CREATORS UNITE 10 THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

CREATORS UNITE 10 COVER

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

1

CREATORS UNITE 10 MAGAZINES & BOOKS AD

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

2

CREATORS UNITE 10 EDITOR’S LETTER We are delighted to present CREATORS UNITE #10: THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE, featuring exclusive interviews with Kelli Maroney, Lloyd Kaufman, Luigi Cozzi, and Kurando Mitsutake.

Kelli Maroney, the highly respected actress that many of us have admired for decades, is without a doubt, an exceptional woman who is loved by all. We invite you to join us in getting to know her.

Lloyd Kaufman, the creator of TROMA ENTERTAINMENT is the ultimate reference for filmmakers and independent creators. Lloyd’s influence cannot be ignored as the TROMA culture have permeated spirits in a profound and lasting way. We had the privilege of interviewing Lloyd, both in English and French (which he speaks without an accent). Check out our Masters at Work to learn more about Lloyd!

Luigi Cozzi, known for his films Starcrash, Hercules, and Contamination, is one of those iconic artists, who continues to create essential work against all odds. We met him in Rome at the PROFONDO ROSSO store, which he co-founded with Dario Argento. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into his world.

We also had the pleasure of interviewing Kurando Mitsutake, whose fascinating work restores a sense of prestige to cinematic art. Mitsutake's approach, both in substance and form, is a captivating blend of violence and aesthetics. His work is truly outstanding and transcendent.

To mark the release of our 10th magazine (and 28th publication), we bring you this special "best of" issue, dedicated to four exceptional artists, featuring exclusive interviews with each of them. We hope you enjoy reading CREATORS UNITE #10 as much as we enjoyed creating it.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE is available in digital and print formats (limited edition prints). You can find the e-book version on Issuu and hard cover books on Peecho.

A soft-cover magazine in four parts (each dedicated to a specific star) is also available on Issuu and Peecho.

DC Deever THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

3

CREATORS UNITE 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

Special Best Of Including Essential ITWS of Kelli Maroney, Lloyd Kaufman, Luigi Cozzi & Kurando Mitsutake • •

Editor’s Letter - P3 Table of Contents - P4 & P5

Masters at Work 1 - Kelli Maroney - P8 • WEBTALK P10: Starter by Christopher Zisi. Interview with Kelli Maroney

by Christopher Zisi & Laura MacLeod • SHOWROOM P35: Reviews by Christopher Zisi & Matthew Kirshenblatt • SUPERTREAT P45: Creators Unite Voight Kampff TEST Masters at Work 2 - Lloyd Kaufman - P53 • PASSION STORY P54: A tribute to Lloyd Kaufman by Todd Rigney • WEBTALK P68: Starter by Richard M. Martin. Interview with Lloyd Kaufman by David Dubrow et Emilie Flory • GUILTY PLEASURE P99: Filmmaking Schlock Horror & Gore! by Tony Newton Masters at Work 3 - Luigi Cozzi - P109 • WEBTALK P110: Starter by Maria Cristina Mastrangeli. Interview with Luigi Cozzi by Maria Cristina Mastrangeli • SHOWROOM P137: Reviews by Cultmetalflix and Christopher Zisi • EXHIBITION HALL P149: The Gallery 106 - Creators Unite Gallery welcomes Horror Icons, an exhibition of Chantal Handley’s work THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

4

CREATORS UNITE 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS Masters at Work 4 - Kurando Mitsutake - P169 • WEBTALK P170: Starter by Emilie Flory. Interview with Kurando Mitsutake by Christopher Zisi • SHOWROOM P201: Reviews by Sooz Webb • TECH SECRETS P213: Shooting Practice, Gunfight, Gun Psychology, Q & A, Arsenal by Christopher Bourez & Emilie Flory Bonus Feature - P259 • MYTHMAKER: GEORGE A. ROMERO by Jason Figgis A short video essay for Creators Unite Magazine looking at George A. Romero's seminal classic horror film from 1968 - Night of the Living Dead. Written, presented and directed by Jason Figgis • Special Thanks / Masthead - P256

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

5

CREATORS UNITE 10 ISSUE 10 GLOBAL AD

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

6

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

7

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

8

CREATORS UNITE 10 Masters at Work 1 – Kelli Maroney

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

9

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

10

CREATORS UNITE 10

Kelli Maroney

by Christopher Zisi 1984! Some of us remember that year well. World superpowers seemed headed toward “Mutual Assured Destruction.” The possibility of nuclear war affected the consciousness of every college aged schmuck (which I was one). The possibility of the world coming to an end permeated every intellectual discussion as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev repeatedly failed to decrease the nuclear stockpiles. That same year, a cult classic hit the silver screen. The not so epic Night of the Comet told the story of the end of the world. The joke was on all of us, as nuclear winter didn’t factor into the equation.

On the surface, Night of the Comet seemed to mesh two plots. High schoolers coming of age mixed with the apocalypse. Was mankind worth saving? Government henchwoman Audrey (Mary Woronov) didn’t believe so and set out to euthanize perky blonde high school cheerleader Samantha (Kelli Maroney). Ditzy, shallow, and materialistic Samantha seemed to symbolize the futility of 1980s youth and their inability to carry on a civilized culture and society. Ah, but wait! Audrey looks closer and sees something else.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

11

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

12

CREATORS UNITE 10

Optimism, trust, and the ability to make lemon-ade out of lemons. Yes, a closer look at the sultry cheerleader suggested that Samantha is exactly who we want to help construct a society in which all peoples need to love and coexist. Sure, Samantha’s proclivity to use an Uzi is quite alluring and not a bad plot device, still, her smile and sex appeal could prove to be quite inspiring.

When leaders, technology, and normative social structure have failed planet Earth, Samantha and her buddies may be the perfect combo to begin it all again. With a pom-pom in one hand, a machine-gun in the other, perhaps Samantha is a perfect metaphor for what it takes for a pretty lady to succeed for decades in a misogynistic film industry. Before Alice in Resident Evil and Selene in Underworld, the babes of horror were portrayed as meek and merely pretty faces that just so happened to survive occasionally. In reality, Kelli Maroney beat both Kate Beckinsale and Milla Jovovich to the punch. Sure, her portrayal of the ditzy but feisty Samantha (and also Alison in Chopping Mall) gave a very masculine audience characters that seemed to feed male stereotypes of young ladies. In reality, Alison and Samantha (as portrayed by Ms. Maroney), were energetic, resourceful, strong, and very capable of overcoming evil, killing monsters, and saving the masses. As more and more stories in today’s news highlight the predatory nature of a male dominated Hollywood, Kelli Maroney’s endurance is a testament to her strength and smarts in the entertainment industry. Even more important than the initial impression we draw of either Samantha or Alison, is what those two Maroney characters evolve into before the end of the films.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

13

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

14

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Perhaps all the victimized actresses in Hollywood today could gather inspiration from Ms. Maroney’s portrayals and proceed onward with strength and victory. Enjoy the interview that follows of an actress many of us have been admiring for decades.

Christopher Zisi

Exclusive Interview with Kelli Maroney

by Laura MacLeod & Christopher Zisi

ThE WEb Talk Laura MacLeod: How did you get your start in the business?

Kelli Maroney: I was planning to attend a conservatory school in NYC and arrived with $500 to my name and nowhere to live. While looking for a roommate situation, the woman who ran the service suggested that I speak to her friend, who was an agent. There had been a national search for a teenage actress to play the part of a “Midwestern Lolita” on the ABC Daytime drama, Ryan’s Hope. I had one photograph of myself, and the agent told me to slide it under the casting director’s door. I was called in, auditioned and was cast in the role. What a crazy show business story, right?! After all this time I still can’t get over my good fortune.

Laura MacLeod: What most made you want to get into acting?

Kelli Maroney: When I was little, I remember that the thing that made my mother seem the happiest was when we were watching old movies on TV. THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

15

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

16

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK I wanted to be part of the thing that made her light up. Passions and emotions were expressed in films and on TV that didn’t seem appropriate for people to have in “real life” and I wanted to be part of that.

Laura MacLeod: What surprised you the most about acting?

Kelli Maroney: Firstly, I think how intimate and safe it felt to play a scene and be fully immersed in it. It’s like the rest of the world fades away and it’s just you and whomever is in the scene with you, and the director.

Secondly, I never thought of acting as being my business! An actor is really a sole proprietor of their own company, but no one had ever told me anything like that, so it’s only somewhat recently that I began thinking of it this way. Actors and artists aren’t famous for their business savvy, so we need to learn this stuff.

Laura MacLeod: Have you had a particular role model or mentor who has been an inspiration to you? If so, how has that person affected your life and work?

Kelli Maroney: The actress who played my mom on the soap, Louise Shaffer, was kind to me and taught me everything she knew about surviving on a Daytime drama, where you’re expected to cry on cue, never stop tape for any reason, etc. I’d never have gotten up to speed fast enough otherwise. I owe her everything. I also used to have a coach, Roy London, who was a genius. He passed away years ago and I’m still looking for another coach like him.

Laura MacLeod: Tell us about a favorite role or project of yours. What made it fun, enlightening, scary or otherwise memorable?

Kelli Maroney: You know, each role is fun, enlightening, scary and memorable!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

17

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

18

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

19

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

20

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK The soap was my first job in NYC, Fast Times brought me to Los Angeles, Night of the Comet changed my career, Face Down was the best written, flashiest role I have ever played. She was a schizophrenic. I thought it might be challenging to get it right, but found it was very easy and comfortable. I love my entire career.

Laura MacLeod: How has being a woman made your career more challenging?

Kelli Maroney: With all the women coming forward and speaking up about sexual harassment, it’s obvious that it’s a huge issue in my industry, but also in every industry. I quickly learned ways of dodging it: Never be alone with these guys, and cut off any discussion with, “Great, thank you! Please call my agent and set it up.” I developed a tough sarcasm that I learned from Mae West and Bette Davis films and that tends to be a buzzkill for these guys. And I didn’t immediately realize how limited women’s roles could be because I was fortunate to get fantastic leading roles where I was a badass.

Then in the 90s I saw that my choices were “victim” or “girlfriend.” Yuck.

I’m a character actress so I wasn’t going to get cast in those girlfriend roles, and the whole victim thing I found so depressing that after a couple of those roles I felt like I didn’t even want to do this anymore, if I had to play those victim-y parts. One or two, okay, but that’s all that was out there for me, it seemed. It’s so against my brand. People know me as the one who survives.

Laura MacLeod: What's been your best day of work so far?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

21

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

22

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Kelli Maroney: The best day of work is when you first get a role. That first day on set is like the first day of school. I remember the first time I was able to cry on cue on Ryan’s Hope. That was big for me because if you couldn’t do that they would probably get rid of you! I just love it on a film when the work is going well and everyone seems in sync, from the crew to the actors, directors, craft services, the grips—it is a mutual respect, love, and mutual admiration society.

Laura MacLeod: What's been your worst day of work so far?

Kelli Maroney: Every time we wrap a movie or I get wrapped on a TV show, I feel like it’s a death! I walk around set all needy, not wanting it to be over and not wanting to say goodbye to anyone! Well, maybe not exactly that needy, but I do feel very sad and make sure I know how to stay in touch with everyone. I think many actors feel this way.

Laura MacLeod: Who have you most enjoyed working with and why?

Kelli Maroney: As I mentioned, Louise Shaffer and Roy London, but additionally I loved working with Joan Fontaine, who played my agent on Ryan’s Hope. I loved working with Catherine Mary Stewart on NOTC (Night of the Comet, Ed.) and Barbara Crampton on Chopping Mall and made two lifelong friends. Once I’ve done a movie or TV show with people they become like family in my mind. I’ve been lucky enough to have been thrown in with some remarkably talented and kind artists. I loved working with Joe Mantegna, Peter Riegert, and of course, the wonderful Adam Ant in Face Down. I love Thom Eberhardt and have done two films with him now, and I enjoy working with Jim Wynorski, although he yells a lot on set.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

23

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

24

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK He is just 1000% committed and wants everyone else to be on point, too.

He is hilarious, and I have fun working with him. There are so many other people who have helped me and touched me throughout my career that I’m not going to be able to mention everyone, and I hate knowing that I’m forgetting to mention people.

Laura MacLeod: Who would you want to work with? What sort of role would you play?

Kelli Maroney: How about Tarantino? He takes actors and brings them into the present, like John Travolta, Robert Forster, Pam Grier, many more. And I would want to play a badass character who lives. I’d also like to do other films with Barbara Crampton, Catherine Mary Stewart, Thom Eberhardt, people I’ve already mentioned whom I’ve worked with and love. Also, there is a lot of brilliant talent coming up now in the horror and independent genres that I’m excited to work with, too. There has been a shift back to story and character, and I love that. There is a whole new energy that I feel happening now.

Christopher Zisi: To Avenge is one of your latest projects... this looks like a fantastic film. A babe with a big knife seeking revenge... can you tell us anything about this one and the character of Abigail? You can be sure I will have it up on my blog as soon as it comes out.

Kelli Maroney: Well, thank you! It's a revenge film with supernatural elements, and it explores the concept and emotions of revenge from many points of view. It pulls no punches and will likely be quite controversial.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

25

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

26

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK My character, Abigail, is the mother of the accused. She grew up a contemporary of the girl's mother but worked her way up the social ladder to the very top and is now married to an uber-wealthy, handsome, upper-class, very powerful man. They call all the shots in their community.

