Interview with 'Redmption of the Undead' writer/director Matt Somerville.

By Geoff Bough

With the entrance of affordable digital video (DV) cameras, aspiring and novice filmmakers with the right knowledge, a modest budget and some good friends are turning heads in the horror world. Self-funded "micro-budget" productions have been making waves and challenging the stale state of Hollywood horror with fresh ideas, new talent and loads of zombies.

We recently got to chat with Matt Somerville for an exclusive interview about his upcoming film "Redmption of the Undead". A trailer for 'Redemption' surfaced online at the end of October and quickly lit the horror community abuzz. The grit, realism and intensity contained in those 2 minutes of the trailer speak volumes for what's to come in the final cut, and boy are we excited!

Rev: 'Redemption of the Undead' has been garnering quite a bit of acclaim and recognition since the trailer hit the web. Can you tell us more about the film and how the idea started?

Matt: The idea started out as a mix of 2 elements: zombies of course, and a growingly popular sport called "parkour", which is a stylish stunt-based form of free running. My interest in the sport inspired a friend to start practicing it, and soon we were making off-the-cuff videos of it. One night, sometime in August, I was driving back from the premiere of a kung fu movie I had worked on, and I was trying to figure out how to do 2 things: make good use of some props a friend had left for me before he moved away, and how to take my buddy's parkour videos a step higher. The idea dawned on me when I remembered that my moving friend had left me some fake blood.

Rev: How long did it take to write the script of the film and was it a story that evolved over time or did you have it all together from the beginning?

Matt: Whenever I get an idea for a film, I usually give it a week or so to really think it over. Usually I find enough problems with the idea to make me forget about it, but with Redemption I kept coming up with good reasons to make it, so I went ahead with it. I called a friend I've done some work with before, Steve Yu, and told him about the idea. At first he wasn't nuts about the idea, due to the fact that he'd never seen a zombie movie before. He knew how to write a script and was a good writer, so I persisted, and he finally said he would help. We wrote like crazy and got the first draft done in about 7 days. At that point, the story of Redemption was no more than an excuse to see the main character use parkour to get away from zombies. That's all I really wanted at first. After the first week of filming, which was the story's ending, things changed a bit: We had to do some rewrites due to a location change and cast members cancelling at the last minute. After a few weeks of rewrites, I had turned it into a character study of this guy who, in the wake of the undead, is alone, and can't help but feel like he could've done more to help the people he loved because he fucked up.

Rev: Is the film currently in production? When do you plan to wrap filming?

Matt: It's been in production since late September, and will probably go to January. Theres a number of reasons why it's taking so long, but the main reason is the tiny budget. If you're not paying people, then you have to work around their school and work and anything else to get a good day of filming done. And when you're doing a zombie movie, you need a lot of bodies, and a lot of time getting makeup done, which leaves little time to actually film anything.

Rev: From the trailer it sounds like we get a look into the darkness and isolation of living in a world that doesn't exist like it used to. Is that something we can expect to see in the film?

Matt: This is more of a character study than anything. We see a lot of the main character, Chase, and what he does to deal with the fact that he may never see another living person before he dies. We see existential changes through him, not the rest of the world. I've seen a lot of movies where the apocalyptic subject matter concerns the world-over, and yet I've seen only a few movies where the end-of-the-world story focusses in one small area, with only one or two people...I think the latter is something everyone can relate to more, because it's so personal, so mysterious. Chase figures that everything outside of his town has to be in bad shape, but he has no idea how bad it could be. I think the unknown can really scare someone.

Rev: Can you tell us a little about the cast and how that process went about?

Matt: Well I cast Chase (who also goes by Chase in the movie) because he knew how to do parkour, and because he has a good look. I got really lucky when I found out that he's actually a good actor as well. I think that was a big reason why there were story changes - I wrote in more acting on his part after we read lines and filmed a bit.

Every other actor in Redemption is a friend or acquaintance. Usually, when I write a character into a story, that character has some kind of quality that exists in someone I know personally. Whether it's simply the look of a friend or co-worker, the way they speak, the things they do...there's always something where I can say "hey, so-and-so would be great for this." Then I just badger that person to do it until they cave.

