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A few months ago, I was blessed with the gracious
screening of a nice little film called "Jesus Christ
Vampire Hunter." As the title dictates, this movie is
about the 2nd coming of Christ, only his return could be
so perfect, he arrives in a time when the world is under
attack by vampires, LESBIAN vampires. So he straps
on his most stylish threads, pimps out his gear and kicks
some serious lesbo bloodsucking ass, with the help of
two trusty priests at his side. This movie was hilarious
from start to finish, with little tributes to all cult film fans,
such as a huge cameo from Mexico's own Santo! The
gore is fairly good and some of the action scenes are
actually somewhat decent. After seeing this movie with
an overly excited crowd, I got in touch with the
Director/Writer Lee Demarbre and conducted a nice
little interview via email, and here it is for you kind folks.
Collector Times:
When and why did you first get into film, not watching them but making them?
Lee Demarbre:
In high school. You see I worked paper routes
and I worked in restaurants to afford a camcorder. When the
teacher asked the class to write an essay, I ask for permission to
present a video presentation to the class. This always worked.
My peers were busting their balls writing essay's, and I was
making videos with my friends, and keeping the classes I was in
entertained with video presentations. Fun stuff. On weekends
my friends and I would write and film skits. Stuff heavily inspired
by Monty Python. I still have hours of video skits at home -
really funny stuff. Back in school, I decided to enroll in Co-op
programs. I worked in the afternoons mostly in television. I
learned framing, and had lessons in creating continuity. I was
working with Tom Greene in his early days.
C.T.:
In Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, you bring in Santo the
famous cult icon. I also read that he shows up in Harry Knuckles
(your earlier film). Is there any particular reason for this or do
you just think he kicks ass?
L.D.:
Simply - I like Santo movies. The character isn't mine.
Santo films have been around since the 50's. I believe. Our
character is an imagined version of Santo - a Santo of the future,
almost as if Santo has retired from the ring and sends his days
helping out his best pal Harry out on his adventures. And yes,
HE KICKS ASS!
C.T.:
What were your top 5 biggest influences when making
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter?
L.D.:
Great question! I'll list them backwards: 5- Jess Franco 4-
Sammo Hung 3- Russ Meyer 2- Herschell Gordon Lewis 1-
Harry Knuckles and the Treasure of the Aztec Mummy.
C.T.:
Why did you decide to go with a stylish Jesus instead of a
Old School Jesus Sportin' the Long Hair and Garb through most
of the film?
L.D.:
The fact that Jesus cuts his hair in Jesus Christ Vampire
Hunter, pissed a lot of people off. It makes sense to me that
Jesus would get a shave and a hair cut, I mean Jesus wasn't
exactly setting a trend two thousand years ago. Long hair,
breads, and robes was the "look" in 0 A.D., or at least that is
what Hollywood films show us. Jesus was just fitting in. It
doesn't make sense to me that Jesus would stay in his robes if he
were coming to the big city. I wanted to depict the second
coming as someone who would get more hip to styles as the film
went on. We first see JC in his traditional robes, but by the end
of the film he's wearing a suit and tie, and talking on a cell phone.
I thought keeping Jesus in the clothes that he wore two thousand
years throughout the entire film, would be boring. I hoped
people would start warming up to our hero, the closer he started
looking like us. That didn't work for everyone.
C.T.:
Rumor has it that a sequel is already planned. What can
you tell us about it without ruining too much of the story?
L.D.:
I really like this idea: Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter 2:
Roman Holiday. You see the vampires invent a time machine,
and travel back to 0 A.D. They take over the Roman Empire,
and plan not only to crucify Jesus, but to cremate him - so he
can't open up the Pearly Gates. So the second coming has to
travel back in time to save himself from himself.
C.T.:
What is, personally, your favorite scene in JCVH?
L.D.:
Another great question! I would say the final fight. It's ten
minutes long, it's got bikes, lesbians, wrestling, mad doctors,
gore, and best of all... two Jesus' in two different places at one
time.
C.T.:
What kind of troubles did you come by while filming JCVH?
L.D.:
There were two bad things that happened, both involve the
motorcycle jump. To get a close up of the motorcycle wheel
spinning out, I asked Dave Cherry (the stuntman) to really kick
up some dust. Unfortunately rocks few out of the junkyard and
hit a passing car. The motorist was pissed and threatened to
have me killed - seriously! Second - after I had shot Dave
Cherry jumping over the cars (over and over - great footage) my
car was broken into. Stolen was all the filmed footage, a video
camera, and the 16mm bolex camera. Hours later I found the
film footage and bolex down an alley, blocks away. I lost the
video camera, and thanked my God for giving me a thief who
preferred digital video over film.
C.T.:
What would a fellow Canadian citizen have to do to get a
part in one of your upcoming films?
L.D.:
You know, for those fans out there who would like to
help. Many people email me and call me to help. I really think
that's amazing, and I really try to get everyone who takes the
time to contact me one way or another, in the film, or on the
production team. We had people as far away as Los Angeles
and San Francisco, who flew up to Ottawa to help out. So I like
to think it's worth the try.
C.T.:
Do you prefer keeping the gore to a minimum with heavy
violence hinting to it or do you prefer a bloodbath type film (a la
Dead Alive) (in your films as well as other cult classics)?
L.D.:
I love over the top gore most of all. Images from films like Dawn of
the Dead, Dead Alive, The Story of Rikki, Versus, and The Gore Gore Girls never
leave my thoughts, and always inspire me to try better. In a perfect world
heavy amounts of gore would be in every film, from Titanic to Anne of Green
Gables. So I don't think there is a film I wouldn't make because I thought
there would be to much gore in it. Or I don't think there is a film I would
make where I thought gore wouldn't be appropriate. Does that make sense?
C.T.:
And finally, Grape or Orange soda?
L.D.:
Either, as long as it has ice cream in it.
There you have it folks! the man is easy when it comes to soda.
And I must say that if you can get your hands on this film, it's a
nice little treat, and once again, it is available to rent right now,
exclusively at SUKUBUS! Montreal's one and only cult video
store.
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