Owen: Tell me a bit about your latest writing/directing/producing project OCTOBER MOON?

Jason: OCTOBER MOON is the story of Elliot (Jerod Howard), a straight man who realizes he is gay when he falls for Corin (Sean Michael Lambrecht), another man. Unfortunately, Corin is already in a long-term relationship with Jake (Jeff Dylan Graham), and when he is additionally rejected by his mother (Judith O'Dea), boss (Brinke Stevens) and finacee (Tina Ona Paukstelis), he goes off the deep end and decides he can force Corin to love him...even if it involves murder....

There's no one way to describe the genre OCTOBER MOON fits into. It starts off as a drama mixed with comedy, becomes a serious thriller, and concludes as a full-on horror film. It's got some excellent scares and suspense. I'm really proud of how it's turned out. The cast is fantastic. It has been a very cathartic film for me as well, from story to script to screen, because a lot of the characters are based on my own experiences of coming out, and those experiences of my friends. Names have been changed, but to many degrees it is a true story, with the exception of the bloody finale.

Owen: What a great cast!  Not only Brinke Stevens but also Judith O'Dea.  Was 'Barbara' from the original 'Night of the Living Dead' a dream cast member?

Jason: Judith was a delight! I'd already known her from interviewing her for Femme Fatales and SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT, but now I was hiring her as an actor and directing her, so it was kind of scary and freaky at the same time. At one point she put on a long blonde wig for a flashback sequence and suddenly it hit me that this was "BARBARA" standing in front of me. So I was a bit intimidated and worried about my own skills as a director, desperately wanting to make sure that my crew/cast and I came off very professionally to her, even though we all had our heads up our asses and were running around in circles.

It was clear Judith knew exactly where we were coming from and how tight our budget was...hello! She starred in one of the most successful and important LOW BUDGET pictures in history. I think she used the word "archaic" in SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT when she described making NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, so she knew in advance what she was getting into...and I think trusted us and enjoyed the production for that exact reason... she'd been there before...

Owen: You are so great. I love that you have made this genre your livelihood. Growing up did you ever guess that your love of horror movies would also be your career?

Jason: Not at first. I just had this all-consuming passion for horror movies. At the time I had whole-heartedly planned on becoming a Kindergarten teacher. My career goals began to change, though, over the summer of 1990 when I made my first short movie, DEAD WOMEN DON'T WEAR SHOES. I felt such a surge of energy when I picked up that camcorder and yelled action for the first time. I knew it was meant to be from that point forward.

Owen: I've heard that Scream Queen extraordinaire Brinke Stevens took you under her wing and introduced you to lots of folks in the business.  How did your relationship with her develop?

Jason: I met her as a fan at a Chicago Fango convention in 1994. I was writing (on my own) a spec script for SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE IV and wanted to know if she'd be interested in reprising her role from the original (I explained away her character's "death"). She gave me her agent's contact info and after I sent her the script we just became pen pals. As my career began to take its first few baby steps she offered guidance. Then when I moved to LA she made it her goal to first convince me not to come... When she realized I was moving anyway, she offered to help me out and feed me a home cooked meal at least once a month. And there you have the beginnings of a true friendship.

Owen: Tell me about your first writing/directing gig on MARK OF THE DEVIL 666: THE MORALIST a decade ago?  What was the most challenging part of the assignment for you?

Jason: I got MARK OF THE DEVIL 666 after MDM, the production company, read my spec script for LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - PART 2. They sent me the equipment. We began shooting sporadically over the casts' free days in June 1994 and wrapped it in October 1994. It was done for, I believe, $450. I sent it to MDM for the edit, which literally took 9 months. That waiting period was probably the most challenging part (as it often still does). The shoot was very easy and relatively hassle free. Everyone got along, the gore fx worked as expected, and it turned a decent profit. At one point MDM asked me to do MARK OF THE DEVIL VII, but I really wasn't all that thrilled with how MOTD 666 had turned out, so I declined. I guess the more frustrating part was not having any control over the edit or most especially the horrid music. Yech!   

Owen: One of your finest achievements is the entire 5 DARK SOULS trilogy (5 DARK SOULS, 5 DARK SOULS II: ROOTS OF EVIL, and 5 DARK SOULS III: RETRIBUTION). Did you find recreating and using a continuous set of circumstances and characters made the project easier since it was known, or more difficult with a need to keep it fresh?

