What Halloween Means To Me '14: Bill Cesavice

I think we can all agree that there is probably no more important individual to the FDTC Network than Bill Cesavice.  He does all of that technical wizardry that I, and no doubt most of the rest of the on air talent, have not a damn clue about.  He shares my love for a great cover tune, as evidenced by his show Your Covers Blown.  He's a hearse driver, he's one of the minds behind the mayhem of Days of the Dead, and now he can add countdown alumni to his list of hats.  Bill, what does Halloween mean to you?

"Such a good question as it can be approached by many angles, Do I go by what the traditional angle is? Or do I go by what I have created it as to my son? Or do I go by what It means to my whole family meaning my wife, my son and myself? I think I will take it all in steps.

First of all, like most in the horror community (yes YOU reading this), it’s really our Christmas. It’s the time of year where all of “decorations “are smiled at vs gawked at. We are in our element during the month of October. Why do you ask? I say it’s because when we are the ones everyone looks to see what’s cool for Halloween, we are held to a higher standard on decorations and for ideas of haunts, ideas for scares and just general morbidness. In other words the things we really do every day of the year except now we are “Jones. “  I also like the looks my hearse gets when people say I am ready for Halloween… no, son, I drive that bitch daily!

Now on to ME in general. This, like I said, is my Christmas.  The stores are filled with cool things I can bring into my home, the air is filled the smell of pumpkin, and we always put out a pumpkin and treats for “the great pumpkin “ with our son Gavin. The great pumpkin returns the favor with leaving him a present next to his pumpkin (last year was a die cast car), and he looks forward to it every year. He gets to pick what he is every year and he enjoys it as much as we do. My wife and I were married on Halloween and the entire reception area was of course decorated with bats, horror, and basically our living room. While myself and the wife have officially split this year before our 8^th anniversary, we will continue to take the boy trick or treating as we have the last 8 years. 

I do have one complaint? As many who love the holiday as much as we do are upset about…it is NOT DRESS LIKE A SLUT day.  Really ? What happened to the scares, the tricks, and the coolness? Look I get it; chicks like to look good, and yes you’re dressing up, but cmonnnnn.   Just cause you’re middle age, it  does not mean you have to dress like that slutty schoolgirl….AGAIN !

I am going to keep this short but I will say this…if you love Halloween, embrace the love and keep the spirit alive for future generations as we have for our son. Long like the scare!!!"

 14 days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.  14 Days 'til Halloween.  Silver Shamrock!

What Halloween Means To Me '14: Adolfo Dorta

Welcome to From Dusk 'Til Con week here on the countdown.  For those who don't know, The FDTC Network brings you the best horror talk, music shows, and all around badassery (including my two shows) on the web, and this week I'll be featuring some of the voices behind the mayhem.  We're gonna start off with Adolfo.  He was the first person in the Days of the Dead/FDTC camp that I met.  I will always have DOTD's back because they treat street level horror media with the most respect of anyone I've dealt with in  the horror business.  Hell, they were the first people to accept SOC as a legitimate press outlet.  Some true for the fans/by the fans shit. Adolfo also has two shows on FDTC, Punk 'N Destroy (a punk rock music show) Wednesdays at 7 and Set The Dial (music talk with him and Scary Carrie) at 9pm on Mondays.  Hey, that's right before my show.  Hey, that's tonight! Quick, Adolfo, tell us what Halloween means to you so we can all head over to the network (LINK for your comp and LINK for your phone) and tune in...

"Growing up in Miami, FL - a region where the yearly cycle of seasons goes something like "Hot," "Hot As Fuck", "Less Hot", and "Managable...For a Week or Two" - my aesthetic concept of Halloween was much different than the one presented in so many horror movies I grew up watching, with palm trees, a sweltering climate, and the smell of a salty ocean breeze taking the place of pumpkins, crisp fall weather, and orange and brown hues. Haddonfield, it wasnt.

Nevertheless, Halloween maintained itself as my favorite holiday growing up if for no other reason than being that one day a year when I could be something more fantastic than I was any other day of the year. Be it a fiend or monster, super hero or villain, fear inducing or awe inspiring, an alter ego could be assumed which was limited only by one's own imagination. For one night a year, it was totally acceptable for me to be someone more than I was, to be as freakish, as bizarre, as downright outside the box as the mundane world told me I couldnt be the other 364 days on the calendar. It was a chance to gleefully embrace all things dark and monstrous without stigma.

