Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Dave Campfield

A while back, I did a review of the fun horror comedy Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre. Recently, I had the privilege of sitting down with the Writer, Director, Producer, and Actor Dave Campfield to talk about the film, future projects, and he gave me an exclusive first still from the upcoming Caesar and Otto sequel! So enjoy!

Q: How did you get into Film Making?

A: It started with an unadulterated love of movies. My family took me to see a Star Wars during one of its re-releases. It captured me as nothing had before. And from that fascination of the movie, came and complete and utter fascination with the process as the years went on. Yeah, I know, pretty cliche. I wish a more original story. Maybe I'll just start saying seeing Solar Babies made me want to make movies.

Q: How did you come up with the awesome duo of Caesar and Otto? How did you come up with their mannerisms (especially Caesar, cause I adore him)?

A: My friend Paul (Otto) and I would get together a few nights a week to do some scene work or sketch comedy on a camcorder. One night I had the idea for a flamboyantly gay cab driver and his mentally challenged brother. The idea behind the sketch was to lampoon bad sitcoms. But something about the characters stuck with me. Over the years, I tweaked the characters... Caesar's sexual preference became a question mark, and Otto's character went from mentally challenged to lazy. But in fact, both characters are a bit on intellectually deficient side.
In creating Caesar, I imagined him as a cross between Moe from the Three Stooges and Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard. With a little Felix Unger (the Odd Couple) to boot. He's a bizarre hybrid of violence, vanity, and effeminacy. Some people might hate the character, but the sure as hell can't say he's not distinct. In terms of Caesar's mannerisms, I based some of them on a theater director I worked with. And I couldn't help borrowing from a young William Shatner.

Q: What was it like to shoot Summer Camp Massacre in only 10 days on such a low budget? What was it like to work with such amazing guest stars as Felissa Rose and Deron Miller?

A: Shooting the film in ten days was stressful beyond words, but at the same time a hell of a lot of fun. I feel like this cast and crew are my west coast family (I'm a New Yorker). Despite the fact my days began at 5am and ended past midnight, I had such a blast making it that I'm happily returning to shoot Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas (now in production). Felissa I met on a film set in New York some years back. She's become a good friend, and was in my debut feature "Dark Chamber", released in 2008 by Shock-o-rama. She introduced me to her husband Deron who actually really liked the script of Summer Camp and agreed to be involved despite its miniscule budget. They're about as professional, focused and friendly as you get. I hope to work with them many time in the future.

Q: I read that your working on a psychological Thriller called "Fear The Reaper". Could you tell us a bit about that project?

A: The problem I have with most horror films (mind you the Caesar & Otto series are comedies), is that I don't believe most of their plotlines. I just can't believe a scenario like "The Ring" could ever happen in real life. Films like the Exorcist, however, are so powerful to me because it makes you believe something that's perhaps hard to swallow. Through careful writing. That's what I aim to do with my horrors. Make them logical enough as to not insult your intelligence. Because if you can't believe what you're watching, it's hard to be scared. Fear the Reaper is hopefully a powerful psychological horror that involves an underground college fraternity that learns the date of the impending deaths on a Ouija board. The dates turn out to be true... but the film hopefully takes a few turns you won't be expecting. It just picked up the top place award at the past Dark Carnival screenwriting competition.

Q: What else are you working on and where can we learn more?

A: I'm working on another Caesar and Otto short film in addition to the new feature film. I wrote a script with Deron Miller (CKY) which may be going into production within the next year or two... I also acted in a pilot named Flix Pix (a crazy movie review show) for a very small small network. Hopefully it'll get picked up. Also, I'm working with a terrific Canadian filmmaker named Geoff Klein (Bikini Girls on Ice) on a couple of projects.

And here it is, the first exclusive pic from the new Caesar and Otto film (Caesar and Otto's Deadly Xmas) which will feature Deron Miller as the villain, Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rochon in cameos, Brinke Stevens, and Linnea Quigley in key roles! Find out more about it and Dave at davecampfield.com