Interview with the writer/director of ALMOST HUMAN

Midnight Madness got a crack at ALMOST HUMAN director Joe Begos for some insider info on his gritty indie splatter flick.

Don't be fooled by his cunning disguise. That's him.

Midnight Madness Blog: Give me three words that describe the film.

Joe Begos: A fun low-budget alien abduction splatter flick. (WAY more then three, but I was drawing a blank for about 5 minutes, haha)

MMB: That's cool! With so many horror films going the post-apocalyptic route, I can't remember the last time I saw a straight-up alien abduction film. What inspired the decision to go extra-terrestrial?

JB: I lived in very small towns surrounded by lots and lots of woods growing up. Since most stories of Alien Abduction seem to take place in these type of areas, it was one of the things that interested/scared me the most as a little kid. As I grew up i really started to realize what and absolute LACK of alien abduction movies there were, never mind good ones. It's such a cool thing and there are SO MANY ways and directions to go, I think it's fairly shocking at the drought of them.

MMB: I love how you never once see a cell phone in the film. Was the decision to stick to avoid depicting popular modern technology a deliberate one?

JB: Very deliberate. Modern horror movies always have cell phone service and you NEED to find a way around it, or make it a part of the plot, and it's annoying. Same thing with google. I HATE scenes of people just sitting there googling shit. At least libraries looked cool. You make it a period piece and all of that goes away AND it dates your film WAY less.

MMB: You've worked on the stage production of Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator. Did he inspire or inform your use of practical effects in ALMOST HUMAN?

JB: I've had a love of practical effects since I started watching movies, and that love has only grown more as time passed. There was no question in my mind that everything in my first movie was going to be 100 percent practical. That being said, once I began working with Stuart, I quickly realized he still adores the use of practical effects just as much as I do. Talking with him and hearing some of his stories definitely sparked some creative thoughts in my mind, and his advice was awesome. When you're asking for advice from someone and it includes an amazing story from the production of FROM BEYOND, you can't really go wrong.

Catch all the alien-abduction-low-tech-practical-effectsy goodness Tuesday night at Midnight Madness!

ALMOST HUMAN Screening Times:
Tuesday, Sept 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 11th, 7:15 PM SCOTIABANK 3
Friday, Sept 13th, 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK 9