AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID CARRADINE

11.04.2008

Perhaps one of the most popular and well-renowned cult character actors of all time, David Carradine has built up an impressive acting canon over his years of operation. David speaks to MJ Reviews about Scorsese having to direct while at gunpoint, Kung Fu and Kill Bill, and how there's plenty of life in him yet.

David, your father John was an incredibly prolific actor, and his sixty-year career spanned over three hundred films. Is this what inspired you to enter the film industry?

I wasn't actually inspired to enter the film industry. I was inspired to be an actor. To me that meant stage. I had performed in some thirty plays including eleven of Shakespeare's before I ever stepped on a movie set. The change came in '64, I think. I was playing a lead on Broadway, and, as a member of Actors' Equity, I could see all the Broadway shows for free. But I realized I was more interested in the European films that were playing in the theaters on the east side: Fellini, Bergman, Godard. Not to say I hadn't been a freak for those movies before. I had watched them non-stop when I was in college as a Music major. I just didn't know that was what I wanted to do. Or rather I didn't know I knew that was what I wanted to do. And yes. My father of course had a something to do with that. I thought that Hollywood had never given Dad a fair shake, and I was determined to get even for him. But that took a while to gel. I studied Music in college, intending to write operas. However, the Drama department and the Music department were in the same building and I would drift down the hall to look in on the theatre classes. One day someone asked me if I wanted to be in a play. Once I got the taste, I dropped out of college to join a Shakespearian repertory, and that was all she wrote. I might still get around to that opera one day, though.

You served with horror director Larry Cohen in the military. To what extent was your service?

I was drafted. That meant two years of service. We had no war at the time, so I spent my whole time in Virginia at a post that trained officers. I drew pictures of helicopters, maps, charts and cartoons for training aids. On the side I started a theatre company. We performed, mostly musicals, for different posts up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Larry was writing speeches for General Vissering, and selling scripts to Television in New York. He also put together revues for special services. He wrote, directed and starred in them. Larry is an extremely funny man.

Did you feel it ultimately affected you? For the better or worse?

Well, the Army robbed me of three good years, when I would have been making it on Broadway: the years when I could have established myself as a young leading man. So I missed out on that stuff: you know, like Romeo. But it did really make a man out of me. when I got back to New York, there were a lot of actors ahead of me who used to be behind, guys who had dodged the draft. But I was tough, in incredible physical shape, an expert with the M1 Garande and the M1 Carbine, and I'd put up with a lot of crap. I'd spent my last birthday on the infiltration course, crawling in the mud with live machine gun bullets flying over my head. I was also married with a two-year old daughter. I don't think I would have grown up that fast without the Army.

One of your first starring roles was in Martin Scorsese’s Boxcar Bertha. Tell us a little bit about that experience.

Barbara [Hershey] and I wanted to work together. She was offered the movie, and she told Roger [Corman, the film's producer] she'd do it if I could play opposite her. On my first meeting with Marty, the first thing he said was, "I really wanted Bruce Dern for the part." I liked him immediately. It's hard to find an honest man. The shoot was almost a collaboration between us. Marty and I were both super-inexperienced, and we had a lot of resistance from Sam Arkoff [the film's producer], who just wanted us to make a sexploitation film. Marty tried to do what he wanted and I backed him up. He really was literally under a gun. At one point when he was trying to get a point across to the line producer, the dude pulled out a .38 and slammed it on the table for emphasis. I acted up some. They would get my dander up. Not hard to do in those days. Threw a cup of hot coffee at one of the black hats, and after a heated discussion with Sam Arkoff, I turned his desk over on him. I later regretted that. But my manager, Saul Krugman (a prince of a man - they don't make 'em like him anymore) said, "what do you care? You're never going to want to work with Sam Arkoff again." Roger was a horse of a different color. I did nine movies with him. He's a sweet man.

And the infamous sex scene with Barbara Hershey? There was a lot of speculation about that sequence...

Yes, there was. We were completely naked except for Barbara wearing a lot of jewelry. and we really were making love. The story about our son being conceived during the scene is totally apocryphal. He was conceived two months later on New Years Eve, 1971, in the privacy of our home. what really created the controversy was the Playboy spread shot by Ron Thal. I think it was the first couple shoot that Playboy ever did. The love scene itself was very beautiful, and would seem tame today. Even the unused footage, which was pretty hot, would barely rate an "R" today.

You returned to work with Scorsese in 1973’s Mean Streets, but in a far smaller role. What was it like working with Scorsese?

I was in the middle of the first season of Kung Fu, and essentially unavailable. We had to shoot my scenes on a Sunday, in Los Angeles. Marty thought it would be cool to have my brother assassinate me. On this picture, Marty had no sleazy producer to deal with. No one had a gun to his head. He was able to show what he could really do. He was a very happy man on that shoot. I was enormously impressed with Harvey Keitel. I thought at the time he was going to be the American Laurence Olivier. De Niro I just thought was crazy. But that was the part he was playing.

Scorsese was heavily into cocaine at the time, I believe. How did you feel that affected his role on set?

Yeah, I heard that, too. I don't know. Marty always has been very excitable. He chewed his finger nails a lot. To stop himself, he wore white editing gloves while he worked. He liked to make flamboyant gestures with them. It looked cool. It was like being directed by Mickey Mouse. Marty's very short.