Rev: From the trailer, it looks like you guys had some good help in the special effects department. Can you tell us about the fx crew?

Matt: This was something I was truly worried about. Sure I had a friend's fake blood, but that doesn't make a zombie movie. I spent a long time asking around, and all I ever came up with were people who could do glamour makeup for prom dances. Then one day I was looking on the myspace profile of the same friend who had left his props to me and I saw that he had monster movie FX guy on his friends list. That guy ended up being JP Petersen of Zombie FX. I contacted him and we started working on a gameplan immediately. He drove up from LA and we shot a couple 12 hour nights and some other stuff for the weekend he was here. With the budget being what it is, that was all I could afford - but it was enough to keep the rest of the production going. He worked independently and had a lot of great ideas, which really paid off.

Rev: It's been noted that this project has been completely self-funded, how has that been? Are you finding ways to keep production costs down without sacrificing quality?

Matt: This has been the hardest part of keeping this production going. Since the budget came out of my pocket, there hasn't been enough to pay nearly anyone who's been involved with Redemption, so as I said before, if I have a scene with Chase and say, ten zombies, I have to work around my work schedule, Chase's, the extras, makeup people, and so on. Fortunately, I have some people helping me out on very important things related to the production, so the quality isn't suffering with the film's micro budget.

Rev: What kind of equipment are you using to shoot the film? Do you have any previous experience in production?

Matt: We're shooting on the Panasonic DVX mini DV cam, and all other production equipment is professional grade. It's nothing I'm not familiar with though. I started doing jobs in professional productions a little over a year ago, and since then, I've had jobs on all sorts of productions, big and small. Since I never really went to film school, everything I learned from crew members who've been around for a while kind of became my film school. After about ten jobs on other people's movies, I figured I was about ready to take a crack at my own.

Rev: The music in the trailer is quite intense, will there be a soundtrack for the film and if so, what bands can we expect to hear?

Matt: Everyone can expect that same intensity, as that kind of stuff was what I was listening to when I was writing the script. I have a few musicians ready to do some scoring, including a solo bassist, guitarist, painist, and an alternative rock band, called "The Wildlife". I also have a few people who are insanely talented at using music-writing PC programs who are looking to get some music made. I plan on spending a lot of time with all of them, as I believe music is an extremely big part of the feel of a movie, especially one like Redemption.

Rev: Can you tell us some of your favorite zombie films?

Matt: It'd be a crime to be making a zombie movie and not mention the creator of what the "movie zombie" is now: George A. Romero. I love any zombie-related film he's done. I've always loved the camp of the first two "Return of the Living Dead" and the excessively insane amount of gore in "Dead Alive". My favorite has to be the remake of "Dawn of the Dead" though. Very intense

Rev: Is there anyone or anything that inspired you to create 'Redemption of the Undead'?

Matt: Heh heh bad zombie movies. I've seen a lot of them, and I pick up something from each one, good or bad. I'm a complete horror nut, so I figured if I'm going to make a movie, it should be something I know better than anything else.

Also, a friend/mentor, Steve Reedy, was also an inspiration - not just for Redemption, but to make movies in general. Ever since I met him, he's done anything with movies in any kind of way he wanted to, and always encouraged me to do the same. When I need advice on what to do, he's there to give it to me, so I guess I could say he's a continuing inspiration.

Rev: After the film is wrapped, do you plan to run the festival route?

Matt: Definitely. Knowing that the majority of people who see the trailer like it, I can confidently press on with the film fest entries as soon as the film is done.

Rev: Do you have any other upcoming projects in the works?

Matt: I've had a script in the works even before Redemption was written, so I may continue with that after this is all done. I'll get offers to direct or shoot some ideas/scripts people have, but I'm never sure how serious they really are. For now, I have to stick to getting Redemption done, but as for the future? Who knows...

Thanks for your time Matt and I am totally thrilled to see the rest of the film. We wish you the best of luck with the production and plase keep us posted on the progression of the film.

Redemption Of The Undead Trailer

For more on 'Redemption of the Undead', check Matt's Myspace:

Matt