Designer, but already we've had some confirmed deals in some territories and plenty of interest from the big names in horror distribution. For the most part, that was on the strength of four things, a "brand" name, a great poster, an intriguing teaser trailer and the hard work of our producer Andrew Jones.

Where can people find out more about the film and/or get their hands on a copy?

Everything's moving so quickly at the moment, but interested parties can find us on twitter: @madsciencefilms and @northbankentertainment. Or at our websites: madsciencefilms.com and northbankentertainment.com. But the teaser trailer is available to view:



Talk about the production. How did it go? Tell us one good or funny story that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of being an indie filmmaker.

Low budget film shoots are really just an endurance test. Its not the money directly that can put pressure on a low budget film, its the time restriction. That being said, surviving on one semi-decent meal a day and a maximum of four hours sleep for ten days was still one of the best experiences of my life.

On day one when we had some practical SFX set and ready to go, and I was surrounded by a hardworking crew made up of true horror fans, it was great to peer through the viewfinder and watch our film come together. For most of the shoot we were at nice secluded locations, so we had plenty of privacy, although we definitely felt the isolation for those ten days. During the course of the shoot I, and most of the cast and crew for that matter, managed to get fake blood all over my clothes. So on the drive back to civilisation, we stopped off to top up on petrol and for the life of me I coudn't figure out why I was getting so many odd looks. It wasn't until I got back in the car that I realised that, in the real world, its not normal for a guy to walk round covered in dried blood. It took me a couple of days to make that mental shift, and to do all my laundry.

What about you? Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into indie horror.

I'm a child of the 80s, raised by the VCR and used to spend hours in my local video shop, just staring at the VHS covers of horror films. When I was very little, that was the closest I'd get to these films, staring at them like works of art in a gallery. When I finally got to see the films, often those with the best covers were the worst films! I always wished that the films would live up to the promise of the posters. But when the films were good, horror films achieved something spectacular. They were able to tackle weighty issues, but make them more "palatable" with the genre set dressings. As a lifelong horror fan, I couldn't wait to develop my own horror projects. The chance to tell a story, convey a message and play with all the toys of film making. I was hooked.

Talk about the indie horror scene. Where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

In the UK, and in South Wales in particular, there seems to be a real horror/exploitation revival going on. Dave Beynon is working on a fascinating documentary called "Industry My Arse!" which looks at the independent British exploitation scene at the height of the VHS boom. SJ Evans and David Melkevik have another great slasher project on the go "New Year's Evil". For me, its a very exciting time as both a fan and a filmmaker.

Do you have any more projects in the works? What’s next for you?

I'm working on a feature film version of my love letter to slasher films "Final Girl" (handy link here: http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/1647/final-girl) which I'm going to fund through the crowdfunding route. I also have another top secret project at the moment, which I'm not allowed to announce just yet.

Tell us about your film, what’s it all about?

The title of my film is "Rage". Rage, tells the story of Dennis Twist, a suburban 30-something whom unintentionally provokes the wrath of a homicidal motorcycle rider.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget for the film and how did you secure financing?

Let's just say that the budget was less than craft services on a Hollywood production. Way under 1 million! All of the financing was secured by individual investors.

As of right now, what are your goals for the film and what kinds of things are you doing to make sure you reach your goals?

Our goals are to get worldwide distribution through all channels: theatrical, VOD, DVD, etc. Currently we are doing heavy social media promotion, as well as reaching out to as many reviewers as possible. In addition to any print or online magazines.

What about film festivals?  Are you going to enter your film?  If you have, how did it do?  Tell us about your feelings around the indie film fest circuit.

Rage has been in over 20 festivals across the globe. It has won multiple awards, including Best Horror Feature (Int Horror & Sci-fi Film Fest, Great Lakes Int Film Fest, Hollywood Independent Film Fest, Worldfest-Houston Int Film Fest and the Horror Quest Film Festival). Lead actress Audrey Walker also picked up the best actress award at Horror Quest.  I loved traveling to the film festivals and meeting great people! I do believe that the festivals need to do a better job at filling the seats however! I also hate the politics! Sometimes, if you have a larger budget, known talent, or just are friends with the director, you just may receive an award that you may not deserve!

