Silent Night, Zombie Night chronicles a viral outbreak the week before Christmas that turns the citizens of Los Angeles into the walking dead. On the brink of severing ties with both his wife and longtime partner, L.A.P.D. officer Frank Talbot finds himself trapped with them. As death closes in, their survival is further threatened by the fact that both men love the same woman.

We caught up with writer/director Sean Cain to talk about Silent Night, Zombie Night.

Horror News Network: How did you come up with the concept for Silent Night, Zombie Night?

Sean Cain: I was hiking in the woods of Los Angeles (Yes, this is a little known secret, but L.A. does have an abundance of woods and hiking trails!) which is a good place to think and the title just came to me. At first I said it as a joke, but once I thought about it for a moment I realized that would be the basis for a really fun zombie movie. And who doesn’t want to make a zombie movie at some point in their life?

Horror News Network: Why did you choose Christmas as the backdrop for this film?

Sean Cain: I wanted to do something different that would set this zombie movie apart from all those other zombie movies out there. And the kind of films I make put people first and plots second. Since the idea of a zombie apocalypse (aside from being able to shoot zombies) is like any other apocalypse…it would suck. As much as I love The Road Warrior, I think it would be more like The Road with Viggo Mortensen. And what worse of a time to have everything fall apart? They say the highest rate of suicide is around Christmas. I think that’s because people start getting unconsciously anxious about zombies eating their faces.

Horror News Network: Can you tell us what impressed you the most with the core actors involved in Silent Night, Zombie Night?

Sean Cain: I have been fairly fortunate in my short career as a director to work with really amazing actors. Not only are they amazing performers, but swell people as well. SNZN is no different. I love these guys to pieces. This was a long, arduous shoot. Sometimes we went 20 hours each day. And nobody complained. They just brought their best to the table each day and it shows in the final product.

Horror News Network: About the zombies in the film, are they “runners” or are they more of the classic “Romero” type zombies?

Sean Cain: I have both. I thought it would be interesting to do a movie where we had slow ones and fast ones and what you changed into ultimately depended on what type of person you are. 

Horror News Network: What can people expect in terms of blood and guts in this film?

Sean Cain: Oh, there’s lots of gore and mayhem. You can’t do a zombie movie without people getting bit and zombies getting dismembered in gruesome ways!

Horror News Network: Can you talk a bit about the special effect work?

Sean Cain: The practical effects were done by Tom Devlin who was recently on that FX show, Face Off. In my opinion this guy does brilliant work with sculpting monsters and making those types of appliances. We talked a lot about the zombies before hand and when he showed me the designs he had come up with I was really pleased.

Horror News Network: Where can people find out more about about Silent Night, Zombie Night?

Sean Cain: Most of the up to date information can be found on the Silent Night, Zombie Night facebook page, but there’s also the official site, http://www.snznfilm.com which has a link to FB.

Horror News Network: In closing, what would you like to say about Silent Night, Zombie Night?

Sean Cain: I feel truly blessed in having made this film. No many things could have gone wrong. We had an amazing cast and crew that gave it their all for little money. I’ve had such support from the fans who’ve already seen the film, an awesome rep who pushed it until we landed our deal with Pacific Entertainment Corp. And they’ve also been so wonderful. They’ve kept me in the loop, asked my opinion about everything. Really worked with me which is so unlike most places. As difficult as the process was leading up to its release on October 4th I don’t think I’ll ever have it this good as I continue to make movies.

Horror News Network: Thank you for your time, Sean! Best of luck with the DVD! Comment on this interview here.

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Published on: 2011-09-14 (320 reads)