Gutmunchers:  What inspired you to first pick up a camera and decide to make your own movie?

Gary Ugarek (director):  Back in 2003 I used to run an online radio station called WETNWILDRADIO.COM, and around that same time the remake from DAWN of the DEAD was being produced in Toronto. Well, because of the lack of info about I started calling the studio trying to get exclusives for the site, and after a while and some cool info, they invited me to the set to check out filming. I was able to shoot some pics, talk with Zack Snyder, and basically parlayed that into a huge Internet buzz for Universal.  That experience led me to getting a zombie role in LAND of the DEAD, and spending a cold November night in front of the camera of George Romero directed zombie film, taking in the atmosphere, kind of made me wanna try my hand at it, however, I have always wanted to be a filmmaker, since I was 10 or 11, but lack of motivation, and resources just delayed it until I was 34 years old.  I also wasn't exactly happy with a lot of low budget efforts in the zombie genre. I kept seeing a lot of these micro budgeted zombie films, and it seems like these filmmakers, who called themselves fans were just making a joke of the genre. Zombies aren't supposed to be rednecks, or some goofy dumbass joke, they are supposed to be a scary terrifying, unrelenting monster, so that had a lot to do with it as well.

Gutmunchers:  Why zombie movies?  Was there a particular film or director that inspired your choice?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  Like any zombie fan I have always been a huge fan of Romero, and of course Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead, but to me, zombies are just the most terrifying horror monsters ever. I mean, Jason, Freddy and Michael are ok, if you like seeing your slasher character made into a punch line, fine, but zombies, to quote Dennis Hopper, They Creep me out.  So in essence a lot of my inspiration came from Romero, especially with his commentaries, which I also do in my films. Deadlands 1 was a look at the Katrina disaster, and Deadlands 2, was just an over all look at how the government had been running during the Bush years. Although in the newest cut of the film, which I believe you reviewed that commentary takes more of backseat than it did in the original cut.

Gutmunchers:  What sort of challenges did you face making Deadlands and then the sequel Deadlands 2?  I was especially impressed by the location of the movie theater in Deadlands 2; it was really a great setting.  Was that hard to get?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  My Biggest challenge in Deadlands 1 was lack of experience and money. I went into not really know jack shit about anything on the technical side, or casting side, and figured if I could get my friends involved, try to keep their performances in check, meaning not totally fucking bad, and get some big set pieces completed I would have something that I could be proud of and a tool to learn from.  Deadlands 1 became a great vehicle in terms of Networking with the Baltimore DC film community, so when it came time to do Deadlands 2, I didn't have so many hurdles to overcome. Deadlands 1 most talked about scene is the 100-car traffic jam back up, no one had ever done something that large on a budget so small, so it kind of became the indie movie you have to see just for that sequence alone.

    

Deadlands 2 wasn't easier to do, but it wasn't as hard. Getting the theater was just a matter of a phone call. I had premiered the first Deadlands movie at that theater, and they made some nice change off it while it screened there, so when it came time to make another zombie film I just called up the owners, told them what I wanted to do, and they agreed.  Even the Biotech company location was pretty easy because I work for the company, and my co-workers want to see me succeed so they made those items available to me, which is why it was slightly easier to bring Deadlands 2 in on a smaller budget. Yet have a bigger scope. The biggest challenge was the roadblock sequence, which believe it or not was a sequence meant for Deadlands 1, but we just didn't have the resources available to pull off at the time.

Gutmunchers:  After watching the sequel I wasn't quite sure if it was supposed to take place in the same world and continue the story from the first movie.  What were your plans?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  Deadlands 2 is an "IN NAME ONLY" sequel. It was originally titled The Escape, which was later Changed to TRAPPED. The original premise was sort of the same. People taking refuge in a theater try to figure a way to find help or get to a rescue shelter, but through 5 re-writes it grew into the film you watched.  Because Deadlands 1 became this sort of indie sleeper hit for TEMPE VIDEO, and had a name out there for indie horror fans, I decided to give Trapped the DEADLANDS title, and sort of make it a reference to Return of the Living Dead 2. ROTLD 2 is not really a sequel per se, but just brings up familiar ground.  Deadlands 2 almost embodies that because many people who played major parts in the first film, come back into smaller roles for Deadlands 2, kind of like Frank and Freddy in ROTLD come back as Ed & Joey in ROTLD 2.

