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| Rated: 5.00/5 | Votes: 3 | Views: 303 |Submitted: 12/10/07 |
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The Director of The Grand Horror
Horror fans make the horror genre what it is. They support the genre with fansites and ticket purchases and often times it turns out that the best horror filmmakers were at one time the best horror fans. You think you’ve seen horror right? Well, have you seen THE GRAND HORROR? Not the Pipsqueak Horror or the Mediocre Grandma Forgot Her Pants Hidden Child Memory Horror, no, it is titled THE GRAND HORROR, a title that encompasses the full spectrum of fears and doesn’t just sink below the surface of entertaining traumatic experience. Besides that the DVD is going to sale at a damn affordable price. The Grand Horror is a movie coming from our buddies at Deadlantern; found at the following links: www.deadlantern.com and www.myspace.com/thegrandhorror Be sure to check out the links from there that go to Splattercast, their famous pod castings. I got the chance to pick the brain of The Grand Horror’s director: Mat and find out more about the movie with a plot synopsis reading: Six people, trapped inside an old theatre, must fight for their lives against malevolent spirits that aren't happy to see trespassers. As the terror mounts, psyches will crack, the gore will flow, and we'll find out just who can survive....The Grand Horror! TERRORTUBE: Where did the idea for the movie come from, who wrote the script, how did this Grand Horror Happen? “The idea for the film came from a tour of the Grand Theatre which is located in Grand Island, Ne. One of my friends had an uncle that was on the board of directors and he gave us a tour and we immediately said "We've got to make a movie here" because the location was so damn perfect. Once we got the O.K. to do it, I wrote up a "script" as fast as I could. I use the word "script" loosely because all it amounted to were scene descriptions and a skeleton frame of what the dialogue was supposed to be like. Once we actually started filming, everybody just adlibbed the lines, so there was never an actual script that was followed other than the one I wrote that was used as a generic guide. All we did was grab our friends and live at the theatre for a little over 2 months on the weekends and film as much as we could. I then had to edit roughly 30 hours of adlibbed, unlabeled footage together to create the film. It was a nightmare.” TERROR: Will I ever be able to rent this from Blockbuster or Netflix? “I'm not sure if you'll ever see it in Blockbuster or Netflix. Of course, if any distributors are reading this, we'll be more than happy to make a deal! For the moment, we are going to be distributing the DVD ourselves on Deadlantern.com We've got a couple issues to iron out with the DVD authoring and then we'll get it pressed ourselves. We'll be selling it for $10 on our site and that includes shipping and handling. Currently, it looks like the disc will be available in January.” TERROR: The DVD cover art for some reason makes me think of that creepy girl from "The Ring."..what is the first thing that comes into your mind when you look at the cover image, or when you think of the movie? “T.J. Roe, who plays the lead character in the film, designed our DVD cover and I think it looks great. In fact, if any indie filmmakers are interested in a professional graphic designer to work on some covers for them, e-mail me at splattercast@deadlantern.com and I can get him in touch with you. I can't speak for T.J. in regards to why he designed the cover like he did, but the whole "Japanese Ghost" thing was sort of unintentional as far as the film goes. Before we started filming, I made it clear that I didn't want the ghosts to make people think we were cribbing Asian horror films. Unfortunately, the practical nature of things sort of forced us in that direction. For example, we had no money for facial appliances, so all we could do was put the actors hair in their faces to cover up the fact that they looked like normal people...and almost all of the ghosts had black hair! So I can see why people think that, but honestly, that wasn't what I was going for at all. I'm not really into Asian horror, but I'm fine if people mention it about the film because I understand why they do. The first thing I think about when I see the movie is "This was an absolute nightmare to do from start to finish!" TERROR: So what's the story on the theatre featured in the film? “The theatre is located in Grand Island, Nebraska and is close to 100 years old. Shortly before The Grand Horror came into being, the theatre had been closed down and was in a fairly sad state of affairs. A group in town wanted to turn it into a church, but some downtown business leaders scrambled together and purchased the theatre with the intent of restarting it. They succeeded in a