Ad-supported streamer Tubi quickly became a favorite among fans of obscure films and creators alike. But with so many choices, how do you find that deeply buried gem? Today, we’ll be talking to writer-director-actor Steve Rudzinski about his movies Everyone Must Die, Super Task Force One, Red Christmas, Amityville Christmas Vacation, Shingles the Movie, Curtains for Christmas, and Wally Meets Popeye.
Background
Ada: What movie made you fall in love with movies?
Steve: I’ve loved movies my entire life; my first film at the age of 3 was Nightmare on Elm Street, which caused my love of horror, but watching movies has always been my absolute favorite activity. But Army of Darkness SPECIFICALLY was the trigger that caused me to decide to become a filmmaker.
Ada: How did you first get involved with making movies?
Steve: I was a teenager who got his hands on a Hi-8mm camera and started making absolute trash in my backyard and in the woods with friends. This upgraded to a Mini-DV camera, making features, having the audacity to sell those pieces of garbage at conventions. Thanks to learning from doing (both making the film and selling them), I just never really stopped.
I shifted a bit and tried just doing online series for early YouTube, but it wasn’t quite for me. In 2010, I decided I needed to take MOVIES seriously again. So, I made my featurette The Slasher Hunter (released in January 2011), which folks seemed to appreciate, and I just kept going from there.
Ada: Is it a personal preference to be involved in multiple roles on a project? Or is this done as a cost-cutting measure?
Wearing Several Hats
Steve: Writing and directing is definitely a personal preference. I like being able to tell the story in my head as directly as I can. So, being able to write it to paper and KNOWING how it’s going to look is exactly what I want to do.
When I edit, it’s mostly a cost-cutting measure. If I have the budget to afford it, I almost always prefer hiring someone else to edit because it is by far my least favorite part of the process. But I also know I am very fast with it, since I know exactly how I’ll be editing a film as I film it. So it does also help with a quicker turnaround. I think I may edit so fast BECAUSE I dislike it, so I want it over!
Acting is also mostly just a cost-cutting measure, at least it was at first. It was just practical that I KNEW I would be available every day and wouldn’t have to pay an actor fee if I was in a film. But I DO NOT LIKE acting *and* directing; it’s just too damn much work. This shifted a bit over time because it seems my fans like when I show up in my work. So, I’ll sometimes give myself small roles for that.
There are exceptions sometimes. I actually do actively enjoy being Wally Griswold as a character and will keep playing him here and there for a while. Or being Jay in Curtains for Christmas, I didn’t mind because it was an intentional foil to Amityville Christmas Vacation. Plus I purposely wrote the script so I’d only have to act three days out of the 12-day shoot.
Acting While Directing
Ada: Do you prefer to direct scenes that you’re acting in?
Steve: Yes, I still am directing the entire scene for the other actors and camera position/movement. The only time I don’t direct is when I pass the wheel to Cody Ruch during an effects sequence, because he knows better how to talk an actor through the effect AND the best places to put the camera.
Early Films
Ada: What’s with that guy and eggs in Everyone Must Die?
Steve: That character came entirely from Co-Writer/Co-Producer Derek Rothermund. Apparently he was at a party once and met a guy who kept talking about all of the amazing facts and properties about eggs. We kicked it up a bit for comedy, but according to Derek, that is mostly a real person he experienced.
Ada: What inspired Super Task Force One?
Steve: I’m just a huge fan of Tokusatsu. Most folks would know it best through the American adaptation Power Rangers, but I love it way more than that, like Super Sentai, Guyver, Kamen Rider, and more. I always wanted to make my own. So, after the release of both Slasher Hunter and Everyone Must Die, I saw the perfect opportunity to make something family friendly/NOT horror. In order to avoid being seen as only a horror filmmaker.
The solo hero aspect was mostly a cost-saving measure. It simply would cost way less to have ONE super suit rather than five or six. Similarly, I wish I had the money to hire someone else to play the titular lead of the film, but as I said earlier, I knew I’d be available every day of filming AND be free.
Getting Dark
Ada: Red Christmas seems to be a much more raw, POV style film than your others. Is there a reason for that?
Steve: Simply put, I saw that at the time super violent torture horror/found footage horror was doing well. We had tried to raise money to make CarousHELL in 2014, and that failed, so I needed a new film I owned (since Captain Z belonged to Zoltan Zilai) to take to conventions. I knew a two-character found footage film would be VERY cheap to make and take VERY little time.
Took $500 and we shot it in two days. It made a profit in less than a month. Personally, I think it is my worst film, mostly because I don’t like those genres and it’s too mean for my taste. But I definitely have fans that really enjoy the movie. So, I’m glad I experimented with my range and made it. I just always hope it’s never anyone’s first film of mine they see!
Steve Goes to Amityville
Ada: Amityville Christmas Vacation has to be one of the more unique takes that we’ve seen on a haunted house film. How does it feel to be a part of the ever-growing Amityville franchise?
Steve: It feels absolutely hilarious to me that I made an Amityville film as a joke just to make sure that *I* made the first Christmas entry AND that it would be actually a Christmas film. Only to end up having a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for making *the* Best Amityville. I did it 80% as a gag, 10% to make a Christmas romcom, and 10% to try to make a buck because I knew there were always articles being written about the series and how weird it got. Never did I expect to make actual Horror History that will live forever, but here we are.
Definitely got lucky with the timing though. I made that movie only one year later, and it would not have been as successful as it was. And go figure, multiple major movie news websites have never written a word about my larger horror films I’ve tried hard on/spent way more money on. But Amityville Christmas Vacation did get me on those websites finally.
You Good?
Ada: Did you write the songs for Shingles the Movie? And are you okay?
