WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:03.680 You're listening to an airwave media podcast. 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.000 Monster Talk is supported by listeners like you. Find out 3 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:10.640 how you can contribute via Patreon or with reviews at 4 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:14.960 monster talk dot org, Forge slash support. Your contributions, large 5 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:19.239 or small, make a huge difference. Thanks. 6 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:27.280 It's actually quite unlike anything we've ever seen before. A giant, 7 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.120 very creature. Part eighte part net. 8 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.359 In Luckness, a twenty four mile long bottomless lake in 9 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:35.520 the Highlands of Scotland. 10 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.359 It's a creature known as the Luckness Monster. 11 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:05.439 Mormster. Welcome to Monster Talk, the science show about monsters. 12 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:08.400 I'm Blake Smith and this is a special Patreon bonus 13 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:11.680 episode that was set up by Matthew Baxter, who has 14 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.439 himself been on the show several times as a guest. Together, 15 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.799 we had the opportunity to interview a man who is 16 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:21.560 a director, an artist, a writer, and many other things 17 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:26.159 beside Larry Blamyre. Over the course of our discussion, we 18 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.760 mentioned quite a few movies and other projects, and I've 19 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.359 tried to put links to all that in the show 20 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:33.239 notes at monster talk dot org and on Patreon, at 21 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.400 Patreon dot com, forward slash monster Talk. So let's get 22 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:43.040 onto the Mormster We're excited to welcome Larry Blamyir to 23 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.439 Monster Talk. But who is Larry Blamyre? To answer that question, 24 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:49.920 we brought on Larry Blamire. 25 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:52.120 Well, it's too bad you don't have an expert, because 26 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:56.400 then he can tell you right away. To the best 27 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:02.719 of my knowledge, I am a writer, director, artist, playwright, actor, 28 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:07.079 so I dabble in a lot of things. But most 29 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.400 folks know me for a film called The Lost Skeleton 30 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.080 of Cadabra, which was released by Sony in two thousand 31 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.439 and four, and then we did several other films in 32 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.719 that sort of genre, which was a kind of gentle 33 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:24.520 spoof of old fifties black and white sci fi movies. 34 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.319 And I'm also a painter and I've been a science 35 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:29.479 fiction illustrator, so I've won a lot of hats and 36 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:31.000 that requires a lot of heads. 37 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:35.280 The end, nice, Well, welcome to the show, Thank you, 38 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.360 and Matthew I should welcome you too, well. 39 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.599 Thank you all Right off, I have to say, seeze, Larry, 40 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:41.639 get a job. 41 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:46.919 Don't you mean pick a job? Yeah? 42 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.120 Well, does that make you an odd tour? I saw 43 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:50.599 that word the other day and I thought, do I 44 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:52.319 really know what that means? And I looked it up 45 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:54.840 and it sounded like someone who wants to have control 46 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:55.840 over every aspect. 47 00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:00.199 Yeah, I've been referred to as as that because as 48 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:02.639 I do on these on the films that I've made 49 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:06.199 and other and short films, I have done quite the 50 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.840 writing and the directing, and I will sometimes act in 51 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:11.800 them also. So yeah, I guess it is very autori ish. 52 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:15.080 Cool. Congratulations. That makes you the first self described on 53 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:15.919 tour we've had. 54 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.439 On Oh really, Yeah, well, I just refer to you 55 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:20.560 as a micromanager. 56 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:22.680 The closest I've come before, I think was when I 57 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:30.479 went to Olive Garden and had a tour of Italy. Yeah, like, 58 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.199 you're quite creative. I should have warned you there would 59 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.919 be puns at my apologies if that's an issue. So 60 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:39.759 you've you've created monsters for paintings, comic books, film, and 61 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:41.919 and I know you probably get this a lot, but 62 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:44.719 how do you come up with the different creatures you 63 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:45.520 use in your works? 