Set in the 1930s Manchurian desert, where lawlessness rules and ethnic groups clash, three Korean men fatefully meet each other on a train. The Good, Do—won (JUNG Woosung) is a bounty hunter who tracks down criminals with rewards on their heads. The Bad, Chang—yi (LEE Byung—hun) is the leader of a group of bandits and can’t stand to be second best. The Weird, Tae—goo (SONG Kang—ho) is a train robber with nine lives. The three strangers engage in a chase across Manchuria to take possession of a map Tae—goo discovers while robbing the train. Also on the hunt for the mysterious map, are the Japanese army and Asian bandits. In this unpredictable, escalating battle for the map, who will stand in the end as the winner? Never be sure.

This film was a total blast from start to finish. It’s more than Good, has little that is Bad, and is filled with the Weird. A completely stylized movie, it’s a madman’s Western made by and starring South Koreans who have as much claim to the American West as the Italians did in the ’60s. The title is a hint to the Sergio Leone-esque approach, but Leone’s operatic style is only one of many that director Kim Ji-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) splashes across the screen. In truth, the Leone homage conceals the film’s actual forebears, directors Steven Spielberg and George Miller, whose rough-and-tumble yet balletic action choreography and sweeping camerawork in films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Road Warrior are pushed to the limit in this film.

Ji-woon and co-screenwriter Kim Min-suk lift the basic plot from Leone’s masterpiece, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly while sending their own trio of miscreants after a buried treasure hidden deep in the Manchurian desert. Park Chang-Yi (Lee Byung-Hun) is the “Bad” from the title. An assassin, he has slicked-back hair that droops over one eye like a parody of Sadako from The Ring and is clad in a long, black Tuxedo jacket like a deranged orchestra conductor covered in blood. Chang-Yi attempts to steal the treasure map but is thwarted by the presence of two other men. The “Good” is bounty hunter Park Do-Won (Jung Woo-Sung), who is one part Clint Eastwood to two parts Errol Flynn. It’s not every day you get to see a swashbuckling cowboy, but Do-Won performs some Captain Blood-style stunts, firing his rifle while swinging high on cables during one of the film’s many dazzling action sequences. Both men are after the “Weird,” a small-time bandit named Yoon Tae-Goo (Song Kang-ho) who has made off with the legendary treasure map, though he has no idea of its value. Along with the “Good” and the “Bad,” he soon has Chinese bandits on his trail, as well as the Japanese Army!

The film appears to be a Western at first glance due to the parade of rifles, horses, ten-gallon hats, and an opening “Great Train Robbery.” But the setting is really much larger and more cinematically imaginative than it appears. It takes place in some Twilight Zone of 1930s Japanese-occupied Manchuria, where stylishly dressed killers, bandits, and cowboys exist in the same frame as Military jeeps and motorcycles while dodging bullets from six-shooters and machine guns. In tone and style the film feels less like a Western and more like an Indiana Jones adventure written by Quentin Tarantino. The pastiche approach, episodic form, and sheer bravado is much like Tarantino’s work. But Ji-Woon has a certain intoxicating giddiness all his own. The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a complete work of artifice, and part of the fun comes from its theatricality. Each of the film’s major action sequences is based upon the setting, and no set is just for aesthetic purposes. Part of the fun is seeing a new setting and trying to guess what kind of crazy action it’s been designed for, like a wild ride at Disneyland. The opening train robbery, for example, is breathtaking work, seamlessly integrating stunts, sets, special effects, and nearly 360-degree camera movement that shifts from inside the train and out in a split second. It takes what is a normal limitation of scenes set on trains — small spaces — and shatters it with complete visual freedom. The Good, the Bad, the Weird is truly one of those “live wire” films that makes all other films look lazy and dead.

Thanks Joe

No, not a Pacific islands vacation on a huge cruise ship stacked to the gills with celebrities.

Instead it’s a new film from long-time genre director Jim Wynorski, whom we last saw on these pages with his now nearing-release giant monster mash-up, Dinocroc vs Supergator (US-2010; dir. Jim Wynorski). Wynorski’s Monster Cruise is described as “a fun filled romp” that tells the story “of a boy, a boat and a sea monster”.

