The Slime City Massacre Diaries #3
August 8, 2009 at 7:25 pm (Uncategorized)
So events conspired against me and no updates made it from the set thanks to the complete lack of an Internet connection. The past few days have been spent clearing out the mass of emails I received while away, so rather than write a full report of my experience shooting SLIME CITY MASSACRE, I’m just going to tantalize you with some pictures…
Photos (c) copyright 2009 by Jessica Ahrens & Sephera Giron Sullivan
The Slime City Massacre Diaries #2.2
July 10, 2009 at 2:57 pm (Uncategorized)
After the tour, still buzzing from the experience, we headed to the director’s house, where cast and crew alike were to gather for a rountable script reading. The session was filmed by director of photography Chris Santucci, so that Greg could watch it again later and see how it all sounded, where revisions needed to be made, etc.
Present were myself, Lee Perkins, Sephera Giron, Jennifer Bihl, John Renna, Michael O’ Hear, Jay Mager, Alex McBride, MarLee Francis, and Greg Lamberson.
It was interesting getting to meet some of the rest of the cast (I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to meet Debbie Rochon, Robert Sabin, Mary Huner, and the other cast members who couldn’t make it), but the energy and excitement among us all was tangible. Everyone involved was a joy to work with. We laughed a lot during the reading, so much so that occasionally we had to be reined in, but the reading allowed us all not only to get a fuller sense of the material, but also our characters. Above all else, it allowed me to see the chemistry that exists between me and Lee Perkins, who, for the first part of the movie, plays an antagonist. During the reading, Lee and I delivered our lines through an air of palpable tension and latent hostility, and never failed to make eye contact while we worked our scenes. It was immensely satisfying.
Also a highlight was getting to meet Jennifer Bihl, a talented actress who plays my girlfriend Alexa in the movie. Jennifer is sweet but strong and, despite the fact that she has to carry much of the film by herself, does not seem in the least bit fazed by such a critical responsibility. It was great to have the opportunity to discuss the on-screen dynamic between our characters, and to develop some of the vaguer aspects of our relationship. As a result, the final shooting script features some of the ideas and lines we managed to conjure up between us.
After the reading, a lot of us gathered in the yard to smoke and chat and generally just ride the wave of excitement. Gradually, the group thinned as it grew dark, leaving only me, production manager Jay Mager, and special makeup effects artist and actor John Renna standing outside Greg’s house. We recruited Sephera and hit a neighborhood bar, where the Irish owner extended an offer to host us when we returned to shoot the movie. An offer we will likely take him up on.
A few hours later, I said my farewells to Sephera, Jay and John, and returned to my hotel to get some sleep.
The next morning, Lee and I had breakfast and discussed our scenes and some new ideas to develop our characters. It was a beautiful morning, perfectly conducive to such conversations.
After breakfast, Greg picked us up and we headed to Zombified Studios to get our face casting done by special effects maestros Rod Durick and Arick Szymecki. This was something I was both anxious and eager to experience. As it turned out, in the capable hands of Mssrs Durick and Szymecki, who went to great lengths to make sure we knew what was happening during every step of the process, it proved to be quite relaxing, akin to sensory deprivation, and not nearly as claustrophobic as I’d feared.
Having the viscous “goop” (technically known as “alginate”) poured like cement over your face until only your nostrils are uncovered, is quite a bizarre feeling, but I loved it. Once the alginate is applied, cotton balls are dabbed against it to give the bandages something to adhere to. The aim of all this of course, is to give the makeup effects guys something to work with when the subject is not there. So long after I returned to Columbus, they were busy fashioning the makeup using the cast for reference.
It’s amazing watching these guys at work. They’re masters of the art. To see them at work on Jennifer Bihl, my costar, check out the videos below. These videos will be posted sporadically and will document the making of Slime City Massacre as it happens, with cast and crew interviews and sneak peeks as it all unfolds.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you here. I have an 8 am flight to Buffalo in the morning, so the next time you hear from me, I’ll be deep into filming!
Stay tuned…
The Slime City Massacre Diaries #2.1
July 7, 2009 at 11:09 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Brooke Lewis, Buffalo Central Terminal, Debbie Rochon, Gregory Lamberson, Jennifer Bihl, Lee Perkins, Robert Sabin, Sephera Giron, Slime City Massacre
A lot has happened since the first entry in this diary, but because the next entry you’re likely to see from me will come from Buffalo during the shoot, let me fill you in on the highlights of my first visit to the city.
