Interview with Filmmaker Adam Barnick

If you’re not familiar with the name Adam Barnick, you soon will be! Adam is the director and writer behind the short film Mainstream, which was released via Fangoria’s Blood Drive II: America’s Best Short Horror Films DVD as well as producing, directing and editing the behind-the-scenes documentaries and featurettes for the films Frozen and Grace.

Adam is a long-time fan of the horror genre, and has contributed to many horror websites, including Icons of Fright and Dread Central. He is currently working on the exciting experimental horror documentary entitled What is Scary?

Sarah Jahier: Hi Adam and thanks for joining us today! Tell us a little about your background and how you first fell in love with the horror genre. 

Adam Barnick: I grew up in a wooded, spooky area in central New Jersey that gave me a deep appreciation for mood and atmosphere, both in its isolation and in the textures of Fall and Wintertime. Being forced through years of Catholic School as a kid definitely brought room to daydream and become familiar with talks of damnation and fear. And Halloween was always a big deal in our house. But I was introduced to the fantastic through a book on classic science fiction films that my Aunt gave me when I was 5 or 6. And my diet was primarily sci-fi for the next few years, whether through books or films. But I always enjoyed scary movies, I think we’re either wired to love this stuff or we’re not. My mother is a big horror fan so while I wasn’t, say, watching The Exorcist at 7, I was definitely seeing what I could on TV growing up and nobody minded within reason.

I think I was 12 or 13 when I got to see A Nightmare on Elm Street on cable one night, which scarred me good…but then I found out there was a part 3 coming out and managed to coerce my folks into taking me to see it. That’s really when the full-on obsession kicked in. Soon after that I had the Fangoria subscription and was diving in head first to catch up on any and all forms of horror.  That’s the best time in life as a horror fan, when you first jump in and discover classic after classic.

Sarah Jahier: After falling in love with the genre, what made you want to actually get involved in the horror industry and how did you go about accomplishing this goal? 

Adam Barnick: Well what Dream Warriors did was kick off an obsessive love for horror but also for practical makeup effects. Both the execution/artistry of them as well as the surrealistic ideas they depicted. That really got my brain cooking with all sorts of bizarre distortions of reality, human and inhuman form, etc. Originally I was thinking that as a career path. I absorbed everything I could that had to do with special makeup effects; started mold making and learning…And of course I began “attempting” films with neighborhood friends. But the preparing for filmmaking, brainstorming story ideas and capturing ideas on film/video really took over. It felt right and correct, and by the time I was 16 I knew it was filmmaking, not FX, that had really become my passion. But I’m obsessed with all genres of film…horror just happens to be the favorite.

I was always a fan, went to film school and worked on sets…and began doing genre interviews on my own website and for a site named Entertainment Insiders in an effort to meet more people in that area and learn from them. But it was my short film Mainstream getting picked up for worldwide DVD distribution that creaked open the doors a bit.

Sarah Jahier: How did you come up with the idea for your short film, Mainstream? 

Adam Barnick: The idea for Mainstream (the short) came about at a time when I was working in a video store, at the start of college; because that’s a requirement if you’re going to be a filmmaker, right?  While the film did deal with a lot of the themes that obsess me as a person that has shown up in other work (conformity, individual vs. a group, artists vs. non-artists), it was the clientele from the job that inspired it. I think maybe two percent of the people who I dealt with in the store were the types who were open to anything different or out of the mainstream, or who had a good attitude towards themselves and their lives. Two percent who didn’t have an angry/powerless/victim mentality. 98% seemed like whatever had made them unique at some point had been literally drained or burned out of them, that they’d given up. Anything creative or different, they’d snap at.

One day while at home I was contemplating this and the entire short film hit me all at once. Every image, sequence, beginning to end. I think only 2-3 times in life have I had “visions” like that for a project I wanted to do where it showed up fully formed. And I became obsessed with that surgical sequence that could be interpreted as symbol, or literal. As time went by I was able to articulate/understand every image in it as it pertained to the things I was haunted by as a creative person. And it still took like seven years from when I had the idea before we actually got to shoot it.

Sarah Jahier: As Mainstream was your first short film, how did you go about getting it from page to screen? What challenges did you face? 

Adam Barnick:  It wasn’t my first short, but it was the first to get out there and do well or be distributed. I’d prefer my older student films never get out there.

We never got the budget or resources to do it anywhere near the level I’d imagined, but for next to no money we were able to shoot something on film that affected people and got them thinking. While it’s “small” for a short film, it was the most ambitious project I’d done at the time; I was barely in the film business then, didn’t really know anybody well. Going about producing something like that without the resources/aid of a school, and trying to get talented people involved for next to nothing was the big challenge. Instead of waiting several more years, can we possibly do this on what we have now? As cheap as that short is, it took years to get to where we could afford to do it. Biggest challenge was just raising the meager funds. Getting people who don’t know you excited about what you’re doing was certainly a new and vital area a director needs to cultivate.

I don’t think we had many production-related snags once we got going though, once I’d accepted it had to be done at this scale or not at all. A few props malfunctioning, a few shots that had to be cut or combined, some minor personality conflicts on crew…but other than that, there weren’t many troubles we didn’t push through. I’m happy we accomplished it after so long, but I’d make it totally differently now, even if we were stuck with the same budget again. You almost make a film to figure out the way to properly make it!

Sarah Jahier: You’ve worked on the horror journalism side of the industry with several online publications. Do you have a favorite article or interview you’ve done? 

Adam Barnick: Interviewing Guillermo Del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth was a highlight.  That was a brief but a seriously joyous moment. I saw him the following year again at the premiere of The Orphanage; we ended up nerding out over DVDs with some friends near the coat-check room when he should have been on the main floor doing press photos! He’s the world’s greatest geek.

I’m particularly happy I was able to interview Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni (Opera, The Third Mother), who’s since become a good friend. You learn a lot working on sets, but I’ve learned a lot as well with every interview I’ve done. Particularly from the interviews I did on the sets of Frozen and Grace…that’s one thing I think really helps those behind-the-scenes featurettes stand out. We didn’t settle for less when really getting into detailed questions on craft. And by then I’d worked enough in film to be able to interview actors/crew on their level instead of just asking for random anecdotes. And that was really the impetus behind getting into doing interviews in general…to get to know people and pick their brains while helping promote them.

