Five Horrific Questions with David Dietz creator of ‘Indemnity: Rage of a Jealous Vampire’

Hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.

The acting bug bit Pittsburgh hyphenate David Dietz early and often. (It’s Halloween, after all, so shouldn’t it be a swarm?)

“I've always acted in plays, going to back to when I was in elementary school,” says Dietz, who grew up outside Pittsburgh and attended Robert Morris University. “Then, when I got older, and learned that people would actually pay me to do it, I was sold! Now, with the technology making it easier for Hollywood outsiders to bring their visions to the screen, not only have I been cast in more films, I can even make my own!”

Since, Dietz has acted in a fistful of films made in and around Pittsburgh, including End Game and Death from Above, both starring Kurt Angle, Strange Girls and Fetish Dolls Die Laughing. 

Dietz is making his own movies these days. His proudest achievement (so far)? Indemnity: Rage of a Jealous Vampire. The horror film tells the tale of what happens when a woman, scorned, happens to also be a vampire, scorned.

“I pretty much did it all - wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in it,” says Dietz. “As I like to say, ‘Jack of all trades, master of none!’ Plus, thanks to Facebook, I even managed to get it distributed worldwide. It's very satisfying to know that something you created is out of your head and into the world where anyone who's interested can see it.”

Five Horrific Questions with David Dietz

MMM: What’s makes a horror movie scary? 

Dietz: For me, it's having a great monster. The scariest movies ever made have always had one. Nothing's more satisfying than watching something horrible and evil tearing its way through a movie only to get its comeuppance at the end. Of course, sometimes it doesn't... and that's even scarier! 

MMM: What’s the scariest movie you ever saw? 

Dietz: I don't really scare easily anymore, but the original Nightmare on Elm Street still sends shivers down my spine - as does The Exorcist. (I saw the version with the restored footage and it was really scary!) The most recent film that gave me a good jolt was "Insidious." 

MMM: Who is your horror inspiration? 

Dietz: As a director, I've always been a fan of Wes Craven (probably because of Nightmare on Elm Street). I admire anyone who writes and directs his own material - particularly when he makes such iconic material on such a miniscule budget. As an actor - Robert Englund, because anyone who has the range to play a meek alien on V and Freddy Krueger has "range!" 

MMM: Why do we like to be scared? 

Dietz: I think it's because the only time we feel the most "alive" is after the moment we come closest to "death." And since most of us in the Western World don't live in caves and hunt bison anymore, horror movies (like roller coasters) are a cathartic way for us to experience that unique sensation that only comes when we feel our life might be slipping away. 

MMM: What movie would you like to turn into a horror movie? And how would you do it?  

Dietz: Some people might say Showgirls is horrifying enough on its own... but imagine if you took the storyline of Showgirls and put a horror spin on it? Like, maybe the showgirls are actually a coven of witches and Elizabeth Berkley's character has to either join them or be sacrificed in their show (which has become the toast of Vegas because "it seems so real!"). (Editor’s trivia note: Showgirls was written by Cleveland native Joe Estherez.

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