Son Of Celluloid's Video Interview With Fred Vogel

It was getting close to midnight on a cold Sunday night in February.  The madness that was Days of the Dead Atlanta 2014 was over.  Most of the celebrities were on their planes home and the unconventional conventionalists had returned to their lairs to sleep off their buzzes and gush over the treasures they purchased.  Those of us left at the hotel were brutally tired.  The walking dead weren't all on TV that evening.  I can't speak for everyone, but I was in that weird space where you're simultaneously hung over from the previous three nights and still drunk from that day.  It was at this bleary-eyed witching hour that one of the coolest events of the weekend occurred.  

I had been trying to get together with Fred Vogel, who I refer to as the Patron Saint of the Underground, for an interview all weekend.  He was busy as hell, as was I, so the calm after the storm proved to be the right time to sit down for a chat.  If I need to explain who he is, then report to Remedial Independent Horror101 on the double.  Few people embody the SOC battle cry of "SUPPORT INDEPENDENT HORROR" like him.  Fred (along with his lovely wife Shelby), is the mastermind behind TOETAG Inc.  He's been spreading the sickness for almost a decade and a half with movies like Redsin Tower, Sella Turcica, Maskhead, Murder Collection, and the infamous August Underground trilogy.  
The original plan was to chop this interview up and incorporate it into episoides of The Son Of Celluloid Show, but since the show is taking so long and this interview is too good to hack up (although that would be kinda fitting), I decided to go ahead and put it out there.  My only regret is turning the camera off.  Once the official interview was over, he hung out and shot the shit for about an hour, all of which was a golden education in the world of indie horror.  Talking to Fred was a true pleasure, and I think you'll dig the video.

 

For all of your TOETAG Needs, go to http://www.toetag.biz/

Interview: James Balsamo of Acid Bath Productions

In my mind, it almost feels like James Balsamo's Acid Bath Productions and Son of Celluloid have grown up together.  His filmmaking career started around the same time the blog did, and he was one of the first filmmakers to contact me about reviewing his flicks.  He's a good friend of the blog, and I look forward to meeting him in person at Days of the Dead Atlanta, where he's gonna be a guest.  See, there's yet another reason to go HERE and enter the contest for passes to the convention.  He's gonna be a guest at Texas Frightmare Weekend in May (details HERE) too.  I got in on James's work at the ground floor with Hack Job, then watched his progression in I Spill Your Guts, and now, as the release of his third feature Cool As Hell approaches, I invited James to talk to the Cellmates about nudity, old school movie novelizations, filmmaking, Troma, and Oderus Urungus's Ed Wood moment.  Check it out...

SOC:  When was the first time you remember watching a horror movie and thinking “THAT’S what I wanna do with my life!”

 JB: I was eight years old and watching Friday the 13th Part III with my father – I was loving every minute of it (until they showed Jason's mother's severed rotting head...that scared the crap out of me). Soon after, my own mother (with a head on her shoulders) asked me if I wanted to join an acting school. That's when it hit me! I could be that guy behind the mask. I'm not a sports fan or a horticulture enthusiast; I eat sleep and breathe horror films, so it was clear from a young age I wanted to live and work among the monsters and madmen of cinema universe.

SOC:  You were an intern at Troma for a while. What did you learn about filmmaking and the film business during your time there?

JB: Troma was a great learning experience. I missed working on set for Poultrygeist. I started working there after they had wrapped Night of the Chicken Dead, and left Troma way before they started their new venture, Return to Nuke ‘Em High. So, I ended up learning the ropes of the business side of film making, and it is a business. Becoming CEO of my own company was no easy task. Troma helped me lay the ground work by teaching me the ropes and making me take out the trash and sweep. I recently returned to Troma to tell Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz that my films were sold all over the world. Lloyd and Michael shook my hand and said that I went from errand boy to respected film maker. I couldn't have done it without the help of Troma, but now Acid Bath Productions is making a name for itself.

SOC:  Your movies are always packed with cameos (Dave Brockie, Lynn Lowry, Tim Ritter, Joel Reed, Andrew W.K., Debbie Rochon, Carmine Capobianco). How do you go about getting all of these great people involved?

 JB: Acid Bath Productions is a growing company. Now that we have worked with so many major artists, people contact us left and right to work together. It's really an amazing thing - while making "Hack Job,” we reached out to so many people in the horror community that we really made some strong roots that have helped us branch out to so many new notables.

SOC:  If you could pick anyone you haven’t worked with yet to be in one of your flicks, who would it be?

 JB: Dick Miller. I'm a big fan of his work. One of my favorite Miller films is "Demon Knight". I was honored to recently be asked to be a guest with Dick Miller at Days of the Dead convention in Atlanta. So, I’m looking forward to meeting him in person.

SOC:  Considering some of the real life characters you’ve worked with, I bet you have some pretty funny on-set stories. Care to share one with us?

