EDITOR’S NOTE: Ramone Menon (BFA/Film Production ’09) loves horror movies. Not just any kind of horror movie, but midnight movies. And just what is a midnight movie? Well, allow Menon to take you down the long, dark road he traveled in order to make his film The Black Tape.


Though it took three years for
The Black Tape
to reach its current state, it is finally what I want it to be: a midnight horror movie.

Who would want to watch a midnight movie?

Midnight movies have long been a fascination for yours truly. When I was a teenager, I eventually ran out of great classic films to watch, so I made my way over to the twilight zone of my local video rental store in Bangalore, India, and found
Eraserhead
. By its cover, I thought it was an art film about a terrible barber.

Then I popped it in and started to watch it. When the words ‘A film by David Lynch’ came up, I thought, ‘Oh, hell no!’ But, I already paid 100 Rupees (back then, equivalent to $2) for the rental and me being a cheap guy, wanted to get every paisa (or penny) worth. So, I paused it, smoked a few cigarettes, and went back in and pressed play.

The film was hypnotic. Nothing could have prepared me for the weird and wacky mind of early Lynch – not even
Lost Highway
. I wondered who makes this stuff and more importantly, who would watch it?

midnight movie crew at film festival


I dug around the internet for a while, looking up information on the film, and found that it came from the old 70s tradition of midnight movies. I discovered other midnight classics such as
El Topo
,
Freaks
,
Der Fan
,
Altered States
and
Performance
. It was fascinating that cinema has this grey area between cult movies and avant-garde that I wasn’t previously aware of.

I wondered what makes a midnight film? Was it the weird plot line or lack of it? Was it the strange performances? The all-in aesthetic? The frenetic subject matter? Was it because they were hard to find? After watching a lot of them, I figured it’s usually a strange concoction of all these elements.

During my time at Chapman University, I was exposed to films from all over the world and gained an appreciation for world cinema. I also noticed that my fellow film students were game to watch a lot of cult and avant-garde cinema. My friend, David Libertella (BFA/Film Production ’10), shared my enthusiasm for shoe-string filmmaking and we shot a lot of short films during our tenure at Dodge College. Collaborative thinking and a very well planned pre-production were important lessons instilled in us at Dodge. We also learned the value of taking other people’s opinions and making it work for the film that you want to make. Being at Dodge College was an invaluable life lesson that allowed me to expand my knowledge in film production and gain a vast network of friends and fellow filmmakers to collaborate with.

On completion of my degree at Chapman, I became obsessed with making my own midnight movie. When it came time to make my debut film as director, I thought if I couldn’t make a film that was as crazy like
T
he Harder They Come
or
Repo Man
, then there would be no point making movies.

I started plotting the film. I was reading Agatha Christie’s
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
and then it hit me – Eureka! I wanted to make a film that was told entirely from the point of view of the killer – but then I realized
The Lady in The Lake
already used that aesthetic and it could get cumbersome. I was fascinated by the idea that the killer could let the audience watch what he wants them to see, when he wants them to see it – whether it is a cut to someone running away to a random cut to a sex scene in the midst of a murder. I decided to call the film
The Black Tape
, after being influenced by the title of Metallica’s
The Black Album
.

the black tape movie poster


I conceptualized and wrote the script. My brother, Raoul, and I decided to produce and fund the movie. On a micro budget of $30,000, we decided to start pre-production and casting for the film out of our apartment in Culver City. We pulled favors from our close friends to help with handling various departments, from the first assistant director to procuring permits for filming. The cast included only eight people, including Elina Madison, a renowned actress amongst indie horror fans.

The Black Tape
is probably the only movie where the killer has been played by every crew member on the set, including the cinematographer. There were times we were waiting on set wondering what the hold up was, when there would be a cry from the make-up girl, “Finishing the make up on the cinematographer!”

I decided to edit the film in India for budgetary reasons. The tiny post-production team in India was caught off guard by what they saw in the dailies – they had never worked on a found footage horror film, let alone a film told entirely from the perspective of a killer.Post-production took 10 months, maybe longer. We had to find the right tone and pace of the film, especially because the film was being “edited” by the killer. The cutting of the film had to represent the crazy mind of a killer.

Following post production, the film was screened at film festivals, including the PollyGrind Film Festival, Las Vegas; Gasparilla International Film Festival, Florida; and Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. It won the “Best Crime” award in the PollyGrind Film Festival.

I decided to market the film from the killer’s point of view, hence all the posters and trailers having a tongue-in-cheek approach, which represents the spirit of the film. The great thing about a film told from the perspective of the killer is the cheeky and fun side of exploring what else would a killer/filmmaker to do get attention for his/her film – the possibilities are limitless.

The Black Tape
will have its first Midnight Screening in Los Angeles at the
Landmark Regent on Friday, Nov. 20th at 11:59 pm
. The Black Tape Killer is tying in the midnight show with a live stream of a murder that he/she is going to commit right before the show starts at midnight. The murder will be streamed on the live streaming app Periscope at 11:40pm, right before the movie. After which, the live stream will continue from the theatre, allowing audiences world over the chance to join in on the exclusive Midnight Murder Movie Screening of
The Black Tape
.