Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up!
Red blood does not flow through Gregory Lamberson's veins. Instead, the life-sustaining fluid pumping through his heart is thick, chunky, gunky, viscous slime. And it comes in every color of the rainbow.
Lamberson made a green n' yellow-slathered splash in the subterranean splatter scene back in the heady days of the grungy grindhouses with his 19880 microbudget opus SLIME CITY. The splash was but a minor one back then, but with the film's D.V.D. rerelease in 2006, the ripples have spread out and made themselves felt. Now, SLIME CITY is (rightfully) recognized as one of the tentpole titles in a horror subgenre that consists of grossout favorites like STREET TRASH, THE TOXIC AVENGER, BRAIN DAMAGE, THE SUCKLING, FRANKENHOOKER, CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH, and BASKET CASE.
This man is no one-trick pony though. His credits are impressive, having worked on such classics as the aforementioned BRAIN DAMAGE, as well as several more of his own underground fright flicks, including the agoraphobia chiller-thriller NAKED FEAR and the urban vampire picture UNDYING LOVE. More importantly, Lamberson has made one helluva name for himself in the world of old-fashioned print literature. You know, the stuff made with paper and ink. You used to be able to buy it in places like Barnes & Noble. That was before all information was made electronic, and B&N switched to pushing crap like the Nook. Of course, here I am, writing these words on an internet blog, so I guess I should shut my fat mouth and quit gnawin' on the mitts that feed my ugly mug.
Anyway, as I was saying, Greg Lamberson's forays into writing have yielded some stellar results. His novel Personal Demons won an Anubis Award, while another novel, Johnny Gruesome, has already become a hot commodity with a cult following, and has developed into an accompanying mini-movie and a hard rock C.D. Oh, and then there's a little how-to book you may have heard of called Cheap Scares! Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets, which might actually be the best damn b-movie filmmaking tome released since Lloyd Kaufman coughed up his own now-classic slices of cinematic scripture.
On top of all that, Lamberson continues to maintain a prominent presence on the web with his cheerfully trashy website http://www.SlimeGuy.com. And, additionally, he vomits his thoughts into the ether of the internet on a regular basis, through his frequently updated, and often quite provacative, online blog at http://www.glamberson.livejournal.com. As if that weren't enough, you can also read some of his satanic scribblings over at http://www.FearZone.com, a great resource of news, reviews, and the like for anyone and everyone with a taste for the macabre (note: since the time this article was written, FearZone has announced that it will be closing its doors... for now, however, they remain open... even if just a crack).
Most importantly, he's got a new movie on the way. As I write these words (note: this interview is dated 2/1/2010), the eagerly awaited sequel to SLIME CITY, dubbed SLIME CITY MASSACRE, is just months away from it's big debut. Set to star Debbie Rochon, along with SLIME CITY veterans Robert Sabin and Mary Huner (now Mary Huner-Bogle, a married ma'am), with appearances by kick-ass horror author Sephera Giron and cherished genre luminary Roy Frumkes, SLIME CITY MASSACRE looks to be even better than the original SLIME CITY.
But enough from me. How's 'bout we let all the goopy, gloppy details ooze right out of the horse's infected, pus-spewing, abscess-riddled mouth. Ladies and gentlescum, without further ado, I offer you the official Bearded Weirdo interview with Gregory "SlimeGuy" Lamberson.
Enjoy, you skeezy scoundrels!
I did.
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Greetings, Greg! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me at length about your long, slime-spattered life spent wallowing in the sludge and scum of the horror genre, this genre that we both love so very, very much.
Thanks for asking, William. My wife says I love to talk about myself.
First of all, what got you into the horror genre, and what's kept you working in it all these years? What do you think about it speaks to you, and what is it that keeps it so popular with audiences?
Horror has been a life long love and obsession, dating back to cartoons I watched when I was 4 years old and the ads for the Aurora monster models in the comics my mother bought me. I should say that I’ve always loved monsters, which strike my imagination. I’ve never really cared for slasher movies, or what we typically call “torture porn” now, except for the really good ones, like PSYCHO, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, HALLOWEEN and BLACK CHRISTMAS. I’ve always preferred THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, Kong and Frankenstein’s monster. As far as why horror is popular, it’s always been popular, just look at Greek mythology. In fact, I think horror is less popular today than it’s ever been because it’s so frowned upon by the mainstream. But I guess that’s one reason why the rest of us like it so much.Why is it, do you think, that the horror genre is typically looked down upon by many mainstream critics, yet loved so passionately by its devotees?
When people go to an amusement park, some want to wait on line for the most badass roller coaster in the park, while others hide straight for the pretty pink cotton candy and go on the Music Express. I think that’s it in a nutshell: some want to face their fears while others want to watch the latest Sandra Bullock “crowd pleaser.” Of course there’s more to it than that, because there are many more types of horror than non-fans allow credit for. Trust me, there are many horror snobs who look down on different aspects of the genre. Different people are tingled by different types of scares.What/who are some of your own personal favorite movies, books, filmmakers, and writers in the genre? What/who are those that you would consider definite influences on your own output?
Two very different questions. I love Jack Arnold, Boris Segal, Romero and Abel Ferarra. I also love most filmmakers from the 1970s, regardless of genre. I just prefer that style of writing, directing and acting. SLIME CITY MASSACRE has moments influenced by BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE OMEGA MAN and DAMNATION ALLEY – mostly 70s sci fi – and it’s structured like THE GODFATHER II in that it incorporates two different story lines in two different timelines.As far as authors go, Stephen King is clearly a big influence on me, and Peter Straub, though I would never attempt Straub’s level of style. Also David Morrell and William F. Nolan; they both write horror, but I prefer Nolan’s SF and Morrell’s thrillers. Honestly, I enjoy reading non-horror more: John Irving, Michael Chabon and Richard Russo. In terms of horror fiction, three guys whose work I love are Jeff Strand (PRESSURE), Micael Louis Calvillo (AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT), and John Little (MIRANDA). Harry Shannon is another guy who started writing horror at the same time as me, we’ve sort of fought our way through the same trenches, and he seems to like blending noir and horror the same way I do. Like me, Harry is a filmmaker: he wrote the screenplay for DEAD AND GONE, which he novelized, and has a long history as a music producer on films like BASIC INSTINCT.When did you know you wanted to get involved with the filmmaking industry? What was the impetus for that desire? And how did you go about making it a reality?
I always knew I wanted to tell fantastic stories in some way, either as a comic book artist or as a stop motion animator. I was obsessed with PLANET OF THE APES and LOGAN’S RUN, but when STAR WARS came out I knew I wanted to write and direct. I went to the School of Visual Arts in New York, but only stayed for a year because I hated making short films.If you would, could you please tell me a little about what it was like for you, as a cinephile and genre fan, living and working in what many consider to be "the golden age" of low budget modern horror, what with The Deuce still The Deuce and the V.H.S. boom underway, especially with you being sort of in the middle of the hub of all this activity, N.Y.C. Not only did you attend film school and actually work on genre movies during this time, but you also have said that you managed a theater and, as a fan, devoured endless hours of grindhouse-screened motion pictures, right in the thick of all the cheese, sleaze, schlock, grime, and grit running so rampant in those days.
I’m from a small town in Western New York, Fredonia. When I moved to NYC the SVA dorm was on 34th street, very close to Times Square, and I worked at movie theatres and a video store very close to 42nd street. That’s where I saw THE THING, some martial arts films, and women in prison films. Horror fanzines were Xeroxed. Everything about that time had texture, including the sleaze. Those theaters reeked of bum piss and you’d jump in your seat when a cat that was supposed to catch rats rubbed against your leg. Obviously, something seeped into my pores, because SLIME CITY was a wholly subconscious reflection of that era. I’ve managed a lot of movie theaters and video stores, it’s what I tend to do between projects, and it helps explain why I’m so broke.
Since you were actually there in the thick of it during the heyday of the infamous 42nd Street grindhouses and whatnot, what do you personally think of the recently renewed interested in 70's/80's exploitation grindhouse/drive-in type material and the nostalgia for that bygone era of sparsely packed theaters with torn seats, sticky floors, scratched prints, and shady occupants? Also, what have you thought of some of the "retro" movies that have come out in recent years trying to recapture that spirit? Obviously, I'm not sure how many (if any) of these flicks you've seen, but Tarantino's DEATH PROOF and Rodriguez's PLANET TERROR come to mind pretty instantly, and you also have movies such as THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, BLITZKRIEG: ESCAPE FROM STALAG 69, BAD BIOLOGY, SLITHER, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER, SHADOW: DEAD RIOT, HATCHET, and others that have marketed themselves expressly as attempts to bring back the feeling that the 70's/80's are so warmly remembered for.
