The following interview was conducted in 2012. Greg Lamberson is one of the seminal filmmakers of the New York exploitation scene, which also includes Frank Hennelotter, Roy Frumkes, and Abel Ferarrara, directors of Basket Case, Street Trash, and The Driller Killer, respectively. He is one of the founders of The Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival (now called Amazing Fantasy Fest). He is most known as the author of The Jake Helman books, a series of pulp horror novels, as well as director as the schlock ‘80s goop classic, Slime City. Both Slime City and its sequel, Slime City Massacre, are streaming free on Tubi. If you enjoy ultra-low budget camp with a punk rock flair, they make an amusing double feature.
Some may find Greg’s thoughts on illegal downloads and Kindle eBooks interesting. This interview was done in a completely different culture. So much has changed since then, with the popularization of streaming, decline of digital book sales, and all manner of other things.
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Gary Wilde: What originally attracted you to filmmaking?
Greg Lamberson: When I was four years old, I was obsessed with comic books and cartoons, like all kids are. But I just never grew out of it. The other kids got into baseball and things like that, but I just got into a deeper and deeper love of movies.
Who are your greatest influences for filmmaking?
I’ve always liked monsters, dating back to my childhood. I have always enjoyed Hammer films and Roger Corman movies, which were syndicated to my local TV stations back in the days before cable and home video. George Romero certainly influenced me, he was a real rebel at that time, with Dawn of the Dead and Martin. Night of the Living Dead had a huge impact on me. He’s perceived differently now because the mainstream acknowledges him. But he was a big deal back in the day — a true cult filmmaker.
How has illegal downloading impacted your work?
Well, now more than ever, it certainly has. Literally, a day doesn’t go by when Google Alerts doesn’t notify me of at least two places torrenting my films. The negative side is that the film will probably never break even or earn a profit. Big studio films get released and, even if they get pirated, they are still going to earn a certain amount in revenue and cable sales. Independent filmmakers take so long to make a film and get it distributed that when the pirates hit, most of the audience has already downloaded the film illegally. The positive side of the internet is that the PlayStation Network and Xbox Zune allow people to download Slime City Massacre for three dollars. The general belief today is that the only way for micro-indie filmmakers to make money is to now do a film for less than $5,000 and I don’t want to do that. I’m working on a script right now for Debbie Rochon to star in, but I can’t go to investors with a straight face and say, “Here’s why you should invest in my films.”
Certainly, no more than five publishers ever mentioned Slime City when it first came out, but the internet now allows for an awareness of products. If you google the film now, 100 reviews will pop up, most of them positive.
Which film in your filmography are you most satisfied with?
Slime City Massacre. It was the first time I set foot on set and knew exactly what I wanted, what I was doing, and how to get it. The best way to learn from filmmaking is to learn from your own mistakes; you fix those mistakes as best you can, and never make them again. I was able to work with actors a lot more on SCM, instead of just letting them do the best they could on their own. I was able to work with them to hone the scenes. That’s really what directing should be.
What originally attracted you to writing?
I don’t really see a huge difference between being a filmmaker and a novelist. Obviously, one is a team effort and one a solo effort. But telling a story is still telling a story. I got frustrated that the market was changing as far as the independent market was concerned. At one time, distributors were hungry for product and paid decent money for homegrown efforts, but the market crashed and stopped paying decent advances for those films. I started making my films for lower budgets instead of larger budgets and that’s not the trend you want. After my third film, Naked Fear, which had a lot of post-production problems, I decided to write novels. I didn’t want to tell stories limited by budget. Writing novels allows me the equivalent of writing big budget movies, which is what I want to do.
I’ve done four films of my own since 1986. I’m actually able to make a slight living as a novelist, whereas filmmaking was always a labor of love. I’m writing my tenth book since 2004 and I’ve sold all of them. Publishers pay me to write for them, but when I make a movie there’s no money in the budget to pay myself.
What was the process of producing your moviemaking textbook, Cheap Scares?
It’s the most work any of my books have needed. It runs 100,000 words; typically, “how to books” run about 50,000, so it’s like two books in one — one based on my experiences and the other featuring lengthy interviews with filmmakers, distributors, and marketing execs. I conducted recorded interviews over the phone and then painstakingly transcribed them. When I learned the book would be too long, I had to cut them in half, anyhow. I’m proud of Cheap Scares. I get frequent emails from people who said it was a big help to them.
Has the invention of Kindle and eBooks positively or negatively impacted your written works?
It is a big change in the industry right now. I have not seen a huge difference in regard to my work. I am fortunate my books are physically published, which is what I prefer. They are available in print, for Kindle, and as audiobooks. I have friends whose works have not only been recused by eBooks but took off because of them. It’s impressive to see. My publisher is heading more and more in that direction. I’m working on a project that will incorporate all kinds of cutting-edge technology into a solely digital book.