Talk about distribution.  Have you secured distribution?  If so, how did you go about doing that?  If not, what’s your plan?

We have not secured distribution as of yet. Our plan is to continue to promote and market the film. Hopefully, that will attract the attention of distributors.

Where can people find out more about the film and/or get their hands on a copy?

People can find out about "Rage" by checking out the website at www.ragethemovie.net or
by following us on twitter at http://twitter.com/ragethemovie.

Talk about the production.  How did it go?  Tell us one good or funny story that demonstrates the trials and tribulations of being an indie filmmaker.

The production went pretty well!. I do have one story to tell. A day before shooting began, we found out that several big Hollywood productions were shooting in the area. They ended up taking some of the locations that we had planned to use! Not only that, but they took up most of the radio bans for walkie talkies. We did some guerilla filmmaking, so we had to be careful not to interfere with their productions and get shut down! One of the Hollywood productions was starring a major actor. So one day we hear on our walkie talkies, "Please bring Mr. so and so to the set".  So, we are all scrambling to change the channel, thinking that we were on the radio band for his movie. Eventually, one of the crew members comes in and when we told him what just occured, he starts laughing and says that it was him just fooling around!

What about you?  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into indie horror.

I have been a horror fan since the 70's. Yes, I am that old!...lol. As a kid Ioved horror movies. My favorites were the old British Dracula movies, produced by Hammer Films. I loved Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Those horse drawn carriages and old castles; wow! I met fellow horror movie fan and "Rage" director Christopher R. Witherspoon in the 90's, when he was looking for investors for a movie. When I saw a poster of the movie "The Reanimator",a film he had worked on, and another personal favorite of mine, I knew I had to work with him.

Talk about the indie horror scene.  Where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

The indie horror scene is where you are going to see original material. Hollywood only seems to want to recycle hit films from the past. The only concern I have is that some filmmakers think that every film has to have buckets of blood and a whole myriad of ways to kill someone! Sometimes simple psychological terror is just as, if not more effective!

Do you have any more projects in the works?  What’s next for you?

The next project I plan on working on is a horror anthology titled, "The Twilight Hotel". It can best be described as "The Twilight Zone" meets Alfred Hitchcock. I will once again be teaming with Christopher R. Witherspoon for the film. After that, who knows! I hope to have a long and successful career!

I'm not going to lie to you, life's been busy lately... and because of that, there's been a recent lack of regular posts. What can I say? New job, new responsibilities and I'm just trying to figure out how to rebalance my life. It happens every now and again. Because of that, I'm struggling with the fact that I'd rather produce a decent post than just rip one off a few times a week and I really don't want to post something that's useless. I did, however, recently receive a very intriguing interview back from Dr. Karen Oughton... finally, something decent to post.

We usually talk with indie horror distributors and filmmakers, but Dr. Oughton is a little different - she's basically a horror aficionado. She's writes, she reviews, she does commentary and, because of all that, she knows a thing or two about the whole scene. In fact, she's just the type of person you want to hear from if you're a filmmaker. She's completely unbiased and she studies the industry - when I figured that out, I figured we should ask her a few questions. Trust me when I say, it's a worthwhile read if you're a filmmaker. However, before you read the interview, feel free to read up on her. You can check out her two websites by clicking on these links: horrorfilmreview.co.uk and karenoughton.co.uk. After you're well versed, check out the interview...

Tell us about the FrightFest and what you do with the festival.

I’m organizer Ian Rattray’s assistant. I write the “Who’s Dead” obituary column, articles and reviews for the e-Magazine and have helped with the editing and checking processes. I was also let loose to coordinate the stage lighting and microphones and liaise with guests before they went on stage for the introductions and Q&A sessions.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What got you into the horror scene?