big way, and it just so happened that we had a connection on the board of directors who supported us in making the film. So we got access to this historic old theatre without having to pay a dime. It was grand! “ TERROR: Is there anything you can tell us about future projects? “We've got something even better than The Grand Horror planned for this summer. The production title is "Outpost Doom" and it involves a group of characters trapped in a barn where mysterious murders are taking place inside. There's a monster on the loose, but who it is is a mystery which reveals itself as the film goes along. The ending has a big shocking twist that will make die-hard horror fans really happy, especially when they see all the missed iconography and signs we are using in the film. It's going to be one of those films where everything is in plain site, but you won't realize it until the very end. Right now I'm writing the script and we plan to shoot this in May-July, summer 2008. If all goes well, we'll have it ready to be seen by the fall, since we'll be editing it as we go.” TERROR: What role do you play over at Deadlantern.com and tells us a little about the Splattercasts. “I, along with Jeff who created the website, are the main operators of Deadlantern. The site is the hub for all of our projects. We review horror films and use the site as the info spot for our film projects. Other horror sites usually focus on horror news items, but though we do link to news that catches our eyes, we mainly do commentary or fun blog posts like "Women of Horror" or "Name that Horror Screenshot", stuff like that. The Splattercast is one of the first horror podcasts on the net. We started it in June of 2006, and other than an extended break when we were all way too busy to do it, it's been a weekly cast ever since. We review horror films, comment on news, give DVD releases and whatnot. I think what makes us different from other horror casts is that we all have completely different tastes in horror films so there is a viewpoint for everyone. I'm the "classics" guy who is into 30's-50's horror. Steve is our resident "Zombie" guy. Jeff likes a little of everything, but knows a lot about the "hardcore" horror films. Braden isn't into horror as much as the rest of us but brings the "Mainstream Studio Horror" voice that is unique to him. Spooky McPhee, our audio engineer, doesn't really watch horror at all, so we've even got that perspective. And Deejay...well Deejay brings beer to the show We're just a bunch of guys who love horror movies giving their opinions and trying to throw in some humor.” TERROR: What influences you as a filmmaker? “As a filmmaker, my main influence is John Carpenter. Halloween made me want to make movies, and I consider Big Trouble in Little China to be my favorite film EVER (and I'm not afraid to admit that). Other directors that I respect are Terence Fisher, who made some amazingly underrated films. I'm a big fan of James Whale, Robert Wise and Jacques Tourneur as well as the early films of William Wellman (though those aren't horror) but I also grew up in the 80's so I'm influenced by people like David Cronenberg and Sam Raimi. Of course, influenced is one thing, but being talented like them is something else entirely. That's one area I'm sorely lacking. TERROR: Name a good horror movie, and why, then a bad horror movie and why it is bad. “Good Horror Movie: The Body Snatcher directed by Robert Wise, because it features the best horror performance by Karloff and is dripping in atmosphere and dread. The scene where Karloff kills Lugosi is brilliant and the end is creepy as hell! Bad Horror Movie: Van Helsing directed by Stephen Sommers. The only film I've ever felt the desire to actually walk out of the theatre and demand my money back. A complete cinematic rape of the classic Universal monsters with terrible CGI, a horrible plot, and sucky acting. It's a textbook example of how NOT to make a big budget horror film (if it can even be classified horror at all, which I have my doubts about).” TERROR: Is Nebraska a scary place, any haunted cornfields? “Nebraska is a pretty scary place. Especially on college gameday when the entire state wears blood red and becomes rabid mindless zombies for the Cornhusker football team. As for the cornfields, well, we don't actually have a Gatlin, Nebraska, so any horror fans hoping for some Children of the Corn style action will be sorely disappointed. We do have see m to have lots of legends about witch's (The Witch's Grave, Bridge, etc.) And oh yeah, the Grand Theatre is haunted by ghosts. I captured them on film myself.” TERROR: What is the future of film, horror movies particularly; will there be a resurgence of out-there theatre promotions ala 3D and buzzers under the seats, or will the internet become the main source for all entertainment? “I think the future of horror movies is in the hands of horror