Filmed in Franklin, Indiana (summer home of the director) on the “absolutely gorgeous” Lake Monroe, Monster Cruise stars Kayla Gill, Erin Neufer, Paul Wallace, Shay Dickerhoff, Gerard Pauwels, Stacey Dixon, Ervin Ross, Jim O’Rear, Hal Fryar, Jim Hardin, Vicky Richmond, Bill Cothron, Tammy Logsdon, Jason Smither, David DeSpain, Dennis Crosswhite and Rick Shedd.

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So far, there’s not much information about the film beyond the above, though the involvement of Hal Fryar, who played in the Three Stooges movie The Outlaws Is Coming (1965) and also appeared in The Three Stooges Show during the 60s, may be indicative of the fact that it appears to have a comedic side to it. Below is Hal as he appears in Monster Cruise:

Monster Cruise began three years ago, when Jim Wynorski came to Indiana on the invitaion of B Movie Celebration organizer Bill Dever. Wynorski took to the place immediately. “Franklin was so beautiful that I knew one day I would make a movie here,” he commented.

Years later Dever and his producing partner Joe Gaudin decided they wanted to “make a movie celebrating summer in Indiana”, and knowing of Wynorski’s interest, decided to suggest as much to the legendary director.

After locations shoots around Franklin and Lake Monroe beginning in September last year, Monster Cruise has wrapped. “The film turned out far better that we hoped” says Wynorski. “I think movie goers are going to come away from Monster Cruise laughing, smiling, and wanting to visit Franklin, Indiana.”

The Indy Film Co-op and The B Movie Celebration are very pleased to announce this years Golden Gob winners. The Golden Cob Awards celebrate the best in genre cinema. Over 7,000 votes were tabulated and from the voting winners were determined.

The Awards will be handed out during the The 4th Annual B Movie Celebration being held in Franklin Indiana. The B Movie Celebration is a yearly gathering of genre cinema fans and professional. This years Celebration will be held September 24th, 25th and 26th. For more info visit bmoviecelebration.com.

BEST SCREAM QUEEN
Brooke Lewis – Slime City Massacre
Runner Up Debbie Rochon – Slime City Massace

BEST LEADING MAN
Jim O’Rear-The Dead Matter
Runner Up Bill Moseley -Repo The Genetic Opera

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Chuck Cirino – Bone Eater
Runner Up Tony Riparetti – Bulletface

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Kristin Hellebust – Dead Snow
Runner Up Switch VFX – Repo The Genetic Opera

BEST B MOVIE DIRECTOR
Tommy Wirkola – Dead Snow
Runner Up Albert Pyun-Bulletface

BEST B MOVIE RELEASE
DEAD SNOW
Runner Up MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Herschell Gordon Lewis

SUPERFAN OF 2009
Daniel Roebuck
Runner Up Duane L. Martin Rogue Cinema

THE BILL COTHRON BEST EMERGING B FILMMAKER AWARD
Elisabeth Fies – The Commune
Runner Up Darin Wood – Monster From Bikini Beach

THE AWARD FOR THE BEST RISING B MOVIE ACTRESS
Jessica Cameron – Absolution
Runner Up Kayla Gill Monster Cruise

THE AWARD FOR THE BEST RISING B MOVIE ACTOR
Shay Baker – Monster Cruise
Runner Up Chris Massoglia-The Vampire’s Assistant

THE MEMBERS OF THE B MOVIE HALL OF FAME FOR 2009
Earl Owensby

Dick Miller

William Castle

THE BEST B MOVIE DOCUMENTARY
Clay Westervelt – Popatopolis
Runner Up John Paul Kinhart – Blood, Boobs & Beast

THE BOB WILKINS AWARD FOR BEST HORROR HOST
Best Horror Host Ms. Monster HEL ON ICE
Runner Up Wolfman Mac CHILLER DRIVE IN

Often the term B movie is thought to be one of derision and scorn. Low budget B or Genre filmmaking are thought to be second class or in some way inferior. We at the B Movie Celebration know otherwise. We know that for the most part the grand American cinematic tradition has evolved from origins in B Movies. The weavers of images which we as a collective culture deem as master of the cinematic arts, Scorsese, Coppola, Kaufman, Demme, Leone, Bogdanovich , Lucas, Spielberg and Tarantino all either toiled in the fields of B filmmaking or consider themselves primarily influenced by this tradition and manner of cinema.

