Macabre...ish Cults, Classics & Horrors

Since Gene Dolders was here last, he’s been expanding the promotion of his last feature his 70s/80s inspired Giallo, The Blade Cuts Deeper and working on documentaries, with director Brandon Spivey. Three documentaries in fact: one about a photographer (John Baliton) who documents people on the fringes of society, one about a prog rock band, Gong’s member (Didier Malherbe) and finally a documentary about devastating teen Ketamine abuse in Liverpool.

But wait, there’s more, he is also a producer on a stop motion sci fi fantasy horror film, 10 years in the making...

Y’all know Hannah Fierman, she played a succubus named Lily in V/H/S (Amateur Night) and SiRen. And she has been acting since she was a child, her first role was a comedy called Krooks but after that, it has been mostly horror films.

But her directorial debut was a music video for The Lucid. Hannah met David Ellefson, from Megadeth, at a convention and he has another band called The Lucid. They asked Hannah to direct their music video for their song, Hair on The Lucid’s debut album.

While she has been...

Steve Merlo, director of fan film The Sawyer Massacre, prequel to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, returns with another homage to iconic horror films from the past, this time with his full feature Unseen.

Steve talks about his film inspirations and what it took to make Unseen. He enjoys storytelling and the twists that come with psychological horror filmmaking. The differences in directing Unseen vs The Sawyer Massacre and which was harder to make,

If you like 70s and 80s horror movies keep an eye out for Unseen, directed by Steve Merlot.

Lowell Dean started making movies as a kid and so getting an education in film was a natural progression, he went into the film program at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan after returning from Calgary. He was so serious about filmmaking, he’d make three feature films before he went to film school. And the first film he was proud to actually let anyone watch was a zombie film called Doomed. It was the first film that wasn’t just done with friends with no money, he funded it and it had a screening.

Lowe...

Joe Miale wanted to make movies since he was a kid and since it was important for him to learn and understand the process of filmmaking, he went to film school in NYU. He worked for 15 years in editing and making celebrity PSAs (You may remember them!) featuring Rhianna, The Jonas Brothers, Martin Sheen, just to name a few. Then he got a break when a production company was interested in one of his sci fi action concepts, and that was how Revolt came to be. And Joe had some of the best minds in the business to help...

Gene Dolders’ love of cinema began as a bonding activity with his Mom (though he ran out of the theater a couple of times!) and during the era of the video nasties, his brother acquired a copy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that, to this day, is one of his favorite films, including Nightmare City by Umberto Lenzi. He started writing scripts very young and by 15, he had the format down. Originally Gene wanted to be a special effects artist but amended that because he couldn’t draw or model clay, so he pivoted to camera work.

Director Jason Horton has a life long love of film and he and his Mom bonded over them. Instead of sports, he was into cinema. He’s from Indiana and he had a rough start, he did substances, joined a band and dropped out of school. But Jason eventually regrouped, got his GED and after getting an offshore job at 24, with his brother, he saved up enough for college. Jason went to the University of New Orleans, he wanted to be a lawyer but changed his mind after checking out the film scene and seeing the opportunity, he joined th...

Part 2

After Dead Season, Adam and Enzo, started making cartoons (Oishi High School Battle) and it was one of the biggest shows on youtube, at the time, with billions of views. And it ran for 3 seasons for Smosh. Then they got the band back together for Yeti 2! When it was time to start work on Decade of the Dead, it was rough and expensive from the beginning with a quarter of the budget going to cøvid protocols. Adam co-directed Decade of the Dead with Fairai Branscombe Richmond, in the jungle, in 100 degree heat, wearing essentially, hazmat s...

It's Halloween season and we have a great episode for you with a delightful human being, Adam Deyoe, if you've seen Dead Season, they you already know his work. And he made a sequel just for you, Decade of the Dead, it's on tubi, check it out. He'll really appreciate that!

Filmmaker, Adam Deyoe’s love for horror and film started in childhood with a game called Monkey Island and as a movie rental store clerk called Video Revolution in Concord, Massachusetts. All of his old video store buddies either moved to New York or out to LA...

Andrew K. Clark is the author of Where Dark Things Grow and Where Dark Things Rise and we had a nice long chat about Appalachian horror in books and film. We talked culture, lore and the rich culture as is shows up in art. Where it's lacking and where it is done well.

Andrew also explains how the culture includes Native American lore and faith and how all of that exists in his stories and in the tone and point of view of the part of Appalachia that he grew up in and relating...

