The Rotting Zombie Interviews Alan Maxson

I recently was able to interview Alan Maxson, an actor whose notable roles include performance capture for King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the zombie in the opening sequence for History of Horror. He is also the director and writer of new indie sci-fi horror Alien Planet. I don't typically like sci-fi too much, but this one I found to be quite enjoyable, thanks in no small part to some great monster/alien design, and some likeable characters.

Welcome to The Rotting Zombie, and thank you for agreeing to an interview. What were your inspirations for Alien Planet, and how long have you had the idea for the film?

Alien Planet is my love letter to sci-fi. It holds all the elements of my favourite films and is meant to feel like it fits right in with movies like Enemy Mine, Alien Nation, Planet of the Apes, V the mini-series and many more from that era. I've had the idea for Alien Planet for about 5 or so years now, but I didn't officially write the script until 2020 when the pandemic sent everyone home from work.

While a sci-fi film, this also includes plenty of moments of horror, as well as far more gore than expected. How important was it for a reliance on practical special effects rather than computer generated ones, and was this intended from the start, or something that happened naturally? What was your particular favourite special effect used?

Practical effects were always intended. This was an extremely important part of the pre-production process. From designing the characters looks to scheduling and planning how much time we needed to build everything before the shoot. I think we spent 4-6 months in pre-production just simply sculpting, painting and building all the practical effects and makeup.
You mentioned it had more gore than you expected, we used about 11 gallons of fake blood as a fun piece of trivia. 

There was a good cast here, especially with the two main characters, though I found the puppet Giree to be the most enjoyable character. Was it hard to cast the right actors for the job, and was it a difficult task to give Giree so much visible on-screen personality?

It was not hard casting this movie. Like you said, everyone was so talented and such a fantastic performer, that it was very clear who my actors were when they auditioned. All slam dunks.
Bringing Giree to life was more time consuming than difficult. Our puppeteer, Naiia Lajoie was so awesome at bringing her to life that she nailed every take. The hardest part was spending months in post-production removing Naiia from the shot and adding digital blinks frame by frame. I think I spent 4 weeks straight just adding blinks to Giree and the Dweller.

Without going into spoilers, this had quite a bit of darkness to its film universe, both with the warring two alien sides recent history, and with the path the story took. Do you see any light that can be taken from this story? Do you see Alien Planet as a standalone story, or could you imagine a sequel or prequel one day being created?

I see a lot of light that can be taken from this story. I think we as viewers can see what paths lead to all of the movie's darkness, and use our conscience and morals to make sure we do better as humans. But sadly, this story is meant to mirror humans, so to me, we are this story.
This is not a standalone story. I have both sequel and prequel stories ready to be made. Hopefully the audience likes this movie enough to help another one happen!

What was the biggest challenge you faced while making the film, and what was the biggest highlight for you?

Challenge is always time and money. Making a movie is very expensive and this script was a large vision to do on an indie level budget. We only had enough budget to film for 14 days so I had to figure out how to accomplish that.

Finally, for people who haven't seen your movie, how would you best describe it?

This is a science fiction adventure film with deep meaningful social commentary. Topped with all the blood and monsters you could ever want.

Alien Planet is currently streaming on multiple channels and is available on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray includes exclusive behind the scenes and making of featurettes that can't be found on streaming. For more details check out the website, here. Thanks once again to Alan for answering my questions.

The Rotting Zombie Interviews Victoria U Bell

Victoria U Bell has recently directed her first feature length movie, Heir of the Witch, a movie that she wrote, directed, produced and starred in and which is the first full feature film from production company Pasha Entertainment. The film tells of a Moldovan woman living in America who finds herself haunted by her family's dark past, specifically her grandmother, who had been an evil witch. The story was taken from Bell's own personal experiences, and bizarrely more of this fantastical story is said to have actually happened than you might expect. I was able to get an interview with the director, to speak with her about this passion project of hers.

Hello Victoria and welcome to The Rotting Zombie. With elements of Heir of the Witch based partly on real life experiences, has creating the film helped you face the fears you had while growing up?

Bringing HOTW to life was a true "Come to Jesus moment". The whole process has helped me see things from a different perspective. A healing process of facing the monster and fear in my heart, soul and mind. Through this journey I have become stronger. I have recognized my power and I no longer suffer from the terror I had felt all my life. Creative art can be a true healing and cleansing process, but you have to be honest. You have to bare your soul and expose it. I no longer find the act of witchcraft terrifying. I know my truth. I found my light, and with that, I can conquer anything.

