d3rang3d Speaks To : Gary Ugarek

We've just greatly enjoyed indie zombie outing Deadlands : The Rising, a real treat of zombie mayhem on a low budget that really hits the spot. You can check out the official site HERE.

What else could we do than seek out the man himself, Gary Ugarek, to get a few words and his thoughts on the film. Gary kindly took a few moments out to answer our questions, and give us the great news that there is already a script for the next film in the series :)

Without further ado, I give you Gary Ugarek, of Deadlands : The Rising.

d3rang3d: Deadlands opens with an explosion and chemical weapons creating the zombies. Is it deliberate taking the great 21st century fears of terrorism/military technology ran amok and blending into a horror movie?

Gary Ugarek: More or less, yes it is. However, it isn't made clear in the film that it is the explosion that causes the outbreak... We just know there was an explosion and associate IT as the cause. I never really put the blame on the explosion at anytime, but my intentions were to bring the whole terrorism factor into play. You could say it is starting to be an over done cliché, but really every terrorist in every film about a terrorist they are mostly portrayed as some kamikaze radical running through the streets of US Cities with AK-47's which is funny because it is the exact opposite... They are a hidden enemy, and because you fear what you don't know it is easier to leave it vague and let your audience decide what the cause may be given the situation.

d3rang3d: You made Deadlands : The Rising on a very low budget. Even though you made a great job of it and it looks great, is there anything you would have liked to have done but couldn't due to the budget constraints?

Gary Ugarek: Thanks for the kudos... Oh there was plenty I would have liked to have done, but money was the biggest issue, however logistics were a problem too. I really wanted the traffic jam situation to be more out of control when the zombies attack. I would have loved to have filmed tons of chaos in downtown Baltimore as well, but that was more of a permit issue. Baltimore wasn't exactly very easy to deal with when it came do something this low budget, so we had to sneak around and get the shots we have.

I would have liked to have seen the Rescue shelter sequence expanded upon and the use of a bigger building in the film, and some other items here and there, but hopefully a lot of those things can be addresses in part 2 when we film as I know it will have at a minimum 10 times the budget that part 1 had.

I would have like to see things from the governments perspective. Maybe a round table discussion of the events and how they wanted to respond to it, the bickering, the pressure, more or less the meltdown.

d3rang3d: What's your favourite moment in Deadlands?

Gary Ugarek: By far I would have to say the Drooling zombie attacking the woman motorist in the traffic jam sequence. I had a ton of extras in the film, and they all did a good job as zombies. Our last night of principal photography, Women's Studies director Lonnie Martin and his wife came out to the set to help out, and I wanted them to do a small cameo in the film so we did him up as a zombie and his wife was the victim. When he started attacking her he played with a blank murderous ambition but if you look at him closely the way he looks at her, and the people running by .... man he just nailed the whole zombie thing right on the head. My extras did good jobs as zombies, however I am always thinking back to that scene because it is something I wanted from the get go. Deadlands isn't an overly gory film, but it has gore that counts... I wanted that sequence to be as violent as i could make it and that scene was needed to just put it right into place.

d3rang3d: And, is there anything you'd go back and change about the film if you could?

Gary Ugarek: I did actually... Deadlands: The Rising is in it's last week of a theatrical run at one Theater in Hagerstown, MD. For the premiere and the theatrical showing I changed the ending of the film. I still feel the DVD release is my definitive version, but I wanted to play around a bit and explore the mood of the ending, so I changed it up a bit. Aside from that everything else I would leave the same. I am proud of the film and the horror community has really responded to it well. There are some who will rate it a one or call it crap, but you have to be a hardcore zombie fan, and be into low budget, or I should say no budget cinema to enjoy something like this... it is an acquired taste.

d3rang3d: Any interesting stories - funny or serious - that you can share with us from the making of Deadlands?

Gary Ugarek: When we began filming, the part of the little boy was originally played by Brian Wright’s real son Layne Wright. Originally I had him and his mom running out of the house to make it to the car, in the original scene as they got to the car the zombies swarmed the car and began rocking it violently, and of course they all had bloody faces, and blood coming out of their mouths etc etc. Well when I yelled cut Layne, whom was 8 at the time, freaked out. He was scared shitless.

Now keep in mind Layne knew all of these people playing zombies. They were neighbors of his, friends of his parents and he still freaked out about it. His fear was so genuine he was in tears, I felt bad, but at the same time was mad for not having a camera on him. We finally got him calmed down, but he no longer wanted to be in the movie so his friend Connor stepped into the role. Finally 14 months later we all convinced him to be in the movie so now he plays Connor’s friend. (The little boy jumping on the trampoline with Connor.)

d3rang3d: And, anyone among the cast and crew that you could single out for a special mention?

Gary Ugarek: Everyone in the cast & crew should be singled out. They came out busted there asses for food and screen cred only. However, there are so many outstanding moments in the film, in every aspect, to single out one person wouldn't be fair because everyone came together and we pulled it off.

d3rang3d: It happens for real - the dead rise and are running rampage. What do you do? Answers involving guns and beer increase your chances of survival significantly.