Steve: No, I did not; those were all from actress Jenny Hoppes. So in the original book and script for Just Say Gnome, there were a ton of references and gags about Buick being abused. When I was hired as director, I told the clients that it was a bit much for me, so I cut a lot of it. Which they understood and had no problem with.
Then we got to set, and Jenny kept singing songs that were EVEN WORSE than what was originally in the script. But they were so absurd and insane that I couldn’t help but laugh and kept them all in.
Ada: Curtains for Christmas is the 3rd horror movie you’ve made about a woman killing people at Christmas. Why the affinity for the seasonal female slasher?
Steve: It really is just that I think lady villains are cool, that’s it. Like I do also enjoy seeing women in a position of power because we don’t get it as much in movies, especially in horror where the villains are usually men. But at the end of the day, I just think a gal villain is more fun than a guy villain. This has gone past my Christmas films, with CarousHELL 2 AND 3 also having the main villain both be women.
Also, it may partially be because of loving Tokusatsu growing up, which often had very badass and attractive lady baddies.
Are You Sure You’re Good?
Ada: Did you write the low-budget filmmaker rant in Wally Meets Popeye? And once again, are you okay?
Yes, I did. It wasn’t even exclusively about low-budget filmmakers. I am just flabbergasted by people who KNOW they hate everything a specific filmmaker makes yet STILL go out of their way to watch every single film from that filmmaker. Just so they can keep making new posts or reviews about how they still hate that filmmaker. I think the initial inspiration was seeing yet another toxic post about someone hating a Zack Snyder movie from yet another person who makes that their entire personality. I don’t get it at all. I have a very limited time on this Earth before I die. Why would I EVER waste so much of it on something I KNOW I don’t like when there’s more stuff I’d love than I can ever get to?
But no, I’m not okay. Folks can dislike any movie they want, but some folks are VERY mean when they just so happen to not like a movie.
Ada: Watching your films, we’ve noticed a few themes, like prominent LGBT characters. While we talked a lot about this in our interview about Duke, would you like to add anything about that in your films?
Steve: I feel I said pretty much everything I could say in that interview on this topic. But folks can definitely expect to see more LGBT characters in future films from me!
Why So Silly?
Ada: Directors/writers who cast themselves often do so as idealized versions of themselves. However, you often cast yourself as oblivious characters. Why is that?
Steve: The biggest reason is I just know how it comes off when the writer and director also make themselves the coolest guy in the film. It comes off more like a power fantasy sometimes than a story. Not only have I seen it a lot over the years in other indie films. But there’s a whole genre called Black Tanktop Movies that focuses on exactly this: The guy who wrote the movie and directed the movie is also the most capable, coolest guy in the movie. (Usually wearing a black tank top to show off his arms).
I don’t want to be that. First of all, I don’t think I’m cool. Secondly, I also know that really isn’t my strength as a performer. I’m a comedy actor more than anything else; I’m an Ernest P. Worrell, not a Jason Statham. At the most I could be an Ash Williams, but even that may be pushing it.
Even in my films where I AM more of an action hero, it’s often still played as a joke. Or with CarousHELL 3 (where I did purposely wear a GREY tanktop to reference the above genre), everything about my character is meant to be sad. The revenge motivation is portrayed entirely negatively. The “cool voice” is undone with a one-line joke about how I just had to clear my throat. If something TRULY makes sense for a character I’m playing in my own script, I’ll do it, but those moments are few and far between.
At the end of the day, I think I’d rather make people laugh.
Other Platforms
Ada: Is your work hosted on other streaming platforms? If so, how is your experience with Tubi compared to other platforms?
Steve: Yeah, I have them all over on a lot of different platforms. Overall, Tubi seems to be the best for me, as being totally free means a lot of people are on the service/are willing to try out new stuff. Plus being completely ad-based for EVERYONE means they can charge companies more for ads. Which helps Tubi pay filmmakers overall the most (which, to be clear, is still only pennies).
Hoopla also is surprisingly positive for me in terms of payouts, even though it’s the Library streaming service. Also totally free for anyone with a library card!
Everything else is better than 0 but not enough for me to really call them out. I’m sure there are some folks that discovered me on those smaller platforms somewhere. But, I wouldn’t go out of my way to try to be on them over Tubi.
Physical Media
Ada: How do you feel about still doing physical media releases as an independent filmmaker?
Steve: I feel VERY strongly about it. I passionately support physical media for art and buy plenty of movies on physical media. So it’s important for me to always keep a physical option for my films (even the couple of exclusives I made just for SteveBuster were put into a physical release for fans who want it). DVD sales have been slowing down and taking up a lot of space. Going forward, I’ll be more selective about what gets a DVD release (hey you reading this: If you care about physical media and still don’t have at least a Blu-ray player, what are you doing??? Those things ALSO play DVDs!), but everything definitely gets a Blu-ray, and I haven’t YET completely abandoned DVD.
Folks buying physical media is also by far the best way to financially support me and help me continue making movies. I will continue offering a physical media option as long as I am able to. Until bigger corporations completely prevent me from doing so.
The Future
Ada: What projects do you have coming up?
Steve: I’m currently writing another Wally Meets film that we’ll be releasing in 2027. Aleen Isley is also in the early outlining of her next musical, which will be a bloody horror film.
Past that, I have no current plans! But if folks want to keep in the loop, they should keep an eye on my physical store, on my Patreon, and follow me on social media like Facebook!
We’d like to thank Steve for his time and thoughtful answers. Check out Everyone Must Die, Super Task Force One, Red Christmas, Amityville Christmas Vacation, Shingles the Movie, Curtains for Christmas, and Wally Meets Popey all now streaming on Tubi! Plus 3 of his 4 CarousHELL and most of his Meowy’s films.
