I had long been a fan of horror and sci-fi movies plus comic books and Greek mythology, but when I was in 8th or 9th grade, I saw 'THE ALIEN FACTOR' on a local TV station and it's homemade qualities made me think that I, too, could make a movie in backyards with homemade monster outfits. My dad had a super-8 film camera that I borrowed and make some short things with. Once I was just out of high school, I started making short things with my pal John's VHS video camera and my family soon got one of their own and I continued making shot-on-VHS movies.

What was your first horror film you did?

The first one was 'DIMENSION OF BLOOD'. I started it at the end of 1995. Shot on VHS. It was a mix of X-Files and Roger Corman b-movies. A man in black, people melting, shower scenes, other dimensions, etc. It was wild and fun. I followed that up with 'MONSTER IN THE GARAGE', a horror comedy.

What kind of release did 'Dimension of Blood' get?

'A DIMENSION OF BLOOD/MONSTER IN THE GARAGE' double feature VHS tape was sold by Draculina Magazine in the late 1990s and I offered copies off of my website as well. About 5 years ago, a whole bunch of my early movies were remastered and put out by SOVHorror on DVD.

That sounds great. I want to hear about 'Monster in the Garage' What was it like doing that one?

It was centered around my pal John Bowker playing Steve, a slob who had a messy garage. A UFO crashes behind his house and a monster escapes and hides in the garage. Later than night, Steve has a big party as his house and as people go into the garage, they get eaten! I'm sure it was a bit influenced by The Deadly Spawn, one of my favorite movies. I built a big paper mache' monster head with a giant mouth (it's still in my garage!). With the party scene I got a ton of my friends into the movie. It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work. I built a lot of props and did all the writing/shooting/editing/music/etc. for it and directing of course.

Did it go to film festivals?

No film festivals.

What kind of a release did this one get? 

It was on the double feature VHS tape with 'DIMENSION OF BLOOD' that Draculina Magazine sold and I also sold on my website. It was also part of the early movies of mine that SOVHorror remastered and put out on DVD about 5 years back.

Did you get any feedback from viewers? 

Yes, I have heard from people over the years that they enjoyed the crazy energy of it and the 'put on a show' attitude of it. Those early efforts were kind of rough and the format was not great for picture or audio quality but there are a lot of people into those old shot-on-video movies.

A flick I'd like to hear is 'Odd Noggins'. Is this one a horror as well? It seems to be known in the indie industry

'Odd Noggins' is a strange, surreal movie that has elements of science fiction and a little but of horror in it. I made it kind of as an experiment in storytelling. I always say it is a David Lynch movie with an Ed Wood budget. I am very thankful that this movie has found fans all over the world, thanks to it being out on dvd and blu-ray as well as streaming on places like Amazon and Tubi. I made a sequel to it a couple of years ago called 'ODDER NOGGINS'. And it's super weird as well!

I'm interested in hearing about your horror anthology 'Trailer Park Double Wide Trilogy of Terror'

That started because my friend Tom lived in a trailer in a small trailer park and always offered his place as a location for me to shoot. I got the idea of being able to shoot several stories there by just saying it was about different people who lived in this same trailer, just at different times. I initially just did three stories but then expanded it to 6, creating the "double" trilogy. Lots of fun twists and turns in those stories. I remade one of the segments, "Scared to Death," for my 'BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR' anthology.

Can you tell us about your other anthology 'Werewolf Tales'?

That was a project assembled by producer Kevin Lindenmuth. He hired myself, John Bowker and Ron Ford to each direct a werewolf story. I shot and directed by segment, written by Kevin. I also shot John's segment. The project was never officially released and years later, I bought the rights to use my and John's segments in my own anthology 'BENEATH A DEAD MOON'. I recaptured all the original footage and re-edited everything from scratch, adding some things and redoing all the music.

What was it like doing 'Bloodsucking Redneck Vampires'?