Jason: I'm not so certain I'd consider the 5 DARK SOULS trilogy among my "finest." ;-) I found continuing the characters actually to be more intriguing and fun and creatively satisfying than telling the same story over again, or making some entirely different movie with only the title slapped on it. PART II seems a bit disjointed from the original, but PART III makes it all come together. Part 1 is the beginning, Part II is the middle with where these kids came from, and Part III is the end, and one I believe to be a satisfying conclusion. I think bringing the characters back and putting them in familiar settings but with new situations kept it fresh. However, I'm definitely done with it. The story has come as far as it can go without repeating itself, at least in my mind.  I see no need in our world for 5 DARK SOULS IV...if there ever is one, you'll know I must have made some nice $ from Part III....  

Owen: You also work so closely quite frequently with director David DeCoteau (Nightmare Sisters, the Puppet Master series, Sorority Babes in the Slime Bowl-O-Rama). You have worked with him as assistant director on ANCIENT EVIL: SCREAM OF THE MUMMY, FINAL STAB, and THE BROTHERHOOD 1 & 2.  What are the primary things have you learned from an apprenticeship with him?

Jason: That movies can be made by anyone with very little cash. David was my basic training. I learned much from him as far as the business end of the film world goes. How to handle myself on a set with 40 people doing various jobs and seem professional...to keep the ship moving at a quick pace. 

Owen: Some of his movies are so hot! Yum!  For example, THE BROTHERHOOD 1 & 2 are like gay erotica.  Did that cause any problem with investors? 

Jason: Not at all as far as I know, especially after THE BROTHERHOOD made them $2 million richer... I don't know for a fact, but my guess is they weren't looking for him to change the world with his films -- they were looking to increase their bank accounts, which they did....A LOT...

Owen: Tell me about being a victim before the cameras for DEADLY STINGERS.

Jason: I had to do very little dying...I was already dead, so all I had to really do was get the fx applied and lay there motionless. The two problems I encountered were #1: It really is a bitch trying to hold your breath when you're upside down and a scene goes for 3 minutes.  #2: I severely hurt myself. I have permanent tissue damage to my stomach/torso. I was upside down in a cement ravine for upwards of 3 hours and there was nothing holding me in place, so I had to arch my back and dig my heels into the ground to keep from sliding down the slope. In the process, I tore all the tissue in my stomach and chest, so I now have a hard line, which kind of feels like a thin piece of rope, which moves around sporadically under my skin from my chest down to my pelvis. When it first happened I honestly thought I had some sort of parasite in me, like a tapeworm. It was pretty scary. Not too painful anymore, but it'll always be there. Heh, the things I do for my craft... all that grief and the f-king movie STILL has never been released by Fox. Only convention goers and some bootleg owners have seen it. They seem to enjoy it though! (So write FOX Home Video and tell them to put it out!)

Owen: Tell me about your work on HELL ASYLUM.

Jason: It was one of those rare times when I simply got to be a cast member instead of crew, so my only rough work was removing all the sticky gore from my very hairy arms. (They used grape jelly as the gore!) I remember it being very hot but also a very fun set. I taped all the cast and crew for the DVD extras, so whenever someone is being interviewed, that's me holding the camera and asking the questions. Everyone really got along and laughed a lot. The days were long, but I remember this weird feeling of being an actor for the first time. Sure my face was covered for most of the movie as one of the killer brides (you only ever see my face as a board member in the closing scene), but it was a very wild sensation knowing I was being told to perform in front of a camera, and that my name would role in the end credits as two characters! Quite the charge. The only bad thing was when I was "killing" the head honcho of the Chill Challenge show. I rip his heart out by reaching down his throat and pulling it out through his mouth. Very fun and gooey. HOWEVER, in our last shot, the actor - Tim Muskatell - slipped on the plastic bags protecting the carpet under us and he dislocated his knee... you could actually see the bone sticking out. THAT was truly gross. I felt so horrible, because my hands had been on him as he fell, and that maybe I had done it, but realized I hadn't been using any actual force on his body...it was just a bad accident. That blemish aside, I really loved making the movie.

Owen: You have writing as well as directing credits. Which comes easier for you; the introverted act of writing or the extroverted act of directing?

Jason: I guess the directing is easier for me because I'm forced into a situation where I HAVE to complete the task at hand. Plus I get to see my story come to life. I'm rather lazy in the scriptwriting department. Even in school I was always a procrastinator. It takes forever for me to sit my butt down at the computer and write the script or journalism. My office is loitered with notes on scenes and dialogue because I constantly have ideas going 'round and 'round in my noggin. My writing and directing go hand in hand though...I can't do one without the other. I have little interest in directing somebody else's script (which is why I really don't accept submissions).