filmmakers. Theatres are already going to "gimmicks" like 3-D (which seems to be all the rage right now) to bring people back to the theatre, but nothing replaces a good scary movie. There's too much rehashing of the same material. We need somebody like a David Cronenberg to come back to the genre and give it a jolt. But ultimately, it's going to take some young horror fan who is sick and tired of all the crap to say "Screw this, I'm not going to make another variation of TCM. I'm going to do X,Y,Z". The horror genre is always going to be strong. It's been that way since its inception. I think everyone is just patiently waiting for a new Wes Craven or a John Carpenter to show up and make it relevant again. Unfortunately, in my opinion, people are so starved for something that they prop up people like Eli Roth because of their personalities more so than the films. It's almost like some directors get a "free pass" just because they can name drop obscure genre films. My hope is that somebody will just sneak up and drop a nuclear bomb on our genre causing all of us to go "Whoa" and lead fans and potential filmmakers in a new direction. As for the internet, I don't think it will ever fully replace how people get their movies, but I think there is a definite case to be made that horror video games are beginning to encroach into the space film used to occupy. I jumped and was more creeped out playing the new Resident Evil video games than I have been sitting in a dark theatre recently. There's something to that and I think most people are overlooking the impact horror games are having on horror cinema.” TERROR: Finally, why should people watch The Grand Horror? “Why should people watch "The Grand Horror"? Because you'll piss your pants with FEAR! In all seriousness, I hope people check it out to laugh and have some fun with, and maybe possibly be a little creeped out by. We're very up front about what the film is: a $300 horror film made by horror fans who have never acted before and who have never made a film before. It's amateur, but my hope is that once you get past the rough technical aspects, audiences can appreciate some of the new ideas we bring to the table and see that all we wanted to do was make a fun movie that you could watch with your friends. Oh yeah, and all proceeds from the DVD go directly into helping us make "Outpost Doom", which I guarantee will be a million times better than "The Grand Horror". And who knows, maybe we can do The Grand Horror sequel if there is enough demand.” Horror fans make the horror genre what it is. They support the genre with fansites and ticket purchases and often times it turns out that the best horror filmmakers were at one time the best horror fans. You think you’ve seen horror right? Well, have you seen THE GRAND HORROR? Not the Pipsqueak Horror or the Mediocre Grandma Forgot Her Pants Hidden Child Memory Horror, no, it is titled THE GRAND HORROR, a title that encompasses the full spectrum of fears and doesn’t just sink below the surface of entertaining traumatic experience. Besides that the Dvd is going to for sale at a damn affordable price. The Grand Horror is a movie coming from our buddies at Deadlantern; found at the following links: www.deadlantern.com and www.myspace.com/thegrandhorror Be sure to check out the links from there that go to Splattercast, their famous pod castings. I got the chance to pick the brain of The Grand Horror’s director: Mat and find out more about the movie with a plot synopsis reading: Six people, trapped inside an old theatre, must fight for their lives against malevolent spirits that aren't happy to see trespassers. As the terror mounts, psyches will crack, the gore will flow, and we'll find out just who can survive....The Grand Horror! TERRORTUBE: Where did the idea for the movie come from, who wrote the script, how did this Grand Horror Happen? “The idea for the film came from a tour of the Grand Theatre which is located in Grand Island, Ne. One of my friends had an uncle that was on the board of directors and he gave us a tour and we immediately said "We've got to make a movie here" because the location was so damn perfect. Once we got the O.K. to do it, I wrote up a "script" as fast as I could. I use the word "script" loosely because all it amounted to were scene descriptions and a skeleton frame of what the dialogue was supposed to be like. Once we actually started filming, everybody just adlibbed the lines, so there was never an actual script that was followed other than the one I wrote that was used as a generic guide. All we did was grab our friends and live at the theatre for a little over 2 months on the weekends and film as much as we could. I then had to edit roughly 30 hours of adlibbed, unlabeled footage together to create the film. It was a nightmare.” TERROR: Will I ever be able to rent this from Blockbuster or Netflix? “I'm not sure if you'll ever see it in Blockbuster or Netflix. Of course, if any distributors are reading this, we'll be more than happy to make a deal! For the moment, we are going to be distributing the DVD ourselves on Deadlantern.com We've got a couple issues to iron out with the DVD authoring and then we'll get it pressed ourselves. We'll be selling it for $10 on our site and that includes shipping and handling. Currently, it looks like the disc will be available in January.” TERROR: The DVD cover art for some reason makes me think of that creepy girl from "The Ring."