Here is our very, late (as usual) STUPID TEENAGERS MUST DIE! THE INTERVIEW!
WIL: Is STUPID TEENAGERS MUST DIE! celebrating or making fun of the slasher genre?
Jeff Smith: First, let me thank you for remembering the exclamation point in the title. As far as celebrating or making fun of the slasher genre, I’d say STMD! is a little from column “A”, a little from column “B.” It’s a mocking homage.
WIL: What clichés did you play homage to or make fun of?
JS: It’s probably more fun to watch the clichés unfold in the movie rather than list them all out here. From the poster, you know that we have the traditional excessive violence and gratuitous nudity. And we have a scene where the power in the house goes out. That seems to happen a lot in these kinds of movies. Watch the movie and find out what else happens!
WIL: Does the black guy die first?
JS: No, Kane doesn’t die first. Or second. Maybe third. Again, you’ll have to see the movie to find out.
MOLLY: Does anyone say, “I’ll be right back” right before dying? Or does anyone walk into a dark room saying, “Hello? Is somebody there? Guys, if this is a joke its not funny” right before dying?
JS: We have one “I’ll be right back”, one “Is someone there?”, two instances of “Is that you?” and one “this isn’t funny.” So yes, yes and yes.
WIL: What did you hope to accomplish with your film and why?
JS: We hope to defeat the evildoers. Isn’t that what everyone wants to accomplish?
WIL: No because then we would lose all two of our readers.
WIL: If you are a fan of the slasher genre can you name a few of your favorite slasher films?
JS: The granddaddy of slasher films, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, is my all time favorite. But I also enjoy the original Halloween, Friday The 13th Part VI and Sleepaway Camp even though the ending of Sleepaway Camp really messed up my young, pre-pubescent mind.
WIL: You claimed to have no budget, do you mind telling us how much that actually is?
JS: A dude on Netflix accused us of making our movie for $1.50. It was a little more than that.
WIL: How long did it take to shoot the movie?
JS: I think we spread 30 filming days across April and May of 2006. No re-shoots, no overtime. We shot the movie in a real house in the part of Long Beach, California that Snoop Dogg talks about. The kind of area where we had actors covered in fake blood hanging out in the front yard and yet we didn’t stand out at all amongst the neighbors. We even had a dude with real blood on his clothes jump into our backyard one night. Ah, the memories.
WIL: Would you like to tell us a little about the plot or should I just cut and paste the synopsis here?
JS: Like most normal teenagers, our characters get together to hold a séance in the home of a dead serial killer that murdered his entire family. Doesn’t sound too dangerous or anything, right? Well, you’re wrong cause it IS dangerous and horrifying things happen! Terrifying, dreadful, frightening things involving blood, guts, nudity and marijuana. But not in that order. Basically, we combine our favorite elements from 80’s slasher movies, zombie movies, possession movies and the works of John Hughes.
WIL: How have people received the film? Do they get it or hate it?
JS: Most people we’ve heard from seem to get it but we do have some kids on the internet that are having a lot of fun trashing our little movie. There was a guy that reviewed us on Amazon.com and he was just furious over the fact that our movie was so low budget and yet was available for rent at his video store. It really angered him! He was offended that we were on Amazon and other sites where “real” movies were available for purchase. So I guess he wasn’t inspired by our uplifting story of the little horror movie that beat the odds and secured distribution around the country. But today I read a very nice review at Netflix (which is refreshing since most reviews on Netflix are pretty negative in general) where the person said STMD! was “obviously made by people with a genuine love and passion for horror movies. If you love slasher movies and like a little humor with your slashing then you will absolutely fall in love with this movie.” So that was nice to see.
MOLLY: Our Horror Yearbook writer raved about your film in his review. Did you pay him to say those things? (Read Review Here)
JS: We didn’t pay our crew so there’s no way we could pay someone to write a review for us. But thanks for the flattering question.
WIL: Were the lesbians actually real lesbians, and do you have any good stories about them? Sexy ones I mean.
JS: Jamie Carson and Christina DeRosa are the actresses that played Sissy and Jamie, the lesbians. All I know is that they are both very talented and a lot of viewers…mostly (but not exclusively) males…really enjoy their performances. If you’re wondering if they made out when the cameras weren’t on…I don’t think so. But you’d have to ask them to know for sure.
WIL: You attended the shit convention we helped out with this year, Silicon. We met a drunk Irish woman at the bar, who lived in the hotel and we made her come watch your film. She stayed through the entire thing then immediately left. That is not a question. I just wanted to point that out, feel free to add anything you would like.
JS: We usually play very well to a drunken audience. In fact, I don’t think we’ve had one screening where a bar was further than ten feet away. I’m pretty sure the representatives from Horror Yearbook weren’t sober at the SiliCon screening either. So to answer the question about how we get good reviews, alcohol helps!
MOLLY: I would like to point out that I literally passed out during the screening. Granted I was drunk, but I am not the passing out type.
I thought I saw you passed out in the hallway of the “party floor.” Must’ve been somebody else on that vomit stained floor but, man, she totally looked like you. And I remember saying “I guess Molly is the passing out type.” But since you’re not the passing out type, I take it all back.
WIL: Time to sell your movie! If I only had $30 bucks, why should I buy Stupid Teenagers instead of a blowjob from a cheap crack whore?
JS: In my experience, most cheap crack whores will give you a blow job for ten dollars TOPS. And you can find Stupid Teenagers Must Die! for sale online for less than twenty bucks. So you can get our DVD, get that blow job and have some change to give the crack whore as a tip! Everybody wins!
WIL: Anything you would like to add?
JS: Thank you, Horror Yearbook, for the amazing support you’ve shown Stupid Teenagers Must Die! And thank you, WIL, for the free “Horror Yearbook” bookmark at SiliCon. I use it every day.
[Editor's Note: Chris gave him the bookmark, but who cares.]
Interview by WIL Keiper & Molly Celaschi
