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| MOVIE ENTRY |
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| How
long did your project
take to create, from
conception to final
completion? |
| It
took a bit over two
years. The screenplay
came quick, the shooting
went fast... but post
production was a very
tall mountain to climb,
and then hack into
pieces. |
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| Where
did your inspiration
come from? |
Believe
it or not The Weekly
World News. Yup. That
tabloid magazine that
you see in the supermarket
with the Bat Boy on
the cover. I picked
it up (sure when I
have extra cash and
the cover is snappy
I'll pick it up -
those guys are pretty
dammed creative!)
and inside in a very
small space at the
bottom of the page,
a bit was written
up about this guy
in Germany (I believe)
who had had an accident
and became trapped
inside his car for
two full days.
That
and I had always wanted
to do something with
a serial killer when
they were at a much
younger age. When
they were just discovering
their passions. So
when I saw that article
POW! there it was.
And I saw my climax
just as it is on screen,
and I wanted to see
that climax on screen,
wanted to see it real
bad. |
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| Is
Horror or Sci-Fi your
primary creative interest? |
| Suspense
is my primary creative
interest. But I do
loves me some horror.
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| Can
you describe a typical
day in the process
of creating your film? |
A
typical day shooting
would always begin
with me telling my
main actress Amy that
she was "in the
car". She was
in the car every day
for two weeks (that's
the story: young woman's
leg pinned inside
her overturned car,
the people that arrive
to help.. don't. And
she quickly realizes
that if she doesn't
find some way to fight
back.. they're going
to tear her apart).
And that became my
running joke (yes
it probably was only
funny to me).
She
was a real trooper
though and every day
she climbed into her
ratty dirty blood-encrusted
costume and had her
leg screwed into the
car for that day's
shooting (yes folks
her leg really was
pinned there).
And
then of course the
typical day would
be shooting twelve
pages before lunch
(because we're losing
an actor), several
special effects scenes,
a car flipping over,
three boats, inside
the firehouse, shutting
down the main street's
traffic flow without
a permit, and usually
without one single
PA to help... you
know, the usual stuff. |
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| Who
do you consider to
be the greatest horror
writer? |
| It's
a toss up.. depending
on the kind of mood
you're in. It's either
Poe or Lovecraft.
Poe because the man
knows his chops and
still today deserves
it, Lovecraft because
my (weird, wild) imagination
fills in all those
asides, allusions,
clues, and holes he
conviently leaves
for us to fill in.
Probably both, ahh
how I'd love to merge
the two.. wouldn't
that'd be a great
movie??!! |
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| Can
you recall the first
horror film that left
a lasting impression
on you? |
JAWS!!!
Water + Shark + We
can't see down there
= scary stuff (and
on a personal note:
I LOVE this movie!
I could watch Jaws
every single day of
my life and I would
still love it.
It's
like a painting, there's
so much, so much going
on so much artistry,
cinema, visual storytelling,
I'd love to sit down
and watch it with
you and show you the
genius in this movie,
in almost EVERY frame
of this movie, but
you'd think that:
a. I'm a freak, b.
enough already - let's
just watch the movie,
c. damn Jon knows
his stuff, d. Jon
really is a freak.
But probably e. all
of the above. And
(SIGH) you'd be right). |
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| Who
do you consider to
be the greatest 'Masters
of Horror'? |
| You
know this is a tricky
question but a lot
of my favorites aren't
known for horror,
sure they dabbled
in it, but after watching
the Kubrick version
of The Shining how
can you say he's not
a master? Or Spielberg
(of Jaws)? Or Hitchcock
(of Psycho)? Jonathan
Demme (of Silence
of the Lambs)? John
Carpenter is definitely
a master: Halloween
& The Thing need
I say more. And he's
stayed true to horror.
It's a tough call.
George Romero's up
there. |
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| How
many participants
comprised your crew? |
| Not
many! And it seems
like help was the
one thing we couldn't
always count on. I
had my Production
Manager/coordinator/everything,
my DP, My SPFX person,
me, the actors and
occasionally a PA
or two. All of whom,
eveyone that particpated
I can describe in
one word "awesome"
couldn't have done
it without them, without
any of them. Could
not. My hats off to
them. |
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| How
many castmembers? |
| About
three main, two supporting,
and a couple others
as extras. Great,
willing, wonderful. |
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| How
did you find your
cast? |
| I
cast in NYC and in
my home town in Maryland.
In my hometown I got
use of the local arts
theater for free.
In NYC I had to rent
a tiny space and waiting
room from 9-9, so
we woke up early that
morning, (4 AM), drove
up to NYC and had
actors come in and
audition all day,
without stop (which
was brutal-but necessary
for saving money).
Then after dinner
we went home that
night (to save more
money), I started
falling asleep behind
the wheel, so I made
a quick call to an
old college buddy
and crashed (our bodies
not the car) at his
place (and saved money).
I did a 24 hour day
that day. |
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| Did
you re-edit your film
after the first cut? |
OH
YEAH! I think of that
first cut as a self
indulgence director's
cut, meaning: the
director loved it,
everyone else... had
other ideas. And you
know what? They were
right. Learned a valuable
lesson there. I did
what I needed to do
for myself, and then
realized that I made
the movie for an audience.
Have I delicately
answered that question
or what?? |
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| Did
you shoot on film
or with digital cameras? |
| Digital.
It's here, and it
ain't going nowhere,
it's the way of the
future. I love film,
don't get me wrong,
but if it comes down
to actually shooting
or saving money up
for that *special*
day when I can afford
to shoot on film... |
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| If
you could choose any
famous actors to work
with on future projects,
who would they be? |
ANYONE?
You said "any"
so if you're giving
me free reign here
I'm going to jump
all over it and say
Robert Mitchum, Steve
McQueen, Richard Burton..
Ida Lupino.. holy
crap Orson Welles!!
aw jeez the list could
go on an on... if
only... if only.
But
to answer the question
seriously with AHEM
living actors, well
that could be fun
too although I don't
see who today could
hold a candle to Robert
Mitchum (did you see
Cape Fear? Night of
the Hunter?? Out of
the Past???) I'll
respect the question
though, Johnny Depp's
pretty damn good,
Faye Dunaway, Jack
Nicholson, anyone,
I like actors. I'd
love to put Hershell
Gordon Lewis in a
movie too. |
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