Zombies Invade Milwaukee in New Indie Film

by

Zombie Frat House has been called “ the largest indie film” ever produced in Milwaukee. Director, editor, cowriter and coproducer Ross Bigley agrees, chalking up the numbers: 40 speaking parts, a crew of 20 and nearly 100 zombie extras. “Being a zombie film, we needed lots of people to die, and when a character dies, we needed more actors to come in to replace them,” he explains. “So much of our cast does not survive. We were lucky enough to get some of the most beloved local theater actors to come on board and take part in the fun.”

Zombie Frat House is streaming on Troma and will also receive its big screen debut at the Avalon next month.

The cast includes Tom Reed, Dan Katula, James J Gallagher, Bo Johnson, Robert W.C. Kennedy and Tim Higgins plus new talent such as Anieya Walker, Colin Daly, KJ Lyn, Sherrick Robinson, Andrea Paulsen and Pierre Lewis, not to mention the hundred zombie extras.

“We shot all over the Milwaukee area, UWM, Bayview, the West Side, the North Side, Greendale and all of ex-Fox 6 reporter Jeremy Ros’ scenes were filmed in Muskego. All on a shoestring budget. Truly an indie film,” Bigley continues.

Genre Medley

He describes Zombie Frat House as a medley of genres, a college comedy with zombies, Animal House meets Walking Dead. “Our heroes are a bit reluctant, some want to get high, but they do rise to the occasion. But we really just wanted to make a really fun film. It was a lot of work, but it is a fun film to watch,” Bigley says.

Zombie Frat House was produced by Bigley, Leslie Maj, Sharon Giesfeldt, Glen Popple and Craig McCarthy, from a script by Bigley, Brian Roloff and Michelle Hoffman. The film, features a score by Cyberchump, the electronic duo by Milwaukee musician-filmmaker Mark G.E. and his long-distance collaborator, Kansas City’s Jim Skeel.

“Many reviewers have said that our music is cinematic and atmospheric, but we had never been asked to do a soundtrack,” G.E. says. “When Ross asked us to do the music for the film, Jim and I saw it as a great opportunity to learn a new way to work with our music.  For the soundtrack we created original pop songs, rock songs and moments of ambience and underlying movement.”  

Raucous Action

G.E. wanted a combination of raucous action sequences and underlying mood to move scenes along. “Recording the soundtrack was a process that began with watching each scene and determining the underlying mood; how music would work in the scene, enhance the director’s intention and not get in the way,” he continues. “We paid special attention to when music started and ended, such as ending a sequence on a door slam, or body stab. 

“A number of characters have musical themes that reoccur when they are seen or slightly referenced when seen again later in the film. Being a filmmaker myself, I tend to be focused on the rhythm of a scene, which helps when creating music to go in a film. We spent quite a bit of our attention on determining how to transition from one scene or mood to another in an attempt make it as natural as possible,” G.E. says.

Zombie Frat House will stream exclusively on the new streaming service, Troma Now: watch.troma.com. The first month is free and you can find it on Roku, Amazon TV and Google play.

Zombie Frat House will also be screened at 6:30 p.m., April 13 at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater. Tickets will be $11 and are available on the Avalon’s website.