Interview: Matthew Leutwyler

You make it clear that your sensibility has been informed by everything from early Wes Craven to Dario Argento to Psycho to Evil Dead. If you had to pick a favorite all-time movie (horror or not), what would it be and why?
Chinatown. Favorite horror is difficult as there are so many subgenres so I'll give a couple...Evil Dead II, Alien, The Thing (Carpenter's)

Have you noticed that it seems like there are a LOT of zombie movies that have come down the pipeline in the last few years (not that we're complaining)? Why do you think that is?
Not really sure why but Hollywood will always follow a successful trend and a few of them have made some pretty good money.

What motivated you to have the musical interludes in the film?
I was at a Zachariah show and it just came to me. He's so innovative and fun I just thought he'd be a perfect fit for the type of thing we were trying to do.

You've mentioned that one of the things that makes Dead and Breakfast different from a lot of other indie horror films is that you have a cast of recognizable actors. What we want to know is, how did you get a cast of recognizable actors to be in an indie horror movie?
I play softball with a couple of them. Erik, Vince, Jeremy and I had worked together before and had become close friends. I had always wanted to do something with Ever and she suggested we bring in her Uncle Dave for the Inn Keeper's role. It just kind of snowballed from there. Diedrich Bader was pitched to us and since he was in one of my all time favorite comedies (Office Space) I had to get him in it. I had known of Oz through mutual friends so our casting director Kari Peyton went after him and dragged him on board. It was really a quick and wonderfully successful process.

Feel free to dish the dirt on any and all of your famous cast members(or on John Madden) right now. It's a relative certainty that they don't read SFist, and all of our readers promise not to spill the beans. Come on! Dish!
Right. And I hate to be a Hollywood cliché but like I said was close friends with most of them and have become friends with the rest. It was like being at some sort of fucked up, bloody sleep-over camp for the three weeks we were all staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Livermore shooting the pic.

One of your directorial colleagues asks you if you think it's a good idea to base a film production in the Bay Area. What do you honestly tell her?
Good to see it's a female director... I've done it twice because I love the feel of the Bay Area but I can honestly tell you it's difficult. Locations can be expensive, parking is a nightmare. The city should make it easier if they want more shit to happen up there. I am in Salt Lake City right now shooting a much larger picture and one of the main reasons we are here is because of the film commission here. Very film friendly and some surprisingly good local crews.

What is your beef with vegans? (who are heartily mocked in this film)
Ha. Nothing really and I'm not stupid enough to say more. This is San Francisco right? Remember, I was born here.

What are you working on right now?

A film called Unearthed. It takes place in the New Mexico dessert (SLC doubling for it). A sci-fi creature movie. Part Aliens, part The Thing. Great cast of newcomers that I have just fallen in love with. Emmanuelle Vaugier (Saw II), Beau Garrett (the upcoming Turistas), Tommy Dewey (WB's The Mountain), Luke Goss (Blade II), Tonantzin Carmello (Into The West), and my new favorite actor MC Gainey who many will remember as the naked guy in Sideways and most recently Roscoe in Dukes Of Hazzard.

Give our readers the hard sell -- why should they get their asses way on over to the Balboa to see this movie? We want to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Because it's just a fun time. Lots of blood (44 gallons) a great cast who gets the joke and Zach's funny as shit music. Who doesn't want to see a bloody, disgusting musical zombie comedy that received an NC-17 from the MPAA (though I thing you'll agree that if a studio had made this it would have gotten an R)

Matthew Leutwyler does the SFist Interview:

Occupation:
Filmmaker. Partner at Ambush Entertainment

Home Town:
Currently L.A. but I still keep my 415 telephone number for when I move back to the Bay Area.

How much time have you spent in the Bay Area?
Born there. High School in Marin. Lat lived there about 5 years ago in Sausalito.

Favorite local business:
Love the restaurants bit don't ask me to choose one. The Slanted Door. Koi Palace. A bunch of Italian restaurants.

What I'm currently reading:
I don't read much fiction just a lot of news, science stuff

Favorite mode of transportation:
My old Mustang. Love classic cars.

Favorite Bay Area politician of past or present:
Wow. Another one where I could get in trouble. Not really happy with the way SF has been run for years. Frankly I think it's an ideological mess. How about Moscone. And now I'll be quiet.

Now that Gavin Newsom is single, who are you going to set him up with?
What's with these questions? He's single what happened to him and the chick on CNN or ABC or wherever I kept seeing her during all the salacious murder trials?

You can tell someone is a local here IF:
They keep asking you about local politics.

SF would be soooo much better if only:
If it stopped trying to be so cool.

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
The chase in Bullitt. Can't go wrong with Steve Mcqueen in your city.

Best thing to do in the city in the summer:
Hike Mt Tam. Grab lunch in Tiburon and then grab a beer at a bar in SF later that night anywhere but "The Triangle."

Favorite Bridge in the area:
If it wasn't so expensive now that would be easy. GG.

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Grab a sandwich from a deli and sit down by the Marina Green alone with the worlds best crappy newspaper The Chronicle and read about the Giants.