The peak of your career professionally speaking is considered to be the television series Kung Fu, which went through three seasons between 1972 and 1975. How did you get the part?

For the record, I haven't peaked yet. I'm barely getting started. Jerry Thorpe, who produced the series, saw me in a play on Broadway, The Royal Hunt of The Sun, where I played The Emperor of The Incas, mostly in a loin cloth. I was pretty great in the part. When he found the script for Kung Fu in Fred Weintraub's bookcase, he got it directly to me.

In 1977, you worked with Ingmar Bergman on The Serpent’s Egg. Was it a different experience to your other work, given Bergman was a non-native English speaking director?

Ingmar spoke perfect, actually erudite English. The differences were not in language, but in spirit. Ingmar's spirit was unlike any other director. He was the flip side to Fellini. He once said to me, "If you go to see a John Ford picture, you will see armies of cavalry on horses, explosions, bar-fights, lots of broad comedy. With an Ingmar Bergman movie you spend three hours alone in a room with a woman who is crying all the time. He knew who he was.

Skipping forward in time a bit, 1993 marked the resurrection of Kung Fu with The Legend Continues. Why return to the series?

Everyone wanted me to, and I was tired of my career in exploitation films. Actually, when I walked off the series in 1975, I sent a letter to the folks at WB, outlining how I wanted to continue the legend: with four projects - Son of Kung Fu, Kung Fu in The City, Kung Fu with Love and Kung Fu to You Too, which would be a send-up. The film with Brandon Lee was Son of, hosting Saturday Night Live was the send-up, if you don't count Yellowbook, Lipton Iced Tea and my stint on Lizzie McGuire. The love story has yet to be done. It would be a musical, I think.

It was a successful show, with four seasons over four years. Were you surprised that Kung Fu was still popular, thirty years on?

Not at all. At that time 130,000 people were watching it world-wide in syndication.

Okay, now to what has probably become your signature role – Bill in Tarantino’s two-part opus Kill Bill. How did your involvement come about?

A psychic told me I was supposed to work with Quentin, so I looked him up. He agreed immediately. Turns out he's a fan, not so much of Kung Fu as of my other stuff, and my off-camera mystique. Quentin likes outsiders, I guess. He could actually recite the movie Americana, which I had directed. He told me he showed it to all his girlfriends. That's a lot of girls. Quentin gets more tail than Justin Timberlake.

What was it like working with Tarantino?

Quentin [pictured with Carradine at left]may be the best ever. We'll have to wait 'till he grows up to see for sure.

There was a fair amount of footage excised from the final cut of the two films, wasn’t there? The rumoured scenes of Yuki’s revenge from the original screenplay immediately spring to mind. Was that scene ever filmed?

Actually, very little was cut out. That was the point of making two movies out of it. Yuki's revenge is a different movie, which Quentin plans to do in about ten years, that would be five from now. We'll see.

Were any other plotlines removed?

The only whole sequence that didn't make the cut was my fight with Michael Jai White, which in the DVD extras [of the Kill Bill Volume 2 DVD].

You have a number of projects that are in various states of production. Can you tell us a little bit about them?

They tell me I have nine movies in the can, set for release this year (2008). I think at least a couple of those I've never heard of. Notably, Big Stan, coming out April 25, Homo Erectus, a caveman comedy. They're waiting for 10,000 BC to get out of the way. Camille, with Sienna Miller and James Franco, The Sunset Boys, with a remarkable cast including Bruce Dern, Rip Torn, Mariel Hemmingway, Charles Durning, John Savage and a cameo by Julie Harris. That will be out in October. Hellride, which swept the Sundance Festival and August, a zombie movie, but like no other zombie movie. There are some others.

David, it’s been an absolute pleasure to interview you. Thank you very much, and best of luck in the future.

I don't think it's a question of luck anymore.

Cronenberg Triple

Scanners (1981)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Written by David Cronenberg

Starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside

103 minutes; R18+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 Universal (Australia)

Tagline: There are 4 billion people on earth. 237 are Scanners. They have the most terrifying powers ever created... and they are winning.

Country of Origin: Canada

The Film:

'King of Venereal Horror' David Cronenberg, whose résumé includes the lauded classics Videodrome and The Fly, arguably directed his most masterful work of science-fiction with Scanners, the controversial tale of telepathy that immediately gained him a measure of popularity. Scripted by Cronenberg, Scanners tells the story of two hundred odd individuals who are 'scanners' - that is, they carry an inate ability to influence people's thoughts and physical behaviours, with ghastly results. The leader of the scanners is Darryl Revok (played malevolently by Michael Ironside), who relishes in using his powers for evil rather than good, and in a scene that is perhaps the most well-executed of Cronenberg's claret-abundant oevure, Revok mades a university professor's head explode. When Revok's abilities are found out, the capture of all scanners is ordered. The powers-that-be enlist scanner Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) to set out on the task of luring Revok out of the underground and lead him to capture. However, Revok has other plans - with his underground group of scanners, he intends of ridding the world of all without the formidable gift.

Despite being best respected for his next film Videodrome (1983), Scanners is without a doubt Cronenberg's zenith in the visceral science-fiction genre he made his speciality. While Cronenberg's typical 'body horror' predilections are still fledgling in this film, Scanners is a minimalist tale of the power of the human body, and the human mind. Earning much of its notoriety in hushed schoolyard conversation of the infamous exploding head, Scanners remains a fine example of Cronenberg's work as a horror director.