The B  Movie Celebration realizes that Hollywood has taken the stock in trade of B Movies and subverted the exploitation aspect for its own means, often ignoring the passion and the creativity of the B Movie and have created mega-budget flicks which have no heart and do not move the art of cinema further. The product which Hollywood now produces often acts as a kind of celluloid Eurasian Milfoil, crowding all  other of forms of cinema off the radar of the viewing public and demanding that only they hold have the right or ability to present entertainment to the world.

We take a deep exception to this and intend to offer an alternative.

We know that the majority of innovation and the defining of the cinematic arts were as a result as a result of B Movies. There is a tradition and legacy which should not be forgotten. Filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux, Ida Lupino, Samuel Fuller, Jacques Tourneur, Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Lippert, Roger Corman, Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski have all contributed significantly to the tradition and the emerging art form that is movies. Some of them still do.

We also feel that it is our duty to present a global overview of genre filmmaking by showing classic B films but also to sharing with you our discovery of emerging B filmmaking talents like Elisabeth Fies, Brooke Lewis, Jessica Cameron, Edward Douglas and Tommy Wirkola.

These people have taken on the banner of advancing the art of the motion picture and they like their predecessors must be celebrated.

We invite you to celebrate B Movies, celebrate the people who made these movies and those who continue to make these movies.

Please join us in Franklin Indiana, September 24^th-26^th for the Fourth Annual B Movie Celebration.

www.bmoviecelebration.com

Dave Windisch of Mile 44

Dave and  and his partner Stacy Curtis met as co-workers at a newspaper in Northwest Indiana. Dave wanted to create posters and Stacy wanted to explore other avenues for his illustrative abilities. As a need for a new creative outlet, Mile 44 was born.

Dave and Stacy began making posters by creating labor-intensive linoleum block prints, several posters later, and a couple of non-life threatening wounds, they met Steve Walters and everything changed.

Dave and Stacy took Steve’s screenprinting class at the Screwball Press Academy and they have been screenprinting posters ever since.

Dave and The Mile 44 gang have done work for Lollapalooza, Film School, Cowboy Mouth, Split Lip Rayfield, Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel, The Alarm, Ronnie Spector, Smoking Kitten, Phil Rockrohr and The Lifters, Fourth of July and Favorite Saints.

Sean Hartter

Sean has recently has artwork in numerous issues of UK’s Cereal:Geek Magazine as well as pin-ups for multiple comic books. Hartter’s artwork has also been featured on many websites, including The BatBlog, for which he creates exclusive Batman-themed desktop backgrounds because he is a raving Batman fanatic.

He currently works with the syndicated television show “Saturday Fright Special” which showcases classic and obscure horror films. He provides each show with poster art done in his unique style. The posters appear at every commercial break as a transitional image. He also designs posters for SFS’s “Spooktacular” events held at the Colonial Theater in Keene, New Hampshire.

Hartter is prepping an animated pilot for his character “Nobody the Idiot”. Hartter is also working on a number of web strips for a project with comics legend Herb Trimpe; Babyskull , Crowhead: Bastard Son Of The Mountain and Bleeding Worlds.

In 2009 he provided posters for the Vermont Samurai Kaiju Festival event held in Brattleboro, Vermont .

The promotional campaign for Dante Tomaselli’s 2010 horror film “Torture Chamber” features grindhouse style posters that recall designs from the 70′s and 80′s.

The following press release was sent by Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment , in response to the report on the New York Times about a possible deal that would allow Google and Verizon greater access to the Internet, which they would then sell to customers at a premium. To quote the article, which was published on August 4: “Such an agreement could overthrow a once-sacred tenet of Internet policy known as net neutrality, in which no form of content is favored over another. In its place, consumers could soon see a new, tiered system, which, like cable television, imposes higher costs for premium levels of service.”

We reprint the letter in its entirety. Please feel free to copy, paste and run on your site and blogs or E-mail around. where he discusses, among other things, his efforts to fight for net neutrality in the face of corporate pressure.)

Dear Colleagues:

As many of you may know, there is disastrous news on the front page of The New York Times today. Verizon and other mega-conglomerates have conspired to kill the last democratic medium: the Internet. It is imperative that we all take action immediately to fight for the only true agent of free information and diversity left in this country. Please spread my anti-mega-conglomerate PSA to all your contacts and post it on your blogs. Call the FCC and your elected representatives and urge them to defend net neutrality. Go to Save the Internet and contribute your thoughts. We must use the Internet to speak out on this matter while we still can.