64 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:46.000 Yeah? 65 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:48.080 I want to in particularly think we've got a lot 66 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:51.159 of people in the audience who are also creative, and 67 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.639 sometimes you know they're just looking for guidance or a 68 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:57.120 little nudge. You know you can do it. And I 69 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.000 think having somebody on like yourself is going to be 70 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:01.240 really great for that. But when you answer this question, 71 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:02.879 I guess we're not mean like where do you get 72 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.280 your ideas? But really literally like what are the best 73 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.840 techniques for like generating ideas like that? In the monster space, A. 74 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:10.719 Lot of the monsters I come up with it in 75 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:16.199 in paintings or in my movies are sort of riffs 76 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:18.279 on things that I saw as a kid because I 77 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.120 was I was just absorbing all of the monster movies 78 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:28.160 I could. And the you know, I think the gateway 79 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:30.879 monster for me and probably for a lot of other 80 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.519 kids too, is the dinosaur. I mean, kids discover dinosaurs 81 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.720 and it's just a very strange thing because what they were, 82 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:40.279 they were real, they were walking around. I mean, that's 83 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.519 that's phenomenal. And from there, you know, dinosaurs lead to 84 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:51.800 so many other monsters. But I particularly like, especially in paintings, 85 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.759 going with things that are against nature, like sort of 86 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:59.800 asymmetrical monsters where you've got because you know, nature has 87 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.720 said symmetry. So when you do a monster with you know, 88 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.079 with two eyes on one side and one way up 89 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.160 in the in the corner. I mean that kind of 90 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.399 stuff that the more grotesque, the better. And I think 91 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:16.160 I like to create creatures that really kind of make 92 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:18.600 people just sort of shape their head and worry about me. 93 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:22.279 Of course, all kids really loved dinosaurs. But when did 94 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.759 your passion for monster movies actually begin? 95 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:31.160 The uh, the one you know, seeing them on TV 96 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:34.439 was such a revelation. I mean King Kong used to 97 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:36.000 run a lot when I was a kid on TV 98 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:39.120 and and uh and that was certainly one of the 99 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:40.920 first that I saw. And then the films of Ray 100 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:45.000 Harryhausen uh where, And I to this day I love 101 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:50.439 stop motion animation and I I just think it's fantastic. 102 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:53.519 It's and you know, it's got such a solidity to it, 103 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.680 and there can be some good CG. But I love 104 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:00.480 the stop motion and and so I think those were 105 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:04.600 probably the ones that that sort of first pulled me in, 106 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.800 the stop motion creatures, and and it creates such a 107 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:12.199 strange reality, you know, it's fascinating. 108 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.120 It does. I think Harry howse and Bradberry, who were 109 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.920 both lifelong friends and collaborators, both also got their start 110 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.560 and dinosaurs, I mean that was their their gateway monster 111 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.560 as well. I think it's yeah, I bet I bet 112 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:27.759 that's true for a lot of our listeners. I think 113 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.279 what you mentioned top motion. One of the cool things 114 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.040 about the stop motion stuff is how well it holds 115 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:39.399 up on Blu ray and these high deff formats. You know, 116 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.399 I think a lot of the CGI stuff. I don't 117 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:44.120 know if this is true so much anymore, but you know, 118 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:46.000 back in the day, it seemed like you could tell 119 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.360 a difference in the pixel density between when there was 120 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.920 a CGI effect and the sort of the film stock 121 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.759 of the actual you know, main screen. And I don't 122 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.600 see that issue in stop motion so much. It just 123 00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:59.560 it looks so other practical effects. 124 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.879 I do too, And I think the solidity of practical effects, 125 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:04.800 whether it's a man in a suit or a stop 126 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.360 motion puppet or an animatronic creation, I think it creates 127 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.600 more of a sense of wonder. And that's what drew 128 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.879 me in as a kid. It's pulling me into a 129 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:19.639 certain world. And now there's so much I mean, when 130 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.879 you when you see a typical shot in a movie 131 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:25.399 these days, especially a fantasy film or science fiction or something, 132 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:30.720 the you know, the entire world kind of looks nothing 133 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.240 looks real. Nothing looks real, and and I'm just not 134 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:37.240 too keen on that. I mean, I don't accept that 135 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.600 as a reality. It's not pulling me in. It's making 136 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.120 me think, oh this, that's wow. There's some really nice 137 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.439 artwork right there, but it doesn't pull draw me in. 138 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.720 You're known for the Lost Skeleton of the Cadabra, but 139 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:49.240 that's not all that you've been doing, and we'll talk 140 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.560 about some of your current stuff as well during this interview. 