As testement to its lastingness (despite undoubtedly being the regular slapped together insult to the source material), a remake is being helmed by Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw II, III and IV fame. David S Goyer (Batman Begins, Ghost Rider) is on script duties. The Scanners remake is set for release for October 17 2008.

The Release:

Poor. No features, and the picture is presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic, with an English Dolby 2.0 track.

The Bottom Line:

Cronenberg's best horror film to date and captures his typical 'body' theme without the pretentiousness of Videodrome or The Fly, which further, and more explicitly, elaborates upon this element. Highly recommended.

A History of Violence (2005)
Directed by David Cronenberg

Written by Josh Olsen
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt

96 minutes; MA15+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 Roadshow Home Entertainment (Australia)
Tagline: Everyone has something to hide.

Country of Origin: USA/Germany

The Film:

David Cronenberg’s first real ‘mainstream’ film, and a departure from the body horror eccentricities the director made his niche, A History of Violence is one of the sci-fi maestro’s most accomplished films.

Starring Viggo Mortensen (proving typecasting needn’t happen after his turn as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings epics) A History of Violence is based upon John Wagner and Vince Locke’s renowned graphic novel of the same name. Mortensen, sheathing the sword and playing it far more understated, is Tom Stall, a dedicated family man who runs a diner in a small town. Stall’s life quickly turns around when he kills two would-be armed robbers. After the media highly publicise the event, Stall begins to receive visits from mobster Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris), who is adamant that Tom’s true identity is Joey Cusack, a MIA hit man for the Mafia. Stall is forced to fight for the integrity of his family, and later his life, as Fogerty and his men dangerously persist with their allegations.

Hollywoodisation among genre filmmakers can often mean a death spell – the loss of artistic integrity for the purposes of pure moneymaking. However, Cronenberg is the clear exception to the rule. With A History of Violence, the Canadian horror director fashioned one of the best Mob films since Scorsese’s Goodfellas, however he avoids the character development and normalcy that characterised the latter director’s great films in the genre. Instead, Cronenberg pares his film down to the bone, making it a truly visceral experience (a convention he elaborated upon in 2007’s Eastern Promises). 96 minutes just seems to short for a film of this style – it’s exceedingly minimalistic, and while this works to a certain extent, there are certain plot elements that could have been expanded upon without the film feeling bloated.

Regardless, Cronenberg’s direction is powerhouse and Mortensen’s performance is a true revelation. Sensational.

The Release:

We've been given the international cut of the film as opposed to the US cut, which has been digitally altered (but is not excised in any way) to censor violence. The picture has been presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic, and everything is very crisp and clear. Two English Dolby tracks have been included - a 5.1 and a 2.0. A 66 minute making-of, three featurettes running between one and nine minutes each and a theatrical trailer are also included. A commentary by Cronenberg rounds off an excellent package.

The Bottom Line:

What could have been an indulgence on Cronenberg's behalf became one of the finest films of the noughties. A steller cast, excellent direction and a competent script makes this essential.

5 out of 5.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Directed by David Cronenberg
Written by Steven Knight

Starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel
96 minutes; R18+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 Roadshow Home Entertainment (Australia)

Tagline: Every sin leaves a mark.
Country of Origin: USA/UK/Canada

The Film:

Something of a companion piece to David Cronenberg’s previous Mob-collaboration with Viggo Mortensen A History of Violence (2005), Eastern Promises further refines Cronenberg's skill in the genre that has potentially superseded the body horror epics of the seventies and eighties as the director's career zenith.

When a fourteen-year-old Russian girl dies in childbirth in a London hospital, midwife Anna Khitrova (Watts) discovers her diary and hopes it will contain family details so the child is able to avoid foster care. Anna brings it home for her Russian uncle to translate - he's reluctance indicates there's something truly sinister. The only lead is the address of a restaurant, owned by Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Anna approaches him, and the kindly Russian grandfather offers to translate the diary and return it to its owners. Semyon, however, is the chief of the Russian Mob in the city, Enter Nikolai (Mortensen), a chauffeur for the chief of the Russian Mob in London Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and his overzealous son Kirill (French actor Vincent Cassel, the incredible lead in Noé's Irreversible). Nikolai is ordered to seize the diary before its contents can be translated and the police approached - by whatever means necessary.

As with his previous Mob feature, Eastern Promises certainly fills its running time, but we are left waiting for more. By the time the end credits roll after 96 minutes, Cronenberg’s film has proven satiating – but only just. The filmmakers don’t really seem interested in developing the characters any further than in a general sense, and the only real detail that Knight’s script goes into is with the tattooing culture among the Russian mobsters ('In Russian prisons, your life story is written on your body in tattoos. If you don't have tattoos, you don't exist'). Cronenberg also delves into the concept of vory v zakone concept (the Russian equivelent to la Cosa Nostra), but there isn't really enough detail there to chew on, no real genesis of these increasingly barren characters we come to meet. Eastern Promises is a violent film, perhaps moreso than History, but the impact of this is never blasé. Cronenberg plays upon the action for sheer viscera, and the set pieces that are so characteristic to a Cronenberg film are better than ever - the linoleum knife-fight in the baths is makes for a truly intense piece of cinema.

