The Deadly Spawn!! (http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_listing.asp?productid=47041&format=DVD)

I was lucky enough to work behind the scenes on this film when it was made 20 years ago (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087998/). The effects guy, John Bruce Dodds, was a friend of a friend who recruited volunteers. There were many happy weekends in the basement of Dodds' brownstone amid his collection of effects work - mostly life size latex monsters, and a number of sculpt for stop-motion critters.

The set-up I worked on was the scene where an electricion is killed in a bsement by the tiny vicious tadpole-like spawn of the mother monster. Look for a closeup of one ripped a flap of flesh off the guy's cheek. That's my hand in that puppet! The set up involved a 10-foot-square false floor 1 foot off the floor with the secene rigged on the platform. The platform was flooded to 2 inches deep, and there were several of us under it operating the puppet spawn. I had a view up through a hollowed-out boot. Every once in a while I'd look up and see Dodds pouring more blood on the scene from a little honey squeeze-bear :lol:.

The other scene I was in was when spawn are breaking thru a ceiling. This was filmed at the home of artist Tim Hildebrandt, famous for his Tolkien calendar art, and the very first Star Wars poster (AND the Deadly Spawn psoter of course). Tim is a great guy and his home is amazing. Everywhere there are paintings stacked (he worked on masonite) uncermoniously against the walls, with only his favorites framed and hung. Tim was a coproducer of the film, and he'd happened to accidentally step thru his ceiling while in the attic. So since it had to be re-sheetrocked, he figured we nay as well destroy it for the film. My wife worked one of the puppets in that scene too.

I contributed a big pile of behind the scenes photos that I took to producer Ted Bohus (who still hasn't returned them - ahem) for the DVD special features. I still have no idea if he used any. I sure hope so.

Once I get this disk I'll have my entire film career on DVD! Deadly Spawn, Caress of the Vampire, and Doctor Horror's Erotic House of Idiots. What a career!! :freak:

I didn't know guys had Ouvre's! You should have them removed. :D

My sister had her's tied.

I never saw Deadly Spawn but I really like SPAWN OF THE SLITHIS (aka Slithis). Hope it comes out on dvd. I wish I had another Joe-Bob Briggs commentary dvd too. He did 4 dvds maybe.

Os

Is it really worth $13.97 to buy The Deadly Sperm!! (http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_listing.asp?productid=47041&format=DVD) on DVD, JohnP? :confused:

Actually, yeah, it's a fun little horror flick done with affection by semi-professional fans, manyof whom went on the become professionals. Dodds, the effects man, is now a professional effects makeup artist. One of the things I know he did is Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

I wish I also had KILLER CONDOM on the Troma label. Monster In The Closet is pretty good.

Os

John P, good for you, I am impressed as always with your work. Good story and definitely to be proud of..

JP - I worked with Dodds and Bohus on "Night Beast", a little fiasco produced by Don Dohler. A friend of mine was the first director, but he thought he was directing "The Agony and the Ecstasy" instead of a quicky exploitation film...
The main thing I remember about John's creations is he seemed to have a tooth fetish - he put a humungous number of teeth in the creature's mouth! I really got a kick out of seeing the work he did on the syndicated show "Monsters!" (There's a show ripe for DVD...)
Congratulations, and post pictures of the mini-mansion you buy with the residuals! ;)

Better update IMDb then. They've only got John Payne (XI) Sometimes Credited As:Moe Noodleman listed for 'Actor - filmography'.

And only 3 flicks listed... Just how many have you been a part of anyways John?

JP - I worked with Dodds and Bohus on "Night Beast", a little fiasco produced by Don Dohler. A friend of mine was the first director, but he thought he was directing "The Agony and the Ecstasy" instead of a quicky exploitation film...
The main thing I remember about John's creations is he seemed to have a tooth fetish - he put a humungous number of teeth in the creature's mouth! I really got a kick out of seeing the work he did on the syndicated show "Monsters!" (There's a show ripe for DVD...)
Congratulations, and post pictures of the mini-mansion you buy with the residuals! ;)
Dang, ain't it a small world!
Yeah, John (he actually went by Bruce back then) had a thing for teeth. I remember opening one of his supply cabinets in his workshop and seeing one entire shelf full of premade teeth, another with the modls and supply of dental castinf resin....

I'm sure I saw Nightbeast. At least, I remember seeing footage of the beast itself.

I met him thru a mutal friend, I think they went to college together. The first thing I helped out on was a stop-motion animated short called "A Forest Story" or some such thing. Another fella was doing the film for a college project, and Dodds had built the stop-motion puppet, a friendly fella named Grog. They were doing the animation the first time I went over to is house. He had an amazing 8x8 foot mini forest built on a table. I was in art school at the time, and still knew how to paint, so they hired me to do the one-sheet for the film. Looks like this:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/grog.jpg
Good god, it's dated 1977! :freak:

John, is the movie well known? I'm sure I heard the title before.
Alas, SLITHIS seems forgotten today yet it's a favorite of mine, had been ran on TV a lot and won / was nominated for best horror picture one year at a film festival before it hit theaters.

Os

dodds has a really nice swing to his sculpture style. i wish he'd do some original gk's.

if its the same project (and i think it is) wasnt night beast filmed in the midwest?

dodds has a really nice swing to his sculpture style. i wish he'd do some original gk's.

I remember thinking the same thing while looking at his sculptures lying around his house. Apart from the life-sized creature heads and body-suit masters, he had numerous little dinosaurs and small monsters on shelves here and there.

JP - I thought he went by a different name back then but wasn't completely sure - didn't know if itr was a "stage" name or something...

You worked on GROG? Very cool! He brought it (on 16 mm!) one night to show everyone. Dohler did a book about amateur film making called Film Magic, and there was a chapter by Dodds about Grog. I was pretty awed by his talent. I remember him saying he would take some menial job to make money, and when he saved enough he'd quit and just work on his animation until the money ran out, then repeat the process...

razorwyre - "NightBeast" was filmed around Baltimore - it's where all of Dohler's are done.

JP - I thought he went by a different name back then but wasn't completely sure - didn't know if itr was a "stage" name or something...
I guess he dropped the "Bruce" for the same reason Bill Bixby was "David Banner" on The Incredible Hulk - Bruce was a code name in the 70s.

You worked on GROG?
Only the poster, but I got to visit the Dodds basement a few times during production.

I was also involved in the totally unfinished Super-8 epic Dodds was working on at the time of Spawn, "Dawn of the Dead Comedians." I got my arm torn off by Zombie Groucho, played by my friend Kevin.

I have lots of photos from all this, but they're currently in the posession of Ted Bohus, who put the Deadly Spawn DVD together. He said he'd scan them and get them right back to me. That was over a year ago.

I might've seen an article on GROG in an old CineMagic magazine....the original version when it was a stop motion fans mag. I think there is or was a different mag using the title later.

Os

John-I' thinking you shoulda walked to his house by now!

I might've seen an article on GROG in an old CineMagic magazine....the original version when it was a stop motion fans mag. I think there is or was a different mag using the title later.

Os
You probably did - I think "Movie Magic" was a compilation of articles from CineMagic - another one of Dohler's projects...