Gene Dolders’ love of cinema began as a bonding activity with his Mom (though he ran out of the theater a couple of times!) and during the era of the video nasties, his brother acquired a copy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that, to this day, is one of his favorite films, including Nightmare City by Umberto Lenzi. He started writing scripts very young and by 15, he had the format down. Originally Gene wanted to be a special effects artist but amended that because he couldn’t draw or model clay, so he pivoted to camera work.

Unable to get into film school, Gene headed to college and with help from his multi media instructor, he landed his first job at a video production company. There he worked as a camera man and editor. After a while, because of his love of Asian cinema, he move to Hong Kong for a year and taught English and the year in Hong Kong turned into a decade of moving around Asia. There he did some camera and post production work while still teaching English. It wasn’t until 2016 that he returned to England.

He started his company Barbra Green Digital in 2018. And while his full time job is cinematographer, he started with a few short films and then he was ready for his first feature, The Blade Cuts Deeper, co-written by him and his friend Alex (AJ Ballard). The film was made over a week with a lot of favors, some good location deals and a low 5 figure budget.

Gene talks about submitting his film to festivals and tells the story about how he got distribution. He also talks about working on Blood Stream as the director of photography and also having his own segment. So keep an eye out for that anthology!

Carlos, Gene and I were in fan mode toward the end talking about documentaries such as Mancunian Man and horror movies such as Shelby Oaks, The Dark and the Wicked and Predator Badlands. We also talked about indie filmmakers taking chances and the guerrilla marketing of the 80s and 90s and how it helped build horror fandom and film success.

This is another fun one and if you haven’t yet, support indie filmmakers and watch The Blade Cuts Deeper! And maybe leave a review.

Find us:

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and

https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Gene Dolders:

https://bgdigital.org

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8969674/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Director Jason Horton has a life long love of film and he and his Mom bonded over them. Instead of sports, he was into cinema. He’s from Indiana and he had a rough start, he did substances, joined a band and dropped out of school. But Jason eventually regrouped, got his GED and after getting an offshore job at 24, with his brother, he saved up enough for college. Jason went to the University of New Orleans, he wanted to be a lawyer but changed his mind after checking out the film scene and seeing the opportunity, he joined the undergrad film program, instead.

After graduating in 2003, Jason directed his debut feature, Rise of the Undead. He and a friend pooled their money and made it happen. He got a distributor and while they didn’t make any money, Rise of the Undead, did make it on to the shelves of Blockbuster. This was the era of Katrina and so Jason moved from New Orleans to LA. He hoped that opportunities would be plentiful and that because he directed a movie and it was in Blockbuster, he would be a shoo-in but no, it was hard. He was back to working at Starbucks again.

After a while, he did get something in the film industry, his first gig there was as a behind the scenes videographer. And through those connections came opportunities. Jason’s next project was an anthology called Edges of Darkness. It also made it to Blockbuster with a huge dvd release, it did better than the first one. But once again, Jason didn’t see much in the way of profit on it. He was still working full time at Starbucks.

It wasn’t until around 2012 when Monsters in the Woods was released that he finally quit Starbucks for good. He was instead, directing, editing, doing camera work etc. for other people. It still wasn’t a lot but it was industry work.

After a while, Jason started directing documentaries just as the movie business started taking a turn and the movie on demand (MOD) model was no longer as lucrative as it once was. Movies that were once making 6 figures on Amazon, were now lucky to make, five. So for 4 or 5 years, all he made were documentaries.

He’d outgrown the micro budget film model and wanted to get back to narrative filmmaking and so he found crowdfunding. His first campaign made $80,000 for a film called Craving. The experience was so good that he did it again for A Hard Place. The next one, he collaborated with the Mahal’s to fund his monster movie, The Apex Predators Club.

Jason talks about what has made his career, building community through the work and returning to conventions. And then he talks his most ambitious project yet, The Apex Predators Club. It’ll be out next year, 2026, keep an eye out!!