With this being your first feature length film as a director, how did it compare to the short films you have previously made, and were there any unexpected challenges you had to face?

Making a short film was a walk in the park compared to a feature film. Compounded by being made during Covid - it felt like an Ironman Triathlon. I learned more while making this movie than anything I learned in film school. It's an experience that is unparalleled with anything else I've ever encountered. Through it, I found my true love and passion in life - film. It was a lot of hard work, and there were constant challenges that would arise throughout the whole project, but we did it! I am very grateful for my team and everyone who helped bring this movie to life!

Aside from the real-life elements, what were the other inspirations for this movie? Were there any other films that influenced the direction and style you went for?

Everything is inspiration to me. From the fragrant flowers I smell on the sidewalk to the decaying body of a dead animal on the highway. From the great books I devour, to the multitude of movies that I have watched. My brain is a sponge; always hungry and curious for more information. I can't pinpoint one that that inspired me most, but when I was a child, I heard a story that a man in our village kept having dreams about his wife who had passed away. She kept telling him in his dreams that she's alive and trapped in her grave and that he had to save her. His request to have her exhumed was denied by the church. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had dug her up himself that night. In my audacious mind, I imagined that when he opened the casket, the woman had turned in her grave and her fingernails were embedded in the walls of the casket while trying to escape. That story stayed with me and translates in the film. So, you can say I've been a storyteller from an early age.

The protagonist, Anna, stands out due to the world of shallow and conceited people she finds herself in, while not without her flaws, there was a genuine feeling to her. Were you always planning to play the part of the protagonist, and did you put any of your real self into the character, or is she a completely invented creation?

If you believe Anna's agony, then it was real. I did not put myself into the character, but I did embody Anna completely. A few months prior to filming the movie I stripped myself of all jewelry, makeup, and any items that reminded me of me.
I cut my nails short, I wore the modest dresses that Anna wears, and I started to learn how to sow. I tried to leave everything of mine behind and I let Anna speak to me. She was gentle, kind, turbulent and lost. I did not judge her. I let her tell me her story and I embedded myself in her character. There's no way I could reveal her suffering authentically without walking in her shoes. Somehow, her shoes felt somewhat familiar. Growing up in Moldova, my feet were dirty from running in the fields with no shoes, but my heart was filled with big dreams. In each project I have the pure intention of serving the story. I'm always looking for who I feel is the best actor for each role. Anna - was the hardest role to fill and I knew I was the only one who could best serve her and bring her to the world.

The moments of visual horror in the movie were very effective. At times, featuring some scenes that surprised with just how bloody they were. What were your favourite special effects used during the making of these scenes?

We had a great make-up team and they worked wonders with every aspect of my intricate requests. One of my favourites is the decapitated body of one of the witch's victims. It looks and feels eerie and real. It took a lot of work from my team to create the same body type, size and skin tone - but the results were fabulous. In reference to special effects, the shower scene with the demon mist, and the spider shadow under the bed are 2 of my favorites.

Finally, for people who have yet to see Heir of the Witch, why should they check it out?

Heir of the Witch is unlike any other horror film you have ever seen before. The story and the theme are unique and different. The twists and turns keep you involved and glued to the screen. I've planted a lot of breadcrumbs, follow them closely! Enjoy!

Heir of the Witch is due to be streaming everywhere from August 4th 2023, a thank you to Victoria U Bell for her time answering my questions.

The Rotting Zombie Interviews Billy Ray Brewton

It has been a fair few months since my last interview, but after being given the opportunity to interview writer, producer, and director Billy Ray Brewton I jumped at the chance. I reviewed his cleverly made horror film Show Yourself last week and loved it, so I was interested in getting some of his thoughts on the themes of the movie, as well as how he went about creating it.

While there are obvious horror elements to Show Yourself would you class it as more of a drama due to the protagonists issues he has to face?

I've always referred to SHOW YOURSELF as a 'dramatic horror film'. I understand that the final 15-minutes sort of ascribes the 'horror' label to it, and that's okay, but if people go into it expecting a straight up horror film, they're going to be disappointed. I was far more interested in the character of Travis and his personal struggle than I was about the horror elements - UNTIL it's time for the horror elements to take the stage, and then it becomes ALL about that. I looked to THE DESCENT in terms of its structure, in that respect. 