I’m not embarrassed to say that I’ve hardly seen any of these films. I love THE DEVIL’S REJECTS but despise everything else that Rob Zombie has made; I fell asleep during SLITHER; and I’m disgusted that it cost $60 million for Tarantino and Rodriguez to recreate films from the 70s. I can’t wait to see BAD BIOLOGY, but then I have a connection to Frank Henenlotter because I was his assistant director on BRAIN DAMAGE, and BASKET CASE was such an eye opening experience for me when I first moved to NYC. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with paying homage to films from the 80s; it says we must have done something right despite our budgets, and we just went through a cycle of 70s inspired films. In four years people will be trying to imitate 90s horror films, so look for another bunch of SCREAM knockoffs, starting with the next SCREAM. But as far as I can tell, these films are all made by fans who grew up watching 80s horror films. Frank and I are both from that era, so our new films are going to reflect that sensibility to a certain degree whether it’s intentional or not. How did you become involved with I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE, and what was your experience like working on that project? What did you think of the final product?
I was managing the RKO National Twin in Times Square when I met the director, John Michaels. I had seen SPLATTER UNIVERSITY, on which he worked as assistant director, and had already written the script for SLIME CITY, and asked if I could work on I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE. I didn’t get paid anything – I rarely am – and I quit my job to be the production manager. And I learned a lot more about low budget filmmaking than I did in film school. I didn’t think much of the film when I first saw it; you get too close to these things and think more about what an asshole someone was when you shot a certain scene than whether that scene works. But I liked most of the people I worked with, and I’ve grown fond of the film. It has a certain charm to it, and it’s like watching a home movie. Were Robert Sabin and I really that skinny??? I remember being disillusioned one day during the shoot when John said he hated horror films. I thought, “Then why the hell are we busting our asses doing this?” I'm gonna skip over SLIME CITY right now, hope you don't mind, because I'd like to ask you about the movies you played smaller production roles in before I get to your own directorial output. First off, how did you become involved with PLUTONIUM BABY, and what was your experience like working on that project? What did you think of the final product?
PLUTONIUM BABY is one of the worst movies ever made. Like TEENAGE ZOMBIE, it was made by people who didn’t respect horror films. The difference is, John tried to make a good comedy; he genuinely wanted to entertain people, whereas the PLUTONIUM BABY people just wanted to make a buck. It was a real mess. The SLIME CITY crew was editing SLIME when we got a call from Scott Coulter, our effects supervisor. The NYU crew had walked off PLUTONIUM and the filmmakers needed a crew, so we went to Connecticut for a week and finished the film. I ghost directed about half of the stuff we shot; I say that with no pride. You can only do so much with an unfinished script and a kids’ tea house that’s supposed to serve as a cabin in the woods. On the last day of filmmaking, I told the director that he only had half a movie and me and my guys were willing to stay an extra day for free to give him some extra material. He said, “Nah, I’m tired. I want to go home.” Real commitment, huh? The first cut came in at 38 minutes so they brought us back a month later. The director had walked, and took the 12-year-old star with him, so they set the second half 10 years later. This time the producer supposedly directed, but he didn’t even visit location once! So I directed at least 75% of that piece of shit, and the few things that worked were ruined by the producer. Who hires an actress to go topless and then cuts out every shot with her tits? We had a couple of good action scenes, and they ruined them by using slow motion in post. My favorite part of the film is when these guys in a van kidnap two of the actresses for no other reason than to rape them, and a monster kills the guys, and the women run into the arms of their lame boyfriends… and you hear my voice off screen yell, “Cut! Now move closer together.” They left that in! How did you become involved with BRAIN DAMAGE, and what was your experience like working on that project? What did you think of the final product?
Jim Muro, who directed STREET TRASH, was one of my SVA classmates and he had worked as a PA on BASKET CASE. Peter Clark, who also attended SVA with me, was my director of photography and one of my co-producers. Peter and I met Frank through Jimmy, and Frank frequented the Times Square video store where Peter and I worked because BASKET CASE was one of the first videos to cost only $20 and we sold a ton of them. So we were developing SLIME CITY at the same time he was trying to get BRAIN DAMAGE off the ground. He never read my script, and he didn’t let me read BRAIN DAMAGE until it looked like he had the money to make it, but he did give me advice and he and his producer, Edgar Ievans, hooked me up with the entertainment attorney I still use today, Gerald Gold. Eventually Frank offered paying positions to Peter and I and our crew of “Slime Guys.” We had already shot SLIME and had just come off PLUTONIUM BABY, so we shot all three of those films within a one year period. We converted a warehouse into a soundstage where we shot most of the film, and turned another floor of the warehouse into quarters for the SFX crew. I think it was a six-week shoot. I learned a lot from both Frank and Edgar (and pissed Edgar off more than once). We shot one weekend at the wrecking yard where STREET TRASH was made, at night, in the middle of winter, with no heat. That weekend was the most miserable film experience I’ve ever had. I got an ear ache and everything got covered in grease. But BRAIN DAMAGE was really the “hot spot” of that whole period: the crews of BASKET CASE, SLIME CITY and STREET TRASH all joined forces. I think BRAIN DAMAGE is great.Now, I heard you worked, very very briefly, with Troma, during preproduction of CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH, and that you described it in one interview as "a nightmare." Could you tell me a little about why it was such a nightmare, what made you leave, and whether if effected your opinion of Troma in general?
I came onto NUKE ‘EM HIGH during its pre-production, right after I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE, and had just spent a month listening to ex-Troma vets bitch about working at Troma. I didn’t meet Lloyd or Michael. During my one day there, I typed some letters seeking product placement and cleaned a prop room full of “dead bodies.” Two other PA’s went out on runs and never came back. When the director of the film – who was fired during production – learned that I had just worked on TEENAGE ZOMBIE, he came into the office I was in and seemed very agitated, very... paranoid. He grilled me for an hour to make sure that John Michaels hadn’t sent me “under cover” to spy on him! Do you see a pattern here? The least talented hacks have the biggest personality disorders. I stayed the day and never returned.I’m not an aficionado of Troma films, but I certainly never let that experience color my perspective on the films. I don’t like sophomoric humor in horror, which is the same reason I don’t like most POP Cinema releases, and they’re my distributor! I love some of Troma’s acquisitions, like COMBAT SHOCK and CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL (which is sophomoric humor done with expertise). I recognize that THE TOXIC AVENGER is a more important film from the 80s than SLIME CITY, and Lloyd Kaufman has made a living in film, while all I do is go deeper into debt. SLIME CITY MASSACRE has references to STREET TRASH and BASKET CASE, and I was trying to think of the proper Troma tribute to include when Debbie Rochon convinced Lloyd to come do a cameo in the film. He flew up to Buffalo on his own nickel, and we shot his scene against a green screen in about an hour. It was great fun for the crew, and I can’t knock a guy who did me such a solid. More important, I think his cameo is perfect.
What was it like working with guys like Jim Muro and Frank Hennenlotter, and studying under Roy Frumkes (at the School Of Visual Arts)?
Jimmy lived in the SVA dorm with me, on my floor. So did Peter Clark, and Tom Merrick, who’s in both SLIME CITY and SLIME CITY MASSACRE. Jimmy had a whole entourage, but he was just one of the guys to me; I’m not much of a follower. He appeared in one of my short films, and he did some free Steadicam shots for SLIME CITY. So he was a friend, but not someone I’ve stayed in touch with. He’s a Born Again Christian now and not into horror; he’s also a top cinematographer after having been a top steadicam operator. I’m not surprised he’s so successful, it was part of his aura, which is why so many people hero worshipped him even in college.Roy was a great instructor, and had SVA not changed its curriculum, and replaced his Introduction to Screenwriting class with Remedial English, I might have stayed at SVA. We’ve become quite good friends since then, which is why I wrote a fairly important role for him in SLIME CITY MASSACRE. I brought him to Buffalo once to screen a 35mm print of STREET TRASH as a midnight movie; then again to premiere THE SWEET LOVE; and again to preview THE ULTIMATE DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD; and finally to shoot the film. I see him more in Buffalo than I did when I lived in NYC!I consider both Frank and Roy mentors of sorts. They both know so many stories, so much unrecorded film history, and it’s impossible not to learn something from them just in the course of having a normal conversation. Frank is a very private person, he really has no interest in being famous or talking about himself, so I try not to bother him often. But it’s nice to stay in touch with him and to know that we both have new movies coming out.Okay, going back to SLIME CITY... where did the inspiration to write and direct your own original movie come from? Also, where did the inspiration for the concept/story of SLIME CITY itself come from?
