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Bum Interviews:
The Joe from OSS Interview | Here’s our interview with Old School Sinema chief and producer and creator behind “The Horror Convention Massacre” films. The second installment, “The Horror Convention Massacre 2” premieres Oct. 26 at the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland, OH with performances by bands Cult of the Psychic Fetus, Lords of the Highway and Horror of ’59 following the film. The DVD will be out then as well. Keep an eye out at the “THCM 2” MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/thcm2 and at http://www.ossfilms.com for updates and info.
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 | The Horror Convention Massacre 2 poster
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Scraps: Long time no see Joe, how the hell ya been?
Joe: Great to see you again! I’ve been terrific. Thanks for asking. Busy as hell, but I prefer it that way. Thanks to the great feedback and response we got from Old School Sinema’s ambitious debut, “The Horror Convention Massacre” this past year, we are in post right now on “THCM 2” and getting it ready for one hell of a Halloween bash on Oct. 26!
Scraps: I loved THCM, and it left off with sort of a cliffhanger ending…can you fill us in on what happens in THCM2?
Joe: It was much more than a cliffhanger ending, it was a wide-open ending and in true slasher film format, we wanted to leave open the possibility of a sequel. After the exhaustive production on the first one, we said we’d be crazy to do a sequel and attempt to pull of what we did the first time around, which was essentially make a movie in one weekend at a real live horror convention with no budget! But after winning an award for Best Horror Film at the 2007 Miami Underground Film Festival, getting a TON of great reviews and most importantly, getting great feedback from the fans, we thought we owed it to everyone who supported the original to do a sequel.
Quite honestly, the whole reason we did it was to see if we could do it again. This time we wanted to add more blood, more girls and see if we could do it even quicker and cheaper, without losing any of the entertainment quality fans loved about the first one.
The sequel picks up immediately where the first one ended, just like they did with “Halloween 2.” The always-suffering hotel employee Aaron (Bryan Jalovec) is back and fighting with his A-hole boss Paul (Ted Wodoslawsky) again. Paul begs Aaron to stick with him for the day, even offering him a promotion and raise, as the hotel tries to survive the chaos that is a horror convention. Little do they know that there are still real murders happening. This time our insane killer (Theo Kerg) has a bigger role and more on-screen time. In the original, he wasn’t shown until the end as most of the kills were done in a POV style. | |  | Natasha Talonz is dying to work with OSS again!
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Scraps: Do you continue on with the over-the-top kills, loads of hot babes and kick-ass soundtrack?
Joe: We definitely live up to the promise of More Blood, More Babes and More Bi-sexual Broads! We have the sexy Natasha Talonz on board. She’s about to become a true Scream Queen in the underground and indie horror scene. She plays a guest at the convention, a porno star named Kitty Klimaxxx with a fetish for blood.
We felt with all the over-the-top kills we featured in the original, we wanted to go a darker route when it came to the killings this time around, just to keep it fresh and different. But there are definitely a lot more babes and T&A this time around and we have even more humor too. If the over-the-top element comes into play in the sequel, it will likely be in the comedy and we figured out a way to bring back Carl (Hot Carl) Ferrara and he is hilarious!
One of the things I was really proud of in the first film was the great bands we brought in to feature on the soundtrack. It was mostly a killer rockabilly/punk song list and in addition to more tunes from Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival, Lords of the Highway, the Alligators and Horror of ’59, you can expect some tunes from you can expect some tunes from Cult of the Psychic Fetus, Whiskey Daredevils and other great bands as well.
Scraps: You seem to have a lot more of an aggressive approach to your marketing than other indie directors – tell us a little about how you get the word out about your films.
Joe: It’s an uphill battle to get the word out about your film. The main thing you want as a filmmaker is to reach your core audience. Obviously with these films, we’re going for a specific niche audience, but you’re still vying for their time and when you’re competing against major films that have a marketing budget of $50 million or more, you have to pull out all the stops.
I take great pride in my PR skills (that college degree is finally paying off, mom!) and I have been extremely aggressive hitting up all the horror websites, journalists and publications I could and getting the info out to them. It also helps when you have a great concept, a lot of passion and an entertaining final product to promote too. | |  | Joe, Toby Radloff, and Wayne Alan Harold after shooting Toby's cameo.
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Scraps: What’s next on tap for OSS?
