d3rang3d Interviews : Johnny Kalangis

An outbreak of zombie-itis caused by contaminated beef products? It's not the local Macdonalds, it's recent horror comedy - or zomedy - The Mad.

We love our humorous zombie films and loved this more than most - and director Johnny Kalangis kindly gave us an interview and shared his thoughts on the movie and much more.

You can check out the films Myspace HERE

d3rang3d : The Mad starts out with the idea that the infection is caused by contaminated meat. Is the idea for the film in any way inspired by the number of real life food scares we hear about?

Johnny Kalangis : I didn't write the first draft of the script so that concept was created by writer Kevin Henelley. I suspect that it was... it's a good idea and it's relationship to real life situations was appealing for me to work with. While I wouldn't say that it's a hard and fast rule, the most interesting and entertaining genre films (sci fi and horror in particular) tend to be somehow grounded in a commentary of the here and now. I really enjoy it when the characteristics of a genre are used to help me consider the world I live in.... whether that is to laugh at it, be more afraid of it or whatever. Within the exagerations in THE MAD is a look at how and what we eat, what's 'organic', who are the victims of modern consumption and more... it's in the details ... I think it's appropriate that the meat story in the film ends the way it does.

d3rang3d : There's a great scene where the characters in the film debate whether the creatures attacking them can be called zombies - how do you yourself define a zombie, and were they zombies in The Mad?

Johnny Kalangis : I think in THE MAD they aren't really zombies in a classical sense. I really feel that a zombie has to die and then come back as an undead or re-animated body... but what it's animated with is up in the air. It's could be an infection, or the urge to wander around a shopping mall buying consumer goods and biting people to satisfy some insatiable hunger. I wrote that scene based on a conversation with one of the other writers - Christopher Warre Smets and Billy Zane. Zane and I agreed that for the style of comedy we were thinking about, we needed our characters to be somewhat litterate to the idea of zombies and could talk about them the way we are now... or the way people used to argue about 28 Days Later. I decided they're MAD COW PEOPLE... they're THE MAD so their not really zombie to me I guess.

d3rang3d : Although played for laughs in many places, the humour in The Mad is often a lot drier and more character/dialog orientated than the slapstick we often see in zombie comedy. Was this a conscious decision and if so why?

Johnny Kalangis : I think it was just a natural result of the brains behind the project. I'm a very actor and character centric director and it's really important that we pose the best questions we can to every beat of the film... if we take all the genre characteristics out of the film, do we still have one? - Meaning, do the characters still remaining interesting and have some dilmmas that are need to be sorted out beyond staying alive? I think the cast is great throughout in the film and I think it's just a style we thought the audiences would react well to. I wanted to make a film that wasn't just a zombie or creature-feature... i think we've seen too many of them. I wanted this to be a special movie that was in many ways a late night b-movie, but the kind you stumble across and find it's got more to offer.

d3rang3d : What's your favourite moment in The Mad? And is there anything you'd go back and change if you could?

Johnny Kalangis : SPOILER ALERT HERE ...
I like the scene you focused on before, the 'zombie talk'. I just find the performances and feel is really fun. I love the scene when the Blake character, played beautifully by EVAN CHARLES FLOCK, gets attacked by the meat patty. Again, the cast in full form and the scene is absurd, a bit gross and has some unique action to it.. I don't think anyone thinks that's where it's going. It serves the difficult story task of revealing to our heros something the audience knows sort of in an entertaining and surprising way. I feel it's a success.

To change is hard to answer because I really try to work with what I have and enjoy it... making films is hard and if you're not having fun and you're always wishing it was something else or more, it's a misery. That said, I wish we had a little more time to sharpen the script because in the end I wish the pace was a bit stronger in places... I wish I had more time to shoot and work with my cast, and I wish I had more MAD COW PEOPLE, just in terms of numbers and they were able to be a bit more violent and gory... not a lot more, but a bit.

It's always time and money...I knew going into it it was a very big project with lots of action, locations and cast for a 15 day shoot. I embraced a discontinous style and hoped we'd get away with it. I regret that I was unable to prepare properly with various keys (again, time and money) so we were all clear what film I thought we were trying to make. It left them confused at times, unsure how things were going to go together because I was treating my set ups as specific story peices and didn't feel i had the luxury to always 'cover' everything the way you'd like to.

Also, I love THE MUSIC by Toronto freak-rock band HALF PAST FOUR. I love what they're music did to the film and they have their debut disc coming out this fall and I expect it's going to be hot.

d3rang3d : Any stories - serious or humourous - that you can share with us from the making of The Mad?

