Interview with Mycho Founder MJ Dixon

Mycho is an independently run production company based in Northern England specializing in low-budget horror, horror-themed events and even their very own horror band, Hockey Mask Heroes. A true lover of horror, founder MJ Dixon runs Mycho not to make money but because of his dedication to the genre.

We had a chance to chat with MJ Dixon about Mycho, the horror genre, his inspirations and much more!

Fatally Yours: How and when did your love of horror begin?

MJ Dixon: I can’t really pin point the moment that it began, as long as I can remember I was always attracted toward anything macabre. But the first time I ever remember being scared was watching Universal Studios’ The Mummy when I was about 7 years old, that when my obsession began, and I spent the most part of my childhood drawing red ink on the TV paper circling the weeks horror movies. It was only when I was about 11 that I saw Halloween and from that moment I knew that I wanted to spend my life making Horror Movies.

Fatally Yours: Can you tell our readers something about your production company, Mycho?

MJ Dixon:  Mycho is based in the North of England and focuses purely on creating original, entertaining Horror films. In addition we put on Events like the House Of Mycho as an outlet for the films and music that we create. The most important thing is that it’s all done completely on no money and lots of love.

Fatally Yours: What led up to you starting your own production company?

MJ Dixon: Mycho was created from many factors combined, When I left high school at 16 (Over 10 Years ago) I began to work on small independent productions in my area. There wasn’t a lot going on so I grabbed hold of any opportunity that I could. But it was rare that any of them were Horror films and trying to get my own stuff out there was proving increasingly harder in the North of England where people only wanted to see Kitchen Sink dramas.

I realised that if was going to get to work on Horror Films I would have to make them myself and so I set up a production company and shot my first film Destination. There was a bit of buzz about it on various Horror Boards and I knew I was on the right track. Then money became involved and the people I was running the company with got greedy. They stop thinking about what we would make next and more how much they would get paid, I decided to get out at that point.

I had learned a lot of lessons from that first film and decided that I would create, not only a production company, but a film making philosophy, and so I created Mycho. Mycho was about making movies for the love of movies and focused purely on Horror, my biggest love.

Fatally Yours: What are all the duties and roles that you perform for Mycho?

MJ Dixon: I take care of almost everything, I take on cast and crew as I need them, although I have picked up a few like minded characters along the way who have become regulars. But my duties mainly are putting together every project from start to finish. I spent a long time training myself to edit so that I could take care of that and studied composition and sound design at University as well as screenwriting and anything else you could think of.

Fatally Yours: Tell us about what you‘re working on now…
 
MJ Dixon: Well at the minute we’re in pre production on Creepsville which will be Mycho’s debut feature film. It’s been in development for years and I decided that now was the time to go for it. The past year or so has been spent tightening up every aspect of Mycho’s productions and I think now its time to take on something big. It’s scary as the film has no real budget, its all based on the “beg, borrow, steal” philosophy, which is nothing really new to us.

Fatally Yours: If you could put together your dream cast and crew for a horror film (or even to host one of your events), who would you choose and why?

MJ Dixon: Well funnily enough I’ve been writing a film with Troma star Trent Haaga in mind for about 6 years and during trying to raise funds we actually shot a micro cameo with Doug Bradley of Hellraiser fame. It’s a high budget affair really so it’s been very hard to ever get it up and running, but I’m a big fan of Trent both as an actor and a writer and well, I grew up as a huge fan of Hellraiser, so trying to get Mr Bradley fully on board would be a dream come true.

As for events well I would love to have Alice Cooper play, I’m a huge fan of the band and Mr Cooper himself. Mycho actually has its own band Hockey Mask Heroes, that record our soundtracks and such, that is very much in the same vein as what Cooper was doing in the 80′s and 90′s.

Fatally Yours: What have been some of your favorite horror films of 2008?

MJ Dixon: There’s been some really strong Horror this year, Inside was one that stands out, the French don’t give us horror very much, but when they do it always hits me hard. Teeth was another, it just had such originality and really entertained me and the string of people I’ve shown it to. I also loved Jack Brooks – Monster Slayer, it just took me back to the first time I saw Evil Dead 2. I hope those guys get a sequel.

