‘Sam and Mattie Make a Zombie Movie’ Proves the DIY Spirit in Horror Lives on
Premiering April 6 on VOD, Sam and Mattie Make a Zombie Movie tells the story of two friends who, through their passion for filmmaking, rallied their whole town behind them to bring their ambitions to life.
The documentary’s stars Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt, who both have Down syndrome. The pair met at the Special Olympics and bonded over a shared obsession with horror. Determined to make their own no-holds-barred, blood-soaked zombie film, they recruited Sam’s older brother Jesse and his filmmaking friends to help them realise the project. The two budding directors retained complete creative control, storyboarding, scripting, producing, casting, and starring in the finished product.
That’s not to say that they had no help along the way. Over the 10 years and 70 gallons of fake blood needed to make the film, the determined twosome rallied the whole town of Providence, Rhode Island to help out. What started as a passion project for two horror nuts ended up bringing a whole community together.
As co-director Bobby Carnevale says, “We started out thinking we’d be filming their movie with iPhones and ketchup, but Sam and Mattie’s big dreams were infectious, so everyone offered to pitch in. The fact that we ended up with such an incredible film proves that when you bring the right people together, you can do anything.”
Gravitas Ventures will release Sam and Mattie Make a Zombie Movie on April 6 on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Spectrum and Cox.