We're Off and Running...er...Shooting!

I've been here less than a week, but so many wonderful things have happened already, I feel as though a month has passed! Most of the cast arrived here last Thursday, and what to say other than that Ed has done a tremendous job putting it together. The core gang of friends includes Tom Nagel as “Mike”, Sean Serino as “Gretchen”, CB Spencer as “Jill”, and me as “Frank”. Then there’s Brian van Camp as “Mark”, Donna Williams as “Rebecca”, Al Tuskes as “Ray” and Meredith Beardmore as “Angela”. Thursday was put aside for us to meet each other, do wardrobe, and have dinner. Friday and Saturday were devoted to rehearsals.

I mentioned in a previous blog that Precinct 13 Entertainment is intimately involved with the making of The Dead Matter. Thursday, we met at its studio in Crestline, Ohio. I walked through the front door and after a few steps was greeted by what I will call The Red Room, which is a kind of Candyland for horror fans. A long table sits in its center, surrounded on all sides by a smorgasbord of monstrosities: a replica statue of the demon Pazuzu from The Exorcist, another of the Frankenstein monster, molded heads of various beasties from The Rage, even a collection of Asskickers of the Damned action figures. I felt like I had finally arrived home after all these years!

Monday brought with it the first day of the shoot. We were doing a scene taking place in a tavern. Coincidentally, the first day of the shoot of The Dead Matter (1996) was also a tavern scene. This one focused on the gang of friends and the unfortunate Mark, a vampire hunter turned zombie. It was a pretty challenging scene to start with, as it involved close to forty extras playing the part of bar patrons. But it was also fun for that reason, since virtually all the extras were associated with the movie in one way or another. Ed’s wife, Colleen Douglas, was there, as well as his parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Also making an appearance were Sarah Mann, Tracy Martin and Liz St. James, all of whom have helped out so much behind-the-scenes with Midnight Syndicate and The Dead Matter. There were also faces from the original, such as Paul St. James, who had played “Vellich”, and Tony Demci, the co-writer who had played “Mark”.

But talk of extras brings up something strange that happened that evening, when Ed allowed me to look at the dailies. During my shots, there appeared to be someone in the background who I did not recall being on the set that day. He—or she, for that matter—was sitting in a booth in the corner behind me, so the features were difficult to make out. The really weird thing is that when I tried to point this out to Ed, so that I could ask him who it was, Ed looked at me as though I was crazy. So did everyone else who was there looking at the dailies. I even had them pause it and I pointed to what I took to be the clearest view of the person, but no one except me saw anything but a well-placed shadow. Part of me thought that perhaps they see only what they want to see. But then I let it go; after all, it was late in the day, and maybe twelve hours of shooting had gotten to me!

So ended day one.