Fatally Yours: What‘s your favorite horror film of all time?

MJ Dixon: That’s always a hard question, I get asked that a lot, I would say it’s between Halloween, The Hitcher and Hellraiser. They are three films that I can watch again and again and they never lose any impact. It’s a shame that the remakes of the first two were a little lacklustre, I’ve got nothing against Hollywood remaking films, but I wish they would look at why the originals were so scary. Let’s just hope they get Hellraiser right.

Fatally Yours: What do you think modern horror movies today are doing wrong? What do you think they are doing right?

MJ Dixon: It’s strange, we have grown more acceptant as an audience these days, so what would have scared us many years ago now has little or no impact. I was watching the making of Constantine the other night and the director used the term “Popcorn scare” and I think it’s that mentality that is causing the problem. There’s no sense of dread in most commercial, modern horror, its all just mediocre jump scares that are instantly forgettable on leaving the theatre or turning off the DVD player.

There are people out there getting it right though. All The Boys Love Mandy Lane for example was something fresh and new and I got a lot from it as a viewer. With people like Adam Green and Eli Roth out there I feel that Horror is at least in safe hands. Saw had it right for a couple of years, but I think by now they know that we’ll hand our money no matter what crap they put on the screen.

Fatally Yours: What is the one thing you hope people come away with after seeing one of your films or attending one of your events?

MJ Dixon: I want people to be entertained, that’s why I started doing this and that why I’ve never stopped. I spent a lot of time around people making art films, but of course no one wanted to watch them and these people pass that off as the audience being ignorant. But the simple fact is that film is there to entertain, that’s its main purpose, if you don’t give the audience something for their time they are just gonna be pissed off.

Fatally Yours: You are based in the UK, but do you have any plans to expand into other countries, perhaps even the United States?

MJ Dixon: Yeah, I think with any kind of business you have to look to expand in any way that you can. The move to LA is inevitable, after all the film scene in England is not really geared toward Horror. There have been some classics in recent years The Descent, 28 Days Later, Shaun Of The Dead, but they all still had American studio backing. I plan to do as much as I can here in the meantime, but eventually LA is gonna have to happen.

Fatally Yours: Can you tell our readers about Mycho‘s parties and events?

MJ Dixon: We run an event every month called House Of Mycho, its basically a themed night, always revolving around Horror, for example our New Year’s Evil party on December 31st. We get some awesome bands to come and play, people dress up and we show Mycho movies and play awesome music and just generally have a great time and give Mycho some much needed exposure as a label and as a movement.

Fatally Yours: What are your plans and goals for Mycho in the future?

MJ Dixon: Well after Creepsville, I would want to do a Christmas Horror I think. I don’t really know why, but I’ve always loved Christmas-based Horror films. So I think Mycho could quite possibly be releasing one for next Holiday season. Other than that Hockey Mask Heroes will be releasing our debut E.P this Christmas and we’re planning to tour with that next year and aiming to get some label interest.

Plus the short films will keep coming in the meantime and obviously the House Of Mycho events will keep coming every month. I would really want to keep Mycho independent, that’s probably my main goal. That way we can make Horror that we know people want to see and not this O.C. generation of Horror remakes like April Fools and Prom Night. Mycho’s overall goal though, is to entertain Horror fans and I think we can do that as we’re Horror fans ourselves.

Visit Mycho’s Official Site!

Book Review: Dying to Live - Life Sentence by Kim Paffenroth

Poignant zombie novels that really make you think are hard to come by. Most z-books focus on zombie attacks, blood, bodies being ripped limb from limb, blowing stuff up and so on. If any emotion is involved it is usually the gruff and macho kind that lasts only for a few sentences. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with those books. Lord knows I love a violently visceral zombie book as much as the next girl, but it’s nice to come upon a book that has brains as well as zombies!