Sarah Jahier: As mentioned, you’ve worked on the amazing special features for Grace and Frozen. How did you become involved with filming the special features for these films?

Adam Barnick: Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed them. That started when I met Paul Solet. Fangoria and Koch Vision both picked our short films to go on their Blood Drive II: America’s Best Short Horror Films DVD. That was a big break for us both, and he and I really went to town promoting that. I read and did coverage on a bunch of his scripts, so I knew about Grace. And he was gearing up to do the short-film version of it to pitch the feature. He’d asked if I wanted to work on it and suggested doing a behind the scenes doc for the disc. I hadn’t done one before, but figured between my thorough interviews and having been a DVD geek I could stumble my way through it.

It’s really rough compared to ones I’ve done recently, but it did what they’d hoped it would do. While the short-form Grace showed Paul could direct a high profile project, the BTS showed who he was, what he was about and how he could pull it off. I know it helped in Adam Green wanting to meet him in the first place about producing this. Obviously he wanted to because the script was great but at least he knew Paul was a good, smart guy from seeing him work. That BTS also helped Paul get his world premiere of the short at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in LA, since I’d already given it to the heads of Fango and they were excited to see what was coming…but we’d hoped if the feature got going that I’d come on board to do more of the same.

It was a bit of a fight to get me on board for the feature because of the Canadian tax credit issues, limiting the amount of Americans you can hire…and we had almost no resources at all to make those special features. I didn’t care. I’d been involved since the start of that project on some level, and needed to make sure I was involved at its end. They weren’t as technically proficient as I’d desired but they had the smarts/visual finesse I was hoping to have. Green gave me a great compliment after seeing them, that you could tell a film director did them and not just an EPK guy brought on the job as a random hire, and that he was dying to see what shorts/features I would do in the feature. He and ArieScope brought me on board for Frozen soon after that, and I tried to kick it up a notch even higher than Grace. The response to the Frozen DVD/Blu-Ray has been overwhelming!

Sarah Jahier: Do you have any funny stories from behind-the-scenes of Grace and Frozen that you can share? 

Adam Barnick: We had fun on set even while busting our asses, but the strangest thing I can think of from working on Grace was the one night we went out, when I was there.  (Adam Green tells part of this story on the Grace DVD commentary). On our night off, several of the crew, Paul, Green and I went to a tavern in the middle of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. We walked into this place, and quickly realized we were right in the middle of Cerebral Palsy Karaoke Night. None of that statement is a joke. But it made for a unique backdrop for the rest of the night’s quirks.

The rest of the night’s events remained offbeat to say the least. This older, Wilfred Brimley-esque guy came over to Green and asked if he was interested in fighting. Keep in mind he says it in the most kindly way…I was sitting next to him when this happened and I thought he meant it like “do you like boxing?” But no, he clarified that he wanted to know if Green was interested in going outside to fight, just for the hell of it. Green politely turned him down. Then he asked if anyone else at the table was interested in fighting…We respectfully declined. But then at the next table, he found another older man who was like, “sure, I’ll come outside and fight!” And they went outside and fought.

So we decided to try out a different bar after that, and this one was supposed to be the one where the younger folks hung out. We get to that one, there’s a dozen flat-out hammered people falling down in the parking lot, and one girl trying to open a pocketknife to attack some other guy’s girlfriend. We sidestep this and go inside and it was just a whirlwind of strange Canadian drunkenness. And a lot of people beating each other up. Set to a drum and bass beat. People are really nice up there, but they let their hair down in a very unique way on the weekends it seems.

We told this story to other crew members on Monday and one of them explained the ‘Moose Jaw handshake’ to me. You break a bottle on your bar table, stick out the jagged end and go ‘pleased to meet you.’

Sarah Jahier: That sounds like quite the experience! You are currently working on What is Scary?, an experimental documentary. Can you tell our readers about this project and where you got the idea for it? 

Adam Barnick: After Mainstream I was trying to get several other projects going while working on other people’s films and developing my own work. As you probably know, everything’s built on sand and projects often take forever to come together…What is Scary? came about from being frustrated at a lack of resources to pull off bigger ideas I was developing. And after a few lean years where even getting a camera and lights was out of the question for any no-budget ideas I was trying to think of something that didn’t need anyone else but myself, really.

I’d participated in a similar project in which I was asked to call a voicemail and answer the question “What is sexy?” which right there can generate a ton of varied, thoughtful answers. I thought about taking a similar approach and asking people to answer ‘What is scary?’ however they saw fit, and it was an idea I could begin with just an answering machine. The answers are being edited into a visual tapestry of stills and possibly animations, akin to a Ken Burns documentary but with its own offbeat approach.  I invited people in and out of the horror world to call in with the answers to their questions.

So it became a project I could do on my own but I do have photographers including Paula Burr (Killer Eye Photography, Dread) involved; she’s been featured on your site a few times. It’s still a done-for-nothing passion project but it will be a bit more polished and involved than what’s been seen. I imagine it on the wall in a multimedia art gallery with a pair of headphones where you can drop in on this little world. There’s been a terrific response, both in the answers I got and in the film community/fans who’ve seen the teaser. I think it’s unique enough to grab people in and out of horror fandom who are open to something different. It’s become a smart dialogue between myself and the callers, though I only ask one question. I was concerned at the start that it might get too repetitive, but it’s the distinctive takes on what “scary” means to people that has made it fascinating to me.

Sarah Jahier:  I know the horror community, myself included, is extremely eager to check out this project! When can we expect to see What is Scary?
 
Adam Barnick: I only recently started postproduction and I’ll know what it’s truly going to take to wrap it up by this Spring/Summer…I’m kind of letting it tell me what it needs and it could keep changing- but I hope to wrap it up by the end of the year. I’ll be making more announcements about it at that time.

Sarah Jahier: The horror landscape is always changing, but right now mainstream Hollywood seems stuck in the remake rut with the only original ideas coming out of the independent scene. What’s your take on the current horror climate? 

