Horror Favourites – Bill Connington

ZOMBIE, a serial killer short film adapted from a story by Joyce Carol Oates, is back in time for Halloween and we managed to snatch the writer and star Bill Connington for a quick chat about his favourite scary movie.

ZOMBIE is a 19 minute short film, based on the award-winning novella ZOMBIE by literary icon Joyce Carol Oates. It has been screened at 18 film festivals, and won 5 awards. ZOMBIE was first performed as a play that had three separate productions in New York, and received critical raves. The project is now in development as a feature film.

ZOMBIE tells the story of a mild-mannered Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer (played by Bill Connington from “Poughkeepsie is for Lovers”) who attempts to turn his victims into his “zombie” slaves. The New York Times says the piece “leaves us wondering exactly what kind of people are walking the streets alongside us.” The film asks the question, “What makes a seemingly-normal person crack?” The unsettling answer is: we don’t know.

Bill Connington sais “I adapted the novella from Joyce Carol Oates into a play which was first done at the New York Fringe Festival, and then had an extended run on Theatre Row on 42nd Street. It was then mounted again at John Jay College in their theater. Finally, a short film was made. It went to 21 film festivals around the country. We got quite a bit of publicity because of the subject matter, and Joyce. The critics feel that is loosely based on Jeffery Dahmer, and other real life serial killers. Psychiatrists who specialize in working with serial killers have said that Joyce’s work characterized serial killer accurately. I’m proud of the film, and I’m excited for a new generation to experience it.”

Below Bill talks about the horror movie he loves the most:

“My favorite horror film is Psycho. It’s a psychological horror film, so with the exception of a few sensational scenes, the action is mostly realistic. The characters are recognizable as everyday people, if in unusual circumstances.

Alfred Hitchcock shot the film in black and white as a way to keep the budget low, but for me, this adds to both the reality of the story, and its horror. Of course the music is iconic, but all the design elements feed the story through being deliberately “ordinary.” This leads us to feeling this could really happen. In fact the novel was loosely based on truth, with the real killer living only 40 miles away from the novel’s author, Robert Bloch.

The action and behavior of the actors are the most “casual” of any of Hitchcock’s films – yet he maintains his famous control of the shots and the narrative. The underlying meaning of the film seems to be that “evil” can lurk anywhere in our everyday lives. And the most seemingly mild person that we briefly come in contact with could unleash completely unexpected violence. Which is truly horrifying.”

Watch the trailer for ZOMBIE below and check out the ZOMBIE website here http://www.zombiethefilm.com/