Melissa Vitello has always loved writing and storytelling, starting at age 9, she was writing books and at 12 or 13 when her aunt, who worked in the film industry, starting letting her read scripts, she learned to write her own. Her first screenplay was written at 13 years old. 

Melissa moves to LA at around 19 years old and went to school and started a club called Dark Heart Pictures, which ended up being her first company. That’s where she began making short films with her friends and there she found a love of pro...

Allison Pittel joins us and shares her journey from college, her decision to work in entertainment and moving to New York. She spent 2 years there as a Production Assistant and working in reality tv. Allison explains how she auditioned for Fuzz on the Lens (The producers of Terrifier) with David Howard Thornton and even though that project didn’t come to fruition, it was a really good experience and she kept in touch. 

A year and a half later, with Fuzz on the Lens, she was cast in their feature, Stream. Later on...

Patrick Rea has been making movies his entire life, in high school, he was given free rein to put his movies on the school’s cable tv channel. And his introduction to the filmmaking business was on the set of Election, at 17 years old. He went to college and one of his mentors was his professor, academy award winner, Kevin Wilmott (you’ll know him as one of the writer’s of 2018 Blackkklansman).

Instead of leaving for LA after graduating from KU, Patrick, instead worked at a tv station making short films. He still lives...

Steven La Morte started making stop motion videos as an only child in New York, then moved his little productions to the school tv station in high school, where he found his love of storytelling and there he met the producer of Terrifier. 

After high school he went to NYU Tisch and also spent time lying about his age so he could direct music videos for labels. It wasn’t long before he moved to LA and as of today, he’s been there for 12 years.

nd ma...

This is the 3rd and final part of Kellen & Sheff's episode...

Kellen Garner’s journey into the film industry. Starting from when he was a kid and not really getting that it was a job. He realized being in drama and theater, it was a good outlet him and he was in theater in high school and in college and in community theater. Some theater friends got him into a noir indie film. 

In that film, he discovered he needed more than just acting, in film, he wanted more aut...

Part 2 

Sheff and Kellen tell us how the production for Blood in Them Hills came together. Making the monster FX work and worrying it wouldn’t. Talking about the random adjustments that were made to make it all look authentic. 

Sheff talks inspirations for certain scenes and Kellen explains how the landscape and weather is what makes the movie work. Making hard decisions including cutting a really good scene with Joe (Kellen Garner) but it didn’t necessarily serve the movie in that moment.

W...

Christopher Sheffield is back and this time with co-director and writer, Kellen Garner and they’re here to talk about their new film, Blood in them Hills. This is part 1 and they talk about how they work together, the idea for Blood in them Hills and the often grueling task of getting the film made.

From the first day, it was tough, from grinding through terrible winter weather, to an absent lead and a death of a cast member. It took years to complete this project for so many reasons, but these guys are pr...

Elliott Lester got his start making music videos for everyone from Jessica Simpson and Selena Gomez to Alicia Keys and Method Man. He got his start as a filmmaker with funding from an unusual source. But then the big break came when he was offered a movie called Blitz, starring Jason Statham and Paddy Considine, it's about a serial k!ller who hunts cops.Later, after his divorce, Elliott was offered a script for the movie, Nightingale, starring David Oyelowo and he could not get the funding, everyone turned him down. But he did have another interesting source to...

Paul Andrew Williams got his start in acting having landed a place in a prestigious drama school in London at age 18. But he became disenchanted, was side tracked and returned home to start over. But he returned to London to make a short film and music videos, little by little each small project brought in more money until one of his indie shorts got the attention of Fox Searchlight Director’s Lab where he created, It’s Ok To Drink Whiskey and it premiered in the Sundance Film Festival. 

After a stint...

[Before the show starts Chris, Carlos and I have have such interesting conversations and on this day before Dave shows up we were talking about Terrifier, Damien Leone and the impact of physical FX artists who become filmmakers. And Carlos talks about his personal experience with physical fx in his zombie film, Duck & Cover.]

Dave McRae arrives and we discovered that he and Chris knew each other in another life! He shares his stories of going to film school and decided he wanted to be an actor and moved closer to...

This is part 2 of John Isberg’s interview. He goes more in depth about his story and possible future project ideas.

He started as an intern grip in 2014, five years later he’s working on friends music videos and five years from then he made his first feature, Final Summer. He talks about the money being in commercial work but the passion projects are a different matter.