Often when you have a movie focused on just the one character it can be hard to sustain interest for the run time. The use of laptop and the mobile to connect Travis with his network of people helped negate that issue. Was this a conscious decision to prevent the character from being completely alone which could risk the solitude becoming a negative?

Yes, it was a way of having him both be alone and absolutely not. I loved the contradiction of his going out to the woods to 'get away from it all' and finding every reason under the sun to stay connected with the outside world. This was also a way for me to buck the trope of phones not working and communication being blocked. In this world Travis has no trouble with any of that. I mean - it's 2018 - who doesn't have a phone charger?

While Show Yourself has a small cast there wasn't a single actor who felt ill suited to their role. Was it difficult to cast the roles, or did that come about easily?

Casting was a dream, but I set it up that way. Ben Hethcoat, who plays Travis, is my best friend, and I wrote the role for him, simply because I wanted to see what he could do with a lead role in a feature. As you're aware, he did not disappoint. The rest of the cast was built around him, made up of his close friends and people he'd worked with before. To get the sort of authenticity I wanted, I needed those relationships to feel 'lived in' and real. Stephen Cone was the only actor Ben didn't know, and that works for that relationship. I have always prided myself on strong casting, and that's 75% of your directorial battle right there.

From the inception to the finished piece how long did it take to make? What was the biggest challenge you had to face?

From the day I finished the script to the day we premiered, it was about a year and a half. Post-production was definitely the most difficult aspect, primarily because I had a hard time seeing the piece as a whole. Luckily, I had an insanely talented editor - Eric Ekman - who really helped shape the finished product. For example, the home video footage used was never in the plan - it was an idea Eric came up with that ended up changing the entire emotional tone of the film. Surround yourself with amazing people - ALWAYS.

I really enjoyed how the plot played out, how clues to the past are drip-fed to the viewer both by conversations and the video clips played. It leads to something that is shown to have layers to what initially seemed a straight forward situation. Why did you choose to tell the story in this way?

I don't like easy answers in film. I like some ambiguity. Not so much that it becomes a slap in the audience's face, but enough to maybe spark a conversation. I liked the idea of an audience thinking they knew what a relationship was about and then subverting it in small, honest ways. Nothing crazy or outlandish, but simple, subtle storytelling. Some people don't respond to that, which I understand, but it's what I felt this film needed to be.

Staying on the subject of the plot I liked that it was never 100% certain that what happens is actually real or conjured up from Travis's mind (at least that was the way I saw it). Do you have a definite answer on this or do you prefer to leave it up to the viewer's interpretation?

I have my idea, and I don't mind sharing it because I don't think it should inhibit anyone else from believing what they want. For me, "Paul" was a trickster - a spirit in the woods that was taking Travis's grief and negative energy and feeding off it, manifesting itself through Travis's grief. So, for me, it was never Paul, but was definitely something real Travis was facing.

The plot is quite personal to the character and is quite focused on the topic of grief as well as guilt. Where did you come up with the idea for the film?

Unfortunately, I've experienced my fair share of loss and grief over the years, and it always fascinates me. How people react. How it changes people, for the good and bad. A lot of what I deal with, as an artist, is laced with that sort of thing. But I wanted to write this because I saw THE BIG CHILL and thought it would have made an excellent horror film, and then started thinking about all the things I wanted to see Ben (who plays Travis) do in a feature. The rest just sort of spilled out.

I admit I haven't seen any of your previous work, but was impressed with the way Show Yourself was created. Do you have any plans for future films in mind?

Definitely. I've got a fun and bloody little script called SEASONS OF BLOOD which is ready to go if we can find the financing. It takes the characters from the musical RENT and places them in a summer camp in the 1980's with a masked killer on the loose. It's a musical horror comedy and a raunchy time. 

The Rotting Zombie interviews Andrew J.D Robinson

Andrew J.D Robinson is a prolific director responsible for a lot of short horror films, that include among them Placebo, A Walk Home Alone, and Sightings. He has a penchant for making more artful pieces, ones that are executed in interesting ways. He is also the founder/festival programmer for 15 Second Horror Film Challenge which is a nonprofit international filmmaking contest. I interviewed him about the process of making his films and what ideas inspire him as a creator.

First of all can you tell us a little bit about yourself. Why did you decide to make films, what is it about the horror genre that brought you to it?