That was a huge project, so while it was a lot of fun, it was a hell of a lot of work and stretched over a long time. It was the first time I co-wrote something with my friend Mike Hegg. We shot the bulk of it in a town that was about 3 hours north of me, so there was a lot of traveling over many, many weekends. Huge cast so it was a mix of people we knew and people who would be referred to us. I think there are so many hilarious performances in there: I am very lucky to have talented friends! It's mostly a comedy with a bit of horror stuff mixed in. Lots of humor and practical sight gags. Every shoot was like a roadtrip filled with travel, new and old friends, lots of beer and little sleep!

'Twisted Fates' seems to be a feather in your cap. I'd love to hear every detail with your work on it and a kind of release on it too

I wrote and edited all of 'Twisted Fates': the three stories and the wraparound. I shot/directed the wraparound and one of the stories, IT HAUNTS. I hired Ron Ford to make The New Neighbor, which he shot down where he lived at the time in Southern California. I hired local actor and friend Bob Olin (who has acted in tons of movies for me) to direct the Welcome Sister story. He had me and another cameraman shoot that one. We had an actress drop out so I rewrote it to only need 4 actresses instead of 5. Then right before we were set to shoot, another actress dropped out. We cast someone from the audience of a screening we held and she turned out to be great! I do really like how Twisted Fates turned out and people seem to dig it!

What was Ariauna Albright like to work with?

I worked with Ariauna when I co-produced, shot and assistant directed 'PLATOON OF THE DEAD' with my pal John Bowker for Tempe Entertaiment. She flew up to Oregon for that shoot. She was fun and professional and had an addiction to Rockstar energy drinks! For her scenes in 'TWISTED FATES', I had Eric Spudic work with her down in California - she did two phone call scenes which were sent to me and I edited them into 'TWISTED FATES'.

Tell me your work on 'Blood Creek Woodsman'

My pal John Bowker wrote a 'Body Count' slasher movie and asked me to direct it. It was a big undertaking but really one of my movies that has a pretty wide scope - we had lots of locations, from a cabin by a lake to a bar and restaurant, country store, multiple homes and outdoor places. Plus police cars, lots of gore effects by our pal Rob Merickel, etc. Tons of kills. Steve Sessions did the score which is really great. It's a terrific 'Friday the 13th'-ish throwback slasher that his all the genre notes. It ended up being delayed in editing by John so a few years after we shot it, my friend Mike Hegg and I worked over the course about a year to get it all edited together.

Did it show at film festivals or got picked up?

'Blood Creek Woodsman' had its world premiere at the 2013 Crypticon Seattle Film Festival. I have self-distributed it on DVD and VOD and have licensed it also to Sterling Entertainment for distribution as well.

A campy fun horror anthology was 'Beyond the Wall of Fear'. What inspired you to make this one?

It started with an opportunity to work with an actress who I'd lost touch with and then saw, ironically, at Crypticon Seattle 2013 (she was in 'Blood Creek Woodsman' and came to see the premiere). I was going to be in the town she lived in, visiting some friends, in a few months and was determined to shoot a little something with her. It ended up being that 'Trailer Park Double Wide Trilogy of Terror' segment that referenced having remake eariler. So now I had a short and just figured I'd keep shooting more shorts here and there until I had enough to fill up a feature running-time. I met Jackey Neyman Jones at Crypticon Seattle in 2015 and found out she lived not that far from me, so suggested we work together. That summer I shot her segment for Beyond the Wall of Fear. It is one of my favorites that I have done. Had a great time making the music for this one as well. It premiered at Crypticon Seattle 2016 and also showed at a horror film fest in New York.

Other horror anthologies you were involved with are the 'Things' sequels. What was it like doing them?

They were tons of fun. I actually made 'THINGS 5: STRANGE MONSTERS' on spec and pitched it to Sterling Entertainment as a movie that could a part of that franchise. They loved it and hired me to make two more! The numbering got a little weird as they put out what I originally shot at #6 as "JOE SHERLOCK'S THINGZ" and then what I originally shot at #7 as "THINGS 666." But it was lots of fun to make all those little monster puppets and props and crazy make-up and bloody stuff. And of course, a bunch of sexy women as well! THINGS 5 playing on Tubi has been great - there have been several local people who have reached out to me after watching it to offer to act in my movies.