John and Carlos talk about learning as they go because neither went to film school. He talks workshopping with other videographers on an m...

John Isberg director of Final Summer, took time out of his busy schedule, while the set was being prepped, to talk to us. He started making short films in high school and wanted to go to film school but only managed Intro to Film before he dropped out because of the expense and his ADHD. In his 20s he was in bands and during the process of making music videos he became very interested in the cinematography and lighting aspect of it. During the second music video while he was helping the director, it ignited a renewed interested in film...

Diane Foster is the director of Easter Bloody Easter and founder of Wallybird Productions. But before she became a filmmaker, she was an actor, singer and dancer. She trained her entire life in New Jersey, where she grew up in Union in a large family. She started performing at 8 and was Little Miss Union and she did lots of regional theatre. Diane later went to the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey every Summer throughout high school. Diane went to conservatory for years with Anne Hathaway and after winning an award, she realized, acting, could be a career. She...

Christopher Sheffield is a filmmaker who’s been in the film industry for 13 or so years, a decade in LA and three in Arizona. As soon as he graduated film school, he hit the ground running as making commercials for a trucking company. But the dream began when he was a kid and received two video recorders, one that could record and one that could actually play the tape. He made shorts with his friends until he realized film school was an option. Christopher or Sheff, saved a lot of his money from making commercials and used that to make hi...

Anthony Moran is an independent horror filmmaker out of Detroit. His specific style mixes the counter culture of bikers, with diversity and in the case of his second film, Let Us In, zombies! With Detroit as the back drop. His actors and crew all hail from Detroit and is truly made by the people for the people. He talks about his inspiration for his zombies and why biker culture? The man responsible for those great zombie FX is James Bell, also a resident of Detroit. Anthony also explains who his films are for because are not for everyone. In 2024 he...

Our Carlos Ibarra catches us up on his progress of his current project, a zombie comedy horror, Duck & Cover. Some of the struggle, timing and filming in 3 days. But it’s just the beginning, editing is next, coloring, sound mixing etc. A band will even being making music for the short and Carlos will be making a music video for them. The hope was to get it done by Halloween but it’ll get done when it’s done. We also talk about short films and the purpose of them and the opportunity they could create. Challenges and pitfalls that are ju...

You’ve probably seen this man in the background of movies, tv shows and in a certain Blockbuster commercial, you’re whole life and not realized it. Bill was recently in a horror parody sequel called They Came Back From Somewhere, he was also in Puppet Master: Doktor Death and so much more. Bill tells his story that is one of a blue collar actor, one that also started in Improv in Chicago back in the 80s. He was a bit of a contrarian earlier on but did find some commercial success in the 90s. You might recognize him from a ‘P...

Jill ‘Sixx’ Gevargizian is the director of The Stylist that first showed up as a short, in the 2018 anthology, Watch If You Dare. It was co-written by Eric Havens, who is also co-writer on Call Girl, Jill’s debut film and this year is the 10 year anniversary! Jill talks her secret to success and why she surrounds herself with people who are good at what they do and who are better at it than she is. It’s been her version of film school. She points to her having a good network to source from when thinking about a project and that...

Robbie Lopez grew up poor and idolized Tom Savini, he always knew he wanted to be an artist. When he was 13 and was accepted into the Tom Savini School of Special FX with a scholarship he was elated but soon, crushed when he realized his family still couldn’t afford the $40,0000. Robbie gave up on that pathway to becoming an artist. But he drew constantly and was supported by his art teacher who kept his art, that he’d thrown away over the years. She even helped him print out his comic strips and had them put in ‘zines that were d...

Justin’s dad would sneak horror movies home for him to watch on his sick days and it sparked the dream. He started making movies at home, remaking horror film scenes complete with physical effects. He talks about meeting his former writing partner, Kevin Hutchison, who was an FX artist, they met as roommates and began collaborating on projects. But after 10 years, how was gone. Now, Justin has a new writing partner, Serena Whitney. And though he’s made horror and thrillers, he has made three documentaries (and a fourth in production), Working Class Rockstar, Skullworld and Clapboard Jungle which are...

