The second LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT movie (third, if you rightly count THE VIRGIN SPRING as the first) is now in theaters across the ol’ USA. Worldwide release dates vary (I sure won’t be getting here it down under in anytime soon).
Proto-Slashers: Looking at the flicks that paved the way for Halloween and the heyday of slasher movies.
During my reckless teenage years I developed an addiction to Jess Franco flicks. My favorite Franco flick, other than those made with Klaus Kinski, is Bloody Moon. Severin recently released Bloody Moon on dvd so now I’m finally able to see Jess Franco’s only slasher uncut. And boy does the blood flow now.
Life is full of tantalizing mysteries… How did they build the Pyramids? What are UFOs? Is there an afterlife? And how did Lipstick Jungle get a second season? Okay, some of those are perhaps not quite so tantalizing, but I’m ignoring them all anyway in order to concentrate on some of horror history’s most intriguing unsolved mysteries… Well, they wouldn’t be mysteries if they had been solved, would they? Let’s kick off with a classic conundrum from the Friday the 13th series…
CASE #1: The Rat Piddle Riddle
We all know what happens every time you find an apparently safe hiding place whilst on the run from a deranged killer… Yes, a snake, tarantula or other creepy creature of some description will appear from nowhere and proceed to crawl all over your face. This will force you, not only to stifle your cries of terror at being chased by a killer in the first place, but also to keep a stiff upper lip (quite literally) in the face (again, quite literally) of something else almost equally unpleasant.
In the case of Friday the 13th Part 2, it’s poor final girl Ginny who comes face-to-face with a stinking, suspense-inducing rat whilst hiding from Jason Voorhies under a bed. But Ginny’s hide-and-don’t-shriek moment is famous for another reason – the combined shock of a sack-headed Jason and a smelly rodent causes her to have a little accident, and said accident is shown dribbling out from under the bed, forming a puddle of pure shame on the pinewood flooring…
OR IS IT?! Director Steve Miner has since claimed it was the rat with the bladder problem, forcing legions of slasher fans to question the identity of the mysterious pisser – and possibly their own sanity. It’s true: Ginny doesn’t seem to have the tell-tale wet-patch we all remember from school when she stands up. But it’s also true that the pee-pee comes from the bottom of the bed, when the rat is up at the other end gnawing at Ginny’s head (well, potentially). But who knows? Maybe rats are able to cover a surprising distance with their lavatorial antics. I wouldn’t put it past them. Only one thing seems certain, however: we may never be certain who really did the business in Friday the 13th Part 2.
CASE #2: The Puzzle of the Absent Author
While Stephen King can’t write a note to the milkman without TV networks queuing up to turn it into a miniseries, it seems that some other genre specialists are lagging behind in the movie adaptation stakes. But while some of these, such as Jack Ketchum, have started seeing interest from the studios in recent years, one genuine giant of the horror literature field has yet to have a single movie based on one of his books.
Richard Laymon’s clever yet streamlined narratives read almost like ready-made slasher movie scripts: there’s the pre-Haute Tension home-invasion horrors of 1993’s Endless Night; backwoods slasher books like No Sanctuary (2001); and even a campsite massacre with sorority house flashbacks in the shape of 1992’s Blood Games. But none have yet made the leap from page to screen… Well, actually, there is one borderline case – a low-budget take on In the Night (1994) that Laymon himself was apparently impressed by, but which has yet to see a release and doesn’t even have an entry on the Internet Movie Database. So what’s the deal? Is the estate of the sadly now deceased author sitting on all the rights? Are Laymon’s tales of terror simply too nasty to film? Or is it simply a case of no one having the guts to take a stab at it?
Last month you heard about Code Red DVD releasing a lost retro slasher so rare, it isn’t even on the IMDB under any title we know of – that would be NIGHT OF THE DRIBBLER. Now the company are back with a slam dunk of an update.