141 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:55.160 But I was curious about if did when you when 142 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:58.000 you created that, were you thinking, I want this to 143 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.240 look like a low budget movie because it has to 144 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.279 be a low budget movie or or that sort of 145 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:07.040 b nineteen fifty style, nineteen sixties sel What were you thinking, like, 146 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.439 what were you emulating and what really makes a great 147 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:11.759 film of that style in your mind? 148 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.959 Well, you know, it's that was a case of really 149 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:18.639 the budget was driving the idea, which was driving the budget. 150 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:22.279 So it was like, you know, we're gonna make We're 151 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:25.800 going to try to convincingly make something that looks like 152 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:28.240 and originally we thought we'd make maybe like a lost 153 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.319 movie you know that was discovered, so we wanted to 154 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.279 look as authentically nineteen fifties low budget as possible. That 155 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.360 really works out for your actual budget, which was low budget. 156 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:41.600 It wasn't you know, really it was a low budget movie. 157 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:46.279 So we're really like, we're really cutting corners. Now that 158 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.399 you know, having said that, is I mean, there's this 159 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.840 there is a heightened sense of absurdity. Absurdity is one 160 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:58.399 of my my driving passions. I just I just love 161 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:02.840 the absurd and really the the lascow on the cajabra 162 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:07.279 is is is an excuse. The old movie is a 163 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.240 framework for for for absurdity. 164 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:15.440 Yeah, so you know, I think it's obviously a lot 165 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:19.159 of things influenced you there. I was thinking about some 166 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:22.759 of the Korman movies. You know, I don't know if 167 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.679 you've read his biography, but it's his autobiography. I guess 168 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.840 I should say, yeah, that's so interesting because you know, 169 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:33.200 he doesn't it was about making money, like being efficient, 170 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.440 like spending less and making more right and but he 171 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.879 did a great job and when he actually got more money, 172 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:42.120 he did better production quality. 173 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:42.399 Right. 174 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:48.039 But I was thinking about this that style, that the 175 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.519 sort of you know, constrained by what you had when 176 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.279 you made this. Now you made this in I think 177 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:59.120 two thousand and one, right, and it shot on videotape, right, yes, 178 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:03.879 And so I know a lot of people that I meant, 179 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:07.399 who were curious how to break into this sort of work. 180 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.159 Can you talk a little bit about the changes in 181 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.559 technology between two thousand and one and now, because it 182 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:15.600 feels like right now people are carrying around better cameras 183 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.840 in their pockets on the cheapest phone than I ever 184 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:19.960 had access to back then. 185 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.559 There's no question about it. But you know, ultimately, my 186 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:30.360 feeling is that it doesn't the technology doesn't matter. For instance, 187 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.120 you can frame your shots in a certain way if 188 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:34.799 you're trying to make something look like an old movie, 189 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.320 you can frame your shots in a certain way that 190 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:41.159 lends itself to that. And then you can and you 191 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.759 can direct the actors in a certain way that makes 192 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.279 it makes that happen too. I guess I'm saying that 193 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.039 to me, You know, the technology doesn't matter too much. 194 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.000 When we made a few years later, we made trailer 195 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.320 Screen Forehead, and that has a whole different look. It's 196 00:10:56.360 --> 00:11:00.879 got a sort of wide screen candy technique colors sort 197 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.000 of look to it, and we have a much better 198 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:08.559 camera at that time, so that lent itself to that look. 199 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:14.720 And I think, you know, I I but I think 200 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.399 access has never been better. And that's a good thing 201 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:22.159 because it does mean that you can make a movie 202 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:25.200 with your phone, and really it's all about it, so 203 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:29.360 much about the storytelling that I don't think the technology 204 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:31.039 is going to change that fact. 205 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:33.279 It does feel that way them. I mean, I see 206 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:36.320 some of the stuff my wife shoots on her phone's camera. Look, 207 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.720 some of the quality of the stuff she shoots looks 208 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.200 as good as stuff I see on you know, high 209 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.120 end television or movies. It's just I mean it's really 210 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:49.120 I mean, for a cat video, they're amazing. 