JB: Filming is always an adventure. Working with some of the industry's top notables is really the icing on the cake. There are really some great stories on set, like when filming "Hack Job," Dave Brockie dressed as Oderus kept screaming that this was his Bela Lugosi moment, as if I was Ed Wood making "Plan 9". We filmed with Lynn Lowry at her house and she has cats...I'm allergic to cats. She starts rubbing my face out of nowhere in the scene, so I had to take a break to have an allergic reaction coughing fit on her front lawn. There are so many stories on set I think one day I'll write a book about my adventures so I don't want to give too much away.

SOC:  Your films also feature lots of gratuitous nudity, which is becoming a rarity. Why do you think horror movies these days generally shy away from nudity?

 JB: I really don't know why horror movies shy away from gratuitous nudity now, but Acid Bath Productions is picking up the slack. We are jam packing our films with all the bare skin you can shake a fist up and down to. Nudity is a primal desire, and we’ve picked up a motto that anyone that tells you they don't enjoy nudity is too afraid to admit it. We don't make porn; we just know how to make our audience happy. Filming it isn't a bad perk either, but it is always a professional atmosphere for the cast and crew on set when we have nude shoots.

SOC:  There seems to have been a big resurgence in anthologies on the indie horror scene lately, with Hack Job being near the beginning of the wave. What made you decide on an anthology for your first flick as opposed to a regular feature?

JB: "Hack Job" really spear headed the comeback of anthologies. In fact I had self-distributed "Hack Job" months before "Chillerama" hit stores. I had always wanted my first film to be an anthology. I started out making short films, and an anthology is essentially short films sewn together with one overlying story. Needless to say, this is a great format for starting film makers. I grew up on films like "CreepShow", and "Tales From The Darkside.” It was a great starting point to pay homage to those films.

SOC:  The Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space, who did the theme song from Hack Job, are one of my favorite bands of all time. How did that collaboration come about?

JB: I was a big fan of BZFOS myself, before we worked together. I told them about "Hack Job" and they loved the concept of collaboration. I sent them the lyrics I had in my mind and they wrote an amazing song around it. We have become such good friends since "Hack Job," we decided to work together again and they did the theme song for my new film "Cool As Hell".

SOC:  With the war veteran motif of I Spill Your Guts, were you going for social commentary or was it just a good backdrop for the blood and tits?

JB: The military was a great backdrop for revenge and mutilation. I'm not a preachy filmmaker and I don't use my films as a soap box to stand on. I have my own views on the world and I just try to play devil's advocate and show both sides of the bayonet, so to speak.

SOC:  A novelization of I Spill Your Guts is a cool idea. Very old school. Did you always envision ISYG as a book and movie, or did the book idea come later?

JB: The novel idea was not something originally planned from the start, but now that the film has been adapted I couldn't be happier with it. Nick Kisella did an amazing job and he really makes the blood run right off the pages. You should go get a copy!  

SOC:  A lot of the time, the book and movie will have plot differences. How closely does the book follow the flick?

 JB: More or less, the plot is the same, but some of the kills have been modified. There is also a ton of character development. The novel really portrays Dennis (the killer) as the victim and you take his side of the story. As most horror movie fans know the killer is star of the show, and the novel really keeps The American Executioner burning bright as he hacks and slashes his way into our hearts.

SOC: Speaking of Old School ideas, I Spill Your Guts just got a limited edition VHS release. What are your thoughts on the whole collector’s VHS market that has sprung up all of a sudden?

JB: Let’s just say there is a VCR in my soul and when Matt from Horror Boobs Video contacted me about doing a release on VHS, I had to "tape" him up on his offer. Is that enough with the VHS puns or do I have to be kind and rewind?  Zinger!

SOC: What has it been like working with Wild Eye Releasing? They seem to have been on a roll lately, putting out some great indie horror flicks, including Hack Job and I Spill Your Guts.

 JB: Working with Wild Eye has been great. "Hack Job" really sparked the wave of awesome titles they released. Wild Eye and Acid Bath Productions will be working together again to release "Cool As Hell".

SOC:  Your next flick, Cool as Hell, is coming out in February. Tell us about it.

 JB: Rich wasn't always a samurai sword wielding zombie slayer! He was your average comic book store employee, until he met a demon named Az. When Az came from Hell, he left the portal open and a soul hungry beast escaped. Rich and his roommate Benny used to have girl troubles, but that's the least of their worries now. They have to stop the creature and the living dead that have crawled out of Hell. Who would have thought Rich would have to save the world just to get laid?

SOC:  After Cool as Hell, what’s next from you and Acid Bath?

 JB: Acid Bath Productions has yet to officially announce its next project, but I can tell you that you will see the American Executioner kill again.

SOC:  What quality is more important for an indie horror filmmaker to possess, technical skill or passion for the genre?

JB: As an indie filmmaker I believe it's important to have both. Technical skill is essential because as an indie filmmaker, you are competing with the best and you have to hold some ground in the industry. Horror fans have something most other genre viewers don’t - suspension of disbelief - they accept the fact that a monster could roam the streets or that a hockey masked zombie could come back again and again after "dying" at the end of sequel after sequel. That takes passion and I think that is what really makes a great indie filmmaker.