Midnight movies were the in thing when I moved to NYC. So were 16m features that got theatrical releases: BASKET CASE, THE DEADLY SPAWN and THE EVIL DEAD. After 8 months of watching movies like these, I knew I wanted to go the same route. I cobbled together bits of ROSEMARY’s BABY, THE EVIL DEAD and Peter Straub’s FLOATING DRAGON, tied them together with my own mythology, and whipped out the script in a weekend. Contrary to what some reviewers think, I’d never seen – and still haven’t – THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN. Really, SLIME CITY evolved from a short film I made called BAD WORMS, which starred Tom Merrick as a guy who buys some bad beer. These stop motion worms, made out of Playdough and looking very much like Kermit the Frog, come out of the beer cans and eat out his eyes. The first draft of SLIME CITY retained the worms, but I cut them out when I came up with the title.Would you mind talking briefly about some of the oft-overlooked sexual subtext of SLIME CITY (which I think is actually think its one of its more fascinating aspects)?
SLIME CITY is all about sexual frustration: the hero is a virgin and his girlfriend wants to remain one. Looking for a new thrill, he hooks up with the wrong people. The first time he “slimes up” is a metaphor for a wet dream, and the latex gloves he wears over his slimy hands look like condoms. I thought it was very obvious when we made it, but for about the first 10 years of SLIME’s existence, no one ever mentioned that there actually was a subtext. They were too busy bitching that there was no nudity! That all changed with the first DVD release, though. I think people understand the film much more now than they did then.How did the people who were involved in SLIME CITY (Clark, Sabin, Huner, Biel, Tomaro, Coulter, Lauten), get involved to begin with, and what was it like working with them?
Robert was the first friend I made in NYC, and he was an actor to boot, and then my roommate. I actually wrote that role for him, just as I wrote his roles in UNDYING LOVE, NAKED FEAR and SLIME CITY MASSACRE for him. I saw Dick Biel in SPLATTER U, so when his resume came to my mailbox I had to cast him as the cop – a role he briefly reprises in SLIME CITY MASSACRE. Mary also sent her resume, and as soon as I saw it I knew she was perfect to play Lori, the good girl; thank God she was just as good when we needed her to play Nicole, the bad girl. Robert and Mary are both still good friends of mine all these years later. SLIME CITY MASSACRE is as much a celebration of our friendship as it is of 80s horror films. Rob Tomaro also responded to a casting ad, and did a great job with that score, and has a role in SCM. Everyoine got along well, everyone had fun, it was very exciting. And we shot that film all over the city: Brooklyn, Queens, Alphabet City, the Bronx.What were some of the valuable lessons you learned on earlier projects you worked on that you think you were able to pull from when working on SLIME CITY? And what new lessons did you learn from the production of your own film?
The only film I worked on before SLIME CITY was I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE. I learned that when people work on your film for free, you have to at least feed them; those guys never figured that out. I learned that you always treat your actors with respect; and I learned that cokehead producers with manic personalities should never be allowed around people who are trying to make a good film. I learned plenty from SLIME CITY, too: you watch scenes that don’t have enough coverage, do have poor framing (in its full frame version) and bad edits, and you learn from your own mistakes.How did you manage to scrape together the funds to make the movie?
Me, Peter, and our partner, Marc Makowski, put up a third of the money ourselves; we got another third from friends and family; and our foreign sales rep put up the final third. It was a different time, then: new releases cost $75 and $90 on VHS, and no-name horror films went for $50 and up. SLIME CITY was released on VHS the first time for $59.99! So it wasn’t hard for people to see there was at least a possibility of making a profit. These days, forget it. That being said, the money for SLIME CITY MASSACRE came together almost as easily, partly because it’s a sequel, partly because I’ve learned from my past films, and partly because I now know how to promote a finished project.The story about the trouble you had casting the role of Nicole is pretty well-known, with the end result being the dual casting of Mary Huner in that role in addition to her role as the love interest for Robert Sabin's character. Why do you think it was that casting that role was so difficult? Looking back on the film now, are you happy with the effect that Huner's dual performances give to the movie? And where in the hell did that wig come from?
These days there are plenty of actresses around who want to do these films so they can call themselves “scream queens” and sell autographs to horny kids and fat losers at horror conventions. That whole thing was really just beginning when we shot SLIME CITY in 1986, and that wasn’t really the kind of actress I wanted. You live in NYC, you want a classically trained actress. I received 1,000 resumes for that film. I found maybe a dozen actresses who looked good for the part. Most of them weren’t interested – at all. A couple were, but their schedules just didn’t work. We started shooting without the role cast. I didn’t want to use someone who didn’t fit my vision of the character. Mary was cool to work with, the crew loved her, and I was happy with her performance, so I offered the second role to her and she jumped at the chance. It worked like a charm, reviewers mention it all the time, and it gave Mary a lot more screen time. I think she and Robert are both great in the film. Reviewers always seem to like what she did, but seem split down the middle with Robert, but they’re both equally good in my mind, and the effect of turning Mary into Nicole is just as important an effect as the crawling brain – maybe more so.What was it like for you the first time you got to see a movie you actually worked on appear on the big screen in an actual movie theater? More importantly, what was it like for you when SLIME CITY, a movie you not only worked on, but conceived, coordinated, directed, and generally masterminded, a movie that could really be considered "your baby," played in a real, old school cinema? How did the audiences respond to SLIME CITY during its brief theatrical run?
It was a blast. We opened up opposite HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS and did twice as much business. People laughed and screamed – sometimes where I wanted them to! – and walked in during the middle instead of out. It was a great experience, very rewarding. The audience got it, they responded to it, they interacted it with it. You get a taste of that and you never forget it. On the flip side, it was disarming for a lot of us to realize that we’d made a comedy!How did Camp Video come to distribute SLIME CITY on V.H.S. and what was it like doing business with them? I'm especially curious to get your thoughts on the experience because, for one, I know there was a bit of a mess there, where you got involved with them near their very end, and they never paid you some of the money you were owed, is that right? Also, I'm interested to get your thoughts on the experience of getting your movie on video rental shelves in general, not only because of the little thrill of actually seeing your own movie out there for the world to see, but also because you yourself were right there, watching the rather seismic shift from the classic theater houses of the day to the new era of the Video Boom. In a sense, it was the fall of one age and the rise of another.
First, it took me two years to finish SLIME CITY, and if I’d finished it six months earlier we’d have made a killing, because Vestron was hot for it until DIRTY DANCING was their first big theatrical hit. After that, the business changed and distributors stopped paying advances for low budget films. There was a glut of similar product, and studios were already starting to make more expensive straight-to-video features with “name” actors. Also, so many of the low budget horror films being made were absolute shit. Camp was one of the last companies paying advances, so we went with them. They did a great job marketing the film, but at the end of the day they were scumbags. They advanced us $13,000 and, based on the units they produced and sold, owed us another $13,000. I’d call the office to ask where my statement was, I’d say, “Is Sal Rachicci in?” And I’d recognize Sal Richicci’s voice saying, “No, he isn’t.” And then Sal and Camp disappeared, leaving a lot of filmmakers screwed and their warehouses and duplicators screwed. And then those people sold the copies of SLIME and the other films that they had on hand, and we never saw a dime from them. This business is full of dirt bags.How did Shock-O-Rama come to reissue SLIME CITY on D.V.D., and what has your relationship with them been like? What was it like to supervise a new "director's cut" and finally get the film exactly (or as close as possible) as you thought it should've been after all these years, and also to see it lovingly decked out with special features?
It gets confusing discussing POP/Alternative Cinema/Shock-O-Rama, etc., because they operate under so many different banners, which makes no sense to me. They were E.I. Independent Cinema – before they were just E.I. Cinema – when they released my second film, UNDYING LOVE, on VHS as NEW YORK VAMPIRE. Mike Raso and I would discuss SLIME CITY from time to time, but he didn’t want to touch it until Camp’s contract had expired, even though Camp had shit all over that same contract. Shock-O-Rama first re-released SLIME on VHS as a 10th anniversary edition, and I was very pleased with how they treated it, but the release was more or less unnoticed, and I figured the film was dead. Then DVD came along, and Mike allowed me to supervise the transfer, for which I’ll always be grateful. We shot that film the equivalent of full frame, expecting to “letterbox” it when we did a 35mm blowup, but we never did the blowup, which was too expensive. So Mike basically allowed me to re-frame the entire movie to reflect my original vision, and suddenly I didn’t hate looking at it anymore! And Mike and Jeffery Faoro and Paige Davis came up with the whole idea of the 2-disc re-release, GREG LAMBERSON’S SLIME CITY GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION. So whatever the hell that company is called, it’s responsible for keeping SLIME CITY available and giving it a second, third and fourth life. As for the extra features, I made them myself so there was really no surprise there, except for the excellent SLIME HEADS: THE STARS OF SLIME CITY 45-minute feature with Robert and Mary on GRINDHOUSE, which my friend Eric Mache shot and edited. He did the original SLIME poster, as well as many other graphics for me, and I kill him in a horrible manner in SLIME CITY MASSACRE.Would you mind briefly running through some of the differences between the new D.V.D. cut and the original cut of the movie?
