BUILD YOUR OWN B-MOVIE x MATHESON’S MINIONS x SHEDDING LIGHT ON NIGHT
THE FILMMAKER’S BOOK OF THE DEAD
Should you take advice from a hack? Mentored as
he was by low-budget film guru Charles Band of Full Moon Films, horror moviemaker Danny Draven (Ghost Month, Deathbed) undoubtedly knows how to make films fast and cheap, having edited 34 of them and directed six. But the fact that none of the movies he has helmed have scored higher than a 3.7 on the IMDb would suggest that while he can make films, he’s not very good at it. That does not mean, however, that he can’t write
about the experience, something he does quite en- gagingly in The Filmmaker’s Book of the Dead. As- piring auteurs tempted to get their Orson Welles on (or, perhaps more appropriately, their Herschell Gor- don Lewis on) could do worse than start here, as it’s obvious Draven has made – but also learned from – nearly every mistake a novice director/producer could possibly make. The book takes budding directors through the com-
plete filmmaking process, from advice on choosing your monster, to making the film itself, to getting it distributed. His approach is practical and always en- couraging, and spliced in amongst the lessons are helpful tips (sample: test your actors for latex allergies if they’re going to be covered in monster makeup) and engaging horror celebrity Q&As with the likes of makeup master Tom Savini, actor Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and scream queen Debbie Rochon, among others. As a young filmmaker, Draven, 32, is also keenly aware of the potential of the online world, listing key movie-related websites and offering readers extra info via a password-protected URL. Beyond the interviews, which are full of interesting
stories and insights, the book’s appeal is understand- ably limited for anyone not interested in becoming the next Eli Roth. Draven’s reliance on Full Moon anec- dotes, images and interviews (Band’s Q&A gets seven pages, and he wrote the book’s introduction) is also a tad annoying but supports his viewpoint as a B- moviemaker. Future Spielbergs may not appreciate Draven’s Book of the Dead, but those willing to spill some low-budget sweat, tears and especially blood will appreciate his hard-won wisdom. SEAN PLUMMER
AN ANTHOLOGY HONORING RICHARD MATHESON
HE IS LEGEND: As one of the most gifted literary voices in modern
fiction, Richard Matheson has left an indelible imprint upon the horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres. Perhaps best known for his groundbreaking 1954 post-apoc- alyptic tale I Am Legend, Matheson also penned the screenplays to several Roger Corman-directed Poe adaptations, including The Fall of the House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulum, as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and TV movies such as The Night Stalker. Imbuing his tales with deftly etched charac- ters and themes of paranoia, isolation and madness, Matheson crafted stories that would go on to thrill scores of readers and inspire multiple generations of writers and filmmakers. Now, a newly re-released an- thology pays homage to the legendary author’s work. With He Is Legend, editor Christopher Conlon pres-
ents a compilation of fifteen original tales, consisting of prequels, sequels and variations to several seminal Matheson classics – written by some of the most re- spected names in current-day genre literature. To wit,
Stephen King and son Joe Hill pen the book’s first entry, “Throttle,” inspired by Matheson’s 1971 ram- paging tanker truck tale “Duel,” while William F. Nolan’s “Zachry Revisited” has further victims falling prey to the town full of cannibalistic inhabitants first described in Matheson’s 1957 story, “The Children of Noah.” The majority of the entries are solid. Particular
standouts include “The Diary of Louise Carey,” an in- teresting variation on the poignant The Shrinking Man; “Quarry,” a new tale of terror featuring the Zuni fetish doll first introduced in “Prey” (and made fa- mous in the TV film Trilogy of Terror); and the truly un- settling “She Screech Like Me,” a sequel to Matheson’s first published story, “Born of Man and Woman,” which tells of a hideously deformed mutant child who is bound and beaten in its parents’ base- ment. Surprisingly, what should have been the defin- ing story in the compilation, Mick Garris’ “I Am Legend, Too,” turns out to be a fairly pedestrian entry. Though previously published last year by Gauntlet
Press as a limited edition that also included the screenplay for Conjure Wife (co-written with author Charles Beaumont and filmed as the 1962 film, Burn, Witch Burn), this TOR edition omits that bonus mate- rial. Still, He Is Legend is an earnest tribute to a bril- liant storyteller that will surely be of interest to any fan of Matheson’s darkly disturbing prose. JAMES BURRELL
BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MOST TERRIFYING ZOMBIE MOVIE EVER
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: It may seem hard to believe, especially given how
much has been written over the years about George 107RM
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