I made the video above by stitching together clips found on some of my old video tapes from the late 1980's. Back when I walked this earth as a teenager, I went through a short phase of wanting to learn all I could about movie make-up. For me it was all about blood, gore and zombies and these clips are the result of those few years.
Watching this old footage is like a time machine for me. At the beginning, the lady opening the door is my beloved grandma. My gore make-up always grossed her out, but she was a big kid herself and she never said no when I put her in one of my silly videos.
The photo below was taken on Halloween night in 1987 and some of the clips in the video is from this night. The guy on the right is my good pal Greg. He’s the one with the Spuds McKenzie shirt and the tranced out eyes. His superb death scene at the end of the video is truly some brilliant acting! The spider web T-shirt guy on the left is my other good pal Jeff. He’s always been the crafty type and he built that mummy in the middle. I had to drive twenty miles in full zombie make-up with that mummy propped up in the front seat of my canary yellow 1976 Ford Elite. I remember getting some strange looks at the stop lights. Good thing it was Halloween night!
See a video clip of our mummy here.
Eventually I grew out of my gory make-up phase sometime in the early 90's, but for those few years it was fun being a teenage zombie from the 1980's!
That's awesome Todd! First off never having access to video myself as a kid or teen, I always envy anyone that has that sort of tangible connection to their past.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it is about horror, in particular gore that seems to draw so many budding creative types. I wonder if it's because it's so visceral and immediate? Anyway, the video has a really fun edit, and I dig the computerized monotone overdub of the title...
You know it would be easy to recreate that pic. The Mrs. hasn't made you toss the Joystick T yet right? Love the look on the good captain's face!
ReplyDeleteNow let's see if I got this right, but from watching your video I get the impression you were a teenage zombie from the 1980's. ;)
ReplyDeleteVery avant-garde film making Todd, and the make-up was very good too.
I'm a big fan of the your genre myself and a girl t'boot! Not too many of us back then (the 70s/80s for me) but i grew up watching all kinds of creepy stuff. Found a creepy guy to marry after college and now we are creepy together...
ReplyDeleteYour car inspired me to drop a line and let ya know how great your blog is - keep up the great work and thanks for the memories...
George Romero eat ur heart out.
ReplyDeleteShawn - I think the draw for me was the chance to be playing in make believe a little bit longer. Also, who doesn't like being gross especially for a teenager. Glad you liked the video.
ReplyDeleteMike - You know I still have the Joystick Arcade tee along with my army jacket.
David - I'm glad you figured out I was a Teenage Zombie from the 1980's I was worried that some people might miss that.
Thanks and glad you liked it!
Anonymous - Thanks for the nice comment and glad you dig the blog! Keep on being creepy!
MrJeffery - Thanks! Usually George Romero has a zombie eat his heart out.