Kristian Hanson (INTERVIEW)
New indie film 'Sledge' is set to make the horror scene wake up with death, humour and imagination. We've managed to grab writer, director and producer of this new film to get the info you need... Synopsis: A True American Horror Story hits you from the beginning with originality. From the skull crushing death, to the killer, Adam Lynch, who in his psyche believes he is living in a movie and video game world. With each kill, he adds to his collection, which happens to be the faces of his victims. As a new group of people show up to the secluded rental camp ground, Adam meticulously watches them all to see if any is worth sparing their life. With Alex (Dustin Bowman) as the funny guy, Sarah (Stephanie Tupper) the girl Alex wants to be with, Nash (Russ Matoes) the pansy boyfriend who takes the insults Alex dishes at him, Shawn (Travis Hanson) the dimwitted friend and Michelle (Desiree Holmes) the girlfriend of Shawn, they begin their camping trip with fun, booze and sex, all the pieces needed for a good horror movie. When the sun rises on the next day however, that is when the death begins and people begin to die, one by one in gruesome and hilarious ways. Sledge is a Horror Comedy not seen before, and will leave you screaming with fear and laughter as you leave the theatre. Adam Lynch (Kristian Hanson) is one killer, you don’t want to mess with.
Kristian on Sledge:
I can say Sledge will be something you do not expect with the humour and everything BG: We're liking it at every mention. So how did you get from doing web reviews with puppets to getting deep down and dirty with directing? KH: My business partner John Sovie II who does the special effects for the Assly videos contacted me about writing a script. When I write I don't stop until I am done. I wrote my Fat Kid's Wolfy Revenge book in 4 days, and ended up writing my first script in 4 days as well. At the end of March John flew down here with our camera guy Russ Matoes and filmed our first film F4L:Friends4Life and during post we decided to go to upstate New York and film Sledge. So we were finishing one film and filmed Sledge in 4 days BG: Busy to say the least then, how did you come up with the idea for Sledge? KH: I have ALWAYS wanted to create my own slasher. We were going to film our zombie movie but we honestly didn't have any money. So, I told John I would write a script for the area he lives in and I think three days later I had the script for him. I named the character after two guys that I respect Adam Green (Hatchet) and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2). The thing also is, I wanted my slasher to be fun and different. He likes to talk trash to his victims before he kills them, so in a way he is like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers in a way. BG: Could you fit any more of what we love. So it seems you have icons in high places, has horror always been your first love? KH: The first slasher film I ever saw I was 5 years old and it was Child's play. My mom would go and rent the newest and greatest horror films, so I grew up watching Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, The Creeper when Jeepers Creepers came out. I remember when I was twelve she came home with Halloween. She had never shown it to me before and once I watched it, I was hooked! In High School my friends used to come to my house and we would have a Halloween Marathon.
As for being my first love, yes, horror has definitely been my first love. I grew up in a predominately Mormon town in Gilbert, Arizona. Every year my mom would do the special effects make-up on me and send me to school. More times than not, I would be sent back home with my brother because we were offensive to kids or scaring too many people. We loved Halloween. My dad, mom, brother and myself would always decorate the house. BG: Sounds like the perfect childhood in our books, so you already mentioned Adam Green and Joe Lynch, have you any aspirations to be better than horrors greats such as John Carpenter and Wes Craven or more of a homage and thanks to them? KH: Funny you mention Wes Craven. He is the first person I met when I moved to Los Angeles at the New Beverly Cinema for a revival screening of his film SHOCKER. He is such an amazing man and same with John Carpenter. I don't think I can say I will be better than them because they created two of the largest icons of all time with Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers. I love to make movies that make people scream and make people laugh really hard, so I would say I am different than they are. My inner horror fan boy cannot let me say I will be better than they are because honestly to me, there isn't anyone better. BG: We couldn't agree more and it's so good to see a new wave of directors looking to differentiate themselves from the greats and standing tall on their own, keeping the genre fresh. It seems, and from our own stance, that Adam Lynch is creating a stir within the horror community KH: Yah, with having fans from the Assly videos I created, I was able to get a nice little following when I said I was going to create a new Slasher. I contacted my friend Monster Matt Patterson and he designed the mask for me and did an amazing job. I think horror fans want a new icon of horror and I would love for Adam to become the next Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees, or the most recent Victor Crowley BG: How hard was it to create a mask that somehow didn’t resemble some of horrors hall of fame? KH: It was really difficult actually because there are just so many iconic masks out there. I wanted the mask to look like human flesh and the first thing people think of is Leatherface. So when I was talking to Matt he came up with the idea of putting initials and numbers and other scarring into the flesh that ends up being a marker for Adam of when he kills the person. When Adam kills his victims he takes off their face and places it into a jar and it becomes part of his "Collection" BG: Filmed on a budget how far do you agree with the statement that Indie film making is teaching Hollywood how to do it? KH: Not having a budget it makes you be creative! You can't fix it with a million dollars here or a million dollars there. I really don't have an issue with remakes because if it sucks, you still have the original, but now studios are relying on them way too much. You don't need a giant budget to make a fun film that people will enjoy. Hell, the 1980's was about a bunch of kids going into the woods constantly and it was scary as hell, and it still is if you do it right and don't ruin it with CGI bullshit. BG: So what would you prefer? The freedom of indie film making on a budget or the big bucks of Hollywood, name in lights but the chains that come associated with that? KH: That is honestly a really tough question because I have two friends who just made a big Hollywood film and I had to see everything they went through with their producers and the hell it was to get what THEY wanted instead of what the producer wanted. I would love to be able to get a budget that is not huge and make a profit off of it for myself and the backers to where I could continue to make the movies I wanted to make and wanted to see. That way with the money we make we can put it into a new project and my goal is to be able to have Craptastically Horrific Productions fund new up and coming filmmakers where they can make their movie. BG: It really is impressive to see someone so fresh on the scene so understanding of the industry. You know what fans want and we really hope to see your name around for a lot longer, so when can we expect to see Sledge? KH: Sledge is in Post and should be done Mid to end December and we are going to be sending it to ALL of the horror festivals that will accept us. I can promise you, within the first ten minutes you are going to be laughing your ass off and cheering from the fun the movie brings to the screen.