As I've grown older, I've learned that I don't require anyone's permission to be exactly as I want to be and now openly represent the monster kid culture I grew up loving, despite my mother's worry that a penchant for all things spooky and macabre would result in her little boy growing up to be some sort of socially maladjusted weirdo (well....some of that may be true, though I certainly wouldn't blame my love for horror on it). Nowadays, Halloween has become the holiday where I curiously observe as everyone else celebrates the kind of marvelously devilish delights I indulge in on a daily basis. For those such as myself, for whom every day is Halloween, October is now the time where we let the rest of you enjoy a taste of what the rest of us appreciate year round. And we're more than happy to let you borrow our subculture for a brief time each year, just please stop it with these ridiculously tacky "sexy" costumes ("sexy Michael Meyers? Really?).

We all have something a little monstrous inside us - some more than others. And while most choose to keep the beast locked away for all but one holiday a year, a few of us were born to dance in the darkness year round. For myself, and those cut from the same cloth, Halloween is who we are down to our blood, marrow, and sinews, and all those October 31sts growing up where dress rehearsals for the fiends we would one day grow to become"

 18 days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.  18 days 'til Halloween.  Silver Shamrock!

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: Days of the Dead Promoter Adolfo Dorta

It’s coming.  In fact, it’s almost here.  Atlanta’s biggest annual horror party is this weekend (Feb 1-3), at The Sheraton hotel in downtown Atlanta.  I’m psyched, the winners of my ticket contest are psyched, hell, the entire Southeastern contingent of horror geeks is psyched.  The guest list is sick, and there will be more cool stuff to buy than…actually, I need to stop.  If I keep going I’m gonna start sounding like an excited little kid ranting about Christmas.  Actually, there’s a reason for that.

Anyway, Adolfo Dorta, one of the promoters of Days of the Dead, dropped by to tell us a little about what to expect this weekend.  If you’re still on the fence about joining us, here’s the low down straight from the horses mouth.  Once you read this and inevitably decide that you’ve been a fool and there’s no way in hell that you would miss it, you can order tickets and get all of the details HERE.

SOC:  Word has really spread through the Atlanta horror scene about DOTD since last year, and there’s a lot of buzz at ground level for DOTD:ATL 2013.  How is the pre-show buzz this year as compared to last year from a promoter’s standpoint?

AD: You know, despite it being hard to tell with me living out in the midwest and being almost 14 hours away, I always have folks in the area emailing me or calling me saying great things about the buzz going on for our return to the area, especially given that we're settling into the heart of downtown Atlanta this time. Ticket pre-sales have also already surpassed last year's show with two weeks to go (which tend to be the time the majority of our sales happen). We're all really stoked.

SOC:  With the move from the outskirts of town into the belly of the beast, along with moving into a bigger hotel that somewhat knows what it’s in for (as a DragonCon host hotel), how do you think the con will be different from last year?

AD: If last year's show in Peachtree City could be thought of as us dipping our toe in the waters of the southeast, this time around we're doing a cannonball off the diving board right in the middle of the pool. That said, I think one thing we do try to do is keep all of our shows fairly consistent so fans know what to expect from a DAYS OF THE DEAD event: great guests, great events, and a wild party atmosphere that runs very late into the night and ventures into the kind of debauchery few shows would dare touch. We're proud to be a horror show and we wear our love for the genre like a badge of honor. Everything our fans in the south loved about our first show will be back, with much more of it to go around.

SOC:   There are three big reunions going on at DOTD:ATL this year (Return of the Living Dead, House of 1000 Copses/Devil’s Rejects, Blair Witch Project).  Are these kinds of “themed guest lists” the direction you want to take in the future as opposed to centering it around single big guests?

AD: That's a great question. I’m usually not a fan of big reunion based shows just due to the fact that you run the risk of alienating anyone who isnt a fan of the movie being showcased, but with the case of this show, I think an exception was warranted. Most of the cast members of House of 1,000 Coprses/Devil's Rejects are actors/actresses with such a rich body of work that even if you aren't a fan of the Rob Zombie movies, chances are you are still a fan of something else they worked on, ie. Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, PJ Soles, Leslie Easterbook, Michael Berryman, Danny Trejo, etc. Return of the Living Dead is such a great film that I consider an 80's classic, and the full cast has only ever done 2 or 3 other shows before, so we thought it was a great opportunity to bring them to the southeast. And in the case of the Blair Witch Project, this will be only the second time ever that the trio has ever appeared at a convention, and for us it provided a rare opportunity to do something related to one of the most iconic and influential horror films of the last two decades.
So while I wouldnt discount having similar big "theme reunions" at our future DAYS OF THE DEAD shows (we actually just did a big Texas Chainsaw series reunion in Indianapolis this past July), we tend to prefer having a little bit of everything and not dedicate too much of the show to one or two aspects of horror when the genre itself is so wide and diverse, much like our fanbase.