(Note: This is a long one, so I’m splitting it into sections…)
On May 22nd, I awoke, slightly hungover after an unscheduled get-together with some friends the day before, tossed some clothes and essentials in a small suitcase and boarded a plane at Columbus International airport, bound for Buffalo, New York.
I know now that I had subconscious expectations of what was going to await me at the other end of that plane ride. All along, the director Greg Lamberson had made a point of emphasizing that SLIME CITY MASSACRE was going to be a low, ultra-low budget film (which I guess in Hollywood terms means anything less than seven figures.) A good film, he would say, but low-budget nonetheless. This conjured up worst-case scenario images of badly-lit home movies shot in a tool shed with appalling production values and atrocious acting. Even so, I didn’t care. Like I said in the last entry in this diary, I loved the concept and wanted to be a part of it. Nobody goes into these things with notions of red carpets, Variety spreads and Oscar nods. It may be the one and only film I ever do, and that won’t bother me in the slightest. I’m not Brad Pitt, or even Steve Buscemi. I have no delusions of grandeur. I’m a pasty Irish guy who smokes too much, has too high a tolerance for alcohol, thinks he’s funny, and plans to live as much as possible until the day that priviledge is revoked.
So, fuck it, I thought. A new experience. Off I go.
I arrived at Buffalo airport right on time, and after a brief scare that the airport had gobbled my sad, single suitcase, I emerged into the sweet air and gave silent thanks that suicidal geese had not flown into the engine of the plane.
A few minutes later, Greg Lamberson pulled up to the curb. I hopped in, we shook hands, and five seconds later, despite this being the first time we’d met in person, we were chatting and laughing like old friends.
Greg’s an affable guy, seemingly uncomplicated and unassuming, but it’s pretty clear from the outset that the guy’s a human hurricane lamp, and there’s a fiery passion for what he does constantly fluttering around inside him. His tone seldom wavers, no matter what the subject, but when it turns to filmmaking, no amount of stoicism can hide the enthusiasm and excitement the guy feels for the artform.
In the back seat of the car, strapped into a carseat, was Greg’s 2-year-old daughter Kaelin (and yes, the similarity of her name to mine caused quite a bit of confusion over the weekend), a little cherub with golden ringlets and big blue eyes that melted the hearts of all who met her. She was shy at first, as all kids are with strangers, particularly those who talk like the guy from the Lucky Charms commercial, but she warmed up soon afterward, a development that led to me running around Greg’s house with his daughter on my back, playing horsie while I pretended to look for her.
At the hotel, I checked in, and then promptly stepped out for a breath of fresh smoke, and spotted Sephera Giron making her way toward the lobby. Though very familiar with Sephera’s work, both for the HWA (for which she was finally honored with a well-deserved award this year) and as an author, I had never met Sephera in person. As was the case with Greg, it was an effortless affair, and soon we were ensconced in comfy chairs in the hotel lounge and chatting up a storm while Greg returned to the airport to pick up yet another guest, seasoned actor Lee Perkins.
As was the case with Sephera, I had never met Lee Perkins before, though again I was familiar with his work, having seen his wonderfully unsettling turn in the underrated if slightly overwrought Katiebird: Certifiable Crazy Person. And just like his character in that movie, the real life Lee Perkins proved to be unreadable, seemingly reserved and distant. Initially, the conversation was stilted, and only really got comfortable once we gathered at a local greasy spoon. As it turned out, Lee and I have a mutual love for the golden days of Formula 1 motor racing. In fact, he drove in Formula 3000 with many of the big guns and when they moved on to the majors, Lee moved on to stuntwork in Hollywood.
It wasn’t until much later that Lee and I really clicked. But we’ll get to that.
After the diner, Greg, Kaelin, Lee, Sephera and I took a drive to the location, where the majority of the movie will be shot. On the way, I kept an eye on the skyline, wondering which of the monolithic buildings that crowd Buffalo’s redbelt was the one we were headed for. Then it came into view, Buffalo Central Terminal, and it very literally sucked the breath from my lungs.
For more background history on the place than I can possibly fit in here without dividing the post into chapters, check out the building’s website.
It’s impossible to adequately describe what the interior of this place is like, and the pictures don’t do it justice, because the one thing they cannot capture is the sheer enormity of the location. It’s immense, a veritable self-contained ruined city, which of course makes it ideal for the purposes of our movie. As soon as I walked past that endearing swatch of yellow crime scene tape (apparently once the sun goes down, it’s a popular hangout for the kinds of people other horror movies are made about), I knew Greg had found himself the kind of location other directors only dream about (or pay a sizeable portion of their budget for.) Every chaotic room was different in its degree of decay, and each told a story.
