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A Brief Conversation With Gregory Lamberson

In between Greg’s very busy schedule of writing scripts, making movies, finishing novels and being a husband and father, I managed to get lucky and corner the notorious Slime Guy long enough to pick his brain for a brief moment about what’s been keeping him busy of late. Some fans will know him from his award nominated Jake Helman novel series with Medallion Press, or his Frenzy Way werewolf trilogy or other stand alone novels and novellas. Some will know him from his midnight cult classic film, SLIME CITY, or any number of other films he has either made, been a part of, or helped promote. Others will know him from the horror convention circuit including the one he has founded and continues to grow each year with the Buffalo Screams Film Festival where budding horror film creators from all over the world come to compete for top spots in the award ceremonies concluding the weekend long event. No matter how you came to know of the hardest working writer and indie filmmaker in the business (or maybe this is your first exposure to him in which case you’ve get plenty to catch up on), there’s no questioning his support, passion, and contribution to the indie horror community. As always, I’m grateful for his time and its always a pleasure.

Karen (Aprilann), Johnny Grssom (Anthony De La Torre),
Eric (Byron Brown II), and Gary (Chris Modrzynski)

DARK BITES: I was happy to have read recently bout you making it to the final stages of your feature length film project, JOHNNY GRUESOME, staring Anthony De La Torre from the latest installment of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise. What can we fans expect from JOHNNY GRUESOME and what's next as far as promotion and distribution planning for the film goes?

GREGORY LAMBERSON:  Johnny Gruesome was a screenplay long before I turned it into a novel.  The movie is essentially the screenplay I wrote back in 1984, without most of the material I added to expand it into a novel.  I did include three scenes created for the novel because I love them so much, but a lot of stuff from the book didn't make it in.  I've already written the screenplay for a sequel which includes any cool stuff I had to leave out this time, so maybe they'll reach it to the screen yet.  The biggest difference is that the novel is set during the winter, and we shot the movie in July last year, so the climax plays differently.

I really can't say anything about distribution or promotion.  My plan was to be finished five months ago and have it out this October, but some last minute visual effects I added ended up taking a lot longer to complete than I'd hoped, which created sort of a domino effect of delays: the score took longer, and because of that we missed the window we had for our cinematographer to do the color grading, and he ended up having to work on it in his spare time while he was shooting a TV series.  So the only plan I have is to be 100% finished in the next week or two, and then we'll look into distro.  I think the film turned out well, much better than my other films, and horror people are really going to dig it.

Johnny (Anthony De La Torre) with creator Greg Lamberson

DB: You also made mention of completing a new script over the summer that you hope to direct and film in the near future. Given the early status of this project, what can you share with us about the content, storyline, or anything else regarding this one?

GL: I wrote a lot this summer since Johnny Gruesome was out of my hands.  I wrote an original screenplay which I hope to shoot this coming winter. I won't discuss the plot, only that my friend Craig Sheffer has agreed to star in it and co-produce it.  I also wrote numerous versions of a script adaptation of my zombie novella Carnage Road.  Craig and I spent a couple of years developing different versions as a possible TV series, but they didn't lead to anything.  The rights reverted to me and I plan to do it as a movie with Craig starring.  I've also been working for a couple of years with George Mihalka (My Bloody Valentine), developing another of my novels into a possible TV series.  I wrote a pilot script, which may or may not be used as part of his presentation, and now I've decided to write the next few episodes just for the hell of it, for fun.  None of this may come to fruition, or may wind up being something completely different than I imagined.  I could be cleaning offices six months from now.

DB: What else are you hoping to have available for mass consumption to feed your literary and film fans alike over the next couple of years?

GL:  I have no books on the horizon.  My regular publisher is focused on other projects, and I really only want to write novels about my occult detective Jake Helman. Most of my other novels - Johnny Gruesome, The Frenzy Way trilogy, The Julian Year - were written in a burst of creative energy that centered around writing Jake Helman as a series.  I wrote six of the novels I had planned, but didn't get to write the last one, the climax I had building to from the first book.  Medallion co-owns the rights, so far now, that's an unfinished project - sort of like Johnny Gruesome was for all those years.

Dyin Tonight Robby

DB: What's the last movie you saw that genuinely disturbed you in some unexpected way, and how did the movie manage to pull it off?

GL:  I was fortunate to see Night of the Living Dead, Martin, Dawn of the Dead, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in a theater the first time I experienced, and all of them disturbed me in some way, all though I would say they "thrilled" me.  I think just listing the titles says why.  Romero was my hero, really my hero, and inspired me since I was 12 years old.

DB: And, finally, I’d like to straighten something out for the horror community once and for all if I can. What in the actual Cthulhu is your secret to an obviously youthful exuberance for banging out multiple projects across various media platforms over the years as though it were an Olympic sport and you its sole competitor all while enjoying next to no sleep, ever, while simultaneously co-raising a family in the wilds of Cheektowaga, New York?

Gregory Lamberson and family

GL:  Well, youth has nothing to do with it, and I think "youthful" describes physical appearance more than attitude or energy.  I have a lot of friends younger than me who have similar ambitions as me, but they also like to party and do a variety of other things for recreation.  I don't party, and I don't do anything for recreation except watch movies and TV, except for my family.  I'm a storyteller, I'm driven to tell stories, and the way I look at it is that anytime I'm not telling a story in some form, I'm working against myself.  Someone once asked me, "What do you do for fun?" The answer is, I write and I make movies, and I spend time with my wife and daughter.  That's all I need.