DEATHERMAN invades your VCR and dares you to love the lousy with a dose of old-school SOV schlocky goodness!
Armed with an RCA Home Video Camera and a lifetime of low-budget movie making, director Bobby Keller has recently completed his SOV-era throwback trashterpiece DEATHERMAN. Committed exclusively to the VHS format and done up completely DIY, DEATHERMAN is the kind of film that wants you to think it’s schlocky, hokey and a bit undercooked... and have a blast the entire time. Keller revels in the so-bad-it’s-awesome state of mind, and with his newest effort invites all the Videovores out there to hunker down, kick back and frolic in the shot-on-video slop. The forecast is looking funny with a chance of moans and groans, and Bobby’s here to tell YOU how to keep cool in this onslaught of analog affirmation…
had to be absolute shit. I wanted to make something worse than Black Devil Doll From Hell. I wanted you to hear my finger press the zoom button. Unfortunately, the original VHS camcorder I used for most of the movies I made in the 90's was broken on screen in a 2 hour vampire movie I shot in 1999 on hi-8 with my friend Mike Ancherani called When The Sun Goes Down… so I had to buy a new one. The shooting process was a lot of fun to me. Transferring and editing was a living hell, but worth it.
Why the VHS format for the release?
More than anything, for the nostalgia. From age 10 through 15, pretty much all I did was make really bad horror movies with my friends. I really wanted to capture the "A kid borrowed his father's camcorder and made a shitty horror movie in a basement" vibe. And at the same time pay homage to shot-on-video movies like Zombie Bloodbath, Video Violence, and even Black Devil Doll From Hell. I shot it the exact same way I shot movies when I was 13, and the funny thing is, it's probably worse than the movies I made in 1998.
Director Bobby Keller with his trusty RCA Home Camcorder! Watch out, man. That thing is loaded.
JS: Where did the idea for DEATHERMAN come from? What's it all about? BK: I believe it was in January of 2012, I was watching John Carpenter's The Fog and laughing at something Charles Cyphers' weatherman character said or did… it may have been him talking to the car radio with a green light on his face, and it occurred to me that there wasn't a killer weatherman movie, as far as I knew. Shortly after the name Deatherman popped into my head, and I knew I had to make it. It's the story of a weatherman who is murdered and brought back to life from an acid rain storm.
Action on the set of DEATHERMAN. Rollin' up them sleeves and getting the analog job DONE.
How long did the production take? What was a day in the life of making it? It honestly could have been done in two weeks, but with everybody's work schedules or just actors not showing up, it made what should have been a fun experience rather annoying. When we were actually shooting we had a blast, though. We started in March 2012, and I think we were done by June. Then after I edited it, I gave it to a guy who was supposed to score it. Two months went by, he still hadn't given us any music and long story short got fired and replaced by someone who scored the entire movie is less than a week. So the whole music thing kind of slowed things down, and we had our first official screening in November 2012.
A full look at the beast that captured DEATHERMAN. Little known fact: Video Camcorders are BOSS at billiards.
What ultimately made you decide to use an RCA home video camera to shoot DEATHERMAN? Was it challenging shooting, transferring / editing with it? What was the process like? When I came up with the idea for DEATHERMAN, I knew right away that it had to be shot-on-video. I literally wanted it to be the most uncomfortable movie anyone sat through. The video quality, the sound quality, the acting, the effects…
John Kasper kickin' ass as the DEATHERMAN with a "friend".
Any groovy stories from the creation of the film? I had an actual pool stick broken over my back in a scene. I'll never do that again. I guess I watched too much ECW growing up.
Now THAT is some DIY awesomeness right there. Sharpies are much cheaper than stickers any day of the week. K.I.S.S. forever!
Are you planning on doing a DVD release, as well? I never planned on it. If someone wants to distribute it for me, then maybe I will.
A look at the cover and spine for DEATHERMAN. Made-for-Video OR DIE!
Are you a VHS collector yourself? If so, what are some of your favorite titles in your collection? Do you have a tape that's escaped your clutches thus far, but needs to be yours? The Holy Grail as it were... I am. I had a rather decent collection up until 2009 when a friend of mine opened his own horror video rental store in downtown Scranton called Nightmare Video. I donated a very large amount of VHS tapes, and when they closed six months later, got two of them back. The thing that pissed me off the most was when I tried to get back my Silent Night, Deadly Night big box VHS and found out that they hadn't even been renting it out, but had traded it for tattoo work. But whatever, I started collecting again. I do want to own 100 copies of The Buttercream Gang before I die, though. What is it that attracts you to the format? Besides 35mm, I honestly think VHS is the best way to watch a horror movie. The quality, the tracking, waking up to a blue television screen, and even the smell of the inside of a vhs sleeve, I love it all. It's hard to put into words, it's just something that I've always had a love for. What do you think of the VHS resurgence and all of the resulting interest? What do you think about those averse to new movies being committed to tape? It kind of sucks being grouped into that category, just because it's something I've been doing most of my life. I feel like the whole "VHS IS THE NEW VINYL" has gotten worse since we originally started shooting. Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love that people are still passionate about VHS, and that there's documentaries coming out and conventions dedicated to collectors, but I won't be surprised if I see "BE KIND REWIND" shirts at Hot Topic soon. I don't want people to think that a handle bar mustache directed this movie. I absolutely do support companies like Vultra Video and Slaughter Tales director Johnny Dickie, but when it comes to shit like Charles Band and the Wizard Video big boxes, he just saw an opportunity to make money and took it. Anything else you'd like to share with the Videovores out there? Where can we get a copy / keep up with you? We have copies for sale on our Storenvy page. It includes a clamshell box, a Deatherman button, and a temporary tattoo.Man, dig those groovy extras, too! If you're in the mood for some serious throwback SOV schlock , you just gotta groove on over to the DEATHERMAN Storenvy page and beat your brain into submission! And be sure to tell 'em LUNCHMEAT sent cha, okay?! Groove on, Videovores, and never stop feeding that VCR!
Interview by Josh Schafer