Dying to Live: Life Sentence is Kim Paffenroth’s second novel in the Dying to Live series. While Dying to Live took place during the immediate fall out from the zombie apocalypse, Life Sentence takes place 12 years later where people, both alive and undead, have begun adjusting to their tough new world. Chapters switch back and forth between the story of Zoey, a child raised in the post-apocalyptic world going through the rites and rituals to become a full-fledged member of her community, and the story of Truman and Lucy, two smart zombies who can understand humans, read, play musical instruments and don’t randomly attack humans. As both Zoey and the zombies grow within their new roles, their paths and fates become intertwined.

The smart zombie storyline was intensely interesting and I kind of wish the whole novel had been focused solely on Truman and Lucy. I loved how they learned things and were able to read and even play the violin! It brought a whole new human element to the zombies and really made you think, just what if zombies had feelings and emotions and memories? The characters of Truman and Lucy had so much dimension and depth that truthfully I liked them more than some of their human counterparts!

Then of course was Zoey, who really grew on me as the book progressed. Though only twelve, she behaved like a well-trained soldier. She was born after the zombie apocalypse (or pretty much smack dab in the middle of it) so she never got to experience the luxuries of the old world, like ice cream and television, many of her elders talked about. Also, she never really got to experience childhood. In a way, she is almost like the zombies because she was robbed of a normal life (or normal death in their case). The parallels Paffenroth draws between her and the zombies elevate the novel into something much more intelligent than the standard zombie gorefest.

Besides the intriguing new characters, Paffenroth peppers the book with characters from Dying to Live, including Milton, Jack, Will and so on. Despite the many returning characters, the nice thing about Life Sentence is that you don’t have to read the first book to comprehend what is going on (though reading the first book helps you understand how much the survivors have gone through and gives you a deeper understanding of each returning character).

The book has a few grisly scenes, but its focus really isn’t on the gore but on characters’ interactions with the world around them. There are quite a few exciting stand-offs between zombies and/or other survivors and even a scary attack on Zoey and other women by a group of bandits that more than make up for the lack of viscera.

Dying to Live: Life Sentence is a satisfying read that you won’t be able to put down! Despite a few typos and the misuse of the word ‘til, I really have no complaints. Kim Paffenroth’s writing transports you to the desolate corner of the world where the book is set and really challenges you to contemplate more deeply on humanity. The message of hope is hard to miss here, but in a predictable pool of zombie novels that think gore is enough to entertain, Dying to Live: Life Sentence’s poignancy is more than welcome.

Available from Amazon!

Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008)

After the ridiculously good time I had with Gingerdead Man, I had to check out this year’s sequel, Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust. While the sequel kept the Full Moon gags coming, I found Gingerdead Man 2 to be even more disjointed than the first go ‘round. However, I did enjoy how Full Moon, in all their self-deprecating glory, poked fun at themselves by setting the film in a failing independent studio that makes bad horror movies. Of course, all the low-brow, toilet humor helped too.

The enthusiastic Kelvin (K-Von), son of the late founder of Cheatum Studios, is trying to keep the family company relevant by staging a comeback with their latest production, Tiny Terrors 9: Purgatory of the Petite. Besides the Tiny Terrors’ ninth sequel, Cheatum also has several other productions simultaneously filming with hopes they will rescue the company from financial ruin…Except crew members and cast alike are all starting to bitch about not getting paid by the studio. In the midst of threats of revolt, Kelvin must play host to a terminally ill young man whose last wish was to be given a tour of Cheatum Studios. More trouble arrives when the gingerdead man is brought on set (seemingly unharmed from the previous film) in a box of sweets. As the killer cookie cuts his way through cast and crew, Kelvin must find a way to stop him before production at Cheatum Studios is halted…permanently.

Plot-wise Gingerdead Man 2 doesn’t have a lot going for it, though it introduces a big cast of characters (you’ll definitely see some familiar faces like cameos from special FX wizards Greg and Frank Nicotero, John Carl Buechler, Kenneth J. Hall, and directors David DeCoteau and Adam Green). These characters are all pretty broad stereotypes of people within the film industry – we have the effeminately gay makeup artist/hairstylist, the first-time actress who got her role because of a BJ (or two), the slutty, ex-famous actress who is now the caterer, the grumbling crew members, the prima donna directors and so on…

The one-line jokes are pretty corny and usually lame, but I still found myself giggling at some of them. While the first film was witty in parts, the sequel relies mostly on toilet humor or silly gags for laughs. The humor that works has to mostly with the independent film industry and Full Moon essentially poking fun at themselves and their own films. The Tiny Terrors movie, in all its awfulness and hilarity (how can you not laugh at a gross “haunted penis” puppet??), is a perfect example of the films people generally expect from Full Moon.

