Filmmaker Kevin Hamedani says the Sept. 11 attacks transformed him from an ordinary American into “the other.”
Hamedani, an Iranian-American, recalls the isolation he felt in the weeks and months following the terrorist attacks, even though he considered himself as “Americanized” as his neighbors.
“I wanted to talk about that as a filmmaker,” he says.
So he created “Zombies of Mass Destruction,” a horror comedy comprised of equal parts bloodshed and political beefs. The movie, out this week on DVD as part of After Dark HorrorFest 4, tracks a small Washington state town overrun by zombies – and prejudice.
He calls the film a “cathartic experience” born from what he saw as the previous administration‘s missteps.
“It’s like writing a song. If you’re angry, you hit the notes harder. In this case, I added more blood,” he says.
He figured using zombies as a vehicle worked for George A. Romero, so why not him?
“Vampires have personalities,” he says. “I don’t wanna waste time on character development. Zombies walk around and you know what happens. You get bit, and it’s case closed.“
The original draft for “Destruction” balanced the Red State bashing with a subplot in which the heroine’s daughter, an Iranian-American, is part of a sleeper cell.
“The producers and powers that be,” as Hamedani puts it, made him trim away the storyline.
“They felt it would upset the Middle Eastern community,” he explains, while adding he thinks such realities should be a part of stories like this.
“We can‘t be blind to it,” he says.
Young filmmakers often cite movies like “Night of the Living Dead,“ “Citizen Kane” or other cinematic classics as their inspiration.
Hamedani isn’t so different than his peers, citing John Cassavettes as one of his favorite filmmakers. Bu he also credits a less heralded film for pushing him to be a movie maker – “Friday the 13th Part II.”
That film’s finale moments, during which Jason lumbers to catch his prey, left an indelible impression.
“I hadn’t seen something so fluid, and poetic, in such a dark setting,” he says. “I started to realize later there was something very cinematic about this shlocky story,” he says.
He doesn’t plan to make many more horror movies, but for now the genre made sense for him.
“I didn’t have the experience to make something that poignant and deep yet, and I found it out the hard way,” he says of earlier film attempts.
Such films remain in his future, while zombies inhabit his thoughts for the moment.
“I want to entertain now,“ he says.
(Photo: Doug Fahl (“Tom Hunt”) stars in Lionsgate Home Entertainment’s “Zombies of Mass Destruction.”)
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The movie develops indeed a certain concept, and this interview really explained a lot about the political statement that Hamedani managed to make. It also has some funny scenes, some nice special effects and it’s really refreshing to see a comedy-horror or a horror-comedy, however you might like to put it.
So he made a movie insulting half of America by comparing them with zombies? Gee, I’m so glad that was such a “cathartic” experience for him.
As a conservative living in a blue state where I’m sometimes referred to as a nazi or a fascist, I sometimes feel “isolated” too. Maybe I should make a movie comparing everyone I disagree with to brain-eating zombies to make myself feel better.
The zombies were the neutral party here, JimmyC. But the reaction to them is where the commentary comes into play.
And yes, I’ve been called a fascist on more than a few occasions for having a different political point of view than my oh, so open-minded peers.