 SOC:  Speaking of the guest list, this year’s is absolutely huge.  Is there ever a point when you say, “Maybe we should stop or we won’t be able to top it next year?”

AD: When we first started out, our goal was to cap it at about 40 guests. While the inclination is always that "more is better," you also have to consider that most horror convention patrons operate on a limited budget and we want to make sure that we don't overwhelm them with too much where they wouldn’t be able to afford meeting everyone they want to meet and still having some scratch left over to support the awesome vendors we have in our dealer room. From a business standpoint, it probably also would have also made sense for us to reel it in a bit, but we just had cool guest after cool guest come to us wanting to get involved in the show and being big fanboys ourselves it's often impossible to say "no," especially with guests that we also happen to very excited about meeting.
In the end, we never worry about topping ourselves the following year - we embrace the challenge. As long as the fans keep coming and supporting what we do, we'll work to find new ways to wow them.

 SOC:  The last couple of DOTDs have hosted members of KISS, and with Michael Graves and Eerie Von being guests in Atl, is music something you’re consciously focusing on more?

AD: Most defintiely! We're all big music fans and most horror fans are as well so why not? Graves was actually booked for our first ever Indianapolis show in 2011 but had to cancel due to touring so he's been looking forward to making up the date with us. Eerie was a guest at our last Indianapolis event in July and he had a great time and was a really cool guy we're happy to have back. We're hoping to have at least a handful of music guests, particularly from the world of punk and metal, at every show moving forward.

SOC:   You’ve obviously dealt with a lot of big stars and genre icons.  Is there one that left you star struck and gave you that “Holy shit, I’m actually talking to ________” moment?

AD: John Waters without a doubt. He was very down to earth and easy to deal with which made it all the better. As you can imagine he also has a great sense of humor.

SOC:  After last year’s con, everyone had a great Gary Busey story to tell.  What’s yours?

AD: You know, surprisingly I don’t. Though I did see the video online of the guy who gave him one of those exotic fantasy knives as a gift and am surprised that nobody was seriously injured that weekend. Gary looks a little too excited to be wielding that thing. (SOC note: Adolfo, you have no idea.  I’m surprised I’m not dead.  Remind me to tell you that story sometime.)

 SOC:  Some killer independent horror productions either premiered or had their first Atlanta screening at DOTD in 2012.  What can we look forward to in terms of screenings this time around?

AD: Our friend Luke Godfrey with Chambers of Horrors is going to be putting together a "Best of Buried Alive Film Festival" and re-screen some selections at DAYS OF THE DEAD for those that may have missed it the first time around. We should have the official titles posted in a few days.

SOC:  You’ve only been doing this a little over a year, but you’ve promoted some very successful and well-received shows.  Do other shows/promoters still see DOTD as the new kid, or are you a veteran by now?

AD: Truthfully speaking, most promoters in this business dont tend to speak well of each other in any capacity, and given that DAYS OF THE DEAD is a grassroots show birthed by fans without any ties to a magazine or major corporate sponsor, Im sure we'll always be the new kid in one way or another. Personally, I kinda like the idea of continuously having to prove myself with everything we do and carrying a big chip on our shoulders - it's not unlike the horror genre we love so much. As long as the fans continue to love DOTD, the other shows and promoters can see us however they choose - most of them are businessmen and not horror fans so it isnt something that weighs on us.

SOC:   Some say the horror genre is at a low point, while others say these are good days to be a horror fan.  From your unique perspective as an organizer of horror events, what is your assessment of the state of the horror genre in 2013?

AD: I think that horror hasn’t been as popular as it is now for quite some time - look no further than the fact that Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D was at the top of the box office (2 weeks ago) and that The Walking Dead is one of the biggest things on TV in years as proof. That being said, I think we're also at a point where you're seeing a lot of new blood coming into the horror scene on account of its mainstream appeal. I have tons of friends and co-workers who tell me all the time "You know, I was never a horror fan, but Ive been watching The Walking Dead and American Horror Story and I think I kinda like this stuff." I always love using that as an opportunity to turn them on into things I feel better represent the genre and hope something sticks. If the extent of what someone thinks horror is about starts and ends with The Walking Dead, I definitely find that disappointing, but I also think it makes for a great gateway for people new to the genre to explore its roots and dig deeper.
On an independent level, I think the horror genre is absolutely rocking. As proof of that, I urge anyone to check out your excellent write up of The Best Horror Flicks of 2012, where all except 1 or 2 would be classified as independent releases. (By the way, I think you hit the nail on the head with most of your choices)

SOC:   DOTD is the only event of its kind in Atlanta, and since this is only the second year, there are still a lot of people who will be coming to their first ever horror convention.  What advice would you give to the horror con virgins to help them get the most out of the experience?