..what is the first thing that comes into your mind when you look at the cover image, or when you think of the movie? “T.J. Roe, who plays the lead character in the film, designed our DVD cover and I think it looks great. In fact, if any indie filmmakers are interested in a professional graphic designer to work on some covers for them, e-mail me at splattercast@deadlantern.com and I can get him in touch with you. I can't speak for T.J. in regards to why he designed the cover like he did, but the whole "Japanese Ghost" thing was sort of unintentional as far as the film goes. Before we started filming, I made it clear that I didn't want the ghosts to make people think we were cribbing Asian horror films. Unfortunately, the practical nature of things sort of forced us in that direction. For example, we had no money for facial appliances, so all we could do was put the actors hair in their faces to cover up the fact that they looked like normal people...and almost all of the ghosts had black hair! So I can see why people think that, but honestly, that wasn't what I was going for at all. I'm not really into Asian horror, but I'm fine if people mention it about the film because I understand why they do. The first thing I think about when I see the movie is "This was an absolute nightmare to do from start to finish!" TERROR: So what's the story on the theatre featured in the film? “The theatre is located in Grand Island, Nebraska and is close to 100 years old. Shortly before The Grand Horror came into being, the theatre had been closed down and was in a fairly sad state of affairs. A group in town wanted to turn it into a church, but some downtown business leaders scrambled together and purchased the theatre with the intent of restarting it. They succeeded in a big way, and it just so happened that we had a connection on the board of directors who supported us in making the film. So we got access to this historic old theatre without having to pay a dime. It was grand! “ TERROR: Is there anything you can tell us about future projects? “We've got something even better than The Grand Horror planned for this summer. The production title is "Outpost Doom" and it involves a group of characters trapped in a barn where mysterious murders are taking place inside. There's a monster on the loose, but who it is is a mystery which reveals itself as the film goes along. The ending has a big shocking twist that will make die-hard horror fans really happy, especially when they see all the missed iconography and signs we are using in the film. It's going to be one of those films where everything is in plain site, but you won't realize it until the very end. Right now I'm writing the script and we plan to shoot this in May-July, summer 2008. If all goes well, we'll have it ready to be seen by the fall, since we'll be editing it as we go.” TERROR: What role do you play over at Deadlantern.com and tells us a little about the Splattercasts. “I, along with Jeff who created the website, are the main operators of Deadlantern. The site is the hub for all of our projects. We review horror films and use the site as the info spot for our film projects. Other horror sites usually focus on horror news items, but though we do link to news that catches our eyes, we mainly do commentary or fun blog posts like "Women of Horror" or "Name that Horror Screenshot", stuff like that. The Splattercast is one of the first horror podcasts on the net. We started it in June of 2006, and other than an extended break when we were all way too busy to do it, it's been a weekly cast ever since. We review horror films, comment on news, give DVD releases and whatnot. I think what makes us different from other horror casts is that we all have completely different tastes in horror films so there is a viewpoint for everyone. I'm the "classics" guy who is into 30's-50's horror. Steve is our resident "Zombie" guy. Jeff likes a little of everything, but knows a lot about the "hardcore" horror films. Braden isn't into horror as much as the rest of us but brings the "Mainstream Studio Horror" voice that is unique to him. Spooky McPhee, our audio engineer, doesn't really watch horror at all, so we've even got that perspective. And Deejay...well Deejay brings beer to the show We're just a bunch of guys who love horror movies giving their opinions and trying to throw in