"There will be no drinking beer when the monster comes and rips your arms off or even worse!"
BACKWOODS REDNECK, adlibbed line
I don't remember exactly when I decided to make a monster movie starring my firends, but the idea was inside my brain for years before I started trying to actually do it. We started by watching every bad 1950's man-in-a-monster-costume movie we could find, our favorites being IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, CATWOMEN ON THE MOON and it's remake, MISSLE TO THE MOON. The biggest hurdle in getting something like this made was realizing that finishing it was much more important that making it "good". If the acting is bad, the directing bad, the props bad and the creature rediculous, well, it's all part of honoring the genre.
I started researching how to make a monster costume and finally decided on mimicking the big radish from IT CONQUERED...I bought a 3" sheet of furniture foam and started cutting it with an electric carving knife and glueing it together with 3M Spray 77. I scoured the fabric stores for the right skin covering and found some rattlesnake fabric. For eyes, I used the cups from a novelty coconut bra. The furry boots were the biggest expense, $75 at a vintage clothing store. The monster arms and fake body parts used in the movie were bought from Distortions Unlimited, who specialized in haunted house props. MOUNTAIN OF TERROR DAY OF DREAD was shot in 2 1/2 days, virtually all with in 100 yards of my parents house near Dillard, GA.
I had someone ask me who writes these monster movies and the best response is nobody. As we watch old movies, each participant comes up with their own character, usually based on what ever costume we have handy, or can buy at a thrift store. I come up with a way to bring all these characters together, then kill 'em off one by one. The better character folks created, the longer they lived. Some might even survive, but the monster always survives. There's a sheep hearder (no actual sheep in the film, just sheep sound effects) because I had a shepherd's staff left over from a kids show I worked on. Someone thought it'd be good if that character spoke only in bible quotes. Actor/propman Jon Dilling grew up in God-fearin' Indiana, so he became the shepherd. Shana Coley was working in a lab at the time, so she was the doctor who tries to tame the monster with love.
