Utter Trash--Wayne Allan Harold

Cinematic Aberrations

An interview with filmmaker Wayne Allan Harold

By Bob Ignizio

A lobby card from Wayne's latest cinematic endeavor 'Abberation Boulevard'

Ravenna, Ohio based filmmaker Wayne Allan Harold first came to the attention of movie fans with the cult horror film ‘The Killer Nerd’ and its sequel ‘Bride of the Killer Nerd’. While Wayne could have easily continued cranking out low budget horror comedies, instead he made the transition to more personal, quirky films like ‘Townies’ which received a fair amount of critical acclaim and was just recently released on DVD by his friend J.R. Bookwalter’s Tempe Video. Wayne’s early efforts were certainly entertaining, but his more recent work shows a filmmaker with a genuinely unique voice and vision. Although currently involved in finishing his latest film ‘Aberration Boulevard’ Wayne nonetheless graciously made time to do an interview with Utter Trash.

Wayne got his start making Super 8 films as a kid, shooting mostly mundane every day things like his dogs and pet chickens. During his senior year of high school he signed up for an art class which had only two other students enrolled. Wayne says, “Me and a buddy talked him out of canceling the class (that would have meant study hall) and into letting us do an “Individual Investigation” into filmmaking. We both had Super 8 cameras and it basically gave us an excuse to run around for an hour a day, shooting mannequin legs sticking out of the boys’ restroom toilet. Those Super 8 cameras were great “hall passes!”” Later on Wayne received a more traditional education in filmmaking at Kent State University. “The professor was Richard Myers, who has a good rep as an underground/art filmmaker,” says Wayne. “He wasn’t all that into narrative film styles and at the time I didn’t think that I was learning anything, but looking back he taught me some very important things. Whenever I’m editing, I still hear his voice in my head saying “When in doubt--leave it out!” It’s the best advice that a film editor can get! Plus, I admire his stick-to-it-tiveness.”

After college Wayne and a friend started a video production company and made local cable commercials and industrial videos. While at a comic book convention in Cleveland they met Toby Radloff, “the Genuine Nerd”, who had already starred in a few segments for MTV. Wayne says, “They basically consisted of Toby discussing different topics, all filtered through his uniquely nerdy perspective. He told me that MTV wanted to do more segments with him, but was having trouble justifying the cost of flying a video crew down from New York to shoot them. I was fresh out of KSU and had the video production company, so it was good timing for both of us. We shot a sample segment with Toby talking about the decline of the drive-in movie theater, edited it, and sent it off to MTV. They loved it and put it on ‘The Week in Rock’. After that, we did a number of Toby segments that aired on MTV on a semi-monthly basis.” So how much of Toby’s screen persona is an act? Not much according to Wayne. He says, “People meet him in person and say, “Wow, he really is a nerd!” He’s a great guy and he still cracks me up, even after ten+ years.”

When the time came for Wayne to make his first feature, “Killer Nerd” was the obvious choice due to Toby’s national exposure and the early 90’s boom in “shot-on-video” horror movies. As Wayne had hoped the MTV connection paid off with the music channel providing publicity for the film, and a staged protest brought the local media out to the movie’s premiere at Peabody’s Down Under in Cleveland’s Flats area. Wayne says, “We hired some Kent State theater students to play protesting nerds who were put off by the film’s portrayal of a nerd as a “homocidal killer”. Channel 8 and Channel 43 both sent reporters and news crews to cover it. They never knew that it was a big fake. I painted the protest signs at our studio in Ravenna. The signs said stuff like “Nerds Don’t Kill!” and “Nerds are Nice!” It was really stupid but it worked!” After ‘Killer Nerd’ came the inevitable sequel, ‘Bride of Killer Nerd’. Although the film has its defenders who think it’s actually better than the first one, it didn’t do nearly as well commercially. Wayne says, “I have no idea why. It’s a shame, because I still like that one.”