As we engaged in a walking tour of the location, stepping over debris, scaling ancient stairs, and sidling into narrow openings in cracked walls, it was difficult to take it all in. There’s a pervasive sense of age and sadness to the place, which makes it unsurprising that famed ghost hunters TAPS have investigated the place twice. But whether or not the place is a legitimate haunting ground for the dead, there are clear signs that the living occupy the building, from the stained mattresses and broken beer bottles, to the graffitti and rooms with broken glass mosaics on the walls.
(Photos courtesy of Sephera Giron, because this dumbass forgot his camera…)
Stairs end in deep black water. Collapsed roofs leave gaping maws that cast hazy spotlights on the floor. Cryptic messages tell tales decipherable only by their authors. Trees grow up through the floor. Ominous figures are tattooed on long-dead generators. Rooms are crowded with furniture, with filing cabinets, with safes. Tunnels vanish into darkness. Crawlspaces hide behind every turn. Hallways stretch into forever. It seems like stepping into a separate universe. And being in that incredible building, knowing we’re going to be spending over two weeks in there up to our necks in dirt, dust and slime, making a movie, making monsters…it’s almost too much to register.
The Slime City Massacre Diaries: #1
May 26, 2009 at 12:14 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: Basket Case, Brooke Lewis, Debbie Rochon, Gregory Lamberson, Jennifer Bihl, Lee Perkins, Mary Huner, Robert Sabin, Sephera Giron, Slime City, Slime City Massacre, Street Trash
A few years back, I got a rather surprising email from novelist/director Gregory Lamberson. It’s hardly unusual for me to hear from fellow authors, but it is when they’re writing to me from the director’s chair. At the time, Greg was gearing up to shoot a movie called DEADLY RITES, a sort of WRONG TURN meets HELTER SKELTER hybrid, and, after reading about my time spent laboring in theater, he wanted me to read for one of the lead roles. Despite being flabbergasted by the request, I was definitely interested, even more so when I read the script and found it to be an intense thriller which would have required me not only to act, and act well, but also to meet the physical demands of the role–a giant leap from the static pontificating of the Shakespearian roles I’d played in the past. So I answered his request with a resounding “yes” and immediately began practising my Brooklyn accent.
Unfortunately, the movie never came to pass after some decidely underhanded moves by a self-proclaimed producer who failed to honor any of the promises she had made to that point. For the full story behind the debacle, you’d have to ask Greg himself as I heard only enough to know that it was a disaster, and one that left a bitter taste in the director’s mouth.
Cut to January of this year when I heard from Greg again. He has, in the years since DEADLY RITES, been somewhat stunned by the continuing interest in a small low-budget B-movie he made back in the 1980’s, which, following in the footsteps of such over-the-top gems as BASKET CASE and STREET TRASH, involved the disintegration of the human body in increasingly nasty ways. The movie was SLIME CITY, and while some of it seems dated, and the inexperience of some of the actors (one in particular, who, when slashed across the face with a knife, reacts as if someone farted in her direction) is evident in places, the special effects still hold up remarkably well. The film quality is also leagues above a lot of similar movies released at that time. After a short theater run, the film found new life on VHS and did well in the foreign market.
Ultimately, SLIME CITY’s cult following led to the recent rerelease of the movie on DVD, with tons of additional features, including another of Greg’s films, NAKED FEAR, and a very entertaining making-of featurette, which documents the fun and frustration involved in bringing the movie to the screen.
Clearly, the film is remembered with great affection by those who grew up with it, and the sheer weight of that affection led Greg to start pondering a sequel to the movie. And so he began writing the screenplay for SLIME CITY MASSACRE, a script that reads as if it was written by a director who has learned a lot in the two decades or so since the first film, but hasn’t forgotten why it endured.
By the time he emailed me, Greg had already cast some of the roles and started financing the movie. He asked if I’d be interested in playing one of the lead roles, that of Corey, an army deserter making his way through the post-apocolyptic ruins of Manhattan with his girlfriend (Jennifer Bihl) in tow. Together they seek refuge in an abandoned train station, where they unite with another couple (played by Lee Perkins and Debbie Rochon) and encounter paramilitaries, cannibals, and a (familiar-to-fans of the original) soup kitchen stocked with elixirs and yoghurts that contain the spirits of the dead cult members from the first film (played by, among others, Robert Sabin, Sephera Giron and scream queen Brooke Lewis). It’s a wild script, filled with comedy and action and over-the-top gore, but of course, to say much more than that–yet–would be to spoil it.
