Bloodsuckers Planet (2019)
Director: Mark Beal
Writer: Mark Beal
Starring: Cory W. Ahre, Jessica Bell, Adrienne Dobson, Joe Grisaffi, Jeremy Herrera
In this ’60s retro prequel to the bizarro-noir Bloodsucker’s Handbook (AKA Enchiridion), Bloodsucker’s Planet follows the crew of the space ship Argosy as they respond to a distress signal from the industrial Planet Mara only to discover the planet is ruled by the sinister Mother Vampire. Along the way, they encounter disease-carrying Mara bats, a talking space roach, and Adrianna, the gynoid whose developing self-awareness is aided by her collection of vintage romance comics.
In a new interview in the series leading up to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask Bloodsuckers Planet writer-director Mark Beal a few questions about what we can expect from the film. A prequel to Bloodsucker’s Handbook (2012) which played at Horror-on-Sea in 2015
Q. Your Sci-fi Horror Bloodsuckers Planet has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
It’s a sci fi/horror involving space vampires done in the style of a 1960’s film. It features old school special effects, stop animation, and shiny silver rockets. Some have described it as “campy,” which I don’t really agree with because it’s played straight, but I get where they’re coming from.
Q. Bloodsuckers Planet is a prequel to your previous film Bloodsuckers Handbook. Why did you decide to create a prequel to your previous film?
That was a twisted road. I was hesitant to do a vampire film at all since I’d just done one — I didn’t want people thinking vampires are the only thing I do! The initial story was unrelated to Handbook, but then I hit on the idea of having the two films take place in the same universe. Jeremy Herrera, who plays the vampire Condu, had moved out of state and I contacted him about doing a cameo — my idea was to have him shoot some footage of himself and I’d composite it onto a video screen where he’s warning people that the planet is infested with vampires. He told me “that sounds fine, but why don’t we just do it next month when I move back to College Station?” So suddenly I had access to my original vampire star and I went about re-writing the script to turn it into Condu’s origin story.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
Of course the biggest influence was Planet of the Vampires (1965). Other influences were Tobe Hooper’s version of Salem’s Lot (1979), the 1990 version of IT, and many unnameable sci fi/horrors I watched late at night as a child.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
Again, the overall look and style was influenced by Planet of the Vampires. I also drew on the Russian sci fi film Planeta Bur (1962) and vintage pulp magazines like Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories. The music was inspired by the Green Slime.
Q. Were there any elements of the original script which you adapted during filming?
Filming stayed pretty close to the script. Doing the effects and editing myself, I could write the script around what I would be able to accomplish. One element that changed during pre-production was Mr. Bartlett’s living quarters. My original concept was something industrial and futuristic, but I didn’t have a suitable location. Bartlett was supposed to be a sort of Vincent Price type character, so I decided to make it Victorian and Gothic. But then I found a mid-century modern house that the owners furnished in ‘60’s style, so I thought: yeah, Bartlett turned his living quarters into a bachelor pad.
Some of the effects were modified during post production. The space roach was originally written as a space caterpillar, meant to be reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but as I started building the stop motion puppet, it ended up turning into a roach.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
Principal photography was relatively easy. It was a 10-day shoot plus a few additional nights. Audio was a challenge in some locations but overall it was not a difficult shoot.
Post-production was another story entirely. It took almost five years to complete all the effects — building miniatures and puppets, doing stop animation, compositing backgrounds. Even though the effects weren’t that sophisticated, there were so many! Every scene and virtually every shot has some kind of effect. The final timeline has more than 750 individual After Effects compositions.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst filming?
Filming is such a blur, it’s hard to remember. I always enjoy the camaraderie that comes out of filming a movie and I do recall Jeremy introducing me to Fireball during the shoot.
Q. What makes Bloodsuckers Planet stand out as something different in the horror genre?
It has a distinctive vibe. There aren’t a lot of ‘60’s throwback films out there and the ones that do exist tend to be parodies. This film captures the mood and style of those old movies without mocking them.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
I hope people have fun with it. I hope people find it groovy. I personally think this is a fun movie.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
I’m working on several scripts right now. The one I’m will most like pursue next is The Wilkes Gang, which is a 1930’s serial style film involving a bank robber who is pursued by an experimental FBI robot.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
Ignore the business aspects and just make a movie for yourself. That’s the exact opposite of the advice I’ve always received but it’s so unlikely you’ll ever make any money, I say just be completely self-indulgent and do the film you want. Making a movie is a huge amount of work and you’ll be married to any given project for a long time, so be sure it’s something you love.
You can find out more about the film on the website and Facebook
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