Although Wayne would eventually work with Toby again, the “genuine nerd” did not appear in his next film ‘Girlfriends’. Wayne says, “It was a comedy about lesbian serial killers. ‘Nuff said (laughs). The New York Daily News called it “an oft-brilliant descent into vintage John Waters territory.” When I started making my solo flicks with ‘Townies’, I knew that I wanted to continue in that direction but with Toby along for the ride.” The film was loosely based on the story of real life serial killer Aileen Wournos, a tale that is currently being turned into a major Hollywood film. Unfortunately the video rights are in limbo at present, so it’s unlikely Wayne’s version will get a timely re-release. Wayne says, “I would like to remake ‘Girlfriends’ at some point, but with Toby as the nerd who gets his “seed” stolen.”

Wayne’s video production company went out of business in the mid-90s and for a while he worked on other projects. When technology had advanced enough to allow Wayne to, “do low-budget flicks without having to have a zillion bucks in analog video gear,” he set to work making ‘Townies’. He describes the film as, “a trashy comedy about a small county seat overrun by misfits, freaks and weirdoes. When I got that out, I finally felt that I was onto something.” The movie reunited Wayne with his ‘Killer Nerd’ star Toby Radloff, and also expanded his stock company to include friends Jay Geldoff and P. Craig Russell, both noted comic book artists. Wayne says, “I’ve got a lot of dirt on those fuckers (laughs)! I have been told that my greatest talent is talking people into doing things. I can’t disagree with that.” The ‘Townies’ cast also includes Lori Scarlett, a very good actress who has also appeared in films by J.R. Bookwalter and John Russo.

While ‘Townies’ is not a horror movie it’s still definitely not for all tastes. Wayne says, “People either love it or hate. A reviewer in my home town newspaper really hated it and wrote the following: “Scenes to follow include necrophilia, marijuana-smoking lesbians, the sexual assault of a mentally-challenged girl, and a dinner plate of skinned and cooked squirrels. Not for the weak.” Toby read that blurb out loud at a horror convention, and a number of folks stepped up and bought copies of the flick on the spot!” It’s a fairly accurate grocery list of the “atrocities” contained in the movie but completely taken out of the context of the film. Other reviews have been far kinder, and ‘Townies’ has become something of a genuine cult classic since it was first released. That’s probably due in no small part to the fact that Wayne always seems to be on the side of his misfit characters. Consider it penance for some of the mean things he did to the real life inspirations for the film while in High School. Wayne says, “I feel bad about a lot of shit that I did in high school! I was a real asshole! (laughs)”

It’s been a while since ‘Townies’ came out, but Wayne is finally making a new movie called ‘Aberration Boulevard’. He says, “Same “tone,” as ‘Townies,’ better execution. Not a sequel. After AB, I’ll be doing ‘Townies Return.’ I’d like it to be a trilogy; ‘Townies,’ ‘Townies Return,’ then ‘Townies Forever.’ If I do ‘Townies & Robin,’ please slap me!” The movie will once again star Toby Radloff, still staying true to his roots even after making the big time by playing himself in the big screen version of Cleveland native Harvey Pekar’s comic book ‘American Splendor’. The movie even earned a special jury prize at the Cannes film festival. Wayne couldn’t be happier for his star and says, “Jay Geldof likens Toby’s screen presence to Gary Cooper’s. It doesn’t seem like he’s giving you much at the time, but when it’s all put together he has a real screen presence. I love ol’ Tob!”

Whether or not Toby’s high profile role in ‘American Splendor’ helps ‘Aberration Boulevard’ achieve greater success than Wayne’s previous films, Wayne has no plans to follow fellow NE Ohio filmmaker and friend J.R. Bookwalter to Los Angeles. He says, “Knowing my shitty luck, when I finally get out there, he will move back here! (laughs)” If he ever had the money, however, Wayne does have an idea for a bigger budget horror film. He says, “I want to do a 50s-style “Monster” flick . . . with Toby as the monster. And I’m not kidding.” And why not? Anyone who can make an odd, personal film like 'Townies' in Ravenna, Ohio and have it distributed and watched all over the country can probably pull off anything.