Various Interviews With the Dark One

Todd Sheets with Puppetmaster 3 director David Decoteau on the set of one of Todd's films

 
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Letter To Horror Fans

Interview with Kansas City's madman of Horror Todd Sheets conducted by Eddy Kline. The interview took place over the phone in May of 1998.

EK: Todd, I hear you are finally done with "The Shivers."

TS: Well, not completely, but soon it will be. 18 months of Hell. Actually, it was pretty darn fun. I had the best cast I had ever worked with and a great crew. It was great fun. Why it took so long is because the film is full of digital effects. 33% of the flick is digital, so it took quite a while, then we did a big score for it and I had to record some "metal" type songs at my buddy Dan Smith's home studio. That alone took 9 months or so, during midnight sessions. Two or three times a week. It's so damned ambitious. We were crazy to undertake this type of movie on such a low budget.

EK: So you feel that it is a good movie?

TS:  No, I feel like it's a great movie! Look, when you shoot a movie like this, it is a miracle that it ever gets done, much less look any good. We couldn't even buy a good used car for our budget here, yet it looks professional, it's got great camera work and lighting, good sound and awesome effects. We had tons of make-up effects also. A huge project. For the stuff I see coming out in today's Horror video market, we are more than ready to compete.

EK:  Today's Horror video market?

TS: Well, yeah. I mean you either get big budget BS like "Scream," which I hated for many reasons, or you get zero budget stuff that people are shooting on camcorders. I started that way, too. My early movies are abominations to me now... but then I thought I was the king of directors. (Laughs) It just goes to show what learning and growing up can do for ya. Many of the people making these backyard epics never read a book, took a class, or even tried to understand how a film is made. I was lucky and had lots of help from producers like David Decoteau and J.R. Bookwalter. I also buy every book I can and read it cover to cover.These guys are making even worse mistakes than I did. I mean, the number one rule is "DON'T BORE THE AUDIENCE" and they break that one from beginning to end.

EK: You had a problem with "Scream?"

TS: I knew you'd ask about that! I hated it and here's why: My best friend Jerry and I went to see and almost fell asleep. It opens SOOOOO good! Then it's "Beverly Hills 90210" with a slasher in it. Also, it made me mad when Wes Craven did all those interviews in Fangoria and stuff saying how it's a true return to Horror. Bullshit! It was a cop-out commercial poofy movie! Craven should be forced to watch his own dreck 24 hours a day, that bastard. Talent like Sam Raimi, John Carpenter and Peter Jackson goes without notice and that freak has a gazillion dollars for a shitty movie like that. The public, the teeny boppers out there have forgotten what a good Horror film is.... Who could blame them, not many people have the guts in these idiotic POLITICALLY CORRECT times to make real Horror movies anymore. Realize this: In this day and age we would NEVER get to see a movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Evil Dead get made. Much less movies like Gates Of Hell, Make Them Die Slowly, Demons, Zombie.... Hell, even The Thing by John Carpenter would get ruined if they made it today!!! Too many digital effects and not enough slime! I don't care what people say, real slimy monsters look way better than computer ones, period.

EK: True. Computer aliens and monsters look very clean and perfect.

TS: And a rubber monster, when done right, looks real. It IS real. They can act with it and light it and everything. By the way, Godzilla is thought of as a computer monster, but the rea; story is that he was a rubber creation! Make-up guys made him. The models were shot and fed into a computer for enhancement and blue screen work. Same with Lost World and Jurassic Park.

EK: You spoke earlier of "Backyard Epics." What does this mean exactly?

TS: Some people still think of us as making Backyard Epics, too. I am not saying I am better than anyone. Hell, I have a belief that all Backyard film makers should lose their egos and pull together to learn from each other and help each other with production and distribution. I mean, I have gotten some pretty bad ones to screen. Tale Of The Urban Werewolf is so bad. The guys who made it had some good ideas, but it was so dull and boring. Bad lighting, bad sound, bad angles. Too many wide shots will kill a movie. Burglar From Hell is another one. The guys that made it seem to like what they are doing and everyone seems to be having a ton of fun, but it's dull, badly acted and isn't shot, lit or edited right. They have gotten better since, but that movie got released and it took them a long time to live it down. I am just now being cleared of my past mistakes. My early work was dreck. I had no idea what I was doing except having fun with a bunch of friends. Most directors hide their mistakes in a closet... I let mine get worldwide distribution! But the one thing I did have in my favor was that they were bad, but NEVER dull or boring! So keep this in mind. If we are going to survive, we should have fun BUT take the production of the movie very seriously. It wasn't until I made Zombie Bloodbath in 1992-93 that I even really CARED. I consider that my first movie. The 10 before it were just fun and practice. And it wasn't until Moonchild in 1994 that I started getting good reviews. With Zombie Bloodbath 2 and Violent New Breed, I started winning awards and getting critics on my side and now I have The Shivers to back me up.

