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Independent Horror Film Makers
Definitely Not the Opera, CBC Radio, October 30, 2002
Brian Clement strolls down the streets of Victoria. He passes the ivy covered Empress hotel and the copper rooves of the Legislature Building. He stops in front of the site of the old police station, which is currently being demolished. It’s one of the locations he used in his film Meat Market.
“It was four or five floors of mass destruction. There was rubble everywhere. It was totally beautiful for our post apocalyptic zombie epic…”
Clement is a 25 year old writer and director. He gets great pleasure out of subverting the quaint image of his home town. When people think of Victoria, he doesn’t want them to think of a happy tourist town. He wants them to see a horrible mass of zombies, psychokillers and cannibals destroying civilization. Here’s a scene the follow up to Meat Market, Meat Market Two.
Sfx: shoot, bang, scream
In takes place in a cult compound run by a deranged ex motivational speaker. The cult is invaded by zombie hordes. It’s total chaos, and people are getting ripped apart everywhere. Horror movies require a little more effort than your average low budget art film.
“I just get a lot of people who are into it, who enjoy it. We get a lot of fake blood, it’s not hard to make, and the people involved all enjoy horror movies.”
“We have to choreograph all the large scenes. There’s one long tracking shot in first Meat Market of the city in chaos, people screaming, things burning, zombies eating people, 30 seconds of total destruction. I had to coordinate all of that.”
Clement used to think horror flicks were childish. But a friend converted him to the genre. He says horror films allow him to make his point more strongly than in other genres. His movies are social commentaries on themes like eating disorders and overconsumption. But his films aren’t completely serious.
“They’re sort of satires of themselves of the genre, at the same time I love these films. Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead. At the same time, I can poke a little fun at them and say, a lot of movies out there are exploitative trash and aren’t doing anything intelligent.”
The underground horror scene is oddly popular. You don’t see fans of underground comedy or drama or action pictures, but homemade horror films always have a following. Fans see the films at special screenings or at specialty video stores. And like most cult hobbies, it flourishes on the internet.
“I think because a lot people like cheaper movies that push the limits, as opposed to mainstream cinema, which is more watered down and easier to take. With horror movies, people want something more extreme, that goes to the limit. Independent films aren’t restricted by the NPAA or rating systems or audience demand. People who make them just do whatever they want and they’ll go crazy. Which I think a lot of the audience is looking for.”
Clement’s films makes his films on shoestring budgets of around $2000. He’s starting to make a name for himself in the underground horror scene. He’s had reviews in the US horror mag Fangoria. A distributor in New York state, Sub Rosa, is distributing Meat Market on DVD. Clement is also behind Victoria Zombiefest, a marathon of low budget horror flicks taking place this weekend.
One of the other directors showing at Zombiefest is Becky Julseth. She met Clement when she appeared as a zombie in Meat Market 2. Becky is a smiling blonde 23 year old who lives a few blocks from Clement. Her film, Parts Man, is about a guy who works in the parts department of an autoshop who tries to build a zombie to take his place at work. It’s loosely based on Julseth’s father’s car dealership. She says she likes the freedom of creating horror films.
“It’s really imaginative and because it’s so removed from every day life, you can get pretty creative and everything goes. That’s what I liked about Parts Man….It’s already a fantasy. There aren’t any limits to having to make it realistic. It’s kind of a benefit doing independent film. If you wanted to make a dead on serious film you need a lot of money to make it believable.”
Julseth isn’t the only zombie in Meat Market 2 who now makes horror films. Adam Bagatto’s film, the Rotten Truth, will also be shown at Zombiefest. It’s about a reporter who goes to investigate the zombie epidemic which has overtaken Britain.
Movie clip:
“Hello, I’m Roger Whittingham the Third from the Times reporting live from High Gate Park amidst the panic that’s struck the country. There’s no camera crew here tonight for they all fear for their lives, duped by Hollywood’s version of zombie, as dangerous cut creatures. This is not the case, they’re nothing to be feared...They are nothing but grotesque dimwitted worthless sons of bitches incapable of getting the upper hand. I say down with the dead and up with the living. Oh now now oh no!! ahh ahh!”
Hmmm. I have an appointment to interview Adam Bagatto tomorrow. I hope nothing strange happens…
Sarah: I’m going to meet Adam tomorrow. Should I be scared?
Becky Julseth: You shouldn’t be scared.
Sarah : Will a bunch of zombie’s come out and molest me?
Becky: No! Adam’s great. You’ll be safe. I guarantee it.
The next day, I headed to the Vancouver Film School to meet up with Bagatto. He has jet black hair and looked normal enough. He took me to a room with only a long table one tiny glass window. He says the underground horror film scene attracts all types.
“There are a lot of strange people involved in it. Everything. Any cult kind of thing there’s a stickling of groups of people heavily into horror, the satanic aspects of it, the violent aspects, and people who just love the actual filmmaking and collecting of videos and memorabilia. Then there’s the freaks--the absolutely bizarre, the strangest people you’ll ever meet.”
Bagatto wants to make people squirm in their seats when they watch his movies.
“When you can capture a mindset or a way, take the audience into a realm where they’re not comfortable experiencing something they’re not used to, for me that’s the most powerful way of filmmaking, that’s what all the great influential horror filmmakers do.”
For Bagatto, horror films allow us to get in touch with the darker side of human nature. They give us the opportunity to delve into the shadowy emotions and fears we normally are too frightened to explore.
Bagatto goes to get a tape of his latest film, which is about a Catholic priest who turns into a zombie. I hear a strange scraping noise outside the door. I turn around and —AHHHHH!!! AHHHH!!!AHHH!
For Definitely Not The Opera, I’m Sarah Efron.