In part two of this interview, I talked to Chris Diani about his beginnings as a filmmaker, and the origin of his first feature, CREATURES FROM THE PINK LAGOON. In this third installment, Chris gives me a deliciously detailed account of how the film was made, as well as some insight into the gay horror genre as a whole.

Things are crazy in Fangoland. Everyone is running somewhere in the days ahead, as work is pulling us all across North America in pursuit of various genre happenings or keeping our editorial panties in a knot. It seems like everything is coming to a head in the genre universe beginning Monday.

In Part One of this interview, I talked to Chris Diani about his work in the Seattle live theater scene. In this installment, we talk about his first forays into film, including his first mix of gays and zombies.

When the gay-themed slasher film HELLBENT took a stab at a theatrical run, gay horror suddenly became the next wave of queer cinema. A handful of films got a lot of press around the same time (2005-2006), and one of them was CREATURES FROM THE PINK LAGOON, made by Seattle filmmaker Chris Diani.

Last fall, I attended the eighth annual New York City Horror Film Festival, one of the best places to meet and greet others in the horror world. The fest is just large enough to host a roster of terrific feature and short movies and panels, and just intimate enough to allow you to get to know the talented filmmakers from all over the world. Director Michael Hein has secured a perfect location: The Tribeca Cinemas, with two theaters and a large bar space that’s perfect for mingling, making new friends and reconnecting with old ones. At last year’s event, I was quite impressed with, and fortunate enough to meet, Rob and Edward Kennedy, two brothers from Dublin, Ireland.

Would you believe that ECLIPSE, part three in THE TWILIGHT SAGA, will likely gross around $175 million by the end of the Fourth of July holiday? That the film franchise alone has taken in over a billion dollars so far? Like it or not, the horror genre (if you want to fit TWILIGHT in there) has not seen anything like it before.

When it comes to the arts, Europeans have always had the distinguished honor of being some of the most supportive enthusiasts this guitarist has ever encountered. While the world may be experiencing somewhat of an artistic recession (more on this later), the other side of the Atlantic refuses to relinquish its support of film and music. With the French leading the way in the world of horror with titles like MARTYRS, INSIDE, FRONTIERS and many others, and the great European tradition of summer Heavy Metal music festivals still pushing onward with great success despite the steady decline of record sales, it’s no wonder why I’m finding myself more and more immersed in places and cultures that are foreign to me.