But what about violence in movies? Whenever real-life acts of violence take place in this country, the news media and politicians are quick to blame various forms of “violent” entertainment—from computer games to music videos to television shows and movies. Horror films are often catching the heat for contributing to juvenile violence. Being a law enforcement professional, Jason’s view on this subject should carry special weight. So I asked him about it.
“I’ve seen some really good kids that are horror movie fans and I see a whole lot of bad kids that aren’t. I really think the problem is in the home. If someone’s kid is being too heavily influenced by violence in the movies or on TV, then the parents need to take action. I’m sure the violence seen today may in some ways desensitize children, but it falls on the part of the parents and teachers to explain human suffering and tragic loss of human life. The news doesn’t always show the massive impact a loss of life in a family brings. The Christmases spent without a loved one, birthdays, waking up and eating breakfast together. On the news it’s just, ‘Two teenagers shot down in an apparent drive-by shooting...more at 11:00.’ If I was watching that news program with my child, I’d be damn sure he knew the impact of that situation. There’s a lot of things that need to be done differently.”
As for his own films, “I don’t glorify violence. I wouldn’t make a film about how great it would be to go into a restaurant and kill a bunch of innocent patrons. Anyone that would make that type of a film is sick. You could make the film with the same situation about the hero that tries to save the patrons. That is the difference.”
THE HORROR, THE HORROR
Why does Jason Stephens focus on making horror films?
Not because they’re the latest fad. He didn’t jump on the ol’ Scream bandwagon. Nope, he’s been a horror fan since he was a little kid.
He says, “I remember seeing horror movies with my dad since age 6 or 7. I guess they all had some type of effect on me. From the bad to the great, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes to The Exorcist. I used to love to get scared at the movies. That doesn’t happen any more really so now I look at the suspense to affect my emotions. Now I watch the horror films that seem possible. Those types are scary to me...If I had the finances to make a Big film, I wouldn’t make a campy horror movie. I’d like to make Jaws or Dead Calm or a suspense horror film like that...something people will remember and really think about.”
Jason started creating his own films when he was 13 years old, making “little Saturday Night Live style video skits...As I got older and started working, I was able to afford nicer equipment and my videos started looking better and better. Then I started taking classes at my local Junior College and some video specific courses in L.A.. When I was 21, I met Dennis Devine, who was teaching a lighting class. I showed him some of my videos...several of them horror genre type stuff. Dennis thought they looked pretty good and asked me if I wanted to help crew a low budget horror movie he was doing. That was Haunted, which ended up taking forever to release. But I did grip work on that and a little camera work. I also took an acting role on, when we needed to fill a scene. From there I worked on a few other films with Dennis who was starting a distribution company called Cinematrix Releasing.”
In 1996, Jason did a part of a trilogy called Merchants of Death. This is “a really campy horror movie which was shot for a REALLY low budget. I took on the lead role in my part of the movie, in which I play a priest who goes crazy because of all the sin in the world and starts to absolve the sexual deviants of the world by killing them off in the name of God. It was a really fun movie to make, although it was difficult playing the lead and directing it.”
At the end of 1997, Jason started working on his first feature film, Decay...“a crime thriller with a horror twist.” He wrote, produced and directed Decay. This was his biggest project yet with a cast of 22 main actors, about 40 extras and 9 locations. It starred action star Robert Z’Dar of Maniac Cop and Cash. Jason tells us that Decay has a lot going on in it, with plenty of plot twists.
On the set of Vampire Night, nearly everyone I encountered had apparently worked on Decay in one capacity or another. They all spoke of the movie with great enthusiasm and smiles on their faces as if they’d had great fun making it. Several times, people said to me, “You’ve gotta see Decay.”
JOHN AND LES
One such person, the cheerful and friendly John Phillip Sousa, Jr. (whose grandfather’s cousin was the legendary composer and bandmaster) played a mobster in Decay and has the role of a homeless alcoholic in Vampire Night.
Another homeless alcoholic in Vampire Night is played by Les Sekely. Unlike John, Les was scheduled to perform on the day of our visit. He’d shown up dressed for action, filthy and wearing a filthy trench coat. He had apparently achieved the desired effect by rolling in some nearby mud.
Les, like so many of the others we met that day, is a man of many talents. When not making films, he is a substitute school teacher. He also hosts a traffic school—for those trying to get moving violations removed from their records. Traffic schools in California often have “themes.” Les runs a hugely popular comedy traffic school, which apparently consists of Les doing stand-up routines. He is funny. At one point, I heard him ask where vampires “buy those old clothes. And where do they get those torches?” (The ones we always find in their lairs.) He wondered if they shop at Vampires R Us.
After talking to Les for a while, I was tempted to go out and run a red light.
But such drastic steps aren’t really necessary. Les can be seen as a homeless man in Vampire Night. He also wrote and directed a film called Vampire Time Travelers and acted in The Man Who Never Calls Back. In addition, he co-produced and acted in Amazon Warrior, in which he plays the blind man.
It may seem as if Vampire Night is mostly about homeless guys. It’s not. I’ve simply told you a few things about John Phillip Sousa, Jr. and Les Sekely because they took the time to talk with me.
VAMPIRE NIGHT
Vampire Night is actually about a young girl named Peggy who, in Jason’s words, “ventured off to Hollywood to become an actress against her brother Carl’s wishes. A no-good agent, Johnny Hollywood, has a deal with a vampire cult to provide runaways for their blood. Johnny sends Peggy to the cult where she is held captive and drained. The vampire cult finances their lifestyle by putting on a play at a small theater. In this play, they actually use their victims and the audience has no idea they are being killed in front of them.
“When Carl doesn’t hear from Peggy,” Jason explains, “he gets worried and comes to L.A. to find his sister. Carl sees through Johnny Hollywood’s lies and eventually finds the theater. Carl, in an attempt to get his sister, is attacked by the vampires and finds himself using his skill as an ex-Navy Seal to fight a different kind of enemy.”
Carl is a kick. Vampire Night would be worth watching if only to see him in action. He is played by actor/stuntman/bartender, Jimmy Jerman. Think Jean-Claude Van Damme, make him an American, add some muscle and wit, and you’ve got Jimmy Jerman.