I wanna hear about 'Axegrinder 3'. Whats the whole experience doing it?

That was a tough one as it was made during pandemic lockdown protocols. It was conceived as something I would write but would only shoot half of, with my friend Joseph Voegele shooting the other half of the scenes. Our two storylines kind of weave back and forth until they collide at the end (again, by design). That way each of us were only having to schedule/cast/shoot half a movie. We had restrictions here in Oregon on how many people could be together at one time, so all of my scenes were written to have only 2 or 3 people in them. It was a weird way to make a movie but it gave Sterling Entertainment something to release when most movie production had been shut down! I wrote it in such a way that a direct sequel could be made but the distributor went a different way and had a part 4 and 5 made right away with a completely different storyline.

Was it a struggle to do?

It was a struggle just because of the restrictions. We wore face masks from time to time (I also wore a mask a lot when making parts of 'THINGS 666') and it took a while and there was a lot of work to be done in editing to get all the footage (plus footage I'd commissioned from actress Mel Heflin for it, who self-shot it in Japan where she was living at the time; as well as green-screen footage that Tonjia Atomic shot herself for me). Overall, given the limitations, I think it have them what they wanted - a slasher b-movie with blood and skin that could be released during a pretty dry period for film production.

I'd like to hear about 'Deadly Culture'

Having done 'THINGS' movies and an 'AXEGRINDER' movie for Sterling Entertainment, they were looking to have more entries made in some of their other franchises. I had seen the original 'DEADLY CULTURE' and had an idea for what I described as a "sideways sequel," where we would not follow the characters from the original but rather the syrum/treatment itself. Sterling Entertainment made a 4-picture deal with me for 2 'DEADLY CULTURE' sequels plus a 'ZOMBIE CHRONICLES' sequel plus a werewolf movie (the werewolf movie never happened and I made 'STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN AT THE WEIRD HOUSE' instead). While not set in the 70s, I had a blast of a time stuffing the two 'DEADLY CULTURE' movies with references to 70s stuff like Evil Knievel, Bigfoot, DB Cooper, etc. I had a TV show that appears across both movies called "Searching For," that was an homage to "In Search Of," and I got cult movie actor George Stover to host it. The original 'DEADLY CULTURE' was made to capitalize on the Species movie, so I referenced lots of stuff from 'Species' 2 and 3 in my second and third sequel. Plus, of course, lots of skin, mutants and blood! I shot the two movies at the same time.

What other horror films that are lined up which you plan to do?

Well I just premiered 'THE HAUNTING OF HEATHER BLACK' at the 2025 Crypticon Seattle Film Festival and won Best Feature Film. That is scheduled to be released on blu-ray this summer in a regular edition and also a special collector box that includes a soundtrack CD. I am in post-production on an untitled serial killer movie I shot over the last few months that I'm very excited about. A lot of the cast from both 'A KNIFE IN THE DARK' and 'THE HAUNTING OF HEATHER BLACK' return for it and we've got a lot of creepy stuff, new locations, great gore and even worked with a few new actresses. Beyond that, I've got various ideas and scripts but have not picked my next project just yet. I am however, celebrating 30 years of making these crazy movies, so have been holding a bunch of screenings and will be releasing a 30th Anniversary Skullface Astronaut glow-in-the-dark shirt later this year.

Now heres some fun stuff: What are your favourite horror films?

'Phantasm', 'The Deadly Spawn', 'The Alien Factor', 'Forbidden World', 'Humanoids from the Deep', 'Scanners', 'Blacula', 'Prince of Darkness'

If you were a legendary horror filmmaker whether he was alove or dead for a day who would he be?

Wow. What an interesting question. I guess John Carpenter because he's made so many cool, iconic movies.

What are your ambitions in life?

Movie-wise, I'd like to just keep making movies for as long as I can. I've always wanted to do more comic book/graphic novel work and if it gets to a point where the physical part of filmmaking is difficult, I might do more drawing.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

You are getting pretty philosophical there, Greg. I mean, I am a simple man and sometimes the idea of eating pizza and watching a movie sounds pretty perfect. I also like chilling at the beach.