Her son is a golden boy with a dazzling future ahead of him and there is no way on earth Abigail will let anything interfere with that, no matter what he's accused of, or may or may not have done, and she'll be ruthless about it. I can't wait to shoot in Abigail's mansion. Our location is a summer resort type of place so we will shoot on their off-season, when the pandemic and the financing allow, of course.

Christopher Zisi: Your role as Meredith in Face Down shows us a different Kelli Maroney than the one that instantly comes to mind. Kelli Maroney, the perky cheerleader or teen mall babe from the 80s is the Kelli many of us fell in love with. A decade later, your Meredith in Face Down is a sultry femme fatale right out of a film noir movie. Meredith is seductive, dangerous, and in control. She is a mastermind within a toxic relationship. Tell us about your thought process in helping to create Meredith, our femme fatale. Did you draw any inspiration from the blonde sirens of the 40s and 50s such as Veronica Lake or Lana Turner?

Kelli Maroney: In the sense that I grew up loving those movies, of course.

I remember telling my coach that I was going to work on talking like they did in movies in the 30s and 40s and he said, "What do you mean? You already talk like that!" I suppose I was really immersed in those films.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

27

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

28

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK My only direction from the writer/director, Thom Eberhardt, for the Meredith character was, "Don't smile. you make everything okay when you smile. Meredith never smiles." And as simple of a direction as that was, it really gave me everything I needed for the character.

Laura MacLeod: What is your ideal project?

Kelli Maroney: A wonderful, well-written script that is moving and a story that just insists upon being told, a visionary director and cast who are passionate about the material, a director of photography with a great eye, beautiful lighting and sound, and an unlimited budget!

Laura MacLeod: How do you want to be remembered in 50 years?

Kelli Maroney: As someone who encouraged others to love, appreciate and believe in themselves, and dare to stretch and make their best dreams become reality. And as someone who always raised the vibe, made it comfortable for everyone to be their true selves, have fun, and create with abandon. I guess I really am cheerleader of sorts, after all!

Interview by Laura MacLeod & Christopher Zisi

About Laura MacLeod @MovieCriticND Laura MacLeod is a self-taught critic who's loved movies of all kinds since the Night on Bald Mountain scene from Fantasia scared her half to death at the age of four. She's been sharing that love (along with the occasional healthy dose of sarcasm) online since 2006 as the Movie Critic Next Door.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

29

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

30

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

About Christopher Zisi @cjzisi Christopher Zisi is an American horror writer from Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 2013, he created the blog "Zisi Emporium for B Movies" which showcases his thoughts and witticisms of horror, exploitation, and science fiction films. To date, over 1900 films have been reviewed on this blog. Mr. Zisi has published several books including six in The Xtrem Collection by Creators Unite. Those books are The Himalayan Devil Woman, The Ghosts Of Brisbane, Abilene-The Bondage Of Suyin Wong, Patricia M-The Perils Of A Sultry Stewardess, The Vixen Of Vladivostok and The Lunatic of the North. Before writing about horror full time, Christopher Zisi was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

31

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

32

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

33

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

34

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

35

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

36

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

37

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

38

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

39

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

40

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

THE ZERO BOYS

The Zero Boys, The Sultry Kelly Maroney Dodges Crossbows and Machetes The Zero Boys (1986) 1h 29m.

Writers: Robert Gilliam, Nico Mastorakis, Fred Perry.

Director: Nico Mastorakis.

Stars: Daniel Hirsch, Kelli Maroney, Nicole Rio...

Review by Christopher Zisi

Growing up in the 80s meant one thing... Kelli Maroney was your fantasy girlfriend. The nubile and perky blonde Uzi wielding cheerleader was everything a teen boy could desire. Cult favorites like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Night of the Comet left us teens breathless and desiring... at least in out fantasy worlds. The thought anyone could seek to rip her apart with a machete or impale her using a crossbow would've been too horrifying to imagine. Hence 1986's The Zero Boys, directed by Nico Mastorakis is our feature today.

Three hunks, Steve (Daniel Hirsch), Rip (Jared Moses), and Larry (Tom Shell) have just beaten some neo Nazis at a survival game championship.

Good news for Steve... he wagered the lead neo Nazi and the winner gets Jamie (Maroney). Uh oh... this is news to Jamie and she ends up in the trio's car along with two more babes, Trish (Crystal Carson) and Sue (Nicole Rio). As the three babes bicker and Jamie keeps looking put off by her new brute date, the six head deep in the wilderness. Uh oh... Jamie sees a naked babe running for her life. The gang pulls over... bad move... to investigate.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

41

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM A storm arises and the six find shelter holed up in an apparently empty cabin. Weird things begin happening and Trish sees someone peering at her and Larry during pre-marital sex.

Now the hunks investigate the property and find a makeshift torture chamber next door where snuff films are made. Uh oh... Trish is seized by a fiend hiding in the bathtub. Now Trish is tortured, humiliated, and prepped to be a star in the next snuff film. The guys man up and grab weapons and act macho. The gals bicker and scream at every corpse that pops up... women! The bad guys also have weapons... crossbows and machetes. The guys concoct a bad escape plan which the fiendish hunters were banking on. Boobie traps... explosives... electricity... arrows... and machineguns will rule the second half of the film. The trio of babes will look wonderful as they are afraid and beset. The deaths will be excruciating... you'll see.

Do any of the hunks and babes have what it takes to survive this wilderness game of life and death? Will Kelli Maroney's charm and sex appeal pull her out of this mess? Just who are these fiendish backwoods snuff film makers? This film will remind you of one of the Friday the 13th sequels and Deliverance. For some neat 1980s slasher fare featuring the nubile Kelli Maroney... see The Zero Boys.

Christopher Zisi

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

42

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

43

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE DEEP ONES

The Deep Ones (2020) 1h 23m.

Writer & Director: Chad Ferrin. based on stories by H.P. Lovecraft.

Stars: Kelli Maroney, Gina La Piana, Robert Miano...

Review by Matthew Kirshenblatt

The Deep Ones is the addition of a fascinating character named Ambrose Zadok. This is the female analogue to Zadok Allen from The Shadow Over Innsmouth, played by the excellent Kelli Maroney — and easily the best

thing, aside from the villainousness of Robert Miano, about this film — who is looking for her lost daughter: a daughter that we realize isn’t missing, but was taken by the Solar Beach cult to their master Dagon.

Ambrose is desperate, nearly deranged with grief and fear for her child, and her presence is explained away — gaslit I feel like there is a missed opportunity with Kelli Maroney’s Ambrose Zadok character. The interactions between her and Russell Marsh in her car, which he can somehow just go right into, stand out the most, especially when he confronts her about how “she knew what she wanted” and “she knew the price.” That is a story all in itself.

Matthew Kirshenblatt @MKirshenblatt

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

44

CREATORS UNITE 10 SUPERTREAT

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

45

CREATORS UNITE 10 SUPERTREAT

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

46

CREATORS UNITE 10

MAGNETISM QUIZ: TEST YOURSELF ON PAGE 48!

• Take The Voight-Kampff Test to Discover Your Strong Woman Profile Or What Type of Woman You’re Attracted to…

• Find Out the Results of the Voight-Kampff Test On Page 50

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

47

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

48

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

49

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

50

CREATORS UNITE 10 SUPERTREAT

• Count Your Strongest Color & Find the Results Below ❑

Your profile type matches you with the intrepid Zhora. A strong-minded warrior, Zhora faces every challenge with courage and determination. Always in action, she never looks back. She loves to seduce and knows how to get what she wants. She is a lover of life, of food, and all the pleasures of the senses.

Although she is very direct, Zhora is also discreet; she rarely expresses her deepest feelings, but knows how to inspire confidence. The man who hurts her makes her a wounded and dangerous beast at his own risk. Once her wounds have healed, Zhora returns to battle...and victory!

❑

Your profile type matches you with the graceful Rachael. Beautiful, quiet, and mysterious, Rachael loves balance and harmony in all things. Brilliant and tough at the same time, she impresses with her classy style and high standards. While some might call her cold, Rachael is a woman with hidden depths, a pure heart, and a beautiful spirit. Radiant and sweet, she has excellent taste, attention to detail, and an attraction to luxury. Most men who approach her run the terrible risk of being rejected. Vulnerable, Rachael protects herself; she only offers her true heart once and forever. Once broken, her heart cannot be repaired.

❑

Your profile type matches you with the beautiful Pris. A living, breathing doll with a quick temper, Pris is a rebel, an eccentric, a generous soul who loves others and lives life to the fullest. Joyous, she easily attracts predators, but she has learned to avoid them over time. While she prefers love to war, she will fight to defend herself with uncommon strength. The one who owns her heart dominates her life. She is devoted to him with perfect loyalty and agrees, supports, and follows him… until death.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

51

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

52

CREATORS UNITE 10 Masters at Work 2 - Lloyd Kaufman

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

53

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

54

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY

From Toxic Avenger To Blood Hook: How Lloyd Kaufman Shaped My Love For The Absurd.

by Todd Rigney

Movies have always played a role in my life.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved film. One of my earliest memories of going to the movies with my parents involved a horrifying experience watching E.T. on the big screen. When the beloved alien first pops out and screams at an understandably terrified Elliot, I threw my trusty blanket over my head and left it there for the rest of the movie. My parents said other moviegoers were amused at my admittedly embarrassing reaction.

I like to refer to it as self-preservation.

My parents had one rule regarding my habit: no horror movies. I could watch as many bloody R-rated action movies as I wanted, but scary flicks were off the table. I scared very easily, which meant they'd have to deal with the effects Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger had on my tender psyche. Of course, that didn't stop me from wanting to watch stuff like Child's Play, but they wouldn't budge. If I wanted to watch something scary, I'd have to do it at a friend's house - which also meant I had to pretend I wasn't completely terrified out of my wits in front of my pals.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

55

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

56

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY The less said about my experience with Stuart Gordon's Dolls, the better.

However, my parents couldn't watch me all the time. When I got a TV and cable in my bedroom (minus the pay channels), I could consume just about anything I wanted.

During that time, I discovered USA's Up All Night. Although I enjoyed watching Gilbert Gottfried host the program, Rhonda Shear seemed to mesh well with the show's choice of offbeat cinema. Of course, being a boy quickly sprinting toward puberty, Shear appealed to me in a number of different ways.

Regardless, I'd come for the movies, and the kid who loved Garbage Pail Kids and low-budget sci-fi flicks discovered a side of cinema he never knew existed. I was immediately hooked.

Then I watched Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman's The Toxic Avenger, and it blew my tiny little mind.

My parents hit the hay around 11 p.m. every night, so as soon as I knew they were fast asleep (my mom snored notoriously), I'd turn on my little TV and tune in. That fateful evening, I'd stumbled onto The Toxic Avenger, a story about a love-struck nerd who becomes a rampaging superhero after falling into a vat of chemicals. Although I'd later learned that USA had removed a significant portion of the movie due to copious nudity and extreme violence, I didn't miss it at the time. Even in its neutered form, The Toxic Avenger felt dangerous, subversive, and a terrible secret I thought only Rhonda and I shared. It triggered something in me, and I was never the same.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

57

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

58

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY

USA's Up All Night also introduced me to Surf Nazis Must Die, Blood Hook, and two Toxic Avenger sequels, though I'm sure my 40-year-old memory has forgotten one or two (or several more) movies that pushed me to investigate TROMA, the company responsible for these very odd and frequently deranged films.

Whenever I'd see a late-night listing for Blood Hook (a personal favorite) on Cinemax, I'd sneak into the living room in the middle of the night and watch it with the volume level turned down as low as I could manage.

If my parents knew what I was up to, they never let on, but I prefer to believe that my thief skills were maxed out and operating at the highest possible level. Doubtful, but it's fun to pretend.

When my parents finally relented and let me start renting horror movies, I picked up everything TROMA-related the video store had in its inventory.

I consumed anything and everything, and I started to become very familiar with Kaufman's work.

In the days before the internet, this meant I had to chat up the guy behind the counter at Movie Warehouse, who seemed more than happy to discuss TROMA and its head honcho, Lloyd Kaufman. He also suggested titles such as Street Trash, Brain Damage, and Basket Case, pretty much solidifying my love of gory, offbeat, New York City-centric 80s horror.

Still, I didn't know much about the man, and living in Lexington, Kentucky, at the time - a long way from the mean streets of New York City - that wouldn't change until I started using AOL dial-up in the 90s. In fact, one of my first visits on the World Wide Web was to the official TROMA webpage.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

59

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

60

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

61

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

62

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY I read up on the company's origins, about Kaufman's history producing and directing films, and how the TROMA frequently acquired similar lowbudget flicks from aspiring filmmakers. While some people used the internet to research French cinema and avant-garde motion pictures, I used it to become a TROMA scholar. And I don't regret a minute of it.

Over the years, I've consumed everything about Kaufman I could get my hands on, from interviews to documentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. And while my tastes have fluctuated - I once spent over a year watching nothing but Oscar contenders and winners, which I now realize was probably a waste of my time - TROMA has remained an unwavering constant.

