Filmmaker Larry Blamire is scary. Not in the way that gives you bad dreams but scary in the way that his jokes, characters, quotable lines, and well assembled comedies & sci-fi spoofs are so good…they’re scary. The art house darling and LA native by way of Massachusetts self schooled himself on a Super 8 camera as a kid making monster clay-mation/stop motion films in his parents basement and hasn’t looked back. His films such as Lost Skeleton OfCadavra, The Trail Of The Screaming Forehead, Dark & Stormy Night, and Lost Skeleton Returns Again combined have won numerous awards, garnered rave reviews, & packed houses across the country.
In the build up to Freehold Borough Arts Council’s October 21st “Not So Horror Horror Film Fest” which will feature The Lost Skeleton Returns Again as well as a live Skype Q&A with the filmmaker, FBAC sat down with Larry Blamire to get into the head of his black & white world via an interview that was, well, sort of like his films…stilted acting, crazy dialogue, and absurd plots.
FBAC: So “Larry Blamire”? Is that a stage name?
BLAMIRE: Yes. It was either going to be Larry Blamire or Blaine Larimor.
FBAC: Larimor Larry would have been cool.
BLAMIRE: Good one. Never thought of that.
FBAC: Do you mind if I take it?
BLAMIRE: I may want it.
FBAC: Name hog. Whatever. I have other names.
BLAMIRE: Why am I here again?
FBAC: That’s deep. Do all horror filmmakers think like that?
BLAMIRE: I am more then a horror filmmaker.
FBAC: Did you answer my question?
BLAMIRE: Are you drunk?
FBAC: Question with a question. Clever. So six years ago you created The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra and it made you something of a cult hero. What’s that like?
BLAMIRE: The movie or being a cult hero?
FBAC: I already know what it’s like to be a cult hero. Duh
BLAMIRE: (blank stare) Thanks to Sony, Lost Skeleton became the darling of the art cinema circuit. Its got mad scientists, bug-eyed monsters, alien invaders, and black-clad women who perform interpretive dances.
FBAC: In both Lost Skeletons Jennifer Blaire plays one of the black clad women, Animala. She is so hot. I have her poster on my fridge and I think of her every time I get something to eat. Is that weird?
BLAMIRE: That’s my wife. (it is)
FBAC: (laughing hysterically) Yeah right. (awkward pause) So the film we are talking about is The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. It will be featured at Freehold Borough Arts Council’s Not So Horror Horror Film Festival on October 21st, 2011 . Do we need to see Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra (the first one) in order to understand “LSRA”?
BLAMIRE: No this totally stands on its own. It’s very self-explanatory with the exception of a few callbacks to its predecessor.
FBAC: Your writing style, especially in this movie, has been compared to the movie Airplane. Care to comment?
BLAMIRE: I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
FBAC: Really? That’s the best you can do?
BLAMIRE: The point is that it’s similarly silly but with undercurrents of sophistication.
FBAC: Thank God you said that, because your reference line from Airplane didn’t get that across at all.
BLAMIRE: Are we almost done?
FBAC: Are you still quoting from Airplane? Whatever. Moving on. One of my favorite moments, and the most referenced quote from LSRA is delivered by you as mala-prop laden scientist in a scotch-tinged flashback (in my best Larry Blamire impression): “The Jungle gets into your blood and builds tiny little houses of pain, and you’d better not be there when the rent’s due ‘cause the anaconda – funny thing – they don’t know how to read the lease”.
BLAMIRE: Were you just doing me?
FBAC: Don’t hate.
BLAMIRE: Yes that line get’s a lot of attention.
FBAC: And my delivery on a scale of one to ten?
BLAMIRE: Worthy of a callback.
FBAC: I’ll take it. Can I work with your wife?
BLAMIRE: The closest you will get to my wife is your fridge.
FBAC: Now I’m hungry. Weird. For the most part your films are models of economy. Is that always the plan with your work?
BLAMIRE: I was just sick of trying to raise money and being non-creative. Digital filmmaking allows access to making a movie fairly cheaply. And I found the less money you have the more creative you are forced to be. We shot Lost Skeleton for $40K.
FBAC: Do you prefer it that way?
BLAMIRE: Don’t get me wrong, low budget films are stressful to make. For Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra I wrote the script in five days, storyboarded the entire film, listened to a ton of background music, budgeted the production, handled permits, and unions, casted, table readings, location scouting, making props, designing alien costumes, 10 ½ hour shooting days, managing actors schedules, and all in 3 months by myself.
FBAC: I can relate. I remember having to walk to school 2 miles without shoes in the winter.
BLAMIRE: Not even close.
FBAC: I didn’t have feet then.
BLAMIRE: I might put that in my next movie.
FBAC: Before I go I have to ask, what will a renaissance independent filmmaker of 1950 sci-fi spoof films be for Halloween?
BLAMIRE: Larimore Larry – Cult Hero.
FBAC: Winner.
Larry Blamire will do a live Skype Q&A appearance at FBAC’s “Not So Horror Horror Film Fest” October 21, 2011 at 7:30 pm in the American Hotel. The event, in association with DowntownFreehold.com will also feature an emerging filmmakers horror film short preview and celebrity appearances. For advanced tickets or more information go to www.FBArtscouncil.blogspot.com.