Bear Scary puts the 'B' in B-Movie. It features a killer teddy bear as its main protagonist, slashing a couple of bitchy babysitters (oh, and a cute little boy purely, for gratuatious purposes!) to smithereens, all set to an awesome punk rock soundtrack. Filmed over a week, on a shoestring budget and fraught with problems (hey, Apocalypse Now was a walk in the park compared to this baby!), it conveys something which horror films these days all to often lack - genuine passion for the genre. It manages to be in turn humourous, scary and is reminiscent of 80's horror films with classic scenes such as a gory teddy bear shower scene and of course, the obligatory pillow fight scene.

So what inspired Dan to make Bear Scary? What made Lauren say, "Yes, I will be in your film Mr. Brownlie, and please, destroy my view of cute, fluffy teddy bears, forever!" Read on, all (well, almost all) will be revealed soon!

My dad used to run a video hire business during the 80's so he had loads of cool horror like Ghoulies, Madman and The Howling. My friend and I used to sneak down and watch them when no one was around and scare ourselves shitless. As for what effect they had on me, I think watching such graphic depictions of your natural fears and horrors brought to life, animated on screen just blows your mind. I couldn't belive what I was seeing.

The sheer lack of beauty behind these creations made me love horror for its honesty. It would always show me the darker side of things without covering everything up with a nice glossy finish. There were no happy endings, the guy didn't get the girl (and if he did, he'd kill her), the family wouldn't stay together happily ever after (unless they were mad and killed people) and Lassie didn't come home (unless she was infected with a virus that would turn everyone into zombies.

I grew up watching so much Disney (which, don't get me wrong, I love) and it was just so nice to see the flip side of the coin and by putting it in the hands of creatures actually made it easier to handle.

My taste in horror hasn't changed as much as it's expanded. I started off watching 80's slashers (which stopped when my dad stopped his video business) and then moved on to Hammer Horror, Amicus (got obsessed with Vincent Price).

A few years after that a friend showed me the Nightmare on Elm Street series and by then I was getting old enough to pass off as 18 (even though I was 14) and I could start exploring back alley shops in Camden and track down the "video nasties".

Every time I discovered something new I embraced it as another expression of the genre.

I.Love.Charles.Band! He is amazing, I can't get enough of killer toys, puppets and gingerbread men. If there's a Charles Band film about killer toys or other such weirdness that I don't own it's on my 'track down list'. I also quite appreciate the way he handles his franchises. They seem to be set out like comic book stories, with films crossing over and characters popping up here and there.

I also admire Loyd Kaufman (even though he blanked me on Facebook.....grrr). Troma is the punk rock of the horror industry and one of my main influences in the 'I can do this' scheme of things. I love his optimism in the face of sheer disaster and his Ed Wood take on film production.

There are also specific films that have made a massive impact on me, Killer Klowns From Outer Space (aka the greatest horror film ever made), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (aka the second greatest) and House of 1,000 Corpses (aka the third greatest) have all changed or bent my views on what can be done and what should be done to make a great film.

It's hard to say. I remember the late 80's and early 90's horror was dead. There was shit all coming out and everyone was reduced to buying shit arse European horror and other such throw backs from the 70's/80's that acclaimed such infamy and conning ourselves it was good (Don't get me wrong, Europe has produced some cool stuff but how disappointed was I when I finally found some new horror for £20 for a VHS, brought it home and realized the dude covered in mud and a thin layer of latex groaning like he stubbed his toe was not only annoying but I also blew my drink money just to get disappointed. If I wanted to do that I'd've just tried to pull someone). So when Wes Craven brought out Scream and blatantly resurrected horror (and anyone who enjoys horror from 1996 onwards has him and him alone to thank) the influx of horror was so welcome and seemingly new that it seemed like we were in the golden age of horror.

'Gritty' horrors of 70's/80's were great but it's all about balance. Perfect example: Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses. Now you tell me which one's best....don't be anal about it just think. House' wouldn't exist if Chainsaw hadn't been made. But the smoother more exciting direction and cutting of House does make you lean towards the modern.