While there are some laughs to be found, it’s surprising that the gingerdead man takes a backseat to all the gags. It takes him a while to start slicing and dicing again and when he does there aren’t very many memorable kills (except for when the gay makeup artist takes a curling iron up the derriere). Also, this time around the gingerdead man isn’t voiced by Gary Busey, but by Krusty the Clown sound-a-like John Vulich, so the killer cookie loses some of his charm.

Still, despite the fact that the Gingerdead Man 2 is a half-baked, I found myself enjoying it! You’ll find yourself rolling your eyes more than once, but its not as bad as everyone has made it out to be. And, of course, it least it features some self-deprecating humor that lets you know that yes, the filmmakers do realize it’s a crappy movie! Still, it is definitely a film that’s not for everyone. Lovers of silliness, randomness and cheese rejoice, but those looking for something that is cohesive need to look elsewhere!

Available from Amazon!

The Gingerdead Man (2005)

Looking for a distraction from the baking and cooking that needed to be done for Thanksgiving, I sat down to relax and watch the Full Moon feature The Gingerdead Man. If anything could inspire me to bake, it would have to be a killer reincarnated in a gingerbread man cookie, right?

Well, though I was disappointed that this wasn’t a more Christmas-y film (as the name implies) and it does have many flaws, I still found myself enjoying The Gingerdead Man.

After her father and brother are gunned down by heartless criminal Millard Findlemeyer (the inimitable Gary Busey), Sarah (Robin Sydney) testifies against him and he is sentenced to death. When he fries in the electric chair, he vows revenge on her, even if it means he has to come back from beyond the grave…

Sarah is working in her family’s bakery when she receives a strange package of gingerbread seasoning. She makes a large gingerbread man using the seasoning, not realizing she is bringing back the murderous Millard as a gingerbread man!

He seeks revenge on Sarah by stalking and killing her friends and family. Can Sarah stop him before he kills her? Revenge never tasted so sweet!

To answer your question, yes, this film is cheesy and ridiculous, but it is still entertaining! The biggest plot problem the film has is keeping the victims in the bakery, even though they are free to go get help whenever they please! But do they? Nope, they just sit around, even when a few people need medical attention, intent on stopping the malicious Millard themselves! It’s pretty unbelievable to think that they would just stay there when a frickin’ gingerbread man is stalking and killing them? I would be the first one out the door to try and find a phone to call the police! Despite this major problem, I was able to suspend my belief and just enjoy the film.

Despite the characters’ stupid decisions, they are still inherently likable. Sarah is a strong female lead and she has our full attention and sympathy from the beginning as she deals with her father and brother’s deaths as well as running the struggling family business. Actress Robin Sydney, who I just saw in Wicked Lake, really brings Sarah to life. Though she could have easily been a one-note character, Sydney makes her multi-dimensional and relatable. Busey is also fun to watch as the killer cookie and really hams it up as only he can. The rest of the cast is also impressive and there isn’t one bad actor in the bunch.

The special effects were a bit cheesy at times, especially the look of the gingerbread man, but overall they were decent. The film doesn’t have a lot of gore, but we do get a man sandwiched between a wall and a car, a knife through a head and someone getting baked to a crisp. So not really a lot of blood in the film, but what is shown works.

The Gingerdead Man is only a little over an hour long, but I think it could have been shorter if some unnecessary scenes were cut. Plus, it did get repetitive with the only location being the bakery. I also think it would have made a more lasting impression had the filmmakers utilized Christmas and the holidays into the storyline.

Despite its flaws, The Gingerdead Man is a fun flick that just might make you think twice about what’s in your cookies this holiday season!

Bon Appétit!

Available from Amazon!