When there's nothing on TV and I'm not in the mood for anything remotely high-brow, there's always a Kaufman-produced movie in my collection that can fill the void, The Toxic Avenger 2 being a clear favorite.

Not surprisingly, my life-long love for the movies bearing Lloyd Kaufman's name has bled into my career as a writer. While a lot of my writing tends to skew toward serious characters, the situations they find themselves are seemingly lifted from an unproduced TROMA script.

Weirdos, freaks, and an assortment of grotesquely violent villains litter my stories, and when that's not enough, a heavy dose of sexual innuendo, bodily fluids, and an array of unseemly scenarios get smeared across the page. As much as I'd love to tell a deep, meaningful, straightforward story that would land me on someone's bestseller list, I can't seem to get the things I've learned from Lloyd Kaufman out of my brain.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

63

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

64

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY Here's the difference, though: while I enjoy writing about people with misshapen penises trying to unlock otherworldly portals using their own cursed organs, Kaufman had a different agenda. At the end of the day, Kaufman's a businessman, and he scratched an itch few of us really knew we had at the time. And when he discovered people would gladly eat up everything from Toxic Avengers and Surfing Nazis to high schools filled with sexy ladies and deranged mutants, he began pumping these ultralow-budget films onto the market.

I'm writing stories because I'm a deviant guy with a very sick imagination; Kaufman created movies for sickos because he knew he could make lots of money. The guy's a genius.

Sadly, as a nervous, socially awkward kid, I didn't know anyone who felt the same way about the guy. However, when I started a film blog in the mid-2000s, I soon connected with folks who also appreciated Kaufman's work and the TROMA catalog as much as I did.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the internet is that, if I were so inclined, I could log into Twitter and tweet him directly. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll get a response, but the kid who used to watch Kaufman's movies on Up All Night would probably die of a heart attack if he knew that, at some point in his lifetime, he could contact one of his heroes with the push of a few buttons (or keystrokes, or mouse clicks). However, I haven't mustered the courage to make that leap, and I don't know if I ever will. I guess some things never change.

The fact that so many people have been affected by Lloyd Kaufman and TROMA fills me with unbridled joy.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

65

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

66

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY Although some people dismiss these films as simple trash for simple minds, I couldn't disagree more. Even if you hate the movies themselves, you have to respect Kaufman's business sense and his drive to cash in on a demographic that, apparently, wasn't satisfied by the stuff churned out by big-name studios. TROMA fans are a loyal, dedicated bunch, proven by the fact that the company still operates today. There's no denying the man's influence on countless novels, comic books, and movies, including my own. My name's Todd Rigney, I'm a proud graduate of Nuke 'Em High, and Melvin the mop boy's my best friend.

Todd Rigney

About Todd Rigney Todd Rigney was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. After writing for a handful of entertainment websites, he published the book Found in 2004. He followed up the acclaimed novel with a series of short stories entitled Twelve (Stories Concerning Love and Death) in 2011. Found would later be optioned by Bloomington, Indiana filmmaker Scott Schirmer as a full-length feature. The film debuted in July of 2012 to a packed house in Bloomington. The adaptation has since played at several film festivals around the world. In addition to releasing the books M'rth and Dancing on the Edge of a Blade, Todd would go on to co-write the horror/comedy Glorious with Joshua Hull. The film is based on his short story Old Glory from the 2017 anthology Taste Level Zero.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

67

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

68

CREATORS UNITE 10 PASSION STORY

Lloyd Kaufman - A Study

by Richard M. Martin All Photos Courtesy TROMA ENTERTAINMENT Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr., better known to us all as Lloyd Kaufman…

Today, I will explore a few things that have lead Lloyd to where he is today: a champion of independence cinema. A good place to start given today’s issue of Creators Unite Magazine (CUM! I think Lloyd would chuckle at that one) is at the founding of TROMA ENTERTAINMENT in 1974 by Lloyd and his partner Michael Herz. When discussing Lloyd’s career, it is sometimes difficult to separate him and his work from TROMA, as the two are so closely aligned, as before TROMA, Lloyd was already making movies (don’t mention “B-Movie” around Lloyd, I found out the hard way! See my interview attached).

Many would be familiar with the debut of TROMA’s mascot Toxie in The Toxic Avenger (1984) but Lloyd himself has been directing since 1969 with his debut The Girl Who Returned. During his first few years as a young aspiring filmmaker, Lloyd directed under pseudonyms. Was he embarrassed by what he was producing? Given Lloyd’s pride in his work, it is hard to know why he used such aliases like Louis Su, H.V. Spyder, David Stitt and Samuel Weil.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

69

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

70

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

71

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

72

CREATORS UNITE 10

Many would see Lloyd as a director and producer but looking through his body of work you’d like to say he was an actor first and foremost having starred in over 300 productions to date; there are no signs of him stopping, however, having made 23 appearances in projects last year alone.

But who really is Lloyd Kaufman? What can we deduce from all the information available to us out there?

When posing the question “who are you?”, there is a lot to consider. It’s a question most of us would struggle to answer comprehensively. Anyone who has managed to write an autobiography, I have to commend them on that. I think in order to fully understand who Lloyd is, we need to dive deeper, we need to look at what was happening before TROMA, before the films even took shape. We need to go further back in time! *que TARDIS sounds and effects* (TARDIS -Time And Relative Dimension In Space- is a

fictional time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, Ed).

Mr. Kaufman graduated from Yale University and while he did major in Chinese Studies, he didn’t really pursue a career in anything Chinese, unless we’re talking mass production on the cheap! College is where Lloyd’s love of all things cinema really began to ferment to become an all-consuming lifelong mission to entertain us viewers who enjoy surrealistic, overtly sexual, and intentionally sadistic films. But why commit such feverous delights to celluloid? What is Man’s fascination with sex and violence? It is simple really, anyone of us who pretends to be a prude is in fact lying to themselves.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

73

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

74

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

75

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

76

CREATORS UNITE 10

Some of my own favourite stories revolve around, to put it eloquently, food poisoning.

“But why?” I hear you ask again. It’s relatable, toilet humour is simply relatable, we’ve all been there, breaking out into a sweat, not a lavatory in sight, the constriction and pain bubbling up from below, your feral instincts take over and you just want to shit anywhere to end the intestinal torment! Lloyd gets that and he is unashamed. We should all be unashamed, it is part of being alive.

You think a man with as much energy and get-up-and-go as Lloyd worries about what people think? Certainly not, this is the same man who joked about masturbating to the thought of me in my dressing gown, ME! Was I offended? Not at all, it was funny and contextual, we even got it recorded.

Back on topic though, the question still remains “why?”. There is a throwaway line in the depths of his WIKIPEDIA entry not often discussed about Lloyd.

In 1966, Lloyd went on a hiatus from his studies and spent a year in Chad for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a pathfinder for the Peace Corps. Could this have been the catalyst for his complete disregard for cinematic reverence, which the film industry always tries to uphold? In an era of scandal and cover ups, the upfront nature of Lloyd's and TROMA’s history and body of work is to be commended.

I cast my mind to the character of The Comedian from Alan Moore’s The Watchmen.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

77

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

78

CREATORS UNITE 10

A man who has seen such atrocity he has deduced all life to be one big joke and has turned the world into his own amusement park. To me Lloyd is The Comedian, he has made light of a variety of topics for over 40 years. Countless parodies, innuendos and irreverent humour. What’s not to love about it, it’s relatable.

For me personally, Lloyd is someone to aspire to. He is one of the hardest working men I have ever witnessed. He absolutely wholeheartedly LOVES cinema. Lloyd will often help out aspiring filmmakers by making cameos in their films for a small fee or even for free. After all, he has been independent for over 40 years and knows all too well the trials and tribulations of the business. He is beyond generous with his time and appears seemingly from thin air on social media to join in the discussion while simultaneously promoting TROMA NOW (TROMA ENTERTAINMENT’s Exclusive Subscription Video On-Demand Service, Ed). Once a hustler always a hustler.

We all probably have a picture in our head of what a man in his 70s is like, slowly shuffling along, hunched over a cane, no, not Lloyd. He throws himself at life and has the filthy mind of any young man. I think this is what my real take home point is about Lloyd. He has worked for every inch of his success and is still putting in those hours and not sitting back resting on his laurels. He is self-deprecating, quick to the joke or pun, and an all-around humble man. He supports the scene and the industry and has inspired and helped countless others.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

79

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

80

CREATORS UNITE 10

I think his most prized protégé is James Gunn [having wrote the screenplay for Tromeo and Juliet (1996)], going on to write and direct such films as Guardians of the Galaxy, which cameoed Lloyd as a prisoner some eagle eyed viewers might spot in the background.

To conclude, Lloyd Kaufman is a champion of the horror and independent cinema scene. He has helped and assisted creators uniting for the duration of his career. Without Lloyd we would not have seen half of what guerrilla filmmaking has come on to be and represent. It is at its core part of growth and exploration for young and first-time filmmakers alike. Get your ideas out there, do not let anybody tell you you can’t do it or that there is going to be no audience for your body of work. It’s all lies and jealousy. There is an audience for everything and everyone you just need to keep working hard and eventually something will stick. Without passion, there will be no glory. I raise a glass to Lloyd and all the people of TROMA ENTERTAINMENT who have helped shape and define what it means to be independent.

Richard Martin

About Richard M. Martin @TheFearMerchant Host of The Bazaar Cast, Richard M. Martin, AKA The Fear Merchant, is a Horror Reviewer, Commentator and a Contributor to Creators Unite Magazine.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

81

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

82

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

Exclusive Interview with Lloyd Kaufman

ThE WEb Talk Artworks: Dale Mike B., Penelope Cox, Sayuri, Ruede Bloch & Kopy Kat | Photos Courtesy: Troma Entertainment & ©GirlsandCorpses.com Once you enter the workshop of Creators Unite, you never come out the same again. As you drift past the paint-flecked easel by the window, the manual typewriter on the desk, the drafting table with the Tensor lamp, all bathed in the soft glow of multiple HD monitors showing multiple images, you become possessed. Possessed by the spirit of creation. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? The urge, the drive, the need to create. Even as it eats you, it gives you life.

TROMA ENTERTAINMENT’s founder, Lloyd Kaufman, fills the workshop with warmth, with energy, with an ebullient, infectious humor. He speaks French and English with equal facility, discussing the Tao Te Ching in one breath, then moving to Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the next. We were fortunate enough to capture just a little of Lloyd’s spark in a chat about filmmaking, writing, and TROMA’s influence on movies today.

Creators Unite: Thank you for sitting down with us to do this interview.

Lloyd Kaufman: Thank you for doing this issue on TROMA; it’s my fiftieth year of making movies.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

83

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

84

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

85

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

86

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Creators Unite: What are the differences you’re seeing in low-budget filmmaking today from the way you made films decades ago?

Lloyd Kaufman: We have a wonderful democratization of the making of cinema. You don’t need money anymore to make a movie. But due to the development and evolution of the movie industry worldwide into a cartel or almost a monopoly—an elite club—you cannot make a living. You cannot pay your rent or eat your food and make movies. When I started, if you made a movie that was entertaining, unusual, or commercial, there was no problem getting your movie into movie theaters.

There were many little studios and distributors when I started my movie company in 1974. Now they’re all gone. The industry has become consolidated, and now there’s a small number of Devil-worshiping conglomerates—and some governments—that pretty much control every movie that’s being financed. Because of that, if you’re going to make a truly independent movie (and you want to eat), you have to be partners with or become a vassal of one of those entities. Otherwise, you’ll end up like Uncle Lloyd, living under the overpass of Route 95 in a refrigerator carton, trading DVDs for bath salts.

Creators Unite: Would The Toxic Avenger achieve cult status if it was released today?

Lloyd Kaufman: The Toxic Avenger was ahead of its time thirty years ago.

The guys who made Deadpool are TROMA fans. I’ve never met them, but they talk about TROMA all the time. Many of the elements of The Toxic Avenger, like breaking the fourth wall: we used to be criticized for having the characters talk to the audience. Deadpool does that.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

87

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

88

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK It’s Brechtian: Berthold Brecht. Thornton Wilder, Andy Warhol. Now having characters break the fourth wall is very chic. We were doing it thirty years ago, but nobody liked it. Thirty years ago, we were putting in rock and roll songs because we couldn’t afford to hire a Bulgarian orchestra to make the soundtrack. Now look at James Gunn, who worked for us: his soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy is heralded because it uses source music. Guardians of the Galaxy is a wonderful movie. A masterpiece. Most of these baby food movies are copying James Gunn and putting in source music. Our problem is that we were a little too early.

Creators Unite: Who are some indie filmmakers we should be paying attention to? Who’s not getting the attention they deserve?

Lloyd Kaufman: If you go to TROMA NOW, the exclusive streaming service, you can see over 100 world premiere movies. Some of them are made by the James Gunns of tomorrow. For example, Fear Town, USA and The Slashening, both written and directed by Brandon Bassham, are terrific: funny and scary. Brandon also teaches at the Upright Citizens Brigade, a comedy group like Second City. We’re writing a new movie that will hopefully begin shooting this summer. We’re doing our version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Creators Unite: You’ve successfully made the jump from filmmaker to author with your Make Your Own Damn Movie book series. Tell us about your experience writing books.

