INTERVIEW - Clive Barker Adresses Online Fans and Studio Foes of The Midnight Meat Train

If you haven't heard, Clive Barker's new film The Midnight Meat Train has been getting all kinds of kicked around by Lionsgate. After a tug of war with fans, the studio has agreed to give the movie a theatrical release-- a measly 100 theaters, nationwide, followed by a speedy DVD release.

I spoke to Barker himself (!!!) this week, who is urging not just horror fans but all movie fans to let Lionsgate know what we think about studios flushing perfectly good movies away because of personal agendas. Follow this link to my interview, where you'll find more details as well as a link to Barker's site that has contact info for those at Lionsgate who are calling the shots on MMT.

Seriously, considering how well the trailer and then the movie itself have tested with audiences, it's obvious something is fishy here. I'm very grateful that Clive himself took the time to share his feelings about this with me, it's not an experience I'll forget anytime soon!

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INTERVIEW - Abe Sapien and Doug Jones, BFF

Ever since Pan's Labyrinth I've been keeping track of the man who was able to tap into our worst nightmares with a flick of his pointy red fingers. In the past few years he's become downright sought-after for certain demanding roles that few humans could ever convincingly take on. One of those is as the mysterious, amphibious Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies, who recently got his own five-issue comic book miniseries-- thanks, I'm sure, to fan interest that Jones' performance has helped generate.

Jones is a truly dedicated performer and a wonderfully entertaining guy. You can read more about the comic in this week's column, but you'll miss out on some great acting advice and interesting insights into Abe unless you read our complete conversation right here.

[Click here for the interview!]

TB: You have a great voice—I’m surprised! I mean, I’m surprised because I don't think I’ve never actually heard it before.

DJ: Yes, I’ve been dubbed over only three times, but they’ve been three notable times.


TB: I've read that you had a background in theatre, so I really shouldn’t be surprised.

DJ: Yes, we boom to the back row! [Booms]


TB: Dark Horse has released a Hellboy miniseries completely devoted to your character, Abe Sapien. Have you read it yet?

DJ: When we were filming Hellboy 2 in Budapest I heard people talking about the Abe Sapien series, but hadn’t had a chance to pick any up or study them. Now that the set is finally complete, I think I’m going to swoop them up in my arms and bring them home and devour them.


TB: Too late to help you with character work now... maybe in the next sequel, if there is one?

DJ: Certainly. Guillermo had plans for three all along... He’s got ideas, but I haven’t heard all of them yet.


TB: You play three characters in Hellboy 2. How much time did you spend as Abe, compared to the time you spend with these other two?

DJ: Abe was the bulk of the movie for me, the role was beefed up so much from the first one. The entire film was a 128 day production schedule. I worked 108 days of that 128, so I worked a lot! Most of that was Abe Sapien... I spent one week as the Angel of Death and one week as the Chamberlain.


TB: You're beginning to be widely recognized for being unrecognizable. How do you feel about the Lon Chaney comparisons that people make?

DJ: It’s the hugest compliment, as you can imagine. I feel bad, though, like I’m soiling his good name!


TB: Not at all! In a way, you’re living out a lot of dreams of his, special effects-wise.

DJ: Especially with special-effects makeup the way it is now, and our ability to use CGI to enhance what we have-- he’d be in heaven right now!


TB: In the trailer I could tell the Angel of Death was you, just by the shape of your head. Are they going to have to start burying you even deeper in makeup to keep people from recognizing you?

DJ: Oh gosh, can you imagine how much more would that take? Please, no! I actually get comments on my hands too, though. People recognize my hands, the way my thumb is structured.


TB: Do you think it's a sign of hope for theatre actors that there are opportunities for this kind of body-work in film?

DJ: I hope so. Acting is a full-body experience, and it always should be, because communicating is a full-body experience. What you can’t see over the phone is that I’m making facial expressions, my hands are waving in the air, I’m sitting here with a certain posture, and there’s so much visual story going on. My training as a mime back in college really got me in tune with how much storytelling really does go on without words, so when you bring dialogue back into the picture after being trained as a mime, then you’re very much aware of the entire experience. I’ve been able to roll that into the characters I play because they are so incredibly visual. The makeups I’ve been able to wear over the years, and the costuming, have really broadened the kind of characters that I can play, which I could never get to do with my own face.


TB: Do you have any tricks to keep from going crazy during the long hours in the makeup chair?

DJ: I have a really good relationship with my makeup artist, no matter what movie I’m working on. The people who do creature effects makeups tend to be really creative people and really funny people, and very well-read people. and crazy people who drew demons in their notebooks when they were supposed to be in math class. You find yourself being in really fascinating company. My one make-up artist who has done the most is Tom Floutz, he did both Hellboy movies and also made me up as the Silver Surfer, and he’s one of the funniest people, a very charming compassionate human being, and you find yourself really leaning on these people, because you’re with them all day. Also Simon Webber returned for Hellboy 2. Once you’re in a makeup, you can’t see as well, you can’t hear as well, you can’t taste as well because you have teeth in your mouth. You become like this nursing home patient, and your makeup people are the ones who stay with you all day and take care of you. So we have built a bond over the years... We put in a full day of work before they even start filming that day. We laugh a lot, we share stories, we watch DVDs or funny videos on YouTube. Thank goodness for the technology age and how it helps fill up our five hours! It goes by much faster than you’d expect.


