By April MacIntyre Oct 15, 2006, 13:29 GMT
“Feast” is a fantastic debut film at the hands of film making novices: First time phenom director John Gulager, and the writers who churned out a gutsy, grind-house script - Marcus Dunston and Patrick Melton.
John Gulager is the first-time director, and I had a chance to visit with him on Friday the 13th, prior to the big movie screening on October 17th at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, one of the most famous theatres in the world and home to the 2006 Los Angeles Screamfest that will be showcasing the unrated version of Feast the day the DVD is released.
"I won a contest on the Internet and I was able to direct a movie, and it's actually coming out in theaters. I'm truly the luckiest guy in the world," said Gulager.
All three were winners in the third season installment of "Project Greenlight," the reality series created by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that gives first-time filmmakers the opportunity to direct a professional indie film.
Feast is a veritable smörgsbord of genre bending horror and camp humor replete with a cracking cast, and a fantastic assemblage of craftspersons behind the scenes who helped create this must-see film.
Nutshell premise: A motley crew of barflies find themselves inadvertently trapped in an isolated no-name western desert honky-tonk and must somehow band together to survive the onslaught of flesh-hungry creatures, the result of military genetic experiments gone bad.
The cast doesn’t just die - they get wiped off the map.
Heroes eat it; sacred cows turn into sirloin. The set-up is by the book. You know what’s next, and the filmmakers know you know too. They have big fun putting surprise twists on the genre, keeping you in a balance of laughter and gasping for breathe.
Gulager is a modest guy, extremely affable and thrilled his film is finally in wide release. When asked how he managed to create such a polished, funny and interesting horror film, he was completely generous in his praise of the crew and cast.
“I had lots of help, believe me,” he laughed. Gulager shared details of the production and process to make the film.
“It all started when I entered the contest, I submitted a reel, and the powers that be liked my sensibilities with the selected winners for the script writing contest, and it all just came together.”
The cast includes Balthazar Getty, Henry Rollins, Navi Rawat, Josh Zuckerman, Judah Friedlander, Jason Mewes, Jenny Wade, Krista Allen, and blue-chip Hollywood veterans Clu Gulager, (John’s dad) and Sean Penn’s mother, Eileen Ryan, who steals the this movie with very little dialogue.
Ryan acts more with a subtle facial gesture or turn of her head than most actresses can even hope for with their whole being; she is terrific.
“They (Clu and Eileen) are the bar, and even though Eileen, who plays a sotted barfly, initially was a bit upset she didn’t have that many lines, she is amazing,” said Gulager. Clu Gulager plays the barkeep, and he pulls out a great performance.
The tight script is full of campy dialogue and features the monster talent of punk icon and writer Henry Rollins as a low-rent Tony Robbins, a loser life coach that lamely dispenses motivational bon mots every time something happens.
Rollins has a sly line during a key scene, a quietly delivered “oh cheese and crackers” when one of the mutant “mensa monsters” accidentally gets his male member stuck in something – well, I am not going to say – you’ll have to see it for yourself.
I first saw Henry in person at a punk club called “The Island” back in the eighties in Houston Texas, when he was the shirtless lead man for the band, “Black Flag.” Never in my natural life would I expect Rollins to utter this milquetoast declarative so damned convincingly.
Judah Friedlander does a great turn as the “Beer Guy” gets infected and surmises himself as “upper case fucked.”
“Clerks 2” star Jason Mewes plays himself; and Krista Allen shines as initially “Tuffy” then morphs into “Heroine #2.” Diane Goldner plays a great "seen it all" vicious vixen as "Harley Mom," styled in an ode to Joan Jett, and "Maynard" from the film Pulp Fiction returns as "Boss Man," played by the talented Duane Whitaker. In a nice touch each character is written up in a Tarantino styled prefaced graphic done in a stop motion synopsis that is hysterical.
Horror guru Wes Craven is also on board as a producer along with Greenlight’s Chris Moore, Damon and Affleck.
Feast shows off a confluence of perfectly honed crafts, the art department and special effects makeup crafts people shine on a meager budget of 3.5 Million USD, and the film was shot entirely in Los Angeles as an IA union film.
Gulager possesses a good eye, and with the help of veteran horror cinematographer Thomas L. Callaway, they set up some very cool shots.
“The hand held sequences were shot on my Super 8 Beaulieu camera, and the flashback sequence were shot with Aeton’s, and the rest of the filming we used the Panavision F900 EC system.” He said, talking a bit about his gear.
Special effects creature designer, Gary J. Tunnicliffe, the evilly gifted Englishman who designed such iconic monsters as the Hellraiser guys, Pumpkinhead who was also the effects supervisor for “Sleepy Hollow” with Johnny Depp was on board too. He was creative with the limited budget and rendered some really scary monster effects.
“Gary came through when we ran out of money, he was committed to getting the film done, and done right.” Shared Gulager.
“Steve Edwards, our composer, was dedicated and helped shape the score and pull out dialogue working with Steve Avila who did sound effects at Monkeyland Audio and Skywalker,” said Gulager. “He (Edwards) was up to this Herculean task during a time in his life, his dad has recently passed and he was under duress, and his work was just exemplary.” Gulager admitted.
Shot like a grind-house film from the ’70s, "Feast" is bathed in neon lights giving the action a nice touch. It’s a giddily gruesome film made with complete conviction by the writers and director, the stars literally aligned and turned out really good performances, and I bought it. Hook, line and sinker.
Anyone who watched Greenlight knows what a chore it was to actually make a movie, with other camera crews underfoot recording your every off-camera and not meant for public consumption remark. “There was bickering, and the burdens and heartbreaks were amplified because of the television show being shot while we were working,” revealed Gulager.
Not every department head got on well with Gulager, the casting director proved to be a challenge for him. “Michelle (Morris) and I didn’t exactly gel,” he shared. “When you are making a film as a director, you need to have that conspiratorial bond and trust with the crew around you, and just get with it and make a good fucking movie.”
It is unfortunate that "Feast" is only playing in select theaters for midnight movie weekends before hitting DVD. Feast got lost in the shuffle when Miramax cofounders Bob and Harvey Weinstein left Disney to start their own company. The biggest shock is how well Feast works given the novice talent and low budget.
DVD Extras: Commentary by the filmmakers, including John Gulager"Horror Under the Spotlight: Making Feast" featurette- "The Blood and Guts of Gary Tunnicliffe" featurette- the requisite “Deleted scenes” and delicious Outtakes. Rating: I watched director’s cut-unrated version Runtime: 92 Minutes. I strongly recommend this as a buy. Have a kick-ass Halloween party, and crank up the Dolby digital sound surround system. You’ll have fun.
"Feast" is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD Database for more information.
Follow @AprilMac on Twitter and Monsters and Critics on Facebook for the latest movies, TV and celeb news
Your Talkback on this Story