Adam Barnick:  I think the past decade or so of horror’s been a complete 50/50.  Which is still better than the completely stale, sterile ‘90s in which I can only think of maybe four worthwhile horror films.

I can’t shit on remakes just because they’re remakes though…we all know some that surpass the originals and will remain classics. I recently read a script for an upcoming remake that was one of the best scripts I’d read in years. Scripts in general, not just remake scripts. You can’t really scream at Hollywood for playing safer bets, it’s completely rational from a business standpoint. But the fact is, if you look at what’s making money, they’re not seeing the support financially for a lot of original genre films.

A film on 50 screens isn’t going to make a huge dent, but it can make an impact and a decent per-screen average, which counts. And there’s ways to support original films, financially or promotionally even if you’re not fortunate to live close enough to see one you’re interested in. Sure, the Elm Street redo is going to have 30 million in marketing behind it; and a smaller film can’t compete…but it’s not hard to find what’s out there these days if you’re a serious horror fan. But every horror fan/filmmaker I know went to see Elm Street opening night last year, knowing they wouldn’t like it but they went because “they had to see it.” And then they went online to complain they didn’t like it.  Why bother if you’re certain it’s terrible?  And many of them just sit and wait for DVD when something unique comes out. So Elm Street made a ton of dough and people continue to be angry because they can’t get their scripts made and they don’t see enough variety at the theater. Every once in a while we get a gem, and overseas filmmaking continues to take chances, but I still believe people can vote with their wallets. Good horror may wax and wane but it doesn’t die.

Sarah Jahier: Who are your favorite horror filmmakers that really excite you today?

Adam Barnick: Not counting friends/people I’ve been fortunate to work with that I’m fans of…well obviously Del Toro is at the top. I wouldn’t call Neil Marshall strictly a horror filmmaker, but I’m up for whatever he’s interested in. Christopher Smith is another one who’s impressed me from the start who I’ll continue to watch. I will follow Tom Shankland around for life after he kicked me in the face with his film The Children. And I’m still down to see anything that the old-school masters of horror come up with.

Sarah Jahier: What are your picks for the 5 scariest horror movies?

Adam Barnick: This changes often since there’s usually a list of 20 from various eras that rotates…so I will pick 5 that are on my mind right now…not necessarily my favorites, but ones that continually freak me out.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – Probably where I got my fear of “a group vs. an individual” in films…you can read so much into this film regardless of the period of history you’re from. A big unconscious influence on Mainstream.  The ‘70s follow-up is equally amazing but my heart remains in the original.

Don’t Look Now (1973) – A waking nightmare. This film made me nervous from the start and didn’t really ever let up. Literally two minutes in, it was unsafe.

The Shining (1980) – No explanation needed.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) – I grew up surrounded by woods and understand the primal scariness of them, all too well. The perfect film to me to utilize your imagination to scare the crap out of you. Plus, my friends and I were obsessed with exploring abandoned houses in high school…that film’s ending is like watching us get what we deserved back then. One of the few films that truly made it tough for me to sleep at night.

The Mothman Prophecies (2002) – I don’t know how much of a following it has, maybe people avoid it because it seems like a giant glossy star-driven horror film? But it’s seriously smart, has a visual approach unlike any other studio picture, has probably the most overt yet absorbing sound design I’ve heard, and it’s conceptually daring and quite subtly subversive for a big-ticket movie. It’s seriously eerie to see this film flirt with its spiritual concepts and ideas of the bigger picture behind the curtain that no human ever sees ‘til they die.  And then it doesn’t resolve much of the questions it poses about them.

Sarah Jahier: What horror movies (besides your own!) are you excited for in 2011 and beyond? 

Adam Barnick: I was beyond over the moon for At the Mountains of Madness and will remain hopeful the stars align someday and that film happens. Aside from projects directors I know or have worked with have brewing, I’m seriously excited for Insidious.  Any kind of supernatural tale always wins over real-life psychos with me. I’ll probably have seen Chris Smith’s Black Death by the time this interview surfaces. I know I’m not alone in thinking he’s consistently underrated. Bereavement is a seriously disturbing film just coming out now, though I saw that last year. Other than that, I’m definitely down for Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark’s redo even though I love the original…and there’s a film in prep called American Mary by the Soska sisters that won’t be out till 2012 but has already got me seriously intrigued from what little I’ve heard about it.

Sarah Jahier: How do you get inspired for ideas for your films? 

Adam Barnick: Music is a big help. And just trying to remain active and interested in people and life around me. Catching bits of conversations and imagining what came before and after. Spending too much time thinking about themes and ideas that obsess me. Traveling. As for developing scripts, and adding to the ideas I start with, I generate inspiration and ideas just through the process of working. And music helps a lot at that time. I used to wait till I was fired up and inspired before doing anything or working on any random ideas, but that resulted in basically losing ten years of being productive. It wasn’t until Summer 2009 that I kind of figured my own creativity out, and how to get the most out of it and demand of myself that I put the time in daily. The more digging I do, the more I find…but I rarely, if ever, find something before I’ve started digging. I’m still not at “full strength” yet, but I’m working out all the time now, if you get what I mean.

Sarah Jahier: What are your favorite things about the horror genre? 

Adam Barnick: It has no limitations. In terms of visuals, atmosphere, sound, subject matter, depth of intelligence. You can go anywhere and there’s an audience that can roll with it.  From the nastiest slasher to gorgeous, poetic films like Eyes Without a Face, there’s so many shades to horror and how you can approach it or what you can say with it.

Sarah Jahier: Besides horror, what makes Adam Barnick tick? 

Adam Barnick: Nature, Twin Peaks, French Onion soup, being around and having smart conversations with artists of any type, kickboxing/fitness, friends, reading, learning, New York City, London, pumpkin carving and dachshunds.

Sarah Jahier: What projects are you working on next? 

Adam Barnick: Besides what I’ve mentioned, I’ve got half a dozen scripts in various stages of development, in different genres. Though the main focus has been the feature-length version of Mainstream. It’s much more story/character based than the short was but still has a layered, smart and experimental vibe. I didn’t have an idea for a feature when I did the short, but came up with a take on it last year that has obsessed me, so I’m shaping that. I’ve got two music videos I’m in various stages of planning right now, and have written two other shorts I’m hoping to get funds for so we can shoot them this year. There are a few other behind-the-scenes docs I’m supposed to begin soon, but the films they’re for still need to get started, so I’m waiting at the starting line for the trigger to go off. And there’s a few other “maybes”, in and out of horror films, that are circling. I’m just trying to make up for lost time and continually improve myself, as a filmmaker and a person.