SOC:  Any last words for the Cellmates (readers)?

 JB: Be sure to follow us on Twitter @acidbathproduct and don't forget to pick up your copy of "Hack Job" at hackjobmovie.com and "I Spill Your Guts" at ispillyourguts.com. Don’t forget that "Cool As Hell" hits stores worldwide February 19, 2013. Also be sure to check out the "I Spill Your Guts" the novel HERE. 

Cool As Hell Trailer:

Son of Celluloid is Maynard Morrisey's Horror Blog of the Month

Every month Maynard Morrissey's Horror Movie Diary chooses a horror blog to bestow the honor of being Horror Blog of the Month upon. In the past they've recognized such luminaries as Horror Movie a Day, Zombies Don't Run, Back Online Back on Duty, Full Moon Reviews, and The Girl Who Loves Horror. Well folks, I'm proud to say that this month, it's SOC's turn in the spotlight. Yes folks, Son of Celluloid joins the illustrious list as July's Horror Blog of the Month. Click on that picture below to be transported to the interview I did with Mr. Morrissey. While you're there, take a look around, because there's a lot of awesome going on over there. Thank you to Maynard, thank you to all of the Cellmates, and "Welcome" to you folks checking SOC out for the first time. Stick around, I promise we don't bite...

Video: My interview with Laurence Harvey from Days of the Dead Atlanta.

I had run into Laurence Harvey a few times throughout the course of Days of the Dead Atlanta, and marveled at how this genuinely friendly, well spoken English gentleman had portrayed the brutal psychotic Martin in Human Centipede so effectively. He told me that if I came by his booth on Sunday he'd be glad to do an interview. Sunday morning rolled around, and I approached him and asked if now was a good time. He looked at me with eyes full of the kind of desperation only known by those working the morning after a night of serious partying and asked "Do you have a cigarette?" With that we stepped outside and filmed this. Probably my favorite moment was before the camera started rolling. I said as diplomatically as possible so as not to offend him "We should sit down. It will make framing easier since there's a bit of a height difference." Mr. Harvey, who, as you can see from the pic is kinda diminutive, smiled and sarcastically laughed "Oh, you noticed!" One thing I do need to point out here; during the interview, he announces that he and Dieter Laser were going to appear together in Human Centipede 3: Final Sequence. Since we did this interview, it has sadly been announced that Deiter Laser has left the cast. Damn, I was so looking forward to seeing Martin and Dr. Heiter together. Oh well. This was one of my favorite interviews from the con, and I felt fortunate to catch him at his first event like this. The video isn't so good on this one because for some reason I had to render it at a lower resolution to get the video and audio to sync up right. I'm still learning as far as the whole video editing and rendering thing goes since I went to a crappy film school, so bear with me. It's still a great interview though. Laurence is the man. The credits song is "Ass to Mouth" by Justin. There's a link in the video description. I couldn't think of a more fitting song. Watch, share, comment, and enjoy.

Video: My interview with Sean Whalen from Days of the Dead Atlanta.

It's time for another interview from Days of the Dead. This time it's Sean Whalen. Horror fans probably know him best as Roach from People Under the Stairs (one of my favorites), but you've also seen him in Idle Hands, Laid to Rest, and the classic "Aaron Burr" Got Milk commercial among many others. Sean was really cool. I think my favorite moment was the look on his face when I asked him about Python. There's some static going on in parts of the audio, and I have no idea what happened. This is the only interview it happened on. No clue. Whatever, I'm posting it anyway, screwed up sound and all. So there. Anyway, go check out Sean's videos on youtube, particularly Dorothy 50 Years Later, it's funny as hell. Enjoy, and I'll post another interview next week. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, comment on the video. I like comments. Just humor me.



By the way, the music that you hear over the credits is "Forsaken (Requiem)" by The Crimson Ghosts.  It's off of their album Dead Eyes Can See. They're bad ass, go check 'em out HERE.

Interview with horror artist Chris Kuchta

As promised, here's my interview with Chris Kuchta, the artist behind that incredible The Thing shirt Son of Celluloid is giving away. You know, the one you all entered to win. What? What do you mean you haven't entered yet? What the hell is wrong with you? Go HERE and enter NOW, then come back and read the interview. We'll wait...OK. Are you entered? Good, then let's proceed.

SOC: What came first, your love of horror or your love of art?

CK: With me, those loves came at the same time. I think, as a kid as well as now, painting and drawing is my way of offering a unique perspective to art and horror. Art came as a reaction to what I seen as a child. Comics and horror movies.

SOC:You’ve said in interviews that your influences were horror mags like Creepy and Famous Monsters of Filmland, comic books, horror movies, and, interestingly, weird roadside attractions. I’m a huge fan of roadside kitsch attractions and tourist traps. Can you explain how places like that inspire you?