211 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:58.399 It's true, Yeah, it is. It's it's it's it's gotten ridiculous. 212 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.519 I mean, we are definitely carrying around in our pockets 213 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.480 something better than we shot Lost Skeleton with. But you know, 214 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:07.320 so and so that's it. That is a good thing. 215 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.360 I mean, it really does mean that the kids can 216 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.399 get into filmmaking a lot earlier than they might normally have. 217 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:15.960 Uh. 218 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.879 You know, and I know some who started making films 219 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:26.000 as kids and making videos as kids, and it's it's great. 220 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:29.279 You know, you talk about a low budget of a 221 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.519 lot of these movies, but you actually have some pretty 222 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:36.600 darn good actors in your movies, you know, Fay Masterson 223 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:39.720 and Brian Howe and Jim Beaver. Yeah, what are you 224 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:40.320 paying them with? 225 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.639 What we you mean paying? I don't know what you're 226 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:52.120 talking about manure. Even though Last Gill and Cadaver costs 227 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.519 very little, we did do it on a very low 228 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.799 budget SAG contract, right because most of us working on 229 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.759 that were SAG actors at the time. We are working 230 00:13:01.799 --> 00:13:04.320 within within that confine. A couple of the cast weren't 231 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:09.639 weren't SAG. But as far as the people you mentioned, 232 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.919 the quality this, you couldn't have a better stock company. Uh, 233 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:17.960 I'm just so fortunate to be, you know, to work 234 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.559 with folks like this. A lot of them came uh 235 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:25.320 from uh from a number of them came from Boston 236 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:27.720 theater where I was working for years as a playwriting 237 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.799 director and actor. And so some of the folks were 238 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.039 friends of mine from theater and and and some of 239 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:37.080 them were new folks in l a Brian Howe, who 240 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:40.799 came from Boston along with me and old buddy of mine. 241 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:43.919 He introduced me to a lot of the folks in 242 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.279 LA when I came. When I got to LA, that 243 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:48.960 came into our stock company too, so we kind of 244 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.440 have a mix, have a mixture of folks from the 245 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.360 East and West coast. 246 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:56.039 Yeah, it's the chemistry between all you guys is always 247 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.919 fantastic and it even carries through, uh into you know, 248 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:02.000 tales from the Pub, and it's just it's a lot 249 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.759 of fun to watch you guys work now with uh, 250 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.360 with a lot of these you know, it seems like 251 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.639 you you really kind of enjoy that that style of 252 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:16.039 the nineteen fifties and that type of monster in these movies. 253 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.320 Is there is there a real reason that you're keeping 254 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:20.960 these kind of monsters alive, that you're keeping them around. 255 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:22.879 I'm still a kid when it comes to monsters, and 256 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.559 I really do love them, and uh, you know, it's 257 00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:30.720 been a there's been a pleasant surprise of having kids 258 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:35.600 respond to these movies, not like it's something strange and distant, 259 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.759 but they're enjoying it on a different level and they 260 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.080 enjoy the monsters, which you're you know, the monsters in 261 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:44.399 these movies are pretty fairly family friendly, I think, and 262 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:46.320 that's just a it's a great thing to keep alive. 