For more info, visit www.adambarnick.com!

S&Man (2006)

Though the DVD cover of S&Man is extremely misleading (it makes it look like a crappy slasher), rest assured that the actual film is pretty damn brilliant, challenging and powerful. I was surprised to find that director J.T. Petty (The Burrowers, Soft for Digging) made this film and that I hadn’t heard of it sooner. Though it had a festival run way back in 2006, the film wasn’t released on DVD stateside until October 2010.

S&Man (aka Sandman, not S & M Man, like I originally thought!) is a film that explores the seedier side of horror that encompasses the “hardcore” mock-snuff films like the August Underground or Guinea Pig series that are infamous for their shock value and hyper-realism.

Set up like a documentary, S&Man was originally supposed to be a vehicle for Petty to do a film on a local peeping tom from a suburb he grew up in, but this plan fell through when the man refused to do the film. However, Petty still wanted to pursue doing a film on voyeurism, so he turned to the underground horror world and found three purveyors of low-brow horror films to feature.

First and probably the most well known is Fred Vogel of Toe Tag Pictures, creator of the August Underground series. Vogel is certainly not the originator of fake snuff films, but over the years his extreme films have probably become the most well-known. Featuring brutal violence on grainy film, stunts including real bodily fluids (vomit, feces, you name it), graphic nudity and so on, Vogel’s films, most of which he stars in, really do look like home movies of serial killers.

The next filmmaker is the seemingly perpetually drunk, middle-aged metalhead Bill Zebub, whose films usually feature  busty women in distress, some blood, and not much else. Zebub’s films aren’t really fake snuff or as extreme like Vogel’s and come off as little more than exploitation. He states he makes films for perverts and not much else, which is pretty much echoed in all the scenes shown from his films. In one sad scene he putters around a set in a bar for hours while one of his actresses is forced to lie ass up in a spread-eagle position wearing a thong, bikini top and not much else. The exasperated and bored look on her face pretty much says it all!

The last filmmaker interviewed, Eric Rost (Erik Marcisak), is the only fictional one, as Vogel and Zebub do exist in real life and you can purchase their films. At first, Eric appears like any other horror fan-boy with dreams of making it big with his own “vision” for horror films. He shows up at a horror convention Petty is attending and gives Petty his own horror films, called the S&Man series. The series is very voyeuristic, and features women being filmed seemingly without their knowledge before they are kidnapped and killed. The films look entirely realistic and Petty spends the documentary trying to get more information from Eric, like if he can contact the actresses that appeared in S&Man, but Eric isn’t very forthcoming. In fact, Eric won’t give Petty a straight answer on whether he obtained consent from the women before stalking and filming them. Petty soon becomes suspicious and thinks Eric may be a real snuff filmmaker who is killing his victims.

In between talking with these three filmmakers, Petty interweaves interviews with psychologists, a self-professed “scream queen” (can just any woman that bares her boobs in a few crappy horror movies be considered a “scream queen” nowadays?), and feminist author of Men, Women and Chainsaws Carol Clover (yay, one of my favorites! I adore this woman!). These interviews add to the overall weight of the faux documentary, but the most interesting scenes occur when Petty turns his camera on the three filmmakers.

I found S&Man to be a challenging film to sit through at times, but the issues it addresses like voyeurism, gender, exploitation of actresses and how this exploitation eerily mirrors the exploitation of real-life victims, how far is too far, etc., etc. are what ultimately makes it rewarding. If you are anything like me, you’ll be equally parts repulsed and intrigued by Petty’s film, though in the end it will hopefully make you think and question your own personal limits.

Buy it on Amazon!

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

I finally got my grubby little hands on the new Nightmare on Elm Street documentary and this past holiday weekend was the perfect opportunity to watch the four-hour film uninterrupted. As soon as I popped it in I knew I was in for a treat because the opening credits are done in amazing stop-motion animation, replicating memorable scenes from the series. This stop-motion technique is used throughout the film to introduce each segment, which are broken down chronologically by film. The doc starts with the first Nightmare on Elm Street, helmed by Wes Craven, and then goes through each and every one of the series’ films, including the ill-fated television show all the way through to Freddy vs. Jason. For each film all the appropriate players, from directors, producers, actors, writers, special FX artists, etc., discuss their involvement in the films.

I loved how directors Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch took us through all the films chronologically to really show the progression of the series and all the hard work that went into each film, whether it was dealing with difficult directors/producers/actors, etc., working with silly scripts or creating complex special FX (most in the series were practical FX and didn’t utilize the then non-existent CGI technique). The film even touches on New Line, “the studio that Freddy built”, and how the NoES series basically launched the studio and put it on the map.

The documentary’s focus is on the people involved in creating each NoES film, and many familiar faces pop up throughout the film. Heather Langenkamp, star of the original film, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and New Nightmare, does a fantastic job both narrating and appearing in the documentary. Also a prevalent face is Wes Craven, who is known for hating all NoES sequels (besides his New Nightmare) and the direction the series took after the original. And, of course, the doc stars the only true “Freddy” (at least according to this horror fiend), Robert Englund. However, I love how the doc features a wide variety of people involved with the franchise instead of just focusing on just a few of the more famous face. There are lots of “where are they now?” type moments as many actors from the films are interviewed. It was a real kick to see so many actors from the films and find out what they are doing now! I loved hearing each and every one’s memories of working on the series and appreciated everyone’s honesty as they discussed tensions involved while filming, problems encountered, obstacles overcome and so on. There is definitely no sugar-coating here!

You would think a four-hour documentary would get old after a while, but this is definitely not the case with Never Sleep Again. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time and never once did I get bored. Everyone’s personal recollections on the franchise were so unique and engaging and the filmmaking was so sharp and focused that once I started watching I couldn’t stop! I didn’t even want to take a bathroom break I was so engrossed in the film!