CK: I think that there is nothing more American than the sideshow. Roadside kitsch is another form of that. When I was a kid I was lucky enough to have grandparents who would take me on these month long cross country road trips in the summer. I think that I hit every used bookshop, museum, flea market and roadside attraction in the lower 48 during the 1980s. Somehow the lowbrow art aspect and weird kitsch nostalgia of it all played a part in my later years when picking my aesthetic path in art. It’s all about the ballyhoo and sell of a two headed calf or the Minnesota Iceman. That will permanently change your artistic path!

SOC: What was the first horror character you saw that made you say, “I want to paint that?”

CK: Frankenstein. No doubt. My grandmother bought me the Frankenstein illustrated by Berni Wrightson and I was hooked. I had to have a go at that.

SOC: Your color work is very sumptuous and saturated, but you also do a lot of sepia toned pieces. How do you approach these pieces differently?

CK: Only when looking at the subject matter. Some of the sepia toned pieces are exactly as I remember them.

SOC: One thing I love about your painting is that all of your pieces have a real sense of texture. Do you achieve that mainly through the colors, the visible brush strokes, or other techniques?

CK: When I went to art school in Chicago at American Academy I was trained to paint Alla Prima. Just paint, no pencil drawing underneath. It’s a very honest way of painting. So you find the shapes based upon their value then paint up in value and intensity. Brush strokes are a way that the artist can convey himself through the subject matter so in my humble opinion you should leave them in. Why not? What would be left if you grind it all away?

SOC: You paint a lot of the more iconic characters from throughout horror history. There hasn’t been whole lot of iconic characters created since the 80’s slasher boom. What characters from the last 20 years ago would you classify as icons?

CK: Jigsaw. Chromeskull is having quite a run. They have made a shitload of Wrong Turn movies too, so it seems mutant cannibal retards are iconic. But anyone would know that that comes from the 80s!

SOC: What’s your favorite reaction you’ve ever gotten from a horror star to a painting you’ve done of them?

CK: My hands down favorite was Clive Barker. We talked a lot, and as an artist himself, really got on about painting. It was really great meeting him. He came back to my booth and talked with me and the wife. A terrific person.

SOC: Probably my favorite piece of yours is the Masque of the Red Death Vincent Price portrait. You actually have a few paintings of Vincent Price, who is my all time favorite actor. Have you ever gotten the chance to show them to any members of his family?

CK: Not yet unfortunately. Maybe soon...

SOC: Is there a film or character that you’d love to paint but you either haven’t gotten around to yet or can’t get a handle on how to approach?

CK: There are a ton I want to do but haven't gotten around to yet. Working on an Alien and trying to incorporate a Giger bio-mechanical style into my style is one im’ working on now.

SOC: In the film making world, filmmakers who make horror often aren’t taken as seriously as those in other genres. Does the same bias exist in the art world?

CK: The macabre if off putting. If you embrace the macabre you accept the consequences. That’s what horror movies teach us!

SOC: Tell us about Psycho Street and how got involved as the poster artist.

CK: Me and Marv Blauvelt were at our first show together, set up right next to each other. We talked about a lot of stuff and over the years knew that we had a common love for all things Hammer Horror and old movie posters. When Psycho Street came along he wanted a classical horror painting that looked authentic, and knew just the guy to call!

SOC: You do creature and concept designs for film. Can you tell us about any projects coming up where we’ll get to see your work translated onscreen?

CK: I can’t talk pre production projects, but as far as movie monster design goes and future work, one project that I would love to work on is a werewolf movie that Marv is trying to get together. I’d love to do the design on that one as well as the poster.

SOC: Every horror fan has the idea for their great horror film opus tucked in the back of their mind somewhere. What’s yours?

CK: We truly don't have enough space for this but one that I would love to do is a classical monster mash picture. All lit like the color in my paintings!

SOC: We’re giving away a T-shirt featuring your The Thing artwork. Can you tell us a little bit about that particular piece?

CK: Easily one of the finest horror movies of all time. That piece was fun and challenging to do. Showed it to John Carpenter and he really thought that I captured the likeness of Kurt Russell.

SOC: Any last words?

CK: Hell yes! Everyone reading this and liking it needs to check out my work at http://www.horrorartist.com/ and friend me on Facebook and buy my shitty paintings so I can continue to make more shitty paintings! And support horror movies by watching horror movies so that better horror movies will be made! DO ALL THESE THINGS NOW!!!!! "You may now return to your regularly scheduled program..."

Video: My interview with Mark Patton from Days of the Dead Atlanta.

One last post before i head off for my weekend of bloodshed. At Days of the Dead Atlanta, I got a chance to sit down with Mark Patton, who is best known to horror fans as Jesse in Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Mark is well known for being one of the most approachable and fan friendly celebrities on the convention circuit, and it's obvious why. He was very cool, and talked to be for almost 15 minutes about NOES 2, being a Scream Queen, his other flicks, and what he's been up to lately. It was a fun interview, check it out.

Video: My interview with Sid Haig from Days of the Dead Atlanta.