263 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:50.519 I mean, I think monsters for me were like this 264 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:54.480 will sound weird, but they're monsters are like a sort 265 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.000 of gateway drug to existentialism. And by that, I mean 266 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:02.840 that they jar us from a certain complacency, which is 267 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:05.759 why I got as a kid, I got into uh, 268 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:09.600 you know, after discovering monsters on TV. I'm then I'm then, 269 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:12.679 you know, finding books in the library on the Abominable Snowman, 270 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:18.080 Bigfoot and the Lockedness Monster, UFOs and stuff, and that's 271 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:21.360 started a lifelong fascination with that. And I think these, 272 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.080 you know, when people have sightings like this, there's a 273 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:30.279 certain jarring from everyday life that actually makes us think 274 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:32.759 about how weird the universe is. Because I mean, if 275 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.720 you're looking at superstring theory and things like that and 276 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:37.799 and quantum physical I mean things are weird. I mean 277 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:42.600 they're weird, you know, multiverse and these are like when 278 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:44.480 there's a sighting of a UFO or something. I mean, 279 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:47.720 it's like a concrete, more concrete. It's a more tangible 280 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:50.440 symbol of that kind of thing. Does that make sense? 281 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.000 It absolutely does. It transport says from the mundane to 282 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:54.600 the numinus. 283 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.879 Yes, very nicely done. 284 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:57.559 Nicely said. 285 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:58.720 Now, I want to. 286 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.320 Talk really, really briefly about your your Steam Wars art 287 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:04.559 have been lucky enough to get to see some of it. 288 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:10.000 It's really, to me a huge departure from your films 289 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:13.320 like Los Skeleton of Cadavra, and some of it kind 290 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:15.639 of even reminds me a little bit. I don't know 291 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:17.840 if you ever saw a Queen's album art for News 292 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:21.120 of the World and had these huge kind of robots 293 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:25.440 that were just monstrous and frightening, but completely indifferent to 294 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:30.120 the people that they were kind of destroying. Accidentally, what 295 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.399 kind of inspired your Steam Wars art? 296 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.879 I think, you know, it's kind of hard to say, 297 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:40.919 but the best I can come up with is that 298 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:45.759 I remember doing a mural in high school that had 299 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.360 a lot of things going on in it, and you know, 300 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:50.720 like crazy surreal sort of things, and there was this 301 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:55.360 there was this giant machine and it was sort of 302 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.559 shaped like a as if it was a Greek armor, 303 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:01.679 like like kind of like Tailo's from Jason and the Argonauts, 304 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:03.320 a little bit like that, and that might have been 305 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.400 of an influence, actually, but there were tiny little people 306 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.839 on top of it, and that gave me the idea 307 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:14.920 for this sort of alternate reality, kind of very steampunk 308 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.079 kind of reality where war everything's the same, except war 309 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:25.480 is fought on these giant machines that are manned by 310 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:29.880 a crew. And the adventure that the first adventure I 311 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.200 wrote was in the form of a of a diary 312 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.160 kept by a crew member on one of these, and 313 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.119 I wanted it to have that kind of POV and 314 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.480 it's kind of I wanted to be kind of gritty 315 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:42.039 and grimy, and we're talking, you know, we're talking cold 316 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:44.559 driven machines here that are manned by a crew, but 317 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:46.880 they're in the shape of giant warriors, and so you 318 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:50.279 have some of that Victorian elegance combined with the raw 319 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:53.000 steam power, you know, which is which is a contrast 320 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:56.720 that I find interesting and that led me to sort 321 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:59.440 of create this whole world. Yeah, it seemed like it 322 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:01.039 your your sense of. 323 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:05.839 Humor didn't come through nearly as much as as this 324 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:10.440 this bizarre stark, you know, alternate reality, and it was 325 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:12.039 really interesting to look at. 326 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:15.640 Thank you. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it's it's it's fairly serious. 327 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.480 I mean there's a certain wry humor the way you 328 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.759 find among the you know, the camaraderie that you find 329 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:27.119 in something like Gunga Din, you know, uh, and you know, 330 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.039 the guys who were griping it having to shovel coal 331 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:33.759 and just that kind of thing. And there's humor in that, 332 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:36.920 but I mean, beyond that, it's pretty much a straightforward 333 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:37.680 action adventure. 