Hot Picks

- Ready for My Close Up 2019

- Talk of the Dead 2016

- Tower Rats 2020

- Script of the Dead 2024

- The Bell Affair 2023

- Easter Bloody Easter 2024

- Velma 2022

- Everwinter Night 2023

- Main Character Energy 2023

- Stupid Games 2024

- Bittertooth 2023

- 4 Minutes of Terror: Night Slasher 2024

- Apart 2024

- The Abandoned 2006

- Becky 2024

- The Evil Fairy Queen 2024

- The Black Guelph 2022

- Followers 2024

- Silence of the Prey 2024

- Battle for the Western Front 2024

- Beware the Boogeyman 2024

- Subject 101 2022

- Driftwood 2023

- The Legend of Lake Hollow 2024

- Black Mass 2023

- Skinwalkers: American Werewolves 2 2023

- The Manifestation 2024

- Spirit Riser 2024

- Garden of Souls 2019

- It's a Wonderful Slice 2024

- Caleb & Sarah 2024

- The Thousand Steps 2020

- The Desiring 2021

- When a Stranger Knocks 2024

- Quint-essentially Irish 2024

- Son of Gacy 2024

- Saltville 2024

- The True Story of the Christ's Return 2024

- Whenever I'm Alone with You 2023

- Jurassic Triangle 2024

- Midnight Peepshow 2022

- Offworld: Alien Planet 2024

- The Swiss Conspiracy 1976

- Sex-Positive 2024

- Here for Blood 2022

- All Over Again 2024

- The Color Yellow 2023

- Des Töchterleins Leid 2024

- I Am a Channel 2024

- The Hermits 2023

- Murdaritaville 2024

- Inheritance 2024

- The Devil's Partner 1960

- First Impressions Can Kill 2017

- A Killer Conversation 2014

- Star Crash 1979

- Strangler of the Swamp 1946

An Interview with Jeff Freeman, Director of Island of the Cannibal Death Gods

by Mike Haberfelner

January 2012

Jeff Freeman on (re)Search my Trash

 

Quick Links

Abbott & Costello

The Addams Family

Alice in Wonderland

Arsène Lupin

Batman

Bigfoot

Black Emanuelle

Bomba the Jungle Boy

Bowery Boys

Bulldog Drummond

Captain America

Charlie Chan

Cinderella

Deerslayer

Dick Tracy

Dr. Mabuse

Dr. Orloff

Doctor Who

Dracula

Edgar Wallace made in Germany

Elizabeth Bathory

Emmanuelle

Fantomas

Flash Gordon

Frankenstein

Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies

Freddy Krueger

Fu Manchu

Fuzzy

Gamera

Godzilla

Hercules

El Hombre Lobo

Incredible Hulk

Jack the Ripper

James Bond

Jekyll and Hyde

Jerry Cotton

Jungle Jim

Justine

Kekko Kamen

King Kong

Laurel and Hardy

Lemmy Caution

Lobo

Lone Wolf and Cub

Lupin III

Maciste

Marx Brothers

Miss Marple

Mr. Moto

Mister Wong

Mothra

The Munsters

Nick Carter

OSS 117

Phantom of the Opera

Philip Marlowe

Philo Vance

Quatermass

Robin Hood

The Saint

Santa Claus

El Santo

Schoolgirl Report

The Shadow

Sherlock Holmes

Spider-Man

Star Trek

Sukeban Deka

Superman

Tarzan

Three Mesquiteers

Three Musketeers

Three Stooges

Three Supermen

Winnetou

Wizard of Oz

Wolf Man

Wonder Woman

Yojimbo

Zatoichi

Zorro

Important note: For the next week, starting Monday 3/12 till Saturday 3/17, 2012, all profits from the rental and sale of Island of the Cannibal Death Gods through our website www.cannibaldeathgods.com will be donated equally between Scares that Care and the Animal Rescue Mission. Take the time to donate a couple of bucks to two worthy causes. You'll also get to see a cheesy B-Horror film that after watching, you'll, at the very least, appreciate other movies more.

 

Your new film Island of the Cannibal Death Gods - in a few words, what is it about?

 


Island of the Cannibal Death Gods is an homage film to the low budget horror films of the 60's and 70's. Think along the lines of Roger Corman [Roger Corman bio - click here] meets William Grefe meets Herschell Gordon Lewis [Herschell Gordon Lewis bio - click here], but with less money. I wanted to make a film like the ones I used to watch at the midnite movies when I was a kid. There was a weekly show called Creature Feature when I was growing up that, along with the old Universal monster and Godzilla movies, would show these low budget horror films from all over the world. I loved it.