Whether or not Eastern Promises is in fact a superior film to History remains to be seen. It made just over $51 million worldwide (versus History's $60 million), but Eastern Promises is certainly the closest Cronenberg has gotten to mainstream success, and he was nominated for the BAFTA for Best British Picture (his first nomination), and Mortensen was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, losing to Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood.

Here's to Cronenberg's next film in the genre, he's on the up-and-up. A must-see.

The Release:

The picture is presented in its original 1:85:1 aspect ratio and it looks clear and vibrant. English and French Dolby 5.1 soundtracks are included, as well as subtitles (required; certain scenes of dialogue is in Russian and not all of it is automatically subtitled).

Special features include a making-of featurette (11 minutes; where it is revealed a KGB agent was poisoned at the time of filming), and a doco on the use of tattoos in the gangster world (7 minutes).

The Bottom Line:

A powerhouse of a film, with Mortensen turning in a thoroughly jarring performance. Cassel too, is a surprise, and he is an effortless talent. Cronenberg, too, moves forward in the filmmaking world in leaps-and-bounds - another film like this, and he'll easily be gracing the Oscar stage.

JOHN WATERS

MJ REVIEWS’ FILMMAKER OF THE MONTH

‘Everyone needs someone bad to look up to… and I hope that that can be me.’ So begins John Waters’ stand-up routine A Dirty Shame, in which the sixty-one year old describes his own repellent oeuvre. Iconic among cult circles, Waters became known for his own unique brand of comedy, generating the gross-out subgenre within which modern-day pictures such as American Pie and Superbad are categorised.

Born on April 22 1946 in Baltimore (a location which almost entirely serves as the location of each of his films), Waters began his film career as a student at New York University. By his own admission, NYU was not the path that Waters had in mind and, after being expelled for smoking dope, he returned to his hometown and began to film short pictures with a troupe of actors. Among this group was Glenn Milstead (pictured with Waters), who became acclaimed under his moniker of ‘Divine’, a morbidly obese transvestite who shot to fame in Waters’ second feature (after the 1970’s Multiple Maniacs), Pink Flamingos. Released in 1972, Pink Flamingos was the grotesque tale of two families competing to earn the title ‘Filthiest Person Alive’. Famous for his iconic pink getup, Pink Flamingos made an underground star out of Divine and Waters. The film concluded with an unbroken shot of Divine walking down inner-city Baltimore, stopping before a dog in the process of defecating, and subsequently devouring the product. This scene remains iconic in cult cinema, not least because it was totally genuine, and has contributed heavily to Pink Flamingos’ notoriety – Waters’ controversial masterpiece remains the only comedy film to be banned in Australia, and remains so after thirty-six years (the decision was reviewed in 2003; the Refused Classification certificate was retained).

1974 and 1977 saw the release of two more Waters-Divine trash collaborations, Female Trouble and Desperate Living. Ironically, it was Waters’ 1988 family film that garnered him the most fame. His film Hairspray was a runaway hit, spawning a Broadway musical and a remake starring John Travolta. Waters’ Hairspray was Divine’s last picture, before he died of an enlarged heart in 1988, aged 42. After a number of other family-oriented films (Cry-Baby and Serial Mom), Waters returned to NC-17 rated gross-out humour in 2003 with A Dirty Shame. Starring Johnny Knoxville and Selma Blair, A Dirty Shame was considered one of Waters’ best films and, with the picture’s hysterical conclusion, we were shown at least one thing – the Pope of Trash hadn’t mellowed with age. Uncharacteristically, Waters’ next film will be a children’s picture titled Fruitcake. He has made a number of cameo appearances in modern films, notably in Knoxville’s Jackass Number Two and the Hairspray remake. Waters has also authored a number of retrospectives of his own work and has had many of his screenplays published, and he is internationally acclaimed as a photographic artist.

An Interview With Robert Kurtzman

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT KURTZMAN

28.01.2008

Robert Kurtzman is undoubtedly one of the most enduring icons in horror cinema. From his beginnings as an effects artist for Fred Dekker's 1986 schlock picture Night of the Creeps, Kurtzman has made a name for himself in his genre, particularly with his involvement with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's vampire classic From Dusk Till Dawn, and his own directorial feature Wishmaster. Kurtzman has now shifted his focus to directing, having recently led Tobin Bell (who played Jigsaw in the Saw films) in Buried Alive. MJ Reviews speaks to Robert about his work in the film business, as well as some exciting future projects.

First of all, congratulations on a successful 2007 – Buried Alive and The Rage were released to rave reviews from genre fans. Do you still appreciate this kind of response?

Very much so… it’s great when your films find an audience, I very much appreciate the fans.

Tell us a little about your new film, To Live and Die. It’s a departure from some of your horror-related output of late, correct?

I'd worked with producer David Greathouse on Buried Alive, which was a great collaboration as we were able to bring it in on budget and schedule on a 20-day shoot. Several months later I was in LA posting The Rage when he started talking to me about a project then called 'Angelmaker'. He’d seen The Rage while I was mixing and really dug it and what I was able to do on such a small budget. Even though The Rage is an exploitation horror film, it’s also a balls out action movie. Dave asked if I’d be interested in doing a straight action/thriller. It needed to be shot in 24 days in NM and it was starting right away. It would be the first film he was producing for MGM and it was very important that the film come in on time and budget. I was up for the challenge and of course said yes. I had one of the best times I’ve ever had working with David, MGM, and the crew in NM. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Joe Pantoliano.

