Akron native cult filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter is back with ‘Side Effects May Vary’

Cult filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter, who unleashed a plague of zombies on Akron in the 1980s, is coming home to showcase the first movie he’s directed in 23 years.

Bookwalter, 57, an Akron native who lives in North Canton, is traveling the country to promote “Side Effects May Vary,” a pandemic-themed, sci-fi horror film that he shot in Northeast Ohio in 2023. He will host an Akron screening at 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Nightlight at 30 N. High St.

The indie movie tells the fictional story of “a science denier who receives an experimental vaccine for a lingering sickness.” As the gruesome poster explains: “The only thing more fatal than the virus … is the cure!”

“Everybody seems to dig it so far,” Bookwalter said on speakerphone while driving in Pennsylvania with lead actor and screenwriter James L. Edwards, 51, of Barberton. “That’s what we like to hear.”

They were cruising toward Philadelphia on Interstate 76 after screening the movie to audiences in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg on the first two stops of a theatrical roadshow.

“We had great turnout for both events and the audience reaction was huge,” Bookwalter said.

‘The Dead Next Door’

Bookwalter was 19 and a recent graduate of Springfield High School when he made his debut feature, “The Dead Next Door,” a zombie movie shot on Super 8 film in 1986 with 1,500 undead extras lurching around Derby Downs, Akron Airdock and the Rubber Bowl.

That’s when he met a 12-year-old Edwards.

“I had answered an ad in the Akron Beacon Journal because they were looking for zombies,” Edwards recalled. “I kind of forced my way in the crew, and I’ve been with J.R. ever since.”

“The Dead Next Door” took four years to complete before being released in 1990. Bookwalter went on to direct nearly 20 low-budget movies with such colorful titles as “Robot Ninja,” “Zombie Cop,” “Kingdom of the Vampire,” “Ozone,” “The Sandman,” “Polymorph” and “Witchouse 3: Demon Fire” — many of which feature Edwards in roles.

Over the decades, Bookwalter wrote, produced, directed, edited and acted in dozens of films. In the late 1990s, he lived in Los Angeles and made movies for Charles Band at Full Moon Features.

“I burned myself out on making stuff in California,” he said. “I wasn’t really making the movies that I necessarily wanted to make and I just decided to take a break.”

Bookwalter continued to edit movie trailers and do postproduction sound, but stepped away from directing. In 2006, he moved back to Ohio, got married, had a couple of kids, and focused on family.

Meanwhile, Edwards was writing, producing and/or acting in such genre fare as “Bloodletting,” “Killer Campout,” “Deathboard,” “Shriekshow” and “Hell Van.”

Whenever the two went to lunch, Edwards would ask Bookwalter: “Don’t you want to do this? Don’t you ever feel the itch?”

Of course, Bookwalter did, but it didn’t feel like the right time to make a film.

“There were financial reasons not to do it,” he said. “You always spend more money than you should and then it takes forever to get it back. It’s just a brutal business.”

But after watching newer generations of filmmakers create movies that he didn’t think were particularly good, Bookwalter changed his mind.

“I thought: ‘Maybe I need to come out of retirement and show these kids how it’s done,’ ” he said.

‘Side Effects May Vary’

He pitched the idea of “Side Effects May Vary” in December 2022 as the world rebounded from COVID-19.

“J.R. came to me and he said he wanted me to make this movie and he wanted me to write it,” Edwards said.

They had a script by mid-January 2023, a retro sci-fi horror story laced with pitch-black comedy.

“I play the character of Glenn Rollins,” Edwards explained. “Essentially during this pandemic, I’m very against the idea of what I feel is a very rushed-out vaccine. But at the insistence of my wife, I agree to get the shot. And it may or may not have been the best choice.”

“It’s a decision that ends badly,” Bookwalter said with a laugh.

Glenn transforms into a dissolving, rampaging monster with lots of splattery, gooey effects. The unrated movie from Tempe Digital contains graphic violence, language and nudity.

Edwards acknowledged that vaccines are “a touchy subject for a lot of people.”

“I think that no matter which way you feel about vaccines and everything else, you’ll see that we try and remain very neutral throughout,” Edwards said. “We want to offend you, but we don’t want to offend you with that.”

“I have an odd sense of humor,” Bookwalter said. “A lot of the way we are as a society and the way we reacted to certain things during that period just seemed funny to me. So there’s a lot of social satire.”

Filmed over 15 days in March and May 2023, most of the movie was shot in North Canton with some scenes in Springfield Township, Ellet and Massillon. The Lakemore Police Department lent a cruiser.

It was a family affair with relatives lending their homes for scenes, appearing on camera and working behind the scenes.

“My wife, Lana, is seen briefly as a patient outside the doctor's office but also co-produced the movie, did the production design (set dressing), and also fed the cast and crew,” Bookwalter noted.

“My son Benjamin, 15, recorded sound on location and also appears as a shoplifter in the convenience store scene, and my daughter Sophia, 8, appears as one of two kids playing in the woods who Glenn terrorizes. The other is my cousin's daughter, Emma Kiefer.”

Cast of J.R. Bookwalter movie

The cast also includes Tina Krause (“Witchouse 3: Demon Fire”), Floyd Ewing Jr. (“Skinned Alive”), Drew Fortier (“Her Name Was Christa”), Sasha Graham (“Addicted to Murder”) and Tom Hoover (“Polymorph”). Scream queen Brinke Stevens, whose 1980s movies include “The Slumber Party Massacre” and “Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama,” makes a special appearance.

In addition to directing, Bookwalter handled editing and postproduction sound. He spent the summer on the project and completed the movie by September for under $50,000.

While “Side Effects” contains gore and nudity and shocking moments, audiences are reacting with laughter — for the right reasons.

“It’s sci-fi horror, but it really leans heavily into the comedy end of it,” Bookwalter said. “It’s not a scary, spooky kind of movie. It’s very bright, very colorful and very fun.”

Bookwalter and Edwards look forward to their Akron screening. Actor Tom Hoover will join them at the Nightlight. A question-and-answer session will follow the movie.

“Really, the intention with this theatrical roadshow is we want to get people to put down their cellphones, get off their couches and go see something,” Bookwalter said.

“I just appreciate the fans that are willing to come out and continue to support us,” Edwards said.

Tickets cost $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $8 for students. With a purchase, moviegoers will receive a free DVD from one of Bookwalter’s earlier movies and a free surgical mask featuring art from the “Side Effects May Vary” poster. The filmmakers also will have related merchandise and Blu-ray and DVD films available for purchase.

Bookwalter will screen the film at theaters, festivals and conventions through the spring, including Cinema Wasteland April 5-7 with Brinke Stevens at the Best Western Plus in Strongsville. The roadshow will culminate June 28-29 with the international premiere at the Weekend of Fear film festival in Erlangen, Germany.

Bookwalter wants horror fans to have a good time at his first movie in 23 years.

“Just sit back and don’t think about it and just have fun with it,” he said.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: J.R. Bookwalter returns with new movie ‘Side Effects May Vary’