Filmmaking, for me, is an infusion of all my artistic passions.I decided to make films after my life with the arts evolved towards film. Ever since kindergarten, I always thought I was going to be a Disney cartoonist which evolved into comic book illustration. I'd produce comic strips for my high school classmates that were an amalgamation of everything I loved at the time - Star Wars meets Spawn - where I'd invite classmates to create characters into my superhero universe. Soon after, the family got their first computer and I discovered Newgrounds; an animation community fostering indie creators. This led me to teach myself Macromedia Flash 5 so I could animate cartoons onto Newgrounds. There were viewers able to look past my works' initial crude craft because my strong suit was writing comedy/horror content. As the technical side caught up to the content, I received nine daily Top 5 awards, as far as 2nd place for an episode of mine called 'Brunch of the Dead'.

As my teens continued, I found myself shooting dozens of short films on our family DV tape camcorder with a rag-tag cast made of my sister and friends - skits, faux commercials, and comedy/horror - whether they were for school or outside of. After graduation, I was enrolled to a General Arts College program, however, I dropped out two weeks in after soon discovering that I wanted to be a filmmaker.

In retrospect, drawing and animation were pre-requisite. With filmmaking, I'm able to adopt and explore all of my passions for film whether it's photographic shot composition, storyboarding films, in-camera art direction, VFX post, or conceptually collaborating with FX artists to create horrors. From 2011 and on, my portfolio established myself predominantly as a horror filmmaker. Horror is cinema's Swiss army knife that can draw comedy and drama from. What's tension without moments of levity? What's action without emotional stakes? And how can joy be felt without its struggle against horror? I find the most effective horror movies are a symphony of emotions whereas by the end of it, you could leave the movie with a euphoric feeling along the lines of leaving a fun amusement park ride. That's what draws me to filmmaking and the horror genre - the opportunity to give someone that experience as other filmmakers have for me.

You put out a lot of short horrors, do you have a whole host of ideas waiting to be turned into films, or do you come up with them one at a time?

I never come up with one idea at a time, and could not even if I tried. That's not to say that I cannot focus on the purpose of a singular story. It's very important to be able to reign in all of your ideas, whether it's scenes, subplots, or characters under an umbrella of themes. When it comes to coming up with ideas, I'll indiscriminately write them down. Some begin small and grow, some appear larger that they're meant to be, but all of them have the potential to bring new meaning when I puzzle them together and see what new ideas comes together. Many of my feature-length ideas originally came from experimenting with crossing over ideas into the other.

You appear to have a small stable of actors that appear in quite a few of your films. Do you write parts for particular actors, or is it good fortune that the people you use are able to fit a variety of roles?

I've been fortunate to find actors who have that enigmatic ability to assume characters that are polar opposite from the other. Naturally it comes with practical perks, but more-so I gravitate towards building a working rapport with actors that only time and experience grants. It inspires me to write different shades for staple actors because not only is it thrilling for the actors and myself to see our collaborative process grow new creative dynamics, but myself as a fan of movies I love to see when actors have the opportunity to showcase other sides to them like painters producing new portraits.

Often with a lot of your films a lot of the horror comes from dialogue suggesting events rather than any on screen visuals; such as the radio announcer in A Walk Home Alone, or the phone call in Sightings, these were both pretty effective methods that not a lot of films seem to do. How did you come up with this idea of suggestive terror?

I found myself becoming a student of horror just from sheer passion for the genre growing up. The principles of "less is more" and "the filmmaker cannot create something worse than the audience can for themselves" began to be tools of the trade for me more-so towards my late-twenties. Suggestive terror is not without information; it's information that the filmmaker provides the audience that creates tension. It's certainly worth paraphrasing Hitchcock's bomb theory from his masterclass on suspense:

Imagine two people sitting at a table talking for five minutes, and then suddenly a bomb goes off. The audience is shocked for five seconds. Now, imagine the same two people sitting at a table talking, and the filmmaker shows the audience there's a bomb underneath the table that's going to blow up in five minutes. Now as the scene plays out for the next five minutes, their conversation about baseball or their chicken dinner brings new context as the audience hollers "Stop talking about whatever! Look under the table!" You've now managed to re-engineer the same scene to have five minutes of suspense instead of five seconds of shock.

I find those elements fascinating to play with and my long-hand films will explore that. When done right, it can make for a fun time at the movies!

