'Zombiegeddon'
JOHN WOOLEY World Scene Writer, 07/12/2003
The low-budget horror movie "Zombiegeddon" debuts Saturday at the NIGHTINGALE THEATER. Courtesy photo
Low-budget film is full of familiar horror faces
An independent filmmaker living in Independence, Kan.? Perfect.
But that's not the biggest thing that separates Chris Watson from the average guy with a video camera and big-screen dreams. Watson's been able to do something that eludes most ultra-low-budget moviemakers -- he's got real movie stars in his pictures.
Take "Zombiegeddon," for instance, which debuts Saturday at the Nightingale Theater. Anyone familiar with horror and exploitation films will recognize many of the names in the credits, including famed character actor William Smith, Ed Wood crony Conrad Brooks, scream queens Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stevens, original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" player Edwin Neal, "Maniac Cop" star Robert Z'Dar, horror-makeup heavyweight and movie actor Tom Savini, direct-to-video feature star Joe Estevez and Troma Entertainment president Lloyd Kaufman -- among many others. Estevez and Z'Dar -- along with well-known stand-up comic Bruce Baum -- were also in a Watson picture called "Mob Daze," shot earlier but not yet released.
"We shot that in southeast Kansas about two years ago, and we've been in editing hell on that one," said Watson in a recent telephone interview. "So we're just now finishing it up.
"Before we started shooting it, I went through a process where I was trying to find people to be in it. I was talking to an actress, and I found out that she had a photographer who was local. I contacted him, and he knew Robert Z'Dar. So I ended up getting Bob for 'Mob Daze,' and he got Joe Estevez on the movie, because he really liked the script."
And Bruce Baum?
"Basically, we ambushed Bruce Baum when he was in town doing stand-up," said Watson with a laugh. "He had a daughter who was in film school, so I think he kind of felt sorry for us.
"We had an actor, Ari Bavel, in 'Mob Daze' who was local, and it turned out he'd done a couple of low-budget horror movies. So we were going to do this movie for no money, slinging a lot of blood around, and it ended up becoming our main project that summer," he added. "Joe and Bob came back to do it, and Joe said, 'I'd really like to work with William Smith,' so we flew him out. Linnea Quigley happened to be in Kansas during that time. Lloyd Kaufman came in and really bailed us out. We had one actor, who'll remain nameless -- we'd bought the (airline) ticket for him and everything, and at the last minute he called and said, 'Can't I just shoot it out here?' So Lloyd came in and did that part."
Even though it was Watson's most ambitious undertaking as a filmmaker, "Zombiegeddon" was still made on a budget that was stunningly low, even for a di rect-to-video feature. He was able to do that, he said, because the actors were willing to take less than their usual fees.
"No one worked for their regular pay on this one," he noted. "Some of them did it for free, but I still had to fly them out and pay their expenses. I teach by day and make these films in the summer, so whatever I have left over goes into these projects. I had about $10,000 for this one."
Watson hesitated when asked to describe the plot of "Zombiegeddon," saying that it's "a zombie film of sorts" and mentioning "kung-fu zombies" and "college kids."
"It's a strange little film," he said, adding that it's "a fun movie" that'd undoubtedly get an R rating if it were submitted to the Motion Picture Association of America's Ratings Board.
"It's got a lot of bad language, some nudity, violence, horror -- there's a little bit of everything," he said.