Lloyd Kaufman: The first book I wrote was my memoir, written with James Gunn in 1994: All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

89

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

90

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

91

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

92

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

93

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

94

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK It’s totally useless as far as learning anything about filmmaking, but it’s kind of inspirational. I’ve written seven books, one of which was a novel called The Toxic Avenger, in which you learn all about the history of Tromaville, including the Tromahawk Indians, who show up in the movie Poultrygeist. I just finished a novel titled Pests, a serious, dark horror book along the lines of American Psycho. That just came out in hardcover., I’ve written a lot of books; most of them are Make Your Own

Damn Movie, Direct Your Own Damn Movie, Produce Your Own Damn Movie, Distribute Your Own Damn Movie.

Myself, Michael Herz (my partner of over 44 years), the whole TROMA Team: we really want to encourage young people to do what they believe in. That’s not to say they shouldn’t go to film school. I’m agnostic about film school, and I don’t mean that they shouldn’t try to be in the mainstream. If they want the Oscar and they want the cocaine and the mansions and the hookers, they can do that and still be wonderful people. In my experience of 50 years, 99.9% of the individuals in this industry are scum of the Earth. They’re horrible people. But that one tiny little percentage, they’re the best people. James Gunn is the best. Jon Voight is the best. Michael Herz is the best. My wife, who’s produced movies, is the best. And Eli Roth. I can go on and on. They’re wonderful.

They love cinema and you can talk to them about cinema.

Creators Unite: The advent of electronic publishing has had a democratizing effect on books with distributors like Amazon and Smashwords. Is there any similar way for an independent filmmaker to get eyeballs on his or her movie?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

95

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

96

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

97

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Lloyd Kaufman: Yes. There are many YouTube stars creating entertainment on the internet and they’re getting millions of eyeballs.

The Angry Video Game Nerd is one. There’s a French DJ named The Toxic Avenger with a bigger following than TROMA. The internet is the last democratic medium. It allows us at TROMA to communicate with our fans and present entertainment. We own about 1000 movies, and we’ve put 400 of them on our channel free to watch on YouTube to thank our fans for decades of support. The reason why we have such a following is because we provide something the public likes.

Creators Unite: Thank you very much for your time. We really appreciate it.

Lloyd Kaufman: Thank you.

A Very Special Thanks To Thom DeMicco, Cathy MacKay & Hayden McComas.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

98

CREATORS UNITE 10 GUILTY PLEASURE

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

99

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

100

CREATORS UNITE 10 GUILTY PLEASURE Lloyd Kaufman has had a significant influence on filmmakers and independent creators. We bring you here an exclusive interview of Tony Newton, an independent filmmaker who produced horror anthologies such as Grindsploitation (distributed by TROMA).

by Tony Newton I started out writing horror film scripts and, being a ghost-writer and script doctor on a few projects over the last ten years, it was my love of horror films that spurred me on to get into indie film making. Since then, I have made horror films, horror anthology films and VHS documentaries.

I also write horror books.

I watch Horror films every chance I get, I listen to horror soundtracks (the Suspiria soundtrack composed and performed by the Italian band Goblin is the most played album in my house!), I collect skulls (I think at this point in time I have more skulls than a graveyard!), and my latest venture is creating a cabinet of curiosities (so, basically anything creepy ranging from dolls heads to mummified fairies to Cthulhu statues, old rocks, vampire killing kits and old medical equipment)…

Apart from that, I collect horror VHS tapes and vintage horror toys and play horror movies on VHS and super 8! I'm obsessed with schlock horror and B movies so much that one of my film companies is now called SCHLOCK FILMS!... I also own VESTRA PICTURES and BODY BAG FILMS.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

101

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

102

CREATORS UNITE 10 GUILTY PLEASURE I love the medium of film for telling stories. I don't think anything else comes close. I watched the Evil Dead when I was 5 years old; my parents won a VCR player in the early to mid-eighties so, every night they would rent the latest video nasty to cult classics like Friday the 13th film series, all the Nightmare on Elm Street films etc. Watching horror films at a young age literally makes you get scared. You experience real terror and fear. You wouldn't need to explain to a rationally thinking 19-year-old that Freddy Krueger wasn't going to kill you in your sleep… but to a 10year boy, it's a different story!

Over the last decade there has been some really crazy and bizarre horror films; it seems like they have to break the rules, then, take a shit on them as well. One thing is for sure, by doing this, not only will the film get exposure (although not always for the right reasons), but the viewer will be left thinking, and in most cases left in a state of shock.

I look out for unique films which offer unforeseen twists. I enjoy the use of unique camera angles and effects to create ambience, suspense and fear, as well as the various ways in which each director endeavours to build suspense. The writers and directors of the horror genre have the opportunity to unleash their full potential, creativity and imagination to impress, shock and terrify the viewer whilst providing unforeseen twists and turns. Ninety nine percent of horror films are made with the sole intention of scaring the audience. The reason for our global love of horror films is they bring audiences pleasure, suspense, and inspire the viewer to unleash their own creativity in the genre.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

103

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

104

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

105

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

106

CREATORS UNITE 10 GUILTY PLEASURE Horror films can even help the viewer deal with issues like grief and overcoming fears and phobias.

It sounds old fashioned just the old git "They don't make them like they did in the good old Day's" but I'm a lover of the classic video nasties; they were fresh, they were new, they were breaking the rules and making new ones along the way. I crave for an era in film like it again.

A lot of today's horror films like Hostel, Paranormal activity and even The Blair Witch Project started out as great ideas and were very entertaining horror films but copycat filmmakers re-hash the same ideas and have since been milked to death, though they still pull in large numbers at theatres and then DVD sales.

The strange thing is that there’s far less to the story, plot and characters in these modern studio produced horror films, than there was in the classic independent video nasty films in the eighties.

There is nothing I would like more than being given a huge budget to make a really great horror movie, though I think my dream movie to remake would be Zombie Flesh Eaters or something like Driller Killer.

The Indie film scene literally is blood sweat and tears. At every level, you are going to get knock backs... Indie filmmaking isn't easy, it's not pretty.

You have to be a die-hard fan, have a passion for the craft, enjoy what you are doing, be it writing, directing, producing, editing (among other jobs) and, 99 % of the time in the indie horror world all of the above working with a very small or no budget.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

107

CREATORS UNITE 10 GUILTY PLEASURE There isn't much return for indie films filmmaking and most of the time you are self-funding projects.

When I'm not doing my day job, I'm editing, writing, filming something, networking, non-stop.

I write daily mainly horror film scripts and VHS, trash cinema and B movie reviews. I also produce feature films and write horror books. I wrote The Zombie Rule Book and I'm Zombie. Both zombie books are out now via COSMIC EGG BOOKS. Horror is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it. Horror has dedicated fans unlike fans of any other film genre; they’re great, passionate people. When you are a horror fan, you're a horror fan for life!

Remember: #creatorsunite!

Tony Newton A Very Special Thanks To Vestra Pictures, Trash Arts, The Enchanted Architect, Troma Entertainment, SRS Cinema, Sector 5 Films, World Wide Multimedia, Body Bag & Schlock Films.

About Tony Newton @TonyNewton1 Owner of SCHLOCK FILMS, VESTRA PICTURES and BODY BAG FILMS, Tony Newton is an indie filmmaker and a Contributor to Creators Unite Magazine.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

108

CREATORS UNITE 10 Masters at Work 3 – Luigi Cozzi

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

109

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

110

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

Cult Interview with Luigi Cozzi

by Maria Cristina Mastrangeli

ThE WEb Talk Editor: Laura MacLeod | Translators: Biscuit C & Lorenza Florida | Artworks: Dale Mike B. | Photos Courtesy: ©Andrea Galeazzi.

Interview with Luigi Cozzi by his actress Maria Cristina Mastrangeli on the occasion of the release of Little Wizards of Oz, his latest movie which has been acclaimed at festivals.

Rome, Italy, September 2018 In this still summery day, the meeting is set up at the Profondo Rosso store in Rome. This store, that Luigi Cozzi founded with Dario Argento a long time ago, is located in a central area of Rome called Prati (“The meadow” in Italian, Ed), but the shop is far from ordinary.

A den for fans of horror and fantasy films, you can find masks, props, DVDs and rare posters there as well as niche books. Many of these books are written by Luigi himself. In the basement there is even a tiny museum of horrors, though its smallness doesn’t make it any less terrifying... I am well placed to know; we had turned one of the dungeons into a lodge during the shooting of Little Wizards of Oz!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

111

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

112

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Being an actress who interviews her director, puts me at once in an unusual position. Moreover, even after three films with him, I still feel that Luigi is a discreet and secret being. I wondered how to get him to talk about himself. And I ended up using an exercise that I usually use with young actresses and actors- it so happens that in another part of my life I direct plays! So, I put three identically folded little notes in front of our director.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: On each note you’ll find a question. There is no particular order. You pick a note, you open it, you answer the question and then you go to the next. You can take all the time you need.

Luigi Cozzi: Should I start?

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: Whenever you want.

Luigi Cozzi: Who am I? He's taken aback.

Luigi Cozzi: Who am I, me? Well, I'm Luigi Cozzi, a sci-fi enthusiast who's been trying to make science fiction movies for many years. It's pretty hard. I directed many films, I wrote many others… I worked for a long time with Dario Argento, then I made my own films as a director and screenwriter. Some have worked very well around the world, so I still have fans everywhere! In addition to that, for a number of years, I have run with Dario Argento this store, Profondo Rosso, dedicated to genre movies (Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy films, Ed).

We sell DVDs, masks, puppets and figurines, all dedicated exclusively to this kind of cinema. And at the same time, I try to continue my work as a filmmaker.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

113

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

114

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

115

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

116

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Recently, I have made two films in which you also have played (Blood on Méliès Moon -2016- and Little Wizards of Oz -2018, Ed)! They are giving me a lot of satisfaction, so I hope to go on.

He looks at me, I don't budge.

Luigi Cozzi: Is it OK? Well let’s move on to the second question… Who am I!?! Same question!

He bursts out laughing.

Luigi Cozzi: Do I have to answer again?... Who am I? First of all, I'm a writer. I've always written. Then I am a genre movies historian; I have published a lot of books on this specific topic. As a writer I became a screenwriter and from writing screenplays I moved on to directing movies. I have navigated in various fields of the cinema, but now I am recognized as an author.

Luigi has an ironic expression, but tinged with a certain satisfaction, like a child who has managed his first bike ride.

Luigi Cozzi: I’ve been promoted, if you want! Before I was only considered as a maker of genre movies.

Here we are interrupted loudly: "Can we come in? " Luigi Cozzi: Hi, Vince, come in...

Being in Profondo Rosso store with Luigi also means laying yourself open to amazing encounters…

The three questions game is interrupted by a gentleman who is vigorous despite his 70 years. With a keen eye and a spring in his step, Vince Tempera, the Italian Maestro of so many motion picture soundtracks is coming into the store. Even without knowing his name, you surely have heard at least one of his compositions.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

117

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

118

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK The theme of his album Sette Note in Nero, for example, was included in the film score of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Vince’s reason for visiting his friend Luigi is the search for the mailing address of the company that finalizes copyright requests for the utilization of Little Wizards of Oz, for which he composed the music. The two associates talk about the next screenings of "our" film; One in Chicago, the other in Sitges (International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalunya, Ed) October 13th in the Brigadoon section.

Luigi Cozzi (half joking): Sitges, near Barcelona, is the Cannes of Fantastic Cinema!

There follows a chat about the ways new generations comprehend Cinema… they do not necessarily appreciate the fact young people don’t go to the movies... but they are happy that genre movies still sell on DVDs; they are collectibles. Then, Vince mentions Romics, the greatest comics and cosplay event in Rome for which he is the artistic and musical director...

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: Ah, I said, my uncle Vincenzo Silvestri runs the comic books section!

And here we go again… reminiscing about famous manga titles, where Vince was credited...

Vince Tempera: Captain Harlock ! I make a living from this!

Vince Tempera composed the score of the Italian version of Space Pirate

Captain Harlock for Universal in 1979, Ed.

Vince and Luigi talk to each other. For a period of time, they forget me.

The tables have turned, I am in the position of the director who spies on his actors! I'm enjoying this!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

119

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

120

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Vince Tempera and Luigi Cozzi: We were very early Sci-Fi enthusiasts.

Vince Tempera: For example, the books of the Urania series (Urania is

one of the most vivid collections of books exclusively dedicated to sciencefiction. The company was founded in 1952, Ed), the new ones they publish,

they simply fall from my hands, so before I start one, I look if the author was born before 1950, otherwise I don’t read it! If the writer is an apprentice of Asimov, this is the best.

Luigi Cozzi: I don't like contemporary science fiction novels either.

Vince Tempera: The weather is so hot!... I can’t stop thinking about this English movie The Day the Earth Caught Fire where we see the Thames has evaporated! (Directed in 1961 by Val Guest, The Day the Earth Caught

Fire is a disaster movie talking about the nuclear dangers during the cold war, Ed). Will we end up like this?

Luigi Cozzi: The English are great storytellers!

While evoking the mythical missing movie theaters in Rome, Vince leaves to catch his train to Milan, where he lives.

I go back to Luigi’s world...

Luigi Cozzi: I was on the second “who I am”... What was it I was saying, again? Oh yes, my author status! After so many years, the people in the industry have finally noticed!... And the third question? Will it be the same?!