You named your film and effects company ‘Precinct 13 Entertainment’. Are you a John Carpenter fan?

I’m a huge JC fan. Assault on Precinct 13 is one of my favourite films. It’s a great independent film that was made on a shoestring budget and had a great cast. John’s early films were made in the same spirit of independence that has inspired me over the years. He was a risk-taker who bucked the system and that’s what my company is all about. Taking risks whether you succeed or fail… it’s always about the battle and that’s what I respect about John. He’s had great success and failures but it’s all about the work.

You’re revered among the filmmaking world, particularly in the horror genre, for being a visual effects and makeup artist, and you’ve made your specialty in the field of gore. What inspires you?

Film in general. I’ve been a film buff since I was a young and I always had an artistic side. I was inspired watching monster films on late night horror host shows while growing up and ended up spending a lot of time in front of the TV as well as the drive-in watching monster films and drawing creatures. I grew up watching all the late night horror hosts and Saturday afternoon movies like Big Chuck and Little John and The Ghoul, Superhost etc. This is where I got to see all the classic B-movies as well as the Universal films and the Hammer films. I was also a big drive-in movie fan and my parents took us all the time. Once I had drivers licence you couldn’t stop me from going to the cinema on the weekends. Later when video came out I started seeking out films.

John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, George Romero, Wes Craven, Sam Peckinpah, Walter Hill, John Woo, Dario Argento - a little bit of everything.

1986 marked the release of the first film you worked on, Night of the Creeps. How did you get into the business?

I left Ohio when I was 19 after dropping out of art school and moved to LA to go to Joe Blascos’ make-up school. Then I started working at John Beuchler’s MMI doing make-up FX on a ton of Charlie Band movies like Troll, Re-Animator, TerrorVision etc. After a few years at MMI I started freelancing around town working on films like Night of the Creeps, Predator, The Color Purple, Aliens, Invaders From Mars, From Beyond, Deepstar Six, Evil Dead 2 and Phantasm 2 before starting KNB.

The year later, you were part of the creature effects crew for John McTiernan’s Predator. Was it a daunting project, being your second? It was very effects-heavy.

It actually wasn’t my second project. I’d worked on a lot of other films while working for John Beuchler and Charlie Band’s Empire pictures before working at Stan Winston’s. It wasn’t daunting as I had many friends working with me.

It was a great learning ground as there were dozens of up-and-coming artists working at Stan’s at the time.

In 1988, you co-founded the KNB EFX Group with Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger. Why did you leave, after fourteen years doing effects with KNB?

I actually was with KNB for 15 years. I left in 2003. I decided after 20 years in LA that it was time to move my family back east, away form the big city life and start my own company so I could concentrate on more than just effects. I wanted to do my own productions and get more involved in the overall filmmaking process as director and producer. I wanted to do my own film from start to finish and learn every bit of the process on my own terms.

You worked with Quentin Tarantino in 1992 and 1994 with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction respectively. Both were controversially violent; which of the effects were yours? Did you infamously slice off Marvin’s ear?

All the effects on both films were handled at KNB. I’d designed a similar effect with the ear slice for Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm 2 and so when Reservoir Dogs came about I utilized the same technique.

You continued your collaboration with Quentin for the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn. You conceived the story for Dusk, as well as producing the picture and supervising its make-up effects. Tarantino authored the screenplay – what was your influence upon the film, from conception to execution?

I conceived the project and wrote a 24-page treatment that outlined the film and the characters. I wanted to do a film that could be done on a small budget with an isolated group of characters trapped in a setting like Assault on Precinct 13. Originally my partner on the film John Esposito was to write the it but he just got his script for Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift set up and he was off to Maine for shooting, so we both began looking for writers to do our first draft. Long time friend and producer David Goodman (Man with the Screaming Brain) had told me about a young writer who he thought would be perfect to write Dusk. He hooked us up and QT and I soon got together to discuss collaborating. QT had sent us several writing samples including Natural Born Killers and True Romance and after reading we felt he’d be perfect for Dusk. At the time QT had been working as a video clerk and was looking to branch out and although we didn’t have much money to pay him. It was enough for QT to leave his job as a video clerk to write our project. It was actually his first work for hire screenplay. We made a deal. QT would write our script and I would do the FX for Dogs. We spent the next ten years trying to set the film up. It was initially rejected everywhere, even after the success of Dogs and Pulp. No one wanted to do it. They thought it was too vulgar and violent and didn’t understand the turn from road picture to vampire film halfway through. At the time I had only directed second unit FX and no one would give me a shot as director as I hadn’t directed a feature before so when RR [Robert Rodriguez, the film’s director] became interested it was a no-brainer. After 10 years of hustling the project around there was a chance to get it produced. Once RR boarded the picture it went from what was conceived as a small 1.5 million dollar movie to a 17 million dollar film with top name talent. The rest is history.

What was Tarantino’s input on set? I recall an interview in which Rodriguez said that he had to rein Quentin in from taking over directorial duties.

QT reworked his character a bit, giving him a bit more to chew on as he was cast to play Richard Gecko. QT also being a filmmaker he had a lot of ideas but he never really overstepped his bounds. It was always RR’s movie and they both work well together as collaborators.

In 1997, you directed Wishmaster, your second film as director after the 1995 indie The Demolitioners. Why direct?