This retrospective is absolutely stunning – from the awesome stop-motion animation used (a clever nod to some of the special FX used within the franchise) to the sheer number of participants interviewed (pretty much the only people missing are Johnny Depp from the first film and Patricia Arquette from the third film) with everyone from Craven to Alice Cooper to metal band Dokken to all of the “final girls” (from Heather Langenkamp to Monica Keena) making an appearance, this documentary is all-encompassing! Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is the definitive behind-the-scenes look at the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and boogeyman Freddy Krueger himself.

Required viewing for all horror nuts and Freddy fans!

Available from Amazon!

Every Other Day is Halloween (2010)

In C.W. Prather’s documentary Every Other Day is Halloween, viewers are taken on a nostalgic and whimsical trip back in time to the golden age of television horror hosts, a time when local TV’s witching hour was ruled by ghouls and boils introducing old black and white movies for a generation of delighted fans. Prather focuses on one of the most well-known and longest running horror hosts, Count Gore De Vol, played by Dick Dyszel, as we are given a glimpse into his wacky world.

Though Count Gore De Vol is a very recognizable horror host and still makes regular appearances at conventions and hosts his own online horror show, I wasn’t that familiar with the character’s creator, Dick Dyszel. This documentary does a wonderful job at connecting the audience to the kind man behind the well-known cape! From his beginnings as playing Bozo the Clown and Captain 20 for local kid’s shows on Channel 20 in Washington D.C., we see Dyszel’s growth and desire to do something for the adults – hence Count Gore De Vol’s first show in 1973!

We are shown lots of vintage footage of Dyszel as his different characters, with the focus of course on the Count. We also see interviews with people Dyszel’s show, Creature Feature, influenced, including writers like Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), filmmakers such as Jeff Krulik (Heavy Metal Parking Lot), Scream Queens Leanna Chamish (Stakes) and Eleanor Herman (Night Beast) as well as a new generation of horror hosts including John Dimes (“Dr. Sarcofiguy”) and Jerry Moore II (“Karlos Borloff”). There are also lots of nostalgic recollections from regular old horror fans who watched his show when they were kids as well as from the man himself, Dick Dyszel. In one touching segment Dyszel recalls having Forrest J. Ackerman on the show and we are treated to rare footage of the interview.

Much of the footage shown in this documentary is rare or has never been seen before, adding to the deeply nostalgic feel of the documentary. Though I was too young to recall Count Gore De Vol’s long-running TV show Creature Feature, I still deeply appreciate the era of horror hosts and especially pioneers such as Dick Dyszel. When horror hosts seemed a thing of the past in the early ‘90s, Dyszel resurrected Count Gore De Vol and decided to host his show on the Internet (and this was back when people were still on dial-up). He is considered the first ever Internet horror host!

Nowadays, we are seeing a resurgence of horror hosts, many who claim Dyszel and his Count Gore De Vol character were huge influences on them. Many of these modern horror hosts are interviewed, including Penny Dreadful, The Bone Jangler, Karlos Borloff and more! It’s amazing to see what a gigantic impact horror hosts like Dyszel made on today’s performers and it’s pretty heartwarming to see such a great guy like Dyszel still getting adoration from fans!

Hard-working horror hosts like Dyszel basically reared a generation of horror fans and influenced a whole new breed of horror hosts to go on and inspire another generation of horror fans. Since many horror fans have horror hosts to thank for introducing them to the genre, it’s quite a treat to watch this documentary and get a behind-the-scenes peek at Dick Dyszel’s long (and still going strong) career as Count Gore De Vol!

If you are looking for a superb documentary that takes you down memory lane, check out Every Other Day is Halloween. It’s a fascinating and fun look at horror host Dick Dyszel’s life and will make you nostalgic for the golden years of horror hosts as well as make you excited for the horror hosts in years to come!

Available from Amazon!

Pretty Bloody: The Women of Horror (2009)

Pretty Bloody: The Women of Horror is a Canadian documentary that brings together some of the most articulate, intelligent and passionate women in horror to discuss their careers, experiences, hardships and views within the male-dominated horror industry.

Directed by Donna Davies and produced by Kimberlee McTaggart, Pretty Bloody recently aired on Canadian horror/sci-fi channel Space this past February. Davies and McTaggart interviewed many notable female horror figures including actresses Brinke Stevens, Debbie Rochon and Cerina Vincent, directors Katt Shea (The Rage: Carrie 2) and Mary Lambert (Pet Semetary), screenwriter Karen Walton (Ginger Snaps), journalist and filmmaker Heidi Martinuzzi (Pretty-Scary.net and Wretched), editor Jovanka Vuckovic (Rue Morgue Magazine), authors Tanya Huff (The Blood Books) and Nancy Kilpatrick (Mondo Zombie), academic Isabel Pinedo (Recreational Terror), critic Maitland McDonagh and many, many more involved within the horror business.

Seeing a fresh female perspective on horror and hearing other women’s experiences within the genre was interesting and inspirational. As a woman, it is hard to find like-minded females who love horror as much as I do. To see so many respected and knowledgeable women within one documentary really confirmed that, yes, there are women out there who love horror as much as I do. It also shows that more and more women are getting into the horror genre, whether it is purely from a fan standpoint or pursuing a career in horror.

Also, the scope of careers within the horror genre that were covered, from actors to directors to screenwriters to authors to critics to special FX artists, was expansive and showed just how involved women are within the horror genre. It’s not just a boy’s club! To see so many talented women in all aspects of the genre really made me proud to not only be a woman, but to be part of the horror community!

Don’t get the wrong idea, though…even though I am basically singing this film’s feminist praises, there is enough in this documentary to engage all! Director Donna Davies crafted an entertaining horror documentary that will appeal to many different types of horror fans. Female horror fans will feel a kinship with the women featured in the film, while males will enjoy a new perspective on horror and everyone will like getting a behind-the-scenes sneak peak at what actors, writers, directors, critics and special FX people do on a daily basis.

Sorcery Films really did a wonderful job in releasing this documentary and I sincerely hope they pursue submitting Pretty Bloody to film festivals and conventions so more horror fans can enjoy it! I also hope it is eventually released on DVD because Pretty Bloody is one of the best, most superior horror documentaries and it deserves to be seen by all horror fans!