AD: I usually just tell people to show up, not plan to sleep for the entire weekend, and seriously check any pretentiousness at the door and just have fun and let your hair down. I think our shows are like one of those movies where the least you know going in, the better. A lot of first timers make the mistake of spending too much time planning like they’re going on some frou-frou cruise. Just come join us, be yourself, and let loose among your fellow horror family. Free that inner monster from its dungeon for a few days.

 SOC:  Last year, I tried to warn you that the Atlanta horror freaks are crazy.  Be honest; in terms of how wild the party gets, how does Atlanta stack up against the other DOTD cities?

AD: We actually talk about Atlanta all the time in terms of it being the city with the greatest collection of freaks. Our parties in Chicago and Indianapolis may have been bigger, but there was something twisted about Atlanta that the other locations just don’t have. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but you all are some wonderfully sick f**ks down there - just our kind of people!

SOC:  Do you have any announcements that you’ve been holding off on that you can spill the beans about here on SOC?

AD: As of right now, we've announced everyone that is already set to be there but I will say that I wouldn’t be surprised if a few more guests don’t turn up on the weekend of the show. We've been hearing rumblings of a few other people just showing up to the party at the last minute so I would keep my eyes peeled!

SOC:  Any last words for the Cellmates?

AD: We just look forward to seeing everyone there and encourage everyone to spread the good word to all their friends. Don’t be that person that stays home and then spends the next year kicking themselves in the ass for not going. Come on out and have a great time with us!

And The Winners Of The Days Of The Dead Atlanta Giveaway Are...

Ok folks, the giveaway has come to an end.  I'd like to thank Adolfo and the DOTD crew for letting me get some Cellmates on the list.  So, without further ado, it looks like...

Brittany McDaniel and her boyfriend get to have another romantic horror filled weekend this year meeting Danny Trejo and Tony Todd,

Mr. Bones (who writes Tales From The Batcave - go check it out) will be delving deep into Choptop's brain - or at least Bill Moseley's,

and The Elvis can talk photography with Ginger Lynn Allen.

Congratulations to our three winners.  You each get a pair of weekend passes to Days of the Dead Atlanta on Feb 1-3.  I'll be contacting you via email to tell you how to claim your prize.  Find me at the con and we'll do a shot or something.
If you didn't win, you can still get tickets HERE.  If you preorder a weekend pass, it's only $45 bucks!  That's cheap as hell for a weekend of horror geek heaven.  I mean, what else could you possibly do that weekend for $45 that's as much fun? $45 bucks ain't gonna  go very far in the hookers and blow department.  You can't get a decent chainsaw for $45 bucks.  $45 bucks in gas won't take you far enough to find as much adventure as you would at The Sheraton that weekend, so you're much better off at Days of the Dead Atlanta. See you there!
Keep your eyes here on Son of Celluloid, 'cause I'll be announcing the next giveaway on Wednesday.

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:

Win Weekend Passes To Days Of The Dead Atlanta (Feb. 1-3)

By far the biggest thing to happen to the Atlanta horror scene, and definitely to SOC, in 2012 was the coming of Days of the Dead.  Atlanta finally got its own horror convention, and it was one hell of a party.  If you weren’t there, then you missed a legendary weekend.  Not to worry though, because like all the horror greats…IT’S BAAAAACK!  Days of the Dead Atlanta 2 will be taking place February 1-3.  This year it’s at the Atlanta Sheraton Downtown Hotel.  Yes, Days of the Dead migrated into the belly of the beast this year, and the Sheraton finally gets to host a kick ass convention.  The guest list is absolutely sick, and if all of the DOTD cons from last year are any indication, Adolfo and the gang have an amazing time and some killer surprises in store for the fear faithful.  Then there’s the revelry and debauchery that ensues when a bunch of drunken horror nuts get together, but the less said about that in print the better.  Trust me, it’s something you just have to experience.  Look at this list of your favorite horror icons that will be on hand to sign your autographs, take pictures with you, and make you the envy of all of your fanboy friends…

Danny Trejo (From Dusk ‘til Dawn, Machete, Anaconda, Predators, Bad Ass)