It was the next logical step for me. I’d been designing and storyboarding effects sequences for years and I got the directing bug. I’m always up for the challenge and after pushing Dusk for so long, and not helming it, I wanted to get my feet wet as director. The best way to do that is to jump into the fire and do it. Producer Don Borchers was looking for a small project that could be shot in 24-days for under a million dollars and he’d give me a shot at directing. That project was The Demolitionist. Later Sam Raimi would see the film and recommended me as an up-and-coming filmmaker to Wishmaster producer Pierre David, who brought me in for an interview and after four or five meetings with him and the executives at Image and Live Entertainment, I was hired.

Were you happy with the result of Wishmaster, both financially and critically? It made a lot of money, around $30 million worldwide, I believe. And certainly not every filmmaker can lay claim to having generated a franchise.

Yes, it did very well and went on to spawn three more sequels. It was produced on a modest budget and made its money back on its opening weekend. It went on to become the most successful independent release of the year. Even though it was made by an indie studio (Live Entertainment) it was really my first time dealing with a studio-style process of making a film. Critically what is said about a film doesn’t really matter to me. There are always people who dig it and those who don’t. You just hope that your film finds an audience and has a successful run. The fans dug it and that’s all that really matters to me.

Wes Craven also put his name on Wishmaster in a ‘…presents…’ capacity, a claim that is often dubious. What was his role in the creation of the film?

The script was developed and created by writer Peter Atkins and Image’s Clark Peterson. Wes came aboard after I became involved with the film. We’d worked together on various films over the years and Live Entertainment was looking for a way to market the film, as we couldn’t afford big name talent. Wes believed in the project and had faith in me as a director so he came on as executive producer.

IMDb has now listed you as attached to a 2008 project Bump. Can you confirm your involvement, and tell us a little bit about it?

Yes, I’m directing the film and producing with Tobin Bell and Scott Licina. It’s based on a comic series from Mark Kidwell who also wrote the script. I had worked with Tobin on Buried Alive and we had a great time working together. When Scott approached me with the script treatment I thought Tobin would be perfect to play the grizzled Sheriff Lundy, who must battle the supernatural demons from his past on the verge of his retiring from law enforcement.

Your résumé contains some fairly heavy-going stuff gore-wise – were there any effects you did or concepts you created that were thrown out for being too nasty or over-the-top?

There are so many...I wouldn’t know even were to start. Some have made it back into unrated cuts on video but I can’t even think of specifics at the moment.

What about effects that were originally scripted or conceived that you refused to go ahead with? I recall reading that Savini declined doing a number of graphic sexually violent effects for Lustig for Maniac.

Not specific effects as much as the overall projects. I have turned down films in the past and even recently (which I will not name) because of the content. I’m not a big fan of prolonged torture films that have sexual attacks. I’m not a big fan of mixing sex with violence.

And finally, what’s on the horizon for you and Precinct 13 Entertainment?

Bump is coming up. And I have several more projects with producer David Greathouse that will be announced very soon. We are also in post-production on Ed (Midnight Syndicate) Douglas’s new film The Dead Matter, which we shot in Ohio last summer. P13 handled the production chores on the film. I’m finishing post-production on To Live and Die and plan to do another film as director for David Greathouse and MGM this year, as well as handling the effects.

HUNTER S THOMPSON

MJ REVIEWS’ ICON OF THE MONTH

While not a filmmaker per se, Hunter S Thompson is a bona fide cult icon, and his crowning as MJ Reviews’ man of the month comes in time for the third anniversary of the great Doctor’s death. Thompson was born in Kentucky on July 18 1937 and, after a youth of delinquency, he pursued a career in journalism. One of his most notable works as a genuine journalist was Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. Published in 1966, Thompson’s expose on the titular motorcycle gang brought him worldwide critical acclaim.

He bought his doctorate for $10 in the sixties and famously penned the roadie classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was originally written as a two-part article for the Rolling Stone. The story, which followed Thompson and his obese Samoan attorney as they embarked on a drug-addled tour of Nevada, was published in the Rolling Stone in November 1971, and reached publication in the form of a novel the following year. The book was wildly successful, and spawned Terry Gilliam’s 1998 film adaptation, with Johnny Depp starring as Thompson. Thompson himself loved the film, hailing it as a masterpiece, despite having nothing to do with its adaptation (he did, however, make a cameo appearance). The book was illustrated by Ralph Steadman, who was Thompson’s partner-in-crime for many of his works. In 1972, Thompson penned Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail for Rolling Stone as he followed the presidential contest between Richard Nixon and George McGovern.

It was after Las Vegas that Thompson adopted his own unique writing style – a form of journalism known as ‘gonzo’. ‘Gonzo’, by definition (‘one of my proudest achievements [is getting a word in the dictionary]’), is a form of pseudo-journalism – ever in pursuit of the ultimate truth, but not hesitating to bend the facts (and often make them up entirely) along the way. It is for this reason that puritans would consider Thompson’s work mal-conceived, or at worst to be disregarded completely, but Thompson quite simply couldn’t give a fuck. His drug experimentation showed within his work, and often it was to its benefit – as Doctor Gonzo (as he became known) said himself; ‘I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone… but they’ve always worked for me’.