Now jaded, Luigi opens the third paper… but bursts out laughing anyway.

He still has this expression of the child who likes to play to 'scare themselves', knowing full well that it is mom or dad who is hidden behind the curtain.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

121

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

122

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Luigi Cozzi: Oh yes! I am an independent author who seeks to do different things every time. I have this "genre director" label, but in reality, I experienced all genres: sci-fi, fantasy, romance, comedy... I don't like to repeat myself, I like challenges. This last film Little Wizards of Oz, for example, I accepted it precisely because it represented a challenge I wanted to take up. That is me!... more or less!

In the meantime, Andrea Galeazzi has arrived to take a picture of us while we are doing the interview. A writer, composer and photographer, Andrea is a faithful friend with multiple talents.

The three papers game is over. Before the last questions, we pause so Andrea can take additional pictures more easily. And here, in this magical place, other connections appear.

Luigi Cozzi to Andrea Galeazzi: Haven't we met before?

Andrea Galeazzi: That's possible. I also worked with Dario Argento.

Luigi Cozzi: Oh yes, on what?

Andrea Galeazzi: That’s the story of a failure! At the beginning of the 90s, RAI (Italy's state-owned television channel, Ed.) was expected to produce a series with six independent episodes. Argento would have been the curator of the series on the model of CBS’s Hitchcock Presents. I had been contacted to write the screenplay and I had started working with Dario.

Finally, the project was considered too expensive. We never made it. But I was recommended to write with Dario Argento, for another series produced for Mediaset.

Luigi Cozzi: Ah, yes, the producer was Giuseppe Colombo, he argued with Dario from the first brain storming!

They both laugh.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

123

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

124

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Andrea Galeazzi: Well, yes, end of story!

We have enough pictures. Andrea is storing his equipment. I'm picking up the interview with Luigi again.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: Can you tell us more about the inception of The Little Wizards of Oz project?

Luigi Cozzi: The idea didn't come from me. Fabio Crisante (The author of the subject, Ed) works at Cinecittà. He has a child in the primary class (fourth grade, Ed) and in accordance with the teacher during the crafts days he wanted to make the children understand what cinema was, not only the final result on the screen, but what also making movies means.

He invited people from various trade associations to talk to their class about it: screenwriters, makeup artists, costume designers... During his conversations with children and teachers, this crazy idea to involve them in the making of a film took shape in his mind. But he was facing enormous hardships and was about to give up. At that time, he attended a screening of Blood on Méliès Moon and was astonished to see I had been able to do such a job with no budget! He came to me: "Would you have the courage to make a film inside the school, with the kids?" I thought about it a short time, then, I accepted the challenge. I wanted to prove that it was achievable. The idea of composing a variation around The Wizard of Oz was there. I started by guiding very strictly the writing of the idea; when you make a film at almost zero cost, you have to use a whole bunch of tricks. This must begin with the script... Then, I wrote the screenplay myself. In the end, there is a nice mix between fiction and documentary.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

125

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

126

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK I respected the contributions of the children and intertwined their parts with the parts where the actors play teachers... like your character (Maria Cristina Mastrangeli plays the bad English teacher Mrs. Pugliesi, Ed). The film lasts 1h40 and is solid. I'm happy with the result!

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: The legend is that it is very difficult to work on films with animals and children. I watched the children in the scenes where I play the bad teacher Mrs. Pugliesi; they were very focused! You spent a lot of time with them!

Luigi Cozzi: After we shot the movie, I spent three days in the most complete silence. My ears absolutely needed to get used to silence!

Recalling that, he bursts out laughing.

Luigi Cozzi: They were unrestrained! In my time, at their age, we were timorous. But they also have a contagious sympathy. The problems did not come from the children themselves, but from the constraints of the school; we were not allowed to interfere with their educational program, nor to make them work too much, I had only two hours a day in the school with them. It was only thanks to my experience in the film industry that I was able, in just ten days, to shoot everything I needed.

I prepare sketches of the scene, from the camera’s point of view, so I can see what I have to shoot for each position of the camera. And I shoot all the scenes from that point of view one after another, even if they are different scenes. This method saves a lot of time, because the preparation of the camera and lights is what takes the most time on a set. I like to have a lot of different shots, it's my way of shooting. I make movies for the big screen not for the TV set!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

127

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

128

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK That way we create the illusion that it is a big budget movie.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: These sketches are like a storyboard?

Luigi Cozzi: Yes, exactly.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: And what happens to them?

Luigi Cozzi: They are visual notes for my personal use, I tear them to pieces after each shooting day.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli (laughing): There are going to be fans who will dig through your garbage like in Hollywood!

Luigi Cozzi: In any case, I don't think anyone other than me would be able to understand them. I draw like an amateur! I always use those sketches when I have complicated scenes to shoot. I also used them on movies for which I had a substantial budget.

Even in Starcrash (released in 1979 under director’s name Lewis Coates, Ed). For this film, I had at my disposal 2 billion ITL (Italian Lire, Ed), a large amount at the time, but in fact, this film would have needed 5-6 billion ITL. So, I used my sketches and my visual tricks.

For example, we have is this battle scene with lightsabers in a space station. I wanted to shoot it in slow motion and show explosions on the actors’ bodies. We needed an hour of preparation only for the protection of the actor. And this for every explosion! So, in eight hours I would have had only seven shots! In three days, within the time allowed on this set, I would have had only twenty-one shots. This would not do for a battle!

So, I shot this scene with three different cameras positioned in such a way that it gave the impression we filmed different people and explosions, when in fact we filmed the same explosion.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

129

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

130

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK I had more than a hundred shots to edit. Thanks to my sketches, every actor has been killed three times!

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: Your latest movies were shot on digital. Does digital technology change the way you direct movies?

Luigi Cozzi: It's a big advantage. I’ve always liked to use technical advances, even emerging ones. In the 70s, I worked a lot for television networks. At the time, we used the "Chroma key" a lot, an effect that I used to use with films, but with very long production times. While there, at the television network, we just had to push a button. I was enthusiastic about it! (Chroma key compositing is a visual effects/post-production

technique for layering two images or video streams together based on color hues, Ed). For the movie The Adventures of Hercules, in 1982, the

moon collides with the Earth in the final scene… Hercules becomes a giant and stops the two celestial globes, avoiding the crash. It was a very difficult scene to shoot on film. I thought I should shoot it on video. At the time in Los Angeles, there was only one lab that transcribed video onto film without "The Lines"! So, we first sent the lab the scenes on film to transfer them to video, then shot the video using the "Chroma Key", then sent it back to Los Angeles to transfer it to film in order to edit it with the rest. At that time, mixing film and video was regarded as blasphemy. But no one during the film's distribution, even abroad, has ever noticed it!

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: Luigi, you were born in 1947...

Luigi Cozzi: It's been a long time!

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: What is your first memory of cinema?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

131

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

132

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Luigi Cozzi: I think it was in 1953 or 1954. I have flashes, I see myself tagging along behind my parents while they are going to the movies to see: The Naked Jungle (by Byron Askin, Paramount, 1954, Ed), Prince Valiant (by Henry Hathaway, Century Fox, 1954, Ed), Totò il medico dei pazzi (by Mario Mattoli from Eduardo Scarpetta,1954, Ed).

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: And the first time you understood you had a passion for fantasy films?

Luigi Cozzi: Pretty much at the same time, when Disney released 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea which excited me. I was six or seven years old. I didn't know Jules Verne. After I saw the movie, I immediately got his novels. After reading them all, I wanted more! So, I started to devour science fiction books.

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: How did you become a director?

Luigi Cozzi: It was for Il tunnel sotto il mondo in 1968. I wanted to direct; I was 22 years old when I started.

I looked for buddies to embark on this venture with me… Alfredo Castelli, who is now known for his comics characters such as Martin Mystère (Martin Mystery, Ed) also wanted to try to make movies. We put some money aside. Alfredo earned his money by selling subjects for the newspaper comic strip Diabolik, and I was working as an editing assistant. We were buying film and we were shooting… Like I'm doing again now… With a few friends and total freedom!

Maria Cristina Mastrangeli: If you had to choose three important dates in your professional life, what would they be?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

133

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

134

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK He seems puzzled about the number of dates. Is there some magical significance?

Luigi Cozzi: 1977, Starcrash, my first spectacular movie. I've always wanted to shoot a sci-fi movie like that. But they laughed at me, telling me that no one would ever watch a movie like that in theaters. It was possible only after the success of Star Wars...

Two more dates? No, every day counts!

Interview by Maria Cristina Mastrangeli

About Maria Cristina Mastrangeli @Octogonelab Maria Cristina Mastrangeli, actress and theater director, lives and works between Paris and Rome. In the fantastic-horror field she's has a lot of fun working on Little Wizards of Oz (Sitges Fantastic International Festival, 2018), Blood on Méliès Moon (world première in 2016 at BIFFF in Brussels) and Paganini Horror (1989), all by Italian Director Luigi Cozzi (aka Lewis Coates).

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

135

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

136

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

137

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

138

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

139

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

140

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

CONTAMINATION

It's not a Zombie or even a Cannibal film, so what gives?

Contamination (1980) 1h 35min.

Writers: Luigi Cozzi as Lewis Coates (story & screenplay) & Erich Tomek (screenplay).

Stars: Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Masé, Gisela Hahn...

Review by Cultmetalflix

Ponder if you will upon Italian Cult cinema specifically from the late seventies/early eighties. I'd lay coin on the fact that a handful of names immediately come to mind; Argento, Fulci, Bava, perhaps D'Amato or even at a stretch Deodato (is he even Italian?). Those who dwell in the arena might even be able to name a few more and definitely a handful of specific films residing in genres other than the blatantly obvious ones (Zombies, Cannibal and, naturally, Giallo).

Odds are however one film which probably won't be mentioned is one which wasn't in any of the above- mentioned genres, a film which goes by many titles, (one released through CANNON in the States to capitalize upon the popularity of another film simply entitled Alien), though is better known simply as Contamination.

Deep within the 1984 Thatcher "Nasties" list the film has enjoyed many years of notoriety and has even found several re-releases since (garnering a slew of often rather confusing monikers) with several scenes hacked to meet BBFC and regional censorship approval, ironically it was recently released uncut in Britain with a 15 certificate.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

141

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM As an eager youth I can remember procuring it in its original form within a clamshell case (Yes, I should have kept it) with the art showcasing an unfortunate looking fellow in a Hazmat suit drenched in blood with a pained look upon his face.

It's been thirty years since I've last laid eyes upon the film, obviously there are a slew of scenes which have 'stuck', but the rest is a blur. I believe it's time for a revisit.

Before I begin, let's tease the film with a few relevant details. The uncut version, named simply Contamination runs ninety-five minutes and is touted as being directed by none other than Lewis Coates, but it should come as no surprise that have director's given name is Luigi Cozzi which obviously doesn't sound quite so American. Much like a slew of other cult efforts, released around the same time, Contamination commences with various views of the harbor, in this case a rather familiar scene and a handful of queries, such as "Why isn't anybody aboard this drifting freighter?" And "doesn't this remind you of another feature with a mysterious abandoned vessel and an even more curious smell?".

Obviously, these aren't quotes pulled from the film, but rather hypothetical comments I'm sure have been uttered before, on a frequent basis, since the movie’s release.

The film continues. Several brave individuals have decided to don Hazmat attire (though have no eye coverings, which is rather odd) to board the aforementioned vehicle. Cue audio by the legendary Goblin and the atmosphere and tension abruptly skyrockets. Following a few minutes of silly, unnecessary dialogue, and exploration at a snail’s pace a corpse falls out from a cupboard.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

142

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM Naturally, the suited-up sleuths are shocked. And, much like me, one is especially curious as to why their new companions insides aren't anymore his insides, but rather his 'outsides'. The intrigue grows, tableaus of grisliness mount up and the utilization of the soundtrack proves why Goblin are known as masters of their craft though funk and elevator music also provide tangible mood.

Our intrepid explorers soon happen upon the crafts freight. It isn't coffee, though is packaged as such. An open container provides further details as to the vessel’s actual contents. But the question remains; are they oversized mangoes, avocados, pumpkins or "green eggs"? With all the evidence on display I know I wouldn't investigate further; these things are glowing and warm to the touch for Christ's sake! But don't you know it, these fools rush in. Perhaps they're understandably curious to what manner of creature might appear if one cracks open. Well, one does (complimented by a haunting siren). And... let's just say it doesn't end at all well. Cue the films excruciatingly slow-motion 'money shot'.

Fast forward a few hours/days (?) and we learn that the survivor, a certain NYPD Lt Tony Aris (Marino Masè) is cleared from quarantine deep with the bowels of a structure seemingly plucked from the set of the original Battlestar Galactica complete with oversized knobs, buttons, glowing buttons, and a cardboard cutout lab assistant, but no robotic canine.

Sans a blow-by-blow narrative (which would take longer to read than the actual movie runs) I'll cease my ramblings (you should have an idea of how the film plays out by now) to concentrate, instead, upon the review itself, and what's makes the film such a joy to watch.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

143

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM The films initial pace sets the scene, the story unfolds and explains itself.

Seriously, a kindergarten attendee could understand all if its many "intricacies". Eggs from space with the capacity to kill those curious enough to antagonize them.

