More Gore

Ah, those glorious pre-teen years: the folly of youth, the awkwardly high voices and bad haircuts, the poorly executed special effects and blood stains on your clothes... What, you didn't make gore films when you were 13-years-old? Alright, well, my friend Mike Lauter and I were nerds, obsessed with David Cronenberg, George Romero, Tom Savini, Fangoria, zombies, EC Comics, etc. We started making Super 8 films every weekend from third grade on, starting with sci-fi battle stories (basically an excuse to practice stop-motion effects and use sewing needles to scratch "lasers" onto the film) and working our way into horror by fifth grade. We didn't have any money for a budget (unless we skipped lunches during the week), so nearly all of the make-up effects and props were made using household materials.

These are two such films, "The Gut Retcher" and "Land Of The Dead 2" that Mike and I made under the auspices of our More Gore Productions, with the invaluable assistance of any friends and neighbors that were available that day. Mike would usually direct, we'd "write" out the story lines together the night before and he would compose the soundtrack for each final film. To this day, Mike is still directing and scoring his own films. They're much, much better than these. We owed considerable thanks to Mike's parents who let us constantly mess things up in their house, garage and yard. And, also to Mike's dad, who shot the exploding (so-very-realistic-looking) zombie head with his shotgun. They must've thought we would grow up to be serial killers.

"Land of the Dead 2" -- you don't want to see part 1 -- starts at 2:05. It's much more, uh, sophisticated than "The Gut Retcher." And, how about that mohawk?