I've finally got all of the camera connectivity issues solved, so its time to start sharing the interviews from Days of the Dead Atlanta. On Sunday, when everyone was half dead following the drunken debauchery of Friday and Saturday night, Leah and I set off to interview everyone we could, and we started off with a bang. I'm not easily starstruck, but I'll admit, I was a little nervous for my first celebrity interview on camera to be with one of my idols, the one and only muthaf'n Sid Haig! He was really cool though. People kept running into my camerawoman, someone kept screwing around with the lights, everyone was hungover, but it was one of the greatest moments of my life. We chatted for almost 15 minutes about his career, his characters, and his upcoming flicks. They say you never forget your first time, and I know I certainly won't. Hell, it's on youtube if I do. Check it out...

Submit your Days of the Dead questions.

We're less than three weeks away from Days of the Dead Atlanta (check out their website HERE). Since it's Atlanta's first horror convention, you know Son of Celluloid will be there covering the event. I'm going to be prowling the hotel and interviewing anyone and everyone I can. That's where you come in. Below is the guest list for the con. I know you've got those burning questions you've always wanted to ask these folks. Well, here's your chance. If there's anything you want me to ask any of them (provided I get the opportunity), tell me and I'll be glad to ask for you. Leave comments with your queries, and I'll see you at DOTD.

- Rowdy Roddy Piper (They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown, WWF)

- Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects, Spider Baby, Galaxy of Terror, Big Bird Cage)

- Bill Moseley (TCM 2, House of 1000 Corpses, NOTLD90, Repo)

- Gary Busey (Piranha 3DD, Predator 2, Silver Bullet)

- Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons, Silent Night Deadly Night, my dreams...er…I mean Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers)

- Mark Patton (NOES 2)

- PJ Soles (Halloween, Carrie, Rock & Roll High School, Uncle Sam)

- Dey Young (Rock & Roll High School, Serpent & the Rainbow, Running Man)

- Amelia Kinkade (Night of the Demons 1-3)

- Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Chopping Mall, Lords of Salem)

- Laurence Harvey (Human Centipede 2)

- Jeff Burr (dir: From a Whisper to a Scream, TCM3, Pumpkinhead 2, Puppetmaster 4)

- Tyler Mane (Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 and 2, X-Men, WCW)

- Micah Sloat (Paranormal Activity 1&2)

- Circus Envy & Lily White (local horror hosts, official DOTDA MC’s)

- Elissa Dowling (Dread, Theatre Bizarre, Bloody Bloody Bible Camp)

- Derek Mears (Friday the 13^th remake, Hills Have Eyes 2, Predators)

- Brian Steele (Predators, Underworld, Hellboy)

- John Russo (writer/producer Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Santa Claws)

- Ari Lehman (Friday the 13^th, First Jason (band), ThanXgiving)

- Walking Dead Zombies: Melissa Cowen, Ashleigh Joe Sizemore, Larry Mainland, Sonya Thompson, Charles Casey, Keisha Tellis

- Nick Principe (Laid to Rest 1&2, Madison County)

- Alex Vincent (Child’s Play 1&2)

- J. LaRose (Saw 3&4, Insidious, Mother’s Day)

- Jake Busey (Starship Troopers, The Frighteners, Identity)

- Tom Woodruff Jr. (effects: Pumpkinhead, Aliens, Monster Squad, Leviathan, Tremors)

- Alec Gillis (effects: Galaxy of Terror, Aliens, Monster Squad, Leviathan, Tremors)

- George Kosana (Night of the Living Dead, The Booby Hatch, Incest Death Squad)

- Patterson Lundquist (Elvira Impersonator)

- Taaffe O’Connell (Galaxy of Terror, New Year’s Evil, Caged Fury)

- Nivek Ogre (Skinny Puppy (band), Repo: The Genetic Opera, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams)

Interview: Dear God No! director James Bickert Part 2

Here's the second part of my interview with James Bickert, the director of Dear God No! (REVIEW) If you missed part one, CHECK IT OUT HERE. What are you thinking? Why the hell would you start reading part 2 first? Come on now. I swear, sometimes I wonder about you people...

SOC: All of the actors looked pretty comfortable on those bikes. Were they bikers turned actors or actors turned bikers?

JB: They were dirtbags turned bikers. They were mainly musicians. A lot of us had experience with motorcycles just because we’re goofballs who grow up in trailer parks and drink a lot of beer and hang out at drive-ins. Jett actually dressed like Evel Knievel and jumped a bunch of flaming bags of popcorn at one of the Drive-Invasion’s (get info about that event here). We did get lied to by one of our actors who said he knew how to ride a motorcycle and hadn’t ever ridden one. He learned that day, and luckily we had insurance and he didn’t kill himself or anybody. The one guy who had the most experience was the only guy who dropped a bike.

SOC: I’ve been involved in shooting a rape scene and sometimes it’s hard to get the actors and actresses to give you the intensity necessary to make it believable. Was the rape scene in Dear God No hard to shoot in that respect?