Gutmunchers:  What is next for you now that Deadlands 2 is finished?  Maybe another zombie movie?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  I really do want to make another zombie film, but many people, reviewers, are asking me to tread into something else, just for a film or two, but in my mind, the ULTIMATE Deadlands film has yet to be made. There is already a script Ready to go for DEADLANDS 3, but it requires a much larger budget than the budgets of the first two films put together, and with the economy in the shitter right now, there is just no money out there to make any movie, plus we haven't locked down a distributor yet for Deadlands 2.  Most of my energy at the moment is trying to get Deadlands 2 out there and find it a home on DVD, VOD, Download from iTunes etc etc. Plus we have it submitted to over 20 film festivals at the moment, and another theatrical screening coming up on April 18th in two separate cities 2000+ miles apart.  I think once the masses get to see Deadlands 2, and see how much of an improvement it is over Deadlands 1, they will want a third film. Deadlands 1 is a very hit and miss flick, most hardcore indie horror fans dig it, but your average movie or horror fan hates it, so for those who hated it, it maybe hard getting them to even try to see part 2, but I am hoping that with reviews, film fests and the viral campaign I am doing with the film at the moment the buzz will come up and people who shunned part 1 might say, hey lets maybe give part 2 a chance, and hopefully they will dig it.

Gutmunchers:  What do you think about the current state of mainstream horror and how it relates to the independent scene?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  I will be honest when I say I can't remember the last mainstream horror flick I watched in theaters. I think it was Diary of the Dead, but is that a mainstream film? Some would say yes, some would say no.  Land of the Dead was probably the last wide release mainstream horror film I watched in theaters, and to be honest I didn't care for it, and I got to be a zombie in it. However, nothing in the mainstream horror realm has really been catching my eye, and since I started on my indie film path, I have been checking out a lot of indie horror and indie flicks in general, and find most of them more entertaining than some of the studio released stuff today.

    

When it comes to indie zombie horror though, I am very picky. If there is even a small hint at goofing on the zombie, or doing something way over the top... I won't watch it. I don't care if everyone and their brother swears it is good. If as a zombie fan you can't do something that is true to the genre, then don't fucking do it. You can use runners, or shamblers I don't care, but if it gets dumb, I won't bother with it.

However, as far as mainstream horror, is what they release anymore really considered horror? To be honest I haven't really seen or watched a Horror film in a long time. The last, true horror flick to be made, in my opinion was probably Romero's DAWN, however, Shaun of the Dead, even being part romantic comedy, really started hitting that horror note late into the movie. Those would probably be the only two films I would consider horror to this day.  Even my films I consider more Zombie Action oriented with a horror twist.

Gutmunchers:  As a fan what kind of movies do you enjoy watching?  Favorite movie?  Favorite director?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  I enjoy a lot of stuff, Action, Comedy, Westerns, even Romantic Comedies and Dramas. I recently watched Twilight and I actually liked it, sure it is not anything your hardcore horror fan would watch, but the fact it had vampires was a big plus for me. Vampires are the only other film monsters I like other than zombies.

Favorite film? I don't really have one favorite that is the be all end all, but by Genre...

    

    Western - the Good The Bad, and the Ugly

    Drama - The Shawshank Redemption/American beauty (Tied)

    Comedy - Month Python and the Holy Grail

    Action - Terminator 2

    Sci-Fi - Aliens

    Romantic Comedy - Love Actually

    Gangster - The Godfather Part 1

    Horror - DAWN of the DEAD (orig)

    Crime Drama - Blow (2001)

    

My Favorite Director... Wow this is tough, because horror fans would expect me to say Romero because of my first 2 films being Zombie flicks, but honestly my favorite director is Tony Scott.

    

Gutmunchers:  Where can everyone pick up your movies?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  Deadlands 1 aka Deadlands: the Rising can be found on Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster, Best Buy, Borders, Google it and ye shall find it, hell there is even torrents out there for it.

Deadlands 2, if nothing pans out by July I will do a self release of the movie, but we have a lot of interest at the moment, but I am just trying to figure out who is going to do the best release possible, I don't want to do a skin and bones release, just so the distributor can come back later and double dip everyone for a more packed release... I hate double dipping and I don't want to do that to the fans. Your money is hard earned and you should get the most bang for your buck, and that is what I am trying to, get someone to do a nice release that maybe includes both versions of the movie. (Original Cut, and the Newer Re-edit)

Gutmunchers:  Anything else that you want to share with the Gutmuncher's audience about any upcoming screenings or projects?

    

Gary Ugarek (director):  Well as I noted we have some screenings coming up on April 18th in Hagerstown, MD at the Hagerstown 10, and at the Horrorfest/Starfest convention in Denver Colorado the same night. You can check them out on Google or visit www.playingwithdeadthings.com

Upcoming projects, nothing really worth mentioning at the moment, as I said there is a Deadlands 3 script ready to go, but I guess time will tell. I do hope however, they enjoy the film, and it brings some respect to the zombie genre.

I want to thank Gary for taking the time to do an interview with us.  Everyone needs to keep checking in on his site to find out when Deadlands 2 comes out.  It really is worth the effort.

-John