Ian McCullough, known for Zombie (aka Zombi 2 and Zombie Flesh Eaters directed by Lucio Fulci, Ed) and Doctor Butcher MD (aka Zombi Holocaust directed by Marino Girolami, Ed), portrays a vilified astronaut with an obvious disdain for those who helped turn his past achievements into naught but comical ramblings from a seemingly deranged mind. His introductory theatrics and cheeky smirk are enough to more than whet the appetite for those who enjoy their cinematic fodder blazingly over the top. Obvious points go out to those responsible for casting him so soon after the success of the gut munching Fulci classic (however, it wasn't until much later that the film found success anywhere other than in Europe). Nostalgia is another element which makes the film so easy to appreciate. Clunky, oversized gadgets sporting obnoxiously large controls, boxy vehicles, sexual tension, the hairstyles and... I'll stop right there.

Among the films other stellar ingredients, there are especially three which stand tall above all else. The soundtrack courtesy of Goblin is quite simply an amazing accompaniment. Who would have ever though a Synth adornment would hurdle Classicals standing as the ideal audio companion to heighten the senses? Another element is Luigi Cozzi’s style: his utilization of various close-ups works wonderfully to bring the viewer that much closer to the action.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

144

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM The last in this wicked trinity is what understandably placed this on the Nasties list and I'd also fathom brought most of this film its viewers. Who amongst us isn't intriguing by exploding chests, bacterial laden "eggs" and bouncing infected rats? Obviously, the film offers a great deal more; there's the sultry Gisela Hahn (a dead ringer for the Norwegian adult film star Vicky Vette) who has beauty in spades and the most hypnotic eyes.

Plentiful aerial (most probably stock footage) shots of New York remind the viewer that the film is in fact partly based in The States. Surprisingly, Contamination was also shot ‘on location’ (and in Columbia, Italy, and Florida) rather than largely on an Italian soundstage, where many cult genre films were produced with hopes that the (larger budget) illusion would shine through. Other elements include a myriad of stereotypical thugs complete with assault rifles and comical dubbing. A vintage ‘Batman villain approach’ to explaining how the world is going to be taken over is priceless but the icing on the cake is the films main antagonist who strangely resembles a slime-laden Flash Gordon (an unused "extra" perhaps?) complete with a glowing old-timey bicycle lamp LED, a ravenous appetite, and a rather sluggish demeanor. No matter how you slice it, dice it, or view it after it's been placed in a blender on high for several seconds, Contamination has earned its place as a cult classic. Unlike a great many of its associates, this is easy to view, delivers throughout and even features chunky crimson effects which are largely believable if a little silly. Did I mention Ian McCullough?

I seriously need a copy of this for my collection, it's everything I remember it being and more!

Cultmetalflix @cultmetalflix THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

145

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

146

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

PAGANINI HORROR

Paganini Horror, Satanic Composer Shreds Euro-Babes... Who knew?

Paganini Horror (1988) 1h 22min.

Writers: Luigi Cozzi &Daria Nicolodi (screenplay), Raimondo Del Balzo (story) Stars: Daria Nicolodi, Jasmine Maimone, Pascal Persiano, Maria Cristina Mastrangeli, Luana Ravegnini...

Review by Christopher Zisi

The great 19th century composer/violinist Niccolo Paganini sold his soul to Satan and used his wife's intestines to craft his own violin strings.

Happens, I know. What happens when Giallo takes a turn at this plot device? Yep, 1989's Paganini Horror, directed by the great Italian horror moviemaker Luigi Cozzi. Throw in Donald Pleasence as Satan, a sultry allgirl rock band, and even some more sultry Euro-Babes and we have a film destined to be as classic as Pagani's scores.

Kate (Jasmine Maimone) is losing it. Her band has a bunch of #1s, but her sultry producer, Lavinia (Maria Cristina Mastrangeli) chews her out for not being able to create any new tunes. Elena (Michel Klippstein) and Rita (Luana Ravegnini) are her guitarist and drummer. Fawning Daniel (Pascal Persaino), an actor in the band's videos, is Mr. Helpful. He purchases a haunting piece of sheet music, written by Paganini. The seller? Satan, of course. Now the band, Daniel, Lavinia, and horror director Mark (Pietro Gennuardi) rent a haunted mansion to film the band's new video. Now, Kate and her band have their groove back.

Uh oh, Paganini's devil-worshipping spirit is conjured up.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

147

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM The lovely Rita is first to go as she gets stabbed repeatedly by a violin with a blade. So sad... she was quite the babe. Babes will continue to die horribly, as this is Giallo. My favorite one is when a band member gets eaten by tree fungus... really! Now, Kate, Lavinia, and the owner of the mansion, a babe named Sylvia (Daria Nicolodi) must figure out how to stay alive, send Paganini back to Hell, and escape.

Oh, yeah... the guys... useless... go figure. Babe damsels in much distress are chased and attacked by the otherworldly, and look great in the process. Kate comes up with a really stupid idea... but this is Giallo, so what do we expect?

Will Satan or Paganini enjoy one of these Euro-babes as a bride? Just how useless are Euro-hunks? Wouldn't stomach lining make a better violin string than intestine? The Euro-babes are all sultry and their deaths are gory and imaginative (just ask Elena about her tree fungus problem).

For some nice Giallo and an attractive all-girl band targeted by Satan, see Paganini Horror!

Christopher Zisi

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

148

CREATORS UNITE 10 EXHIBITION HALL

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

149

CREATORS UNITE 10 EXHIBITION HALL If you are a horror fan, then, chances are you have seen Chantal Handley pastel artworks! This remarkable artist designed most innovative Creator/Artist at the AHCA 2019 loves the faces of horror movies, frozen in terrifying smiles, screams or stares, from the legendary Blonde of King Kong to the possessed Regan that haunts everyone who has seen the Exorcist…

Enjoy this iconic exhibition!

Horror Icons Exhibition Creators Unite Gallery welcomes Horror Icons, an exhibition of Chantal Handley’s work available exclusively in Creators Unite Magazine.

Photos Courtesy © Chantal Handley

P 152 - Fay Wray ©︎ Chantal Handley P 153 - Janet Leigh ©︎ Chantal Handley P 154 - Shelley Duvall ©︎ Chantal Handley P 155 - Vampirella ©︎ Chantal Handley P 156 - Sissy Spacek ©︎ Chantal Handley P 157 - Elle Fanning ©︎ Chantal Handley

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

150

CREATORS UNITE 10 EXHIBITION HALL

P 158 - Marilyn Burns ©︎ Chantal Handley P 159 - Linda Blair ©︎ Chantal Handley P 160 - A Witch ©︎ Chantal Handley P 161 - Toxie ©︎ Chantal Handley P 162 - Margot Robbie ©︎ Chantal Handley P 163 - Leather Face ©︎ Chantal Handley P 164 - Asami ©︎ Chantal Handley P 165 - Karen Cooper ©︎ Chantal Handley P 166 - Caroline Munro ©︎ Chantal Handley

About Chantal Handley Born and raised in England, Chantal Laura Handley is an Australian artist who creates horror and pop culture portraits using traditional pastels from her studio in Australia. Visit her website and her shop and follow her on X.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

151

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

152

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

153

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

154

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

155

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

156

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

157

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

158

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

159

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

160

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

161

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

162

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

163

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

164

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

165

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

166

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

167

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

168

CREATORS UNITE 10 Masters at Work 4 – Kurando Mitsutake

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

169

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

170

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

It is no secret that the Cinematographic Art has lost its splendor: it no longer causes the same enthusiasm since filmmakers, the real ones, those who have a vision and know how to practice their art, have been kept away from the new production and distribution systems that have now become monstrous, due to their uniformity and short-termism. These systems render inoperative the great producers, the connoisseurs and enthusiasts who move heaven and Earth to bring out real artists and masterpieces. The audiences are still enjoying themselves with disposable “art” that the system throws them to anesthetize them, but a powerful resistance is now developing. “Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.” said Stephen King...

The seventh art is no longer an art, or very little if anything: it is still an art among the independent filmmakers and artists who are ignored by State agencies and right-thinking authorities. The underground, independent system… This is where art is hiding and regenerates itself, thanks to a few hotheads who resist against all odds. Kurando Mitsutake is one of those filmmakers, one of these exceptionally talented creators.

Passionate, humble and incredibly human and warm, he knows perfectly well his work in addition to having great technique.

His films carry within themselves the great human themes that also dwell in us all.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

171

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

172

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Kurando Mitsutake is not a star that everyone knows, but he's a superstar for movie fans who praise him to the skies (they all have at least one of his films in their film library). Watching a movie of Kurando Mitsutake is a shock similar to those you could receive in viewing a Romero or a Hooper movie. Mitsutake is a great among the greats. We had the chance to speak with him in order to deliver you here two exclusive interviews, a few analyses of his films and an incredible photo exhibition of his work, prepared in close collaboration with him. You will find it after an amazing Q&A about the art of firing which he treated us with! We hope you enjoy.

Emilie Flory

Exclusive Interview with Kurando Mitsutake

by Christopher Zisi

thE wEb talk Photos Courtesy: © Kurando Mitsutake, © MAXAM, Inc., © Torin, Jumpei Tainaka, and © FukuzoProductions Christopher Zisi: Spaghetti westerns… 70s exploitation films… Kung Fu epics… you and I have the same tastes, I’m so sorry we have never met.

Have you always been fans of these genres?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

173

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

174

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Many of your revenge themed plots seem taken right out of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, but you don’t merely make a western… you combine all of the above genres for a bloody good time… is this just straight from the mind of Kurando Mitsutake… or is there a careful and deliberate choreographing of several genres?

Kurando Mitsutake: Thank you Chris. Yes, I’m an avid genre film fan. I’m a product of the 80’s rental video shop culture. The 80’s were the era when the B-movie big bang happened. I watched all kinds of cult movies growing up, so definitely Spaghetti westerns, 70’s exploitation films and Kung Fu epics are in my DNA. Sergio Corbucchi, Sam Pekinpah and Bruce Lee are some of my filmmaking idols. My other big influence comes from Japanese Manga comic books. Legendary Manga artists like Go Nagai, Mikiya Mochizuki and Osamu Tezuka are in my blood too. So, I think the stories I like to tell – such as my previous work, Samurai Avenger, Gun Woman and Karate Kill– are sort of hybrid mixtures of cult genre movies and cult Manga comic books. I guess that would be the summary of my narrative.

Christopher Zisi: Asami is an amazing actress, and her performances are often rigorous and extreme. I’ve seen her in Iron Girl, some Lust of the Dead films, and of course Gun Woman and Karate Kill. Did she find you or did you find her? How do you sell Asami on Gun Woman? When you read her the role, was she aghast or did she crack a slight smile? I trust she will be in your future films too.

Kurando Mitsutake: Asami is a force of nature. She is a natural born performer.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

175

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

176

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

177

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

178

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK I was introduced to her by a stunt coordinator friend of mine. We were at a wrap party of a movie this guy was the fight choreographer for. Since I admired her performances on Noboru Iguchi san and Yoshihiro Nishimura san’s work, I was very happy to meet her.

Then, we were invited to a fan convention in Germany together. When you are stuck in an airplane for 13 hours or so, you become fast friends. It was actually on the return flight to Narita back from Düsseldorf, I pitched the idea of Gun Woman to her. The moment I finished telling her the story, she said “I need to play that character. I’m the only one who can play her.” Asami was in love with Gun Woman from the day zero.

Unfortunately, earlier this year, Asami has announced she will be retiring from acting. But I secretly hope to entice her back to performing if I ever get a go to do Gun Woman 2.

Christopher Zisi: When going after a monster, it helps to become a bigger monster. I love that theme. Your protagonists in these revenge films, whether it be the blind swordsman, or the mastermind in Gun Woman, are all haunted and determined. We are on their side in their quests for revenge, but boy do they make us gasp. Your protagonists often become bigger monsters, and that is just fine with us… does that tell us something about who we are? Are your films a mirror in which we have an opportunity to take a look at ourselves and who we really are and apt to become?

Kurando Mitsutake: Thank you. I believe, revenge should only be performed by a person who’s willing to go to hell for that act. So, when you gain such a conviction for your act, you have to become some kind of a monster.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

179

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

180

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK I think what I’m trying to symbolize with this narrative motif is the fragility of the border between good and bad. I mean, look at Trump America. So, divided. Someone’s good is someone’s bad.

I like the saying “everyone is fighting a battle you don’t know about.”

Everybody has his or her background stories. So, some assholes might have really good reasons why they are that way.

Christopher Zisi: Your bad guys are also extreme. The 18-year-old boy who blows away his classmates and teachers for no reason, or the rich son of a Japanese industrialist who is into murder and necrophilia. Or Flesher… he doesn’t just rape and kill the Blind Wolf’s beautiful wife… he starts eating her. Are these monsters mere extremes that play well in exploitation films or spaghetti westerns… or are they fair metaphors for what we (as Americans… but probably not limited to us) have come to tolerate as acceptable in our society?

Kurando Mitsutake: My bad guys are super bad for me to make sure that absolutely all of my audience members hate them. To put them on the same team to lure for our protagonists. Since we have such a rich history of exploitation films – from Dirty Harry’s Scorpio to I saw The Devil’s’ Jang Kyung-Chul – in short, we’ve pretty much seen every kind of bad guy. So, you have to go the extra mile to make your bad guy really bad to make them memorable.

