Eenie, meanie, miney mo... Abby Normal it is!
When B.O.T. was just a twinkle in a bloody, bulging eye, it became apparent that more than one demented mind was going to be needed to keep this beast a ‘rollin. So in the quest to find the best cohorts to put my evil plans to action, I dug deep into the delicious evil sludge, and Marc Savlov and Craig Merritt floated to the surface. Both friends and colleagues, their extensive knowledge of the horror genre and their pure dead-ication to all things evil, proved they would be the best partners in crime. Here’s some stuff you might find interesting about the minds behind the monster. Ladies first…
Bunny, can you say "Cheeeeeeese"?
BUNNY VOODOO, President and Evil Overlord
I’m not quite sure how or why I started appreciating the dark side. I know I was always attracted to the unusual, and since I was an only-child of a sort-of-hippie, cool mom, I’m sure I had more freedom than the average child. Plus being a latch-key kid of the 70/80s, I had the great opportunity to sit glued to the tube watching – in my opinion – some of the best horror movies ever made. Things never changed, even after many years of working in the “normal” world as a graphic designer for a gun publication in San Diego. A move to Austin —with it’s creative, open environment — spearheaded the opportunity to bring together two lifetime loves – performance and horror. And in 2008, the creation was Dolls From the Crypt - Austin’s first and only theatre-dance group specializing in horror (www.dollsfromthecrypt.com). As head mistress and creative director, I also saw a great need to bring together the horror fans in Austin. Enter Blood Over Texas. It’s an opportunity to support the scene and, to be honest, a chance to geek-out on all things horror together and possibly get a discount on an unusually large order of fake blood someday. Someone’s gotta do it right?
And here’s our “James Lipton-Actors Studio-style” questions:
My favorite kid movie. Kids like dolls right?
The first horror movie you saw and how old were you? The TV movie, Trilogy of Terror, at age 5. Specifically the story “Amelia” with the killer African doll. Can’t put my hand under a lampshade or pass by a elevated couch without thinking about it to this day. It’s still one of the best short horror stories – full of suspense and one of the best endings ever.
Do you have a favorite type of horror movie? I love supernatural/demonic films the most. From an artistic standpoint, I also love seeing a good monster creation and great direction/cinematography.
Besides dressing up as a boy, see how much I liked creepy? Thanks Mom.
Any horror types that don’t interest you much? Survival horror and torture porn. Too predictable and it becomes too much of a pissing contest as to who can “shock” you with a new way to kill a person. Boring.
Top three favorite horror movies? Since I’m a 70/80s girl, pretty much most of that genre, but the tops are The Exorcist, Suspiria and The Shining.
Most over-rated horror movie(s)? My first inclination is to say something like Saw. But most of my horror friends don’t like that movie either – since it falls into the Hollywood horror crap movies they churn out to the general masses. So I’ll answer that from more of a horror-fan angle and say Human Centipede and A Serbian Film.
Favorite horror movie quote? “What an excellent day for an exorcism” – The Exorcist
Marc getting zombified!( Dawn of the Dead reenactment at Highland Mall)
MARC SAVLOV, Co-Founder (You can tell Marc wrote this ‘cuz it’s all fancy and stuff)
Marc has been into horror since his first conscious realization that he was drenched in blood and gore in utero and liked it. Too large to fit into anyone’s womb anymore, thankfully, he’s been a monster kid at least since the age of 8, when he discovered Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and Toho Studios *kaiju eiga* (“giant monster”) films simultaneously. Poe, Lovecraft, Bradbury and a love of American International Pictures and Vincent Price soon followed. For the past two decades he’s been reviewing horror, sci-fi, and, frankly, all manner of films and filmmakers for The Austin Chronicle (www.austinchronicle.com) in Austin, TX. He lives with an elderly black pug named Mogwai and has no more room on his walls for horror movie poster art.
Marc as a wee boy. Education is everything.
The first horror movie you saw and how old were you? Destroy All Monsters (1972), age 6.
Do you have a favorite type of horror movie ? I tend to most enjoy Roger Corman’s early Poe-inflected work but I’m a sucker for J-Horror and really bent stuff such as Lars Van Trier’s Antichrist and experimental outings like Begotten. I’m also heavily into film noir and screwball comedies.
Any horror types that don’t interest you much? Torture porn is deadly dull, and not in a good way.
Top three favorite horror movies? Rosemary’s Baby, John Carpenter’s The Thing, George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
Most over-rated horror movie(s)? I was never much of a fan of the Friday the 13th series.
Favorite horror movie quote? “We belong dead.” - Boris Karloff in James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein
Blood covered Craig. You know, the usual.
CRAIG MERRITT, Co-Founder
Craig wanted me to write his bio — he’s a man of few words — but after I squeezed his head in a vice, this squirted out: “I grew up as a monster kid in the 70/80s, when it seemed to me, that Halloween and horror were more readily accepted and celebrated in the American culture. Halloween was all over the commercials on TV and people went all out for decorations at school and home. It seemed Vincent Price was the king of cameos during this time. As far back as I can remember I was watching, reading or listening to something with an eerie vibe to it. I still have a lot of the old Halloween and Alfred Hitchcock LP’s from back then.” And Craig hasn’t stopped his love of the horror genre. As a musician in several bands, he throws around gallons of blood as “Jerry Only” in the local Misfits tribute band, Children in Heat. He’s most notably the evil mind behind Pallbearer Press (www.pallbearerpress.com) — a horror merch and design company. Craig uses his graphic skills and knowledge of horror – including some of the obscure – to create an amazing collection of horror T-shirts and merch. He still owes me a bloody chainsaw version of the “Come and Get It” flag — in pillow form —and I’m not coming back from Texas Frightmare Weekend without one.
Price and Kermie scare the kiddies. Aww.
The first horror movie you saw and how old were you? Some of the first movies I ever really got into as a kid were horror movies — all the old Universal and Hammer films, Salem’s Lot, Phantasm, The Exorcist, etc.
Do you have a favorite type of horror movie? I’ve always preferred that a horror movie tell a story and create its own world or particular atmosphere. Roger Corman, Jean Rollin and Terence Fisher’s Hammer films are perfect examples of that style.
Any horror types that don’t interest you much? Not at all interested in the re-make craze that’s plagued the genre as of late. Teen slasher movies are definitely bottom-feeders on any kind of list of mine as well.
Craig's dogs. Can you say The Omen?
Top three favorite horror movies? I can’t really stand by an absolute favorite horror movie simply because there are so many different genres within the genre. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Phantasm and The Devils Rain definitely did a number on me as a child and hold up today for different reasons.
Most over-rated horror movie(s)? Is Blair Witch too much of a cliche?
Favorite horror movie quote? Sitting here dry, the only quote that comes straight to mind is “Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.” Sheriff from NOTLD.
And so now ‘ya know.
