Hilarity ensues as The Summoner tries to assimilate into the posh L.A. suburbs and sell homes to “normal”  people.  His conflict over turf with a local group of agents sets up an Anchorman-like showdown.  This scene is responsible for the short film winning the festival’s “Best Kill” award!  And as the title suggests, it’s pretty brutal.

I was lucky enough to meet London after the screening and talk about the movie and life in general.  To my surprise, I was tickled to hear that he is actually a pediatric nurse, full time.  I can’t begin to tell you how awesome that is to hear from a man in full corpse paint.  As a huge fan of Samhain, it was a complete honor to talk to such an accomplished musician.  I was even more excited when he agreed to do a brief interview for us.  We finally got our schedules lined up and we discussed the movie and the world around it.

In addition, here’s an exclusive clip that sets the stage for Brutal Realty!

When did you decide that you wanted to throw your hat into the film arena and what made you do it?

London May:  Never in a million years did I think I’d want to produce a film.  I was quite happy just acting and clocking out. I’ve seen first hand what a tough job it is.  Producing a film is 1000 times the work of acting and it’s a huge investment of time and money. But the moment I read Joseph’s script, I knew that it was too precious and unique to let someone else come in and fuck it up.  I understood The Summoner intrinsically, and I wanted to protect his innocence, as well as his evil. And we wanted it made NOW.  If you wait around for someone else to make it, it might not ever happen. So you do what ya gotta do.  Me and Erik just jumped in the deep end on this together and swam our asses off! Thankfully, my sister came on board as the associate producer and she threw us a lifeline when we were starting to sink.

In what ways does your music background affect or influence your film work?  Inversely, will this spark your interest in starting your own black metal band?

LM:  Making low budget horror film like Brutal Realty was the same for me as promoting and playing punk and metal shows growing up.  It’s always a total DIY effort.  You beg and borrow from friends and family and find a tribe who works hard and believes in the project too.  I used to help build the stage, make the props, run the sound, promote the show, and THEN play the gig.  Then break it all down after everyone left.  That was great training for making Brutal Realty because people who are making indie movies like this are doing this all the time.  It was great to meet and work with people in a different medium who hustled just as hard.  I’ve been a fan of black metal since 1998 but I didn’t actually start playing it until I joined Ritual in 2017.  I played with them for about a year and a half but had to step away to concentrate on Brutal Realty. But soon I will be back to playing blast beats (as The Summoner) for the full-on Brutal Realty soundtrack album with the guys who scored the movie, Sanford Parker (Corrections House,) Dallas Thomas (Pelican,) and Bruce LaMont (Yakuza).

How did Brutal Realty come together?

LM:  It all cosmically lined up.  Me (the actor), Erik Boccio (the director), and Joseph Mueller (the writer) were all in the right place at the right time.  I worked separately with these two guys on other films and when those projects wrapped, I stayed in touch with them because I hoped to work with them in the future.  Kind of like meeting some cool dudes on tour and saying, “Wouldn’t it be great if one day we all started our own band together?!”  Later, I created this Summoner character while I was in a black metal band.  I ended up playing him in a few short films that inspired Erik and Joseph to create a bigger role for him.  So last fall, we all joined forces and collaborated on Brutal Realty.  We all put our individual ingredients into a big black metal crockpot and turned up the heat.  Erik brought the brains, Joseph the soul, and I’m left bringing the heart (because a demon has no soul!) We all wanted to make something unique and make something we would want to see ourselves.  Joseph really turned this whole thing on its head when he pitched us the idea of a black metal house flipper.  It was so bad-ass and so funny.

Is the Summoner fashioned after anyone in particular?  And what’s his favorite method of murder?

LM:  In general, The Summoner is a demon with no soul, but he has a big heart.  Personally, he’s a black metal composite of my childhood experiences and my favorite silent movie star/stuntman Buster Keaton.  What’s his favorite method of murder? By sword, by pick, by axe, bye-bye!

How do you think the recent attention to black metal, brought on from the movie, Lords of Chaos, will affect Brutal Realty, if at all?

LM:  I went in very judgmental to Lords of Chaos, but it totally won me over. The director, Jonas, has a copy of Brutal Realty and I’d love to get his reaction some day.  We are also big fans of the Finnish movie, Heavy Trip, and that really inspired us during the filming of Brutal Realty.  We saw that there was definitely an audience for a crazy movie like ours.  Though we may seem irreverent on the surface, I hope the black metal skeptics and purists will give Brutal a chance.  It’s a tribute to black metal; done with respect and admiration.  The movie is funny, but its not a joke.  And although black metal may be topical in 2019, we are not trying to cash in or exploit something so beloved to us.  We are truly metal as fuck.

There is news about a feature length movie featuring the Summoner.  What can you tell us about that?

LM:  The Brutal Realty feature is in development now and it’s gonna be INSANE.  It expands the Brutal universe with more metal, demons, realtors, blood, and lots of laughs. The script is one of the most original things I’ve read in a long time.  The cast is shaping up great and we have some very big surprises that will blow people’s minds.  I’m already freaking out about how awesome its all gonna be.  It’s a dream come true.

I know that you made a cameo in Glenn Danzig’s Verotika.  Will he maybe make a cameo alongside the Summoner?

LM:  Without revealing toooooooo much, let’s just say we have a lot of exciting and evil cameos planned for the feature.

Where can people see Brutal Realty or show their support?

At this point, we are only screening Brutal Realty at film festivals.  You won’t find it online, but we may be coming to your town this fall!  You can see the trailer on our website and we will be announcing all the film festival screenings there, as well as on our social media sites.  Please follow us to stay up to date, and if there is a horror film festival we need to know about, please contact us!  Links to our website and social media are listed below:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.brutalrealtyfilm.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/brutalrealtyfilm/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/brutalrealty/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BrutalRealty
CONTACT: brutalrealtyfilm@gmail.com