What filmmakers have been an influence on you?
I suppose the most obvious influences would be the great Italian directors including Lucio Fulci, Bruno Mattei and Ruggerro Deodato. But for me, a much bigger influence has been Lloyd Kaufman (see our interview with Lloyd here). His indie spirit really inspired us to make these movies. Whenever things got tough, it seems like Lloyd would have a new book or movie out that would get us back on course.
Todd Sheets was another inspiration. This guy put out a half dozen or so zero-budget zombie movies in the 1990s; all shot-on-video and edited with the most primitive equipment around. None of them would probably be considered “good movies” by critics, but they all exhibit the energy, drive and persistence you need to make indie movies.
What is the secret to a good horror movie?
The secret to ANY good movie is to actually have a good story to tell. You can have all the shocks and violence and gore you want, but if the story doesn’t keep unfolding and moving forward, the movie will quickly become a bore.
I have a rule: Every scene, heck almost every line of dialog, needs to advance the plot. If it doesn’t, you’re wasting the audience’s time and they will know it. Start with a good story that actually unfolds and isn’t entirely predictable.
What is your Fav movie ever?
Wow – That’s an impossible question to answer! My favorite movie ever? I guess based solely on the number of viewings I would say “Evil Dead II”. But I love “Lady Terminator”, “Godzilla Versus Mothra”, “Mystics in Bali”, “Ghost Story”, “Zombi 2”, “Star Wars”, “House of the Devil” and even Ralph Bakshi’s “Lord of the Rings” almost as much!
What is the best way to kill a Zombie?
In my movies it takes more than a bullet to the head – you pretty much have to DESTROY the head – so that’s what I’ll go with: DESTROY the head!
How do you create such realistic human guts?
Ah, now that’s a big secret! I have had the same special make-up effects guy since I was 8 years old. His name is Joseph Tardani and he has a secret recipe for intestines that is still the best I have ever seen. Unlike most movie intestines, ours are quivery and juicy – not plasticy or made from nylons.
We use real sausage casings and fill them with a proprietary blend of Jello, bread crumbs and Kool Aid!
They not only look good – they are sickeningly sweet and taste good! We made our first zombie movie when we were about 12 and I think that’s when Joe came up with the recipe!
Are you working on any new projects?
We recently had the world premiere of our newest short movie, “The Giant Rubber Monster Movie: Sascratch Versus Afrodesious”, at the HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis.
It’s an homage to (and a movie that pokes fun at) Japanese giant monster TV shows from the 1970s – Ultraman, Spectreman, Space Giants, etc. It was a huge hit with the audience there (in fact we sold over 100 DVDs afterwards!)
We subsequently screened it at Cinema Wasteland near Cleveland and had another amazing audience reaction and sold another 100 DVDs (that’s all I generally bring to conventions!) We have several more conventions ahead of us including Motor City Nightmares near Detroit and the Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville.
Given the excellent reaction, I have been working on a feature length sequel to “The Giant Rubber Monster Movie” that I hope to begin filming this spring. “The Italian Zombie Movie – Part 3” is also regularly requested. We hope to start shooting that one in the fall…
So there we have it, sometimes all you need to follow your dreams are a camera, a funny wig and a secret recipe for human guts. If you love Zombies, Parts 1 and 2 are ESSENTIAL viewing and look out for ‘The Giant Rubber Monster Movie’.
For more info visit www.italianzombiemovie.com.
Lets hope we see part 3 on the big (or small) screen soon. Watch this Space…
All pics are of Tom dressed as half-human, half-bigfoot character “Sascratch”, (me either!).
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