September 3, 2014

As fellow gorehounds can attest, when it comes to being a fan of hardcore genre cinema, we’re always on the hunt for something new, unique and over-the-top in its outlandish sloppy terrors. Something that delivers mounds of blood to cake our main characters in and that would never, ever be screened anywhere in the mainstream. Most of us search underground to find such sights. And hence, if you hit up the convention circuit last year, you may have been lucky enough to stumble upon the now-much-sought-after limited edition DVD for Cross Bearer from writer/ director/ producer/ editor/ jack-of-all-trades Adam Ahlbrandt. Cross Bearer: The Hammer Of God is a straight forward nasty “slasher” pic in which it’s main title killer masked with a cloth and armed with a hammer goes on a religion-slated killing spree on a group of unsuspecting morally corrupt characters trapped in a warehouse in the middle of an intended heist. It’s got hot, tattooed naked chicks, some vile yet darkly funny despicable characters, drugs, death metal music & gore galore. A quick look at Ahlbrandt’s follow-up feature The Cemetery includes all of the above as well. So who is Adam Ahlbrandt? Prior to these two splatterfests, he made his directorial debut with Sight (released by Lionsgate Entertainment) and The Burnt House (available through Invincible Pictures), but he currently has two more features on queue, Hunters and The Sadist, both starring renowned scream queen Linnea Quigley. Gorezone decided it was time to shine a spotlight on this Philly-based filmmaker and find out what he was all about!

GOREZONE: What are your earliest recollections of the horror genre and what were some of the first films that had an impact on you?

ADAM AHLBRANDT: When I was 7, I had the worst babysitter in the world! She let me watch The Shining, The Exorcist and New Jack City all back to back. Long story short, she got fired! The Shining was the one that ruined my life. I couldn’t go into the bathroom without my dad going in first to check behind the shower curtain. That definitely started me off on wanting to do that to people. I wanted to have that power and make films that ruined people’s lives.

GZ: It seems that a lot of your film resume revolves around cinematography. On your films, you’re a jack of all trades between writing, directing, editing, etc. So was cinematography the first avenue you approached when it came to filmmaking?

AHLBRANDT: I got into college specifically because I wanted to be a cinematographer. It’s one of those things where I’m a bit of a control freak. I’d shoot things for other people & I wouldn’t like the decisions they were making. So it eventually became a thing where I started writing my own projects and directing and even acting too. I want to make films the way John Cassavetes did. I want to get my hands into everything. I just wanted to know every aspect of filmmaking so I can fully understand every role and I’m not left out in the decisions that get made.

GZ: When you started delving into making your own films as a director, was this also around the same time that you started making music videos for Relapse Records?

AHLBRANDT: That’s exactly the time that I got into this. I had a partner in the beginning whom I was making films with in college around the time I was making the music videos. That didn’t work out. I was playing death metal at that time – so having the guy that I was working with become a flake and then having a band for several years that broke up, it crystallized for me that I just wanted to just make movies. Despite taking on all the roles I do, I do like working with other people. I think there’s a misconception that I don’t work with other people very well. But there are a lot of great people I like to work with that know me and what I want and I use those people over and over again like a lot of the actors & crew of all my films.

GZ: By using a lot of the same principle people, both in front of and behind the camera, do you shoot a lot of your films locally and with locals? Only because there’s definitely a stylist aesthetic in Cross Bearer and The Cemetery that make them distinctly your films. I was just curious where you found a lot of the people that have loyally been a part of all your movies?

AHLBRANDT: I shoot anywhere and everywhere, and not specifically locally. I do have people that work with me from Philly, but my producer on the last 2 films Victor Bonacore is from New York. Kacie Marie is from New York. Haley Madison has been in the last 2 films I’ve shot. She’s from Ohio. One of my main actors is J.D. Brown and he’s in Los Angeles. I have people from all over. I’d say less than half of the people I work with are local and that’s one of the main costs incurred on the films is getting the cast & crew together again. Which is totally worth it.

