Of course, to get the chance to work with a legendary and lovely talent such as Felissa Rose, who played such a formidable part in the development of my pre-movie- making mind (see the Top 5 below), was just an absolute dream come true. I met her at this year’s Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival and we just hit it off right off the bat. When she voted for “Don’t Let the Light In” as her audience favourite choice, I knew even more awesomeness was in our future together. And I’ve been a big fan of Missy Dawn’s ever since seeing her in Porkchop 3D, so this project seemed to be the perfect chance to get to play with them both. And my dear Joh Harp, who also stars in the film, I cannot say enough kind things about him. An absolutely brilliant fx wizard and an amazing actor he truly is a renaissance man… and he absolutely scared the living hell out of me on set!!!

AH - What is the scene like being based in North Carolina?

JB - Well that would depend entirely on who you ask. It’s no secret that our governor and his cronies did their bloody best to completely kill off our film incentives that were bringing films AND funds into the state, amongst other less-than- reputable things that they’re well-known for. But for me and many of the movie-making magicians that I know and work with, that didn’t really have a significant impact on us because a lot of us don’t ever have a real budget anyway, so it’s hard to pay less for what you don’t have to begin with. And while the film industry may have left North Carolina for cheaper greener pastures, the film community has never been stronger. All around the state are these amazing pockets of people making some truly fantastic films – features, shorts, web series, horror, drama, comedy, sci-fi, grindhouse, documentary and everything in between. And often times these cinematic social circles will overlap precisely because of the lack of a big budget, so you get resourceful and reach out for help and in turn, you help others when you can. It can get rather incestuous, keeping track of who’s doing what on whose film, but to me, that’s the true spirit of why movies are magic. It’s making something that makes the world a better place, not making someone a bigger paycheck.

AH - Last but not least, what’s your top 5 movies of all time?

JB - Oh no, the one question every filmmaker fears… okay, since it’s my favourite holiday time of the year, I’m going to skew the list towards my Top 5 Horror Movies, because otherwise we’ll all be here for another 5,000 words while I debate the cinematic and semantic differences of a 42-way- tie. So without any further alliteration-abusing adieu, here they are…

5. Sleepaway Camp – I know lots of horror fans will credit “Friday the 13 th ” with inciting their love of the summer camp slasher genre, but for me it will always be “Sleepaway Camp!” Aside from still having the most jaw-dropping ending EVER, there are just some really brilliant characters and even better lines of dialogue that shine in that film in a way that no one really did in the other. “Eat shit and die, Ricky!” “Eat shit and live, Bill!” Gods, I wish I had written that.

4. Phantasm – One of the more overlooked and underrated horror icons of modern movie madness, the Tall Man STILL terrifies me to this very day with one very simple word, “Boyyyyyyyyyy!!!” Don Coscarelli really created something bloody and brilliant with this film, from the flying death spheres to the evil jacked-up jawas. I can’t wait to watch the series come to its conclusion with Phantasm: Ravager. Thank you, Angus Scrimm, for terrifying this Boyyy!!!

3. Halloween (1978) – Before I even knew I wanted to be a filmmaker, I was in love with the way the first 14 minutes of this film was one continuous shot. The other thing that always stuck in my still-developing skull was how haunting and how simple the theme song was – something that would forever be associated with my favourite holiday, just like The Great Pumpkin! This movie always reminds me how simple and sinister William Shatner’s face can be.

2. Psycho – This is the very first horror movie I can vividly remember watching with my mum. She kept asking if I was okay as I was so silent, which was rare and unheard of for me, and I just sat there riveted. I was even proud how nonplussed I was by a horror film until they got to that very last scene where (SPOILERS) Anthony Perkins is sitting in the interrogation room, the blanket draped over his shoulders, speaking in Norma Bates’ voice. His face is looking downwards but he brings his gaze up to the camera and his eyes just saw through me and I lost it. It was amazing, as I had never had that reaction to anything seen on a screen before. I knew then and there that I wanted to be able to do that to people, I just wasn’t sure how.

1. The Exorcist – maybe it was the fact that I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri (where the original incident that inspired the movie took place), or maybe it’s because this was the movie that I was always trying to stay up wayyyy past bedtime on a Saturday night to watch when I was a wee lad, but this one will ALWAYS be my favourite. It’s always been a dream of mine to be able to tell a story, to create a movie that would evoke such a visceral reaction from the audience that they would run out of the theatre crying/puking/shitting themselves, if they even made it all the way up the aisle without passing out first. I’m not sure that’s possible in today’s desensitised digital age, but I’ll be damned (over and over again) if I won’t keep trying.