Book Review: After Twilight - Walking with the Dead by Travis Adkins

Travis Adkins’ After Twilight: Walking with the Dead is his 2008 follow-up to last year’s Twilight of the Dead. Though I haven’t yet read Twilight, Walking with the Dead is a very enjoyable, fast-paced book that can almost stand on its own.

Years after the zombie apocalypse a group of survivors have holed themselves up behind the fortified walls of Eastpointe, which used to be a resort. People live there in relative safety and comfort. The community has its own farmlands, people live in their own houses and they’ve even established a kind of government to keep order. The community utilizes a special ops unit called the Black Berets when they need to go out into the zombie-infested world for supplies. The Black Berets are skilled in combat against the flesh-eaters, but when they don’t come back from escorting a mysterious doctor to retrieve a cure, people start to worry.

Yet one Black Beret is slowly making his way back to Eastpointe…with a plan for revenge against those that nearly cost him his life.

Travis Adkins has a very clear, very direct style of writing that makes reading Walking with the Dead a pure pleasure. The pacing of the novel is very quick and once you start reading it is hard to stop! I also liked the way Adkins introduces the characters and shows us just who they all are. This makes it easy for readers who haven’t read his previous work to familiarize themselves with his characters. I also enjoyed how we get glimpses of different characters’ pasts, which gives us a better understanding of who they are and what they believe in.

Adkins dialogue is very realistic and most of the characters’ actions are believable. With that being said, the only character’s actions I didn’t find believable were Vaughn’s. Since he is such an integral part of the story, this is a huge problem. Perhaps his motivations and his personality were better explained in the first book, but his actions just didn’t ring true in Walking with the Dead.

There were also some plot holes that never got wrapped up, unless of course they were already covered in the previous novel. The storyline involving Vaughn’s sister/lover never really goes anywhere and is dropped towards the end of the book. Perhaps Adkins is waiting for his third book to resolve this and some of the other plot points.

On the plus side, the villainous betrayal of Eastpointe and the infiltration of its walls by the moaning hordes of zombies is quite exciting and will keep you on the edge of your seat! The gore is vividly described and the narration of the fight scenes is expertly done!

Despite its flaws, After Twilight: Walking with the Dead is a highly enjoyable, fast-paced and exciting z-novel that’ll have you drooling for more!

Available from Amazon!

Two Front Teeth (2008)

Dear Santa, 

This year all I want for Christmas is a new holiday horror movie that actually delivers. I can only watch Black Christmas, Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night so many times over the holidays! I want something new, something fresh and something that doesn’t involve horrible acting from 20-year-olds trying to pass themselves off as teens. 

Santa, if you bring me this one thing, I promise to be good all next year…no matter how many bad horror movies I have to put up with.

Yours truly,
Fatally Yours

And with that, it seems that Christmas has come early this year, as Santa delivered a shiny new Christmas horror movie to me called Two Front Teeth.

Two Front Teeth may not be all I asked for – it drags at times, has bad pacing and the storyline isn’t as developed as I’d like – but this horror-comedy delivers plenty of laughs.

Gabe Snow (Johnny Francis Wolf) is a timid journalist who works for the X-Mas Files, an Enquirer or sorts that covers holiday-related phenomenon, such as sightings of Rudolph, mutant snowmen, Santa giving the gift of…crabs, a sex scandal involving Mrs. Claus, and so on. While he’s busy working late one Christmas Eve, his wife Noel (Megan Pearson) is busy boinking a mall Santa…when out on the roof arises such a clatter, she and mall Santa spring from the bed to see what is the matter. They don’t find Santa coming down the chimney, but instead some vicious, bloodthirsty elves. It seems that one of Gabe’s stories is actually true, and these evil elves will stop at nothing to find Gabe’s source for the story. Gabe’s source has something of value to the elves and that it is all tied to a story Gabe wrote on the crash of Flight 1225.

Gabe and Noel flee the elves, but end up wrapped up in a Christmas conspiracy involving tooth fairies, evil elves, a vampiric Santa Claus, nun assassins, Rudolph’s red nose and killer fruitcake. Can Christmas be saved before it’s too late?