To find J. Horton’s filmography:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1862032/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

J. Horton's youtube:

https://m.youtube.com/@JHorton

And find me, Kimberly:

http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Part 2

After Dead Season, Adam and Enzo, started making cartoons (Oishi High School Battle) and it was one of the biggest shows on youtube, at the time, with billions of views. And it ran for 3 seasons for Smosh. Then they got the band back together for Yeti 2! When it was time to start work on Decade of the Dead, it was rough and expensive from the beginning with a quarter of the budget going to cøvid protocols. Adam co-directed Decade of the Dead with Fairai Branscombe Richmond, in the jungle, in 100 degree heat, wearing essentially, hazmat suits. And it was miserable.

Decade of the Dead took 8 years from start to finish, it began as a Dead Season series and evolved into a sequel. One of the potential options for a location was at the facility of a Hawaiian cult but that fell through and so they settled on Oahu, then people started getting sick. Including their Producer who was so ill he was put on a respirator and then production was canceled. So in the mean time, Adam went back to writing and made a short in honor of a disabled friend he lost. And his producer, Brian Spicer (Briscoe County Jr.), he made 3 movies and when it was time to film Decade of the Dead again, he doubled the funding and gave Adam access to his equipment house.

And as awesome the extra infusion of funding was, Adam couldn’t be away from his kids and quit the production. He was supposed to be replaced by his co-director Fairai, who’s native to the island. Unfortunately, they would lose their funding if Adam quit so he had to gut it out.

Adam and Fairai shared the movie, two A units shooting in tandem, everyone pounded out the production, essentially two movies, one action, one horror, made at the same time. Adam barely slept or ate for a month and a half. It was brutal but they made it happen. A point of pride is all of the FX were practical, all of the explosions etc. is real.

To add to the already grueling production was extortion and if they didn’t have a native Hawaiian on their crew, it would’ve been worse than they got. Oh and a tropical storm blew in while they were filming on the water. It was all bad.

Ok, not all bad. Some of Decade of the Dead has sets from movies you’ve seen and will probably recognize because they were abandoned and used by other productions, including this one.

While waiting to make his next film, Adam is making a retro video game based on Yeti A Love Story, an adventure game and nod to Monkey Island, a full circle moment. And since his day job is in visual fx and animation, he’s right at home.

So many of Adam’s friends who were in his indie low budget Yeti films, are pretty successful right now and you’ve likely seen their shows. From Joe Mande (Hacks, Parks & Recreation) to Adam Malamut (Universal Basic Guys) all started in the Yeti films and at least some of them, want to make more.

Decade of the Dead is full of easter eggs so keep an eye out while you’re watching (now on Tubi) and while you’re there, check out the prequel, Dead Season and Yeti: A Love Story if you are a fan of low budget, adult horror.

Adam mentions a long list of names, movies and series, find them on my website in the linktree below. Thanks so much for supporting indie film and this podcast!

Find Macabre…ish Cults, Classics & Horrors Podcast wherever there are podcasts.

https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Find Adam Deyoe:

https://pro.imdb.com/mobile/name/nm1951858/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

And find us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and

https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Youtube playlist:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNblhfc6MVBMUe65EA-lWSzG_joW27ZSf

It's Halloween season and we have a great episode for you with a delightful human being, Adam Deyoe, if you've seen Dead Season, they you already know his work. And he made a sequel just for you, Decade of the Dead, it's on tubi, check it out. He'll really appreciate that!

Filmmaker, Adam Deyoe’s love for horror and film started in childhood with a game called Monkey Island and as a movie rental store clerk called Video Revolution in Concord, Massachusetts. All of his old video store buddies either moved to New York or out to LA with him, all in pursuit of a career in film, after college. And it worked out for many of them, (his friend from those days, Rob, just edited the new Naked Gun movie!)

But let’s go back…

Adam’s first foray into filmmaking was in high school, where he made two ‘bad’ movies, after graduation he went to film school. At Emerson, Adam made The Mental Dead, his first zombie film (Look out for the re-mastered re-release!). That was also the first film he sold, it was bought buy the man who made Splatter Farm, Todd Michael Smith. Soon, Adam also made a movie called Street Team Massacre, released only online through Troma.