You’ve got to hand it to Rob Zombie, you really do. Some of you may think dude don’t know how to make a horror movie, but he sure knows how to harness the infinite power of the internets. Whereas other major genre productions would make every effort to keep photos to themselves before dumping them onto websites during release week (looking at you, Platinum Dunes), Rob’s taken a more direct tactic straight from day one of filming his sequel to his HALLOWEEN redux, provisionally titled as H2. He’s been releasing pics every few days – some from set, some from-film, some interesting, (like a bearded unmasked Myers) and some boring (people standing around in the distance… but by releasing a steady flow of pics almost daily, he’s ensured the horror news outlets follow with just as many news items calling out each new set of pics. And that equals – all eyes on his flick, all the time.
I honestly don’t know where the sites get the energy to keep up with that steady stream… or maybe I just don’t have enough creative streak to make article #200 on new H2 photos sound interesting. So I definitely envy their stamina. I’m certainly interested in the flick, but we’ll only post periodic updates here at Retro Slashers so as not to clog up the place.
If you are looking to keep up with all the new photos from Rob, might I recommend the recently revamped Official HALLOWEEN Website (or HM.Com to us online old-timers) so you don’t get lost between news on the latest tepid-looking studio horror flicks (geez, I really am starting to show my age, aren’t I?). HM also get first crack at exclusive pics, so bookmark that joint.
Below pic gets a thumbs-up from Team Retro – in just this one image, it looks like Laurie Strode’s going through far worse then the poor-honey scrapes and dried-up voicebox she did under Jamie Lee Curtis’ trip to hospital in the 1981 first sequel. Not that there’s any reason to compare the two beyond the number 2 in their titles – H2 isn’t a remake of HALLOWEEN 2 in any way. You’ll recall Rob Zombie already blew part two’s she’s-his-sister wad in his part one redux.
If you can’t get enough of Todd Farmer in MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D where he not only wrote the screenplay but beared his sweaty muscled flesh on film (talk about a dedicated guy!), you’ll get a kick out of his Official Site where he maintains a journal that seamlessly mixes industry experiences with family life.
While there’s been no official announcement as of yet, I couldn’t help but notice he brought up “sequel” no less than six times in his journal entry on blazing through the MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D’s publicity tour back in Feb. Now, while I can’t stand internet outlets making a mountain out of a molehill where news is concerned, The Toddster is not a man who minces words (he’s merely a man who writes words that mince characters into bloody pulps). So if the man mentions “sequel” talk in public, six times (“I shot him six times!” …HALLOWEEN 2 flashback, sorry), you best sit up and consider. And hope, if it’s your prerogative. And why the hell not, flick was fun on a fuckstick, and that’s no lie.
I’d personally rather see the same creative team reunite and apply the 3D model to another underloved retro slasher that would offer ops for inventive murders instead of being confined to more pickaxe tossing. Let me put my vote in right here, right now for HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 3D! 3D shishkabob, anyone?
Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO can be considered prime among the progenitors of the slasher genre. Many talk about its impact on the film world, but few pay attention to the second, third and forth chapters which each brought something unique to the compellingly tragic story of Norman Bates. Enter director Robert Galluzzo who has spent the past few years has poured himself into a landmark documentary on the complete saga, aptly titled THE PSYCHO LEGACY. We stole Robert away from his project long enough to discuss all-things PSYCHO!
John Klyza: What is the genesis of this project and what is it about PSYCHO that drove you to this?
Robert Galluzzo: Firstly, John. I just wanted to thank you for getting in touch and for your interest & support in the project. It’s much appreciated! I’ve always been a huge horror fanatic and like most fellow fans, I’ve gone through my phases of being absolutely in love with each & every franchise. The one that seemed to be somewhat forgotten these last few years is the PSYCHO series. I mean, if you ask someone to name the most famous of the movie maniacs, they’ll inevitably say Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Leatherface. But what ever happened to Norman Bates? He should still be one of the first you think of! NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH, they’ve all gotten their boxed sets and special editions, and I couldn’t understand why the sequels to the granddaddy of all “slasher” films weren’t getting the special edition treatment that they deserved! So the genesis of the project is that I selfishly just wanted it to exist so badly so I (as a fan) could buy it! And I got the feeling that if I didn’t do it, no one was ever going to. So I reached out to a few of the filmmakers to see if it were even possible to get people to talk about the sequels and before I knew it, I had accumulated a ton of interview footage. I haven’t stopped working on it since I shot that first interview, which was back in January of 2007. And now we’re finally about to cross the finish line, which is so amazing & exciting.