JB: No, the only way that thing was really hard to shoot was that we were exhausted. That was our longest shooting day. I think we shot for 20 hours. That was a brutal day. The whole point of us shooting 20 hours that day was that we didn’t want to go back to that set, so we just had to get it done that night. By the time we were shooting that we were all loopy as hell, and I think that added a lot to it. It was kinda like the stories from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the dinner scene where they were all going nuts because it was such a long day and it was hot and they could smell the pet crematorium next door. So the actress started thinking they were really going to kill her. We just wanted to get the f**k out of there at that point. I think the women were like “Yeah, rape me, please, do anything, just say wrap!”

SOC: One of the times I laughed hardest in the film was at the Corman’s Malt Liquor. Are there more of those type of homages that viewers will catch on subsequent viewings?

JB: Yeah. I’m a graphic designer, so I filled the film full of little subtle things like that. In the Larry’s office scene there are these boxes that say R.A. Meyer Bra Company like they’re stock left over from one of Russ Meyer’s films or something. The bait store had a ton. There were cans of Jess Franc-O’s on the shelf. (He told me about quite a few more, but it just wouldn’t be any fun if we gave them all away now would it?)

SOC: After you finished shooting, you took to Kickstarter to raise your completion funds. How did that work out for you and would you recommend it to other indy filmmakers?

JB: Yeah I would. It worked out great, we raised it really quick. It kinda slowed us down because we raised the money in, like, 10 days and then we had to wait 45 days to get the money because of that. We could have gone into transferring the film into digital a lot faster if we could have known we’d get that kind of response.

SOC: The poster is amazing. That’s another thing that’s becoming a lost art in the movie industry. How important is a good poster?

JB: It’s very important. We did a trailer and got a huge boost across the internet, but when we got Thomas Hodge to do that poster and that thing got released, man, the whole thing just went ape shit. It went f**king nuts. It’s ridiculous when you look at modern movie posters. One thing I don’t get that I noticed they started doing about the mid 90’s is they’ll have a photograph of, say, four actors, but their names won’t be in the order of their faces. They’re in some weird order. What the hell is that all about? You understand this, what lured us in and got our money was VHS boxes and the old one-sheets that were geared towards drive-ins and grindhouses. It’s like David Friedman said, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Well, we’re trying to give you the sizzle and the steak. We need to give you the sizzle with the poster so you’ll eat our steak. Yeah I think it’s a lost art and I think that’s a shame. I mean, even the McGinnis James Bond posters that were so amazing. Now they’d just rather have some pretty boy up there pointing a gun in a photograph. Man, f**k photography and I’m a photography major. I collect movie posters. I’ve got a huge collection. I really like a lot of Belgian movie posters. They would have their own artists in Belgium doing these posters, and they wouldn’t be based on the American artwork. The same with some of the Italian Localinas. If you see some of the Polish ones they’re f**king insane. They look like some US ad campaign for recycling or something from the 70’s if someone dropped a bunch of acid. I love it. I’m a huge fan, especially the AIP stuff. It’s a big part of a film. It’s huge.

SOC: Now that the movie is done and out how happy are you with the finished product?

JB: I’m ecstatic. I think we pulled off something really terrific and I have no complaints about it. It came out perfect. It’s just what I wanted and the response has been great. The people I’ve been working with are fantastic. I just want to make more, and we’re going to.

SOC: In the past few years grindhouse/drive-in/exploitation films have had a big resurgence in popularity. Why do you think they’re becoming so popular again?

JB: Because Hollywood’s remaking everything and they don’t have any ideas. They’re just redoing the same things. There’s also this thing where everything is getting so hi def that they’re losing some basic elements of what drew people to movies to begin with. Old movies, especially from that late 60’s and early 70’s era, they had it. I go to movies to see what I can’t see on TV.

SOC: What is the difference between a grindhouse movie and a drive-in movie?

JB: With a grindhouse movie you look over your shoulder, you wear a raincoat, you go and jack off, and you slink away. With a drive-in movie you take a bunch of buddies and your girls and a cooler full of beer. You get drunk as hell, you raise hell, and you have a good time. The only way a drive-in movie can fail is by being boring. I’ve learned a lot from bad movies, but I don’t learn anything from boring movies.

SOC: Other than almost burning down the drive-in, because I already told that one, give us a good story from the shooting of the movie.

JB: The day with the squibs was the most fun on set. You would squib all of these extras up, they’d go off, and they’d all start clapping. Unfortunately because of how long it was taking to film they were waiting in the rain outside of the bar because at first the girls didn’t want to be naked in front of strangers. Then we started giving them booze, and they were all like “Alright! Let all the extras in!” I didn’t want the extras to get drunk and rowdy. The way I curbed that was that I made all of those Corman’s Beers. They were all Yuengling Light, but we left them all out in the sun. They were all hot as f**k. So I said “free beer”, it was out on all of the tables, but this shit was so hot you couldn’t drink it. You couldn’t get it down. So I knew they would be manageable. I’ve been on a film set where they gave free beer away, and it got way out of control. But anyway, they would get squibbed up and they would all go off and it didn’t matter, everyone was so happy.

