Twelve different women walk into a bar, and 12 different murder scenarios play out before your eyes. It may sound like the newest TV crime drama, but it’s actually one of the concepts of the Looks that Kill calendar. This in-your-face, horror-themed calendar combines alternative models with horror movie motifs to create a unique body of work that, as stated on the calendar’s website, “wraps the world of beauty in a blanket of macabre.”

LTK is the brain child of Ryan Convery and Ed Gutierrez, of Worcester/Lowell-based Fat Foot Films, and Shauna LeMay, of Pick Your Poison Makeup in Lowell. It is an ongoing project to promote local bands and alternative models, as well as to generate revenue for the group’s various projects. “The film industry is expensive, so we needed a way to raise money,” Convery said.

The calendar was originally made to earn money for Fat Foot’s zombie movie Mourning Wood.

The film began life as a short skit Convery and Gutierrez performed together in their younger years on local access TV in their hometown of Sutton. A friend of theirs worked at the station and told them they could get away with airing some of their racier material due to the channel’s low viewership.

The story takes place in the small town of “Slutton,” where, according to Convery, the gag was the zombies “hump you until you explode, which is how you turn into a zombie, rather than being bitten.”

“It was vulgar,” Convery laughed. “We got kicked off after five episodes.”

This comedic impropriety and shock value has carried over into their current work. “Ryan and I were into filming, and Shauna was into makeup,” Gutierrez said, noting that it was the perfect combination for what they set out to do.

LeMay, a native of Milford, began her career in freelance hair and makeup before lending her abilities to LTK. However, her role as photographer on the project was just a serendipitous accident.

“I had an image in my head that I wanted, tried to explain it to the photographer, and it was difficult,” Lemay said. Convery added that he suggested that LeMay take a picture to find the angle she wanted and realized, “She can snap a photo!”

LeMay then learned to use Photoshop and did the calendar’s photo editing, as well. Gutierrez said, “The photo manipulation in this year’s calendar was incredible!”

Lemay learned as she went with the horror makeup, as well. “I’m completely self-taught,” she said. “If you have basic essentials and a relative idea of what you want or research basic technique, anything is possible.”

Where the group previously needed to hold casting calls, LeMay said she now has people inquiring about modeling for the calendar. “We already have 12 new models lined up,” LeMay said. “People are interested as far away as Tennessee and California, but we have no way of getting them to shoots unless they want to fly out here.”

Convery also added that each calendar includes a behind-the-scenes DVD. “It’s unique because you get to meet the girls,” he added. “You realize that they’re not just bimbos. They’re funny, and they’re locals. You can see them at the bar.”

This year, the calendar DVD includes a grotesquely humorous “strip roulette wheel of death” scene inspired by Adult Japan TV Game Show.

“Every year, we do something great, but then we have to outdo ourselves,” Gutierrez said, noting that the collaborators’ excitement to do the next project helps them along. “We thrive on that.”

Gutierrez added that the crew has a very close-knit dynamic when working together. “We fight a lot, but we get through it and we look forward to fighting each other the next year.”

“We butt heads,” Convery added. “We’re trying not to kill each other before we come up with something great.”

For the future, Gutierrez hopes to gain wider distribution for the calendar, including a mall kiosk. “I would love for our calendar to be everywhere, for it to expand,” Gutierrez said.

The 2015 Looks That Kill calendar is available, with DVD, for $14.99. For more information, visit looksthatkillcalendar.com.

~ By Sean M. Haley