John: PSYCHO has been covered in many documentaries & retrospectives over the years yet yours seems to be the first to treat the sequels as equals coverage-wise. Why do you think that is?
Robert: It’s interesting because obviously the original is just a landmark movie in terms of film history. Hitchcock was the master and he created a classic. So any sequel to that film is always going to be considered just a “footnote” to a classic. But the truth is, the PSYCHO sequels are all really great, well made films! It’s very rare that a franchise can keep the quality up on each passing film. In my humble opinion, the PSYCHO movies have done exactly that. There’s already tons of great material out there about the original film – dozens of making-of books, an amazing documentary by Laurent Bouzereau on the DVD for the first movie, so I really wanted my focus to primarily be on the sequels. Yes, we do cover the original film, but I took more of the approach to have people involved with the sequels share their first experiences with PSYCHO and explain it’s influence on them. We cover the basics and re-explain why the original is such a great classic film, but we then dive right into all the sequels because most of these people have NEVER talked about the making of them. So we’ve uncovered some truly wonderful stories and I can’t wait to share it all with the fans.
John: I’ve read that it’s been a crew of just two shooting this whole mammoth thing – is that true?
Robert: Absolutely true! The shoot itself was just my dear friend John Torrani, who had a Panasonic DVX-100 camera and myself. He was crazy enough to follow me on this journey and for that, I’m eternally grateful to him! Essentially, I made a ton of phone calls, sent out a ton of emails and did my best to contact as many PSYCHO alumni as possible to arrange interviews. Most of them are based out of California, so I’d work at my dayjob for 3 months straight, then take 2 weeks off to go shoot some interviews. And then come back and do it all over again. That’s the main reason it’s taken so long is because I had to go back to work and save up the money to continue shooting. This was always a labor of love, so I did anything I could to make it work and get just a tiny bit further along. What’s great too is that everyone I’ve contacted from the PSYCHO films see’s my passion and genuine love for this, and have all been incredibly supportive and helpful. The first person I reached out to was PSYCHO 2 director Richard Franklin. (Who sadly is no longer with us.) Richard put me in touch with PSYCHO 2 writer Tom Holland. Tom put me in touch with PSYCHO 4 director Mick Garris. Mick put me in touch with Katt Shea from Part 3 and it all just snowballed from there. It’s just been amazing to find the next person and get to talk to them about their experiences. Now that the bulk of the interviews has been shot, I’ve got 2 more people on my crew, my editor Jon Maus and my post-production co-ordinater & assistant Kat Arroyo. Without those 3 people, I never could’ve done this.
John: What is Anthony Masi’s role in the production?
Robert: Anthony Masi is a dear old friend of mine. I’ve known him for years and he successfully produced the HALLOWEEN documentary 25 YEARS OF TERROR, as well as the recently released HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF FRIDAY THE 13TH. He also did a HALLOWEEN featurette titled THE SHAPE OF HORROR which I did a bit of music for. He’s also a huge PSYCHO fan and a firm believer in this doc. I’ve been working on it for so long that I wasn’t exactly sure how to get this out there. I just have so much on my plate as it is that I needed a “producer” to help me finish it. Since he has experience with franchise docs, he offered to be a part of it and essentially help me cross the finish line. He’s been a tremendous help. Also, while I love his 2 previous doc’s, mine is definitely very, very different from those 2. The 12 minute promo piece that’s been on-line for the last several months is a good interpretation of what the full length version of THE PSYCHO LEGACY will be like.
John: Jeff Fahey is one of my favorite-ever actors. Can you share how the interview went down, and what he was like?