Christopher Zisi: In Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf, a few minutes into the story the opening credits roll with the help of three bikini and go-go boot clad ladies. Brilliant! If someone ever films my autobiography, that’s how I want my story to begin. This wasn’t just for gratuitous thrills.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

181

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

182

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK How did you decide to introduce your film that way… was everyone on board (actresses who were the dancers, your assistants, etc.)?

Kurando Mitsutake: To tell you the truth, what I wanted to do with the opening title sequence with Samurai Avenger, was a James Bond-ish credit sequence. Dancing girls with a cool theme song. But we did it in an ultra-low budget way. The Japanese girl in the silver bikini, Chikako Omura, was the choreographer and all the dancers had a blast shooting the scene. The blue bikini girl, Jenny Mullaney, became one of my regular cast members. She’s in Gun Woman and Karate Kill also.

Christopher Zisi: I have featured 1011 films on my blog since 2013, Gun Woman is one of a handful of films that gets several hits a day. Are you aware of the popularity of Gun Woman and if so, what do you attribute it to?

Kurando Mitsutake: I feel that my second feature Samurai Avenger introduced me to the international genre film scene with the festivals and distributions. Then, my third feature Gun Woman secured my place in the scene. It is distributed in over 15 countries and for the US, a genre giant SHOUT FACTORY distributed it so it has created some buzz and following. I really appreciate this because Gun Woman definitely was my passion project.

Christopher Zisi: East meets West… or so it appears in many of your films.

On the surface, East seems to be the good guy and West seems to be the perverted antagonist? I’m guessing there is more to it than that… can you talk about this?

Kurando Mitsutake: For all my features except the first one, the financing came from Japan.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

183

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

184

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

185

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

186

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Essentially, they are Japanese films that were shot in the States.

Therefore, the good guys are from the East.

In the near future, I would love to work with American producers and American money, and make a movie with an American protagonist who goes to Japan and faces off with some bad Japanese guys.

Christopher Zisi: Perusing the credits of your films, you seem to have a loyal following of actors, actresses, and crew. I’m guessing there is a bit of a family dynamic here, as well. Is there a synergy among all of you or is Kurando the mastermind with an obedient and submissive following?

Kurando Mitsutake: No one in the film Industry is obedient and submissive, so no I do not have such a following. But I like working with familiar faces quite a bit.

For low budget filmmaking, time is the most valuable thing. And if you work with the cast and crew you’ve worked with before you can save a lot of time because we already know each other from the previous one you did together. I think this is the reason you see many family dynamicesque teams working together a lot.

Christopher Zisi: I’m guessing your next film won’t be featured on the HALLMARK CHANNEL, is there anything you can tell us about it? Will Asami be in it… and if not… ‘why the Hell not?’

Kurando Mitsutake: For the last several years, I’ve been trapped in development hell. I have several projects waiting for green lights. Though I can’t talk too much about them right now, I might do more action stuff or I might have a chance to do my first full-on horror project. Let’s see which one gets the go first. And we will see how Asami’s retirement goes.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

187

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

188

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK She might really retire or some project might bring her back on screen.

Christopher Zisi: I ask this in a selfish sense, so I hope you have a good answer because I am going to want to use it after my novel comes out in 2019. There is a wonderful and understood relationship between erotica and horror… but how do you justify a relationship between erotica and gore (or to be more specific… blood-soaked beauties in much peril)?

Kurando Mitsutake: I think on this case, gore and horror are the same concept. And I completely agree with you that erotica and horror work together and so does erotica and gore. Like Francisco Goya’s gory horrific paintings, they have certain elements of eroticism. I believe in any sort of immoralities, there will always be an element of eroticism. Bad things are sexy, you know? Good luck with the new book! I can’t wait to read it.

Christopher Zisi: I remember watching John Wayne plunging into forbidden Indian territory in search of Natalie Wood in The Searchers. I remember that really twisted look on Natalie Wood’s face when she is finally caught up to by John Wayne. Though The Searchers is technically a happy ending, the Natalie Wood character has changed. She will not be rejoining mid-western polite society, going to book club meetings or scrapbooking parties. The rescued woman has changed… she’s different.

She is now, at least part wild.

Mayumi (Mana Sakura) at the end of Karate Kill presumably has also changed. The body is hers, but that innocence and sweetness we see from her early in the film is gone. Does Mayumi emerge from this film?

Where does she go? I’m guessing her dream of becoming an actress is done… but perhaps assassin… saboteur… character in one of my novels?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

189

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

190

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

191

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

192

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Kurando Mitsutake: I actually have an idea for Karate Kill 2. In the sequel, Mayumi is in a psychiatric hospital. She was freed from Vendenski’s brainwashing but she’s still in a very fragile state. Then, unfortunately, she gets kidnapped again. By the people who want to control Kenji. A Texas jury found Kenji guilty with the use of excessive force in the Capital Messiah case. So, he’s sent to a maximum-security prison in the middle of nowhere in Texas. In the same prison, there is this big time Mexican drug lord who’s been captured.

The people who kidnapped Mayumi want Kenji to break out of the prison with the drug lord and bring him safely to the extraction point in the US Mexican border. It’s The Defiant Ones meets Enter The Dragon. Let’s see what kind of adventure Mayumi will face in this action-packed sequel. As you said, she should have gone through some life changes so she will not be a quiet captive. I would also be very excited if you make Mayumi appear in your novel!

Christopher Zisi: Kenji (Hayate) in Karate Kill is superb. Bruce Lee would be proud, no doubt. His Karate could steal the show of any action-epic.

Now however, his Texas experience has given him firearms expertise. Is Hayate’s Kenji in your future?

Kurando Mitsutake: I love Hayate! Not only would I love to make the sequel to Karate Kill with him, I would very much like to continue to collaborate with this very talented guy. Before I got to know him, I thought of him as a martial artist who can act. But after I worked very closely with him, I now think of him as a great actor who happens to be a martial art master.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

193

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

194

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

195

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Christopher Zisi: Sadistic cults, snuff films, the soiling of purity… Karate Kill is a great big exclamation point of revenge and eventual vengeance.

Mayumi, and Kenji for that matter, lose so much in this film… Have two new monsters been created? Has there been any discussion of setting them loose in a future production?

Kurando Mitsutake: I think I already answered this question prematurely with your earlier question. Yes, I really hope I can get to explore more in the Karate Kill universe.

Christopher Zisi: Choreographing dance in big budget musicals is an art I cannot even comprehend. I love watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in those old musicals on TCM. Please don’t tell anyone. Am I way off base here, or was making Karate Kill a labor much like creating a Fred Astaire film containing magnificent dance pieces?

Kurando Mitsutake: Choreography and safety were two very important components to the production of Karate Kill, the same for any action centered production. I assume the same goes for the Astaire dance movies. So, in that sense our movies have something in common.

Christopher Zisi: Your villains are extreme to the max! Vendenski in Karate Kill seemed to pull in elements of Charles Manson and David Koresh. He’s also very smart… which is the really scary part. The creep seems to always be a step or two ahead of our beautiful Mayumi, the heroic Kenji, and alas the Asami Gun Woman character. Did you create him before the good guys in Karate Kill? Am I right about some of the monsters who may have inspired him, or is he more of a hybrid of villains from old spaghetti westerns and exploitation films?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

196

CREATORS UNITE 10 WEBTALK Kurando Mitsutake: When I started to work on the Karate Kill script, I knew I wanted the villain of the movie to be involved with some type of Internet crime. The Internet brought us some good but, in my view, it also killed so many great things – physical CDs / DVDs / books / toy stores, physical media, and human decency to keep our stupid thoughts to ourselves. Then, I added the cult leader element to the villain and came up with Vendenski and Capital Messiah. The cult and its leader in Karate Kill weren’t really inspired by some real guys like Manson and Koresh but I paid homage to the Night Slasher character in Stallone’s Cobra . If you look closely, you’ll see Vendenski and Night Slasher use the same knife. It’s my love letter to Cobra and the late George P. Cosmatos.

Interview by Christopher Zisi

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

197

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

198

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

199

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

200

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

201

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

202

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

203

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

204

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM

GUN WOMAN & KARATE KILL Reviews by Sooz Webb

GUN WOMAN

Gun Woman (2014)1h 26min.

Writers: Kurando Mitsutake, Chiaki Yanagimoto.

Director: Kurando Mitsutake.

Stars: Asami, Kairi Narita, Noriaki Kamata, Matthew Floyd Miller…

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or, in the case of director Kurando Mitsutake’s work, revenge is a dish best served with as many of your enemies’ internal organs splattered as violently as you can arrange it.

Couple that with a level of gratuitos flesh on show, guaranteed to push the boundaries of bad taste to the limit, and you’re only halfway close to what our double feature of Gun Woman and Karate Kill have to offer.

Seeking retribution for his wife's brutal murder, a talented doctor known simply as ‘The Mastermind’ purchases a prostitute, with the intent of shaping her into the ultimate killing machine. And as you can imagine, her education isn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows.

Subjected to beatings and bullying, as well as various methods of combat and weapons training, the young woman becomes an instrument of death, reborn as ‘The Gun Woman’. Her target is the perpetrator of what most in polite society would call pretty heinous acts.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

205

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

206

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM The pinnacle of this being his magnum opus: an exclusive erotic club, where patrons get to have their end away with those that have departed this mortal coil. Yep, necrophilia. Apparently, romance IS dead. As her name isn’t on the list, our freshly-honed assassin gains entry to the inner sanctum under the guise of death, with a weapon concealed about her person that’s whereabouts would make your eyes water. Without giving too much away, let’s just say she goes in completely starkers, so it’s not exactly safely stashed away in her pocket!

As ‘Gun Woman’ (Mayumi) returns to the land of the living, mayhem and slaughter ensue with a brutal and blood-soaked showdown providing a sweet payoff for those that are watching, for more than just the slaughter. Bonkers, bizarre, bloody and at times brilliant, Gun Woman is a heady mix of balls-to-the-wall action, bombastic bravado, and pure gonzo attitude.

Asami shines as the would (and will) be femme fatale. Resilient and remorseful in equal measure, she secures her reign as J exploitation gore queen, with an understated yet emotive performance. The actress’s capacity to elicit sympathy despite her character’s almost entirely mute status is truly captivating, whilst her ability to kick ass and chew bubblegum is a sight to behold. As she embarks on her gore-laden rampage, as nakey as the day she was born, viscera and body parts pirouette across the screen, flying hither and yon, in an eccentric danse macabre. Practical effects convey the violence with stark realism, but are so over-the-top exaggerated that the sequence is too engaging not to watch!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

207

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

208

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM We end up as delirious as our heroine, though thankfully for us it’s not due to blood loss!

Kairi Narita portrays the tortured medic hellbent on a twisted version of enacting justice. Although we feel sorrow toward the character, for the cruel way his wife was taken from him, the doc’s methods of forging his own one-woman killing machine leave a lot to be desired. Personally, I would like to have seen him bite the bullet at the hands of the one he created, but that’s just because I like my ladies a bit more ‘vengancy’ than the script obviously allowed. The 80s inspired soundtrack provides a synth-tastic groove, whilst lending a neo-noir crime-thriller type resonance to proceedings, and the end track is an awesome earworm that keeps playing in your head, long after the movie has finished.

KARATE KILL

Karate Kill (2016) 1h 29min.

Writer: Kurando Mitsutake.

Director: Kurando Mitsutake.

Stars: Hayate Matsuzaki, Asami, Kirk Geiger, Mana Sakura…

Karate Kill carries on the theme of slaughter and payback, only this time

it’s on a lone wolfs terms.

Learning that his younger sister Mayumi has gone missing Kenji, a chap who in the words of Donna Summer works hard for the money quits his multiple jobs and heads to the US of A to try and locate her. He (literally) hits up a few places before discovering his sibling has been kidnapped, by the morally bankrupt cult known as Capital Messiah.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

209

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

210

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM Their stock-in-trade is to force abductees to star in snuff films, which are then viewed online by whoever is willing to pay the highest price.

Well, big brother isn’t prepared to stand idly by, whilst his sis gets sliced and diced for a sicko’s pleasure on the dark web. So, armed with his mastery of kung Fu he cuts a bloody path, intent on kicking people in the face until he can locate his sister.

Thankfully he doesn’t have to go it completely alone, as he finds an ally on the same quest in the form of former soldier Keiko. She herself fell victim to the sect’s nefarious internet exploitation, losing her hand in the process. But what she lacks in limbs she more than makes up for in hooks, sharpshooting, and badass attitude!

Cue a training/romance montage, and one of the zaniest locations for a fight scene ever, and Kenji is finally ready, to try and take down the cyberspace psychos once and for all.

Whilst Gun Woman tackles the topic of vengeance and retaliation with a grim and gritty flavor, Karate Kill takes the same themes, spins them on their head and forces them to look in a funhouse mirror.