I’m a journalist, lecturer, commentary provider, film promoter and long-time horror nut! I was hooked by The Pit and The Pendulum when still in pigtails. These days, I love anything that is done well, from The Haunting to A Serbian Film and to Beautiful Girl Hunter (AKA Star of David). I got into the festival circuit after attending the Celluloid Screams festival to take my mind off my PhD exam the next week – replacing one horror with another!

There are some great films screening at different film festivals this year. What are the highlights? Which films really rattled the cages this year?

It has been a varied year in terms of both films and festival audiences. We had everything from giggles ‘n’ gore crowd-pleasers like Hatchet II through to infamous offerings like A Serbian Film and I Spit on Your Grave. These latter two are interesting not only because of their subject matters and the stylistic reasons they incurred the wrath of the British Board of Film Classification, but also because of how different audiences reacted to them. I have seen I Spit on Your Grave three times with different audiences, one looked extremely uncomfortable at the milder sections, one didn’t seem bothered either way, the other cheered through all the nasty bits! A similar thing happened with A Serbian Film. People either picked out the comic elements, understood it as a serious social commentary or saw it simply as an attempt to make the sickest film of all time. Personally, I think it is elements of all three.

A surprise cage-rattler was Jake West’s Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape documentary, but for all the right reasons. It got a particularly good reaction (I suspect) because it is entertaining, is about films people love and (sometimes!) respect, and because the contributors were so enthusiastic. They took part in a fantastic discussion panel at FrightFest. It bought home what a political act a film festival can be, and frankly what we have got to be grateful for. It was brilliant to see the contributors - academics, journalists and directors - mobbed by the world’s politest crowd as soon as they got off the stage. In England that kind of reaction simply isn’t that common an occurrence. The contributors were stunned by the attention as they had done only what they felt was right in standing up for these films when all around were claiming they were corrupting society. It was such an amazing moment.

You also provide audio commentary for Lionsgate. How did you get into that and what’s that process like?

I went to the Celluloid Screams Festival in Sheffield, England and went to a screening of Neighbor. Being an academic specializing in film, I got talking to the producer, Charles St John Smith, afterwards and he invited me to put some ideas together for an audio commentary and a few other marketing tools. He gave me free reign, so after doing some interviews with him, director Robert Angelo Masciantonio and key cast members, I did what I’ve always enjoyed watching but rarely see - a commentary that talks about what is happening, when it happens. People don’t often do it like that because it’s fiddly. I watched the film a few more times to work out what sections needed notes and how long I had to talk about them. I then went into the recording studio, put the DVD on silently and read some of my notes at the right times, but riffed the rest from scratch and sometimes included information I had been given by the producer and director. I tailored my tone to fit the film – sensible when it was serious, playful when it was funny, and down right filthy when The Girl got going! I’m used to public speaking, so most of it was done in one take. When we’d finished, we did some editing work and sent the whole thing through to Lionsgate, who approved it.

Talk about where horror is at right now. What trends do you see going on and where do you see things going?

Well this year it was all about the different guises of gore, gore, gore! FrightFest was a really good indicator of this, as it showed how gore is used in different subgenres of horror. There’s homage horror in the veins of Hatchet 2 which makes the appreciation of the execution of the gore (ewwww!) a main part of the audience’s experience, there was the fabulous F, which shows a trend towards the incorporation of horror into real life scenarios (as could also be seen in Cherry Tree Lane), and there’s supernatural shocker in films such as 13 Hrs.