 

Basic question: Why a cannibal movie? And to what degree was Island of the Cannibal Death Gods by European (mainly Italian) cannibal movies from the 1970's and early 80's? And some of your genre favourites?

 

I actually wasn't inspired at all by those films. The idea came out of my head and without giving away too much, was inspired by the concept of corporate retreats. It was all the rage, a few years ago, for all these corporate executives to go out into nature, strip naked and beat on drums and get back to their primitive selves. That, more than anything else was the inspiration.

 

Other sources of inspiration when writing Island of the Cannibal Death Gods?

 

I actually have hidden some social commentary in the dialogue of the movie. This was inspired by our current craze with so called "Reality TV". I find the whole concept to be baffling. We seem to have become a world of voyeurs watching the train wrecks of these people's lives when in reality... it's not real. The crews film hundreds of hours to get the one hour a week people watch. I snuck in some of my personal feelings about that.

 

Though not quite as gory as many other cannibal movies, there are quite a few blood-and-guts-effects in Island of the Cannibal Death Gods. What can you tell us about them, and about achieving them on your rather low budget?

 

They were about as basic as you can imagine. Intestines were sausage casings with fake blood and instant oatmeal in them. Machete's with the blades hollowed out, mannequin torsos covered with latex and my friend pushing the intestines out of the chest cavity by hand. This film was made on a shoe string and most of the money spent went to making sure my cast and crew were taken care of.

 

What can you tell us about your directorial approach to your subject matter?

 

I really only have one approach when I'm on set. First, while I mean business, I like keeping the atmosphere light and fun. Making a movie is entertainment and you better enjoy doing it. Second, I make it clear to everyone I'm working with to check their egos. There are no unimportant people on set. The person holding the boom, the person bringing lunch, the person carrying the equipment - you can't shoot a film without them anymore than you could without a cast or director.

 

I think an all-important aspect of any cannibal movie is the location. So what can you tell us about your locations, and how did you find them?

 

We were very fortunate there. All of the waterway shots were filmed along the intercoastal in Ft. Lauderdale. The actual "island" was a small 4 acre nature preserve in the middle of a warehouse district. It was through people offering to help us with the film that we were able to secure these locations for filming.

 

Making a movie out in the wild sounds at the same time like loads of fun and loads of stress. So what can you tell us about the highlights, trials and tribulations of shooting Island of the Cannibal Death Gods, and about the on-set atmosphere?

 

Whew... that's a loaded question. We endured a two day torrential downpour that flooded the nature preserve and forced us to cancel shooting one weekend. Then we had a cold snap that came through that dropped temperatures into the low 30's the first weekend our "cannibals" were to be on set. While they all stood ready to do it, I couldn't ask these wonderful women to parade around in their skimpy outfits in that weather. I came down with a case of the flu one weekend and was horribly sick during the two days of shooting. The bar scene that you see in the film was actually the fourth bar we used as the footage from the previous 3 was unusable. Through it all, my cast and crew stood by me and the project.

 

A few words about your principal cast?

 

I could not have asked for a better cast for my first feature. They were enthusiastic, helpful, energetic. Every director should be lucky enough to have such talented, professional people working for them. They made shooting this film such a wonderful experience for me that I can't do justice to them in the few words here. They were phenomenal.

 

What can you tell us about Island of the Cannibal Death Gods' brand of humour?

 

It's dark humor. I tend to have a sarcastic, dark sense of humor. I blame it on a mother that brought me up watching Monty Python's Flying Circus.

 

Would you like to talk about Island of the Cannibal Death Gods' ultimate punchline for a bit, or do you think it would mean giving away too much of your film?

 

I don't want to give it away, more than I already have with the answer to one of the previous questions. :) Suffice to say that Herschell Gordon Lewis [Herschell Gordon Lewis bio - click here] once told me that any good horror film has to have a "Gotcha" moment. From the reaction that I've gotten so far... we did that. People have been totally surpised and loved it.

 

While Island of the Cannibal Death Gods might look a bit like a 1970's grindhouse movie, the musical score rather suggests a 1950's B-picture. So what can you tell us about your musical score, and your collaboration with composer Michael S.Patterson?

 

Michael was a godsend. He is such a talented musician and composer. I told him what I was looking for and he just ran with it. The score came out of his head with virtually no input from me. He was attracted to this project in the same way I was. With a love of those old cheesy horror films. His score just added so much to this film. I have such an appreciation now for how a good score can really make a film. Any movie directors that need a great composer... Michael's your man.