Joe: Shit, what ISN’T on tap for OSS? We started production on a third film, a thriller that takes place at a concert on Halloween night. It’s a mix between “Funhouse” and “The Phantom of Paradise,” done OSS style of course! I’ve also succumbed to doing a zombie film. Not that I don’t love them, but it seems like every micro-budget filmmaker and his mom have made one, but the majority of them are dreadful. I think we found a cool twist on the genre and I’m excited to bring the OSS family together to do it. We’re also developing a slasher film comedy with a female protagonist.
I’m working on developing a few projects with OSS alum Darrin McDonald for us to produce. I’m also looking at making the leap to shooting something on 16mm. It’s an ambitious feature with hot rods, hot babes and mutants. Sort of like a 50s’ sci-fi/horror B-movie. If everything falls into place, we’ll be shooting that in 2008. There are just so many things on the OSS agenda, it’s just a matter of what happens first. But it’s safe to say we should be delivering 5-6 movies over the next two years.
Scraps: We’re looking forward to seeing you next month at Cinema Wasteland – if we beat you to the bar, what should we order for you?
Joe: Ah, a real question! (laughs). Well, I’m a beer lover, but tend to stay away from the pricey dark, thick beers. Any beer bought for me is appreciated, believe me. I’ll drink anything from PBR (as an indie filmmaker, we survive on this) to Miller Lite. If I’m buying beers for my fridge, I tend to get Labatt Blue, sometimes Rolling Rock. I’m even known to pack the Silver Bullet (Coors Lite cans) on occasion.
If I’m feeling really good or in a celebrating mood, I’ll drink Crown Royal with Ginger Ale. Now you and the OSS fans know what to buy me! (Laughs) | |  | OSS invade the hotel! OSS crew includes Darrin, Joe and Theo.
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Scraps: Listen – we’ve wanted our own cadre of hot chicks for a long time now but we can’t seem to get one started…how did you do it?
Joe: You ever see “Boogie Nights?” (pause). Never mind. (laughs).
No seriously, what I’ve realized in the past year or two is there are almost as many female fans of horror films and B-movies then there are guys. It’s true. I think the women are just embarrassed or shy to let their inner-horror geek out, but they’re starting to come around.
When they see what we do with both our films and the Sinema Sirens, they all want on board!
(by the way, we are ALWAYS looking for new future Scream Queens. So ladies, e-mail us your info and pics to sinemasirens@yahoo.com).
Scraps: Are there any plans for THCM3 in the works?
Joe: (laughs). Right now I’m so exhausted with the “THCM” films, I have to take a break. You never want to say never. In the end, the fans and horror community will let us know what they think. But for now, I just want to get a lot more new projects under the OSS banner before we continue doing anymore “THCM” films. | |  | Just another day at the office for OSS
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Scraps: So the Browns cut Charlie Frie and then beat Cincinnati for the first time in a few years…are they on the road to greatness or was it a fluke?
Joe: Another great one! I was actually at the embarrassing season opener versus the Steelers. It was awful and thank God THAT game turned out to be the fluke. I was at the Cincinnati game the next week too and could not believe my eyes. It was like a dream. It was a performance that was a long time coming for us suffering Cleveland sports fans. Even if they lose every game after that, for one afternoon we got to be part of something exciting and special for at least a few hours.
Scraps: If you were Britney Spears’ agent…what would you recommend her next career move to be?
Joe: I would not hesitate to recommend she gets a career makeover with Old School Sinema! She needs to put the singing/lip-synching performances behind her (those poppy songs are awful anyway) and become an underground Scream Queen. OSS would be glad to exploit, er, show Miss Spears’ talents in one of our flicks.
Scraps: It’s always a blast hanging with you…any parting words of wisdom for the low-budget directors of the future out there?
Joe: Stop talking and start doing! I wasted so much time talking about making movies or talking with a bunch of talkers that I should have a lot more movies under my belt by now.
You don’t need a lot of money to make an entertaining flick, even one that wins awards and gets a lot of recognition. All you need is passion, a lot of drive and a committed minimal crew to help you realize your dream.
Thanks Scraps. Always great chatting with you and your features on us really helps our cause. Don’t forget to check out our main MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/ossprojects - we love to hear from our fans and talk with them. Also, the original “THCM” DVD is available and we offer discounts to our My Space friends.
Thanks for the continued support! |
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Updated Sunday, September 23, 2007 Written by Scraps |
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