334 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:40.480 Since we had mentioned the Queen alt, Frank Kelly Fries 335 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.759 was the artist on that. Editor's note, it's actually pronounced 336 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:48.519 like freeze on both the Queen cover and the actual 337 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:51.039 It was actually a takeoff on a Weird Tales cover 338 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.559 he'd done years and years before, so he was a 339 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.960 long time old Weird Tales artist. I'll put some show 340 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.319 notes about that too. Just interesting here. 341 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.559 He did some great stuff for Mad Magazine too. 342 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:07.279 All right, but okay, speaking of Las Scoles and a 343 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.640 Panagre all these years later, are you are you still 344 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:13.079 finding new fans? Are you? Are you hearing from people 345 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:15.240 who are but first just now getting in touch with it. 346 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:20.640 I never stop hearing from fans. I will get, you know, 347 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.000 on a weekly basis, a new you know, a message 348 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:30.200 on Facebook or Twitter saying how much they loved the movie, 349 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:32.720 how much it means to them, and and for a 350 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.039 lot of people, it's kind of a it's kind of 351 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.680 a comfort food. It's kind of a go to thing 352 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.400 like I've heard people say, you know, they kind of 353 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:42.799 down and they put on lost skillet. That's the best 354 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:46.400 feeling I've had. People. I don't mean, I don't know, 355 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:50.400 I just might not sound right, but people illing have 356 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:54.440 found a comfort in the movie too, which I'm very 357 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:59.079 grateful for before kids kids seem to like it too. 358 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:00.559 So hey, kids like it too. 359 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.920 Yeah, my uh, one of my friends is a huge fan, 360 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.960 and he told I told him that you were going 361 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.480 to be on and he wanted me to pass this along, 362 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:13.880 which is that he showed this movie to his nine 363 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.839 year old nephew and when they got to the line, 364 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.880 oh it's you the idiot, he lost it. And apparently, 365 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.319 even all these years later, he just continues to use 366 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:26.960 that line for, you know, for his uncle there. I 367 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.839 don't know if it's to his uncle, but he said 368 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:30.799 he wanted to let you know, thank you so much 369 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.119 for that because it's led to so many fun memories. 370 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.279 Thank you for that. That reminds me of another fun thing, 371 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.920 which is and people think I get sick of this, 372 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:42.200 but I don't. People quote from the movie all the time, 373 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:46.799 and apparently there's a number of lines to quote that 374 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:51.759 people remember and say frequently like around the house. That's 375 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:52.920 that's very flattering. 376 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:56.759 That is that's nice. Yeah, a strong the metic content. 377 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.640 So when you're at like cons and stuff, do people 378 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.200 yell these out to you from across the room. 379 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:08.799 No, they come up to me and yell on my face. 380 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:13.119 And of course if it's a lot of skeleton, you've 381 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:14.799 got to yell at because he yells everything. 382 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.440 That's that's true. A particular fan favorite line that you 383 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:25.519 hear the most often I sleep, now, that would probably 384 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:25.799 be it. 385 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.079 Yeah, that might be it. That might be it. I mean, 386 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.319 there's there's quite it. There's a few, but but that 387 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:30.839 might be the one. 388 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:34.240 Who I was thinking about the influences on Los Skeleton? 389 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.519 Would you say, I mean, were you influenced by ed 390 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:40.640 Wood Roger Korman? Like who did you feel like was 391 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:41.839 the strongest influence? 392 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.079 It was, Yeah, And I'm asked this question a lot, 393 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:46.559 and I think it comes it's really My answer is 394 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:48.880 pretty much that I was like a sponge for all 395 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:52.440 these movies, and and you know, I was watching all 396 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.839 kinds of horror movies, but it was those nineteen fifties 397 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:59.759 sci fi horror movies that really grabbed me for some reason. 398 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.880 So when I wrote Last Skeleton, which was in a 399 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:05.119 matter of days. It just kind of came out, and 400 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:08.559 I was drawing on all this, all all of these 401 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:11.279