chuckroast
08-Oct-2010, 08:06 PM
All you zombie fans might want to stagger over to the Eerie Horror Film Festival this weekend at the Warner Theatre.
Ten actors who appeared in George Romero's landmark first three horror films: "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead" -- will appear at the festival.
Leonard Lies, Sharon Ceccatti-Hill, David Crawford, Frank A. Serrao, Joe Shelby, Nick Tallo and Mike Gornick all appeared in 1978's "Dawn of the Dead," a dark satire on American consumerism.
Gary Klar and Mark Tierno were in the 1985 follow-up, "Day of the Dead," a critique of the military-industrial complex.
Kyra Schon, who portrayed the beyond-frightening, trowel-wielding zombie kid in 1968's "Night of the Living Dead," will also attend the festival. She replaces Joe Pilato ("Day of the Dead"), who canceled because of health issues.
Just hope it wasn't something he ate.
Both Klar, who played zombie-hater Pvt. Steel, and Lies -- the zombie who gets a hatchet in the head -- said working with Romero was more of a dream than nightmare. Some directors can be more dictator-like than democratic, but not Romero. He listened.
"That's one of the great things about George," said Klar. "He had my character die initially -- to me, anyway -- in an almost meek way. I said, 'I have to redeem this guy, George.' He said, 'What do you mean?'"
Klar saw Pvt. Steel as a nasty, mean-spirited, abusive military man who utterly detests zombies. He told Romero such a hard-ass character would go down fighting.
"We talked through it and I said, 'When I get bit, I save one bullet for myself.' Because, when you shoot a zombie in the head, he ceases to be. So, when Steel gets bit, he takes out as many as he can and saves one bullet for himself.
"He makes the sign of the cross because he's a Catholic and then he blows his brains out. For he could not become what he hated most, which was a zombie. Then they proceed to have a feast on me."
Lies worked behind the scenes on production for "Dawn of the Dead." It was his first job on a theatrical film.
"Near the end of the film, it was one of those moments where we're waiting for actors' equipment to be set up and the director is taking one last look at his notes," Lies said. "I happened to be standing next to George and said, 'Hey, George, I'd like to play a zombie.'
"He looked at me and said, 'OK. Go upstairs and see what they have.'"
Upstairs was the community room at the Monroeville Mall, where much of "Dawn of the Dead" was shot. The casting director, being a nice guy, let Lies in.
"Out of the shadows he pulls this serious machete with a shape cut into it for his head," Lies said. "I said, 'John, that's fabulous but you're supposed to do it.' He said, 'I've done so many zombies and bikers -- you do it.' So, 24 hours later, I'm getting this thing plunged into my head."
Lies appears in just 19 seconds of the film, but the image of him with a hatchet in his head took on a life of its own. It graced posters, DVD releases, magazine covers, and more.
Lies later had lots of his fellow zombies sign a French poster he owns; he's displaying it for the last time at the Eerie Horror Film Festival.
Because the hatchet-head image became so iconic, Lies receives as many invites to horror festivals as his co-stars. They kid him about it.
"'He comes to all these shows and he didn't have a word of dialogue, and we're having to learn all these pages and pages and wake up early in the morning and go out and act. And all he had to do was stand there!'" Lies mimicked. "It's 19 seconds but it's the right 19 seconds."
Klar, on the other hand, needed longer to shoot his underground death scene. Most of "Day of the Dead" was filmed in a mine near Elwood City.
"Everyone got a day to die," said Klar, who's retired from acting. "I was working all the time. You'd start work at four, five in the morning and it's dark and you'd go home at night when it's dark. You were shooting in the dark; you were inside a mine."
He's not complaining. Klar worked with many big names, including Robert Redford on "Legal Eagles," Bill Murray on "Quick Change," Jonathan Demme on "Married to the Mob" and Carroll O' Connor on Broadway's "Brothers"; as well as on TV's "Law & Order" and "Law and Order: SVU." But he said Romero was tops.
"I've worked with some big directors and he's as good as anybody," Klar said. "Not all directors give actors free range to explore things. So I put him in the top as far as working with a director who allows the actor to have a little give-and-take."
Lies, who today owns DreamCatchers Films, a production company, credits Romero for getting him started in film and making it fun.
"What I like about George, and what all of us loved about George, was how you could walk up to him and say, 'I want to play zombie,'" Lies said.
"He even gave me a camera to shoot during the film, an Aeroflex camera. 'Leonard, just shoot some raw footage while you're spinning around.' I have no idea if it made it in, but that was his creative mind at work.
"George deeply appreciated the craft and the people around him," he added. "He never took us for granted. To me, that's a great director when you can unify your team and make everyone feel a part of it."
As a bonus, Lies got to hang out on the "Dawn of the Dead" set with director Dario Argento, who had released "Suspiria" the year before.
"That was exciting, having Dario on the set along with zombie master Romero," Lies said. "It was a very special moment in time, the late '70s. We were working all these endless hours but ultimately having a good time, learning our craft.