From beginning to end what is the average amount of time it takes to craft your films from idea to finished product? What is your personal favourite one you have made?

The length of time to craft a film differentiates depending on its needs, but a principle is that I never put a deadline on pre-production when I'm the sole producer. Some films, from ideas to production, can happen in a flash whereas others may wrestle to sync schedules. Once pre-production is complete, I try my hardest to win principal photography as soon as possible because you never know how schedules, over a length of time, may change and conflict. Everyone I work with does not 'do this full time' - we all orchestrate around our day jobs.

My personal favourite would be a 2016 production I had to axe called "The Watcher". The making of the film over the course of summer nights, starred Maura Stephens (A Walk Home Alone) and Aileigh Karson (Something Scary). It's my favourite because of what came out of it: what didn't come out of it was a finished product presentable for the public due on my behalf because I hit a glass ceiling to my DSLR filmmaking know-how - I naively embarked on a low-lit thriller without ever having grasped aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure, and in-camera settings. I was shooting it as I would do with a camcorder. I was very happy with the cuts, staging, choreography, and for Maura and I's craft. Initially, when I looked at the noisy blotchy footage in post, it was devastating, however I bounced back to go to YouTube film school and learning low-lighting.

You either succeed or you learn.

After reigning in on the technical side, I realized the sins of my ways haha. For you filmmakers out there, get ready to cringe: imagine shooting a low-lit scene with an f/stop of 22 with your kit lens zoomed in for most shots while your exposure is cranked up on blast. It was a personal achievement with my 2017 shorts to avenge my loss - "Placebo" and "Sightings" in particular were rematches to low-light filmmaking and they proved my YouTube film school in practice. "The Watcher" is my personal favourite because it was both the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

Do you watch much horror at all? and what is your favourite scary movie? Going off that who would you cite as your biggest influence on the way you build your films?

I watch a lot of horror. Especially growing up, I'd watch every new movie that came out. Nowadays, I'm more conservative with watching the next new wave of films, because I'm more occupied hunting down titles that have always been on my to-watch queue.

My favourite scary movie would be tough to choose one, and they've changed as I've changed - from Hellraiser, Black Christmas, to Suspiria - but one that's really spoken to me during the past few years now is an Australian mockumentary called "Lake Mungo" that chronicles a family dealing with the grieving loss of their family member. It's a slow-burn that begins to blur the lines between drama and the fantastical, until it coalesces into a fever pitch.

Filmmakers such as Carpenter, Rodriguez, and Corman speak to me with how to build a production - fix it in prep, have a Plan B, get as much as you can on the screen, shoot only what you need, be open to trying new things in post production while always keeping the edit and the audience in mind. Guillermo Del Toro, speaking on Pan's Labyrinth, fought against studio pressures 'to reach a wider audience' by telling the people upstairs that he didn't want a wider audience, he wanted the audience for the movie.

Speaking to Maura she mentioned a film you're working on called Dispatch. Is there any additional details you can give on that one, and do you have any additional films you are thinking about making at the moment?

"Dispatch" is an emergency distress call told solely from the point of view of a dispatcher (Maura Stephens) dealing with a caller (Erin Kiniry) who is experiencing a home invasion. It will be the last stop before completely embarking on our debut feature-film "Shadow People" - a script that I've been carving out for years. For the past year, it's been winning significant strides amidst the many bad drafts I had to get out of me haha but where it's at now, I'm happy that this wasn't a film that I had jumped in too early before honing my craft towards. The plot follows an ensemble of grieving characters investigating the sudden disappearances of loved ones.

The Rotting Zombie interviews Jacob Perrett

My latest interview has been with Jacob Perrett who is a 20 year old filmmaker from Meadville that is part of a group known as Fame Cinema. This group do a lot of varied projects, including horror shorts such as Planet of the Dead, Night of the Sitter, and latest film The Initiation. They can be found on YouTube at JacobSpeaks, and I will include one of their films after the interview.

Can you tell us a bit about your team; what was the genesis for deciding to make films?

The current Fame Cinema lineup we have now was acquired over the span of 2017. It is composed of Taylor Rhoades, who is my main collaborator, producer and acts in a majority of the projects. Along with Taylor is his wife, Danielle Rhoades, who does a great deal of behind the scenes work, she is like my "go-to" type of person on set. Another member is Matt Nale who had began working with us when he was 14. He attends the school I graduated from, and had expressed an interest in filmmaking, so I sort of took him under my wing. To finish off the group, Mackenzie Anthony and Christian Styborski both play pivotal roles in behind the scenes work.

