I first met Michael O'Hear at the second annual (but apparently last) Rotten Jack's Creep Show in Buffalo. I knew him to be a local actor and filmmaker who had appeared in some Red Scream Films and Emil J. Novak (BANSHEE) productions. A short time later, he gave my book CHEAP SCARES! Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets a rave review on Horrornews.net, so the guy clearly knows what he's talking about! When it came time for me to begin pre-production on SLIME CITY MASSACRE, I knew I needed a local contact familiar with the acting community to serve as my casting director, so I offered him the position. Later, I cast him in the role of "Roman" (originally essayed by Dennis Embry) and asked him to serve as my first assistant director. During prep and production, I heard him discuss three other local productions he had been cast in - BORN TO DIE, HOUSE OF HORRORS: THE MOVIE , and GORE. I finally saw HOH:TM and GORE this month, which is why I'm covering them so heavily. It has been a pleasure directing him and seeing him play extremely diverse roles in these films. And now he's about to delve even further into micro-budget insanity by directing his first feature. GORE Week continues...


Tell me about your decision to pursue acting and filmmaking.


Since I was young I was always fascinated by movies. The original KING KONG, STAR WARS and AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON all had an impact on me. They seemed like magic and I wanted to be a part of it. Writing my own stories and scripts came naturally as no one else was doing it around me. I originally wanted to be a makeup artist and make some of the monsters I seen Rick Baker create, but make up took so much time and some of my work made parents think I had fallen and hurt myself which wasn't the feedback I wanted. Writing and acting were more in the moment. I started acting in theatre by accident and found I had a passion for it and seemed like I had some talent. I always said I would make movies or at least one movie before I died and then the video revolution came along and made it all more affordable



You've had several roles in Emil Novak's productions, which are in various stages of post production. Is he a mad artist?

I wouldn't call Emil mad but he is a very visual artist and seems to think in terms of picture more than words. I think he wishes he had a full time production staff so they could handle the post production and allow him to focus on shooting. He seems happiest when he is shooting a picture. I am hoping we will see BANSHEE before too long,



Like me, you're a middle aged guy. How surprising was it when Adam Steigert offered you the lead role in GORE, and how did that come about?

I am always surprised when someone offers me a role, let alone a lead role. This is only the second I was offered and the first I accepted. Adam was premiering his first movie which is called BITEZ and we started "talking" on myspace and Adam noticed that I had lots of production photographs from other things I have worked on. He offered me a small role in an upcoming movie and I said sure why not. Then Adam and I both worked on John Renna's short movie "It's in Back" and Adam seemed to be impressed with my acting. He emailed me an early version of "Gore" and asked if I was interested in doing the role of "William Sanders". I read and really enjoyed the part and said sure I would love to do it.

One of the things that impressed me about that film's casting is that the characters all seem to be played by actors who were the appropriate age. This seems like common sense, but so many young indie filmmakers cast their friends in roles they're too young to play.

I know Adam had done "Gore" as a group of short films with his friends who were too young to play the roles, but when it came time to redo "Gore" as a feature he wanted to put in as serious an effort as he could. He liked me being old enough to really be the role of a burned out cop and I know he went to an extra effort to get people he felt fit the parts.


Most of your scenes are with Stephanie Wlosinski, who plays Alice, the character you spend much of your time interviewing, and with John Renna, who has two roles, and Eric Haaf, who plays another detective. I actually thought all four of you were excellent, and I was especially impressed by Stephanie, who I understand was a novice. How did you enjoy working with each of these folks?

Stephanie and I had a lot of fun with our scenes. She has a dry sense of humor like myself but is very focused when we are filming. I could feel the energy when we were working together. I always looked forward to our scenes. Eric is very good natured and very funny which made it very easy to get into a rhythm of talking that made it seem like we knew each other for years. John is, what can I say, but John, he is a force of nature. I always have fun with John.

As a budding filmmaker yourself, and a supporter of indie films, what are your impressions when you see two filmmakers as young as Adam and Stephanie making feature films?

I think we all could take a page from Adam and Stephanie who aren't just talking about making films but they are making them and finishing them and showing them. I think they have made other people take a second look and decide maybe they better get off their ass and get into it.


You also play a villain in Jay Mager's upcoming BORN TO DIE. What can you say about that film, and your experience making it?

I loved my part in "Born to Die". There is something truly electric about playing a total sleaze ball. I got to work with Jen Biel who is one of my favorite local actresses. The shoot was well scheduled and went very smoothly. The only funny thing is that the director Jay Mager thought because I asked to clear one of the sets that I was one of those Method actors who needed to get into my part when all I wanted was it to be a little more quiet before shooting. I still kid Jay about needing a "moment" to be able to work.

GORE is having its world premiere on October 10th, and then five days earlier, another film you appear in, HOUSE OF HORRORS: THE MOVIE, has its premiere. From a technical perspective, HOH is very unique. Tell us why.

The director Dan Monroe is using a 35 mm adapter on his camera to get the film look of a narrow focus lens. With this adapter Dan is able to frame some beautiful, beautiful shots that you used to only be able to get in films. He uses a lot of rack focus shots changing from one subject to another. He also is doing all his sound ADR due to the noise made by the adapter but Dan has a very good sound studio and programs that line up the voices with the lips. It is really very amazing and won't make you think of a Japanese movie once.

It would be a disservice to your resume if I left out your involvement in SLIME CITY MASSACRE, so spill your guts about working on that.

I played the part of "Roman" for the flashback scenes of Zachary's cult that made the wine and yogurt that plays such an important part in the rest of the story. He is someone that loves an audience and talks just to hear himself talk. I also worked on the crew as the First AD which was stressful but allowed me to be very involved in the production of the movie. I saw some footage and I am very happy with the movie and my part in it.


You're now writing the script for a vampire feature called DUSK, which you hope to shoot soon. Now that you've worked on all of these indie horror films, what is your hope as you step into the fray yourself?

I hope I have learned from everyone I have worked with, both the good and the bad. I am hoping that I will add some elements to the story telling and the camera work that wouldn't have been done if I wasn't the force behind the production. I am also hoping I remember to have some fun with my cast and crew as well. We aren't going to get rich making movies in Buffalo but we can have a ball making "art".


There are so many indie horror films being made in Buffalo right now. Why do you think that is?

Buffalo has always had a lot of creative people here. We have more theatres here most cities other than NYC or Toronto. We have painters, musician, comic book artist and novelists. I think the more creativenesses that are around the more that grows. Buffalo always looks for new ways to use that talent and I think movie making is where it is at. We also have so much decay here. Old buildings once lovely that look like they should be part of a scary movie. We have more talent, interesting locations and it is cheaper to make movies than ever before.