Camp released the theatrical cut. When Shock-O-Rama re-released SLIME on VHS, I made some tape-to-tape cuts: I replaced the titles, which were horrible, and cut out six minutes’ worth of footage that I hated and made me cringe. When Shock-O-Rama decided to go to DVD, I had to either allow them to transfer the original cut or duplicate the tape-to-tape edits that I’d made for the VHS re-release. I actually decided that I’d cut too much, so we “restored” three minutes. All that’s missing is some embarrassing dialogue between Robert and Mary before they “have sex,” and some even more embarrassing dialogue after they’ve supposedly had sex. I don’t miss these scenes, I’m glad they’re gone, I hope never to see them again. But you know what? I’ve since discovered the original negative, so some day, if someone is interested, I can see a pristine, Hi Def transfer of the original cut rising to the surface.How have modern audiences responded to SLIME CITY? How does it feel for you to see a whole new generation sort of rediscover this semi-lost classic?
I keep expecting SLIME CITY to stop “being discovered” by new fans, but that doesn’t seem to happen; I guess it’s never really reached that level of saturation – it will always be a little cult film. I find that people are very considerate of it. Most of the reviews for GRINDHOUSE called it very affectionate and earnest and hard to knock – things have changed! I’m always gratified when I go to conventions and horror fans of all ages come up to me and tell me how much they like the film. Some of them even love it! And more women seem to appreciate it now than before, but I guess that’s true of horror in general. Look, an artist wants people to like his work, it’s part of the ego that goes with creation. I’m very happy that people like my film, even though I couldn’t watch it for many years.What has it been like, getting Robert and Mary reunited anew and going around to the various film festivals and conventions? What are they up to these days? What was their reaction upon experiencing the fan response that the movie's been getting since its revival?
I did a few screenings with Robert, and one – the Beloit International Film Festival – with him and Mary. I also did one with Tom Merrick, and a few by myself. I told Robert and Mary, “Let’s do a reunion tour and then bury this sucker for good.” Then I pitched SLIME CITY MASSACRE to them at Beloit, and two years later we’re premiering it there. We’re all parents now, and Robert and I have gotten fat. Mary still looks good, though! Audience reaction, again, has been wonderful. There’s always a mixture of fans and people who haven’t seen it before, so it’s kind of like a time trip.What do you think is the appeal of SLIME CITY that allows it to remain so strongly in the consciousness of horror fans to this day?
I think that most of the humor – intentional and unintentional – works, and the imagery of the fluids manages to disturb people to this day, and the gross out moments all work. When I sit in a screening, I know that if people just stick through the mugger scene, I have them. And the ending is very over the top and memorable.
Looking back, is there anything you would've done different or changed during the production of SLIME CITY if you do it all over?
Oh, of course. It was my first feature and my first sound film. That’s a lot for a 21-year-old to take on. But it’s not like I’m going to remake the film or anything. It’s part of history – or cinema obscura – and it’s of its time. It’s pointless to be like George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Arguably, SLIME CITY has sort of become your unofficial calling card, more so than just about anything else you've done to date. How do you feel about that?
I think that’s true of my movies, certainly, and unavoidable since people have been watching SLIME for 20 years now. People who don’t even remember it have seen it. People who wish they could forget it have seen it! I don’t run from the identification, or my website wouldn’t be called www.slimeguy.com, and I never would have touched a sequel. And I’m grateful to have that fan base. But I think my novels are much more successful creatively than the movies – they’re bigger, more ambitious, and exactly what I want them to be, and of my films I can only say that about SLIME CITY MASSACRE. I’ve had two novels and one nonfiction book published, with two more novels coming out in 2010, and I’m writing my fifth novel now. I suspect that in the long run I’ll be better remembered for “The Jake Helman Files,” my ongoing book series, if I’m remembered at all. And if not, I’m so pleased with SLIME CITY MASSACRE that I don’t mind.Where did the inspiration for NAKED FEAR come from, and how did that film's production and audience response compare/contrast with those of SLIME CITY?
It took forever for UNDYING LOVE to come out on video, and I was ready to throw in the towel. Then J.R. Bookwalter did OZONE and I realized that it was finally feasible to something decent on video. I decided to do one more film, and went into it with the attitude that it would be my last one. Tommy Sweeney, who starred in UNDYING LOVE, is one of my best friends, and I decided to do something with him, Robert and Mary. I’m a big fan of THE ODD COUPLE, and Tommy and Robert were both my roommates at different times, so I thought I could write a very enclosed story that would serve them both well. Mary declined to play the female lead because she had trouble with the rape scene at the end, which I ended up rewriting anyway. Unfortunately, we shot NAKED FEAR on Hi 8 video, which turned out to be a horrible format, and we screwed up the sound recording and had to dub the entire film, which ended up taking forever because my excellent editor, Phil Gallo, shot his own movie, WEST NEW YORK, which took precedence. Mary ended up dubbing the actress who got her part, Peggy Crown, because Peggy went to Europe and was unavailable. I like the film, but admit it’s very minor.Where did the inspiration for UNDYING LOVE come from? What was that production like? What was the audience response to the final product like?
I wrote UNDYING LOVE to be made for a lower budget than SLIME, without a lot of special effects. I wanted to do an anti-vampire film, ala Romero’s MARTIN. I didn’t know at the time that Larry Fessenden was making a similar, though more ambitious film, HABIT, or that THE ADDICTION and NADJA would beat us both to the punch. It’s actually my favorite film of the three that have been released, and I think that both it and NAKED FEAR are better written and directed then SLIME, but they lack the over the top gore that’s made SLIME as popular as it is. It was better received when it opened than SLIME CITY was, the few reviews we got were very good.What has it been like for you, and how have modern audiences responded, to these two movies now that they too have been made available on D.V.D.?
NAKED FEAR was included with SLIME on its first DVD release, so UNDYING LOVE was really the missing piece. I’m thrilled that all three are available in one set, and thrilled to have a set with my name on it. POP has done a great job releasing my stuff, the packages are loaded with extras. First class treatment all the way. It’s funny reading reviews of the SLIME CITY GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION: most reviewers rank the three films in the order that they like them and everyone seems to really like one film, kind of like another, and hate the third – but the order keeps changing, which I think is a good thing. All three films have their fans and detractors.How did your foray into book-writing come about? Where did the inspiration for Personal Demons come from? How did it feel when you won the Anubis Award for it? What do you get our writing that you don't get out of filmmaking, and vice versa? If you could only do one for the rest of your life, which would you choose, and why?
After NAKED FEAR failed to receive solo distribution, and after jobs in NYC dried up after 9/11, my wife and I decided to move to Buffalo and buy a house. Part of the plan was for me to become a novelist, so I could tell my stories without having to raise money. I wrote PERSONAL DEMONS first, based on an unproduced screenplay, and felt it blew away all of my films. It’s great to not have to worry about money and getting people to work for free, and I can write very big action scenes and special effects. The book won a publishing award, the Anubis Award for Horror, and was published as a Limited Edition hardcover in 2004, a small press trade paperback in 2005, and my new, regular publisher, Medallion Press, put it out as a mass market paperback under the umbrella name “The Jake Helman Files,” this year. I’ve already written the second book in the series, DESPERATE SOULS, which will be published in October, 2010, and I’m writing the third one now. I think all of my novels are far better than the films of mine that people have seen so far. Writing is very solitary, whereas filmmaking is very communal, so they’re very different beasts. Making movies is more exciting, and risky, but writing novels is more creatively satisfying. And the only thing I need to write a novel is imagination and free time. I have a mortgage, a wife and a daughter, and we’re in a very dicey situation after SLIME CITY MASSACRE, so unless someone actually offers me money to make a movie, I’d hazard a guess that novels will be my main creative outlet from now on. I’d love to find an agent who would rep them to the studios.Where did the inspiration for Johnny Gruesome come from? How did it evolve from a story, to this whole kind of multimedia hydra that it since become, with the book, the mini-movie, and C.D. and whatnot? What was it like doing such a multi-faceted project, how was your experience with each of the different elements (most notably the music aspect), and how do you think they work together to strengthen the overall Johnny Gruesome concept?