TB: What have your comic book convention experiences been like?

DJ: I’ve devouring the comic convention world now! This year I’m doing a complete blitz because of Hellboy 2: I’m going to be in New York this week, and then I’ll be in Knoxville, TN this weekend, and in Mexico City for something later in the month. What I find at these conventions is a fanbase that’s different from any other in the world... they are intelligent and creative, smart, smart people. People ask me all the time whether it tires me, whether I find weirdos there, and all that-- and in any crowd there’s someone who leaves that impression, of course! But for the most part, these fans really just appreciate my work, appreciate this other world they can crawl into and fantasize in. So it’s not at all like the typical fan that’s hiding in Brad Pitt’s bushes who says, “Hey, you’ve got great abs, can we have a life together??”


TB: These people actually sound a lot like the people you were talking about who help you into your make-up...

DJ: Exactly! And it’s amazing how many of these people have contacted me on Facebook or Myspace or my own official website, and sent emails asking me, “I want to do what you do. I’m an aspiring make-up artist, can you give me any advice?” That’s a large portion of the messages I get, so they’re out there, more than I ever thought.


TB: In regards to the kind of extreme make-ups you’ve worn, I suspect that the weird facelessness is what made some of them so alien and scary-- but that lack of a human face is also what allows people to project themselves onto characters like Abe Sapien, really connect with them. Do you agree?

DJ: Absolutely, I totally agree. Guillermo Del Toro is a huge fan of that kind of storytelling. He always taps into the human condition with these otherworldly creatures that he makes-- same thing happened in Pan’s Labyrinth too. He has the golden touch with that.


TB: Do you do any special training before adopting such physical roles?

DJ: I just had my 48th birthday, so yes! A couple of years ago I asked myself, “How long can I do this?” So, especially when I have a job coming up that I know is going to be very demanding, I hit the gym in ways very specific to that character, and pay attention to whatever movement evolves for it. I usually have to really work on my core muscles like my back and abs-- a lot of the characters I’ve played had a certain stance or squat or lunge that human beings don’t normally do. In fact, I just did a cameo in a movie called Legion a few weeks ago, and I actually had to wind up on all fours, galloping toward a building! That gallop had me a little bit worried about whether I could do it take after take-- could I pull that off? So ultimately it was me, in the gym, at night when no one else was there, watching myself in the mirror crawling around on all fours and figuring it out.


TB: I think that’s an experience most film actors really miss out on!

DJ: As film actors, we depend so much on close-ups and dialogue so much that we get caught up in the words. It’s an easy thing to get trapped in. When you back off, and go back to the stag experience and pretend that you are performing to that back row in the theatre, you need to involve yourself from head to toe and work the space that you’re in.


TB: What kind of surprises did Hellboy 2 have in store for you?

DJ: Watching the evolution of the Abe Sapien character was kind of surprising to me. It’s a testament to Guillermo Del Toro’s storytelling, how he can make these otherworldly creatures-- who would never fit in at the mall, right? And he can make them into leading romantic characters. Abe Sapien was a kind of one-note intellect, just a sidekick in the first movie, and in this one Guillermo beefed up the character into a romantic leading male. As a fish-guy! He looks like a freak of nature, but I found myself really connecting with Abe this time in a way that was deper. He’s like my best friend now. He does everything from wielding a weapon and fighting bad guys, to and going on adventures with Hellboy and Liz Sherman, you see all of that buddy time and brother/sister time, but a subplot for Abe is that I am a love interest. My princess is played by Anna Walton, who did a fantastic job on this character. And this love story creates a triangle that’s a bit of a problem in the plot, which I found charming. I think that the fanboys will fall in love with the princess, because she’s like, Cate Blanchette-stunning-- such genuine regality, not pushed or fake. In the meantime, I think the fangirls will look at Abe and sort of tilt their heads and say, “Awwww.” Because he’s a bumbling idiot when it comes to love, and he hasn’t really dealt with that part of his life.

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Tarot In Plain Sight

In case you don't know, I also run a blog about the Tarot called Arcanalogue. In this entry I dissect the Hermit card and set up associations to the Statue of Liberty. But something about the card that I didn't address is that it is one that I have always identified with, from the very first time I personally encountered the cards. I mean, what lonely teenager wouldn't? But still, that card became a launchpad for my creative identity, and I have tipped my hat to it many times, even in the conceptualizing of this very site. A little backstory for you folks who care. The rest of you will still be glad you came-- this Tuesday I'll be posting my interview with Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth star Doug Jones, as well as one other that I'm keeping hush about for now.