Yes, the subject matter, ever-increasing body count and escaping entrails make for some somber viewing, but the whole thing is handled with a knowingly wry smile and a cheeky wink. An intentionally dark vein pumps comedy throughout the movie, to the point where situations are so exaggerated, they at times become amusing. We love to laugh at things that shock us, and the director is only too eager to indulge our sick sense of humor. The serious side of business is taken care of by the action sequences, which are full on and frequent.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

211

CREATORS UNITE 10 SHOWROOM Hayate stars as the martial arts maestro, his skill in technique impressive to behold. A man of few words, his expertise in hand-to-hand combat has a lyricality to it, that transcends verbosity. The violence is fast-paced and frenetic, culminating in a spectacular showdown, defying gravity and logic, making it engaging and truly mind-boggling to behold!

Fans of the Grindhouse genre or the cinematic offerings of Takashi Miike will undoubtedly lose their minds over Mitsutake’s work. Occasionally bordering on body-horror, the two films transcend the confines of ‘mere action thriller’ to become a grand spectacle of sex, blood, and violence.

The harshness of gritty realism is offset by gallows humor so deliciously diabolical that it’s impossible not to be as charmed by the movies, as much as you are grossed out by them.

Sooz Webb

About Sooz Webb @SoozWebb A contributor to Creators Unite, Sooz Webb chats her love for all things loud and scary in podcast Heavy Metal Horror Cast. The show looks at horror from a female perspective, and seeks to promote new music, featuring tracks from heavy rocking or horror themed bands… Follow her and get in touch with her by clicking on the icons below.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

212

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

213

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

214

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

by Christopher Bourez & Emilie Flory

Photos Courtesy: GUN WOMAN © MAXAM, Inc.

Shooting Practice | Gunfight | Gun Psychology | Q & A | Arsenal

Shooting Practice Central to the resolution of Gun Woman scenario is the tactical training of Mayumi (Asami -J-sploitation queen) by Mastermind (Kairi Narita).

Many films leave the realism of a gunfight to our WAR IMAGINATION: in old war movies, for example, a protagonist could shoot one bullet on the battlefield and a group of 5 soldiers could fall.

Some other films have taken the opposite direction with (lots) more WAR PROFESSIONALISM: renowned shooting champion Taran Butler has trained many actors, such as Keanu Reeves for highly realistic John Wick, French film Special Forces (2011) employs, as both actor and advisor, a former French military and drill instructor member of the Navy special forces.

To which category does Gun Woman belong?

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

215

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

John Wick Tactical Training: Keanu Reeves at Taran Tactical.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

216

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

It is very important to have the reflex to always leave the finger out of the trigger, when not pointing the gun towards a target. That’s for security reason, to avoid inadvertent shooting.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

217

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

“It’s called an automatic pistol. It uses the pressure of the gas when fired…

It has two kinds of safety locks. “S” is the safety position. The trigger is locked. When it’s down, it decocks, but you’re still able to fire with the double action.”

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

218

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS The explanation of safety locks on an automatic pistol is correct. The double action means it is still possible to cock the gun by pressing the trigger: in this case, the trigger will be heavy. After one shoot, the gun will be cocked and the trigger will be light and sensitive.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

219

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

220

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

A realistic result on target for a beginner, with impacts, left and down.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

221

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS When the impact is down, it is mainly due to the flinch or the anticipation of the fire start. A trained professional will try to be surprised by the start, or use a gun with a better trigger.

When the impact is left, the problem comes from the finger, that is either not well positioned on the trigger, or too little, or not pushing the trigger uniformly.

Impacts are grouped, showing the beginner is reproducing the results, it is the good time to make the corrections in her shooting technique.

These results are very common for beginners when the sights and alignments are well understood. At 5 meters, we could expect every impact inside the black circle.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

222

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

223

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

224

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

225

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

226

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

227

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

228

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

229

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

230

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

231

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

232

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

233

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

234

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

235

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

Gun Woman gives good advice about surviving a gunfight:

“A bullet will miss you in most cases. Only highly trained ones can hit their targets. So, don’t fear the gun pointed at you. [...] Make a precise decision even at gunpoint”.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

236

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS Verdict: 50-50. Some positions are following the shooting practice and rules, while some others should be avoided. On top of that, variations in positions of the fingers, hands, and manipulations, show that more practice is still required to become a professional. A lot more about precision training could be taught

by Mastermind.

Gunfight The experience of letting the untrained blond girl shoot at Mayumi is very dangerous but has a strong power of retention for one who survives.

Moreover, as explained, most targets are in movement: “Even a trained individual can hardly hit a moving target”.

And shooting at a moving target requires to anticipate the movement. The anticipation depends on distance as well as the speed of the target. It requires specific training, that cannot be acquired on static targets.

Pointing the index at the target should be sufficient to shoot at this distance.

Is Mayumi survival in this experience realistic? Yes, definitely. The pistol is shaking a lot, there is no intent to kill, the blond girl has not activated her instinct in a classical defense. The pistol is mostly targeting too high, and there is a tendency to reproduce the same error in a shooting drill. Her body is soft, while her body muscles should be tightened.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

237

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

238

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

Gun Psychology There exists a one-gun model for every psychology. Of course, some models are more renowned than others and have become best sellers in the military and police around the world. But the look and feel of a gun varies from one person to another, each choice being very personal, depending on the type (pistol vs revolver), the weight, the strength, precision and range of the trigger, the stock shape, the size, the preference for metal pieces rather than plastic ones, the history, … and for a few last people, inspiration can be driven by actors and movies : the ego, dream, projection of the onlooker… The ammunition type is usually less important since models are available with different barrels.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

239

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

240

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

Kurando Mitsutake Special Q & A 1-The Ruger Mk II with its suppressor is fully galvanized, which makes it visually attractive. This pistol is perfect for the hitman job at the start of the movie (indoor fight): very low distance, very low noise. But it is hazardous for a long-range fight like at the end of the movie: 22LR ammunition is not precise anymore after 50 meters and will have small impact power. Sometimes it cannot go through a car windshield. The limited polyvalence of the Ruger Mk II makes it an unexpected choice to go for a tactical fight with heavily armed enemies. What’s Mastermind strategy for using the Ruger Mk II in this situation?

Kurando Mitsutake: I wanted to give Mastermind’s character an interesting looking gun so that the audience will make a visual connection between Mastermind and the Assassin.

The gun the Assassin character uses in the beginning of the movie is in fact the gun from Mastermind. The Assassin avenges Mastermind’s death by using his gun. So the choice for the Ruger Mk II was an aesthetic one rather than a realistic one.

2-The choice of HK USP compact is explained by its precision, its usage in the military, its size, and its robustness. But some other guns share these characteristics, in particular, Glock…

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

241

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

242

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS One of the main advantages of Glock over HK is the weight of the gun; also, there are some super-compact Glock (Glock 43 and Glock 26 for example). Since the gun has to be inserted into Mayumi’s body, why does Mastermind choose HK USP compact in preference to Glock?

Kurando Mitsutake: Great point. Again, it’s about aesthetics.

Unfortunately, Glocks just don’t do it for me because I personally hate guns without a hammer. If I were a professional law enforcer or military personal who needs to carry a firearm on a daily basis, I might fall in love with Glocks but I’m just a filmmaker with somewhat of a gun fetish. So visual preference usually comes first before the realistic reasoning in my gun choices. Also, I do have quite a fan base in Germany and I wanted Gun Woman’s Mayumi to use a German gun.

3-The number of ammunition you can load in a magazine depends a lot on the model and the configuration. How does Hamazaki’s Son (Noriaki R.Kamata) know the number of bullets loaded in Mayumi’s Gun? Kurando Mitsutake: Yes. Very good question. In fact, the USP Compact we used on Gun Woman was purchased in California so it came with a “California magazine” which only holds 10 rounds due to stricter gun laws here. I thought if I get into explaining the difference between magazine models, I will lose the majority of the audience’s interest so I decided to cover it with a general blanket statement about the magazine capacity and move on with the plot point.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

243

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

244

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS 4-By disassembling the gun and hiding its parts into Mayumi’s body, Mastermind knows the security guards of the “Room” won’t see Mayumi is carrying a gun… Separating the magazine from the frame doesn’t spare place to put it into a body. Why separating them?

Kurando Mitsutake: True. The decision to separate the magazine from the gun and put it in Mayumi’s vagina was more a symbolic reason than a logical reason. It was to create the sense of her giving birth to a gun from her body. Hence the loaded magazine came from her vagina on top of a firearm surgically inserted into her body.

5-You are preparing your feature 5 which will apparently have many gun fights; can you tell us more about the way you prepare those scenes?

Kurando Mitsutake: Yes, as for my movie number 5, I’m hoping to get a green light on my hard-boiled film noir gun action thriller. At this early stage, I just put what I would love to see into the script. Then, the production begins; I will work closely with a stunt coordinator and a firearm specialist to bring the gun fights to life.

6-Do you think of those scenes long before you shoot them? Do they inspire the way you write your stories?

Kurando Mitsutake: Yes, I do. I usually have the whole movie worked out in my head before the shoot. Meaning, I see the entire movie in my mind before it gets produced. So, if I can just plug an USB cable or something into my brain and download the movie, I don’t even need to film it.

Maybe in the future we can do this but the filming is the most fun part of filmmaking so I shouldn’t wish for that technology.

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

245

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

246

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS 7-Do you work with the same instructor?

Kurando Mitsutake: I wish I did but no. The action coordinators and firearm specialists change project to project for now. If and when I can start directing movies constantly, maybe I can assemble my dream team together to work on project after project.

8-How long did Asami’s training last for Gun Woman?

Kurando Mitsutake: About 6 weeks. In Japan before the production in Los Angeles started, she trained with our stunt coordinator for 4 weeks learning the choreography. Then she came to LA and got very comfortable with USP Compact in 2 weeks.

9-How do you choose the firearms? What influences you more: the personality of your characters, the configuration of the situations or the aesthetic?

Kurando Mitsutake: I have to say both. But what I’m willing to sacrifice the most is the reality of the situation. As we discussed the choice for Mastermind’s Ruger Mk II earlier, it wasn’t a realistic choice for many of his gun fights but the gun fitted his character so good, I let the reality suffer. Thank you so much, Christopher and Emilie for the interesting questions! I enjoyed this interview very much!

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

247

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

248

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

249

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

250

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

251

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

252

CREATORS UNITE 10 TECH SECRETS

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

253

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

254

CREATORS UNITE 10

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

255

CREATORS UNITE 10 MASTHEAD

CREATORS UNITE MAGAZINE Darlene C. Deever Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Roy Bheer Executive Editor Emilie Flory Creative Director Eleanor Fawcett Consultant Editor Lorenza Florida, Biscuit C. Translators

Cover and End Cover Kelli ©︎ Harmonie Le Clair. 2023 The Essential Issue ©︎ Dale Mike B. 2024 Contributing Artists Greg Palko, Chantal Handley, Franchesco, Jumpei Tainaka, Harmonie Le Clair, Dale Mike B., Penelope Cox, Sayuri, Roda, Ruede Bloch, Jiéxī, Kopy Kat, Mark Berry, Dub Meter & AStyanaX. Contributing Writers Christopher Zisi, Laura MacLeod, Matthew Kirshenblatt, Todd Rigney, David Dubrow, Richard M. Martin, Tony Newton, Maria Cristina Mastrangeli, Tony Gpuk, Christopher Bourez, Sooz Webb & Jason Figgis.

Photos Courtesy Masters at Work 2: Troma Entertainment, ©︎GirlsandCorpses.com All rights reserved, Mark Berry ©︎GirlsandCorpses.com All rights reserved Masters at Work 3: Andrea Galeazzi Masters at Work 4: ©︎ FukuzoProductions, ©︎ Kurando Mitsutake, ©︎ MAXAM, Inc., ©︎ Torin

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

256

CREATORS UNITE 10 MASTHEAD Special thanks to Robert Rhine, “deaditor” in chief of Girls and Corpses, to Miss Mosh, and Mark Berry, to Cathy MacKay, Hayden McComas, John Ferri and Thom Demicco.

ARTWORKS COVER by Harmonie Le Clair | END COVER by Dale Mike B. Kelli’s cover, Lloyd’s cover, Luigi’s cover and Kurando’s cover by Dale Mike B. Kelli’s Webtalk & Showroom posters by Dale Mike B. and Penelope Cox Supertreat poster by Penelope Cox Kelli’s Presentation poster by Franchesco Lloyd’s Webtalk poster by Dale Mike B. Passion Story poster by Penelope Cox Guilty Pleasure poster by Sayuri Troma’s Polaroid Posters by Ruede Bloch & Kopy Kat Luigi’s Webtalk and Showroom posters by Dale Mike B. Luigi’s movies posters by Dale Mike B. Exhibition Hall poster by Dale Mike B. Kurando’s Webtalk and Showroom posters by Sayuri and Dale Mike B. Karate Kill poster by Roda Gun Woman poster by Dale Mike B. Lion Girl and Maniac Driver posters by Kopy Kat Tech Secrets poster by Sayuri Arsenal poster by Jiéxī George A. Romero’s poster by Roda Bonus Feature & VHS posters by Penelope Cox

For General & Advertising Inquiries Contact Us:

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

257

CREATORS UNITE 10 AD

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

258

CREATORS UNITE 10 BONUS FEATURE

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

259

CREATORS UNITE 10 BONUS FEATURE

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

260

CREATORS UNITE 10 BONUS FEATURE

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

261

CREATORS UNITE 10 END COVER

THE ESSENTIAL ISSUE

262