Duck And Cover by Filmmaker Carlos Ibarra Our own Carlos Ibarra is making his 3rd project after the soon to be released anthology, Pendulum, directed by Mitch Wilson. He is half of the dynamic duo of Fill in the blanks productions with Christina Parker. Who’s also introduced in this episode. Carlos talks a little about how he got to this point and what’s next. This project is a zombedy from the point of view of the zombie. He has a fundraiser live at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/duck-and-cover-post-production-and-distribution#/ Let’s support indie horror and support the films we wan...

This is our first podcast on a train! Scott Goldberg is a writer and the director of The Forest Hills! This feature is not released yet but will be shown at the Salem Horror Fest on April 30, 2023. It’s a werewolf film with an impressive line up of horror alum, including, Edward Furlong, Shelley Duvall, Dee Wallace, Felissa Rose and Debbie Rochon. With Chiko Mendez in the leading roll. Scott talks about how he was able to get Shelley Duvall in the film who was originally supposed to just be a cameo but he got lucky and she’s in a fe...

This is part 2 with Dave Made A Maze filmmaker, William Watterson He explains the ending of Dave Made A Maze and what he would change and why. How the ending credits was an homage to the end credits of Buckaroo Bonzai and it was animated and why. His belief that our society is not encouraged to be creative and that people are far more creative than we think. And that people, especially horror fans, do not get nearly enough credit for their creative intelligence. And a lot of his work is about being creative as an adult and coming to...

William had the idea that he’d go into advertising because he could be artistic and make a living. But after a conversation with his best friend’s dad, he decided to be in a band and pursue music. He was in a few bands and life took a different trajectory when he moved to L.A to start over. Because L.A. is where people get paid to be creative. He talks about fighting through decades of disappointments and his insecurities in the entertainment industry. Three bands later, with the help of a friend, he lands a production assistant job...

Filmmakers, Don Thacker & Adrian Di Giovanni, Motivational Growth | Part 2 Part 2 Motivational Growth Director, Don Thacker and Lead, Adrian Di Giovanni, plus an amazing pep talk for aspiring filmmakers out there. Don Thacker grew up, not rich, in Detroit and escaped into films because for him, movies are places you go and experience. Adrian Di Giovanni never thought about why he liked movies, he just did and always has. The theater, for them, is like church. Adrian talks about giving up acting for a career in insurance. The one last part, he had no expectation because he already made up his...

Carlos and I talked to Don Thacker and Adrian Di Giovanni from Motivation Growth. They became such good friends from working together on that film that they are now business partners at Imagos Films. Mr. Di Giovanni is from Philadelphia and was originally in theatre and comedy improv in Chicago and just before he was about to give up the entertainment business for a career in insurance, he took one last audition and read for Ian in the independent horror, Motivational Growth. We talk about what the inspiration was for them going into film. For Don it was tv as...

This is Part 2, Behind the scenes of Erzulie with filmmaker Christine Chen. Christine talks about the making of the film, the pitfalls and struggles, the changes that had to be made and what the cast had to suffer because of the weather/flooding. Erzulie was filmed in a swamp and there was constant flooding, freezing water and cold nights. Christine worker on three other features on the same property. The script was written with this location in mind which had it’s pros and cons. Almost all leads on the crew were women and this is the first black mermaid fi...

Christine Chen has always been in film in some capacity since college. She got her start in documentary filmmaking. Also making a lot of shorts, including A Bird’s Nest. She went to grad school at UT and started hustling in the Austin film scene. She then started making films and submitting them to a Louisiana film festival called Film Prize. All shorts have to be made in Louisiana and the big prize is $50,000. So from Austin, Christine moved to Shreveport for a year to work and submit to the festival. While there, she built her team and network. Christine ta...

Part 2: Bordello of Blood came to be. Another movie was supposed to be made in it’s place but the machinations of Hollywood turned and suddenly everything changed. They had a script called Fat Tuesday, a psychological thriller which was changed to Dead Easy. Gil had no interest in directing Demon Knight, so Ernest Dickerson was brought in. And Gil planned to direct Dead Easy afterward, set in Louisiana and got the green light from Universal and while scouting locations for weeks, the plug was pulled and it was decided that Bordello of Blood would be done in it’s plac...

A L Katz’s love of film began as a child in Baltimore with Laurel & Hardy and Groucho Marx. He went to college in Vassar and really learned story telling there. After one audition, he decided he didn’t want to act but write. After a high school friend moved to L.A. to be an agent and Mr. Katz was trying to put together a play in New York, she convinced him to write a screenplay and go to L.A., which of course he thought was ridiculous but he was convinced, won over by the people and the weat...