Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em!

A nitwit down here in Orlando decided he wanted fast food/Wendy's. He pulls in the drive thru, then falls asleep/passes out. They call the cops on him. When the police arrive, this guy wakes up and orders 5 cheese burgers. Much to his chagrin, they decided instead to give a him a field sobriety test. He failed that, then they searched his car and found cocaine and weed on his front seat.

Moral of the story? If you're that drunk, and you decide to drive, don't you have to do a few lines to keep you awake? Come on!

Camera Get

The Panasonic appeared at my door on Thursday, and to be honest, I have no idea what I'm dealing with. I'm kind of timid with it, with all the customization that can be done. So I'm writing a short that I can film over a weekend. It's a nightmare I had for about a week straight a few months ago. A women is sitting on a grave stone in a cemetery, and I'm in the distance staring at her. She starts screaming at me with the most anguished face I've ever seen. But I can't hear her. Everything is silent. Then it's like everything is moving too slow. I start seeing everything in grey tones. I feel a presence behind me, but I'm too afraid to turn around.

I am suddenly in a bathtub. Someone opens the door to the bathroom and walks in, and it's me. I reach out, and there's blood running down my arm. The other me backs away horrified, I get a glimpse of me dead in the tub, or someone I think is me, almost like a camera flash. Then I wake up.

So, that is how I plan on testing out the camera.

A Side Gig

I am now contributing to Horror Brain which is a semi new site devoted to horror films, and is a part of IGN, a rather huge gaming/everything under the sun site.

On Thursday, my first review will be up, which is for Seven Deaths In The Cat's Eye. On Friday, the 13th, I will be giving my blow by blow account of Hostel (with NO spoilers...I hate when reviewers give spoilers, whether they warn you or not). I may also throw in a review of Bay Of Blood, since the original Friday the 13th stole all 13 deaths from this underrated classic from Mario Bava. Give those youngsters a history lesson on good 'ol Friday the 13TH..

I've Been Tagged!

Fun Joel did it. He reached out to the scribosphere and they responded. Dave over at Man Bytes Hollywood tagged William of This Savage Art, who in turn called me out. Here are my quick answers which I'm sure will change once I submit them:

ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:
Sneaking out of my bedroom when I was 5 to catch a glimpse of Magic, a horror film starring Anthony Hopkins and one scary knife toting ventriloquist dummy. My parents, along with my Aunt and Uncle were watching it on HBO, and I watched it right with them, without their knowledge, hiding my eyes now and again.

TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:

"Here's to five miserable months on the wagon, and all the irreparable harm it has caused me." The Shining

"I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need, is a lobotomy and some tights." The Breakfast Club

THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:
1. Prog metal maestro
2. Football coach
3. Bounty Hunter

FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:
1. Construction worker/Carpenter
2. EA Sports Game Tester
3. Pizza Hut Delivery driver
4. Linen's N Things Backroom/Shipper

THREE (3) book authors I like:
1. Bret Easton Ellis
2. Anne Rice
3. Stephen King

TWO (2) movies youÂ’d like to remake or properties youÂ’d like to adapt:

1. I'd like to adapt the Poe Biography, Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance by Kenneth Silverman.

2. I'd like to adapt Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice.

ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:

I think John Hughes is underrated. If you look at his writing credits in the 80's, and the fact that he wrote Ferris in 6 days and Breakfast 24 hours, it's obvious he was a very skilled screenwriter. Too many people lump him in with the horrible eighties, but he was so much more than the others. There's a reason his films hold up today, and I think it's because of his understanding of character interaction, and universal themes that will never die.

Dutch (1991)
Career Opportunities (1991)
Home Alone (1990)
Christmas Vacation (1989)
Uncle Buck (1989)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Weird Science (1985)
European Vacation (1985) (also story)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Nate and Hayes (1983)
Vacation (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Class Reunion (1982)



THREE (3) people I'm tagging to answer this meme next:
MovieQuill, Could You Describe The Ruckus?, The Wildwoods!

Horror Too Much For White Collar Corpses

Listen to these nice comments about Hostel:

In a shocker that rivaled anything in the movie itself, Lionsgate's horror movie Hostel debuted at the top of the box office with an estimated $20.1 million over the weekend. It pushed the previous No. 1 film, Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, which brought in about $15.4 million, into second place. Universal's King Kong dropped to third with about $12.5 million. The strong showing of Hostel, which played in only 2,195 theaters, left analysts aghast. "Hostel tops Narnia and we're all going to hell," headlined cinematical.com. The Associated Press described the box office results as "sheer torture." The British website monstersandcritics.com grudgingly remarked, "Not a bad bit of instant profit for a cheaply made splatter flick."

Horror gets no respect despite it's the easiest way to make a profit, and has been forever. Keep sending out your crappy Adam Sandler pics, your remakes and your Rom/Coms. You can spend under 1 million(Cabin Fever) and make a big chunk of change with a horror film. Get over it !

Blood And Guts-For A Fee

I wrote a certain special FX/Makeup company about my film, and sent them the script. Here's the response email, with some funny FX shots described. The **** represents my editing, as I didn't want to give certain shots away.


Jason,
Thanks for sending me the script for "Generator". As a horror fan, I really enjoyed the plot, and was very intrigued by the effects involved in the film. I broke the script down into most of the effects I would need to fabricate. There are a lot of prop pieces that can be casted off of the actors, and others that can be bought easily and dressed. Below is a list of the effects I saw in the script.

Prosthetic Neck
Tubing
Fake Sledgehammer
Fake Wrist and Hand
Bruised girl
Platter of meat?
Statue's arms
Fake Head for **** Drilled ***
Body Parts
Mary Hexan - Swollen Eye Piece
Scalp props
Miscellaneous Guts
Fake Torso - Circular Saw
Fake Arm
Metal Poker Prop
Rotted Face In Plastic Bag
Vomit
**** Wound in Thigh
Fingers and Eyeballs Props
Scalp of Mary Hexan - Wig
Fake ******** Leg - Sawzall
Severed Foot In ****
Screwdriver to ***
Pickaxe to head - Fake Head
Hatchet dismemberment ** ******** **** **********
Dagger to ****** back
Pickaxe through ****** *** **********

If there are any that are being handled by art department or wardrobe, please let me know. I can provide all of the effects listed below by March for the pre-production cost of **** ******** dollars. My day rate on set is **** ******* dollars per 12 hours of shooting, and this includes on set supplies. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. This sounds like an awesome script, and would love to be a part of it.


Thanks again for the opportunity.

********