This time around Greg is assaulting us on many different platforms with his latest titled Johnny Gruseome. Heavy metal, zombies, hot babes, what the hell more could you ask for. Greg sent me a news release outlining one small part of this mult-platform project, here is that for you to check out:

Gruesome, a short film written and directed by author/filmmaker Gregory Lamberson (Slime City, Personal Demons),(www.slimeguy.com) based on his upcoming novel Johnny Gruesome, has gone live on the web and is free for horror fans to enjoy here (http://slimeguy.com/gruesomevideo.htm).  The 8-minute short stars Erin Brown (“Misty Mundae”) as the girlfriend of Johnny Grissom (Ryan O’Connell), a murdered headbanger who becomes the titular zombie.  The production co-stars Dan Loughery and Jennifer Bihl and features special make-up effects by David Grey (www.grayeffects.com).  The film appears on a virtual drive-in screen constructed by Gregory G. Kurczynski of Grave Thought Radio (www.gravethoughts.com).

“I wrote Johnny Gruesome as a feature length screenplay way back in 1984,” Lamberson says. “Vestron Video loved it but wanted me to make certain concessions, so I made Slime City on a much lower budget instead.”

Just over one year ago, when Lamberson found himself playing Mr. Mom to his infant daughter, he resurrected the Gruesome story as a novel.  “I always regretted that I never got to make the movie, because the character has tremendous commercial potential.  I decided to promote the character, and not just the novel, which led to the Gruesome rock CD (http://slimeguy.com/gruesomeCD.htm) , The Johnny Gruesome Death Mask (http://slimeguy.com/gruesomemask.htm), the on-line comics (http://slimeguy.com/gruesomeComic1.htm), and this short film.”

The film began as a music video based on the title track from the CD by husband and wife songwriters Giasone and Marcy Italiano.  “I figured I’d throw in some of the images that had lingered in my imagination for all these years and get them out of my system.  But like everything else associated with this project, the video took on a life of its own and just got bigger.  It’s no longer a music video, but a short film set to two songs off the CD.  It’s full of sex, violence, and gore—not exactly the same realm as Michael Jackson’s Thriller.”

Lamberson told his wife Tamar, who produced the film, he could reach Erin Brown through contacts at POP Cinema, the company that released Slime City on DVD and popularized Brown’s “Misty Mundae” persona.  “To be honest, we really couldn’t afford Erin on our budget, let alone fly her out to Buffalo and put her up in a decent hotel.  But Tamar saw how much this could mean to the overall project and said, ‘You have to get her for this part.’”

The Lambersons cast Brown as she was departing for Argentina to shoot the feature Dying God, co-written by Nicanor Loreti.  “She lost her luggage on the way back to the United States,” Lamberson says.  “It had her costumes and make-up.  Then, through a series of circumstances, she missed two flights to Buffalo.  But she finally made it here in one piece and she was a total pro.  We crammed a lot into a day and a half of filming, and I think this will be viewed as one of her best performances.”

The mini-movie was shot by cinematographers Robert Lingle and Matthias Saunders (Prison of the Psychotic Damned) in numerous cemeteries around the Buffalo area, as well as the House of Horrors and Haunted Catacombs (www.houseofhorrorsbuffalo.com ) Halloween attractions.  “David Gray, who did our special make-up effects, had a camera dolly.  After directing three micro-budget features, I finally got to use a dolly and work with a horror star-- on a short film!”

The Gruesome CD is now available for pre-order on www.johnnygruesome.com, and Bad Moon Books (www.badmoonbooks.com) will offer the Johnny Gruesome novel for pre-order next week.  The signed and numbered, limited edition hardcover was illustrated by Zach McCain (www.zchmccain.com) and features an introduction by horror author Jeff Strand (www.jeffstrand.com).  Lamberson intends to take his Gruesome film on the road to numerous film festivals in the fall.

“After waiting 23 years to see Johnny on the big screen, I want to see him with as many audiences as possible.”

To check out the short film click here right now and make sure to look around the page once you watch the short film and check out all the other things that Gregory has in store for us with Johnny Gruesome.

I just received the music CD and will have a review of that for you soon.