Thursday, October 4, 2007

DSK is back, bloodier, funnier than ever

By Sarah Poulton

As if “Toxic Shock Zombies” wasn’t enough, the guys at Dip Shit Kid Productions have made a sequel.

Rick Fusselman, writer, director, editor and actor for DSK Productions said the company started about six years ago. Fusselman, along with actor and comedian Rick “Fu” Mackall and actor, producer and stunt coordinator Jim Cibella started out doing dumb stuff like messing with people when they were sleeping and catching it on video. Now, they’re on their ninth movie.

Fusselman said a lot of their early flicks, such as “Hot Justice”; its sequel, “HJ: The Second Cumming”; and their first production, “Retards Shouldn’t Run with Chain Saws,” used early cameras and had horrible story lines.

“That was our first one; now, somehow, it’s a cult classic,” Fusselman said.

Their latest movie, “Holy Shit... Zombies,” is actually an indirect sequel to their 2005 “Toxic Shock Zombies,” in that it still deals with the same phenomenon of toxic shock syndrome and tampons.

In “Holy Shit... Zombies,” leading men Jan and Dean (played by Mackall) are two guys struggling to get by in a world where Jan works his ass off to support the unemployed loafer Dean. The same day Jan quits his job, Dean buys a high-def TV the two can’t figure out how they’ll pay for.

Frustrated, Jan goes out and finds them jobs as Avon representatives. They’re horrible salesmen and try to sell this stuff to anyone who will listen. As door-to-door salesmen, the duo tries to sell Avon to a boy in a wheelchair. Fusselman said DSK makes every attempt to be as un-PC as possible.

“We aim to insult every demographic possible,” Fusselman quipped.

Mackall said, “It’s not on purpose; it’s normal to us. Except for blacks. We love blacks.”

“In a room full of 10 people, we’re bound to piss off two or three,” Cibella said.

Sometime during the movie, totally unrelated to the Avon sales, women using “Zampons” are turning into zombies. Jan and Dean (named for the singers) are running away from the zombies so they don’t die.

Along the way, they run into two rednecks out on a hunting trip: Gator (played by Cibella) and Bubba. Although Jan and Dean had a previous run-in with Gator, the four of them join forces to fight off the zombies.

“It’s a very interlinked story line,” Fusselman said. “We’ve come a long way from ‘Retards With Chain Saws.’ ”

“I would totally be drunk to watch ‘Retards,’ ” Mackall said.

Cibella said their major influences are sheer boredom, lack of sleep and alcohol consumption. But family gossip is what fueled “Toxic Shock Zombies.”

“One day, my mom told me my cousin got TSS because she left her tampon in too long,” Fusselman said. “I thought, ‘What a great idea for a movie!’ ”

He said they categorize their movies in the sub-genre “horror comedy” because they can’t seem to make a serious movie: “I love horror and comedy. If you can be disgusted by something and laugh at the same time, that’s what we go for.”

Cibella said they’ve tried serious issues, but it doesn’t work at all.

“We’re not serious people,” Mackall said.

Fusselman said the one thing that would really help them out is to have their movies professionally distributed. They would take the opportunity if it fell into their hands, but since they sell a lot of their movies at conventions, it’s not absolutely necessary, he explained.

“If you do conventions, you don’t need distribution,” Fusselman said. “I’ll go to a convention with a full book bag of movies and sell them all.”

Later this month, DSK said they will begin filming their 10th film, titled “Slashing Prices” at Ohio Vintage,a vintage clothing store on Market Street. The scene is a 24-hour vintage store were people die.

“It’s going to be super bloody,” Fusselman said. “Aspasia [owner of Ohio Vintage] said I could do whatever I want as long as I don’t get blood on the clothes.”

If you want to buy one of DSK’s movies, you can get them on their Web site by clicking here, or stop by Artistic Demographic on Market Street. Once in a while, CD Warehouse in Boardman will stock it. “Holy Shit... Zombies” will premier Nov. 9 at Dark Xmas in Warren.