UN: What prompted your initial decision to take a stab at making a short film? Has it been something youve wanted to try for a while now?

Gris: I've been thinking about making a film for a while. At first, my friends and I were talking about making a feature. At that time, it was nothing special, just us running around with a consumer Sony hand camera and shop lights. We werent planning on doing more with it than make DVDs and give them away to friends. But the script became really complex. It was a werewolf movie that ended up having wire stunts, car crashes and a shitload of make-up effects. So I put that script aside and moved onto another concept: A short slasher flick. But this too became complex with head decapitations and other effects shots. Not to mention, my short was looking about 50 minutes long. At the time I planned to make the film for around $2000, and it just wasnt happening. So I put this script aside as well. I thought, keep it simple. What do most people do for their first short? Two guys in a coffee shop talking. Well, I took that one step further and made a short film about two ghouls talking about eating people in a cemetery. It was based on a comic book idea I started a couple years back with my friend Peter Sandorff.

UN: How long did it take for the story of Cannibal Flesh Riot to come together? Did you go through many drafts before you had the final script?

Gris: I'm not sure how long it took. I know we started the concept for the slasher flick in the summer of 04 and had a completed script for Cannibal Flesh Riot! by the end of the year. So maybe around 2-3 months. I think we ended up using the 6th or 7th draft.

UN: Was it important to keep a similar style as your art with the film? Obviously the film isnt as stylized but the feel is definite similar. The props and gravestones in particular definitely have an almost cartoon or comic book feel to them.

Gris: I had my friend Crab Scrambly help with the design. Hes a cartoonist who has done comics for Slave Labor Graphics. We tend to think alike, have the same influences and our artwork has a similarity to it. I brought him on and showed him the art from my comic as well as old EC horror comics and told him this is the look and feel I want. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Forbidden Zone and Ed Wood films also heavily influenced the films look. Crab ended up doing all the design work for the gravestones, the shack and the signpost.

UN: How did you find David and Dustin for the lead roles? Are they friends of yours or did you have to go through the audition process?

Gris: I used to do little stage shows that were a cross between old spookshows and a Marx brothers film. That was when I first found them and used them as actors. Dave played an old cranky mummy and Dustin played the mute werewolf. So naturally I would bring them in for auditions. I knew Dave would play Stash from the start. But I didnt think Dustin looked the part for Hub (not being fat or oafish). But when they auditioned together, there was chemistry there. And once we put a fat-hunchback suit on hub, he looked just like the concept art.

UN: I was curious to ask about the stop motion effects used. Has it hard to get the effects how you wanted? Obviously you werent going for realism, but they match the feel of the movie perfectly.

Gris: It was hard to do the stop motion. My friend Huy has experience with stop motion and came on to help. Not only did he help build the puppets, but he also completed the stop motion scene with the two ghouls walking under the owl. Unfortunately he had to move to Portland to work on the Neil Gaiman film Coraline. So I had to finish the animation with what little knowledge and experience I had. It turned out okay.

UN: What would you say influenced the look of the film? I definitely picked up hints of Tim Burton and even a bit of an Evil Dead feel to some of the film. Are you a big fan of 50s horror films?

Gris: The look of the film was mostly taken from old 50's B-horror films. I also wanted it to feel like Murnau's Nosferatu, Elfman's Forbidden Zone, Cooper's King Kong and Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. But there are the obvious tributes to Raimis Evil Dead with the running shot and blood geyser.

UN: Was the movie shot in black and white or was it changed after filming? Why the decision to make the film black and white? Did it better suit the feel you were going for with the film?

Gris: The film was shot in color on mini DV. The saturated look, film effects, grain and film damage was all done in postproduction. We desaturated the monitor so I could see what it would look like in black and white as we were filming,

UN: How did you and Peter Sandorff meet and how did he become involved with scoring the movie? Are you a big fan of his bands?

Gris: I met Peter right after the Nekromantix put out Return of the Loving Dead. He was in the states on tour and dating a friend of mine. We all went out for dinner and proceeded to get extremely shitfaced. We talked about horror movies, comic books and music all night and hit it off right away. He approached me about doing a project together where he would release a 7 vinyl of horror music scored to a short 12-page horror comic written and illustrated by me. The vinyl would come with the comic. I was half way done with the comic when I decided to adapt it into a short film and Peter agreed to do the score for it. From there, he formed Hola Ghost with his friend Jeppe and The Ghost.

UN: Did you put together the soundtrack that accompanies the DVD yourself? Im assuming it was put together after the film was made. Were any of the songs written specifically to be on the soundtrack?

Gris: The music compilation that comes with the Limited Edition DVD was an idea I had during post-production. I listen to a lot of horror themed bands and really enjoy when bands sing about a horror movie that I know or love. So I thought it would be cool to release a CD of music inspired by the film. After the movie was completed, I sent the movie to a bunch of bands asking them if they were so inspired to contribute to the project. The result kicks ass with all original songs by Ghoultown, Blitzkid, Mister Monster, Creature Feature, Psychocharger and 12 other great bands. The compilation also includes the Mad Creator Production theme by Rani Sharone of Stolen Babies as well as a trailer voice over.

UN: With under $6000 to play with was it tough to make the film on such a low budget? Does it make you feel good when people say it looks like had a much bigger budget?

Gris: I think we did a great job for the amount of money spent. Of course we pulled a lot of favors and received some equipment for free, but we also were very innovative to complete the film on a shoestring budget. Like I was saying, I originally wanted to make a film for $2000. But we spent that just on booze and beer on set (which I consider cast and crew pay).

UN: Were you leery at all about shooting on digital video? With the black and white coloring and the filters making it look aged it looks quite good, although a lot of stuff shot on digital video looks like complete crap.

Gris: I was very specific about the way I wanted the film to look in the end. I sat and placed the film effects on the film clip by clip. One of the worse things about film effects is how they are used. Usually people slap one setting on the entire film when it is done. So it starts to get repetitive. Where in reality, damaged film will look different on each clip used, depending on the age of that reel and damage that reel received before it was developed. That was what I set out to accomplish.

UN: Are you pleased with the response the film has been receiving? It seems to be getting quite a few awards and has been playing at many festivals.

Gris: I'm pleased with the film in general. It is my first attempt and turned out to be an enjoyable film. It has received magazine press worldwide, Bands and clubs from all over have asked to screen the movie during shows, people have dressed up as Stash and Hub for Halloween this year and I get emails all the time from girls that have a crush on Stash. Some people hate the film. But the people who love it make all the difference.

UN: Can we expect a follow up to Cannibal Flesh Riot? Perhaps Stash and Hub escape from the grave? Have you given any thought to doing a full-length feature?

Gris: I think Stash and Hub have seen their demise in a bloody grave. We've joked around about using them to host a collection of shorts in the future, but I don't want to do any more films with them. I'm ready to move on. I have around five or six different features I would like to do including the werewolf film and the slasher film I mentioned earlier. But first, I would like to complete two other short films I have in mind.