The Trouble with Barry

Mechanical Bull Media in Los Angeles, CA is beginning pre- production on the feature film, The Trouble with Barry. Written and directed by novelist, editor, and cinema vérité trickster Mike Justice, The Trouble With Barry is intended as a kick-ass throwback to bitchin’ VHS-era B-movie madness. “It’s a comedy, a horror movie, a sex thriller, and an ensemble piece all frenetically crammed into 90 minutes of DIY ecstasy,” says Justice, for whom this will be a debut feature. “I basically approached every actor friend I have—of which there are many, as you can see—and said ‘you’re in my movie!’ and no one turned me down.”

The story centers on Barry Montenegro, a reckless, drunk, and embarrassingly unprofessional gay actor living in Hollywood, California. Despite an auspicious, promising start in the pretentious Miramax drama When We Cry Blue Sky, Barry’s subsequent career took a ten-year nose-dive due to a series of drug busts, sex scandals, notorious on-set antics, and a general disregard for anyone and everything around him. Now destitute and homeless, Barry’s last chance is a role on a zero-budget webseries called I Love the Nightlife, a shameless rip-off of Saturday Night Fever with an oblivious egomaniac at the helm, and starring ex-erotic thriller “actress” Pussy Johnson. But when someone begins brutally butchering members of the cast and crew one-by-one, all eyes turn to Barry. Is he the killer? Or is he just a dick?

The cast includes many new faces and a great deal of established genre stars with the likes of Lynn Lowry (Cat People, Shivers), Brinke Stevens (Slumber Party Massacre, Nightmare Sisters), and Michelle Bauer (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama) gracing the screen with their distinct brands of Scream Queen charm. Also joining our cast are some other familiar faces and industry legends such as Peter Stickles (Shortbus), Rena Riffel (Showgirls), Juliette Danielle (The Room), producer/director J. D. Disalvatore, and Matthew Montgomery (Fear House).

The Trouble With Barry will begin shooting on June 18th and is slated for Christmas release this year. The current pre-production activities include an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for the film (indiegogo.com/barrythemovie) featuring a teaser trailer and the ongoing Stalker Series, short humorous videos wherein Justice and co-writer Stephen Sandknop “stalk” the film’s actors at their homes, at horror conventions, and in other public places.