Two Front Teeth is certainly a fun film, peppered with Christmas references, but it is not without its flaws. Its comedy is superb, with quite a few very funny lines (“They didn’t have any ho-ho’s” or “You’ll shoot your eye out, you son of a bitch! ), but the plot feels lacking, almost like the jokes were written first and the story was cobbled around them. The lack of a well-developed story is the film’s biggest problem and really drags the film down. The reason why the elves are attacking and the story surrounding Flight 1225 are explained briefly (in an animation scene), but I would have preferred more of a focus on this part of the plot. Without more emphasis on the how’s and why’s, the film soon starts to feel like we are just watching Noel and Gabe run from point A to point B to point C, which definitely gets old after a while.

The pacing also feels uneven. When the film begins we are immediately thrown into the action, but as Gabe and Noel try to outrun the evil elves things get repetitive. Things pick up towards the end in a final showdown, but between then things feel a little slow. Also, some scenes drag on a bit too long and the film could have benefited from some tighter editing.

Despite these problems, the film features some truly memorable Christmas gags. My personal favorites include the “Silent Knights,” a trio of nun assassins sent from the Vatican to save Christmas, the 3 Kings Motel, using fruit cake as a weapon and Clausferatu, a vampiric Santa. This kind of humor is definitely the film’s strong point.

Another strong point is the acting. For an independent film, all the actors do a good job with their characters. Even the actors who play the evil elves are creepy! And what great makeup is done on them! The special effects, with the exception of a cheesy severed head, are also decent, though this isn’t a gory film.

Two Front Teeth is by no means a perfect film, but despite its flaws it still manages to be pretty damn entertaining. If you are looking to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your holiday season, all you need is Two Front Teeth!

Ask Santa to stuff it in your stocking!

Available from Amazon!

Interview with Photographer Paula Burr

Paula Burr is the owner and sole photographer of Killer Eye Photography, a company that combines her love of horror with her eye for dark visuals! Paula is well-known in horror circles as not only a killer photographer, but also as a dear friend.

We recently caught up with Paula upon her return from London after she finished up a stint shooting stills for on the film Dread, adapted from a Clive Barker story.

Fatally Yours: Paula, tell us about growing up and how you fell in love with the horror genre!

Paula Burr: I grew up in AZ and moved around a lot with my mom. My parents divorced so I spent most of my time with her. I won’t bore you with those details but she’s the one who introduced me to the lovely world of horror. My early memories are of Bride of Frankenstein, Creature From the Black Lagoon and The Exorcist. After my mom realized that these didn’t bother me, the films just poured in. John Carpenter’s Halloween holds a very special place in my heart. I LOVE that film. I love Freddy and Jason too; slasher films are great fun especially because I live in a forest area. But I have to say the boogyman just gets me, EVERYTIME!

Fatally Yours: You’ve got quite an impressive array of horror-inspired tattoos. Which one was your first? What others do you plan to get?

Paula Burr: The first horror tattoo I got was the Bride of Frankenstein. Really didn’t have any intention to turn it into a sleeve but it crept down my arm and is getting closer to being completed. I’m planning on finishing that this year. The next is yet to be determined. I have a few things I am working on. Skin is seeming kind of minimal so I am choosing wisely. But I definitely see more work in my future.

Fatally Yours: How did you get into photography? 

Paula Burr: Photography sort or found me in 2002. I was up on a mountain snowboarding at night in Alaska. A person raced by me and jumped. The snow left this illuminated trail of snow in the light and as I sat there and watched it fall, it just memorized me. I could think about was how could I capture that image.

Fatally Yours: Where did you attend school to study your craft? 

Paula Burr: I took a few classes at a junior college in AZ. then decided that I just loved it and I thought hey why not try and take this further. So I moved to Southern CA and went school for photography and film, now graduated, I’m working and living life.

Fatally Yours: What equipment do you use? 

Paula Burr: That’s a tricky question; I love film and still use my Hassleblad. But lately with the digital push, I find myself more and more using my Canon 5D.

Fatally Yours: How did you combine your love of the macabre with your love of photography? 