I wrote the screenplay JOHNNY GRUESOME right after I wrote SLIME CITY. SLIME was conceived as a micro-budget movie, JOHNNY as a low budget movie on which everyone – including me! – would be paid. I’ve never found a producer who could actually raise enough money to make the film as a “real” movie, so I turned it into my second novel. The rock CD, music video, mask and comics followed. The book stands alone, the CD stands alone, and the mask and on-line comics are just fun enhancements.What compelled you to write Cheap Scares? How did you go about putting together such a massive, near-comprehensive collection of interviews and filmmaking tips?
CHEAP SCARES! LOW BUGET HORROR FILMMAKERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS, is massive – 100,000 words, which is 20,000 more than the average novel. It took me a year to conduct those interviews, transcribe them, write my instructional material, and gather the photos, many of them never seen before. I wrote a proposal, sent it to McFarland, they said yes, and I went to work. The reviews have been very good and, like JOHNNY GRUESOME, the book was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. And a number of aspiring filmmakers have told me that it’s really helped them, which means a lot to me. That was the whole point.Of all the interviews you conducted for the book, who were some of your favorite individuals to talk to? Who do you wish you could've included in the book that you weren't able to?
I only interviewed people whose work I admire, or who I felt have made significant contributions to low budget horror filmmaker. Some I already knew personally, others I’ve gotten to know since then. I think all of the interviews are valuable, especially the one with my attorney, who gives a lot of legal advice that independent filmmakers really need to know. I also like that the personalities and experiences reflected in the book are so varied.If you'd had this book at your disposal when you were a scrappy young D.I.Y. filmmaker first making SLIME CITY back in the day, how do you think the final product would've turned out?
I’d have taught myself well! Since I’m teaching lessons I’ve learned partly from the mistakes I’ve made, I wouldn’t have made those mistakes. But then I couldn’t have written the book!I don't mean to butter your bread so to speak, but let me just say that I think Cheap Scares is the new bible for aspiring b-movie masterminds today. I absolutely loved it.
Thanks, so much. I’m very proud of it. McFarland did a great job producing it, I just wish that reference books weren’t so expensive. Run a review! The more filmmakers who know it’s out there, the better.Anyway, what do you think is the most important element of any movie and/or novel? What basic advice would you give to anyone hoping to make a name for themselves in either field?
Good characters and structure are the foundation of any story, regardless of the medium. Story, story, story. So many young filmmakers – especially in horror – think they can just copy their favorite films, and believe that they’re such talented directors that no one will notice. They’re wrong. Advice: believe in your projects and don’t let anything stand in your way of making them. Don’t even attempt a making a low budget film unless you’re willing to devote yourself to it. It’s so hard to put everything together, so hard to make a film, and then you discover that’s only half the battle. There’s still post production, and so many low budget films I see are incomplete, no matter what the filmmaker thinks. They’re too long, for one thing, because the filmmakers fall in love with every nuance in every scene. You have to determine what the core of the scene is and be willing to sacrifice some elements for flow. That’s why I told Phil Gallo, my editor on NAKED FEAR, that I wouldn’t make SLIME CITY MASSACRE without him. It’s great that micro-filmmakers can edit their own films with today’s technology, but that doesn’t mean that they should. I also see films that are missing sound effects and music, which is as deadly as having poor sound recording. If you’re not willing to tackle all of these elements, or find someone else who is, then maybe you should just stage a play.What are some recent movies and/or books you've seen/read that impressed you? What upstart filmmakers and writers today are the ones you think we'll be remembering and interviewing in the how-to books of tomorrow?
I’m a stay at home father trying to finish his biggest movie and a novel, and promote the ones that are out there, and not lose my house. I honestly don’t have time to watch movies or DVDs. I read FANGORIA and RUE MORGUE, so I know what’s out there, and I know what people are talking about, but I don’t have time to see them. A friend of mine sent me one of the AFTER DARK flicks that he thought I’d like a year ago and I still haven’t peeled off the shrink wrap. With me, right now, it’s about creating horror or being a passive observer. I just spent two years as the paid editor of Fear Zone, which just closed down, so I’ve followed what’s out there and I’m pretty tired of doing that. I like the films coming out of Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix, especially those of James Felix McKenney, who did AUTOMATONS and SATAN HATES YOU. I’m more interested in the filmmaking than the kills. One of the filmmakers I interviewed for CHEAP SCARES is a young cat named Justin Channell, who made a zombie comedy called DIE AND LET LIVE that I really liked. Justin has a real voice of his own and I’ll be interested to see what he does after college, because in my book he’s already made one film that’s more entertaining than a lot of films made by more experienced filmmakers.Alrighty then, time, I think, to discuss the big enchilada. Your latest filmmaking venture. The much-anticipated follow-up to your original ooze-dripping opus. SLIME CITY MASSACRE. I'm really excited to check this movie out. I can't wait, honestly. Again, not just trying to butter your bread. Sounds like it has the potential to be even better than the original SLIME CITY. What do you think? How do you think it compares to the original?
I’ve learned a lot about storytelling and filmmaking since SLIME CITY. See? I did follow my own CHEAP SCARES advice! SLIME CITY MASSACRE is the most ambitious script I’ve written. It takes place in two time periods and features a huge ensemble cast. The acting is through the roof, the effects are over the top, the location is to die for, and the score, by Mars of Dead House Music, is phenomenal. I had a wonderful production team, especially my DP, Chris Santucci. I think fans of the original will love it, and quite a few people who didn’t will, too. This much I can promise: no matter what anyone reads online, no one will know what to expect from this film.What made you want to make a sequel to SLIME CITY now, several years later?
I never had a burning desire to make a sequel. Our foreign sales rep offered to fund one right after I did the original, for the same amount of money, and I said, “Forget it.” I have a lot of stories I want to tell, and we’re only here for so long, so why repeat yourself? But the pieces fell into place: I toured the location we ended up using and thought, “This would be a great location for a SLIME CITY sequel.” And when Jennifer Bihl acted in the GRUESOME video, I thought, “She would make a great Mary Huner type.” And by the time I met Robert and Mary in Beloit, the story had started to come together. It’s all about story. I actually held off writing the screenplay because I knew that once I did, I’d have to make it, and sure enough, once the ideas were committed to my screenwriting program, making the film took over my life.
Where did the inspiration for the concept/story for SLIME CITY MASSACRE come from? For anyone who reads this interview that might be unfamiliar with the story of SLIME CITY MASSACRE, would you mind giving a quick plot description in your own words?
The original SLIME CITY is about a guy who moves into an apartment building not knowing that his neighbors have been possessed by the spirits of a cult that committed mass suicide in the basement years earlier, and they’ve targeted him to be possessed by their leader, Zachary. The possession begins when the guy, played by Robert Sabin, drinks Zachary’s elixir and eats his “Himalayan yogurt,” which turns out to be ectoplasm. We only see Zachary on the flap of a book he wrote, and in a dream. The impetus behind SLIME CITY MASSACRE was to really explore the mythology of Zachary and his cult – because that’s some crazy shit – and to contrast it with the main story, which is set seven years in the future and involves four people becoming possessed instead of one. This time around, Robert plays Zachary. I also wanted to follow four characters through the possession instead of one, which enabled me to do very different things with the slime and do a lot of cross cutting. And I’ve never made a science fiction film, so it was fun to flirt with that environment.How did the idea to take things in a post-apocalyptic direction come about? From what I've been hearing, it sounds like SLIME CITY MASSACRE is going to have some great socio-political post-9/11 dystopian subtext to play around with. Was that intentional? Would you talk about some of those elements a little (the American invasion of Canada, the terrorist bombings, the extermination squads assinating homeless people, etc.)? I gotta say, from the stuff I'm reading about the movie, it's reminding me a bit of stuff like COMBAT SHOCK or even CHILDREN OF MEN. Only, ya know, with more... well, slime.
This film is definitely my comment on the Bush administration, and what they did to the whole world, but I’ve also made the Zachary flashbacks an equal condemnation on trippy, PC liberalism – either I’ll make everyone happy, or I’ll piss everyone off. But it’s all subtext, my goal was to make this film as entertaining and fun as I could. People will pick up on this stuff and go along with it or just ignore it. It’s very fast paced, so I’m not too worried. It’s funny you mention CHILDREN OF MEN: a good friend of mine saw my rough cut and loved it, and said it reminded him of CHILDREN OF MEN, and Mary compared my script to THE ROAD, but I haven’t seen or read either of them! I’d say THE OMEGA MAN was a bigger inspiration, and Mary sort of plays the Omega Woman.From a lot of the stuff I been hearing and reading about online, it seems like you're really pulling out all the stops for SLIME CITY MASSACRE. Was it a conscious decision to try and top yourself and turn everything from SLIME CITY up to eleven?
