Meet the Bitchin’ Guys from Unhinged Cinema
          Thursday, January 18th 2007

     The guys from Unhinged Cinema rock my world. 
     Here’s why:
          1. They bought me a slice of warm cherry pie with ice cream
          2. They gave me an awesome hat (see pics)
          3. They kept me entertained with their fun stories for two and a half hours
          4. They’re devoted to their work as filmmakers
          5. Their films are pretty damn good      On a chilly Monday, I met with Slava Siderman and John Gonzales, founders of Unhinged Cinema, at the friendly House of Pies restaurant in the neighborhood of Los Feliz. 
     I hit them with some fancy questions and they hit me with some equally fancy answers. They sat across from me in the booth and I studied them while slurping down on delicious pie and creamy ice cream. In my experience, the so-called real food is horrible there, but GODDAMN that pie was fantastic. And, as I said before, so was the company. 
     I wondered exactly what Unhinged Cinema was and they explained that it’s a conglomerate of all the films they’ve made together and with others. Documentaries, Horror Flicks, Dramas, Dark Comedies-- they pretty much have a little of everything in the mix. Both have been artists and filmmakers since they were kids. Slava was sculpting and drawing as a boy in the Soviet Union and John was directing neighborhood kids in kung fu and zombie movies with his camcorder. 
     A dynamic duo, the guys could practically finish each other’s sentences. It was clear that they were made to be artistic partners.
     The first actual film under Unhinged Cinemas is the upcoming film, Isolation, which they’re not really talking about. All they told me was that it takes place in a cabin, it’s about a family, and there’s a killer. Gee, thanks, guys. What, you think I can’t keep a secret? Bah!
     Because they’ve been making movies together since they worked on the movie Demoness in1994, I figured it would be appropriate to ask them if they’re old. Valid question, right? 
     Slava said, “If you go to my house, you’d think a kid lives there. Legos in the kitchen…Killer Clown from Outer Space…” John said, “I feel pretty young, but I keep my toys in boxes.” Well, these old geezers impressed me with their trailer reel stacked with tons of films. Standouts include Slava’s documentary, Angel for Hire, which is now in production and John’s short film, Uneven. 
     The film penned by John entitled Y2K: Shut Down Detected won a plethora of awards including Best Picture at Screamfest 2001. He also acted co-produced, co-edited, and co-directed with Slava. There are zombies in this one, kids--uber rad zombies!

     A few interesting things I found out about Slava and one funny thing about John:
     A Russian immigrant, Slava thought that pizza was flesh when he first ate it.
     Slava’s been known to deal with injuries on the set. When making the football documentary, 48, he fell through the bleachers and kept his camera arm up in the air. When making the film, The New Chapter, he broke his ankle, yet kept running around while filming. 
     Slava caught a mouse trying to take a bath in his bathtub. He then put the mouse in a bag-only to have the mouse jump in his face.
     John peed next to John Landis once Unhinged Cinema’s most recently finished short, The Roadside Killer, is odd to say the least. The character is the subject of a series of shorts they have planned. The first one takes place up in the mountains where the victim is rolled in bubble wrap and murdered with a saw. “Let’s just use bubble wrap. Let’s just wrap her in bubble wrap,” they said. The Roadside Killer AKA Stanley Simmons wears a gas mask and a diaper because he has a mean incontinence problem.
    So what would it be like to go on a date with ol’ Stanley? The guys answered, “Probably a long drive down a desolate road away from civilization. It’d be a stinky date. You’d probably have to wear a gas mask. You’d haveto sit and listen to him talk. Any experimental things would be making you wear a Depends. Definitely don’t ask him for his help. He’s not really gonna care.”
Fuck Stanley, man. These guys were the best dates I’ve had in a while! Check their shit out at www.unhingedcinema.com