EK: Tell us about the music you make for the movies.

TS: Well, the scary stuff is basically keyboards, some guitar and a bass... A drum machine here and there. Some weird sounds. It takes time, but that's because I usually do it alone. Then there's the Metal stuff. I loved that! I wrote all the tunes and played most of the instruments, except the drums that Dan Smith, who owns the studio, played. Kenny Tuna did some acoustic and wild solo stuff and Brian Milum did some guitar effects stuff... It was a hoot. The songs are kick ass and I am shopping them to a few labels who have expressed interest. You never know. I use the band name Enochian Key for all my music. I have had the name for 10 years or so and even though the band broke up, I kept the name and still use it today. If anyone wants a copy, all the need to do is e-mail me for a tape and I'll send one along.

EK: And the next movie is?

TS: Whispers In The Gloom. It's a cool movie so far. Supernatural, action packed and violent as hell. The script is killer. We start shooting in late July or early August. It's about a town of beings and a late night talk show host who gets trapped by them. That's all I wanna say right now. It is the biggest one yet. I am crazy for being so ambitious, but why not shoot for the stars? I'll never, ever settle for anything but the biggest and best. I don't want to be a schlockmeister anymore and I will never settle for less than what I am capable of doing. Plus, my partner Brian won't let me. He pushes me when I get tired of pushing myself, but I'll tell ya one thing.... He is one of the greatest people I have ever known in my life. Period. I owe him more than I'll ever be able to pay.

EK: Thanks for your time and we can't wait for that next one!

TS: Thanks to you! Any fans can write me anytime and I will reply, guaranteed!

SYMPHONY OF SHOCK: TURNING KANSAS CITY RED

     A crazy thing happened the other day. I was driving a car with rotting corpses clinging to it, trying to devour my flesh. I ran over a couple of 'em, hit a couple head on and stopped only when I heard the loud "Cut!" from director Todd Sheets. I was an extra in a Kansas City area Horror film. A zombie flick. I was an innocent guy so I didn't have to get in make-up. The other extras weren't so lucky. Two or three hours of make up hell. When I auditioned for "Zombie Bloodbath 2," I had no idea what to expect. I had no clue how much fun it would be. Probably one of the best times I ever had as a movie extra. The whole atmosphere was like a carnival. Everyone worked together to make sure the lights were right and the effects were right and everyone scrambled around like crazy to make one man happy - the director, Todd Sheets.

     Todd had a bad rep a few years before this as being a scholcker. A maker of incredible crap. I had rented "Goblin" and hated it, but it was at least kinda fun to make fun of in retrospect. But, after the success of "Zombie Bloodbath" and judging by the hundreds of people helping with this one, I'd say that rep is a thing of the past. I watched "Zombie Bloodbath" last week and saw an amazing improvement between that and his older films. He told me he considers that undead classic his first "real" film. Everyone said "Moonchild" was a great flick and that it won some awards, but it is always rented at my local video store. The good criticism of that movie and the first epic of the undead seems to have made Todd work at making better movies.

     Originally, this story was going to be written for a newspaper, but the editor of Bloodlines Magazine wanted it, so I decided to expand it with an interview. In between the gallons of gore and buckets of slime, I got to chat with the man that stains KC's streets red with blood.

BL: Todd, tell me why you do this.

TS: Well, at first I did it to have fun with my friends. No biggie. But then I let those videos get released and saw that even though they suck, some people loved those things. I allowed my learning mistakes to be distributed everywhere. Most directors burn their old movies or hide them away forever. I never did that. In a way, it's good because the public has seen me grow and evolve as a filmmaker.

BL: The ones open-minded enough to give you a chance.

TS: Exactly. Some saw an early film, called me a hack, and never looked again. Listen, everyone starts somewhere. James Cameron didn't start with Terminator.  He did "Piranha2" with the FLYING fish!!! What was that? I mean, I loved it and all, but still.... People in KC are a cruel bunch who slam everything for no reason. I saw none of the ones slamming us doing anything themselves. I actually want to bring back the feeling I got when I went to the theater and the lights dimmed and I watched an awesome flick like "Evil Dead" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" on that big screen. There was a magic there. I am not a dreamer, I know with my budgets, I'll never make "Star Wars," but I could make a good movie that is fun and gory and entertaining.

BL: I think you have gotten better with each movie.