Robert: He’s definitely one of my fave actors too and that interview was truly magical! I’m so, so glad it came together the way it did. The short version is… Jeff was doing a rare convention appearance in New Jersey about an hour and a half away from me. Most people don’t know this but at the time, Jeff was living in Afghanistan! Now, it is to my understanding that Jeff would work on a few films in the States and then take the money to better things over there. So, he was very difficult to get to, BUT… once GRINDHOUSE had come out, he was set to do his first ever convention appearance. There was a slight misunderstanding when I got there – the place was packed, I don’t even think the convention “manager” told him I was coming to see him, but less then 5 minutes of me explaining the project to him, he asked me where I was based out of. When I said New York, he said, “Well, my sister’s there. How ’bout we meet up Monday morning when I go to see her?” So, to his word, he called me 2 days later and (with his sister!) met me at my friend’s apartment in Manhattan. What was amazing about his interview is that it came together so fast, so as we’re rolling, he was thinking back & remembering things about PSYCHO 3 for the first time in over 20 years. That’s probably my favorite interview because of that! Also, I missed one great tid-bit before we started rolling. He mentioned that he met with Gus Van Sant on the PSYCHO remake, I believe for the part of Sam Loomis, which eventually went to Viggo Mortensen.
John: Tell us about the wonderful greetings to PSYCHO fans you got many cast and crew to record. That’s a genuinely warm thing you did there, and something not many in your position would bother to undertake.
Robert: Well, thank you so much for saying that. I wanted to make sure from the get-go that everyone knew how much this all meant to me and that I was always keeping the fans in consideration with every decision. I’m a die-hard fan of these movies myself and I tried to think of what I would want to see, as a fan from the doc. Plus, I was trying to think of a way to make this more interactive with the fans. And I thought what better way then to have these people thank us for the continued support? So, once every interview was wrapped, I explained to each person how important it would be for the fans if they sent along a greeting. Everyone complied and I love them for it. AND, I do forward the clips to each person, so they’ve all seen the comments that fans have left below their videos. Another reason I did the greetings was because for me as a fan, I know I would just want to see what a lot of these people looked like nowadays! I mean, isn’t Sharen Camille from Part 4 still absolutely adorable?! Those greetings will make for a nice collection on the eventual DVD release.
John: What is your favorite and least favorite PSYCHO series entry and why?
Robert: That’s a really tough question. I honestly and sincerely love each and every movie for my own reasons. The first is obviously a classic and not only one of the best horror films ever made, but one of the best movies ever made. I love PSYCHO 2 because it’s a beautifully crafted murder-mystery. There’s also never been a sequel like it, nor do I think there ever will be. It takes place 22 years later? With the lead actor reprising his role? That’s unheard of! Nowadays, it’d just be remade. I love 3 because that’s the one I caught on cable a hundred times as a kid, and it always kind of scared me because of the sleaze factor to it. (That and, well… the nuns.) Perkins with his direction gave us an interesting PSYCHO movie straight from the head of Norman Bates. And lastly, and I know I’m in the minority, but I love PSYCHO 4 as well! It’s probably my favorite thing that Mick Garris has ever done. Perkins is fantastic in it, and both Henry Thomas and Olivia Hussey deliver great performances.
John: PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING is my hands-down favorite of the sequels. But the ending with the Ghost Mother Bates has always nagged me as tacky and ‘untrue’ to the story preceding it. Do you know if that is something that was scripted, or network-forced?
Robert: Judging from my conversations with Mick Garris, the film was done in a short period of time with a tight budget, but stayed very close to Stefano’s script. In fact, there’s a video introduction with Janet Leigh on YouTube where she mentions that 4 endings were shot to keep the film’s finale a surprise. Mick debunked that and said they never filmed multiple endings, they only filmed one. So as far as I know, that’s what was always scripted, and that’s what they shot. I personally always thought they should’ve ended the moment Norman hangs up the phone!
John: What is this documentary’s relationship with the awesome thepsychomovies.com?