Despite the limits these profit-hungry mega-conglomerates have placed on various media over the years, independent thoughts have triumphed and found another outlet on the Internet. Net neutrality has ensured that no particular type of content is favored over any other. As an individual, I appreciate the Internet’s existence as an instrument of personal expression.I appreciate the necessity of its existence for all of us. But this democratic medium is being severely threatened. Verizon and Google are about to strike a deal which would allow Verizon to provide better, faster service to Internet content creators willing to pay. Thrown to the wayside will be independent artists and businesses that do not have funding. Specifically, a tiered payment-based system guarantees an end to any hope we have of Internet-based television or radio networks that don’t kowtow to these mega-conglomerates. Generally, it guarantees an end to the independent media voices of our country – a country that is supposed to be based on free thought and shared ideas.

We must act swiftly to stand up for the freedoms of speech, expression and information upon which our country was founded.

Very truly,

Lloyd Kaufman
President of Troma Entertainment and Creator of The Toxic Avenger

And now a profile of Golden Cob Winner, Brooke Lewis

Lewis, a native of Philadelphia caught the acting bug and moved to New York City where she spent four years working Off-Broadway. Then she packed it up and headed on to bigger and better things in Hollywood. Not content to simply be an actress working in front of the camera, Brooke started Philly Chick Pictures, her own production company. Now Brooke is involved in films, television and even has two new web series going, including one working with DRAC Studios who won the academy award for the special effects make-up in BENJAMIN BUTTON.

Before she had to catch her flight back to L.A. Brooke sat down with B Movie Man Nic Brown to give her thoughts on the horror genre, independent films vs. Hollywood productions, and why Ms. Vampy is becoming the hottest new horror hostess.

BMM- So Brooke how are you enjoying the show?

Brooke- I am having a fabulous time here at Xanadu Las Vegas, especially after hanging out with you and Tucky last night!

BMM- So what have you thought of Las Vegas so far?

Brooke- Well, being a Los Angeles resident I frequent Vegas often, but this has been an experience! Xanadu has been fun. Look I hope that I’m one of those people who tries to make lemonade out of lemons so being a newer Scream Queen and being signed on to a bunch of conventions and being on a lot of different panels over the last couple of years you know you get to experience all different kinds of festivals and conventions. Some where there are thousands and thousands of people and you are bombarded and some that are newer conventions and the attendance isn’t what you expected, so you have to make the best of it.

Right now being here with you guys in Vegas, I’ve had fun and met a couple of super cool people that I definitely hope to stay in touch with in the future and hope that we get to go on to do bigger conventions together in the future. Now I look at every convention and every experience is that if you can take one thing with you, learn something new about others or yourself or you make a new business contact then it’s all worth it.

BMM- Brooke you said you’re a newer Scream Queen. So what are some of your latest projects?

Brooke- (Grinning) I am a newer Scream Queen! I’m the girl that started out in the comedy genre and I was doing “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” Off-Broadway for years in New York. Then I did a couple of sitcoms and sitcom pilots and then I did a couple of horror films in the last few years and fortunately this whole Scream Queen thing just exploded for me!

I have a number of films I’d recommend people check out. Number one is KINKY KILLERS. That is a horror thriller that I starred in opposite Beverly Lynn, she was the blonde lead. We got to act with Michael Pere` from EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS who I loved as a kid, and the amazing, Oscar nominated, Charles Durning and a lot of other talented people. It was a great film to work on and I was also one of the executive producers!

Another film that I am super, super proud of in the horror genre is IMURDERS! I got to act and executive produce this film as well. It was a really great film to work on, I was staring with the unbelievably talented Tony Todd from CANDYMAN. It was directed by Robby Bryan and he is such a generous and wonderful man to work with and he’s become a dear friend of mine. He and his wife Christie Botelho who was also in the film and is one of the producers and we got to work with William Forsythe, Billy Dee Williams and Margaret Colin, and the list goes on and on! It was an unbelievable experience! I got to play agent Lori Romano, a young FBI agent/detective who is trying to break the case with Tony Todd and it was just an incredible film! We’ve hit every major horror film festival, we’re at tons of conventions, we’ll be at the Texas Frightmare Weekend in a couple of weeks and we’ve just been so blessed!

