Home > Horror News > Interviews > Interview With Chris LaMartina, director of Book of Lore


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Interview With Chris LaMartina, director of Book of Lore, 2007 Best Horror Feature at Shockerfest





The film “Book of Lore” took Best Horror Feature at the 2007 Shockerfest International Film Festival. However, unless they were keeping up with all releases by Brain Damage Films or young filmmakers in Maryland particularly, many may have wondered: who was behind the creation of Book of Lore?



Short answer: Chris LaMartina.



A big thank you goes out to Chris who took the time for the following Q and A filling us in on the who of the who and sheddingbookoflore some light on independent horror filmmaking on the Shockerfest award winning level.



Be sure to look for the Book of Lore Myspace addy in the interview and also look for a copy of “Dead Teenagers” which was released on July 3rd.



And now the interview with Chris LaMartina:





TERRORTUBE: You seem to be a jack of all trades, what is your favorite duty involving the movie making industry?



“It's always difficult to pick favorites, but I think, at this point at least, writing is the most fun because of two reasons. One, it's the core of the story and allows for a film to be made at all, and two, because at this level, you're also worrying about logistics and what you can pull off, so its pretty much problem solving, which is one of my favorite aspects of being on set. Nothing ever goes as planned and figuring things out is the fun part of making films.”



TERROR: What got you interested in a film career and what has kept that interest alive?



“I started making goofy short films and stop motion pieces when I was 12. As I grew up, the plots got more elaborate til I was making some almost feature length productions. As anyone who makes movies can tell you, filmmaking is a bug. You catch and then, you can't stop. You have to make more.”



TERROR: Can you tell us what your latest project, Book Of Lore is about?



'Book of Lore' is our attempt to make a throw-back picture to the horror ensemble flicks of the mid 1980s. It's about a small town that is plagued by a myriad of local folk legends. These legends seemingly 'come to life' when our protagonist's girlfriend turns up dead in the same manner as one of the old folklore stories.”



TERROR: Who is Jimmy George?



“Jimmy is my writing/producing partner. We met through a mutual friend back in the day, but parted ways when Jimmy moved out to LA to pursue screenwriting. When I ran into Jimmy years later, we began writing 'Book of Lore' the same day. It was an awesome experience and we are very much kindred spirits. I couldn't have made the film without him. Period.”



TERROR: How did you go about casting the film, who is in it, and how was working with them?



“We posted audition notices on Craigslist and actorsnews.com. We really lucked out with our final choices. We couldn't have asked for a better actor than Aj Hyde as Rick (our lead). He was super dedicated and always enthusiastic about the project. The rest of the cast was amazing as well. I couldn't believe we assembled such a talented group of thespians.



TERROR: I read that a minister in the Church of Satan composed music for the film, any hidden religious messages?



“Hah, I don't know, you'll have to ask Le'rue Delashay. He's the composer and he did a great job. It's funny, though... when wemakeup originally contacted him, he wanted to let us know that he is in the Church and if that was okay with us. And we just said, 'Dude, we're making a horror movie. Do you think we're religious zealots?'



TERROR: Where was the movie shot and what did you shoot it with?



“The movie is shot in Baltimore country, Maryland for the most part. With a couple pickups and inserts shot in other parts of the state. I shot the film with Canon XL-2, which is a 24p minidv camera.”



TERROR: Is there anywhere we can view Book of Lore, or what are the future plans for it?



“We just had our Baltimore premiere, but there are no future screenings or showcases set up at the moment. We're about to begin the epic search for a distributor, but I'm not particularly worried about that. But yeah, the film will be available hopefully within the next year or so.



You can check out updates on myspace: www.myspace.com/bookoflore



TERROR: Explain the emotions involved with winning Best Picture Feature at the 2007 ShockerFest International Film Festival…



“Well, it's funny because I wasn't even in California for that screenings. Jimmy went, but I couldn't afford a plane ticket. I couldn't afford to go to my film's World Premiere! It was a shock however and very exciting. We beat films with real budgets and films shot on 35mm. It was really good to know that sometimes a good story comes out on top over a $2 million generic slasher flick.”



TERROR: Are you working on something new now and is there anything you can tell us about that?



“We have two projects. One, we've already begun. It's tentatively titled 'Grave Mistakes' and its an old school anthology flick like 'Creepshow' or 'Tales from the Darkside'. We've already shot the first segment. Our second project is called 'Dismember the Dolls', it’s a sardonic splatter flick about a womanizer who has to go on a grim Valentine's Day scavenger hunt for the mutilated bodies of his prior sexual conquests.... he has to do this in order to save his baby brother from the clutches of an unknown psychopath.



'Dismember the Dolls' is a lot different than 'Book of Lore' and would require a much larger budget than $8,000. We're trying to sell it, but more and more we realize a lot of producers are buying screenplays from their nephews rather than seeking out new talent. Its tough.”



TERROR: You are listed as a production assistant on Jamie Nash’s film Two Front Teeth, what does a production assistant do? And how was that experience?



“For 'Two Front Teeth', I did some gopher work, but for most of it, I was just a simple boom operator. It was a lot of fun though. The cast and crew were great and Jamie and Dave (the directors) are awesome. They're really supportive (both gave me advice on 'Book of Lore' and 'Dismember the Dolls') and fun to work with.”



TERROR: What are some of your favorite movies and then specifically what scary movies?



“My favorite movie is 'Harold & Maude', but across the board, I definitely love horror flicks the most. It's what I grew up on and it's what I love to produce. My favorites are Fright Night, Monster Squad, Subspecies, Night of the Demon (1980... the cheesy Bigfoot movie... oh boy, it rules), Silver Bullet, the list could go on and on... so, I'll stop myself.”



TERROR: Finally, any advice for people looking to turn their ideas into a horror movie?



“Practice. I think the most common mistake new filmmakers make is that they just say 'hey, lets make a feature' without making at least a few shorts first. Before I made 'Book of Lore', I made an anthology film, before I made that, I made about 6 or 7 featurettes (25-60min) movies, before those, I made probably over 300 shorts.



I can't say 'practice makes perfect' because no one is a perfect filmmaker, but it will definitely improve your abilities and hone your craft very well.



- Wes Laurie

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