"We were getting to know people who became immortal in the film industry for something a lot of us all loved, which was monsters."
Ten actors who appeared in George Romero's landmark first three horror films: "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead" -- will appear at the festival.
Leonard Lies, Sharon Ceccatti-Hill, David Crawford, Frank A. Serrao, Joe Shelby, Nick Tallo and Mike Gornick all appeared in 1978's "Dawn of the Dead," a dark satire on American consumerism.
Gary Klar and Mark Tierno were in the 1985 follow-up, "Day of the Dead," a critique of the military-industrial complex.
Kyra Schon, who portrayed the beyond-frightening, trowel-wielding zombie kid in 1968's "Night of the Living Dead," will also attend the festival. She replaces Joe Pilato ("Day of the Dead"), who canceled because of health issues.
Just hope it wasn't something he ate.
Both Klar, who played zombie-hater Pvt. Steel, and Lies -- the zombie who gets a hatchet in the head -- said working with Romero was more of a dream than nightmare. Some directors can be more dictator-like than democratic, but not Romero. He listened.
"That's one of the great things about George," said Klar. "He had my character die initially -- to me, anyway -- in an almost meek way. I said, 'I have to redeem this guy, George.' He said, 'What do you mean?'"
Klar saw Pvt. Steel as a nasty, mean-spirited, abusive military man who utterly detests zombies. He told Romero such a hard-ass character would go down fighting.
"We talked through it and I said, 'When I get bit, I save one bullet for myself.' Because, when you shoot a zombie in the head, he ceases to be. So, when Steel gets bit, he takes out as many as he can and saves one bullet for himself.
"He makes the sign of the cross because he's a Catholic and then he blows his brains out. For he could not become what he hated most, which was a zombie. Then they proceed to have a feast on me."
Lies worked behind the scenes on production for "Dawn of the Dead." It was his first job on a theatrical film.
"Near the end of the film, it was one of those moments where we're waiting for actors' equipment to be set up and the director is taking one last look at his notes," Lies said. "I happened to be standing next to George and said, 'Hey, George, I'd like to play a zombie.'
"He looked at me and said, 'OK. Go upstairs and see what they have.'"
Upstairs was the community room at the Monroeville Mall, where much of "Dawn of the Dead" was shot. The casting director, being a nice guy, let Lies in.
"Out of the shadows he pulls this serious machete with a shape cut into it for his head," Lies said. "I said, 'John, that's fabulous but you're supposed to do it.' He said, 'I've done so many zombies and bikers -- you do it.' So, 24 hours later, I'm getting this thing plunged into my head."
Lies appears in just 19 seconds of the film, but the image of him with a hatchet in his head took on a life of its own. It graced posters, DVD releases, magazine covers, and more.
Lies later had lots of his fellow zombies sign a French poster he owns; he's displaying it for the last time at the Eerie Horror Film Festival.
Because the hatchet-head image became so iconic, Lies receives as many invites to horror festivals as his co-stars. They kid him about it.
"'He comes to all these shows and he didn't have a word of dialogue, and we're having to learn all these pages and pages and wake up early in the morning and go out and act. And all he had to do was stand there!'" Lies mimicked. "It's 19 seconds but it's the right 19 seconds."
Klar, on the other hand, needed longer to shoot his underground death scene. Most of "Day of the Dead" was filmed in a mine near Elwood City.
"Everyone got a day to die," said Klar, who's retired from acting. "I was working all the time. You'd start work at four, five in the morning and it's dark and you'd go home at night when it's dark. You were shooting in the dark; you were inside a mine."
He's not complaining. Klar worked with many big names, including Robert Redford on "Legal Eagles," Bill Murray on "Quick Change," Jonathan Demme on "Married to the Mob" and Carroll O' Connor on Broadway's "Brothers"; as well as on TV's "Law & Order" and "Law and Order: SVU." But he said Romero was tops.
"I've worked with some big directors and he's as good as anybody," Klar said. "Not all directors give actors free range to explore things. So I put him in the top as far as working with a director who allows the actor to have a little give-and-take."
Lies, who today owns DreamCatchers Films, a production company, credits Romero for getting him started in film and making it fun.
"What I like about George, and what all of us loved about George, was how you could walk up to him and say, 'I want to play zombie,'" Lies said.
"He even gave me a camera to shoot during the film, an Aeroflex camera. 'Leonard, just shoot some raw footage while you're spinning around.' I have no idea if it made it in, but that was his creative mind at work.
"George deeply appreciated the craft and the people around him," he added. "He never took us for granted. To me, that's a great director when you can unify your team and make everyone feel a part of it."
As a bonus, Lies got to hang out on the "Dawn of the Dead" set with director Dario Argento, who had released "Suspiria" the year before.
"That was exciting, having Dario on the set along with zombie master Romero," Lies said. "It was a very special moment in time, the late '70s. We were working all these endless hours but ultimately having a good time, learning our craft.
"We were getting to know people who became immortal in the film industry for something a lot of us all loved, which was monsters."