Interview by Molly Celaschi

Welcome to the world of Old School Sinema where alternative cinema and beautiful pin-ups hope to thrive. I interviewed Joe Ostrica, the director of “The Horror Convention Massacre” and the creative mind behind OSS productions. “THCM” was an ambitious project involving Executive Producer Brenna Lee Roth (view her interview here), Lloyd Kaufman, and a bevy of buxom beauties. And if that is not enough to garner interest, Did I mention it was shot over the weekend at the 2006 Cinema Wasteland Convention?

HorrorYearbook: How did you get your start in filmmaking?

Joe Ostrica: I’ve wanted to make films ever since I was a young kid. I grew up on a lot of sci-fi, fantasy and horror films and was fascinated on how they did the cool special effects. I began reading about the behind the scenes stuff and from there the world of filmmaking became a real attraction to me.

HYB: What interests you about the horror industry other than the effects?

JO: I’d have to say definitely the fans. I consider myself a fan, first and foremost and love hanging out with fellow horror fans. They are very passionate about the genre and knowledgeable about the movies. They’re also a lot of fun to socialize with and party with too. (laughs)

HYB: What are your favorite horror films and who influences your work the most?

JO: John Carpenter is one of my favorite directors. A lot of his work in the 70’s and 80’s is amazing. I grew up on a healthy diet of his films and most of them still hold up, which is rare for older genre films.

But my taste doesn’t end with horror films. I love all kinds of movies. In fact, my favorite filmmakers are Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino, so it’s likely I’ll make my crime film someday!

HYB: What exactly is Old School Sinema?

JO: Old School Sinema is the name of my production company, but it’s more than that. My goals are for it to become a real brand name for horror, B-movie and cult films, as well as a culture, in a sense. It’s a place where like-minded people can get their fill on alternative movies, beautiful pin-ups and other cool things.

I created the OSS concept in the early part of 2005. My goal is to produce a large amount of low budget films (much like Roger Corman did), but without sacrificing quality. Just because your project is low budget doesn’t mean your movie has to look bad. Too many filmmakers use that as an excuse and we don’t ever want to be like that.

HYB: Going back to the beautiful pin-ups you mentioned, Who are the Sinema Sirens and How can a girl become one? Any qualifications?

JO: The Sinema Sirens are models from all over the world that we have on our website to help promote OSS. Beautiful women sure do attract attention and if people come by our site to check out the Sirens, hopefully they’ll check out other things to, like our films and merchandise.

Any ladies (sorry fellas, Sirens are FEMALES ONLY) interested in being a Sinema Siren can send a set of photos to sinemasirens@yahoo.com along with a letter of interest.

HYB: Dare I ask how many males applied to be a Siren? No? Okay, moving… So tell us a about “The Horror Convention Massacre”. What is it about and who is starring in it?

JO: Well, what it’s about is right there in the title. “The Horror Convention Massacre” is just that. It’s about a maniac on the loose at a hotel that is hosting a horror convention. While the show goes on the body count rises.

Most of the key actors are from the NE Ohio area as that is where we are based and shot the film. Bryan Jalovec, who starred in my comedy “GUYS” and Ted Wodoslawsky are the two main characters. They play hotel employees who are working at the convention and a lot of the film’s humor comes from those two. We’ve also got a well-known Cleveland stand-up comic Carl “Hot Carl” Ferrera in a key part. A cult underground band called Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival also co-stars and they steal the film. Audiences leave the movie asking, “Who were those guys?” They’re hilarious and provide about 5 songs to the soundtrack.

HYB: There is some talk of the copious amounts of nudity in your film. Is this a focal point or just an added bonus?

JO: Well I don’t know how you can do an exploitation slasher film, which “The Horror Convention Massacre” is, without the nudity. That’s one of the reasons I made this film. I was so sick of the watered down mainstream PG-13 crap that Hollywood has been cranking out the past 10 or 15 years. It’s insulting to fans that grew up on these kinds of movies in the 70’s and 80’s. I wanted to bring back the blood and the boobs, and I must say we sure achieved that with this film.

HYB: How did you come in contact with Lloyd Kaufman and convince him to be in your film?