Yes. It’s my way of saying, “I’m glad you liked my first film, thanks for supporting it all these years, but I can do a lot better now.” It takes a lot of work to make a low budget film that’s as big as this one, a lot of sacrifice, not just for me but for my family and everyone else who volunteered their time. I wouldn’t put them through this if my goal wasn’t to raise the bar. For 20 years people have compared SLIME CITY to STREET TRASH, which isn’t really fair since they were conceived at the same time and STREET TRASH cost 20 times as much. I wanted to make a movie that would be much, much better than anything I’ve attempted before, and the only way to do that with a sequel is to tell a story that’s as different as possible, taking the basic mythology of the original and exploring it in ways I couldn’t as a first time filmmaker. I also don’t want fans of my novels to see the film and say, “Stick to writing books from now on!”What was the experience like trying to put this big bad mamma jamma together (writing the script, casting the roles, securing the funds, etc.)? Once all the preproduction work was in the bag, what was it like when shooting finally began? I know it's been some time since you helmed a feature length production like this, and decades since visiting those sticky streets of SLIME CITY.
Making SLIME CITY was the most fun, exciting time of my life – until SLIME CITY MASSACRE. It was much bigger than I expected, much more challenging, and I honestly don’t know how we pulled it off. I’m very happy with the script, but the best thing I did was surround myself with the perfect combination of people, right down the line. Film is very collaborative, and I consider every person who worked on this project, right down to the extras, collaborators. I knew this was a much different deal than my past experiences on the third day of filming, which was the first day at our main location, some abandoned buildings next to an old train terminal with a tower. Driving up the bumpy road in my little Nissan, I saw our production van, our production truck, our tow-generator, about 20 cars, the crew, and at least thirty extras waiting on a hillside. We’re not talking about two characters in a claustrophobic apartment this time.
It’s also very hard to raise money in this climate. I was very fortunate to find people who supported the project. John Maclay, Brooke Lewis, and Marc Makowski – who’s been a producer on all of my films – were the first to sign on as producers, and then a lot of my friends who have been in my other films joined in, and then some publishers. I took their belief in me very seriously.How would you characterize your experiences working on SLIME CITY MASSACRE in comparison to those you had on the original SLIME CITY?
I felt very confident as a director this time around. I knew my story, I knew what I wanted, and trusted my cast and crew to give it their all. They exceeded my expectations. It’s hard to put my finger on, but it’s very rare when everyone involved sees the potential in a project and devotes an enormous amount of time and energy to it. I would get up two hours before set call, do my preparation, check in with my production manager, John Renna (who plays “the Mayor of Slime City”), pick up my out of town actors and get coffee, drive to the location, spend 12 hours shooting, drive home with two crewmen who stayed with me, see my family, fall asleep exhausted in a chair, then drive over to the FX lab, where that team worked around the clock, living on pizza and energy drinks. Long, long days, and so much to deal with that I really only had time to appreciate what an amazing experience it was when I was alone. Debbie Rochon, who’s never had a tattoo in her life, and Kealan Patrick Burke, who has one or two, decided to get SCM tattoos to commemorate how special they thought the experience was. Andrew Lavin, one of our effects guys, designed the tat, and the three of them showed up with ink the next day. Then Arick Sczymecki, another effects guy, and I got ours the next night. I think there are 8 people in the “Slime City Mafia” now. Debbie said, “You’d better not let whoever picks it up for distribution change the title!”Did the years of experience, research, and insight you've accumulated over the years make the process of putting SLIME CITY MASSACRE together any easier? I'm assuming that the author of Cheap Scares has learned some pretty good lessons and tricks since the time he and a handful of movie school miscreants filmed a killer brain slithering across kitchen tile way back when.
Oh, yeah. And writing novels in the interim helped as well. I’ve taught myself not to shy away from ideas that might be difficult and to embrace them instead. No pain, no gain. I’ve always done the best I could and flew by the seat of my pants, but this was the first time I really felt like I knew what I was doing. In one respect, it’s up to viewers to decide if I have any talent at this. But this is the first film I’ve made that I can say is the film I set out to make, and I’m eager to send it out into the world to be judged.What was it like for Mary and Robert stepping back into the SLIME CITY universe again with you? I imagine it must've been a pretty interested experience, the lot of you being brought together again for another go 'round with Zachery Devon and his creepy concoctions.
Robert and Mary didn’t share any scenes together; it wouldn’t have made sense he’s playing a different character this time, and they live in two different time lines. I thought about concocting some way to do it, but it just would have cheapened the story. I think it was easier for Robert to re-visit the material because he came up before production started and got to rehearse with the other actors in his scenes, which were the first to be shot. And he’s great in the film, there’s no way people will be split down the middle about his performance this time. Mary came on ¾ of the way through the shoot, after most of the other principal actors were finished and had left. Her scenes were with Jennifer Bihl, who’s the lead, and with two mutant cannibals and three crawling brains. I looked forward to directing the scenes with Mary and Jen more than any of the others, because they represent a passing of the torch, and they were great fun. After she left, Mary told me that she felt great pressure because everyone kept saying how good the acting was in the whole film, but she had nothing to worry about: she and Robert did their best acting in this film.I've read that Mary's character has been updated quite a bit and turned into a sort of Sigourney Weaver-esque ass-kicker tough chick as a result of the events from the first movie. That sounds, to me, like a very interesting and inspired direction to take the character in. What prompted that idea? I'm assuming there's no chance of us getting to see her dance around in skimpy black fishnets again.
We kept joking about how to work the dance in, but except for 10 seconds of Mary and Jen clowning around off set, it never happened. “Lori” is now a member of Slime City’s homeless population, and we’re left feeling that she’s been killing off different possessed characters for decades. Mary’s always been very pretty, but now that we’re all older, she also has an edge to her face that fascinates me. I think that people who live in NYC and Buffalo for a long time develop a sort of survivor’s aura about them. I saw it in Beloit, when the three of us were sitting in a hot tub (to keep warm!): her eyes were just piercing, and if I’d had any doubt as to what to do with her character I knew it then. I’ve always felt bad that I never shot the reaction shots of her for the ending of SLIME CITY that would have made her character seem terrified rather than just a little upset at the insane situation going on around her, so I made sure to give her some real moments here. Wait until you see her in action. She has a couple of different looks in the film and has a real presence.How did Debbie Rochon, Kealan Patrick Burke, Lee Perkins, Brooke Lewis, Jennifer Bihl, and Angelina Leigh all come to get involved with the movie/be cast in their roles? What are your thoughts on their performances and your experiences working with them for this project?
I wrote Debbie’s role for her, and she brought a lot more to it than I wrote. She has a monologue in this that will blow people away, and has some of the most genuinely disturbing moments. People will be talking about her key scenes with Lee after they see them. I only met her briefly once before the shoot, but we were in e-mail contact for a long time and she was a big supporter of the film. It really meant a lot to my crew that she did the film, and she was an inspiration throughout it. She’s a very, very hard worker, a total pro, and very talented. She saw that I was really the only producer on set and had my hands full, and during the few moments when we were alone would offer me advice: “I don’t want to step on your toes, I know you have a lot on your mind, I just want to say that you might want to consider this, and you can take my advice or leave it.” Never, ever pushy with anyone, just trying to be helpful when she could because she believed in the project. She came to Buffalo before with Lloyd to help him pre-produce POUTRYGEIST, and I can see why she was invaluable in that role. I watched her working with Jennifer on her first day, because she had some physical action she wanted to do, and she was so careful and so considerate and respectful that I was fascinated watching her.Kealan is a fellow horror author. He’s had some stage experience and I wanted to cast both him and Lee in another project that fell through. He’s got a real simmering presence; with regards to his performance, I’m anxious to see how the horror writing community reacts, since so many of us know each other. People who have no idea who he is, and who have seen the footage, have said, “Where did this guy COME from?” I feel like I’ve stumbled across a major talent, and if he becomes a megastar I’ll claim full credit for it! Kealan has filmmaking aspirations as well, and was always pleasant and good natured on the set, never complaining and just soaking everything in. A wonderful debut, I think.