After college, Adam and a college friend, Eric Gosselin made four feature films (Yeti: A Love Story, Another Yeti Love Story: Life on the Streets, Street Team Massacre and Psycho Sleepover)

Then, another friend, from another video store, named Matt Manjourides (who makes low budget horror films and is the producer of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs) is an FX guy that helped Adam study up on zombies by getting him to watch Fulci horror in preparation for his first zombie feature, The Mental Dead. Matt also had a hand at helping another of Adam’s films, Yeti: A Love Story, get a little nudge toward success at Troma, unbeknownst to Adam.

At the time of the making of Yeti: A Love Story, Adam met filmmaker John Waters, he used to read Adam’s scripts and they became friends for a time.

Yeti was made during the time of MySpace and random people from there were excited to be nude in a very adult, very low budget and very Yeti movie. And a lot of Adam’s college friends. who were also in this movie, all moved to LA together. And unfortunately, because of the state of the industry recently, some have moved away.

Adam talks about the Yeti fandom, the changing landscape of LA and the rapidly changing business of film and then his feature Dead Season. He talks about scouting out the island where he was housesitting for filmmaker, John Cameron Mitchell (director of Short Bus and Hedwig and The Angry Inch), the island was Viajes, in the Bermuda Triangle. While there, someone said they should make a zombie movie, instead on the intended comedy, Boat, Island and that zombie movie was Dead Season. The only other film ever shot on that island was Lord of the Flies.

With his partner, Enzo, Dead Season was green lit and written within a month. Adam talks about a pretty major scam that bankrupted the production before they even started. He talks about the scramble to fund the film and still having to deal with this thief and their nonsense, during filming. That same person also told a lie about a permit, and that lie could have cost the cast their lives. (This story is crazy!)

After all of that, the film made it to its screening, hosted by a friend and something went wrong with the way it played. If this film didn’t do well or sell, Adam and Co were moving back home. This was a hail mary. With luck on their side and being in the wake of the first season of The Walking Dead, they hit the jackpot.

Years later, just as Adam is ready to film Decade of the Dead, it was canceled due to the pandemíc and the sudden hospitalization of his producer. And so for a year and a half, he waited (and made a stop motion short!) but it wasn’t over, soon pandemic or not, the film was greenlit.
This is just part 1… come back tomorrow, you'll need something to listen to while you Trick or Treat!

Andrew K. Clark is the author of Where Dark Things Grow and Where Dark Things Rise and we had a nice long chat about Appalachian horror in books and film. We talked culture, lore and the rich culture as is shows up in art. Where it's lacking and where it is done well.

Andrew also explains how the culture includes Native American lore and faith and how all of that exists in his stories and in the tone and point of view of the part of Appalachia that he grew up in and relating to his families' stories. The heroes of his book, Where Dark Things Rise are imperfect teens, who do imperfect teen things with their skills that include magic. If you like Stand By Me and Stranger Things, you might really enjoy Andrew's duology.

Where Dark Things Grow is also available as an audiobook, voiced by E. B. Barkley. Where Dark Things Rise will also be available as an audiobook soon. Check out all things Andrew K. Clark on his website at andrewkclark.com. There you can get his books, including signed ones from his publisher Quill & Crow Press (quillandcrowpublishinghouse.com) and Malaprops.com.

Plus there is a play list that accompanies his book. Support indie horror and indie authors! Get the book, leave a review!

And find me:

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Melissa Vitello has always loved writing and storytelling, starting at age 9, she was writing books and at 12 or 13 when her aunt, who worked in the film industry, starting letting her read scripts, she learned to write her own. Her first screenplay was written at 13 years old.

Melissa moves to LA at around 19 years old and went to school and started a club called Dark Heart Pictures, which ended up being her first company. That’s where she began making short films with her friends and there she found a love of producing and collaboration. Afterward she met her husband, also a filmmaker, they made their first film together in 2016.

Ms. Vitello also worked freelance producing and started work as the head of production for a short form content studio. Then the pandemic happened, and it was time to move on. That began her career as a feature film producer and the creation of her horror film company with another producer, Stacy Snyder, called Moon Castle Films. Moon Castle Films specializes and centers women in horror films.