I began making short film when I was around 10 years old. Growing up, I tried a multitude of different activities, basketball, baseball, even taekwondo. I could never really find any joy or fulfillment in any of these things, not to mention, I was terrible at being an athlete. My dad had eventually introduced me to YouTube, where I realised that making content was what intrigued me more than anything in the world.  I began making stop-motion shorts with my legos and clay. This world would soon spiral into a YouTube channel titled Jacob Speaks, and then eventually into a more "professional" Fame Cinema.

Your films all look very professional which I admit I wasn't expecting, each film seems to be an improvement over the last in terms of quality. Where did you learn to do this, and do you think with technology these days it is a lot easier for people to be able to realise their vision if they have the right group of like minded people?

Thank you! I'm self taught. When I was first introduced to YouTube, I would find videos I really liked, and I would try my best to replicate them. Over the years I just got better I suppose. With each film I try and focus on one particular aspect of the filmmaking process, and try and perfect that aspect. For example, Pumpkin Eyes I focussed on sound design, Night of the Sitter I focused on cinematography, etc.

Like minded people certainly help. Prior to the short film Two Good Things, I was working with people who took advantage of the opportunities I was giving them. I won't go into detail because it's a personal matter, but my creativity excelled greatly after meeting Taylor Rhoades. It's just great having someone who understands your goals and supports them.

What is your ambition, do you see film making as your future, and if so what lessons do you think you still need to learn?

I've never wanted anything more than to be a film director. I'm currently a sophomore in film school trying to expand my knowledge and hopefully make connections that will benefit me in the long run. I believe I have what it takes, I just need to meet the right people.

Who would you say your biggest inspirations are, and how did you come up with the ideas for your films?

As of late, the biggest influences have come from 80's horror and television shows like Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? We're currently putting together an anthology feature film about an old television show and four recovered episodes. It's my love letter to Goosebumps essentially, which played such a big role in my childhood, for better or for worse.

With some of your films the young cast compliments the story, such as latest short The Initiation (set during a strange frat party), in other films such as the impressive Planet of the Dead it sometimes felt like older actors would have better suited some of the roles. Do you think it matters about the age of the actors if their acting is a high enough standard to play the part believably?

I absolutely think age matters. Planet of the Dead was my first REAL stab at making a movie. I was 17 at the time and only knew people of my age who would want to help me make the film. Adults in the area are so lame when it comes to this type of thing. Nobody wants to get behind or follow direction from someone who is younger than them, so I make do with what I have.

A lot of your films have been horror based, or at least associated with the horror genre. What do you find attractive about this genre, and what would you say is your favourite horror film of all time?

That's a good question. It's just something I'm attracted to. In particular I love old horror. For example, I didn't have the privilege of growing up in the 1980's but whenever I watch a film from that time period there is just a sort of nostalgic sensation I feel for that time.

As far as my favourite horror film goes, I'd say A Nightmare on Elm Street or James Whale's Frankenstein. A Nightmare on Elm Street was the film that got me into the genre. Frankenstein, in my opinion, is one of the greatest stories ever told. I've always felt some sort of weird connection to the monster.

Which of your films would you say has been your favourite to make, and do you have any regrets how any of your films have turned out?

Night of the Sitter is my favorite. For Her is a short film that is most personal to me, and I get a lot of joy when I look back on it, but it's not the best. The Black Ribbon is probably the film I have with the most regret. I just think we were trying to take ourselves too seriously in that film. I don't regret the experience as a whole at all, however. It's just not who I am as a filmmaker.

So over Christmas you released The Initiation on YouTube (loved the POV camera work on that btw), what is next in the pipeline for you and your team?

Well, Incubus and Night of the Sitter have been taken down from YouTube, for a very big reason. The next film we will be working on is called Goodnight, Daddy, and is my version of a slasher film. It will have the same aesthetic and feel that Night of the Sitter did. It will be the third entry into the anthology. The final segment will be called Cosmic Terror, and will play on some of the science fiction tropes of 80's horror. That will be shot in the spring. The feature all these films make up is called Weird Fiction, and has an estimated release date of October 2018.

The Rotting Zombie interviews Maura Stephens

I recently got the opportunity to interview Canadian indie horror actor Maura Stephens. In the nine years my blog has been going I have only previously done one interview, it was a long time ago and pretty awful and so I felt the need to get out my comfort zone and try another one! I first saw Maura in Andrew J.D Robinson's short horror Placebo, then in a larger role as the main lead in another of his shorts; A Walk Home Alone. She has also done work with CryptTV and 15 Second Horror Film Challenge among other things. Included after the interview are a few of the short films she has appeared in for your viewing pleasure.

Could you give some background about yourself, and what got you into doing horror?

Playing characters and storytelling in various forms has been my jam since I was a wee feral beast. Growing up homeschooled definitely helped facilitate that because there was so much time to be a creative little weirdo with my four sisters. We really embraced creating our own worlds. Two of my sisters, Sarah and Celia, and I ended up making our own films with a webcam in 1998/1999, they were black and white and laggy and all silent films because webcams back then were pretty dodgy, but then we got a camcorder so we had colour and sound and went crazy with it. My love for playing pretend never faded, so here I am.

It's funny, even when Sarah and Celia and I would make our improvised camcorder films we would lean towards horror with offbeat comedy elements thrown in. So it's always been a genre I naturally gravitated towards. I remember being really little and filling a notebook with creepy childish doodles of Edward Scissorhands and wanting to dress as him for Halloween. I always connected more to the stranger worlds and characters. Edward, Lydia Deetz, Nosferatu...

You have done a lot of fun shorts, some even coming in at the 15 second mark, how long do these typically take to film and is it hard being able to get into your characters having such limited screen time for them?

I've done a lot of shorts that have only taken a few hours at most, sometimes maybe only an hour. Depends on locations and if it's particularly bloody shoot. But even A Walk Home Alone took very little time because everyone came so prepared and it all took place in one building. In terms of getting into character within such a short timeframe, I find my solo prep before the shoot day is vital depending on the content, like if it's a more wordy piece like A Walk Home Alone. But if it's more something where I have to be scared and a bit emotional, but have little to no lines, then I tend to dive in armed with my instinct and imagination, sometimes plonking certain images or ideas into my noggin while shooting.

What is your favourite film you have done, and why? Going off that what has been the toughest film to do?

They all have a special place in my heart, which is hideously fromage-y but true. If I had to pick, picturing you holding a super soaker to my head, I would have to say Beauty Sleep. Perhaps in part because it is the longest film I've done so I was able to spend more time with the character and felt a particular connection to her. It was a ride because I got to act backwards and try to express this character's unravelling without any dialogue. I'm also a total sucker for surreal films, so I was already won over after reading the first page of the script. As for the toughest, I did a short film in a warehouse in winter with very limited heating. Freezing temperatures. Tank top. Ooooof! Enough said.

I often find if I watch any behind the scenes footage for films I like it ruins the effectiveness due to knowing how it was all put together. Do you find you can't be scared by your own films?

That's a great question. A Walk Home Alone actually got under my skin, which I wasn't expecting because it can be hard to be scared by your own work despite how effective and cleverly it has been written and produced because you have all the behind the scenes stories in your head as you watch it and you remember how much laughing and joy actually took place. I remember my first time watching it though, and getting to that last moment where you hear the newscaster's voiceover; the weight of the situation really sunk in and left me feeling genuinely disturbed. I'd love to say more but it would spoil the "fun" for those who haven't seen it yet.

Do you watch much horror at all? What's your favourite scary movie?

Now I'm imagining you wearing the Ghostface mask. It's a tricky question. Horror has so many awesome sub-genres too, so it's hard to pick just one film out of everything that is out there. The film has been with me since I was a child though is Robert Wise's The Haunting. I've always had a real soft spot for a good paranormal story. Kind of obsessed with ghosts as a child...and adult. Solid writing, gorgeous black and white cinematography, brilliant performances, and the spooks still get under my skin after all these years. "Whose hand was I holding?" Vomit. Urgh. So good.

Finally, do you have any upcoming horrors in the pipeline?

I have another short with Andrew (J.D Robinson) on the horizon called Dispatch. I can't give too much away, but the script is one of my favourites of his, really juicy and unsettling. I play a 911 dispatcher with the lovely Erin Kiniry (from Mitchell Slan's award winning short Balloon) as the panicked caller. I think people are going to really dig it.