Robert: I really wanted Jay Allentoff, the creator and webmaster of ThePsychoMovies.com to make this movie with me! But he’s extremely busy with his job and couldn’t find the time to do it. Like most fans, I just like visiting the site. As you just said, it’s awesome. So, we’re good friends, and as we gear up to finish the doc, I’ll try to debut some cool stuff over there, as well as on the official MySpace page.
John: You’re well known for the Icons Of Fright website – were you able to use contacts from there as resources?
Robert: Honestly, I couldn’t have made THE PSYCHO LEGACY without accumulating 5 years of experience doing Icons Of Fright. I never realized it, but it essentially was the perfect training for interviewing people and being comfortable with getting the most information in the shortest amount of time from interviews. I also have done a few articles for FANGORIA and it’s interesting, because putting together an article is a lot like editing. You’re pulling out the best quotes from the interview and reworking them into the appropriate order that will tell a story. That’s exactly how you edit interview footage, so both Icons Of Fright and FANGORIA were truly the best preparation I could’ve had for making this doc.
John: In the extended promo on MySpace the doco clearly has slick professional editing. Who’s responsible for that?
Robert: My friend Kat Arroyo early on expressed interest in helping me out with the doc and she introduced me to Jon Maus (pronounced “mouse”), who’s an incredible editor & the editor both on the promo piece and now the full length version. He’s seriously my editing soul-mate. For the most part, we’re totally on the same page and to this day I’m amazed that we put together that 12 minute piece as quickly as we did. We debuted it at the Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors back in April of 2008, and we worked on it for 4 Sunday’s previous to the con. They were long days! But technically, we only worked on it for those 4 days, and it came together great. Now, the full length has been far more challenging! Maus and I don’t always agree on everything, but we’re getting there and happy with the results. We will be licensing footage from the actual PSYCHO movies, so there will be clips in the final version of the film. Plus, Tom Holland provided me with 60 personal Polaroids from the set of PSYCHO 2, none of which have EVER been seen. Juliette Cummins did the same for me with PSYCHO 3. And I inherited a lot of Richard Franklin’s belongings from PSYCHO 2 including every single newspaper article & clipping from the film’s original release, as well as all the original blueprints for the house and diner when they were reconstructed for PART 2. I’m doing my best to incorporate ALL this material in some way to the DVD.
John: Will you be covering the remake and interviewing any of its personnel?
Robert: As of right now, I have very little about the remake. No one really wants to talk about it! Including Gus Van Sant, whom I did reach out to. I figured it’d be interesting for him to revisit the film now 10 years later, but he politely declined. It won’t be mentioned in the full length doc, but I am cutting together a featurette on the remake for the bonus materials on the DVD. That could change though. The one person I’m still trying to talk to is Vince Vaughn. I’d love to hear his thoughts on PSYCHO now in retrospect.
John: Since you’re not directly covering it then, what are your frank opinions of it? I thought it was a good experimental idea, but I had problems with it. They updated some things but not others, so it seems to take place in a strange present day USA that never really progressed much passed the 50’s/60’s.
Robert: I agree completely. I remember a “rumor” when the remake was first announced that it was going to be shot-for-shot up until the “shower scene” and then once we got past that, it would become a radically different movie. THAT would’ve been kind of cool, but alas it turned out not to the case. What do I think of it? Egh, it’s not a very good movie. I agree, interesting idea, but in order for that remake to work, you have to update more then just the amount of money Marion Crane steals! PSYCHO defined a lot of the genre for decades after it came out and was so imitated that you can’t get away with the stuff in PSYCHO anymore. It’s not shocking to kill the lead half way through the movie anymore. Everyone already knows that Norman is “mother” so the ending doesn’t work anymore. There’s also inconsistencies in Norman’s character. If a woman excites him, the “mother” side of him gets jealous and takes over. He wouldn’t stand there and masturbate! And when he’s mother, I’m not sure why he would see goats on the road or left over footage from the Nine Inch Nail’s “Closer” video. It didn’t make sense to add those little elements yet change nothing else, ya know?
John: Ditto for the under-appreciated (some would say for good reason) TV Pilot BATES MOTEL?