Johnny Kalangis : I think the blowjob scene is rather amusing and this was something Billy and I figured out one day after shooting back the hotel we were staying at. We wanted to give us a real sense as to why he was with Monica and decided it HAD to be the sex... and then thought a a unique way to do it... I doubt we've seen a blowjob scene like that in other films. Our schedule was tough and in Hamilton Ontario, just an hour out of Toronto, it was HOT (we shot last August). After a shooting day ending very early in the morning (like 3am or something) we'd ask for the hotel to let us into the swimming pool. There we'd cool off and continue to work on the concepts of the film and character. It was fun and a great gift to have a lead that was so creative, interested in the work and fun to hang with.

d3rang3d : Is there anyone among the cast or crew who you'd like to single out for a special mention?

Johnny Kalangis : Zane's great in many ways... he's very experienced and generous. He understands the power of treating everyone on the set with attention and respect. The biggest surprise was EVAN FLOCK who I mentioned before who wasn't very experienced at all and ends up being outstanding. I love the whole cast, from Maggie Castle (AMY) to Jordan Madley (STEVE), to Rothaford Gray (CHARLIE) and Matthew Despille (JOHNNY). Truth is, I actually have a crush on all my cast member in every project I do... I can't help it. It's why I cast them and hope the executive producers agree. In this cast, ZANE and FLOCK we're brought to the production by Executive Producers Lewin Webb and Kate Harrison... they were brilliant choices on their part and made my job much easier.

Also, SHAUNA MACDONALD who is the only actor i've worked with who's appeared in all three of my features doing very different roles and being great in all of them. She a powerhouse in a film I made called LOVE IS WORK (not a horror pic at all)

d3rang3d : If you weren't a vegetarian before making the film, are you any closer to being one now?

Johnny Kalangis : I wish I could say yes, but not really. I still love a good cheeseburger occationally. I was off chicken for a long time, tried it again, and now I'm off it again.... Maybe an Chicken Flu movie might be a good one for me to try next (lol).

d3rang3d : The zombie/infected movie really seems to have surged in popularity in recent years, especially comedy zombie. Why do you think this is, and was the decision to make The Mad in any way based on this newfound popularity in the genre?

Johnny Kalangis : Again, I think it's all in the handling of the genre... I think SHAUN OF THE DEAD is a big part of the resurgance, and I think it's because, at the heart of it, it's a slacker romantic comedy and it just happens to be a zombie pic too. I don't know if the original script was written with that surge in mind, but I actually thought i made the job considerably harder... how do you make a unique one with any staying power when zombie pics are coming out every week at every budget level from every country. I hope we manage to slide in just as it's going out of fashion with a pic LIKE a zombie flick, but with a somewhat different voice the audience finds entertaining and fresh.

d3rang3d : It really happens. The dead come back to life (or infected are running around if you prefer). What do you do? Answers involving guns and beer may increase your chances of survival significantly.

Johnny Kalangis : Guns and other weapons that give you any distance on your enemy will be important. I know my reflexes improve with beer, but i wouldn't recommend it to everyone... I've always wondered if zombies, after eating many humans, actually digest them. There might be some way of poisoning them that hasn't been explored... I'd probably try to make a documentary about them until they kill me....

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

Johnny Kalangis : Really liked GRINDHOUSE and while a understand all the things people could knock about it, it was really funny to me and reminded me of a certain kind of movie theatre experience i hadn't had in years.... it really was just a fading memory... I watched the animated series AFRO SAMURAI and love the style - in particular the way fight/action scenes play. It's effective, discontinous action - it's trippy and allows me to think insted of just watch the way the filmed a scene. Love the tracks by RZA too.

d3rang3d : And what films from the horror genre -new or old- would you say that you've liked the most?

Johnny Kalangis : Love Romero's original Dawn of the Dead. Friedkin's THE EXORCIST will always live in my mind as the film that kept me up all night as a kid, i was so fucking scared. I love SUSPIRIA, THE PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (the later two for a brilliant b-style camp that beautifully crafted and two films I really considered while making THE MAD... I'd add FROM DUSK 'TILL DAWN too for that reason).

I recently I liked a bizarrie little horror by a guy named Travis Betz called JOSHUA that came out of the Fangoria dvd releases.

d3rang3d : What's next for Johnny Kalangis? Can we expect you to carry on directing films in the horror genre?

Johnny Kalangis : I have another in the works and I don't think it's a comedy... it'll likely be a bit freakier, a daemon film that's very sexy... I also have a supernatural story going... we'll see which one come up first.

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?

Johnny Kalangis : I'm grateful to everyone who's taken the time to check out THE MAD... It's been a great ride and with a film like this, I expected it would be a bit of a love it or hate it. I've read some very nasty reviews, but I'm very aware that this is a community that takes their stuff very seriously so it's no surprise. We've had some great reviews as well and have played at some festivals and I love debate so, it's better to have done something that provoked so many extreme reactions. Mill Street is a local beer in Ontario, Canada I love so if you're ever coming through, give it a try.

And I thank you for taking the time to ask these questions... they were good ones, and I hope my answers are of some use. I also hope that audiences will continue to speak up against the boring cookie-cutter product the mainstream industry keeps feeding us... With the web now, we have an unprecidented chance to talk back and not keep consuming stuff I feel talks down to us.