Deathgasm: "The dildo massacre scene seems to get everyone excited!"

Considering the obvious and strong connection between metal and horror, it seems bizarre that there just aren’t many good films out there that mix the two.

So thank Satan for none-more-metal comedy horror splatter-fest Deathgasm, which is taking film festivals around the world by storm. We spoke with New Zealand writer/director Jason Lei Howden as his bloody cinematic crusade gains momentum.

How was it growing up as a metal fan in New Zealand?

Jason Lei Howden: “In Deathgasm, the way that people react to lead character Brodie being a metalhead seems a fairly typical one. In New Zealand, if you are young and look a bit different, a metalhead or a punk for example, you are often ostracised and sometimes beaten. I grew up in a tiny forestry town called Greymouth. There were a few bars, but no live music scene, and especially not metal.”

So how did you get into metal?

“I was about 13 years old when a classmate handed me a tape of Cannibal Corpse’s Tomb Of The Mutilated, and it just blew my mind – it was like someone had taken a tape recorder down to the depths of Hell and recorded Satan dry-retching!”

There’s a considerable amount of gore flying around in the film. What’s your favourite moment?

“Brodie sticking the chainsaw through the demon’s stomach and ripping out the guts is pretty great. We used 80 litres of blood on the shoot, which is a good amount of life-juice on camera. But Peter Jackson’s splatter masterpiece Braindead [Dead Alive in the US] used 300 litres, so I’m still aiming to top that high-score.”

The Deathgasm soundtrack is pretty kickass, too…

“Getting Emperor on the soundtrack was really exciting as I have been a fan since first hitting play on In The Nightside Eclipse. We also have Ihsahn, Lair Of The Minotaur, Elm Street, Nunslaughter, Pathology, The Wretched End and loads more.”

There’s some pretty inventive choices of weaponry in the movie. Which ones seem to get the best reaction?

“The dildo massacre seems to get everyone pretty excited! I don’t remember how that even started, but I was trying to write crazy gore scenes and I hadn’t remembered seeing someone impaled by a sex toy before. But days before the shoot, a producer came up to me with a few pitiful, tiny sex toys from a Chinese discount shop and I got scared. I needed them to be huge, sphincter-worryingly massive. So I went to this underground sex shop and got the anal beads and black double-ender you see on screen. I’m willing to sell them if anyone is keen. They are still soaked in fake blood!”