Owen: Speaking of your writing, you were also named Editor-In-Chief of Cinefantastique and an assistant editor for Femme Fatales, but had the rug pulled out from beneath you when the publication was sold just as you began your duties.  Was it devastating at the time?

Jason: It was a HORRIBLE time. It was like the death of a child. A dream I'd always aspired to obtain, and then it actually happened, and then it was ripped away from me before I even had a chance to put out my first issue. It was humiliating. The new owners had zero interest in taking anyone from our staff along to Los Angeles, and the entire experience was based on lies. We were never even given a heads up that the magazines were in trouble, or that they were on the market for sale. Then we weren't even told there were new owners. We were given the impression the mags were simply deceased and the bank was taking over the property, so we had to rush around gathering our personal items "...because once 'they' show up on site, everything in the offices belongs to them." None of the writers/photographers were ever paid, and the new owners bought the mags knowing they wouldn't pay the staff what was owed. They simply didn't hire those writers and photographers again for the new magazine, with the exception of a very few who they did pay off under the table. Not cool in my book. I'm still owed $2,000 -- yet those issues for which I was never paid are still being sold in their back catalogue.

I couldn't even look at any issues of FF or CFQ for over 2 years. They were put in a box and shoved to the back of the closet. In fact, I came across the 10th Anniversary issue while I was cleaning about 2 months ago and for the first time since September 2002 was able to page through it. The hurt and anger subsided to a mere simmer a while ago, but I still have little respect for how dirty the whole thing went down.  There...my rant is over...

Owen: An amazing example of your journalism is Assault of the Killer Bs, a great book of interviews with 20 cult actresses.  How did that project come about?  Did you do a lot of gushing during the interviews?

Jason: It was basically the unedited versions of my articles from Femme Fatales and Fangoria. FF had butchered some of the articles REALLY bad...the result of one particular person...so I compiled my favorite pieces on the women and approached McFarland with the idea. They were the first and only publisher I approached and they took it instantly, so I jumped at it. It also allowed me a chance to publish some articles, which had been lost in the FF/CFQ debacle.

As for gushing, for the most part "no." I did on the inside, but on the outside I always try to remain professional. I make it known to the subject that I'm a fan and very aware of their career, but I get that out of the way right at the beginning so they don't wonder if I'm a stalker. The only two I "gushed" over openly were Julie Brown and Cassandra Petersen (Elvira). I couldn’t control myself.

Owen: On a similar note you also helmed the documentary on scream queens called SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT featuring chats with Brinke Stevens, Julie Strain, Judith O'Dea, Felissa Rose, Debbie Rochon, Denice Duff, etc.  Tell me about that project?

Jason: It actually started life as SHOCK CINEMA 5! J.R. Bookwalter asked me if the old VHS copies of the original series was still selling thru FF, which it was...and very well I might add. So he was going to relaunch the franchise and we were going to call it FEMME FATALES PRESENTS SHOCK CINEMA and make three new chapters. We started shooting in June 2002 in Los Angeles. I believe Debra DeLiso was the first interview, and we filmed the majority of girls that day. Then the crash of FF occurred and luckily there had never been any contracts signed or real involvement from the magazine itself. So we dropped the FF connection, and as time progressed figured it might be better to start with a fresh title vs. a Part 5 to a twelve year old documentary series.

I had interviewed most of the girls previously for FF, and many of them had remained in touch with me. I narrowed the list down to actresses who were of a wider variety for a broader range of views instead of all the usual subjects. Then I went after a few ladies who I knew like Julie Strain and Denice Duff, but had never before had a chance to interview. They each came in for about 2 hours. All were absolute sweethearts and really let loose on their personal lives and issues. So it was cool.

Owen: So now that you have a fair amount of clout, is there any chance of that LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - PART 2 screenplay of yours (which you wrote at 19) being filmed?

Jason: I wouldn't hold my breath. The industry & society has only gotten more hardened to films as violent as I wrote it. There's an abundance of sexual torture and humiliation in it, so I doubt it'll ever be filmed. I'd bet on a cleaned up remake of the original first. I actually wrote another LAST HOUSE sequel a few years ago and still didn't get anywhere with it... nobody wants to touch something which could head the NC-17 route... Is NC-17 even around anymore? 

Owen: So with all your experience and observation, would you care to give a brief trajectory of horror from the early 70s gore of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE through the FRIDAY THE 13TH and HALLOWEEN years to today?