Fan of the Dead (2008)

Fan of the Dead is a travel documentary about Nicolas Garreau, a French fan of George A. Romero’s Living Dead series, who travels to Pennsylvania to unearth the shooting locations used in Romero’s films, including the infamous Monroeville Mall from Dawn of the Dead, the original basement used in Night of the Living Dead, the farmhouse used in Night of the Living Dead 1990, the underground military facility used in Day of the Dead, the cemetery from the original Night of the Living Dead, and many more!

Garreau also filmed his visit to the Pittsburgh Comic Convention, which features interviews with various cast members from the films and fan reactions. Stars from the films even accompany fans to the shooting sites of the mall and the small airport from Dawn of the Dead.

Fan of the Dead is the ultimate fanboy (and girl) film for those that haven’t been able to visit such hallowed sites themselves (and even for those who have to “compare notes” with Garreau). It’s like Fodor’s come to life for horror fans! Fan of the Dead is like if you and your Living Dead fanatic friends filmed yourselves visiting Romero’s stomping grounds…everything is shot via handheld camera with a decidedly “home movie” feel. However, Garreau has so much passion and love for his subject that you quickly forget about the amateur production values and just enjoy the ride alongside the charming Nicolas, who manages to befriend just about everyone on his trip!

One of the best parts in the film is when various cast members from Dawn of the Dead (Ken Foree, David Emge, Machete Zombie – Lenny Lies, Nurse Zombie – Sharon Ceccatti, Helicopter Zombie – Jim Krut, and more!) accompany a small bus load of fans for a walk around Monroeville Mall, pointing out famous (or infamous) shooting locations. Some of the same cast also joined fans for a jaunt around the small airport where the group of survivors stopped to refuel. Hearing the actors talk about filming the movie was just as exciting as watching the joy of the fans! The enthusiasm of both the fans and cast is contagious!

Of course, there were also scenes of just Garreau driving to his next location and speaking heartfelt words about the films he so loves. We also got to hear about the hardships he faced in finding the exact locations and shared his joy when he finally arrived. His trip to the military bunker used in Day of the Dead (it is now used as a warehouse) was pretty neat, as the people that work there still remember when Romero shot there and many were used as extras in his film.

The documentary (though “vacation video” seems more appropriate) did drag in a few places, but with a short running time of 60 minutes it mostly moves at a quick pace. My only big complaint was the horrible voiceover work done. Garreau speaks French most of the time, so his voice was dubbed over with an “actor’s” voice…but this guy delivered his lines so flat and unconvincing that it really detracted from the film. I don’t know why subtitles weren’t used, but if they had it would have made for a much more pleasant viewing experience.

Besides that, Fan of the Dead is a fantastic little film that will delight horror fans! It’s so much fun to see locations used 25 (or more!) years ago and say, “Holy crap! I remember that!!” I wouldn’t be surprised if Fan of the Dead revives tourism in Pennsylvania, because as soon as you see this you’ll definitely want to plan your own terrifying trip to unearth Romero’s Living Dead locations!

Fan of the Dead – Official Site

Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (2008)

Director Paul von Stoetzel’s documentary, Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, explores the controversy of the “snuff” film and if these “murdered for profit” films really do exist. Snuff, as defined in the film, is a film that features a murder onscreen, usually preceded by sex, made explicitly for profit. Snuff isn’t made for pleasure nor is it death that just happens to be caught on film. In snuff, a person dies on camera for the sole purpose of making money off that scene.

Many people have questioned if snuff really exists and the FBI still vehemently denies it’s out there. Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera presents filmmakers, cinephiles and even FBI profilers with their thoughts on snuff films.

The official synopsis from Killing Joke Films describes it as:

“… a feature film examining the existence of films in which people are murdered on camera and the culture surrounding them. Through interviews with former FBI Profilers, Cultural Academics, and Film Historians the documentary delves into the disturbing history and myth of Snuff Films. The FBI claims there is no evidence to prove the existence of Snuff and, therefore, Snuff Films are a myth. This documentary analyzes the relationships between war, cult films, serial killers and pornography to prove whether or not this pervasive myth is, in fact, reality.”
 
Through these interviews and graphic scenes of torture, bloodshed and murder from controversial horror films as well as real scenes of death, filmmaker von Stoetzel examines the validity of snuff films and if they are truly real or not. The result is an emotional, powerful and troubling look into a society that views REAL torture and death as entertainment.

This amazingly comprehensive documentary is a real eye-opener to the ugly, twisted side of entertainment. While we would rather not believe human beings would pay to see real people get killed, this does happen, all in the name of entertainment. There are many segments that are hard to watch, especially one about a child pornography ring whose leaders were arrested after causing the death of at least one child. Outrageously, the leaders of the ring were released from Russian jail due to overcrowding and the head of the ring was only sentenced for 11 years for the atrocities they committed. Another particularly difficult segment to sit through was a discussion of war snuff, specifically the infamous execution by beheading of an American. The scary thing is that this video isn’t even considered “snuff” and is readily available to anyone for free on the Internet.

The film also features some surprisingly emotional scenes, specifically two in which Texas Chain Saw Massacre producer Mark L. Rosen talks about the previously mentioned child exploitation and another in which he describes watching a real snuff film. Both are powerful scenes, but Rosen becomes most visibly shaken when discussing the snuff film. He was approached by an investor who wanted him to distribute an “adult” film and invited to watch it in his hotel room. While two beefy bodyguards guarded the door of that hotel room, Rosen viewed the film that featured violent sex and, at the end, a woman’s throat being cut on screen. He goes on to tearfully say that there’s no way special effects were involved. His recollection of the event is touching and really makes you think about the atrocities being committed out in the world that most know nothing about. Rosen still doesn’t know what became of that snuff film and doesn’t care to.

Despite the horrors the film exposes, its execution (no pun intended) is equally well done. Von Stoetzel has done an excellent job assembling interviewees that have differing opinions and letting them all express their thoughts. The production values are equally high and I liked how the shocking clips from movies, the news and other sources were played in between the interviews. It also made you think about our current YouTube generation, where real and brutal acts of violence caught on video end up on the Internet for everyone to see. Snuff collectors might not be willing to pay exorbitant prices for snuff films if they can just watch them for free on the Internet. It also raises the question if people (including kids and teens) who watch these real death videos, which are so prevalent these days, are becoming desensitized.