GZ: Your first feature film credit is for Sight which got a decent release on DVD courtesy of Lionsgate. How’d that first film of yours come together?

AHLBRANDT: That first movie is a bunch of mistakes and short comings on my part and a lot of settling. I’m thankful to Lionsgate for putting it out. I incur all the blame for making a bad film, because it is a bad film in my estimation. But it came about from the need to transition from videos to movies. Me and my partner at the time Clayton Haske had a development deal with a company in New York where we had been writing and re-writing that script for about a year and then they got a project called Seraphim Falls with Pierce Bronsnan and as things go, our project was not pursued. But we decided we wanted to go ahead and make a feature anyways. We had no crew beyond myself, Clayton and Doug Sakmann, so shooting that movie was basically done from whatever money we could dredge from our bank accounts. Whenever we could steal a shot here or there, we’d do it. We made it all on favors. As much as I regret the way that I approached that film as a director and as a cinematographer and as an editor – writing-wise, I liked it and actually that’s a movie I can see myself remaking.

GZ: What about your 2nd feature, The Burnt House?

AHLBRANDT: That’s recently started to see a revitalization. That movie’s been out on Invincible Pictures for about 5 years now. It’s more of a dramatic, slow-burn horror movie. It’s about a couple that loses their child to SIDS, so it’s not necessarily the style that most people know me for now. A lot of people that have seen Cross Bearer and The Cemetery think that I’m more of a slasher director. Which is fine, because I love slashers! There’s nothing wrong with being known for something, I’m just happy to be known at all!

GZ: Cross Bearer was the start of this style that you developed and would become known for. What were the origins of that project? Was the goal to do a straight forward old-school slasher movie?

AHLBRANDT: It’s funny because The Cemetery was shot first and for a much larger budget. During post-production on that, everyone had such a great time on the shoot that we all wanted to work together again. So we decided, let’s go shoot a slasher film over a week in the winter in Philly when no one’s shooting anything. It didn’t turn out like that! It became something where personally, a lot of turmoil was going on with a lot of the main people involved in it. The shoot became an endurance test, there was a blizzard that took place and the warehouse we were basically shooting & living in during production had no heat! Except for in one room! With Cross Bearer, we set out to make a very straight forward homage to Friday The 13th Part 2 and following the rules set forth by The Slumber Party Massacre, which are two of my favorite films. It turned into something different! When you watch Cross Bearer now, there are a lot of campy elements too it, but the end is very bleak. I think that wound up happening because everyone started to hate me and wanted me dead! (Laughs)

GZ: I didn’t realize you made Cross Bearer after The Cemetery, but the cool thing about both is the gore FX. Now you’ve worked with FX artist Doug Sakmann on all your films? How’d you two hook up?

AHLBRANDT: Doug Sakmann did all the FX on both Cross Bearer and The Cemetery except for a few inserts on The Cemetery, Steve Saturn helped on. It’s a testament to Doug that we’ve been able to pull off so much because we did not have the budget to do it. He also just worked on Return To Nuke ‘Em High and he’s worked exclusively with Troma for a very long time. He’s used to doing a lot with almost nothing.

GZ: How do you guys go about orchestrating the gore and the kills? Is that something you come up with in the writing process or is it collaborative with Doug?

AHLBRANDT: I always try to write things that I know we can do. I come from a bit of an FX background myself. I always look at things and think how can I best make this look right? I like empathy with my FX. Meaning, I don’t like just straight gore for gore’s sake. I’d like you to care about the person, so when it’s really gory and nasty, you’re cringing, but it feels like someone’s cutting your heart out because you care about the character. That’s what I aim for while writing. I love elaborate gore sequences though, especially the disembowelment of Tim (Adam Huss) in The Cemetery, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever shot. But it’s more satisfying for me to know that people will care about that person dying as opposed to just saying “that was an awesome effect.” I’d like to be known as a storyteller first. Look, I love slashers and I love campy stuff, so I’m aware a lot of people might hear me say that and think “oh it’s not like you’re making big dramas.” But I think it’s bullshit that there is an elitist attitude towards horror films by the rest of the film community. I don’t think there’s any difference between a classic horror film like Night Of The Living Dead or a classic dramatic film like 8 ½. In my book they’re both great entertainment.