After reading the screenplay, I promptly wrote back to Greg and told him there was no way I could not do the film. It sounded like way too much fun to pass up. As enthusiastic as I was, however, I admit to not being totally convinced that the film would ever materialize, as I’m intimately aware from a screenwriter’s perspective, just how unstable things are in the movie world.
But now, four months later, a lot has happened, and the one thing I can tell with great certainty, is that barring natural disaster, the film will shoot in July, that’s little more than six weeks from now. I have been to Buffalo and visited the location, met the director, the crew, and some of the actors, signed contracts, participated in a cast reading and have gotten to glimpse the machinations of movie-making first hand. I have hashed out scenes with my costars and talked on the phone with those I have yet to meet. So, the movie is happening, and I’m more than a little excited to be a part of it.
From here on, with exceptions when necessary, I will be using this journal to chronicle the highs, the lows, and the wtf’s? of my involvement in the SLIME CITY MASSACRE.
Next up: A Weekend In Buffalo, NY – Meetings, Monoliths, and Monsters
Cemetery Dance Announces SMOKE & MIRRORS
April 9, 2009 at 1:21 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Brian Keene, Cemetery Dance Publications, Frank Darabont, Joe Hill, Joe R. Lansdale, Mick Garris, Mike Oliveri, Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, Ray Garton, Stewart O' Nan, William F. Nolan, William Peter Blatty
Cemetery Dance Publications is proud to announce Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, comic scripts, and treatments by thirteen masters of horror and fantasy. This deluxe oversized book reproduces the scripts exactly as they were written in the author’s own formatting.
Just a few of the highlights include a never before seen comic script from Joe Hill; two rare teleplays from Frank Darabont; an original, never filmed full-length screenplay by Mick Garris; a rare teleplay and treatment by William Peter Blatty; Neil Gaiman’s original take on an H.G. Wells’ short story; Joe R. Lansdale’s stage adaptation of one of his legendary short stories; and much, much more!
This Cemetery Dance Publications special edition is a World’s First and there are no other editions planned at this time, so place your order today if you don’t want to miss out!
About the Book:
Tales of horror and the fantastic have been told in many ways over the centuries — around the campfire, in books and movies, and even on television — but no form is quite so visceral and direct as the script.
Whether it’s a stage play, a feature film screenplay, or the script for a classic horror comic, these fourteen acclaimed authors aren’t just putting black text on a white page. The writing may seem clean and simple at first, but the authors are actually creating worlds; they’re luring you into their creations and before you know it, there’s no way out. You’re part of the story and you have to keep turning the pages until you reach “The End” or “Fade Out.” The big question is: will you survive to see the final curtain call?
Come now, take your seat, and let the show begin. You have nothing to fear but your own imagination.
Featuring:
Neil Gaiman
William Peter Blatty
Stewart O’Nan
Frank Darabont
William F. Nolan
Joe Hill
Brian Keene & Michael Oliveri
Poppy Z. Brite
Kealan Patrick Burke
Mick Garris
Ray Garton
Joe R. Lansdale
The Nominated 121 To Pennsylvania
March 23, 2009 at 9:34 pm (Uncategorized)
Today’s news of note is that THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSLYVANIA & OTHERS, my collection from Cemetery Dance Publications has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, and it’s in fine company indeed.
From the HWA website blog:
Each year, the Horror Writer’s Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work, Dracula. The Stoker Awards were instituted immediately after the organization’s incorporation in 1987.
To ameliorate the competitive nature of awards, the Stokers are given “for superior achievement,” not for “best of the year,” and the rules are deliberately designed to make ties fairly probable. The first awards were presented in 1988 (for works published in 1987), and they have been presented every year since. The award itself is an eight-inch replica of a fanciful haunted house, designed specifically for HWA by sculptor Steven Kirk. The door of the house opens to reveal a brass plaque engraved with the name of the winning work and its author.
The Stoker Awards, like the Oscars, are non-juried awards. Any work of Horror first published in the English language may be considered for a Stoker during the year of its publication. The HWA membership at large recommends worthy works for consideration. A preliminary ballot is compiled using a formula based on recommendations. Two rounds of voting by our Active members determine first the finalists, and then the winners. The winners are announced and the awards presented at a gala banquet held in conjunction with HWA’s annual conference, usually in June.