The filmmaker isn’t kidding when a warning message is flashed across the screen at the beginning of the film, warning it isn’t for the faint of heart or spirit. I had plenty of trouble sitting through its disturbing elements, including the infamous video of an American being beheaded in the Iraq War. There were many shocking moments in the film, whether from controversial films like the Faces of Death series (though now we know many of these were fake), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, alleged snuff films, news and/or war footage as well as some footage shot by two serial killers that show them torturing a family. I can handle all the fake gore a movie can throw at me, but I get very shaken up over real-life torture, dismemberment and death. And, let me tell you, Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, definitely left me shaken up.

Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera, is an excellent, although horrifying, documentary on the notorious “snuff” film. It never seeks to exploit its subject, but treats it with a reverence and respect to get the truth out. Filmmaker Paul Von Stoetzel has created a moving and thoroughly engaging look at the myth surrounding snuff films. If you can handle the disturbing elements of “real-life” horrors this documentary portrays, then it comes highly recommended.

Visit Killing Joke Films and Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera’s Official Site!

Halloween: The Happy Haunting of America (2007)

Halloween is my favorite holiday, one that gets me giddier than I already am and truly brings out the kid in me (I think the extra sugar rush helps, too). Candy corn, caramel apples, some hot cider and a few spooky movies are all I need this time of year. Another staple of the season for me is a Halloween Haunt. Wherever you live, big city or small, you’re bound to have a local haunted house, cornfield, hayride, maze or amusement park. It just wouldn’t be Halloween without a trip to once of these haunts!

Which is why I was so delighted to receive Halloween…The Happy Haunting of America, a 2-disc DVD that celebrates everything Halloween-y!! It features tours of some of the best haunts in the United States, as well as interviews with horror celebrities like Doug Bradley (Pinhead from Hellraiser), Angus Scrimm (The Tall Man in the Phantasm films), Tony Todd (Candyman), Robert Englund (most famous for playing Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street), Don Coscarelli (director of Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), Christa Campbell (2001 Maniacs, Death by Engagement, Hallow’s Point), John Gulager (director of Feast), special FX maestro Tom Savini, shock rocker Alice Cooper and so on.

The documentary is hosted by Daniel Roebuck and Bob Burns, no strangers to the horror and sci-fi businesses. Both are hardcore Halloween fans, and take a very fun approach to the spooky season! The original documentary that was released ten years ago is covered on disc one, complete with a Dr. Shocker intro that pays homage to the midnight movie monster and mad doctor TV hosts of yesteryear. The documentary has been remastered, and on disc two one can find a bonus 10th anniversary version, complete with ten new haunts and a tour of The Magic Castle in Hollywood.

My favorite parts of the documentary were the interviews with horror icons where they shared childhood Halloween stories. Hearing about their favorite costumes, how they trick ‘r’ treated and what the holiday meant to them was just plain FUN! I also enjoyed the segment on Don Post Studios and the other mask makers that were featured. The story of how long they’ve been around and how they got started was fascinating!

I found the weakest part of the film to be the presentation of the haunts. There was a quick intro for each, but instead of telling us more about each individual haunt, there is just music over the scenes. I really wish filmmakers Chuck Williams and Daniel Roebuck had decided to go more in-depth with each haunt. Just watching scenes of spooky characters and places set only to music got really repetitive after a while, no matter how cool each haunt looked.

Except for a few shoddy production values, that was my only complaint and I wholeheartedly enjoyed this documentary and all its extra features. Those that adore Halloween will definitely dig this DVD, but even the more casual viewer will fall into the Halloween spirit with the help from The Happy Haunting of America!

Available from Amazon!

Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is just like the book by Adam Rockoff it was based on – fun, entertaining, interesting and a must for all horror fans! I cannot stress how much horror fans will love this film!!

Going to Pieces is a documentary that focuses on the delightful sub-genre of horror, slasher films. It explores early films in the ‘60s like Peeping Tom and Psycho and ‘70s films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Last House on the Left that paved the way for slasher films, which exploded on the scene when Halloween hit theaters in 1978. Halloween gained so much popularity that it soon became a template for other slashers, which soon flooded movie screens across the country. Going to Pieces shows the golden age of slashers in the ‘80s and how eventually the public became disenchanted with the genre in the late ‘80s and into the early ‘90s. That is, until the genre was reinvented and re-energized with Craven’s Scream and continued to evolve with new films such as House of 1000 Corpses, Hostel, Saw, The Devil’s Rejects, etc. Through film clips, still photos, behind-the-scenes and interviews with both the greats of the genre and the more obscure participants, Going to Pieces is pure, unadulterated joy to watch!

The archival footage of classic, obscure and controversial slasher films was a treat to see, as well as interviews with directors Wes Craven, Amy Holden Jones, John Carpenter, Sean Cunningham, Rob Zombie, special effects masters Stan Winston and Tom Savini, actors Felissa Rose and Betsy Palmer, and many, many more familiar (and not so familiar) faces all talking about their craft and love for horror.

Through interviews and footage, the documentary also delves into the socio-political implications of slasher films, including how Vietnam, the Reagan administration, a society of mass consumption and other turmoil in America influenced horror films. Archival footage of parents’ outrage at the killer Santa flick Silent Night, Deadly Night and a classic Siskel and Ebert show that decries and belittles horror films as misogynistic, sick and nasty are also included. I love this in-depth look at horror films, because, like it or not (I’m looking at you, Siskel and Ebert!), horror films usually mirror the fears of a particular time and place in society. These how’s and why’s of horror reveal that the genre goes much deeper than just hacking and slashing barely clothed co-eds. This aspect of Going to Pieces reminded me of another great horror documentary, American Nightmare, which explores more of the historical turbulence that gave rise to so many horror films in the ‘70s and onwards.

The interviewees offer some great commentary on their films and what went on behind the scenes, before and after a film was made. You can tell each of them has a real passion for the horror genre and it is so cool to see that spark in their eyes when talking about it. Each and every one of them has great viewpoints and most are pretty humorous! Check out what Rob Zombie has to say about the titles he chose for his films!

