The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

I’ve got a little change of pace for you today; a shambling, stumbling, rotting foot-dragging pace as we find ourselves surrounded by the living dead. The man most directly responsible for the zombie carnage on the streets of Stoke-on-Trent is one of our own, Mike Cartwright, who works part time at the large Hanley branch of FPI (when there is no more room in Hell, comics sellers will make zombie flicks). Armed with no budget but plenty of attitude, Mike and a bunch of friends and supporters are making their very own zombie flick, Out of Space, shooting around local locations, roping in volunteers to play shambling zombies and even enlisting comics artist Shane Oakley to help out. It is no secret that I love a good horror tale, be it movie, book or comic, so I couldn’t resist asking Mike a few questions about the whole project.

FPI: There are plenty of zombie fans out there, well served by a decomposing pile of zombie comics, novels and films – what prompted you to take on making your own wandering dead movie?

Mike: Well, it started out as a competition here in Stoke to make a film about local issues, and the group I’m part of (Labyrinth Arts) decided we’d like to do something about pollution and just the general degeneration of the area. And then, just jokingly, I suggested that we could have a sort of green issue zombie storyline. Everyone agreed and off we went. Plus the fact that I’m constantly talking about when the zombie apocalypse happens, I’m gonna do this… etc. So it seemed entirely natural to make a movie about it.

(Mike in his zombie finery; either that or he is the ‘before’ guy for a Clearasil advert…)

FPI: I’d assume George Romero is an influence since he is the Guvnor of all zombie flicks (and rightly so), but any other influences pushing their way into the movie? I notice for example that you subtitle it “an environmental zombie movie” – care to explain a bit more about that?

Mike: I think that Romero’s “Dead” films are essential viewing for anyone, especially in this day and age, with there being so much turmoil in the world, so, yes of course they’re an influence. Another influence, visually, is the other master of the living dead, Lucio Fulci. That overpowering dread and extreme violence that you see in his films is fantastic and I want to capture something similar here.

The environmental aspect comes from the fact that we’re all responsible for polluting the Earth in one way or another and so we all have to take responsibility for our actions, even if that means fighting zombies!!!! Plus I’m a huge fan of 70s horror movies that have some aspect of nature gone awry in them, like “The Long Weekend”, “The Prophecy”, and of course “Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue”

FPI: No arguments from me on those scores, I’ve always argued that the Romero movies in particular have some strong social and political observations in among the gore, while Fulci just has that fantastically OTT style. Can you tell us a bit about what the film is about, generally?

Mike: The film tells the story of what happens when we continue to systematically poison the Earth with our waste and pollutants, and the effect that that has on the water and, in turn, the living and especially the dead. We then go from that to telling the story of a small group of people and how they come to terms with what is happening around them and what they decide to do about it!

FPI: Very appropriate, especially considering the national news in the UK has only just been covering a huge sewage flow into the River Forth at Edinburgh over the weekend. After seeing Korean monster movie The Host which had a creature caused by pollutants in the river I am now going to be wary of mutant sea beasts when walking on the nearby beach after that. Fortunately they didn’t spill any on nearby cemeteries. And obviously you are in good company with eco-horror and revenge-of-nature type flicks as you say – who can forget Slugs and Frogs? And of course Return of the Living Dead had man-made chemicals re-animating corpses, so there’s a good pedigree for this genre.

Back to the actual grind of trying to lens your own flick; can you tell us how are you going about actually making it – is it a group of friends shooting as and when you have the time and can beg, borrow or steal the equipment and locations?

Mike: Yeah, it pretty much is a group of friends shooting as and when! And you’re also spot on with the begging, borrowing and stealing of equipment too (the less said about that the better though!!). As for locations, we have an absolutely awesome location that is an abandoned pottery works/factory/warehouse type of thing that’s been empty for about 20 odd years, and was recently starting to be used as workspace and exhibition space for local artists. Some of our group have space there so we just asked permission from the owners and we have the full run of the building! Outdoor locations we’re filming guerrilla-style whilst trying to attract minimum attention.

FPI: Sounds a bit like the horror flick Skinned Deep I caught at the Edinburgh Film Fest a few years back, mostly made by a bunch of professional make-up effects guys on their own time, borrowing wood from lumber sites to make sets, begging loans of equipment and jumping out of a van to shoot a quick scene in the city then on because they had no official permits to film there. One of the actors actually got arrested running naked down a street in NYC wearing a giant brain prosthesis on his head; he kept quiet and was let go a little while later, but the director, Gabe, told me the actor had his mugshot taken at the police station, still in the special effects make-up. No-one asked him about it or batted an eyelid because, hey, it was New York and naked guys with a giant brain running the streets just happen.

You’ve not been without some resources and help though, have you? I heard from my colleague Lee that you had a whole bunch of extras willing to play zombies for you at a shoot, appropriately on Friday 13th; have you had a good response from folks and how has that helped you in making it?

Mike: Yeah we’re currently at the 100 mark and steadily rising. People are falling over themselves in fact to help out, and everyone on board is totally excited about the project. Some people are giving up their regular work to come along and help out including my good friend Shane Oakley (who worked on “Albion” with Alan and Leah Moore and John Reppion) who’s putting all his upcoming art on hold to come along and be a zombie and help out behind the scenes as well!

(a classic bit of zombie-flick iconography from Out of Space)

FPI: That’s very cool – I will need to tell Shane’s Albion co-conspirators John Reppion and Leah Moore who are zombie fans and are actually working on their own zombie comic right now, Raise the Dead (you just can’t get away from the clutching arms of the undead). Any film shoot has problems, but doing a no-budget flick has to have more than its share of sticking points to overcome – what have been the biggest challenges in trying to mount a film production this way?

Mike: The number one problem is lack of money. We have a zero budget so it’s all about ingenuity and generosity! Fortunately everyone involved is giving 280 million percent, most of them in a variety of roles at the same time.

(the lack of access to NHS dentists in the Stoke area is having some serious effects)

FPI: A true labour of undead love! Making it is one big problem, getting it seen is another again; once it is in the can how are you planning to screen it to audiences? Will you try for the horror film festivals like the London one or Edinburgh’s Dead By Dawn? DVD or maybe even serialisation online? Any idea when folks will get a chance to see the finished movie?

Mike: I’d love to screen it at horror fests, particularly Fangoria’s weekend of horrors at Halloween in New York, but before that we have a local film festival called Foree Fest (at Keele University, August 31st to September 1st) where Dawn of the Dead star Ken Foree is the main attraction along with a “Dawn..” screening and also “The Devil’s Rejects”. I’d love to have it ready for then, so fingers crossed.

Also we will be putting out a DVD with lots of extras at some point, either on our own or with the help of any lovely company who’d like to put it out! It’s too early to say yet for a firm finish date, but I’m looking at that festival in August so… by July at the latest, but don’t hold me to it, just in case!!!

FPI: Fair enough, Mike! We’ll keep our fingers crossed for it all to come through okay for you; meantime you can keep up with progress, check out more information, pictures from the movie so far and a trailer on the Out of Space site on MySpace and now also on the shiny new Out of Space website.