In terms of the future, my guess is that we will see two distinct strands of scream films: those that continue in the shrieking with laughter slasher vein and an increasing focus on serious subjects. Horror is becoming more widely appreciated. In the past, (as I found out when researching the “Who’s Dead” Obituaries column for FrightFest Ezine), horror films were what you did to gain experience - a number of mainstream industry professionals had horror films buried down in the darkest depths of their CVs. Now it has gone mainstream and A list actors like Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton are appearing in features and Dr Who’s David Tennant is currently filming the Fright Night remake! It’s taken seriously as a genre now, is featured on university courses (including mine!), and it’s becoming far more acceptable to like even the more hardcore stuff. This is great because it means that horror can continue to develop and give fans just what they want, be it a horror-action flick, a slick slasher, a really great ghost story, or indeed anything else in between. And the best thing is that more and more films are coming through that are so good at turning the thumbscrews they blow everything else away.

Now, as we’re a site about indie horror, let’s talk about low-budget, indie horror. In your opinion, what does it take for a film to break through and have mass appeal?

Well, I’ve seen one heck of a lot of indie horror and wrote a review of the Raindance Film Festival for the FrightFest e-Magazine this year, and from what I can see there is really only one absolute necessity: decent actors or character representation. They don’t have to be playing serious characters but they do need to buy into the scenario they’re portraying. If they do, the film is probably going to be watchable and, importantly, remembered. If they don’t, it just becomes another low-budget blood and bore-fest. Of course, this is discounting the whole issue of luck and being seen in the right place at the right time, but having just turned off a great indie film with a good premise and great camera work but absolutely awful acting, I’m becoming more and more convinced that if you don’t have the actors to convey it, even the best story will just die. Horribly. In great pain.

What’s next for you?

Well, I’m writing for film magazines including Fangoria and Scream: The Horror Magazine, am scheduled to appear as a special guest on a few radio shows (I can’t say which as they’re making a formal announcement soon), am developing a new horror review website and am in discussions over one or two film projects. I also teach media communications (including film studies) at Regent’s American College London (Webster University). If I’m not laying awake in the night thinking about what might go ‘bump’, appear or bite, there’s something wrong!

I don't know about you, but I discovered horror in the 80's, more specifically... the mid to late 80's. In 1986, I was in 6th grade - 12 or 13 years old. So, really, if I discovered horror any earlier, my parents may have had child services called on them. In any case, this is when I first discovered Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, "Evil Dead", "Re-Animator", Troma films and "Return of the Living Dead". This was the heyday for me, when watching horror was both fun and scary at the same time. This is the era that made me a horror fan. This is the era that made me look for more films and go back and find old films that had been forgotten, as well as search for new obscure films that no one could find. 80's horror is why Dead Harvey exists today. Why do I mention this? Because I'm not alone... this era influenced lots of writers, filmmakers and fans, including Dan Riesser, writer/director of the short horror film, "Night of the Punks", a film that is obviously inspired by the likes of "Return of the Living Dead" and other 80's horror comedies.

I have to say, "Night of the Punks" was a breath of fresh air. So many filmmakers try to take themselves, or their films, too seriously and we really need to remember that we're not curing cancer here, we're just trying to entertain... and "Night of the Punks" definitely did that. It looked great, it was well acted and I never broke away from the film or wondered how much time was left, which I tend to wonder often. The film is an homage to 80's horror and it stayed very true to its roots. So much so, that it made me want to dig it out all those old films that I haven't seen in forever. It also made me remember some of the things that I forgot I loved about horror... namely tongue in cheek humor that most people don't get. The film was a joy to watch and I hope to see more from Riesser in the near future... until then, we'll have to settle for this interview.

So, Dan, tell us about “Night of the Punks”, what’s it all about?

NOTP is a horror-comedy short about a small town punk rock band that heads to their first out of town gig, only to discover the promoter has brought them there to be a ritual sacrifice for a pack of bloodthirsty demons from hell. It's a throwback to the fun horror flicks of the 1980's.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget and how did you secure financing?

Budget was about 8k. I did a little bit of fundraising via Kickstarter.com (to cover my craft services budget and make sure my crew got fed well) but other than I paid for it myself.

The film looked great, what did you shoot on?

It was shot on the Canon Mark II 5D DSLR.