 

A few words about critical and audience reception so far?

 

It's been good. The reviews we've received so far have been very positive. The movie was just released a couple of weeks ago so there hasn't been much audience response for far. I'm hoping that reviews like yours will help fix that.

 

Genre veteran William Grefe has given Island of the Cannibal Death Gods a very double-edged shout-out on funnyordie.com - now how did that come into being?

 

I met Bill at a networking event and asked him if he'd watch the film and share his thoughts. As a director who made a career out of making cult films... I wanted to know what he thought of my modern "cult" film. After watching it, he felt strongly enough about it that he agreed to do the promo. I thought it was brilliant. I wanted a humorous endorsement and he came up with the idea and we ran with it. One take and we were done. I've gotten a little criticism from people that don't get it. They think I'm letting someone trash the film. I guess you have to have that kind of dark, self deprecating humor that I have to get it. I find it very obvious that it's supposed to be funny. When he starts by calling me the American Fellini and that Steven Spielberg's films pale in comparison to Island of the Cannibal Death Gods... it should be fairly obvious that we're having fun with it. At least it was to me. Bill has a personal rule against commenting on another director's work, so the fact that he agreed to do the spot at all says something about how he felt about Island of the Cannibal Death Gods.

 

Let's go back to the beginnings of your career: What made you want to go into filmmaking, initially, and did you receive any formal training on the subject?

 

I graduated with a degree in film from Florida Atlantic University. I did the extra thing back when I was a kid... 18, 19 years old but couldn't pay the rent. I walked away from it for a long time, but the passion was always there. Then a couple of things got my interest stoked enough to want to get back into it. One was Bruce Campbell's biography, If Chins Could Kill. A great portion of the book details the making of Evil Dead. Second was a film by Mark Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett, Free Enterprise. Learning the back story of those two projects really inspired me.

 

Before you made Island of the Cannibal Death Gods, you made quite a number of shorts, right? Would you like to talk about those for a bit? And what encouraged you to switch to making feature films?

 

*laughing* No... my shorts all sucked, I don't want to talk about them. Actually, since Island of the Cannibal Death Gods I have made one other short that I'm happy with. It's called Desperation and was written by Island of the Cannibal Death Gods alum Beau Yotty. That short I'm very happy with.

 

Any future projects you'd like to talk about?

 

I'm currently vacillating on a screenplay that's a rags to riches story with musical numbers. There's a science fiction dramatic-comedy TV series that's in the treatment stage and another horror film, filled with social allegory that's on the back burner.

 

Directors who inspire you?

 

Roger Corman [Roger Corman bio - click here], William Grefe, Sam Raimi, Terry Gilliam, John Carpenter... to name a few.

 

Your favourite movies?

 

Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned)

The links below
will take you
just there!!!

Find Jeff Freeman
at the amazons ...

USA  amazon.com

Great Britain (a.k.a. the United Kingdom)  amazon.co.uk

Germany (East AND West)  amazon.de

Looking for imports?
Find Jeff Freeman here ...

Thailand  eThaiCD.com
Your shop for all things Thai

Something naughty?
(Must be over 18 to go there!)

x-rated  find Jeff Freeman at adultvideouniverse.com

*Whew* - That's a tough question. I go through cycles where I'll watch a certain film literally a dozen times. I can't really say I have a favorite. I love many films across many genres. That may sound like a cop out to the question but I can't really choose one over another.

 

... and of course, films you really deplore?

 

Again there really aren't any specific films. I'm not a big fan of movies that substitute violence or gore or over the top special effects for plot and story. Plot and story are everything in a movie, in my opinion.

 

Your website, Facebook, whatever else?

 

My Facebook page is me... Jeff Freeman. The movie has a Facebook page as well and I keep our fans updated on the movie there. We have a website at: www.cannibaldeathgods.com and we're working on having the movie for sale worldwide on the site in a day or two. For rent or to own.

Update: Island of the Cannibal Death Gods is now available worldwide and for download to your Apple or Android device (or your PC) through our website www.cannibaldeathgods.com! The deluxe edition DVD is also available for purchase, as is our official 11x17 movie poster. Visit the website for reviews, bloopers and everything else for our Fannibals!

 

Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

Just one thing and it's aimed at other independent filmmakers such as myself. You may not have made the best film in the world, your film may not be seen by a lot of people. But if you made a feature film to completion... that is something special and you should take pride in that. Many people start trying to make one... but you did it.

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

It was my pleasure. Thank You.

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


Legal note: (re)Search my Trash cannot
and shall not be held responsible for
content of sites from a third party.




Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!