As the movie industry continues to grow, and more and more people begin to take an interest, many people may dream of becoming an actor or even a director. In the media age, it’s becoming more accessible for young people to showcase their talents to the world. Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to someone who is actually living out those dreams, horror director Joe Lynch. 

Lynch is a director with some important movies on his resume, “Mayhem” for just one example. I wondered what exactly got him into the film.

 “My gateway into movies, in general, was my mother’s love for horror movies or just genre movies in general,” said Lynch 

Lynch explained where his love for movies, especially horror, stems from.

“The first movie I saw was ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ I don’t know what compelled her to do it but there was this thing back in the day that parents used to do to put their kids to sleep. They’d drive around a lot. My mom used to take me to movies, the louder and the crazier, the better, and ever since then from that movie to the ‘Star Wars films, back when I still thought everyone was behind the screen. I just was so fascinated by it,” said Lynch

Lynch also talked a lot about his love for Stephen King, something a lot of horror fans can definitely relate to.

 “When my parents’ home got robbed, the robbers took everything except for a hardcover of ‘Christine.’ So while my mom was on the phone calling 911, I started reading Stephen King.” 

“My dream is to do a Stephen King story. One that I’ve always wanted to get my claws onto is the original source material that ultimately became ‘Silver Bullet’ called ‘The Cycle of the Werewolf.”

When asked why he wanted to be a director specifically, he replied, “I knew that I could take all of my talents, and put them into one position.” 

His parents were also supportive of his dreams, unlike many who may not fully believe filmmaking is the way to go.

“As much as my parents would ask me ‘Are you sure about this?’ They also were very supportive, although my dad wasn’t too thrilled that I wasn’t going to take over the family business. When I went to film school, I was dead set on that because a lot of kids going to college have no idea what they want to do. If anything, they wanted to get out of the house and party. Whereas I wanted to get out of the house, go to school, take advantage of the equipment and all the resources that I have, and start making movies,” said Lynch

Filmmaking has changed a lot, especially now with wider access to cameras because there is a camera on everyone’s phone ready to use.

 “When I was starting out, we didn’t have good video cameras. We didn’t have editing devices other than if you took two VCRs together, so it was pretty crude to make anything. Not like these days where you could take an iPhone and cut it on Premier Pro and put it on YouTube and make something as good as something the studio puts out. We didn’t have that back then,” said Lynch.

Seeing where he is now, what advice would Lynch give to people wanting to go into directing? 

“Know everything. I know that’s like a big lofty goal to throw out at people, but it’s part of the reason I think I was able to get the jobs that I did and the things that I was able to do from short films to music videos and commercials that got people interested in me making full-length films. I would’ve never been able to do any of that if I didn’t know how to write, and shoot, do effects, and act if needed. It was all of those skills that I was able to do,” said Lynch

For those who are waiting for another movie from Lynch, don’t worry, He’s got a new one coming soon. So what should you expect? 

“The new movie ‘A Suitable Flesh’ is based on an H.P. Lovecraft story”, which is a great thing to hear, especially for fans of movies like “Re-Animator.” Good news for those who are fans, Barbara Crampton will have a part in this new film. 

  “It’s a very Lovecraftian take on the body swap genre,” said Lynch.

So be on the lookout for “A Suitable Flesh” coming soon, and a  special thank you to Joe Lynch for being an amazing guest.