SOC: When will the movie be available on DVD?

JB: I’m hoping the beginning of the year. We’re making screeners and adding all of the special features. I don’t want anyone coming back to me and saying “Well, it’s going to take this much money to put it together” when I can do that shit myself. Then I’ll have a total package to go on blu-ray or DVD. We’ve gotten a ton of offers. First I want to see if we have any big American interest, but if we get somebody really big then they’re probably going to want the foreign territories, but I’m going to try to talk them out of it. I finally got an entertainment lawyer. I learned my lesson after the debacle with that other company.

SOC: You’re getting ready to start hitting festivals. Where can people see the movie?

JB: Arizona, Las Vegas, Ottawa, Mobile Alabama, that’s what we’ve got cooking so far. Toronto, come on! What’s wrong with you? You know you want it!

SOC: What’s your next project going to be?

JB: What I want to do is the sequel to this because this was so much damn fun. I’ve got a bunch lined up that I want to do after this. I was thinking that this would be the end of it, but I had so much fun doing this. I know how to make a sequel that will totally freak people out. I want it to progress a people of years in style too. I want to progress in style up to maybe the early 80’s; have it progressing in production value and music and everything. Like you’re watching a chain of sequels that start in 1973 and make their way to 1985 or something. I’ve got so many scripts written and so many ideas. One thing I’m dying to do is a women in prison film. They’re an obsession of mine. (To see how much of an obsession, check out his site bigbustout.com)

SOC: Do you have any last words for the readers?

JB: Stay tuned for Frankenstein Created Bikers. For this one I want to go Naschy on it, and I want to go a little Philippino on it too.

Interview: Dear God No! director James Bickert Part 1

This is actually the second interview I’ve conducted with James Bickert, the director of the new bikers vs. Bigfoot Drive-in classic Dear God No. If you missed it, you can read my review HERE. The first time I talked to him was at the after party following the world premiere at the Plaza Theater. It was a great interview. I now believe that copious amounts of alcohol should be involved in every interview I do. The only problem was that apparently we were too close to a speaker or something, because when I tried to play it back it sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher interviewing herself. So we met again back at The Star Bar in Little 5 Points, during the day this time, to try it again. As the evening progressed and more alcohol was imbibed, we were joined by Richard Davis, who was responsible for the film’s outstanding score, along with Brian Malone and Dusty Booze, who both performed on the soundtrack. We talked about VHS collecting, obscure drive-in movies, Gene Simmons playing a transvestite, James’ animosity over being screwed over by a generally loved genre icon, George Carlin, why we hate guys named Todd, Kitten Natividad’s legendary endowments, Filipino movies (he has a Vic Diaz tattoo!) and anything else remotely related to exploitation flicks you can imagine. These guys love this stuff just as much as I do. I’m not transcribing the whole afternoon, however, as I wasn’t recording it on the grounds that I didn’t want any incriminating evidence. Without further ado, however, here’s part one of my interview with James Bickert.

SOC: For those not familiar with the flick, tell us about Dear God No.

JB: Well, it’s not an homage, it’s a lost drive-in movie.

SOC: Where did the inspiration for the story come from?

JB: Well, it came from having a daughter for the first time. There’s this underlying theme of selfishness and whether I should make my wife happy or be a complete selfish bastard, and a lot of it is all the fears that come with this newfound responsibility of fatherhood. But, there are other inspirations, which are everything I love as an exploitation fan, the biker genre especially. I like the obscure stuff. I mean Wild Angels was definitely an influence, but more the stuff that happened at the tail end of the biker heyday where they would just merge stuff together like Werewolves on Wheels. I love when a genre is about to die and they just mix in a bunch of stuff. Then there are also influences from the drive in, like I Drink Your Blood, there’s a lot of that in there. Then there’s a Canadian film which I’m just in love with which goes by, well, one of the names is Last House on the Left 2, but it’s also called Death Weekend and House by the Lake. It stars Don Stroud, who I just think is the ultimate badass. The aspect of a bunch of degenerates getting into a situation that easily gets out of control and beyond what they’re expecting was influenced by that. Then there’s some high falootin’ elements with the lead actress which would be more like Kate Chopin's The Awakening. She’s named after that. There’s also influence from Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, and that whole turn of the century literature with women trying to find their place and it keeps getting worse and worse for them, that kind of thing. Yeah, there’s a shit load of elements that go into the themes, but the main thing is just a beer drinking movie that’s fun. I love drive –in movies and I love discovering a new film that me and my buddies can sit there and drink beer and laugh to. But it’s got to have those elements every 5 or 10 minutes where your jaw’s agape, or you’re hooting and screaming. That was basically the blueprint, it had to have more to it, but keep being what it is, which is nothing but a good f**king time and be respectful to the genre. I love the genre. I’m not in it to make money; I’m in it to be a part of the genre. That’s ultimately my goal is not to get rich, but to get to keep making stuff that I’d want to see.