Gary Ugarek: Get a bottle of Jack Daniels... a high powered rifle and a 9mm pistol ( I like 9mm Pistols, I own two besides the stage pistols used in the film) and sit on the roof top of my house doing target practice. Not really a beer fan, I drink it, but I prefer whiskey. To be honest, we have all thought about the Zombie Uprising... but I think no one would be prepared because all of our planning would be for naught if you have Return of the Living Dead zombies, meaning you can't kill them. However, we have Romero type zombies... I dunno if I would do what I mentioned but eventually it would all come to an end.

We already know holding up in mall is a short term solution, and the walled in city thing is too controlling. The best thing would be to keep your head down and stay quiet and just try to survive in a world gone mad.

d3rang3d: What's next for Gary Ugarek? And, any plans to pick up the story where Deadlands : The Rising left off - I've seen a few comments around that it is going to be part of a series, please tell me it's true?

Gary Ugarek: It is true, Deadlands was meant to be done in at least 2-3 parts. Part 2 is a much grander script, penned by myself and Lonnie Martin this time. I did the 1st draft, writing an entire screenplay, basically outlining the story etc etc, and Lonnie took that and my characters and tweaked it for draft #2. It will pick up right where part one left off and go 18 months into the outbreak. It has elements of Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead and many other post apocalyptic films. However it also retains a human element and has some real character bonding moments.

d3rang3d: Away from your own work, what films have really hit the spot for you recently?

Gary Ugarek: Recently I have been quite disappointed in Studio releases. I have watched 3 movies in all of 2007. 300, Ghost Rider, and Grindhouse. All except Grindhouse were pretty mediocre, and even Grindhouse suffers in the Death proof segment, but so far it is the best film I have watched in 2007.

I am about to crack open Smoking Aces and take a peek, and of course there are my all time faves from Shaun of the Dead to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I am also quite fond of the work Tony and Ridley Scott do, in particular, true Romance being one of my Top Ten favorite all time films, as well as Ridley’s Alien and Gladiator. The last Tony Scott film I enjoyed was Man on Fire. He makes Denzel Washington out to be one of the best bad asses in cinematic history and I have no problem with that.

I enjoy a wide variety of stuff, and for the longest time my all time favorite film was American Beauty, but that was until I had watched American Psycho.

I really have to give kudos to Christopher Nolan for not only Batman Begins but for the film, The Prestige. What an awesome film that was, definitely a must see for any Chris Nolan fan.

d3rang3d: And, finally - the open non question. Your chance to say anything you like about any subject under the sun - thank the fans, cuss the critics, plug your favorite beer. Anything goes, so any final words?

Gary Ugarek: Ooooooo, this could be fun. =)

Well one thing I want to say to everyone is that keep an open mind when going into any indie film, not just Deadlands, but anything low budget. Hollywood has tainted audiences with $200 million dollars films an unless you wipe NY off the face of the planet you just can’t break into the entertainment biz without people looking down on your stuff as total crap.

This is amateur filmmaking, and it isn’t going to be perfect, sometimes you find a diamond in the rough, but you have to have an open mind going in, and you have to suspend disbelief in what you are watching. Remember the guys doing this stuff for under $1,000,000 don’t have all the fancy gizmo’s to make things look super cinema perfect, but they try, and with a lot of technology coming to an affordable level for us on the cheap filmmakers it will get better. Just don’t immediately jump to a conclusion without taking it all in. Yes in low budget indie films you will have acting that could make you wanna twist your nuts off in a vice, or have Endo sponge bathe you with a die hard battery, but every indie film has something to offer someone.

If you really need the pretty actors and slick Hollywood style in your films than Indie just isn’t for you, but if you decide to take the ride, walk in with an open mind, and before you pick up that film Google it. Just Google the name and type reviews with it. (ex. Deadlands: the Rising Reviews). Read everything carefully, watch the teaser and make your decision once you feel comfortable.

However, if you are going to critique indie films and lay into the filmmaker with a comment like, My 2 yr old can do better, well you are going to be laughed at and I am the type of guy who would say put up or shut up… I wanna see your two yr olds film and lets compare. When you start writing… This FILM SUX LMAO LOL ZUMBZ SUCK MOVEE SUCKS, do you really think people are going to value your opinion?

Do you want your opinion valued by a filmmaker, then give him or her constructive criticism, tell them what bothered you in detail and give them a chance to answer you and maybe clear up some misunderstandings. However, if you don’t want to be bothered doing that, then you shouldn’t be giving the world your opinion.

d3rang3d: Many, many thanks from everyone at d3rang3d, staff and readers alike, for taking the time out to answer our questions. Everybody here wishes you every success in the future, and hopes that you keep up the good work and keep the films coming :)

Gary Ugarek: Thanks and it was fun, and we the cast & crew appreciate your support. Cheers.

Dont forget to check out the official site to watch the trailer and a few other video goodies, with more information about Deadlands : The Rising.

http://www.playingwithdeadthings.com/