The 411 Interview: Gregory Lamberson Image Credit: Gregory Lamberson Gregory Lamberson is a director, writer, and producer who has been making movies since the late 1980’s, starting with the classic horror flick Slime City (1988). Since then, Lamberson has directed such movies as Naked Fear (1999), Slime City Massacre (2010), Dry Bones (he co-directed this with Michael O’Hear in 2013), the absolutely fantastic horror comedies Killer Rack (2015) and Johnny Gruesome (the best movie of 2018), the truly unsettling horror flick Widow’s Point (2019) starring modern horror icon Craig Sheffer, and the badass action flick Guns of Eden (check out my review of that 2022 flick here). Lamberson is also set to direct his latest movie later this year, the werewolf horror flick Frenzy Moon .
Lamberson is also an author, responsible for the books Black Creek , Carnage Road , Johnny Gruesome , The Frenzy Wolves , and The Jake Helman Files series. Lamberson also co-directed, with Chris Scioli, the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival for a decade. Lamberson’s new film festival is Amazing Fantasy Fest, which will be held at the Dipson Amherst Theatre in Buffalo, New York, from Friday, September 13th to Thursday, September 19th.
In this interview, Lamberson talks with this writer about starting up a new film festival, what attendees should expect to see at the festival, and more. ** Image Credit: Chris Cosgrave Bryan Kristopowitz : Why did you end your previous film festival, Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival, and decide to start a new film festival, Amazing Fantasy Fest? Gregory Lamberson : To everything there is a season. I ran Buffalo Dreams for 10 years with my former partner, Chris Sciolli, who was also my partner for two of three years for Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival.
Counting one year I worked on someone else’s festival, this is my 15th year doing this, and it’s my 40th year as an indie filmmaker. My life is about independent film. Chris’s life no longer is; he’s started a new company called Monkey Wrench Press, which publishes graphic novels.
We mutually decided the time had come to lay Buffalo Dreams to rest, but I’m nowhere near ready to stop doing this, so I started AFF from scratch. Image Credit: Amazing Fantasy Fest BK : How will Amazing Fantasy Fest be different from Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival? How will it be the same? GL : They’re the same festival, except I no longer have a partner, so I no longer have to run my ideas by anyone. AFF will still be an eclectic mix of horror, sci-fi, action, animation and experimental films – dangerous cinema – and will still mix national and international films with local (Western New York) productions.
It’s still a seven-day festival, which means I can show a lot more films than a festival that only runs for a weekend, and that allows me to take more programming chances. I do have more people serving on my selection committees. It’s important to have different points of view when evaluating films for screening.
BK : How did you come up with the name Amazing Fantasy Fest? GL : The process was no different than coming up with a title for a movie or a novel. I had already decided that including “Buffalo” in the name was self-limiting. Image Credit: Amazing Fantasy Fest BK : How many movies will be screened at Amazing Fantasy Fest, both feature films and short films? GL : We have 82 films, which is more than I would have liked.
That breaks down to 21 features and 62 shorts. I would have been happy with 50. But better to have an embarrassment of riches than a dearth of quality.
BK : What is the most prominent genre of the movies selected for Amazing Fantasy Fest? GL : Horror will always be the spine of what I show, as people would expect. Slasher Days of Summer , Fragment , Flesh of the Unforgiven , Florence , Massacre at Femur Creek , Voices Carry , Reset and The Damnation are all horror, but Nickel City Tinseltown: The History of Buffalo, NY Filmmaking is a documentary look at the indie film scene in Western New York. Ragdoll Assassin and 7 Kills, 3 Songs & a Banana are comedies.
Rich Interior Lives is a drama about a superhero. They call Her Death is a Euro-style western shot on 16m film. Scooter McCrae’s Black Eyed Susan , shot in Super 16, is a science fiction film.
Inbetweening is a dark comedy about a biracial filmmaker. And Adrian Esposito’s Special Needs Revolt is a Troma-style action/comedy with a political message. Buried on Shine Mountain is a “nice” fantasy and character piece.
Single Person Savior defies description. And Life of Pain is a wrestling documentary. Image Credit: Amazing Fantasy Fest BK : What’s the hardest part of starting up a new film festival? What’s the easiest? GL : This is my 14th year doing the same thing, but as far as FilmFreeway is concerned, it’s Year One, so many filmmakers searching that database for festivals to submit their work to dismiss us.
That impacts the number of submissions I receive, and therefore working capital, but it hasn’t impacted the quality of films that my team has selected for screening. I have relationships with many filmmakers, so I was in touch with many of them during production and post-production of their films. Some of them will be finished just in time for their World Premiere in Buffalo.
Scheduling 82 films is a challenge, but I think I’m pretty good at it. Image Credit: Amazing Fantasy Fest BK : How important is it, for you, to hold Amazing Fantasy Fest in an actual movie theater as opposed to some other type of location? GL : Very! I wouldn’t do it in a bar or a community center or a banquet room. I spent 15 years of my life managing or assistant managing movie theaters, mostly in New York City.
That’s part of the experience I want to offer filmmakers: to enter a theater that isn’t some ugly, corporate multiplex, sit down in a nice auditorium, and watch their films on a big screen. Other experiences are valid in their own way, but this is what I feel and what I want to do. BK : What do you hope attendees get out of Amazing Fantasy Fest? GL : A lot of out-of-town filmmakers are attending, some of them for the first time, and they’re going to discover what others have: that we have a smart, loyal, core group of film watchers who add to the experience.
What I need to do is expand that base: I believe that under this new name, the festival will grow in a way I’ve always wanted it to. And people who do attend it for the first time will be surprised by the crazy mix of dangerous films I show, and by the Q&As that we do. Image Credit: Amazing Fantasy Fest BK : What’s the better movie watching snack for Amazing Fantasy Fest: popcorn or candy? GL : Our venue, the Amherst Theatre (which I once managed for three years) is owned by the local Dipson Theatres chain, which is famous for having the best popcorn in Buffalo, with real butter.
Loyalty requires me to support their profit margin. But I confess that unless I’m really hungry, I never eat food during movies! ** A very special thanks to Gregory Lamberson for agreeing to participate in this interview. Amazing Fantasy Fest runs from Friday, September 13th, 2024 to Thursday, September 19th, 2024, at the Dipson Amherst Theatre in Buffalo, New York.
Check out the Amazing Fantasy Fest official website here ! Check out the official Amazing Fantasy Fest Facebook page here ! Check out Gregory Lamberson’s official website here! Check out Gregory Lamberson’s Facebook page here! Check out the Frenzy Moon Indiegogo page here! Check out The Frenzy Moon Twitter page here ! Check out The Frenzy Wolves Facebook page here ! Gregory Lamberson image courtesy of Gregory Lamberson. Amazing Fantasy Fest logo created by Chris Cosgrove. All other images courtesy of Amazing Fantasy Fest.
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