JO: I was e-mailing back and forth with Lloyd. He was going to be a guest at the Cinema Wasteland convention in which we shot most of the film at. One of the things I figured we could do if we shot a movie that took place at a convention was get some of the guests to be in cameos. Mr. Kaufman is a huge supporter of indie filmmakers and was game to be part of our film.

We also got Lew Temple (”The Devil’s Rejects,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning”) and Ari Lehman (the original Jason from “Friday the 13th”) and others to be in the film. I think they could see this was a project we were passionate about and that enthusiasm we had was contagious. They were all gracious to be part of the film and all kick ass in their scenes.

HYB: It seems that this was filmed in 3 days at a hotel during the Cinema Wasteland Convention. How did you pull that off?

JO: Well, I would say nearly 80 percent of the film was shot in that one weekend, which is insane when you think about it. And we weren’t just winging it either. We had a very skilled crew and great actors and a good story and it’s amazing we pulled it off. We basically shot for 44 hours in a 53 hour period. It was exhausting and grueling to say the least, but well worth it.

We went back to the motel a few weeks later for another day and shot another two days at other locations, but the majority of the film takes place at the hotel and was shot there.

HYB: All independent productions have their ups and downs. Cast and crew tend to grow together like a family. Can you share with us any moments whether they are funny, aggravating, or sentimental?

JO: As challenging as this movie was shooting on such a limited budget and schedule, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it wasn’t a blast. For the most part, most of our cast and crew were all on the same page and doing their best to make this movie the best we could.

We had hotel employees watching us like a hawk, old men in robes and flip flops following us around and people accusing us of shooting a porno. It was very stressful at the time, but something I can laugh about now.

HYB: What was the most important lesson you learned on this production as a director?

JO: That’s a good question. I think you learn something every day when you’re on a set. I learned so much on this movie that it’s hard to pick one main, important lesson, I guess. Perhaps one of the more important things I learned was whenever you’re using makeup blood in a hotel room, examine the sheets before you check out. You could wind up with a $200 fine, no matter how tiny the spot is.

HYB: Okay, I’ll make note of that. So, how can we purchase THCM and other merchandise?

JO: You can get the DVD, which includes some cool special features through Paypal on the website (www.oldschooolsinema.com) or send me a message at My Space and I’ll tell you where to send a check or money order (and save money on the shipping, too.)

HYB: You were at Cinema Wasteland October of this year. Did you premiere the film there and if so, How was the reception?

JO: Yes. It was awesome. We couldn’t have asked for a better reception. When we shot the movie at the Spring 2006 show, everybody at Cinema Wasteland, from the CW volunteers to the fans to the guests were asking us what we were filming and when the movie was coming out. There was no doubt in my mind that we had to have it ready in time to premiere at the Fall 2006 CW show.

We screened it twice, both were packed houses with standing room only. The second screening was packed 10 minutes before the movie started and there were about 30 people standing in the hallway watching the movie through the door. The audience really got into the movie and loved all the gore, the girls and humor. We sold out all our DVDs in less than 24 hours and everybody kept asking if we were going to do a sequel.

HYB: Do you have any projects in line for the future and will you be working with the same people this time around?

JO: I’d love to work with a lot of the same people that worked on this film again. They are very talented and passionate people, just the type you want to surround yourself with when making a film. We expect to do a very ambitious creature feature zombie-esqe flick in the spirit of 80’s classics like “Return of the Living Dead” and “Night of the Creeps.” Just like “THCM” we have a cool setting for our story that we think will give it a fresh spin.

We’ll likely shoot it at the Spring 2007 Cinema Wasteland show and fans can expect to see it in the Fall 2007 show. We may even go a step further and shoot two sequels back-to back. I really see this being a micro-budget cult classic franchise. We had so much fun the first time around we can’t wait to do another one.

HYB: Well, there you have it. If it was good enough that Cinema Wasteland fans tolerated you shooting it the first time and then encouraged you to revisit a second time, the film must be worth watching.

* For more information on Old School Sinema, Please visit their website at www.OldSchoolSinema.com or their MySpace page at www.MySpace.com/OSSprojects