Thompson, suffering from a variety of painful ailments, shot himself on February 21 2005 in his Colorado home, while his family were staying with him. He was sixty-seven. His critics consider this Thompson’s final, utterly selfish one-fingered salute to the world that so generously allowed him to operate – a perfect example of, as Thompson himself would so deftly describe, ‘American swine’. Regardless, Thompson will always be known for his work as a writer and his cult stardom has forged him into one of the most enduring figures in literature ever. So enduring, in fact, that Raoul Duke (one of Thompson’s pseudonyms) is still credited as a sports editor for the Rolling Stone, three years after his passing. Doctor Gonzo, we salute you.

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Masters of Horror - Season 1

Masters of Horror Season 1 Volume 1 (2005)

Created by Mick Garris
Directed by Stuart Gordon, John Carpenter, Mick Garris et al
340 mins; R18+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 IDT Entertainment/Starz
Tagline: Experience terrifying visions from the greatest minds in the genre… these are the Masters of Horror.
Country of Origin: USA/Canada

The Series:

Mick Garris’ claim to fame as a filmmaker is predominantly set in the dubious horror subgenre of Stephen King made-for-TV pictures, as well as scripting duties on a number of B-grade classics. However what Garris lacked in scale he made up for in concept – true to form, Garris conceived Masters of Horror, a wet-dream prospect for the horror fan. Thirteen episodes to a season, Masters of Horror would allow one genre auteur to work within a sixty-minute timeslot, free of studio restriction. This set is a compilation of six episodes of Season 1, which aired in the US on the pay-TV channel Showtime in 2005.

The best episode in this set is by far Cigarette Burns. Directed by John Carpenter (famous for Halloween and The Thing), Cigarette Burns introduces Kirby (Norman Reedus) a theatre owner who makes some money on the side tracking down rare films. Kirby’s client is a mysterious businessman (the inimitable Udo Kier), and his objective is to uncover the whereabouts of the film Le Fin Absolue De Monde, a picture that supposedly throws anyone who sees it in a homicidal rage. The several hundred thousand dollar remuneration will help rectify all of Kirby’s problems, from marital to professional, and his pastime quickly becomes a deadly obsession, as he goes deeper into the sordid underworld of the mythical film’s background.

Dreams in a Witch House is another one of Volume One's more interesting entires, and is a vaguely comic entry by Stuart Gordon, who gave us the seminal 1985 zombie comedy Re-Animator. Ezra Godden stars as Walter, a young man who rents a mysterious apartment that has a dubious past. When night falls, things go bump. The payoff of this episode serves to remind us that we aren’t often dealt out happy endings, and the series isn’t willing to skimp on gore or taboos, a refreshing fact in an era of unending political correctness.

The remaining four films all address different horror themes and issues. Don ‘Phantasm’ Coscarelli’s segment Incident on and off a Mountain Road was the series’ debut, and followed a young woman who, while escaping in the mountains from her deranged husband, instead encounters an equally formidable gaggle of Hills-Have-Eyes-esque freaks.

John Landis’ Deer Woman is a horror-comedy, big-killer-animal flick in a similar vein to his 1980 tour-de-force, An American Werewolf in London. The episode, one of the most critically slammed, is at worst dumb fun; at best, a satire of our favourite films, sexuality and our reaction to horror.

And while Lucky ‘May’ McKee’s claim to horror masterdom is somewhat flawed, he still manages to churn out a delightfully offbeat Corman-like creature feature Sick Girl, which throws in some lesbian action for good measure.

The only misfire of this set is the dire Chocolate, which was directed by Garris. A monumental cock-up, this deadeningly boring and hideously acted faux pas goes to show that Garris is far better suited as an ideas man, and should not be led behind a camera by an inflated ego.

The Release:

This is a six-disc set, and each is packed with as many features as you could hope. Each film comes with a making-of featurette, as well as commentaries, galleries, interviews et al. The films themselves are presented with a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and are shown in 1:78:1 widescreen with 16:9 enhancement. There are no subtitles.

The discs are packaged in an oversized amary case with an embossed slipcase. A booklet with director profiles has been included.

The Verdict:

Two fantastic short films, two very good ones and one shithouse, this first half of the Masters of Horror series is a surefire winner. Whether or not you’re a fan of the series, Garris’ directoral decisions will undoubtedly ignite some lunchroom discussions among horror fans regarding the legitimacy of ‘masters’ – where’s Craven, Romero, Herschell Gordon Lewis and so forth. Regardless, colour us impressed – Masters of Horror is sure to become an absolute hit and this comprehensive set will give many hours of entertainment.

5 out of 5

Masters of Horror Season 1 Volume 2 (2005)
Created by Mick Garris
Directed by Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, Larry Cohen et al
350 mins; MA15+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 IDT Entertainment/Starz
Tagline: Experience terrifying visions from the greatest minds in the genre… these are the Masters of Horror.
Country of Origin: USA/Canada/Italy

The Series:

To quote the immortal words of a rap artist whose name escapes me – ‘this is the real shit’.

The second instalment in Australia’s release of the Showtime television show Masters of Horror, Volume 2 showcases the first season’s best episodes and introduces Tobe Hooper and Dario Argento, two bona fide old-school masters. Hooper is on sublime Texas Chain Saw Massacre form with Dance of the Dead, the misanthropic view of a post-apocalyptic America, in which youths run riot and pass time at a nihilistic club that showcases a perverted MC (Robert Englund; Freddy of the Nightmare on Elm Street films) hosting the macabre ‘dance of the dead’.