Another horror film that I’ve acted in is DHAMER VS GACEY. Ford Austin is director and star and he’s just an unbelievable guy to work with! It was a low budget film, but it was incredibly well written. I got to play Tammy Hart, a Televangelist. Ford is such a great director and it was a fantastic acting experience. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to work with him and have him direct me the way that he did.

[Excitedly] Oh and I have a ton of stuff coming up too! I’ve been cast in SLIME CITY MASACRE, the sequel to SLIME CITY from writer director Greg Lamberson and we’ll be shooting that this summer in Buffalo New York. [Smiling broadly] I am beyond excited! I’m over the moon about this because I get to star in it with Debbie Rochon and it’s amazing, it’s all just amazing!

BMM- Wow! I guess you do have a few things going on right now! In addition to all that, I understand that you’ve recently been working on a web series as well is that correct?

Brooke- You know it’s so funny when I do these interviews and I go off on a tangent about all my films and I forget that there are other avenues that I’m participating in. I’ve been doing a lot of television and web series stuff lately in the horror and horror comedy genres. One of them that I will give a shout out to is LIFE’S A BUTCH with Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster from the Munster’s TV series) and Tony Ruma and it’s about the life of Eddie Munster and it’s a comedy/horror.

The other one that I am so proud of is MS. VAMPY [leaning in and drawing out the “MS.” to Mizzzz”]. MS. VAMPY is mostly improv but I wrote it, directed it, produced it, I did everything with the help of one of my best friends and business associates, Todd Tucker of DRAC Studios who just won the Oscar for special effects Make-Up for BENJAMIN BUTTON! It was such a gift and a blessing to be able to do MS. VAMPY with him. That’s kind of my nickname now and she’s sort of like Elvira but not. She’s this kind of horror hostess who has this villa and it’s kind of like the Playboy Mansion and she’s competing with Hef and she’s from Brooklyn so she’s a Brooklyn vampire and she is a great comedic character. We describe her as Betty Boop meets Marisa Tomei’s character from MY COUSIN VINNY. It is absolutely hilarious and I am loving it!

BMM- Where can I check out MS. VAMPY?

Brooke- MSVAMPY.NET

BMM- Cool. So how many episodes are there?

Brooke- There are four episodes so far and we shot them all inside of one shoot. That was the intention and we have a marketing company that is marketing it all over the internet. That’s it for right now because: A. We spent a small fortune for a web series and B. The amount of time and energy that it took for this project. I mean there were so many people involved that I can’t even list them all and to do something like this with a web series where you don’t know if there is going to be a financial return. It would be insane to keep doing it out of pocket unless something were to take off. So we’ll see. We do have some people interested in the sitcom arena and if someone comes along and sponsors us, we’ll do more!

BMM- Shifting gears a little bit and going back to the straight horror side of things. What are some of your thoughts about women’s roles in horror films?

Brooke- That is a great question and since I just finished speaking on two panels related to this subject. The first one was on women in film with Rachel Grubb and the other one was on women in horror, sexuality and the objectification of women and I did that panel with Rachel and Tucky. Both of the panels were great and I stick with what I said on them. I’ve never done nudity, I’ve done some amazing sex scenes where I’ve been down to a bra but I feel that artistically that unless the nudity moves the story it does not need to be in there. It does not need to be gratuitous for the sake of distribution. I do get it, I’m a producer too so I’m all for putting a little bit of T & A in there to get some foreign distribution that’s fantastic. But, I am taking a stand as both an actress and a producer for powerful women to say I can be sexy at any age, any size, I don’t have to get naked and let’s be powerful! True beauty and power come from within and it’s taken me a long time to learn that for myself and now I’m embracing it and I want to share that with all women in horror and outside of horror, in all films.

For me as a strong woman I love to have roles where the female is the villain or the killer and it’s not all about just running around naked! I think that kind of role in horror is so empowering for women and I’m super excited to see more of that!

BMM- So how would Brooke Lewis define horror?

Brooke- [Scrunching up her face in thought for a moment] That’s a really good question too! I’ve learned so much here this weekend working on panels with these amazing women like Tucky Williams and Rachel Grubb and having conversations with them about the difference between “Hollywood” horror films and the kind of films you guys are doing in places like Kentucky and Minnesota. A ten thousand dollar feature film, it blows my mind! I can’t even fathom that I mean we’re making million dollar films in Los Angeles and we can barely make ends meet with the budget!