Basically, most people bitch about Golden ages and other such bollocks cuz they're snobs. People are making horror, and lots of it. You make lots of anything and you'll get your fair share of shit (Adam Sandler films.......and that's just one guy). People out there are making horrors cuz people out there want to watch them. If it's a glossy remake or a barely visible Vipco release, does it really matter as long as people are watching it. Cuz the more horror is being distributed it gives people like me the chance to try and get my stuff out there with the flow.

I can't say I've noticed many female directors in films I've watched. I remember being surprised that a woman directed Slumber Party Massacre (due to it having the most blatant 'girls in shower arse shots' know to film) and often just generally surprised when I find out a woman directed a film I've just watched.

I think the film industry is male dominated, not just horror as you assume (and I'm well aware to assume is to make an arse of you and me and all that) that a male did it. You would expect a female director (I'm sure there's a pc term for female directors but I hate pc terms as much as I hate CGI blood splatter) to make more of a statement when they get the chance but then again maybe if they do the cocks of the industry will get uppity and not give them a chance again (I remember joining a group of women in horror on Myspace til they kicked me off because I said something wrong....completely beside the point).

I remember Karyn Kusama banging on about how over sexualized women in horror are and then went and directed Jennifer's Body. So God knows what the empowerment game plan was but I got a funny feeling it ain't working. On the flip side of the camera, horror gives women more opportunity to be strong than any other genre (Chick flicks don't count because there just stereotypes of how women should behave in the most non-offensive way possible...apart from Mean Girls...that film rules).

Okay, so they're generally skimpily dressed and spend half the time screaming (but let's face it, the blokes ain't no heifers these days either), but they generally pull their shit together and end kicking the living crap out a previously unstoppable killer.

I'd be more than happy with underground success, but obviously commercial success isn't anything to be sniffed at either. People do most things (write, direct, play intruments) for several reasons, but the main thing is to be noticed.

If there's something you want to say (like the social satire of Romero), or you want to impress your style on a new generation (like Rob Zombie), a homage to what you love or just have a story to tell. It is always better when you know that all your blood, sweat and tears (cuz none of this is ever easy) is appreciated.

Underground success is always more heartwarming because you know you've touched the imagination of those people out there like you. 'Your people' understand what you're trying to say and like the way you're doing it, but commercial success is good because it opens more doors (and makes you more money) to let you do more. There is a certain snobbery about commercial success, but hey, you can't please everyone....!

England nailed the anthology horror years back with the Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and other such films, but America topped it with the HBO series of Tales from the Crypt. British films have a certain cynical edge that is rarely seen in horror but Americans have that over the top bubblegum style that just doesn't work that well when done by us Brits.

When I look at my horror collection the American films way outnumber the British ones, but that is mainly because America has a lot more money to throw at such things and is just a damn site bigger, but I don't necessarily think that makes them better. I'd have to say America does do bubblegum horror better, just because they have an overly enthusiastic approach to life due to mass media brain washing (but having said that has anyone seen Tokyo Gore Police.......now that's bubblegum horror the Americans could never do).

B-movies generally have lower budgets due to the fact major corporations won't fund them, so they have to scrape what they can together. This makes them more daring and creative and will go in directions major studios wouldn't dare. But to say this is what 'makes' a B-movie is not giving the creators enough credit. The reason why they couldn't get the money is they are just too out there, too bolshi, too unpredictable and then necessity becomes the mother of invention. You can't pin down what makes a great B-movie, otherwise the bigwigs would have done it years ago and turned them into A-movies.

Bad Taste was great due to its over the top gore and sick sense of humor. Killer Klowns from Outer Space was great because it turned so much on its head, not only with the amazing looking protagonists but also it was an update of 50's alien attack B-movies. Troma films are great because they just push the envelope so far in terms of crass baseline gore, comic humor and oversexualised film making.

With my film (oh come on, I'm just surprised I've come this far without trying to plug it) Bear Scary I tried playing with horror stereotype juxtapositions, an interesting killer and a lot of fun.

So, in answer to the question it's me who 'makes' a B-movie horror film. Me and all the others like me who have an interesting story to tell and bugger all budget to do it with.

When I die I want to get cremated. All my close friends will get a small box containing some of my ashes so when someone annoys them they can throw some of me at them. I'd just love to continue to piss people off long after I'm gone. Working on that basis I'd have to die via zombie bite (but then I'd just become one of the masses and I don't like that) so I'd have to become a vengeful spirit. The Grudge would work there but that creepy bitch plain freaks me out....Decoys was always good cuz then at least ya get laid, but that's just too much of a blokey answer and in today's society of aftershave balm, we should all be a bit more in touch with our feminine side...erm....has anyone seen....no, that's just weird.

