But for John Kerr, his younger days on Grosse Ile launched his love of bad horror movies — and a fascination with film and the cinema in general.

"I like to entertain people and make them laugh" Kerr said. "At a young age, I was doing films on 16 mm that had no sound."

Kerr, now 35, lived on the island until he was 23, and his interest in movies was fueled by his Downriver surroundings.

"There wasn’t a lot to do, so we watched a lot of movies," he said. "… There were theaters on Fort Street that we always went to."

Such was the principle for Kerr, along with fellow Michigander buddies Dan Corrigan of Huntington Woods and Jeff Priskorn of Berkley, to create his first feature-length movie, "Arbor Daze."

"We decided that the next step would be an actual movie," Kerr said.

"We decided to try bigger and more challenging things," Corrigan added.

The making of "Arbor Daze" stemmed from the trio’s local public access comedy show called "Loose Change," which can be seen on the Comcast network throughout metropolitan Detroit.

"We started the show as a way for myself and Dan to have an outlet," Kerr said. "We met a great variety of people. … We had such a great time that it just seemed so logical that the next step would be to try our hands at a full movie."

The fact that the guys had the technical experience necessary was a big bonus, as well.

"We already knew how to operate all the cameras and how to edit," Kerr said. "We actually edit the show and we edited the movie at home on our PCs."

The filming process, which took place in the town of Croswell at Corrigan’s parents farm, was a memorable experience for those involved.

"That was like jumping into a deep pool, because we had never done anything of that magnitude before," Kerr said. "We all just slept on the floor and got up really early in the morning and filmed until really late at night."

"When we first started, we didn’t know what we were getting into," Corrigan said. "It was a lot of work."

Completion of the taping spanned more than a month and a half in 2001, with the editing lasting until the film’s debut in this spring.

The actors in "Arbor Daze" are mostly local talent and friends gathered via the "Loose Change" TV show and Web site; people the makers say the film wouldn’t have happened without.

"We had a ton of support from all of our friends," said Kerr, whose wife, Joanne, also starred in the film. "We said we were making a movie, and everyone wanted to be in on it somehow.

"It was a ton of fun because of that."

Corrigan said the trio had a "great group of people."

Described by Kerr as a comedy that mixes satire with the most horrible of horror films, "Arbor Daze" may strike a chord with those who see humor in all things — much like Kerr himself does.

"I’m a big fan of all types of comedy," he said, "But I’ve noticed that in the last five or 10 years it has slanted more toward potty humor and less on any kind of conversation that would have any kind of intelligence to it.

"So we figured we would take the other approach and have a lot of dialogue-driven comedy.

"It’s sort of something that grows on you … I’m a huge fan of ‘SCTV’ and Monty Python."

Kerr said films that influenced "Arbor Daze" include "This is Spinal Tap," the "Evil Dead" series and "Friday the 13th." He also said fans of Mystery Science Theater might appreciate the movie’s unique humor.

Kerr adds that he already had the plot in mind, and it was just a matter of laying it out on a script.

"I actually had that all in my head," he said. "I sort of sat down one day and I just cranked it out. I’m a fan of extremely bad horror movies, and I guess as I grew up watching all these movies I had ideas at how I’d like to poke fun at it.

"It seems like there’s been horror movies about a lot of holidays … (Arbor Day) hadn’t been done yet."

However, the film also has a serious theme within it regarding the environment and nutrition, which was Corrigan’s main area of contribution.

"I got to do some venting on some environmental (and) nutritional issues, so that was exciting for me," Corrigan said.

"Dan is into all kinds of environmental issues, so I sort of mined him as the expert on how we can put a message in the movie at the same time," Kerr added. "I decided that if it was just a horror movie that might be a little boring.

"Our message is that people should do some thinking about all the products that they use."

Corrigan added that Priskorn’s talents rounded out the group’s abilities.

"He’s more the actor," he said. "He also helped out with the writing and humor aspect.

"We each kind of have our own areas of expertise."

"Arbor Daze" is tagged as "The first horror movie to combine comedy and politically incorrect nutritional information."

The debut picture most likely won’t be the last for the artists. They already are in preproduction for a next effort under the working title "Weenie Roast Massacre."

"Our hopes are just to continue to do this," Kerr said. "We’d love to get noticed for it, because we think our stuff is pretty good.

"There is actually a fairly large independent film market in Michigan, so we’re hoping to make some sort of connection with that."