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This interview originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of Bazooka Magazine.
Horror and documentary film producers Chris Bower and John Holt of A Good Size Productions have just premiered their new web series, Horrorhut. The first show went online on Friday, May 27th at www.horrorbid.com, with more episodes coming soon. I recently harnessed the power of the internets to ask producer, host, and sushi expert Chris Bower a few questions about the show.
Note: Due to technical difficulties, Horrorbid has not been able to get the first episode online yet. Hopefully these will be resolved soon–keep an eye on the site and on Horrorhut’s Facebook page for updates.
Bucky Manitoba: Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is Horrorhut?
Chris Bower: Horrorhut is a independent horror film showcase. We will reviewing indie features, shorts, and docs. The show will have comedy, sketches, interviews, con reports and much, much more. It will be hosted by myself, Christopher Bower, and John Holt.
Bucky Manitoba: What experience do you and John have in the realm of horror movies?
Chris Bower: John Holt and I are the director and producer of A Good Size Productions. We make horror and documentary films locally and have several projects in various stages of production in addition to Horrorhut.
Bucky Manitoba: Who else is involved, and are you guys working behind the scenes as well?
Chris Bower: We have a small crew of three other individuals and we all handle the writing, prop building, and production chores that are part of a show like this.
Bucky Manitoba: From what I can tell from your Facebook page, it looks like this has been in the works for a while. What kind of legwork did you have to do to get this thing up and running?
Chris Bower: Horrorhut has been kicking around for about 3 years now and has gone through several changes in the idea process. We were approached by Patrick Farmer, executive producer, in December to host and take over production on the show. The show will air monthly in May and June and then go to bi-monthly starting in July.
Bucky Manitoba: One tradition of “creature feature” type shows that Horrorhut is loosely based on is for the host to offer (often unflattering) commentary about the movie that’s playing. Will you guys be brutally honest about the movies you review?
Chris Bower: We will not be pulling our punches on the show. There are a lot of really baaad indie horror flicks out there and anyone submitting their work to us will be told up front, “if you can’t take the heat, stay outta the kitchen.” That doesn’t mean we will just be beating these films–we are going to give constructive critiques to many of these. We will also be giving a rating to each film. Our scale is made up of 1 to 4 severed heads, 1 being the worst and 4 being the best. I think indie horror filmmakers are pretty open to our type of review–we are wild bunch.
Bucky Manitoba: Kind of on a related note, most of the movies that people like Joe Bob Briggs played on their shows were terrible but were entertaining because they were so terrible. Why do you think people enjoy sitting through awful movies? Any personal favorites?
Chris Bower: I think the show will very entertaining to watch because there seems to be a universal love of sitting down and watching a bad movie and having a laugh. I’ve always felt that it makes you appreciate well-made films, and how very hard film making is when it’s done right.
Bucky Manitoba: What about horror movies that don’t suck? What’s your top five list of horror flicks that everybody needs to see?
Chris Bower: Well I know John’s top 5 list of horror films will be drastically different than mine, but mine would have to be:
5: Event Horizon: I know you’re saying, “You gotta be kidding!” right now, but that movie scared me to death when I first saw it, mostly because I was the only one at a late show in a 300 seat theater watching it and my car wouldn’t start in the parking lot after. Very creepy night.
4: The Shining: “Redrum.” ‘Nuff said.
3: Texas Chain Saw Massacre 3: Matthew McConaughey at his craziest. It’s a riot!
2: The Thing: John Carpenter is an amazing icon in horror and this film is one of his best.
1: Friday the 13th: Jason is the greatest villain of all time. What else can you say?
You can watch Horrorhut at www.horrorbid.com. If you like the show, be sure to friend them on Facebook.