As well as the work, Melissa also talked about the value of making connections and maintaining relationships plus balancing work/life with her husband who she also shares a production company with.

Melissa’s directorial feature film under the banner of her production company, Moon Castle Films was called Abigail. But her first original full feature film, (directed and written) with Moon Castle Films is called Regression. (Keep an eye out for it!)

Find this podcast wherever you get your podcasts as well as on youtube here —> ⁠https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNblhfc6MVBMUe65EA-lWSzG_joW27ZSf⁠

And find Melissa Vitello and her work here:

⁠https://www.mooncastlefilms.com⁠

IG is melissa_makes_movies:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/melissa_makes_movies?igsh=MTVoZTZjMmhodWg5dQ==⁠

And find us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and

⁠https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/⁠

Kimberly at ⁠http://www.macabreish.com⁠ and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. ⁠https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish⁠

Allison Pittel joins us and shares her journey from college, her decision to work in entertainment and moving to New York. She spent 2 years there as a Production Assistant and working in reality tv. Allison explains how she auditioned for Fuzz on the Lens (The producers of Terrifier) with David Howard Thornton and even though that project didn’t come to fruition, it was a really good experience and she kept in touch.

A year and a half later, with Fuzz on the Lens, she was cast in their feature, Stream. Later on, Allison got the call to do a chemistry read for Screamboat and booked that one too!

Though Allison paid the bills with production and had enjoyed the experience, she prefers to act. And she just moved to L.A. to do just that!

That’s not all, she’s also an indie horror fan and she sees the potential in horror film and is excited to be apart of it. We talk about being in another renaissance in indie horror, as well as women in horror.

Allison is a collaborator at heart and talks about just wanting to make good horror with great people. You will also find her on stage because she is also a play actor.

Keep an eye out for Allison Pittel (Pit-Tell) look for her in Stream and Screamboat which is in theaters April 2, 2025! It is a limited run so go see it! This movie is made for the big screen and an audience!

Get tickets for Screamboat here:

https://steamboatwilliehorrormovie.com

Find Allison Pittel:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8110323/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

https://www.instagram.com/allisonpittel?igsh=ZjJ0N2kyZHFrOGU0

Find Carlos and I:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and

https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Patrick Rea has been making movies his entire life, in high school, he was given free rein to put his movies on the school’s cable tv channel. And his introduction to the filmmaking business was on the set of Election, at 17 years old. He went to college and one of his mentors was his professor, academy award winner, Kevin Wilmott (you’ll know him as one of the writer’s of 2018 Blackkklansman).

Instead of leaving for LA after graduating from KU, Patrick, instead worked at a tv station making short films. He still lives in Kansas City and most of his films have been shot there.

Patrick shares the pitfalls of filmmaking, sequels and the importance of picking the right distributor. His feature Nailbiter gained steam on Chiller channel and again after it landed on Tubi. He has ideas for a sequel which he’ll make if he can get funding. (everyone stream it so we get that sequel!)

Then he wanted to make a camping horror and called it Enclosure, it was originally supposed to be made in the Ozarks but funding was acquired for South Carolina. The film was shot in 12 days. The distributor changed the name to Arbor Demon (in some places it is still called Enclosure).

Patrick creates interesting stories and unique spins on already established monsters. Even the lower budget films are good, where it might save in expensive production value, you’ll get in story, brutal scenes and a solid twist. Like in I Am Lisa, if you are a Ginger Snaps fan, give this one a watch. It’s a much lower budget film set in the 80s but go for it so we can get a sequel to this one too!

The next one, They Wait in the Dark got him his first New York Times review and it was positive. Unfortunately, this one is distributed by Red Box/Chicken Soup for the Soul who went bankrupt. You’ll have to listen to find out how much of a problem that’s turned out to be and still is.

Patrick has made a ton of shorts, many of which find their way into anthologies, everywhere. Watch and enjoy them!

Support indie filmmakers! Watch Nail Biters, Arbor Demons, I Am Lisa and keep an eye out for Super Happy Fun Clown!

Find Patrick Rea’s filmography here:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1408696/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

And find us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and

https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish