Chris Seaver is a sickeningly prolific director. And thanks to Netflix, more people are seeing his work than ever before. Indeed, that is how I found out about him years ago… scouring Netflix and finding “Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker!”. A few days later it arrived in the mail, and I was both horrified and in awe.
Seaver’s work is bizarre. His company, Low Budget, is true to its name — this is the lowest of low budget pictures. Anyone could do what he does. With one difference: under this cheap exterior is a comic genius. He knows how to hit the audience where it hurts, and isn’t afraid to be disgusting along the way. Following his latest hit, “Taintlight”, I got a hold of him for a short chat in October 2010.
GS: One of our readers, Kate Hermsen, has seen a few of your films, and wants to ask the first question: “What the fuck?”
CS: I know, right?
GS: You started early with Troma and became friends with Lloyd Kaufman, Debbie Rochon, Trent Haaga and Doug Sakmann. How did you get in with that group of crazy bastards?
CS: Well about 11 years ago It was actually Jason McHugh and Matt Stone (Orgasmo, South Park, Cannibal) that sent my stuff to Troma and got me hooked up with those guys. I had been making flicks for about 10 years earlier than that and with this flick I did called Anal Paprika, things started to get some buzz.
GS: When you say that Matt Stone sent your stuff to Troma, did they do that by your request or on their own?
CS: They told me I should send the stuff to Troma. They thought we would work well together at the time, which was back in 99.
GS: When shooting a film, do you have auditions, or do you assign friends certain roles?
CS: Very rare that we have auditions. We have in the past but for the most part we have a group of my friends that have been with me for years. I use them all the time. Sometimes we bring in Actors from NYC, Canada, LA and what not, but for the most part my cast and crew are all my friends.
GS: Your films have a lot of potty humor, but also are clearly interwoven with highly intelligent dialogue. What are your comedy influences?
CS: I love The Zucker Brothers comedies: Airplane, Hot Shots, Top Secret, Naked Gun. I also love Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, The State, Mr. Show… Absurdist comedy is the best and that is what I love to do.
GS: You’re a fan of ska, and it shows in your films. How do you secure the rights to the ska bands you feature, or other acts like MC Chris, when working in a low budget?
CS: I used to have a ska band in 1995 to 98 and we played with a lot of my fave bands. I struck up relationships with them and showed them my flicks all the time so just through promotion and playing out I was able to make friends with a lot of the bands and their labels and to this day am able to use a lot of great music.
GS: What was the name of your band and what instrument did you play?
CS: It was the Swanky Modes, based on a fake band in the flick Tape Heads. I wrote all the songs and played the bass. At one point we had 10 members in the band. We had 4 horn players, two of them were girls and we had two female singers, as well. Pretty cool indeed. The songs were very much like my films. Silly, over the top, filthy and gross.
GS: “Taintlight” follows the plot and uses scenes from “Twilight”… how many times did you watch “Twilight”, and are you a secret fan?
CS: I HATE Twilight and I only watched it once. As I was watching it I was writing down scenes that I would make fun of. It was the ONE and only time I have seen it. Many folks want me to do a part two…I don’t
think I could handle that.
GS: Okay, even if you only watched “Twilight” once, did you make the actors watch it so they knew what they were parodying?
CS: Kurt Indovina watched it with me that one time. I only told the other guys to watch bits of the real movie. None of them could even get through all of it.
GS: Razor McBleed returns for “Taintlight”. Many other characters have shown up repeatedly. Are these in continuity, or does that not matter?
CS: No continuity at all. I just like characters I create and the people that play them. Razor first popped up in 2000 in Anal Paprika 2 and I have used him several times. I have created this little world, Bonejack Heights, where all of these characters live, die, return and shlep around. I don’t do it as much anymore, but sometimes I throw in some popular characters for the fans.
GS: What does “bonejack” mean?
CS: Nothing really, it was just a weird name I made up for a character. His full name is Maceo P. Bonejack.
GS: “Filthy McNasty 4”? Will the sex demons ever be stopped?
CS: Yes. I did not really want to do Filthy 4 but it was an idea that I had that I thought could work… IF I infused more of what I am doing now. I mixed the typical plot of all the other filthy’s in with a Bonejack High Scooby Doo style mystery which was much more fun for me to do. It is a much meatier flick and I think the new school fans will dig it as much as the old school fans. A nice mix for both.
GS: You told me that you have a strong dislike for the Internet Movie Database… what’s your beef?
CS: I think it’s a bit of a joke. Can’t trust it. Why people get all up in arms over it being this amazing thing… bah, it’s just weird. I think people hold it up as some form of “Wow, if I get on IMDB I have made it” deal. That is odd to me. Just not a fan. Simple as that, my friend. Now let’s talk about large natural breasts, eh?? Amazing stuff.
GS: What future projects will we be seeing from Low Budget?
CS: Well, we shoot the new flick “Night of the Inbred Rednecks” in a few weeks, then in November and December we begin shooting the Bonejack High web series that will premiere on Bloodsprayer.com. It will be a 6 episode show to start with. A cross between Degrassi Jr. High, Scooby Doo and Buffy but filtered through my brain, so it’s sure to be pretty over the top and silly. Then, of course, we are trying to raise money for the 10th anniversary remake of Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker which you can help donate by checking out the website: www.lowbudgetpictures.net and click on the Indie Go-Go widget. Also in Feb. it’s the 20th anniversary of LBP and we will have many new releases coming to stores and online such as Filthy McNasty 4, Geek War, Moist Fury, the 20th anniversary documentary on the history of LBP and a whole bunch more!