I met Lee at a film festival when SLIME first came out on DVD. He’s a very sweet guy, very devoted to his craft, and when he commits to a project he supports it through every phase. I wrote a different role for him originally, a three-day type of thing, but decided to cast him in a much larger role. My wife and I were watching his reel and I kept saying, “This guy will be great opposite Kealan.” And I had planned to pair them in a previous project. So my wife raised some extra money so we could bring Lee to town rather than use a local actor, and I’m glad we did. While I shot Jen and Kealan’s scenes with each other for a couple of days, Lee and Debbie had time to work on some character stuff with each other before they came on, and then it was funny to see them trying out new bits in the scene, basically fucking with Kealan and Jeni, and then see Kealan and Jen realize what was going on and giving back. I’m not what you would call an actors’ director, so my contribution to their performances, besides writing the script, was basically to assemble the right core group and allow them to find their collective groove. Jennifer rounds out the cast, and she’s actually the lead, a local actress from here in Buffalo. If she was intimidated by her three co-stars she never showed it. She stepped up to the plate on day one and stood toe to toe with much more experienced actors. I’m very proud of her performance and don’t think she realizes the attention she could get because of it. I realized how good she was while we were shooting, she has very good physical instincts, but didn’t realize just how good she was until I started selecting takes for editing. Even when she’s just quietly listening to other characters speak, her reactions are spot on. And while the other three kept coming up with new business, and she went with the flow, she never seemed to be deviating from the script except when called to; and yet one of my favorite moments in the film is a little bit she does with her eyebrow, just a little punctuation to one scene that I didn’t even realize she had done when we filmed it. It was a dream cast, and very exciting to witness the chemistry that developed among them.Angelina was a lucky break: she’s actually a local even though she does her Playboy gigs and modeling all over the country, and she happened to be in town when we made the movie. She was only on set for a few days, but her character appears throughout the film, and she has one of the most memorable deaths. She was a lot of fun, very easy to work with. She plays a homeless prostitute, and wore this leopard print thong and bra, and she was covered in grime like all of our other extras. I laughed whenever I saw her walking off location to go to the store, God knows what people on the street thought.I have to mention one other person: Brooke Lewis, who plays the original “Nicole” in the flashbacks, the character who possessed Mary’s goth character in the first SLIME. Brooke was an early supporter of this project, and she came to Buffalo despite a lung infection and brought her own costume and this crazy hair piece. She’s used to doing things the way they do them in L.A., and was really surprised by how our set was run and jumped right in. Most of her scenes are opposite Robert, who cracked jokes nonstop to keep people’s spirits up, and I could see her trying not to laugh, to maintain that professional demeanor, and losing it every time. She invested a lot of heart into her character and it really shows.I'm curious about the situation with Erika Smith. At one time, her name was flying all over the place, alongside Debbie's, with the expectation being that she would be playing one of the lead roles. What happened that she ended up leaving the project? Did you have any difficulty re-establishing your bearings on the casting horizon after that? What are your thoughts and feelings now about her untimely departure?
There’s no controversy here. When I started the script, I wrote it for five leads, not four. One of them was written for Erika, another for Jennifer. I quickly realized that five characters were too many, and combined those two into one. I elected to go with Erika in the new combined role, because she’s done nudity and Jennifer isn’t interested in that, and offered Jen a smaller part, which she graciously accepted. Then Erika’s manager, who’s trying to steer her away from horror, declared that she wouldn’t allow Erika to do any nudity in the film, even though Erika was more than willing to do the part as written. Because Erika is in SAG now, it was going to cost me a lot of money to involve her, and I just couldn’t see devoting that much of my budget to an actress who couldn’t do the role I wrote for her, when she had already done so much nudity in other films. So we parted ways, very amicably. Personally, I think that Erika’s manager did her a disservice, but I’m not going to let someone in Hollywood tell me how to make my film. I discussed the role with a few other actresses, but what it came down to was that I wanted Jen for the part, nudity or not. She’s local, which took a lot of strain off my budget. And without going into detail, I’ll say that Jennifer really suffered for her art and proved herself to be a real trooper. And there’s enough other nudity in the film to satisfy horror fans.How did Lloyd Kaufman and Roy Frumkes get involved with the project and what will the extent of their roles be? What was it like working with them?
Both of them were very pleasant to have on set, and I suspect very happy to be there just as actors, although Roy is also an associate producer on this. We zipped through Lloyd’s shots and he was very charming with everyone. Roy had a lot more dialogue, and a lot more responsibility for the direction of the film, since his character sets a lot of things in motion. We shot him on the next to last day of shooting, when he had a lot of stuff to wrap up, so I didn’t really get to direct him and left him and the co-star in his scenes pretty much on their own. Fortunately, he had his lines memorized and delivered them in a chilling manner. I also think he’ll get two of the biggest laughs in the film. It was good to have him there, too; as I said, we’re friends, and you want your friends in the business to see what you can do and how you interact with people.How did Sephera Giron become involved with the movie? When I first read an article that mentioned her appearing in the film I actually did a double-take. Roy Frumkes and Lloyd Kaufman are both almost a given. But I was pleasantly surprised to hear about Giron. She's a fantastic writer and I'm a big fan of her work. What will be the extent of her role in the film be?
Sephera’s another writer friend of mine, I see her a few times a year. She does some musical theater and I thought, “Why not?” She drove up from Toronto a few times even after she was done acting just to take pictures and hang out, and was very excited to be involved. She plays Zachary’s wife, a Morticia Addams type. I wasn’t prepared for how creepy she would be: she does this weird, hypnotic thing with her eyes and you can’t take your eyes off of them.
A lot of publishing figures participated in this film: John Maclay, our executive producer, is a very respected short story writer and publisher; Richard Chizmar, an associate producer, runs Cemetery Dance; R.J. Sevin, one of our effects artists, is one of the founders of Creeping Hemlock Press; Brett Savory of Chizine, did the drums on our theme song, which was written by Giasone and Marcy Italiano; they did the GRUESOME CD and Marcy is also a published writer. Derek Clendening was an extra. And my publisher, Medallion Press, provided the finishing funds. Throw in me and Kealan, and I’m pretty certain that no horror film in history has featured the participation of so many horror writers and publishers! It’s really a collision of my two worlds.Steve Romano's poster art for the flick looks terrific, as did the art he contributed to the Slime City Grindhouse Collection D.V.D. set. How did he become involved with you and the whole SLIME CITY universe?
Although I was aware of Stephen’s name as a writer, the minute I saw his SHOCK FESTIVAL book, with all that faux grindhouse artwork, I knew I had to involve him. It was just so appropriate. At the same time, Paige Davis from POP hired him to do the GRINDHOUSE poster and cover. He did a lot more than just the poster for SLIME CITY MASSACRE, he also did 15 paintings for our title sequence. Great stuff, I’m glad we got to work together, even though we’ve never met. Something to look forward to.What was it like working with digital effects and blending them with the live-action stuff for SLIME CITY MASSACRE? To what extent will the digital effects be used?
The approach from the get-go was to use as many practical effects as possible. That’s what I believe SLIME CITY fans want. But when you start talking about ruined cityscapes, glowing green skies, machine gunfire and other things, it makes sense to use CGI. And whenever possible, we try to combine the approaches. For instance, the brains were mostly rod puppets, just like in the original film, but instead of building an elevated floor and operating them from beneath, R.J. just operated them from behind and is erasing himself from the footage. Then there were instances when CG fixed certain things that didn’t quite work live, but I can’t discuss those without spoiling the film.
Rod Durick was my effects supervisor, a local like Arick Sczymecki, Andrew Lavin, John Renna and Phil Czubinski. R.J. came up from Louisiana, and he and Arick are doing the digital effects as well. And Craig Lindberg, who worked on UNDYING LOVE and NAKED FEAR before becoming a bigshot, did a bunch of stuff for us in NYC. These guys worked hard, and did an amazing job. One day on set, Arick had some sort of seizure and a nosebleed, just from exhaustion from staying up all night on energy drinks. The crew thought he had a heart attack even though he’s a young guy, and sent him to the E.R. Later, he actually went under water that had been sitting in a flooded basement for years and emerged from it as a cannibal for the camera. I’m telling you, these are some seriously dedicated and warped individuals. Buffalo is hard core.Okay, so then, the movie is poised to make its debut in Febuary 2010 at the Beloit International Film Festival. But when will SLIME CITY MASSACRE see a publicly available home video release, so I can finally add this bad boy to my ever-hungry D.V.D. collection?
I have no idea. We haven’t even approached distributors yet, we want it to look as good as it possibly can. In my opinion, it’s good enough for a theatrical run, even though that’s unlikely. I hope to show it at a number of horror film festivals and conventions, if anyone wants to fly me out and put me up. I suspect we can make a deal very soon after our premiere, but we may want to wait until we’ve built some buzz and gotten some reviews. Look how long BAD BIOLOGY was on the circuit, or I SELL THE DEAD, and they’re just coming out now. And I want as many SLIME CITY fans to see it on at least a semi-big screen as possible.How do you feel about the movie as it stands now? How do you expect audiences to respond to it? Any chance in hell of this franchise turning into a trilogy?
