Your film The Corn
Stalker - in a few words, what is it about?
Two amateur book writers, a lost DJ, and a bounty hunter searching for
his missing sister all cross paths in a cornfield in Boonsboro. There they
encounter a local legend, the murderous Corn Stalker. One by one they are
killed off until only the bounty hunter remains. What
prompted you to use a cornfield as the film's main location? The
isolation. It is very easy to get lost and it can be pretty intimidating.
It seemed like the perfect location and it, aside for the Children of
the Corn, it hadn't been used much.
A
few words about the Corn Stalker's creepy scarecrow outfit? We
actually wanted the outfit to look pretty realistic. We didnt want a
"monster", but rather a deformed creature hiding out in the
field. His costume helped him to blend in to the environment. Rather
unlike other genre movies of late, you don't care about giving your Corn
Stalker an origin-story. Why is that? The film was supposed
to be a short film, but we liked the idea so much we made it a feature
film. There was a small script but most of it was improv. We were just
having fun running with it that we didn't even think about a back story. Could you ever be
tempted to make a sequel to The
Corn Stalker? There is a sequel, Corn Stalker 2:
Dead Man Stalking, it will be released on DVD in August 2011. There is
also a third film being written called, Origins of the Corn Stalker
and I'm even coming up with ideas for a fourth film.
The
Corn Stalker was obviously inspired by old-school-slasher movies
from the 1980's. A few of your favourites from back in the days? A
few, Toolbox Murders,
New York Ripper, April
Fool's Day, The Prowler,
of course Halloween, Bay
of Blood, Psycho from Texas, stuff like that. I love horror in
general. Other
sources of inspiration for The
Corn Stalker? The biggest obvious inspiration is
Jason Voorhees.
I have always wanted to play Jason, but I am too
small. This was my chance to play him in a slightly different type of
role. Other inspirations were Pumpkinhead, Halloween,
and of course Children of the Corn.
A few words about your cast and
crew? The cast and crew were awesome. I have been working
with most of them for many years. Steve Fiendish and I started in the
business together when we created Horror Punk Productions back in
1997. Our fight scenes have been legendary locally so it was only fitting
that we ended the film with a fight scene. David Keye and Shan Guhr are
both good actors, Dave is a classically trained stage actor. Chris Bell is
great. He has the best line delivery I have ever seen. It was a fun movie
to make. I wish all my film experiences were that good. What can you tell us about the music score of your
film, which also features quite a few rock tunes? The score
was written by me and Steve Fiendish. We wanted kind of a blues element to
it. I think it fit well. The bands that contributed were awesome and fit
the movie so well. Zombina and the Skeletones, Under A Nightmare,
and Ghosts Run Wild were great. It is my goal to always use indie
bands in my films as a part of the film, not just background. It was
something I always liked about Scooby Doo. There was this
cheesy song playing in the background when the villains were chasing them.
So that's what did. The
Corn Stalker is accompanied by two (rather gory) fake commercials.
A few words about these? I had shot them for something else
and they were just laying around and I got the idea to just add them. It
was simply done for fun and it worked to break things up. What can you tell us about your
soon-to-be-released movie Untold Vampire Tales? Vampire
Tales is one of my favorite movies that I have made. I read a book
about vampire mythology and came across these old stories. I thought they
would make great movies and I think they do. There are four short films,
each about a different type of vampire. There is a Russian vampire, a Slavian
vampire, an Irish vampire, and a tale about a Goth vampire. The
film was well shot, well acted. Great score and very good production
value. I had a blast with that one. Any
other films you'd like to talk about, any future projects? Well,
we have Vampire Tales coming out, then Corn Stalker 2, and
then a movie about killer trees called, Radioactive Flesh Foliage
coming out this fall. And then we ar going to start working on a new DVD
series called Terror Shoppe! - kind of a Tales
from the Crypt-type of show.
Your
films are all of the horror-variety. Why, and is horror a genre especially
dear to you? I have been a fan of horror since I was nine.
It has been a part of life life ever since. I have devoted my life to it.
The horror genre and the people in it are like family. I want to be a part
of that world. What got you into filmmaking in the first
place, and did you recieve any formal training on the subject? I
love to entertain people. I was blessed with a good imagination, and I
love horror. It was just a logical choice. I went to the Hollywood Film
Institute in 1997. Directors
who inspire you? Alfred Hitchcock of course, Fred Olen Ray,
Hershell Gordan Lewis [Herschell
Gordon Lewis bio - click here], John Carpenter, Jim Wynorski,
Lucio Fulci [Lucio Fulci bio -
click here], Umberto Lenzi [Umberto
Lenzi bio - click here], William Castle. Your favourite movies?
It
depends on the genre, zombies ... Return of the Living
Dead, slashers ... Friday the 13th-franchise,
sci Fi ... Thing From Another Planet, comicbook ... Superman
- I have to break it down into genres because I love
so much. ...
and of course, films you really deplored?
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Anything
Hollywood. I don't like over-produced, over-hyped, blockbusters. They
annoy me. I don't even watch them. I just stick to my older films, or the
indie horror scene. Your website,
Facebook, whatever else? http://rebelangelpictures.com
and check us out on youtube.com
- rapictures2011. Also, www.strictlysplatter.com
is running a giveaway contest with us for Corn
Stalker merchandise. So enter your chance to win by checking out
their website. Anything else you are dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I have been
labeled as "amateur", "trash" and "backyard"
filmmaker and I hope that the fans who watch us see beyond the low budget
of the films. We try hard to make good productions with very little money.
But we do have scripts, crew, locations, and schedules just like every
other film company. Indie horror is making an impact and we want to be a
big part of that and I hope the fans keep coming back and keep indie
horror alive. We will all work really hard to bring you the best films we
can and try our best to entertain you. But it is the fans, not the critics,
who make the difference. Thanks for
the interview!
Thank you Mike and searchmytrash.com for being a supporter and
standing tall with us!
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