James Orrell of From Dusk Til Con conducted this interview with Denver underground filmmaker Dakota Bailey of ‘My Master Satan: 3 Tales of Drug fueled Violence’ fame. Topics discussed include horror films, heavy metal & of course My Master Satan.
Interview by James Orrell
(Note: Permission was granted from James Orrell & From Dusk Til Con.com to re-post this interview)
FDTC: As a first time director, how did you decide to start?
D.B.: As a young child ,I loved watching movies & making movies. When I was a kid, I first started out with a beat-up old camcorder making movies in the sandbox & just evolved from there. I learned my craft through experiential learning. I don’t really consider myself a first time director (I know My Master Satan is my first full length feature though) because I have been making movies a pretty long time & have kind of been part of the Denver film scene for a few years now. The first short film I released back in 2014 (Scumbags: A Day in the Life of a Drug Dealer) played on a local TV channel here in Denver for about three months & then I made Satan’s Coming for you (another short film & actually the basis for My Master Satan). But to answer your question, the reason why I direct/make movies is because I want to have fun & make the kind of film that I would want to see-it’s not about money or anything. I use my movies as a podium to bear my artistic expression & I love the process of writing the films & then getting to see the script & my ideas turn into a film & the fun I have making the films.
FDTC: Who are you inspirations in filmmaking?
D.B.: I have a lot of inspirations because I consider myself a film fan making the kind of films that I would like to see. I like Jorg Buttgeriet & his Nekromnatik films, Lucio Fulci & I feel that not even the modern special effects of today can hold a candle to the gore & zombies in his films. I like Jose Mojica Marins (Coffin Joe). He is a HUGE inspiration because I’m kind of like him- how he directed & starred in his films. I like Allen Ormsby & Bob Clarke, Mario Bava, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Merian C. Cooper, James Whale I can just keep going on & on.
FDTC: Where did the idea for My Master Satan come from?
D.B.: Well it all started back in February 2015. I had accomplished all that I had wanted to with my short film Scumbags: A Day in the Life of a Drug Dealer & I wanted to make a horror short film. I wrote the script for Satan’s Coming for You. It was originally going to have me & Brian Knapp as Bubba (he would later play Charlie in My Master Satan). But Matt (he was in Scumbags) ended up playing Bubba instead. It was essentially about my character Alister & Bubba who go exhume the corpse of his deceased cheating wife & afterwards drop some acid resulting in an acid trip where we see Satan. We then come to the realization that we should go confront the man who was seeing Bubba’s wife. I just went into the project with the idea of a gritty short horror film that was trashy. We released it & I had no further intention of doing anything else with it & started working on a different project.
But in September 2015, I had a desire to make a full length film based off of Satan’s Coming for You. I thought my best bet would be to break the film down into three different segments, so I wrote My Master Satan as kind of a continuation of Alister & Bubba & their adventures & then wrote Nights of Depravity as the bridge that would go between Satan’s Coming for You & My Master Satan. I also cut Satan’s Coming for You down from 19 to 9 minutes because I though it was a little weak in comparison to the two other segments that followed it in the film.
FDTC: I love the fact that there is no real hero to this film. Was that always the plan?
D.B.:Yea, that kind of was intentional because I think in some real life situations there are no heroes. Basically with all the films I make, there are no heroes-only lowlifes & scumbags. I don’t try to make characters in my films out to be scumbags -I just show them for who they are. But to get back to the question, I don’t think there has ever been a hero in any of my films & that is the way I like it-I think it kind of would have ruined My Master Satan if there had been a hero who saved the day. I also think that having no hero or anyone positive to root for in a film can make it a little more grim & realistic.
FDTC: I loved the grainy look to the film. What made you decide to go this route?
D.B.: I am glad you liked it. I was inspired to make a shot on VHS film by Black Devil Doll from Hell. I wanted My Master Satan to feel like it was made in the 80’s or early 90’s. Some people that see the movie can’t believe that it was made in 2015. I just love the vibe that VHS quality gave the film & I couldn’t imagine My Master Satan being shot in HD because that would have kind of ruined it for me. The only parts not shot on VHS was the Satan’s Coming for You segments & the acid trip scenes-everything else is VHS.
FDTC: It seemed like every time the film couldn’t get more fucked up, you decided it damn well can. Was that a focus to the film?
D.B.: Yes, it was intentional. When I first started writing the project, I had the skeleton of the script & as the film progressed & we would film scenes, I would sporadically come up with more scenes. I would then sit down & say ”That scene wasn’t in the script, so where should it go?” It was ultimately my job to pace the film & everything, so I just paced the scenes accordingly & designed the film that so that it would progressively get more & more fucked up.
FDTC: Heavy metal definitely leaves it’s mark on this film. In fact some of the shots seemed perfect for a killer music video. Like old school Cannibal Corpse. Were there any bands that helped inspire these shots?
D.B.: I didn’t really intend for the film to be like that, it just happened that way because I would put Luciferian Insectus’ music over the violent scenes or parts that I thought required some aggressive music. So some parts did kind of feel like a music video. But that is a very interesting point you make. I have spoken with Darren of Luciferian Insectus about (he’s a one man band by the way), we discussed making a music video interjecting footage of him performing & clips of My Master Satan. I love to use my films to kind of promote heavy metal. I love heavy metal & I feel that movies-especially modern films don’t pay attention to the genre or give it the respect it deserves. More films need to have a heavy metal soundtrack. I also feel that heavy metal fans are underestimated & stereotyped.