One small warning – the documentary does give away some big plot points and endings to several horror films, so if you haven’t seen many slashers I suggest you catch up with your viewing before checking out Going to Pieces. Other than that, I have no other complaints with this documentary…it’s pretty much drool-worthy for fellow horror fans!

If you are a fan of horror, you will dig this documentary and I highly recommend you pick it up. It’s a fun, entertaining and nostalgic look back (and a hopeful look forward) at the slasher film.

DVD available on Amazon!

Also, check out the book the documentary is based on, available from Amazon!

Horror Business (2007)

I finally got to check out Horror Business last night and let me tell ya, it was well worth the wait! It is a great peek into the tough business of indie horror filmmaking. Director Christopher Garetano has created a wonderful film that gives a filmmaker's prospective on how and why independent horror filmmakers do what they do with such gusto and passion.

"Horror Business is an outrageously entertaining documentary about guerrilla horror filmmakers and the bizarre culture that drives them to pursue their dreams. In 2003, filmmaker Christopher P. Garetano began what would become a two year journey to discover what possesses people to become horror filmmakers... Armed with nothing but a camera and a microphone, Chris traveled all over the United States to visit independent filmmakers on and off their sets. In Horror Business you will witness that two year journey unfold and meet some truly independent filmmakers including Mark Borchardt (American Movie) and Dave Gebroe (Zombie Honeymoon) along with monster movie personalities like Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast), Joe Bob Briggs (cult film critic and author), and Sid Haig (Spider Baby, The Devil's Rejects). Horror Business is a timeless essay of popcorn generation nostalgia and behind-the-scenes moments that just may prove ...movie making really is no way to spend a life..."

This is a great documentary, one that deserves to be seen by horror fans and film aficionados alike. Garetano captures the trials, tribulations and triumphs of his subjects objectively and with little intrusion. This results in an intimate atmosphere where the filmmakers can speak their minds truthfully and really show the audience what it is like to be in their shoes.

I loved getting an insider's look at the unglamorous, bloody, messy, chaotic and 18-hour (if not longer) long days of an independent horror filmmaker. As a reviewer, it was interesting to see how many good intentions, passions and how much hard work goes into creating a horror movie. Even if I don't like a particular movie, I can still appreciate all the hard work that went into getting it not only made, but distributed. Each filmmaker interviewed offered his unique perspective on horror and films and what inspired or drove him to become involved in making movies. The directors that Garetano focused on were all extremely interesting and I loved hearing each of their takes on different subjects.

Other people besides directors were also interviewed, including special fx and makeup people who work on independent horror flicks as well as vendors and Average Joe horror fans at a horror convention. Garetano included some interviews with more recognizable people in the horror biz, including Lloyd Kaufman of Troma, Tony Timpone of Fangoria, actor Sid Haig, critic Joe Bob Briggs, Herschell Gordon Lewis (the "Godfather of Gore") and a few others. All, from the fans to the famous, contributed thoughtful comments on the genre and where they think it is going (not to mention where it has been).

My only complaint was that Garetano didn't interview any women directors of horror films and didn't include too many "women in horror." If he had, this could have resulted in a wholly different perspective on the genre and would have been an interesting addition. Women love horror too, and I felt this fact was sadly ignored.

All in all, though, Horror Business is an entertaining and insightful documentary that is a must for any fan of independent cinema. Horror fans will delight at the "backstage" access they are given and will appreciate the hard knock life of an independent horror filmmaker. George Romero said it best about this film: "Anyone who wants to write or direct should see this film. Those who have never dreamed of being filmmakers should see it for its humor and its pure entertainment value."

Available on Amazon!

Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills (2006)

Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills is a revealing look at one of the most haunted places in America, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. The sprawling, 5-story structure is located on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. It was opened in the 1920s as a hospital for the "White Plague," or tuberculosis. There was no cure for tuberculosis until the 1960s, when the hospital was then converted to an old folk's home. It forever shut its doors in the early '80s due to patient abuse. In its infamous history, Waverly Hills claimed over 63,000 lives.

Waverly Hills is one of the most haunted and most frightening places in the United States today. The documentary is spooky, spine-tingling and sad…perfect to watch all by your lonesome one dark night. For the most part I enjoyed it and thought the filmmakers did a fine job.

The documentary explores the history of the sanatorium floor-by-floor, starting at the first and working up to the fifth. Actual ghost hunters were filmed and their evidence presented, including paranormal sounds and images captured on tape and film. Old employees and patients of the hospital were interviewed, along with the current owners, security guards and those who've visited the massive structure. Many ghost stories and encounters are retold, including a sighting of famous ghostly girl Mary, who many times asks visitors if they want to play. Shadow people, imps, orbs and ectoplasmic activity are all covered, as well as the infamous “death tunnel,” which was a long tunnel that the staff used to transport dead bodies from the hospital down to the main road.

I thought the documentary covered a lot in its 72 or so minutes. It was well-done, appropriately respectful and downright creepy. The photographs of ghosts were the most startling and intriguing, though I wish a little more time had been spent trying to capture ghosts on film. My only other complaint was the audio during some of the interviews. I just couldn’t hear/understand what was being said and the documentary really could have benefited from subtitles during the interview portions.

The documentary was done by the Booth Brothers, who also did Death Tunnel (which was also shot at Waverly and the doc gives us some behind the scenes of the film). Even though Death Tunnel has been slammed (and was a little too plugged during the documentary), Spooked intrigued me enough to move Death Tunnel to the top of my Netflix queue.

Anyone who is interested in haunted places and wants a good spine-tingling should check out Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hills.

Available on Amazon!

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror is a great 2 disc documentary chock full of interviews, on-set footage and tons of other goodies. I'm not even a hardcore Halloween fan (check out the hardcore fans in the convention footage included on the disc) and I still found this immensely enjoyable.

My fave was P.J. Soles interview as she takes viewers on a walking tour of Pasadena, where Halloween was filmed! After all these years, she is still adorable and one of my favorites.

A must for horror-lovers!

Find it on Amazon!