I'm not really sure I'm ready to deal with my own mortality, I mean I know I'm 33 and still haven't managed to give up smoking yet, but still... I would like to get killed by an evil teddy bear, a killer pizza, a bath bomb or a jack in the box. Go to brand-B.com to find out why. Ya see what I did there? ;)

I must have been about 8 years old, round my uncle's house and I foolishly asked if he had any Disney films I could watch. He chucked me A Nightmare on Elm Street and told me it was the closest thing he had to Sleeping Beauty. I sat alone whilst my family ate dinner transfixed by the sheer horror of it all. I was purely a happy go lucky Disney film girl before this, so to watch a film full of so much terror and no happy ending was something completely new to me, but I loved it, and from that moment on I was strictly a horror film kinda girl, bar the occasional chick flick ;)

When I was about 13 I had a rather unhealthy obsession with books about serial killers. Ed Gein, Andre Chikatilo: The Rostov Ripper and the Ken and Barbie Murders were by far my favourites. So naturally I love to see them brought to film. To me there is nothing creepier than the human race and what we are capable of. From cold, calculated killers that look just like you and me to the mentally disturbed, abused as a child and dressing up like a clown types, serial killers take on so many different fucked up shapes and forms. And there is no end to the amount of weapons they can use.

My all-time favorite serial killer has to be Michael Myers (Halloween). Yes I know he is a fictional character, but everything about him, and that film in fact, is utterly terrifying. He looks creepy as fuck, he walks slowly, he shows absolutely no compassion (well, maybe once and he got over that pretty damn quickly) and he is so unbelievably strong he can literally crush a person to death, and to me...that's scary.

Women are represented differently depending on the film I guess. Some still have the very old fashioned damsel in distress or overly sexualized women; others show women as kick ass, villain beating heroines that show the men how it's done. Either kind is fine by me. As far as admiring horror actresses, I wouldn't go as far to say I admire her but Sheri Moon is defiantly my number one, she blew me away in House of 1,000 Corpses/ Devils Rejects. I used to love Jamie Lee Curtis (Mainly because of my Halloween Fetish) but then she went and made Freaky Friday and I lost all respect for the woman.

They have totally changed, from the women of the Dracula movies to the women in "The Craft" or "The Descent" (even though I hated that film). Women have gone from being "defenseless little females" to hardcore, bad guy killing, ass kicking heroines. But no matter if they are crying in the corner or sawing the head off of a serial killer, they will always continue to be overly sexualized objects in horror films. I very rarely see a horror film now days where there isn't at some point a half naked women parading around and we are supposed to believe that all women sleep in full make up, stockings, suspenders etc. Tut tut. I guess the amount of hot females/female nudity in horror has something to do with the amount of male directors eh?

Strutting around in stockings and suspenders of course! Nah of course not, unless I was getting paid a shit load. Ha. Again, kidding. I hate to go on about it but I would love to be in Halloween. If Rob Zombie made a 3rd one, that would be awesome. Firstly because I would get to meet Rob Zombie and more than likely Sheri Moon (sad, I know) and secondly I would then be a part of what I have watched and admired for so many years. Either that or chuck me in a zombie film, as a zombie...or a victim...or both. Running and screaming I can do and I'm sure I'd make a damn fine zombie as well.

As far as the quality of film goes, I would say that it may be dying out a little. Everything seems to be so glossy now days. I haven't found anything that compares to films like Bad taste and Basket Case in a while but then I guess the era of those films has something to do with it. Although you do get the odd gem now and again, like Troma stuff, genius, but they do tend to make me feel a wee bit queasy. But as for the B-Movie attitude of getting your film out there despite lack of budget and people saying it will never happen, I think that is still very much alive, and Brand-B is proof of that ;)

Brand-B Corporation, of course!

Argghhh, tough one. Would I be repeating myself if I said Michael Myers? Yeah, I think so. Oh, I don't know. I mean, if you mean in real life... and I really had to die after... I guess at least someone amusing. Like Leprechaun, I mean really, death by pogo stick, at least I'd die laughing.