Brett Mullen
There are a couple of films coming in 2014 that have got me pretty excited in the lower regions but only one so far has the look and style of something that hasn’t been seen for a while, something different in this age of zombie cinema, and it is almost ironic that for me, the most forward thinking movie of the year, may be the one looking behind.
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I am of course talking about the American-made but Italian-inspired ‘BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH’, the sensational looking directorial debut of Brett Mullen. I recently caught up with Brett to ask him about the film, his influences and what drove him to the love of Italian horror.
CP: BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH is not a typical zombie title, what is the film about?
BM: I have always wanted to create a zombie flick. I love the genre and was originally stuck on having a film with “…of the living dead” at the bookend. It seems as though most die-hard zombie fans (including myself) expect something with undead, of the dead or zombie ..., but after the development of the flick, Bombshell Bloodbath seemed to fit perfectly.
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This film has some inspiration from an odd 1998 Zombie film released by Fangoria called “I, ZOMBIE: CHRONICLES OF PAIN”. It uniquely follows a man from his transformation from human to undead. This film follows two “bombshells” in a similar manner.
CP: Conceptually there seems to be a lot more going on in this film than many other horrors being made, particularly in the zombie genre, are there any themes underlying or developed throughout this film?
BM: BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH revolves around a Doctor bringing his wife back to life, sounds simple enough. When exposed to the chemicals however dead come back to life but the effected living just simply turn corrupt and kill, [like in] NIGHTMARE CITY.
CP: DR BUTCHER, DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE, REANIMATOR, DEAD AND BURIED as well as a twisted take on Frankenstein all look like potential influences from the trailer, what was in your mind when you and Sky wrote the screenplay and did you have any key influences in mind?
BM: I have a soft spot for all of the above films. The ORIGINAL inspiration for the Doctor in BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH however was “Dr. Frankenstein” in George A. Romero’s DAY OF THE DEAD, a passionate but sloppy doctor. As the character developed he really resembles nothing of him but that is where the original inspiration came from.
CP: A lot of people have commented on the Italian style and keeping true to that the trailer looks extremely stylish. how did you manage to capture that look and what was so special about Italian horror to you?
BM: The Italian Style Zombie Flicks are bizarre, breathtaking, bloody and bold. There is so much to take from them stylistically. I didn’t want to tell the same story in BOMBSHELL BLOODBATH that we see in every zombie flick though. It has it’s own set of rules and I like that about it. For instance some zombies bleed neon purple which we find out are chemicals and a human infected rotates through various eye colours before changing. I felt as though the mix of these styles would play very well.
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CP: The make up and Fx look fantastic, rivalling the bigger budget shows and films, was this difficult to achieve and did anyone get scared on the set when facing the zombies for the first time?
BM: When I originally sat down with the FX team to go over concepts for the film I repeated over and over, “Italian Style Zombies, I’d like them to be more Fulci.” When they repeated back to me “…like THE BEYOND?”, I knew I was in good hands. Fulci Zombies are gritty and caked in FX, I love the look. I truly feel the film wouldn’t be what it is without John Harp and Amber Michael (Joh Harp FX).
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To answer your second question… Yes. I personally jumped the first time our lead zombie Donald stepped onto set. Let’s just say it caught me off guard how good he looked.
CP: When can we expect to see the movie out on DVD/Blu Ray in the UK and the US?
BM: The film is had just wrapped post-production last month and is going to several film markets for distribution. I’m just as anxious to find out when it will be released.
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[Since this Interview the film has now been released on DVD and VOD]
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Blessed with an amazing soundtrack, fantastic fx and gore we hope you are as excited for this as we are, just check out the trailer and release information over on the Facebook page.
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I conducted this interview back in 2014 for my old blogsite. Director Brett Mullen is currently working on another Italian inspired film titled 'FANTASMA' which based on initial exposure looks more Argento than Fulci.