TS: Thank you. If I didn't, I'd quit. I mean, what would be the point? Every movie has to get better. Period. I like growing and evolving as an artist. To be stagnant would be idiotic. HG Lewis made a bunch of movies and never really got any better. I love that trash... I really do, but it isn't very good cinematically. HG Lewis makes up for it by being such a warm, good-hearted guy. Real nice individual. He and I worked a little on "Blood Feast 2" together. But seriously, I LOVE doing this. I work hard at it, I read every book I can find about the art of directing and lighting and framing techniques... I got serious. This is my passion and I want to be great at what I love doing so I can do it all the time!

BL: I overheard you saying that you are tired of egomaniacs here in KC?

TS: Well, yeah... I get sick of having people work on a movie - holding a lightstand or something, then decide half-way through that they are great filmmakers. I have been told that I make it look easy, but it IS hard as hell. These people go off with no idea and get pissed when they fall on their butts. Then, out of jealousy or whatever, they call me names or put down my films. GROW UP! They get on the radio and lie about their films! One guy actually had the audacity to compare his film to mine and he hadn't even shot one frame. They filmed for three hours the first day and never shot another drop. Then there's the KC Film Society. I like some members, but it is a travesty. A joke. The truth is, I started this whole big film making movement here in KC and with the exception of Kevin who is doing "Ninth Street," no one has done anything else of merit! The Film Society throws these people called the Independent Film Makers Coalition a bash showcasing LOCAL talent. Supposedly helping promote local filmmaking. I don't kiss their butts and my crew gets no recognition. Our movies are in countries I never heard of all across the world on Video and cable and these goofs get treated like royalty for a 10-minute short about a vacuum cleaner or some shit. I get press a lot, but it's my crew who deserves the recognition. I have fans all over who write me and say how much they love the stuff, but I can tell it bothers my crew when the Film Society holds a screening night honoring Kansas City film makers who haven't and probably never will make a feature film. My attitude is THANKS A LOT! My crew kicks their asses anyway you look at it and I am proud of every one of them.

BL: You mention the crew, what about the cast?

TS: My casts are always great. There are always a few exceptions. Late people. People with so many social problems they don't have a real life... the usual. I mostly have a good cast in every movie. They give it their all. I couldn't do it without them. You see, to me, making a movie is such a magical thing. I sit alone in a room and type a script. A story from in my head. Then I pull all these people, the crew, the actors, the musicians and others and we all get out there and make a movie. We all work together to make that paper become reality. It is a great feeling. I don't care if all you do is make movies in a backyard with your aunt and cousins.... You get it done and it feels good. That's why many backyard epics (shot on video) are so lousy!!! The guy that made it is usually unaware how bad it is!!! They just are so happy to do something that it bowls them over. I was that way! Hell, I give credit to anyone with the balls out there to make a movie of any kind, as long as they are realistic about it and don't get all delusional about it and grow big-ass egos! Out of 20 backyard epics, 1/3rd a watchable. The rest may have a good idea or two, but they are torture to witness. That's OK though, as long as something good comes from it. As long as the guy who made it learned a lot and grows each time, so be it. Someday he will kick your ass in a big theater. I guarantee it. But if his main concern is getting 90 minutes of flabby tits on the screen, forget it. Go home, whiner! Put that camera down! (Laughs) Most I see are actually trying to do something.

BL: Like your pals JR Bookwalter and Matthew Walsh?

TS: I owe them a lot. You couldn't meet a nicer guy than JR and I think Matt is so damned talented. He's starring in this flick (Zombie Bloodbath 2) and will be doing some music as well. I also really like David Decoteau. Hell of a nice guy. Hugh Gallagher has always been kind and supportive. He is a good friend and I admire him. I met Todd Cooke and his wife Lisa and they seem pretty cool. As people, I like them a lot! As film makers... I see growth and improvement in their work and that is good. Todd loves Horror films, and he has some cool ideas... Lisa is a sweet girl. Naive as hell about the biz, but soooo nice. I like her a lot. Just a down to earth girl who wants to do good for her hubby. She is intelligent and articulate, but you can't tell by the movies they make, y'know? I mean.... Horrorscope was dull. I always say... The number one rule is NEVER BORE YOUR AUDIENCE. PERIOD.

BL: Well, I'll let you get to directing... why a sequel anyway?

TS: People asked for it and I wanted to try a few different things. I used different cameras and filters and black and white. Lots of color, too. Just a strange film. Not your normal zombie flick. I'm sure it will not disappoint anyone. It will be shown at this years Fantafestival in Italy. I can't wait. The undead will invade the home of their grandfather, Lucio Fulci!  After that, we filmed into the morning light. Zombies on the horizon. It was truly a Dawn Of The Dead.....
- Johnathan Fisher

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