GZ: The Cemetery is a really ambitious for a horror film. You take the basic premise of a bunch of kids go out in the woods and something bad happens to them, but this had this weird supernatural twist to you, plus mythology of what happened there before. It’s unique. How’d that story come together?

AHLBRANDT: The Cemetery started out as a straight dramatic/horror film. Really serious and really gory. The lead actor had an elaborate back story about having been in a car accident that no one knew about where she accidentally killed a little kid in a hit & run accident and she gets entrapped by a demon into bringing these people to this place. And all that got lost in the writing process with the producers that were funding the project because they really wanted it to be more campy & more of a traditional slasher. So I kept rewriting it and eventually it became more of an Evil Dead style thing. I love the Evil Dead movies, especially Part 2, so the lead producer was always pushing for that style. He wanted it to be overt and I kept trying to pull it back. In the movie, one of the lines that he insisted we use was “getting paid and getting laid.” Now I’ve grown to love that line, but that was one of the times we really didn’t agree! Because starting out it was intended to be straight. I love that movie and I hope it gets a US release.

GZ: What is the story with the releases of Cross Bearer and The Cemetery? Because I’ve heard about Cross Bearer for quite a while. Why’d you end up self-releasing that one?

AHLBRANDT: Cross Bearer is a film that initially was going to be paired up in a package with The Cemetery. But the producers got involved in other projects, so they decided to step back and only focus on The Cemetery. So, instead of waiting to try to get a deal on both movies, which were always intended to be a back to back double feature, we released Cross Bearer exclusively at conventions. We made 500 copies and sold them for $10 a piece at conventions & $20 on the website. It took us a while to sell out, but the discs now go for $180 or more on-line, when you can find them! We didn’t plan that! We were just trying to get gas money to support the film on the convention circuit which can be costly and it became a collector’s item. It’s also a sticking point in distribution which is why The Cemetery isn’t going to be released that way. Because Cross Bearer got a soft release, distribution companies would refuse to give a first run advance. So the producers of The Cemetery, rightfully so, have been extremely cautious about how it’s seen. Today’s my birthday and one of the things posted on my timeline was from someone saying they couldn’t wait to see Cross Bearer and if they couldn’t get a copy legally, they’d find it on-line and download it. It’s that mentality that’s led The Cemetery producers to be so cautious of it. Not many people have seen it yet. But hopefully soon.

GZ: So you finished a follow-up already titled Hunters? And now you’re working on another new film called The Sadist? What’s the story with these new films?

AHLBRANDT: They’re polar opposites but in some ways they represent another double feature. The nastiest double feature you’ll ever watch! Hunters is pure sleaze and trash. It’s more akin to a August Underground style snuff film with a story involved. A little more dramatic than your traditional murder film. Hunters is more straight – I don’t even know what to call it other than “gore-nography.” And The Sadist is psychological & psychosexual torment. Not gory at all, but it’s very extreme in its subject matter. When people watch both of these movies, I feel like it’s the nature of the extremity that people are going to remember. Especially with the 16 inch glass studded dildo rape scene that producer Victor Bonacore endorsed. (Laughs)

GZ: Both of these new films feature legendary scream queen Linnea Quigley. How’d she get involved?

AHLBRANDT: Yes! I mean, she’s Trash from Return Of The Living Dead! And Suzanne from Night Of The Demons! Getting to work with her is a dream come true. So when Victor said she might be interested, it was a huge thrill. And the fact that she said yes, I was astounded by. I’m so grateful to her, but also everyone that’s worked on my movies. Its just when you get to work with someone that you’ve idolized for years, I can’t put into words how humbled I am by that. Getting to call “action” and act opposite Linnea Quigley is insane to me! I could never have believed it would ever occur. As far as release, Hunters we’re aiming to put out by September of 2014. The Sadist sometime between October and December of this year. I don’t want to rush anything, I just want them to be perfect.