SOC: The film was shot on 16mm and you used 70’s era technology. Why did you decide to go that route and what challenges came with it?

JB: Well, I don’t think there were that many challenges. We didn’t have a video monitor so that eliminated anybody saying “Oh, that didn’t look too good” or “You need to change that shot,” so that solves that problem right away and saves a hell of a lot of time. Because we didn’t know what we were going to end up with, we could shoot as fast and furious as we wanted. There was really no technical stuff except for loading the camera.

SOC: How important was the authenticity of making the flick seem like it actually came from the 70’s?

JB: That was everything. The one thing I stewed over for the longest time is the scene at the drive in. It shows at the bottom the FM channel you could dial in to get the radio frequency. They didn’t have that until the 80’s, it was all AM until, like, 1983. I sat there and beat myself up and I could have fixed it in after effects, but it would have taken me a f**king week with all of the motion tracking. So, hopefully that will slide. That’s the only thing I can think of where somebody might say “That movie IS NOT from the 70’s.”

SOC: What were some of the extreme lengths you went to with your attention to detail to ensure the period accuracy?

JB: One of the most extreme was in the scene where Jet pops open a beer. We actually got a 70’s PBR can that a beer can collector had opened from the bottom, washed it out as best we could, filled it with beer, and duct taped the bottom so he could pull the pull tab even though you can’t even tell it’s a pull tab on screen. As Jet said it was very “tinny” tasting, and it was the only beer the poor bastard was allowed to have.

SOC: Of course in the first interview, for that question you mentioned…

JB: BUSH! Totally. I couldn’t believe (name withheld just to be safe) had that unshaved bush. She actually asked my wife if she should shave it and my wife said “hell no!” No body had Hitler moustaches in the 70’s. I kinda miss big bush. It was like a headrest. It was some place you could just nod off for a while and fight your way back through the forest and keep going. (Note: At this point a long, hilarious conversation about why the EPA should have an advocacy group to protect the crab louse’s natural habitat ensued.)

SOC: Speaking of that, one thing Dear God No has that is sadly lacking in most movies these days is gratuitous nudity. Why do you think today’s filmmakers shy away from it?

JB: It’s a bigger taboo than you think. I don’t know why puritan values have struck such a chord, but apparently they have. Yeah, that’s really sadly missing. There are a lot of Something Weird elements, and a lot of Russ Meyer, and a lot of Orgy of the Dead in it. When I’m drinking and watching shit outdoors, my go-to’s are Mondo Topless and Orgy of the Dead, and I can sit there and watch Something Weird trailers from dusk ‘til dawn. There are parts of Dear God No where yeah, I know the nudity goes on too long. I even had somebody tell me about a rough cut “You know, the nudity is going on a little too long” and I purposefully added more nudity because that’s what I want to see. You throw shaking hips and tits onscreen with damn tassels, and I’m mesmerized. Jess Franco knew it. Hell, that’s three fourths of his running time.

SOC: The film was all shot locally in Atlanta area. What are some of the locations that local readers might recognize?

JB: We shot around Dick’s Creek, which is great trout fishing.

SOC: The strip club scene was the Tucker Saloon, right?

JB: Yes. There was a whole big thing going in there that got overblown where we were told that we had to meet with a biker in order to film there. I got the impression that it was one of the Outlaws or something like that, some guy named Mad Dog. It was this whole big deal. So we go to meet with Mad Dog to get permission to shoot there and this guy is the biggest sweetheart you ever met. We’re buying him PBR’s and I dunno, I guess he just wanted to hang out. We ended up putting him in the movie and shooting him, so that was pretty cool. There are stickers in there that say “Outlaws Territory” and John Collins, who is in the movie, was in a chapter of the Hells Angels like, 10 years ago and he got all paranoid. I told him “Dude, you shouldn’t be worried about the Outlaws, my first night in that place I saw a UPS man in a UPS uniform beat the shit out of a guy. Be afraid of UPS.”

SOC: You’ve said that you wanted the film to have a “Georgia flavor.” What do you think making it here adds to the flick?

JB: A lot. It’s like all of these regional drive-in movies made where they would load the prints in the trunk of their car, go to the theater, screen them, grab them off the projector, throw them back in the trunk and get the hell out of dodge before the crowd rioted on them. Most biker flicks always have this LA flavor to them with custom choppers, scenes at the beach, the music; everything is so California. The ones that don’t are some of my favorites, like Werewolves on Wheels and Northville Cemetery Massacre, which was shot in Michigan. Man, it has the authentic flavor of Michigan. A lot of people have compared this (Dear God No) to it, and I think that’s right on because those were rat bikes and rat guys doing the extreme thing. It didn’t have any good looking Peter Fonda or anything like that. Georgia didn’t have a biker movie. Texas does, Michigan does, Florida does, but we don’t. I think it’s about time we got one.

Come back tomorrow to read the second half of the interview, and be sure to check out the Official Dear God No! Website.