PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It was amazing to have the honor to interview the man behind Dear God No! and Frankenstein Created Bikers, James Bickert. Amazon Hot Box is his new project that I am eagerly awaiting to get my copy of it.
The teasers and previews make me want to know more about this story of strong women battling for survival in an Amazon prison. How exciting is that?
PopHorror – What director has inspired you?
James Bickert – That is a pretty hard question, as there are so many, but over the last couple years I would have to say, John Waters.
PopHorror – What makes your work stand out from the rest?
James Bickert – There are so many talented people working in Indie, so I am just doing my thing. My work is all based out of my life experiences and things that were around me growing up, such as the southern drive-ins. My friends and I would sneak into the drive in all the time when I was growing up because it was close to my home. We first watched the Exorcist at the drive in, but because we didn’t have a car there was no sound, so we made up the dialogue on our own while watching it. That is how we watched all films back then.
PopHorror – Can you tell me more about Amazon Hot Box?
James Bickert – It is about a college student who gets swept up in a banana republic and gets thrown in a prison. During the course of the movie, there is a branch of assassins with the CIA, called Kill Squad 13 that are being uncovered. It has a little bit of everything, like really dark humor, horror, and action.
PopHorror – Can you explain the crowdfunding for this film?
James Bickert – The movie is already made. With this crowdfunding, we are actually preselling copies through Kickstarter and distributing ourselves because I have not had much luck getting paid by distributors. This has worked really well for my last few films and allows me to be able to go straight into another film.
PopHorror – Do you have plans for your next film?
James Bickert – Brian Williams (Producer of Amazon Hot Box/Director of Space Babes from Outer Space) and I have some projects in the works right now that we are deciding what we will do next. It will definitely be something in the horror genre.
PopHorror – Do you have any interesting stories from filming Amazon Hot Box?
James Bickert – This film really went smoothly. We were able to shoot at Fort Pulaski, which was built after the War of 1812 and it has a moat around it. This was probably one of the easiest films I ever made. I had such a great cast and crew plus finished on time and under budget. We really only had one issue, which was when we had an outside guy help with a scene and he brought his own fake blood. It stained the stage we had rented to film on. We spent a couple days really scrubbing that place to get the blood off. We typically use Greg Nicotero’s fake blood formula, which wipes off of everything.
PopHorror – What is a fun fact about you?
James Bickert – I am obsessed with growing hot peppers. This year I have 30 different varieties of hot peppers that I am growing. I like postings pictures of them on Instagram.
PopHorror – Anything else you want to share with readers?
James Bickert – It was really cool to be able to create such strong female characters that the actresses really loved playing with Amazon Hot Box. It is definitely different from any women’s prison film out there. The audience will have a good time with watching it.
This is truly an Indie film to get excited about! James is an amazing director plus did I mention that Ellie Church (Harvest Lake) and Tristan Risk (American Mary) are part of the strong actresses that will make this movie spectacular? Join me in supporting this new Indie Film by James today!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1334887287/pre-order-amazon-hot-box
