'Horrorfest 4': Blood, guts and Seattle film 'ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction'

As independent filmmakers turn to the Internet to promote their low-budget productions, the Holy Grail of theatrical distribution is more elusive than ever. That's why the Seattle-based cast and crew of "ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction" were thrilled when their locally produced horror comedy was chosen as one of eight films to be showcased in "Horrorfest 4," a weeklong, nationwide film series that starts Friday at the AMC Southcenter 16 multiplex.

"I had mentally prepared for the worst," says the film's 27-year-old director and co-writer, Kevin Hamedani. "You hear all these horror stories about dishonest distributors, but that didn't happen with us. The people who produce Horrorfest are genuine fans. They get our movie's humor, and they know how to market it."

Now in its fourth year, Horrorfest is the brainchild of producers at After Dark Films, an independent studio specializing in horror. In partnership with Lionsgate (the predominant horror distributor), After Dark scouts film festivals for the cream of a very large crop, and they discovered "ZMD" at last summer's Los Angeles Film Festival. (It also played SIFF, where it was a runner-up for the Golden Space Needle award.)

An Edmonds native now living in L.A., Hamedani made two shorts before graduating from the University of Washington in 2004 with a degree in cinema studies. That same year, he co-wrote "ZMD" with Ramon Isao, and later secured financing from John Sinno, the Seattle-based producer whose company, Typecast Films, scored a hit in 2006 with the Oscar-nominated documentary "Iraq in Fragments."

Billed as a "political zomedy," "ZMD" was shot in Port Gamble ("for well under $1 million," according to Hamedani) in late 2007. The setting was perfect for the film's small-town story, which combines political satire and post-9/11 paranoia in a town overrun by brain-eating zombies. The zombie-fighting action focuses on local outcasts Frida (Janette Armand), an Iranian student wrongly suspected of terrorism, and Tom (Doug Fahl), a gay businessman returning home with his boyfriend, Lance (Cooper Hopkins), to come out to his conservative mother.

"I almost didn't show up for the audition," says Fahl, a seasoned Seattle actor who answered a casting call with minimal enthusiasm. "But Kevin saw me as a strong contender, and it took off from there. I'm proud of the film. It's funny and scary and delivers on different levels, and I think that's why it's getting all this attention."

Armand is a 2008 graduate from the UW's drama school, and Hopkins (who still works as a Seattle-area sports announcer) attended Edmonds-Woodway High School and the UW with Hamedani. Like Fahl, both are making their feature-film debuts in "ZMD."

"Our movie had no home, and now After Dark is handling it with care and integrity," says Hamedani, who's hoping to interest Lionsgate in another feature he's developing. "It's just the greatest feeling."

The other films, presented in a staggered schedule throughout the week, include "Kill Theory," "Dread," "Hidden," "Lake Mungo," "The Reeds," "The Graves" and "The Final."

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net

Information in this article, originally published Jan. 27, 2010, was corrected jan. 28, 2010. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Kevin Hamedani's name. We regret the error.