Let’s just say that I’m very happy with what everyone has done on this film, but you never really know how a film will connect until you see it with an audience. I can only say that I like it and think it’s unique. As far as a trilogy goes, I never thought I’d do a second one, so you never know. Honestly, I’d have to come up with a story that tops this one, and it’s just possible that I’ve done so much with the concept this time that there’s nothing left to explore. We’ll see.With SLIME CITY MASSACRE's big debut now just around the corner, what's next for Mr. Gregory "SlimeGuy" Lamberson? Any future projects in the works you can talk about? Anything rollin' 'round in your head that you hope gets to see the light of day someday?
My werewolf novel THE FRENZY WAY will be published as trade paperback by Medallion Press in June, 2010 and DESPERATE SOULS follows in October. With SLIME CITY MASSACRE on the circuit, that makes three projects in one year, with the third Jake Helman novel to follow in 2011. I think that’s enough for now. I’d really like to get an agent to rep my books to production companies, and I want to spend some quality time with my family. I’ve been developing a project called DEADLY RITES with a writer friend for over a decade now. It’s a wicked script that I’m attached to direct, but I really need a qualified producer to go out and raise the money. I’m sick of begging for handouts and selling off my own shares in these things so that other people can make money. I want someone else to raise the money and fight to protect me, you know?Okie dokie then. I just have one last question. This might very well be the most important question I ask you, and it may be the most important question you will answer in your entire life.
Ahem.
Will Robert Sabin be appearing in a speedo in SLIME CITY MASSACRE?
As I said, Robert and I are each twice the man we used to be, so no, no speedo. But he does go topless during Zachary’s big orgy, and that’s almost as brave. Well, I think that about wraps it up. Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview and talking with me about your life, career, output, and outlook. I'm very excited about SLIME CITY MASSACRE, and I look forward to it with great anticipation. Best wishes with all your future endeavors.
Thanks, William. Anyone who’s interested in SLIME CITY MASSACRE should check out “Slime City Survivor,” the 26-part webisode series we posted on YouTube.*********
Well, that's that people. That is the official Bearded Weirdo interview with sleaze cinema veteran Gregory Lamberson. Pretty dang epic, eh?
I dunno 'bout you folks, but I feel like I just got schooled. In a good way. Talkin' to this funky freak was like sittin' under a slime-drippin' learning tree. Also, as an interviewer, I gotta say... it's nice talkin' to someone so opinionated, who doesn't have a problem voicing his viewpoint and telling it like it is. I'm sure you'll all agree.
If you're interested in hearing more what this demented devil has to say, check out his personal blog at http://www.glamberson.livejournal.com, or his horror news/review site at http://www.fearzone.com, or his personal website (and the website for all the SLIME CITY MASSACRE news you need to know) http://www.slimeguy.com. And make sure to catch S.C.M. when it finally hits D.V.D. in god-knows-when, and definitely check out his Cheap Scares book. Consider that a personal recommendation from me to you.
Until next slime...
Stay sick!
Your pickled pal,
William Weird.
Slithering it's way out of the bowels of Rochester, New York comes TAINTLIGHT, one of the more recent offerings from whacked-out wunderkind Chris Seaver and his shot-on-D.V. D.I.Y. movie factory Low Budget Pictures.
If you've never seen a Chris Seaver movie before, it might be prudent of me to give you a little taste of the sort of sense o' humor we're dealing with here: for instance, TAINTLIGHT opens with a trucker cap-clad redneck singing Ace Of Base and squeezing out a loaf o' butt-fudge in the woods, before being bloodily slaughtered by an unseen assailant. How's that for an example?
Our story goes a little something like this: First off, we meet Stella. She's one of those angstier-than-thou whiny emo/goth/artcunt chicks, the kind of gal who carries a poetry journal in a messenger bag, never smiles, and broods like somebody training for the Nihilist Olympics. When we meet her, she's going off to live with her father after losing her mother to the tragic effects of Committing Suicide Disease. Garberina, who, as evidenced by his turn in SKI WOLF, is pitch-perfect when it comes to playing weirdo patriarchs, does a fine job here of creeping the ever loving fuck out of every single audience member during every single second he's on the screen.
What's that you ask? What's a fagpire? Oh, you. Silly, clueless, dumbshit you. Fagpires are an entirely different breed of vampires. Though they think of themselves as normal vamps, they are in fact a whole other species. The difference between a fagpire and a vampire? To put it bluntly, fagpires are terminally lame. No fangs. No feeding. No coolness. They're the kind of neutered nosferatu Stephanie Meyer built her whole fuckin' teenybopper book club empire on. Some people refer to them as sparklepires or glitter-vamps, due to the fact that they, ::shudder::, "twinkle" in the sunlight. Obviously, though, twinkling's too tame for Seaver and his crew, so he's taken it to the next level. Instead of sparkling, when one of Seaver's fagpires, like, ohhh, let's say... Edgar Mullens... is exposed to sunlight, what happens to him? Why, he pops a boner... which then promptly begins ejaculating a steady stream of soap bubbles, of course. Of course.
The first thing you'll notice when watching TAINTLIGHT is that just about everything is filmed with that annoying, omnipresent blue hue that so defined the look of the actual TWILIGHT, only here it's amped up to a ludicrous degree in order to bring attention to how stupid it was in the real movie that all this satirical psychosis seeks to ape. Edgar Mullen is a flawless spoof of Edward Cullen, from that d-bag hairdo that's a right-on carbon copy to his absurdly twitchy, brow-heavy moody-boy pretentiousness. Seaver & Co. take great delight in running their swords through Stephanie Meyer's bloated, disease-riddled cash cow, spoofing the movie's overused, porno music-laden "intense" close-ups, as well as the "enigmatic" nature of the TWILIGHT characters, which in reality just translates to them being bipolar, melodramatic, and, not to mince words, just plain douchey. And, yes, I just can't say it enough... fucking look, looooook, look... at that ludicrous goddamn coiff.
That said, as far as TWILIGHT parodies go, I think I'll have to nevertheless stick with Hustler's THIS ISN'T TWILIGHT as my own personal favorite, if only because it provides me with numerous scenes of slutty spinner Jenna Haze taking enormous tube-steaks into her tight, tiny orifices, and that's always a good thing. No offense, Seavage, but hardcore penetration always wins out for a salaciously-minded scumbag like me.
Those minor quibbles aside, there's still no shortage of Seavery goodness to get excited about. Especially entertaining tidbits include... the scene from TWILIGHT where Bella/Stella almost gets hit by a truck, only to be saved at the last moment by the superpowered Edward/Edgar, which, here, is reimagined (due to the budgetary and technical constraints of no-budget microcinema movie-making) and ultimately saved by Seaver's imagination and ingenuity, and now features an alcoholic mime driving an imaginary, invisible car. Brilliant. Side-splittingly funny. No lie. I laughed by fat ass off. Another memorable scene features Edgar beating the holy hell out of Stella in the middle of the forest, something I would love to see in an actual TWILIGHT movie.
Seriously though... frolf?!?
L.B.P. old-timers will notice that the version of Razor portrayed in TAINTLIGHT is much more theatrical and, well, gothy than he used to be (a fact not at all helped by his new friendship with Raoul, the gothiest darkwave twat to ever slather on eyeliner while cutting his wrists and jacking off/weeping to a Joy Division album), and it's also worth a snicker or two to pick up on the fact that the the "real" vampires (who basically get their entire wardrobes from Hot Topic), whom Razor leads in his quest to throw down with Edgar's breed of toothless wimpoid sparkle-vamps, aren't really all that much less gay when compared to the fagpires they claim to loathe. It's just that they, actually, y'know... have fangs, and kill people, and drink blood. They're less whiney, which is nice. Oh, and they don't sparkle. Thank fucking god. That's enough to get me on their side. But still, not all that different when you get right down to it.
Horny girly-girls, walk away now. Kurt Indovina is not a shirtless underwear model with but a single facial expression and a brainpan full o' cobwebs. Likewise, you'll find no sparkling six-packs here. Just a bubble-spurtin' love-muscle and some seriously gelatinous, razor-sharp club hair. To all you TWILIGHT fans out there, take your half-assed version of THE LOST BOYS, retrofitted as it is for pimply preteen Hannah Montana-lovin' losers, and go fuck yourself. For that matter, fuck Stephanie Meyer, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart as well.
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