Interview with
Conor McMahon
Title: Writer/Director/producer
Current Project: Dead Meat
Staff Review:
Check it out!
Plot Summary:
You are what you eat! The seventh level of hell is
unleashed when a mutated strain of mad cow disease
infects the countryside, turning people into
flesh-eating zombies that like their food … fast!
Caught in the middle of this gory upheaval is Helena
(Marian Araujo), a young Spanish tourist, and
Desmond (David Muyllaert), the local gravedigger.
Together, they must join forces and fight for
survival or else become appetizers in a zombie
feast.
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The Interview:
 So
Conor, you’re Irish right? Is it true that most Irishmen hang
out at the Slaughtered Lamb between the hours of 1:00 am and
4:00 am just to remind American backpackers to stay on the path?
I think that might be Scotland. Over here I hang around the
Stags Head and the Bleeding Horse.
I love your film Dead Meat, when did you actually start
writing the script for this bloody tale and how did the story
come about?
I started writing the script when I left college back in 2002.
It's funny to think that it was before 28 days later or any of
the other zombie films had come out. I just thought I hadn't
seen a zombie film in so long so I decided to write one. I also
thought that with zombies you get to have fun coming up with
inventive deaths. Because I knew this was going to be a low
budget film, I decided to write the script around locations I
knew I could get. I also decided to set most of the film
outdoors so I wouldn't need to carry around a lot of lights. So
I use to go down to an old abbey and just write an action scene
around it and then try and come up with a story that would allow
me to put the scene in.
Why does the term “Dead Meat” actually mean? Besides it being
my nickname in high school.
Well I guess it has a few meanings. "We're dead meat" means,
"we're all going to die". It's also a reference to the
slaughtering of the cows in the film.
One of my favorite sequences in Dead Meat is towards the
beginning of the film, when zombie man gets his eyeball vacuumed
out of its socket. How in the hell did you guys come up with
that?
 Well
I've always been curios as to what would happen if you put a
vacuum cleaner up to your eye.
If you were to have one of your eyeballs vacuumed out of its
socket, would you opt for an eye patch or glass eye, and why?
Maybe a glass eye, I’ll leave the eye-patch wearing to pirates.
By far my favorite performance in Dead Meat was that of Eoin
Whelan, who plays the hotheaded, cricket bat wielding,
incredibly difficult to understand Cathal Cheunt. Where did you
find this guy?
He was actually in my film class in college and he produced my
short film Braineater. When I was making my graduate film the
Braineater, I couldn't find an actor to play the part of the
coach on short notice so Eoin said he'd do it. He did it so
well, that I decided to write a bigger part for him in Dead
Meat.
What was your biggest challenge during your experience making
Dead Meat?
I think it was a tough shoot because we had so many locations.
We were at a new place every two days and after five weeks we
were all very tired. So it was tough to keep yourself motivated.
 Where
any children harmed during the zombie birthday party sequence?
How did this phenomenally memorable scene come about?
No, they had lots of fun. They were all fighting over which one
of them could eat the fake arm. And none of them were interested
in playing a dead body.
The final sequence in Dead
Meat, when everyone is held up in the castle is just fucking
great. No bullshitting now, how many zombies do you think your
heroes actually took down? Twenty? Thirty? Six hundred and fifty
thousand? Did anyone keep count?
There we're about 70 zombies in total. It was funny, Eoin who
plays Cathal Cheunt saw an old boss of his who had fired him a
few years before, so when the zombie battle started, he dragged
that guy in the window and gave him a beating.
Are there any plans for a sequel to Dead Meat? You really did
tease us with the biohazard suit wearing government soldiers
towards the end of the film.
I would love to do another zombie film, but I think people have
had their fill of zombie films for the next few years. So
perhaps when I make a few other films I'll return to the land of
the undead. I have an idea for a zombie film set during the
Irish Famine.
 I
love in Dead Meat when the walking dead meet their demise via
ladies footwear. Is it true that you had to replace seven pairs
of high heels because effects guy Jay Graham kept stealing them?
That's true.
Can we please talk for a bit about your short film The
Braineater? Great, thanks. I’ve watched this film probably ten
times now and love every minute. Two questions: How did the
character of The Braineater come about and where did you get the
genius idea of the kid wearing the helmet?
I actually wanted to make a zombie film in college, but I
thought that because zombies move so slowly, that by the time
they ever get their victim the film would be over. So I started
thinking how could I do a zombie film, but have the character
run around. This was before the time of zombies that could run.
So I came up with the idea of a kid who gets hooked on brains.
The whole hurling element in the Braineater is taken from an old
Irish legend called Cu Culainn. In one story he kills a dog by
hitting the ball through it's mouth.
So what can we expect from you in the future Conor?
The next project is a supernatural horror about the Banshee,
once again set in the countryside. Not as much splatter this
time around, but hopefully more spooky moments.
 What
do you love most about the horror genre?
I guess it’s what Hitchcock use to say. People love to jump on a
roller coaster and get scared to death and then come off it
laughing. There’s a certain buzz from watching something really
scary.
How important are gore and nudity to the success of a horror
film? Well if your Eli Roth then very important. I think
he said he’s invented a new genre called gorenography. I think
it depends on the film. If it’s something more serious like the
Exorcist or Jaws, then I don’t think you need it. Nudity will
certainly make a low budget film easier to sell.
How do you feel about the current state of the genre?
Well it seems that you wouldn’t get away with making the kind
of films they made in the 70’s and 80’s. I’d like to see another
era of nasty movies to piss the censors off.
 Where
do you think the Horror genre is headed?
Straight to hell.
If there were one misconception of the horror genre what
would it be?
That it’s as bad as pornography.
Any final comments or thoughts?
If you talk to Jay tell him I want those high heels back!
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