This year’s finalists for the Bram Stoker Awards are:
Superior Achievement in a Novel
COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)
THE REACH by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)
DUMA KEY by Stephen King (Scribner)
JOHNNY GRUESOME by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press)
Superior Achievement in a First Novel
MIDNIGHT ON MOURN STREET by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
MONSTER BEHIND THE WHEEL by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard (St. Martin’s Press)
FROZEN BLOOD by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
MIRANDA by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
REDEMPTION ROADSHOW by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)
THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
PETRIFIED by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
THE LOST by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
THE DUDE WHO COLLECTED LOVECRAFT by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN A CASE OF ABANDONMENT by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
TURTLE by Lee Thomas (Doorways)
Superior Achievement in an Anthology
LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
HORROR LIBRARY, VOL. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
BENEATH THE SURFACE edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
UNSPEAKABLE HORROR edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)
Superior Achievement in a Collection
THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
MAMA’S BOY and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
JUST AFTER SUNSET by Stephen King (Scribner)
MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by John Langan (Prime Books)
GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books)
Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
CHEAP SCARES by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
ZOMBIE CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)
A HALLOWE’EN ANTHOLOGY by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins)
Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
THE NIGHTMARE COLLECTION by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
THE PHANTOM WORLD by Gary William Crawford (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
VIRGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE by Corrine De Winter (Sam’s Dot Publishing)
ATTACK OF THE TWO-HEADED POETRY MONSTER by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)
Kealan to Star in SLIME CITY MASSACRE
March 19, 2009 at 3:17 pm (Uncategorized)
Never one to turn down the opportunity to have fun and do something different, I can officially announce that I will be playing one of the male leads–Cory–in Greg Lamberson’s SLIME CITY MASSACRE, the long-awaited sequel to his cult classic SLIME CITY, an over-the-top, hilarious gorefest, which start shooting in July. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, below you can read the press release and see the delightfully gruesome cover art for the film…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAMBERSON MASSACRES SLIME CITY IN JULY
CONTACT: Greg Lamberson, The Slime City Massacre Company – glamberson@verizon.net
Cameras will roll on SLIME CITY MASSACRE, writer-director Gregory Lamberson’s sequel to his 1988 splatter film SLIME CITY, in Buffalo, New York, this July. The film is being produced by Marc Makowski, who co-produced the original.
SLIME CITY MASSACRE serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the original cult film. Flashbacks set in 1959 show how cult leader Zachary Devon formed his Coven of Flesh, and why its members committed ritual suicide, setting the stage for the events depicted in SLIME CITY. In the new film’s main narrative, set in a post holocaust New York City, four survivors discover Zachary’s elixir and “Himalayan yogurt” in the ruins of his soup kitchen and become possessed by the spirits of the dead cult members. The story focuses on a battle between three factions: the“Slime Heads,” cannibals and mercenaries.
Popular actress and FANGORIA Radio hostess Debbie Rochon, award-winning horror author Kealan Patrick Burke, and newcomer Jennifer Bihl (who appeared in Lamberson’s short film GRUESOME) join SLIME CITY stars Robert C. Sabin and Mary Bogle for this new chapter in the slime saga. Other parts will be played by scream queen Brooke Lewis, erotic/horror author and tarot card reader Sephera Giron, and Tommy Sweeney, who starred in Lamberson’s UNDYING LOVE and co-starred in NAKED FEAR.
“It’s a much more ambitious project than any of my previous films,” says Lamberson, who anticipates completing the film for a 2010 release. “It’s full of action and really outrageous, over the top gore sequences, as you would expect from any film aimed at fans of 1980s horror flicks.”
The film will utilize old school latex special make-up effects and cutting edge digital work. Special make-up effects will be handled by Craig Lindberg in New York City and Zombified Studios in Buffalo, with R.J. Sevin, one of the founders of Creeping Hemlock Press, creating the digital effects.
Last year, Medallion Press and Bad Moon Books published Lamberson’s novel Johnny Gruesome and McFarland published his nonfiction book CHEAP SCARES! Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets. This October, Medallion Press is reprinting his first novel, Personal Demons, as a mass market paperback.
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Greg Lamberson’s website: www.slimeguy.com
Watch PEEKERS Online!
February 6, 2009 at 2:18 pm (Uncategorized)
Director Mark Steensland has just posted a link to the eight-minute short movie PEEKERS, written for the screen by Rick Hautala, based on my short story of the same name.
You can watch the movie here!
