most of them cant afford to have boobs.
when the actually do - you really dont want to see them.

indie gore usually looks amateurish

entheusiasm is nice - but no substitute for knowledge and imagination

Perfectly worded, exactly what an indie film is right there.

i think we've raised the bar a little with our films :) we are all about story. we didn't put nudity in because the story didn't call for it. but that doesn't mean that the film isn't sexy as hell :) we still load up with lot's of gorgeous ladies....

Nudity rarely plays into the story correctly.

And I don't think it makes the movie any better.

I can think of a few.

They Call Her One Eye
I Spit on Your Grave
Last House on the Left
Showgirls

i think nudity is a mainstay in the 'lower' horror films.
something unique and atmospheric - no it isnt needed. a really good horror film doesnt need that kind of help.

but if you're talking 80's north american slasher films ... there is no other reason to watch one of those yawnfests other than some bouncing boobs in the shower.

the problem we've personally run into with nudity is this. while it is fun to have in the movie and of course to have naked girls running around the set :) the ones who usually are willing to do nude parts cannot act and are usually flakey. the ones who can act don't want to do it. we pride ourselves on using really good actors and being in new york we have a huge pool to draw from and that really goes a long way to step up our productions. if we do use nude girls they are just for background and eyecandy. but the story has to call for it, we won't just throw in nudity just for the sake of having it. kinda throws the whole rhythm off if you know what i mean.

i think the general rule of thumb is ... if you are making a quality production .. then it probably isnt needed
(for the record i hate north american love scenes too ... either show the goods or stay out of the bedroom .. americans are painfully afraid of sex)

if you know that you're on a sinking ship then by all means - throw in a bunch of naked women ... some kind of saving grace ..

sort of like rock bands that know they're shit - so they just crank the volume up as loud as possible.

as far as making the kind of horror film that doesnt require naked women to stay afloat (so to speak)

it has to have :

- an engaging plot
- origionality
- quality effects - or none at all
- quality music (not one guy on a synth trying to recreate a whole orchestra richard band type shit)
- smart editing
- 100% quality actors - even one bad one spoils the entire production.
- great sound
- and well written dialogue


if even one of these things goes amiss then you have failed. Horror is fantasy. For fantasy to work there can be no distractions... all of the pieces have to fall into place.

there is no room for 'we'll have to make do with what we've got' in a quality film.

Also .. the more 'homegrown' efforts - no matter how entheusiastic the filmmakers are - tend to look better to the people involved BECAUSE of their involvement .. they're pumped .. the film kicked ass .. they cant believe it looks so damn good !


but - the wider target audiences dont have emotional ties to the film. They are judging it alongside films that are big budget, - more established. Most (not all) wont readjust their expectations for the fact that it's an indie project that represents a lot of hard work on a shoestring budget.

to them it'll just look like another piece of poop.

I have a friend who has friends... all doing the indie thing. He asked me to look at the film. To him it was a major achievement .. to me it was unwatchable/unbearable..
the dialogue wasnt as clever as they wanted to think and it was delivered so woodenly that it wouldnt sound good no matter how well it was written .. the music wasnt properly married with the scenes ... I asked him if he wanted me to judge it as a feature film or as a student film ... (it wasnt even a good student film)

It leads me to believe that most indie film makers are too involved - too close to the project to stand back and look at it from the outside. They are unable to see it as an uninitiated audience member would .. and although it's understandable - its also a real problem.

(maybe thats natures natural protective sedative to cushion people from the pain of failure - but it only prolongs the inevitable (unless they get into denial mode)
'fuck those guys, this movie was better than Se7en !!!!'

so i guess - to sum it all up ...

if you find your production suffereng from any of those things above ...

time to round up the pretty young things with big tits ...

Man, I love reading your posts, Urge. You've just stated all of my thoughts about independent film much more eloquently than I could have. Bravo.

Ha ! thanks .. i didnt think anyone would bother to read it :D

just wait till Pr3ssure gets here - he'll stomp on my head with much more elequance than i could ever dream of producing :p

he's got a lot of respect for these indie productions (the better ones).

i can respect the efforts and entheusiasm - but at the end of the day - i want to be entertained ..