some humor.” TERROR: What influences you as a filmmaker? “As a filmmaker, my main influence is John Carpenter. Halloween made me want to make movies, and I consider Big Trouble in Little China to be my favorite film EVER (and I'm not afraid to admit that). Other directors that I respect are Terence Fisher, who made some amazingly underrated films. I'm a big fan of James Whale, Robert Wise and Jacques Tourneur as well as the early films of William Wellman (though those aren't horror) but I also grew up in the 80's so I'm influenced by people like David Cronenberg and Sam Raimi. Of course, influenced is one thing, but being talented like them is something else entirely. That's one area I'm sorely lacking. TERROR: Name a good horror movie, and why, then a bad horror movie and why it is bad. “Good Horror Movie: The Body Snatcher directed by Robert Wise, because it features the best horror performance by Karloff and is dripping in atmosphere and dread. The scene where Karloff kills Lugosi is brilliant and the end is creepy as hell! Bad Horror Movie: Van Helsing directed by Stephen Sommers. The only film I've ever felt the desire to actually walk out of the theatre and demand my money back. A complete cinematic rape of the classic Universal monsters with terrible CGI, a horrible plot, and sucky acting. It's a textbook example of how NOT to make a big budget horror film (if it can even be classified horror at all, which I have my doubts about).” TERROR: Is Nebraska a scary place, any haunted cornfields? “Nebraska is a pretty scary place. Especially on college gameday when the entire state wears blood red and becomes rabid mindless zombies for the Cornhusker football team. As for the cornfields, well, we don't actually have a Gatlin, Nebraska, so any horror fans hoping for some Children of the Corn style action will be sorely disappointed. We do have see m to have lots of legends about witch's (The Witch's Grave, Bridge, etc.) And oh yeah, the Grand Theatre is haunted by ghosts. I captured them on film myself.” TERROR: What is the future of film, horror movies particularly; will there be a resurgence of out-there theatre promotions ala 3D and buzzers under the seats, or will the internet become the main source for all entertainment? “I think the future of horror movies is in the hands of horror filmmakers. Theatres are already going to "gimmicks" like 3-D (which seems to be all the rage right now) to bring people back to the theatre, but nothing replaces a good scary movie. There's too much rehashing of the same material. We need somebody like a David Cronenberg to come back to the genre and give it a jolt. But ultimately, it's going to take some young horror fan who is sick and tired of all the crap to say "Screw this, I'm not going to make another variation of TCM. I'm going to do X,Y,Z". The horror genre is always going to be strong. It's been that way since its inception. I think everyone is just patiently waiting for a new Wes Craven or a John Carpenter to show up and make it relevant again. Unfortunately, in my opinion, people are so starved for something that they prop up people like Eli Roth because of their personalities more so than the films. It's almost like some directors get a "free pass" just because they can name drop obscure genre films. My hope is that somebody will just sneak up and drop a nuclear bomb on our genre causing all of us to go "Whoa" and lead fans and potential filmmakers in a new direction. As for the internet, I don't think it will ever fully replace how people get their movies, but I think there is a definite case to be made that horror video games are beginning to encroach into the space film used to occupy. I jumped and was more creeped out playing the new Resident Evil video games than I have been sitting in a dark theatre recently. There's something to that and I think most people are overlooking the impact horror games are having on horror cinema.” TERROR: Finally, why should people watch The Grand Horror? “Why should people watch "The Grand Horror"? Because you'll piss your pants with FEAR! In all seriousness, I hope people check it out to laugh and have some fun with, and maybe possibly be a little creeped out by. We're very up front about what the film is: a $300 horror film made by horror fans who have never acted before and who have never made a film before. It's amateur, but my hope is that once you get past the rough technical aspects, audiences can appreciate some of the new ideas we bring to the table and see that all we wanted to do was make a fun movie that you could watch with your friends. Oh yeah, and all proceeds from the DVD go directly into helping us make "Outpost Doom", which I guarantee will be a million times better than "The Grand Horror". And who knows, maybe we can do The Grand Horror sequel if there is enough demand.” - Wes Laurie |
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