Italian horror favourite Dario Argento, who helmed the seventies classics Deep Red and Suspiria, is enlisted to tell the story of Jenifer, an uber-weird chick with a body like an angel but a face, quite literally, like a ghoul. When police detective Frank Spivey saves Jenifer from a deranged murderer, he soon finds that the disturbed woman is threatening to shatter his comfortable suburban existence. Who is she? What secrets does she hold? And what is that alluring power she possesses?

Haeckel’s Tale, directed by John McNaughton of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer fame, is a ye-olde tale of murder, mayhem and necrophilia, though only gets going in the final ten minutes with some seriously unerotic girl-on-zombie action.

Larry Cohen (It’s Alive) directs the episode Pick Me Up. One of the more intriguing episodes conceptually, Pick Me Up tells of a turf war between a road-tripper who kills hitchhikers and a hitchhiker who kills road-trippers, though it somewhat suffers from sub-par scriptwriting. What it lacks in pacing, Pick Me Up makes up for in slick aesthetic, which is probably due to the fact that Cohen’s past horror work has been primarily restricted to production, with classics such as Maniac Cop and its sequel.

The Howling’s Joe Dante is behind the political satire Homecoming, in which zombified US soldiers fallen in Iraq return to the home country to vote out the war-mongering President. It’s unnecessarily heavy-handed stuff, but it has its moments.

Finally, William Malone, one of the most dubious entrants in the annals of mastery, having previously directed the remakes/flops House on Haunted Hill and FearDotCom helms the supernatural tale Fair Haired Child. This episode surprisingly competent considering his past résumé, and the style, flair and suspense Malone brings to the picture rounds the set off well.

The Release:

Again, the extras are identical the first volume. Six discs with each film on it, each packed with features – making-ofs, interviews, biographies, retrospectives – as much as you’d ever want to chronicle the making of a television episode, and then some. The films themselves are presented with a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and are shown in 1:78:1 widescreen with 16:9 enhancement. There are no subtitles on any of the films.

The discs are packaged in an oversized amary case with an embossed slipcase. A booklet with director profiles has been included.

The Verdict:

Again, there are some dubious decisions in this – Larry Cohen? John McNaughton? Fuckin’ William Malone? Not masters by a long shot, and now that we have concluded the series (with the omission of Japanese horror maestro Takashi Miike’s much-maligned entry Imprint), there are definitely a number of masters that will do well coming into the second series. Despite these shortcomings, each director produces an exceedingly competent entry, with Argento and Hooper working at their very best. Five stars for both Dance and Jenifer, and IDT are to be commended for the effort they have employed for the included features. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5

Masters of Horror Season 1 – Imprint (2005)
Created by Mick Garris
Directed by Takashi Miike
Starring Billy Drago, Youki Kudoh
62 mins; R18+; Colour

Previewed Release: R4 IDT Entertainment/Starz
Tagline: The greatest minds in horror.
Country of Origin: USA/Japan

The Show:

Japanese horror maestro Takashi Miike is one of the most notorious directors alive today. Having helmed the graphically violent shockers Audition and Ichi the Killer and the exceedingly perverse Visitor Q, it came as little surprise to most when Miike’s Masters of Horror episode Imprint was banned for cable broadcast, allowing itself to be discovered on the DVD market.

And it is totally disgusting, on par with the Miike vomitorium classics Ichi and Fudoh: The Next Generation. Imprint introduces Christopher (Drago), an American journalist travelling through 19th century Japan to reunite with a prostitute he fell in love with. While searching through Tokyo’s seediest bordellos, Christopher encounters a disfigured whore who is known only as ‘the woman’ (Kudoh). The woman tells Christopher a terrifying story of mayhem, torture and degradation, before unleashing an unforgettable spiel about her own deranged existence.

Frequently touted as the zenith of the Masters of Horror show, Imprint lives up to its notoriety. Torture of the grittiest kind is presented in stomach-churning fashion; themes of rape, incest and, most graphically, abortion are dealt with and Miike directs in his typically surreal, acid-trip style. The merits of Imprint, for the conventional filmgoer, are undoubtedly few and far between. Essentially, how you accept Miike’s segment entirely depends on your predilection for these kinds of films – fantastical, dreamlike visions stained with claret and OTT-depravity. Nothing makes sense, nothing is as it appears – visually, though, you’re in for a treat. The costumes and sets are fantastic, the direction taut and the SFX are great. However, the is one of Imprint’s few pitfalls – the Japanese actors appear to be delivering their lines phonetically, and Drago appears to struggle under Miike’s foreign language direction.

A typically deranged Miike exercise in grotesquery – you may not understand it, but Imprint will shock and delight as it basks in its excess.

The Release:

Imprint is soundtracked to 5.1 Dolby Digital and is presented in 1:78:1 widescreen with 16:9 enhancement. Extras include three featurettes, a commentary (sadly without Miike, two film critics are on board), as well as the script and a screen saver as DVD-Rom content.

The Verdict:

Those looking for coherence, refined plot details and acting subtleties will be bitterly disappointed by Imprint. Indeed, this is a showcase of Takashi Miike’s best work; a series of deranged set pieces of gore and perversity, glued together by a plot akin to one conceived during a particularly severe dope haze. In my opinion, all horror should be like the subversive insanity of Miike; alas, the fact that this was banned from cable and effectively shelved means that the Western world does not readily accept films such as Imprint as mainstream. Recommended.

4 out of 5