Robert: Same deal. not many people talked about the pilot. But I will cut together a bonus featurette about it. Same goes for all the Robert Bloch books. (Which do get mentioned in the actual doc, but the featurettes will delve more into his PSYCHO novel sequels.)
John: Ah yes, I’ve been meaning to catch up with those source novels one of these days. It’s well known Joseph Stefano’s screenplay differed greatly from the original novel, but how did the additional books compare to the flicks – was any material at all borrowed from them?
Robert: Oh, the novels are their own beast. While I like them for what they are, I know they pissed a lot of fans off when they came out, especially for their depiction of Norman Bates who is NOTHING like the sympathetic version that Tony Perkins created. I don’t want to spoil them for you, but they could never make a movie out of PSYCHO 2 – the novel. And Norman’s not exactly in PSYCHO HOUSE, the 3rd novel. They’re worth reading as a die-hard fan, but I definitely prefer the direction the cinematic sequels went instead.
John: I gotta ask… has it been difficult to get folks connected to part one since it’s a pretty old film now?
Robert: Yes. I got Hilton Green, which is great because he’s the one connection between ALL the films, including the remake. So it was important for me to have him there. Not sure where Vera Miles is. And John Gavin I haven’t been able to locate. Again, Laurent’s documentary covers the first one so extensively that I prefer to think of my documentary as a sequel to his. Or at least a compliment to his.
John: If they ever decided to do another PSYCHO, what would you like to see? Sequel or another redo? Who would you cast as Norman?
Robert: I personally have an idea on how to properly continue the franchise, but it’d have to be a reboot. And I’d combine elements of the 1st and 4th PSYCHO’s. Tell Norman’s story in chronological order, or at least open with him murdering his mother and assuming her persona. It’d have to be about him, his story and then the 3rd act could be elements of the first movie. Him going more and more insane and getting closer & closer to being caught. I don’t really see another known actor taking that role. I’d personally cast an unknown so there’s no pre-conceived notion about who Norman Bates is.
John: Lastly Robert, where are you at in the doco’s production right now and when do you see completion and distribution happening?
Robert: I’m literally in the process of ironing out the details for this right now, so I don’t want to jinx it! But, I’m aiming to release it October 2009. Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the original. I’m sure fans will be totally pleased with the full package we’re putting together. I just obtained some never before seen footage of Anthony Perkins at a Fangoria convention moderating a panel for PSYCHO 3, so he WILL actually be in the doc!
A huge thanks to Robert for participating! You can chase up more about the project at thepsycholegacy.com!
“Norman Bates is probably the most famous cinematic lunatic ever put on screen, and the year 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest American films ever made. Very few horror films have the longevity that Psycho has, and it’s the perfect time to take a look back on all of the films in the franchise in feature-length retrospective documentary.” -Anthony Masi
For those tired of the neverending cycle of slasher remakes that fans have been subjected to over the last few years, you may like the sound of Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet, the gruesome debut from writer/director Frank Sabatella and starring Halloween 4’s Danielle Harris and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’s Bill Moseley. Based on an urban legend and recalling the glory days of the ’80’s drive ins, Blood Night is an old school slasher – made by a fan and for the fans!
How did you first develop a taste for filmmaking and what would you cite as your early influences?
“Like many filmmakers today, I developed a taste for it at an early age. I would use my dad’s video camera and just get my brother and our friends and we’d make dumb little horror movies in our backyards and houses. We would shoot them in order since we had no editing equipment and then when we were done we would sit around and watch them, it was a lot of fun back then and I wish I still had some of the old VHS tapes we shot them on. But they are long gone. I was mostly influenced by the horror movies of the 8’0’s, specifically Friday the 13th and the Elm Street series. Freddy and Jason were obviously the top slashers back then, but really I loved any horror movies at all.”
What kind of films were you a fan of growing up and which writers/directors had the greatest impact on you?