Patty Mullen (Frankenhooker, Doom Asylum)

Ace Frehley (KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park)

Dick Miller (Gremlins, Demon Knight, Night of the Creeps, Chopping Mall, Evil Toons, Bucket of Blood, White Dog)

Gunnar Hanson (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Brutal Massacre, Hellblock 13)

Jake The Snake Roberts (Wrestling legend)

Kane Hodder (Friday the 13^th 7-10, Hatchet 1-2, 2001 Maniacs, Ed Gein: Butcher of Plainfield)

Tom Savini (From Dusk Til Dawn, NOTLD ’90 (dir), effects legend)

Tony Todd – (Candyman, NOTLD ’90, The Crow, Hatchet 1-2, Voodoo Dawn, Final Destination 5)

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

Michael Graves (The Misfits, Perkins 14)

Eerie Von (Samhain, Danzig)

Chelan Simmons (Tucker & Dale vs Evil, Snakehead Horror, Chupacabra Terror, It)

John Dugan (TCM, Hellephone, Monstrosity, Crazy Fat Ethyl remake)

Mickie James (TNA Knockout, WWE Diva)

William Katt – (House, Greatest American Hero, Carrie)

Marilyn Burns (TCM, Eaten Alive, Helter Skelter, Future Kill, Texas Chainsaw 3D)

Diane Goldner – (Feast trilogy, Hatchet 3, Pulse 2, Satanic, The Collector)

Butch Patrick – Eddie Munster

House of 100 Corpses/Devil’s Rejects Reunion:

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

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

Tom Towles – Sheriff Wydell (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Borrower, Pit & the Pendulum, NOTLD ’90)

David Reynolds – Richard Wick (Freddy’s Nightmares, Special Dead, Hills Have Eyes 2)

Walter Pehlan – Dr. Satan (From Dusk ‘til Dawn, Wishmaster)

Irwin Keyes –  Ravelli (Exterminator, Dahmer vs Gacy, Black Dynamite)

Robert Mukes- Rufus (Slumber Party Slaughter, Weeds)

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

Leslie Easterbrook – Mother Firefly (Police Academy, A Dead Calling, Halloween)

Michael Berryman – Clevon (The Hills Have Eyes, Satan Hates You, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest)

Ginger Lynn Allen – Fanny (Buried Alive, Vice Academy, I Wanna Cum Inside Your Mom 23)

Diamond Dallas Page – Billy Ray Snapper (WCW, Hood of Horror)

Return of the Living Dead Reunion:

Linnea Quigley – Trash (Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons, Silent Night Deadly Night, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers)

Jewel Shepherd – Casey (Raw Force, Caged Heat 2)

Brian Peck – Scuz (NOTLD 2&3, Children of the Corn 3, Bitch Slap)

Don Calfa – Ernie (Necronomicon, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Progeny, Corpses Are Forever)

Allan Trautman – Tarman (Dinosaurs, Muppets Tonight)

Thom Matthews – Freddy (F13 Part 6: Jason Lives, ROTLD 2)

Beverly Randolph – Tina (Um, that’s about it)

John Philbin – Chuck (The New Kids, Children of the Corn, Tombstone)

Clu Gulagher – Bert (From a Whisper To a Scream, Feast, NOES 2, The Initiation, Tapeheads)

Blair Witch Project Reunion:

Joshua Leonard – (Madhouse, Hatchet, Bitter Feast, Shark Night 3D)

Heather Donahue – (Manticore, The Morgue)

Michael Williams – (Altered)

Now that’s an impressive who’s who list.  I’ll definitely be there, along with most of the SOC family and all of my weirdo friends, and I want you to be there too.  That’s why I’m giving away three pairs of weekend passes to the convention.  Yes, you heard that right, I’ve got three golden tickets to horror paradise.   If that sentence left you confused over what song to break into, don’t worry, it did the same to me.  Anyway, I can get you into the party (hotel room not included).  Here’s all you’ve gotta do to be entered in this epic giveaway…

1. If you haven’t already, go HERE and like the Son of Celluloid Facebook page.
2. If you haven’t already, go HERE and like the Days of the Dead Facebook page.
3. Leave a comment on this post with your email address (so I can contact you if you win), the guest you’d be the most stoked to meet, and a question you’d most like to ask them.

It’s just that easy.  On January 18, I’ll draw three winners at random, and those three will each receive a pair of weekend passes to experience the horror geek nirvana known as Days of the Dead so you can party with me and a few hundred of the dirty south’s finest freaks.  See you there.

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.