Paula Burr: In the beginning, I started in Fine Art Photography. When I started out, my images all had a spooky quality that seemed to be something that would come out of a music video, something that had been manifested dream. I would see things in film and TV that I would try and recreate and put a little twist on to make it original. I dream very vividly so I try and write down what I dream so I can recreate that as well.

Fatally Yours: How do you prepare and get inspired for a shoot?

Paula Burr: Preparation comes from listening to lots of music, watching lots of movies (of all kinds) and searching for concepts. When doing horror inspired shoots, I tend to watch films that put me in a certain mind set. Sometimes I pick a character from a film and try to portray an emotion that is brought on by the film. More times out of any though, I would have to say my dreams drive my final imagery. I love to grab my Ipod and just go. I really enjoy wandering around, exploring and watching the world all while listening to music. There is something very inspirational about listening to acoustic guitar or piano even the violin that just tunes me in. Somehow, I seem to match up my emotions with my surroundings and then something will just pop and there will be my idea for the next shoot.

Fatally Yours: What has been the most memorable shoot you’ve had so far? 

Paula Burr: I would have to say the most memorable is the most recent. I just wrapped the film Dread (Clive Barker adaptation) on location in London. I was over there shooting stills, it was my first time to the UK and I absolutely adored it! I also plan on going back.

Fatally Yours: What do you think sets you apart from other photographers? 

Paula Burr: Well, I would like to think it’s because I play well with others? Really though, I do have a genuine love for things that are a bit out of the ordinary and the macabre inspired. Surrounding myself with places/people of like minds has given me the opportunity to meet some amazing individuals. I believe working with those people who are involved in the horror community bring me to a whole new level. It’s a blessing to have such a support group. Not only are they my friends, but also they inspire me to be better and push my creativity.

Fatally Yours: If you could photograph a current horror celebrity, who would it be and why? 

Paula Burr: Well as far as celeb goes I would love to photograph Rob Zombie. I love his work on so many levels.

Fatally Yours: If you had the option to photograph anyone, past or present/dead or alive, who would it be and why? 

Paula Burr: That is one of the hardest questions for me. Can I give you a top 3! It’s a toss up between George Romero and Vincent Price and Tim Burton. As for why? They are all just awesome!

Fatally Yours: What do you like to do in your spare time besides watch horror flicks and photography? 

Paula Burr: Snowboard when I can get away, and I love to travel. I also enjoy sleeping in and watching other non horror movies.

Fatally Yours: In your line of work, what (or who) is your #1 inspiration? 

Paula Burr: At the moment, my head is completely wrapped around motion picture. Since I have been working on set my mind is a bit distorted. My stills will be pushing the levels of “set pieces” in the future. I also have been watching music videos and films to look at lighting and watching for the little things that directors of photography throw into the mix. Watching cinematography pushes the boundaries for me shooting stills. I’m such a visual person that truly my inspiration comes from learning what I can by watching, looking around and just staying tuned in to my surroundings.

Fatally Yours: What are your hopes, dreams and goals for the future with Killer Eye Photography?

Paula Burr: Well at the moment Killer Eye is doing well! While working in London my site is currently a blog site, rather than an image gallery, but I am building a new web site as we speak! New look coming soon! As far as my goals, I just really want to give the world something different.

Working in the commercial world of fashion and portraiture, I am just bored to death with the same images over and over. As far as the commercial industry goes, I would love to be a photographer who can grab celebrities and twist them into something surreal. I had a friend once say to me, “You could be the next Annie Leibovitz of horror!” I have to admit I loved the sound of that!  Creating a fantasy world, dark dreamlike sets that take you away to a place you could never imagine, that is where my head is and where I would love to have people sit for me. Tim Burton for example, when I look at his body of work, I am reminded of how much I want to be a child again. Dreams of falling down a rabbit hole to a world of magic and mystery…I mean, trying to read the Manual for the Recently Deceased, I’d give that a shot. His mind completely blows me away. I would like to keep pushing forward in my imagery to give the world my ideas of bizarre, mysterious and creepy. In the same time hoping that there is some dark soul out there that finds my art beautiful.