“Growing up I was the biggest fan of slasher movies. I couldn’t get enough of them, everyday I would go to this video store down the block from my house and rent a different horror movie. It’s hard for me to say really which writers/directors had the biggest impact on me. I have been influenced by so many different styles of movies and I tend to find something inspiring in just about everything I watch, however, if I had to name a few directors I really admire, I would say Robert Rodriguez, Tobe Hooper, George Romero, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie. Really anyone who has accomplished achieving a unique vision and style in their work, and I think these guys exemplify that completely. I hope it is something I can achieve.”
Were you always a fan of horror and, in particular, slasher movies and what is it about these type of films that you think is so appealing?
“I have been a fan of horrors and slashers as far back as I can remember. I think what appeals to me most with these films is the excitement you get from watching a good scary movie, or the laughter you get from a good kill. There is nothing better to me than catching a horror movie on opening night and just laughing and yelling along with the audience, it’s such a good time. I recently caught the My Bloody Valentine remake in the theatre and I had a blast. Everyone in the audience was just yelling at the screen, applauding the kills, girls were screaming, I mean it’s just the most fun at the movies in my opinion.”
Where did the concept for Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet originate? Were there any specific films, stories or urban legends that fueled your script and how long did it take to write?
“The concept for Blood Night stemmed from a few Long Island urban legends. One is the legend of Mary Hatchet, which says that a young girl murdered her parents with a hatchet and now her ghost roams the wooded roadside at night. She is seen in the nearby cemetery, spotted by cars, etc. And she is just a scary ass ghost. The other is the legends that surround the now abandoned Kings Park Psychiatric Center. It is reportedly haunted by the souls of the patients that have died there. There are so many stories about inmate abuse, and mass graves, all sorts of crazy shit. So I combined elements of both legends to come up with an awesome slasher story. There is actually a great documentary called Lost Suburbia about Mary Hatchet and about Kings Park Psych Center, you can check out the videos on our website at www.bloodnightmovie.com in the videos section. Very cool legends.”
What is the premise for the movie and what is it about Blood Night that will make it stand out among all the other horror films released recently?
“The premise of the movies starts with the legend of Mary Hatchet. She murders her parents and is locked away in Kings Park Psych Center. Years later while trying to escape, she is killed by the police. That incident is referred to in the local town as Blood Night. And the local teens celebrate the anniversary of her death by going out partying and what not. But as you may have guessed, they learn the hard way that Mary’s ghost may not be a legend but in fact a reality! And that’s when the heads start to roll. What I think will make it stand out from a lot of the horror movies recently released, is the uniqueness of Mary Hatchets character and her story. Additionally I think it is a very stylized slasher flick that really captures the feeling of the authentic ’80’s slashers while still maintaining a fresh direction. The cinematography is modern, the editing is very modern, the FX are very modern but really pay great respect to classic styled SFX. I think it brings the slasher genre back to where it came from in many respects. All of the greatest slashers were low budget movies made by a very determined group of filmmakers working under tough conditions to make a great flick. Friday the 13th, Elm Street, the two most popular slasher movies ever I would say and they were both done for very little, but they had a lot of heart and dedicated people behind them. That is where Blood Night comes from, our budget was about a million dollars which is really not much at all and everyone just put their heart and souls into it. I think that comes through in the final product. I think it is something you don’t get with many of the higher budgeted slasher movies today, or horror movies in general. Most of the studio horrors are either PG-13, a horrible remake of a classic, or they just miss the feeling of the horror movies everyone loves. So, I think Blood Night brings that back, it has the feeling of those classics because it was made under similar circumstances as the great ones.”
As you were writing the screenplay were you conscious of avoiding the usual horror clichés or do you find that, if used correctly, these can be entertaining for audiences?
“I worked very closely writing the flick with screenwriter Elke Blasi. From day one we were conscious of the fact that we would be exploiting the slasher clichés, I wanted to involve the clichés for entertainment purposes. We wanted to use the “slasher formula” to our advantage and ultimately I think that without these clichés we would not be properly tributing the sub-genre. The film is sort of aware of itself, and I think in that sense it makes it more enjoyable for the audience, without being silly. Everything down to the title of the picture itself is a deliberate homage to the great ’80’s slasher flicks. I wanted it to feel like it fit right in there with Friday the 13th, Slumber Party Massacre, Sorority House Massacre 2, Prom Night, Hell Night, Fright Night, BLOOD NIGHT. Fans of the genre will be refreshed by Blood Night for sure.”