Jason: All I can say is I'm rapidly loosing faith in horror. Hollywood is remaking everything that was ever any good, and today's generation of movie watchers (not always necessarily horror fans) aren't just forgetting that DAWN OF THE DEAD and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE were originally movies from the 1970s, they're deliberately ignoring them. "They're too old and boring..." WHAT!?!? We're loosing our connection to cinema history with these remakes. My teenage cousins had no idea ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and THE FOG already exist! "LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT...what's that?" "Eeew...NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is in black and white? Boring...I'm not watching that." The 1960s, 70s and 80s were chocked full of new ideas. Then all of the sudden, somewhere around the very early 1990s it all just headed south and I found myself growing tired of the bad, unscary, and not-at-all original movies coming out. With a few exceptions like THE CRAFT, SCREAM, BLAIR WITCH, THE SIXTH SENSE, SIGNS, and THE OTHERS, there's been little to thrill me or offer hope. 

Hollywood's strangle hold on the industry is too strong to let anything new get thru to the masses. They control what you see in your local Cineplex and rent at your local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. You're not going to find little gems like you did back in the 80s when mom and pop video stores were on every corner and in grocery stores and gas stations. Those days are gone. Larger cities only have 3 major chain stores all carrying the same A-list Hollywood "safe" product. It’s been a sad time for many years now, & I think horror is only going to continue to suffer from it.

Jason: What's lined up next for you?

Owen: First is finishing OCTOBER MOON and going full speed ahead into publicity for it. We're planning to begin a nation wide bar tour, screening it at gay clubs and hosting events. Plus we'll do some limited theatrical screenings. People can check out the trailer and pix at www.octobermoonthefilm.com for a sneak peak.

Jason: I've also just been asked to appear in a new horror film called SENTENIAL by a director named Jason Satterfield. It's a rare thing, but it'll be nice to be in front of the camera getting mutilated by Special FX vs. getting emotionally mauled behind the camera. ;-) I believe that begins filming in late July 2005. After that, I'm debating which of three scripts I want to pursue...all horror based, of course. People can always keep tabs on me thru my site at www.jasonpaulcollum.com (I really need to get that updated!)

Owen: Do you have some ultimate career goal in mind?

Jason: To make money doing this...I'm serious. It's wonderful to be doing what I do and get delightful letters from fans. I appreciate that so much and I am completely aware of how lucky I am to be doing this at all. However, I'm also at a point were I need to buy a house and have life insurance and not worry month to month whether or not I'll be able to pay rent. I'm not asking to live in a mansion and drive a BMW. I simply want to be comfortable and not have to take on extra jobs to pay bills. I want to be able to concentrate 100% on making movies that I care about, to share my stories with the world.

Owen: What's something that scares you in real life?

Jason: Society scares me. People are so used to being rotten these days, and short of running off to live a meager life in the mountains, I don't quite know how to get away from it. I'm becoming a much less social person as a result. There's no such thing as respect for others. Nobody's polite. We're in this nasty "All About ME" society...it doesn't matter if you hurt someone else's feelings. Then when something like Columbine happens everyone runs around crying and asking "Why?!" My guess is those kids with the guns were treated like shit by  their classmates -- that's why. But no one would dare admit to it. They're all "innocent." (This is why I highly recommend the movies DUCK! THE CARBINE HIGH MASSACRE and HEARTS IN AMERICA.  They both hit the nail on the head.)  I only see society getting worse. Aside from that, snakes and bees terrify me.

Owen: So can you give me a brief Must See horror list? 

Jason: Everyone already knows the basics: TEXAS CHANSAW MASSACRE, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, HALLOWEEN, etc. So with the exception of making sure every future horror filmmaker needs to study CARRIE (1976) for its craftsmanship, I'll give a breakdown of titles people need to see which they don't normally hear:

 THE BAD SEED (1956), THE HAUNTING (1963), BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974), SQUIRM (1976), ALICE, SWEET ALICE (1976), BURNT OFFERINGS (1976), MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH (1976), THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE (1976), TOURIST TRAP (1979), THE FOG (1980), HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1980), HELL NIGHT (1981), DEADLY BLESSING (1981), CLASS OF 1984 (1982), THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982), DOLLS (1986), AMERICAN GOTHIC (1987), THE STEPFATHER (1987), PAPERHOUSE (1988), JACK BE NIMBLE (1992), DUCK! THE CARBINE HIGH MASSACRE (1999), SPLICED (2001)....

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