"We all go a little mad sometimes." So says the mother-doting, schizoid innkeeper of "Psycho". Truth! It is a demented delight, flirting with the fiend and fanatic within. It's fun to dabble with the devilish, to snack on sin. It's all right to take a ramble through the Vegas of Earthly Delights, so long as we have our conscience as our chaperone, saying, "Sample, taste, but don't gorge."
That's why Jason Stephenson, director of "Terror Overload" (a platter of bonbons bursting with gory cream), is one of the most well-adjusted fellows you'll ever encounter. No raving loonie nor slavering psycho he, but a gentleman and a joker.
I met him at his Halloween bash, his backyard a cross between the carnival in "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and the domain of Pinhead, a psychadelic sidesow of terrible treats, the damned denizens including that Vixen of Vile, Scarlet Salem, and Satan's Jester, Joe Knetter.
They and so many more dismembers of the unholy circle of Minneap Movie Horror came together to conjure this midnight hour of sublime sickness. It's nice when otherwise mentally-sound people gather for a worthy goal: Dumping out their septic psyches on the screen, like so much crude oil gushing into a pristine ocean reef.
After all, the ghoulish revelry and destruction of indie horror is infinitely more cathartic than a shrink.
Cheaper, too.
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Mr. J: Tell me a little about how you got started with "Terror Overload" and how it evolved into the movie the Archdiocese dubbed "Evil spewed from Satan's bowels, the cardinal sin show"?
The Other Mr. J: When me, Kevin Myhre and Brant Johnson started throwing ideas around for "Terror Overload," it was initially intended as a fun way to shoot a few short films with some friends who wanted to learn how to put a movie together and then tie them into one feature-length, horror anthology. But moving forward from its simple conception, close to a year ago, "Terror Overload" has since evolved into something far more than that.
Mr. J: So, tell me, what was it like working with the man responsible for the most gut-blowing, three-second performance in slasher history?
The Other Mr. J: It was very cool. Ari Lehman brought a lot of energy and fun to the set. We had a ton of fun filming "Mongo Chupa," the segment he was involved in. For all the crazy stuff that goes on in the film, we didn't hear a single complaint. Plus, he always came to the set very prepared, he knew all his lines and had his character, Ray Rae, nailed to a tee. Not only that, but all the cool stories about "Friday 13th" were interesting, as well.
Mr. J: So, what's "Terror Overload" about (all I've heard is something about it being the next Meg Ryan vehicle; I didn't even know she still had a career)?
The Other Mr. J: I'd hate to give away all the fine details, but genre fans that love their ultra-low-budget, exploitation, horror flicks, loaded with over-the-top blood, boobs, gore, sex, creatures, sleaze and a bunch of other crazy stuff will not be disappointed with "Terror Overload"!
Mr. J: If I watch "Terror Overload," will I go to hell?
Read the rest of the Interview here: www.minnewood.com