So how I would define horror is so ambiguous and so relative. I mean you’ve got these super, super low budget things that are being made, some with nudity, but they’re very artistic and they don’t have super big names but they sell like crazy in foreign distribution and they go straight to DVD and that’s not really part of my world. Then you jump to the Hollywood horror thing where it’s not so much about the sex and nudity or the slash them up gore, it’s more about what names are attached to your project, what’s your budget, how do you get the major distribution for this and now you’re getting at this whole other thing that’s much more mainstream and I think that for some horror fans it defies what the real, true genre fans want to see. So there is just a plethora of different areas of horror to me.

BMM-As someone who also works behind the camera, what do you find to be the biggest challenge in filmmaking?

Brooke- Financing! [Laughs]

BMM- After all that other stuff you mentioned I should have picked that up!

Brooke- [Still laughing] Well seriously there are a couple of things. Number one is for sure financing. Two is to establish a team that can come together as a cohesive group that respects one another and can work together. When you do a project people think that it’s “Oh let’s go in and shoot for a month!” And that’s not the case. Films can take from three to seven years when you include post production, distribution and everything. So you had better have a group that you trust and that you love. I have been screwed over six ways to Tuesday as both an actress and a producer in this business and so now I make sure that my team is trust worthy and respectable that supports my vision and the project and that we are all on board with that.

I also think that it is very challenging to be a woman in this business, both as an actress and as a producer. Sometimes you are not taken seriously sometimes when you are just acting. Then there is the other side where they say sure you can star in my film if you will produce it and go out there and raise the finances for it, if this and if that! I am hit with so many different challenges as an actress and a filmmaker!

BMM- I find it hard to believe anyone could not take you seriously Brooke! Now I do have one last question for you…. If I wanted to learn more about Brooke Lewis, other than visiting MSVAMPY.net where could I go?

Brooke- You would go to my production company: Philly Chick Pictures and you can find that on the web at www.phillychickpictures.com. You can email me there, see pictures and find out what’s going on! There is also my IMDB page or you can just hit google, there is Soooo much out there!

JIM WYNORSKI

Will The Thrill: If B Movie Movies had their own church you would be one of its top Cardinals . What’s your Highness’s take on the State of The B Movie Nation today?

JW: The world always needs exploitation movies.  Look at what really makes money at the box office.  Yeah, Slumdog Millionaire may win the Oscar, but pictures like Fast and Furious are the type of flicks that clean up at the ticket booth.  I always strive to give my audience a thrill ride that takes them away from their troubles for two hours.  That’s the way it’s been since the invention of movies over a century ago.  I’m just glad to be part of it, and to have had some success along the way.

Thrill: What are your influences as a B movie maker?

JW: My greatest influence as a youngster was probably director Roger Corman, who helmed such classic B-Movies as Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Trip and The Wild Angels.  It was a great joy working with him over the years, having him produce some of my greatest titles such as Chopping Mall, Big Bad Mama 2 and Deathstalker. Other directors I admire are Sergio Leone, Howard Hawks and Steven Spielberg – who has blended exploitation and art in most of his greatest pictures like Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Thrill: You took a role in Kevin Tenney’s Brain Dead (great cameo). Why did you do it and do you see you achieving a second career as an actor?

JW: Out of necessity, I’ve had to cast myself in some of my own pictures when some actor failed to show up on set.  So I know from experience that it’s not easy to stand there and say lines like you mean them.  Therefore, it’s always a nice compliment when another director you respect – like Kevin Tenney – calls upon you to do a part in a picture.  Brain Dead was a fun, sci-fi outing and I was proud to show up and play the country bumpkin sheriff.  Unfortunately, he left my love scene with the leading lady on the cutting room floor.  Bastard!!

Thrill: Your pal, Bill Dever has launched this B Movie Celebration concept to re-introduce B Movies to North American audiences, what do you think of this ambitious endeavor?

JW: I personally think he’s nuts, but you also have to admire someone like Bill who is putting it all on the line to advance the cause of exploitation movies across this great country of ours.   Plus there’s something to be said about a guy who went from hawking fish to a man promoting outlandish dreams.  All the best in the world, Bill.

Thrill: I hear you have reached cult like status in Indiana, why is this and does it have something to do with your love of corn?

JW: I don’t know if I’ve achieved cult status as yet in Indiana, but I think it’s a lovely state and I definitely plan on making more movies there whenever I can.  And yes, I freely admit, I do love corn – one look at any of my flicks should prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt.