THE LUMBERJACK OF ALL TRADES

THE LUMBERJACK OF ALL TRADES

THE LUMBERJACK OF ALL TRADES is a melting-pot of the horror and comedy genres with just a hint of backwoods humor for good measure. For those who remember the el-cheapo cinematic experience of early 1970's drive-in movies, we can assure you that THE LUMBERJACK OF ALL TRADES will bring back those guilty pleasures.
Creators Eric B Walter and Matthew LaCurts were greatly inspired by these films made on the cheap. For Walter, who has been creating short films since he was eight years old, was somehow enchanted by the low-budget flicks of yester-year. "I think I liked figuring out how the filmmakers went about creating these pictures despite their limitations.", says Walter. "For some reason, I felt like I could relate. Sometimes they pulled it off and other times not so well!"
Wanting to keep true to the drive-in feel, but still give the film some originality, Walter and LaCurts decided to turn their monster-epic into a campy television drama. "I think it gives the film a unique overall feel.", says LaCurts, who provided much of the comical undertones throughout the picture. "It was like we decided to combined THE CRATER LAKE MONSTER with an episode of GREEN ACRES!".
"Much of what you see in LUMBERJACK is an outright slap in the face to horror pictures of the early '70's.", adds Walter. "We were fans of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and we just had to reflect on some of that!"
One of the most important aspects are the characters themselves. Striving to create a band full of redneck rebels, the filmmakers needed everyone involved to play it over the top and pretend they were in a cartoon come to life!
"We wanted the audience to be with these guys whether they were right or wrong.", remarks Walter. "And most of the time they were wrong!" Each character is portrayed in a stereotypical fashion depending upon that person's job or position in the community of Townville. For instance, the local cops stuff donuts into their pockets and seem to be on a lower incompetence level than anyone else throughout the entire picture. "There's always the local sheriff who wants to destroy the creature once and for all!", says LaCurts. "Then you have the town doctor who wants to study the creature for the good of mankind! Yeah, he always ends up getting killed!"
Bigfoot, who scampers down from the hills to chomp on the townsfolk, had to be the most outrageous aspect on screen. "It was our goal to have a really bad monster outfit!", laughs Walter. "I wanted it to be something that was laughable yet still invoked the big-bad monster feel that we wanted. I think we pulled it off well." The production of THE LUMBERJACK OF ALL TRADES was an extensive and often challenging task. "We were shooting with one camera in the middle of one of the hottest summers known to man.", recalls Walter. "We had to hunt around for Bigfoot substitutes from time to time. That fur suit was no fun in the sun! We're lucky no one had a heat stroke!" Despite the grueling shooting schedules and constant limitations, the filmmaking team made it through to post production with some excellent footage in the can. "I can't thank the cast enough for their hard work and dedication.", Walter adds. "Everyone stuck to their guns and made the film something special."