As a very small child, I fell in love with cinema.  Movies became my life and I'm eternally grateful that my parents really didn't place any limits on what I watched.  The first films I can remember seeing were the fantasy films of special effects master Ray Harryhausen and the classic Universal horror films.  My favorite time of the week was late Friday night, when Chicago's WGN (when it was still a regular channel) aired Creature Features.  While the monsters in these films frightened other children, they became my friends.  Was a fan from Day One. 

I can even trace my dislike of politics to my love of fantastic cinema.  I can distinctly remember looking forward to watching ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.  I even cut the listing out of the T.V. GUIDE and taped it to the front of the refrigerator.  For two weeks I marked off the days in drooling anticipation, my imagination filled with the promise of Harryhausen's stop motion dinosaurs.  Imagine, then, my crushed disappointment when the movie was pre-empted by the coverage of the Watergate hearings.  I couldn't believe it!  How could they allow this to happen?  There were DINOSAURS, for Pete's sake!  Ugh!

My love of cinema continued throughout my childhood and I eventually became aware that PEOPLE actually MADE these films.  People actually got paid to made movies!  I knew then that I wanted to be a filmmaker.  More specifically, I wanted to be a special effects artist.  I didn't just want to make movies...I wanted to make monsters!

While I eventually grew to love and appreciate all types of movies, I kept a special place in my heart for monsters and horror films.  I fantasized about making my own monster movies.  I read everything I could find on filmmaking, which wasn't much.  In those days before the internet, it was difficult to find material on making movies.  But that didn't stop me from dreaming.

In addition to movies, I developed a love of fantastic literature.  My shelves sagged with the weight of science fiction and horror novels.  Like most kids, I also enjoyed reading comics.  However, unlike the other children, I didn't care much for superheroes running around in their colorful tights and underwear.  I loved the horror anthology comics that were being published by Jim Warren at Warren Publications.  With titles like CREEPY and EERIE, these comics filled my mind with iconic images and stories.  When I read them, I imagined that I was filming them.  I was constantly thinking of ways to translate the horror on the pages to celluloid.  The same publisher also put out FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, a magazine dedicated to horror cinema.  Needless to say, I was a collector of these magical pages and poured over them until they were falling apart. 

Picture
Creepy, Issue #79
 


Comments

Sue Mattson

Sat, 14 May 2011 09:34:14

So many of us get started late. I think there's something to be said for maturity and the drive that sometimes comes with it. I'm so proud to be a part of the realization of your dream project.:)

 



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