FDTC: How did the soundtrack come about? Fucking loved it by the way.
D.B.: Luciferian Insectus is Darren Perterson-he is a one man band. The music he makes is very cool-he’s extremely talented. I met him through Matt Marshall (Bubba). Matt is very much into vaporizers & E Cigarettes & that’s how he got into contact with Darren who is from Florida (where lots of great death metal bands come from) but he also has connections to Colorado. I am not exactly sure how Darren saw Satan’s Coming for You & but he contacted me & wanted to make a music video with me & said that jf I needed any music for my future films he could provide it. So when I began production on My Master Satan, one of the first thoughts that popped into my head was ”what about the music for this film” & I instantly thought of Darren & Luciferian Insectus. He let me have free reign of the Luciferian Insectus catalog. He actually told me yesterday & shared the news with me that he got signed to a record label, So I would like to once again congratulate him on that, I am happy for him.The songs that were featured on My Master Satan were from his album called Zal Van Beherit (except for Deliver Me in the Name Ov Satan, I am not sure what album that one is on) so anybody that dug the soundtrack for My Master Satan needs to pick up that album or just look into Luciferian Insectus’ music in general. Hopefully sometime in the future we will be able to make a music video.
FDTC: How did you go about casting the film?
D.B.: L.B. (the guy that played Dealin’ Dick) is actually my father & he’s been helping out with my movies since day one-so thanks to him once again. There’s Matt Marshall & nobody else besides him can play Bubba. I have actually been making movies with Matt the longest (besides my father of course). Matt is from Colorado & he had some prior acting experience because he was in plays when he was in high school. There’s Brian Knapp who played Charlie, we are friends & I cast him as the role of Charlie because he looked the part & his beard is MASSIVE. I mean, no way that a real professional actor could have that kind of beard & I think it just added to the realism of the film that we had rough everyday looking people in the film. Then of course there is Wild Willy Wakefield & Chuck. I met them through work & at first they didn’t know I was a filmmaker. They eventually did find out because they saw Satan’s Coming for You & when I announced to them I was making a new film they wanted to be a part of it. I designed their characters specifically for them-they had no acting experience but they were just incredible actors. Then there is me (I play Alister). In my future films I will be the star, but with My Master Satan, I had a lot of responsibility & I wanted each & everyone’s characters to have a chance in the spotlight & I didn’t want there to really be a star in the film. This film was truly a joint effort & I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help & I feel that everyone of the cast was an essential piece of the film.
FDTC: Were there any crazy moments in filming this movie? It seems like there would be a ton.
D.B.: There was quite a few. It was crazy to witness the sex doll scene where Alister & Charlie invade Little Bunt’s home & catch him having sex with the doll-that scene probably takes the cake for the most craziest moment. Then there was the scene where Woody dies of auto erotic asphyxiation. That was crazy too. I just remember trying so hard not to laugh while I was behind the camera for that scene. There was also the scene where Bubba & Alister have Dealin’ Dicks corpse rolled up in the carpet & throw it off the bridge. I remember that scene was very awkward filming because we went to an industrial area of Denver in broad day light & the prop we made really did look like a dead body rolled up in carpet & we were carrying it around. I just remember us trying to not let anyone see us or get caught but we never did get in trouble or anything like that. This film was full of those kinds of crazy moments. I remember when we would all come together to shoot & I would say ”Ok, today we are going to shoot this” that they would all laugh & think it the scenes I wanted to film were crazy, but it was fun-just pure fun .That’s why we make movies. Anyone can make a movie like My Master Satan, but I don’t think anyone could have had as much fun making it as we did. The fun is what keeps me wanting to make movies.
FDTC: What do you have planned next?
D.B.: I have a film I am making right now called American Scumbags. It is going to star me, Matt, L.B. Wild Willy, Chuck & some new actors. More details will follow & I hope to have it completed & released by the end of this year. The film is going to be an anthology film that’s interconnected about three drug dealers & their deaths, but it’s not going to be your standard crime film-it is going to have elements of trash/exploitation & weird charactres in it to appeal to fans of My Master Satan & It’s going to have gore-more gore then My Master Satan did. For 2017, I have a goal of filming & releasing two films. One will be a crime film & the other will be a pure underground horror film that is similar to My Master Satan.
FDTC: We like to ask this in most of our interviews. What are your three favorite horror films?
D.B.: As a film fan it’s very hard for me to narrow it down. There are a lot of films out there that made me (& many other filmmakers want to make movies.) I would say:
1: The Exorcist (It is still scary & an incredible film after all these years.)
2: Zombie 2 (Or may be the Beyond) Great zombies & gore. As I said above, I don’t think modern special effects can hold a candle to Lucio Fulci’s zombies or gore.
3: Nekromantik: To me it is the greatest shock film of all time, but it is still very much a piece of art-grotesque art.
FDTC: Since metal is so important to this film, who are your three favorite bands?
D.B.:
1: Black Sabbath
2: Slayer
(You just can’t be metal in my opinion if you don’t love those two bands) & number three would be a tie between Venom or Celtic Frost-I just can’t decide. I listen to lots of heavy metal bands though-for each subgenre (death metal, black metal) I have a least 4 favorite bands.
Thanks again for this interview & everything. If anyone wants to know more about the film we make or news on our future films, please visit the official Dakota Bailey/R.A. Productions website @
https://dakotabaileydirectorfilmmaker.wordpress.com/blog/
Official Trailer for My Master Satan: 3 Tales of Drug fueled Violence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_CrtI5DM0