How did you manage to finance and develop the project and how long did it take from writing the script to filming the movie?
“Financing any project is probably one of the hardest things for indie filmmakers. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the executive producers by someone very close to me at the time and after a series of meetings, we all realized we were on the same page. We developed a great working and creative relationship rather quickly and once we began to write the script, things started to fall into place rapidly. We began writing the screenplay around May 2007, and we began filming in December of the same year. We had final cut the following December. It was just about two years from script to screen, and it was the hardest two years of my life.”
The cast boasts such genre favorites as Bill (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) Moseley and Danielle (Halloween 4 and 5) Harris, how did you manage to involve such talent and were any roles written with any of these specific actors in mind?
“Having Bill and Danielle involved in the project was really amazing for me. Initially the parts were not written for them specifically in mind, but once it became time to start thinking about casting, both of them were at the top of my list. Once the idea entered my head that Bill Moseley could play Graveyard Gus I really couldn’t picture anyone else in that role. Same with Danielle, I realized she would be the only acceptable actress to play the role, and really what slasher flick would feel complete without Danielle in it? Once we involved our casting director I made it pretty clear to him that we wanted Bill and Danielle so he got the script over to their agents and we just sat back and waited for the news. After a week or so I got a call that said Bill really dug the script and Danielle was interested as well, so things got really exciting at that point. We started the negotiation process and after a bit of back and forth, we signed both of them onto the project. I was ecstatic and at that point I felt that something really amazing was going to come out of this project.”
What kind of tone have you aimed for with Blood Night and how violent or gruesome can audiences expect it to be?
“The tone of Blood Night is scary, sexy and fun! It has highs and lows, gets really intense and is gory as hell! Gallons of blood, lots of dismemberment and all sorts of gruesome goodies for the gore hounds out there! Blood Night does not skimp on the red stuff.”
Were you hoping to create a horror villain as iconic as Jason Voorhees or Jigsaw with Mary Hatchet, and will she be the central focus of the movie?
“Well, Mary is def the focus of the movie. It’s her legend that spawns all the events of the flick. I cant say that I was trying to create a villain as iconic as Jason or Jigsaw, though I would certainly love it if Mary Hatchet achieved such status. Blood Night in many ways is a big Friday the 13th tribute, though I think many of those motives and homages will be obvious only after several viewings of the film. I think Mary has the potential to achieve some real big time cult status but only time will tell. It is really more the audiences that will decide if she becomes so iconic than it is my decision. I created the character and I hope the audience loves her.”
When are you hoping to have Blood Night released and will it go straight-to-DVD or be screened at any festivals? Was this film set up for the possibility of sequels or do you have no intention or returning to the story in the future?
“I am hoping that Blood Night sees a release by this summer, but again that is something that is not under my control. We currently have agencies and distributors interested in the project, but I am learning that it is a slow process at this level of filmmaking. It is too early for me to say if it will be a straight to DVD release or theatrical. I know we have entered it into a series of festivals and we are waiting on word back to see where it goes to. I am just eager to get it in front of as many audiences as possible and I am counting on the support of the horror community to really get behind the flick and get it into theaters. I think any good slasher flick is left with a sequel set up, though when we were writing it we didn’t specifically think that we would be doing a sequel, nor did we consider it during filming. However, at the end of the day, Mary Hatchet is a ghost and you can always find a reason to bring a ghost back, right? I would love to do another Mary Hatchet movie, I think the character is awesome and I think there is a lot more that can be explored with her. But that is really up to audiences, the audiences need to love her as much as I do and want to see more of her. I have some ideas for a sequel, but it is not my primary focus right now. But I’m hoping we have not seen the last of Mary Hatchet.”
INTERVIEW: Christian Sellers