Talk about creating the look of the… punks. Obviously, zombie inspired. Is that what you were going for?

The look of the punks came from my makeup designer Dan Russo. I'm really lucky that he came on board, because the original makeup ideas were really tame compared to what he came up with. I always envisioned them with green boils, sharp teeth, pale complexion but beyond that Dan came up with rest. It's funny, because everyone is constantly calling the film a "zombie" movie and I have to correct them. But I suppose that's part of it... The characters aren't sure at first what they're facing, and I guess people's first thought is zombies. I personally think zombies are a bit played out nowadays.

Talk about the gore and the effects, all of which were practical effects, I believe. What was your favorite and how was it accomplished?

My writer and I wrote a bunch of gags that we had no clue how to pull off, but once again, we were lucky to have Dan Russo. The big lesson I'd give to other filmmakers is... if you don't know how to do something the right way, HIRE someone who does. My favorite effect is hands down the drumstick eye gouge. It was done using a prosthetic over the eyes with two tubes strung underneath it and an actor who was willing to work blind for a couple hours. The demon blood is just milk and green food coloring.

I’m going to assume that “Return of the Living Dead” was a big influence on this film. What other films influenced you?

ROTLD is a huge influence and the other one is Kevin Tenney's "Night of the Demons." Those two movies are quite possibly my two favorite horror films and they are both referenced pretty obviously throughout the movie. Other movies that inspired NOTP include Dead Alive, Evil Dead, Night of the Creeps.

Now, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get in to indie horror and film?

I've always wanted to write and direct movies. I actually didn't gravitate towards horror specifically that much until I started getting serious about filmmaking. I honestly wasn't into it when I was little - I hope militant horror buffs don't hold that against me. Once I started really paying attention to how films are made and writing feature length scripts, I discovered how much I like horror. The majority of the scripts I've written are horror or have horror elements, but I don't think I'm 100% a horror guy. There are movies I'd like to make in every genre.

Film school: yes or no?

Not really. I was in a journalism/communications program in college. It was in Washington DC too, so it was very politics heavy. But my buddies and I managed to tweak the curriculum to allow us to make more creative projects. My only legitimate film school experience would be a semester abroad in Prague, where I shot a short on 16mm. I learned more in those 3 months than the rest of my time as an undergrad.

Talk about your goals behind making “Night of the Punks”. Is it for accolades, for a reel, for festivals?

A little bit of everything. I wasn't satisfied with my last attempt at a legitimate horror short, it still had a very "amateur film school" feel to it. I wanted to make something bigger, crazier, and something that looks like it has a budget. I hope that it showcases what I could do with some real money, and will lead to bigger work down the road. And yes, I hope it plays at lots of festivals (it's doing pretty well so far). My co-writer and I are currently writing the feature length version, so maybe someone will be interested in making it. It's all a learning experience too... I've got to get all my mistakes out of my system with short films before I make the jump to a feature.

Talk about the indie horror scene, where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

There are always tons of movies I'm reading about online and getting excited to see, so I'm happy with horror right now. And there's a lot of people doing really awesome work on the cheap. I've been dying to see Gareth Edwards' "Monsters," which he made pretty much by himself for 15k. And you got guys like Ti West & Adam Green who are doing original, low budget, awesome work. I hope those guys get to keep doing what they're doing and I get to join their ranks soon.

Where can people check your film out?

It's got a bunch of festival screenings coming up in October. It was accepted to SCREAMFEST LA, which is a major genre festival. I'm really stoked for that one. It's also playing in Philadelphia, Washington DC, and a bunch more. All the screening details are on our website - nightofthepunks.com - I'm looking into distribution options and hopefully there will be some kind of DVD release. If not, it'll eventually make its way online.

What’s next?

My next project is going to be my first feature film. Not sure what it'll be yet, depends on money really. We're looking for investors for a couple different ideas and if I need to fund a super low budget 5k feature myself, I will. I hope to be shooting my first feature by next summer.