I hope you enjoy Arcanalogue, I look forward to covering the Tarot in this style many times over.

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Knucklebones

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has expanded their Carnaval Diabolique line of fragrances, which now includes dozens of twisted midway treats. Whether you're into candy floss or you're more of a freak-show, there is something here that will astound, amaze, or entertain.

Other than free samples I'd gotten with other stuff, I'd avoided the Carnaval so far. But I could tell right away when I saw the new ones that I'd be ordering Knucklebones:

"You hear a clatter on the ground, and a small bleached bone smacks against your foot. Cloaked in shadows between the tents, three men crouch playing knucklebones. Distress clouds the face of one of the men, while another bursts into a wicked smile and the last one sighs in relief. Scooping up his winnings and shaking his head, the victor makes a soft 'tsk' noise as he reaches towards the loser's chest, positioning his hand over the man's heart. Pressing forward, his hand moves through cloth, flesh, muscle, and bone to extract the beating organ. Tossing the heart onto the ground, he says to you, 'Mind handing me those bones, buddy? I've got a game to run here.'

"Black musk, bay rum, lime fougere, orange blossom water, gin, and tobacco."

It's the actual elements of the fragrances that I weed through, looking for exactly what I want; The creepy little blurbs that accompany them are just something extra to flavor your impression, and let you know that somewhere, someone has a job that's way more fun than yours. My bottle arrived today, and I'm excited to find that this perfume oil blend smells exactly the way I hoped. Well... I'd have loved it to have a slightly stronger hint of orange blossom. But really, it's the ideal summer counterpart to the Black Forest I'd purchased for winter. Both have that black musk and juniper combo, but Knucklebones is airier and spicier.

And, I got to spend time learning about the actual game called knucklebones. Which I will not play when I go to Coney Island tomorrow, because I'd like to keep my organs right where they are, thank you very much.

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INTERVIEW - Betty Buckley Steals the Show (Again) in M. Night's The Happening

In the "Who Loves Horror?" articles I write for AMC, Carrie almost always winds up on people's top-ten lists. People have a very personal relationship with this film, surely because of how nakedly it depicts the destruction of a true innocent and outcast. In her first film role, Betty Buckley was on fire as Miss Collins, the only adult who understood Carrie's torment, becoming her fierce advocate and protector. When I spoke to Buckley for my column, she seemed surprised that this role from 1976 still meant so much to people, but no doubt we've all longed for a Miss Collins of our own, a teacher or mentor who could offer a sincere helping hand-- or at least beat down the bitchy Chris Hargensens of the world.

However, Buckley has shone many times brighter since then, with more film, Broadway, and recording accomplishments than I can count. When I discovered that she was slated to appear in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, I couldn't wait to find out whether her role had any meat to it, and whether it signaled a true return to the genre that she kicked off her career with. I think you'll find there's a lot we don't know about Betty Buckley-- and even more we (still) don't know about The Happening!

[Click here for the interview!]

TB: Can you tell me about your character in the The Happening?

BB: I can’t really! I had to sign a confidentiality agreement. I can tell you her name is Mrs. Jones, and I’m in the last portion of the movie, and my character is one of the reasons we have an R rating-- It’s Night’s first R-rated movie. And that she’s weird and odd and scary... Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel are on the run, and they come to my house. I can tell you that.

TB: You’ve worked with some of the best film directors of all time: De Palma, Woody Allen, Roman Polansky, etc. Can you tell me what it was like working with Shyamalan?

BB: Incredible! Night surrounds himself with incredible people in every job category, from the production team and crew to the cast. At the end of filming, I told him that if I could just do a movie for him every year (and some concert work too) I’d be a happy camper for the rest of my life. He has a beautiful family of people who have worked with him on all his movies. He’s very childlike, a very enthusiastic human being, so you just want to do anything he asks you to do-- which I did in this movie! [Laughs] I’m really excited to see it. The producers have written me some very sweet notes about my contribution to the film, very loving, but I’m a little scared to see it! I’ve never really played a part like this before.


TB: So it’s a mystery to you too!

BB: Yes. I’m very curious to see how it comes together, because I felt very bizarre! I kept going back to Night saying, “Are you sure this is what you want?” and he’d say, “Absolutely! Go further.” And I’m like, “Go further??” It’s really nuts; I’ve never played anything on film that is this scary.


TB: Is that something you’d like to explore again?

BB: Sure, I wouldn’t mind. I’m at the point in my life where, whatever, let’s play! It’s very freeing to play a character like this. It’s harder to play someone glamorous, because you have to watch yourself from every angle and make sure that you’re put together right; with stuff like this you can go all out, and the further out you go, the better they like it. I’ve really never done anything like this... I’m interested to hear how people who follow my work feel about it. And everyone else too, of course.


TB: You’ve played some dark roles over the years, but this seems to be a real return to horror for you, as far as I can see.

BB: Yes, that’s sort of what I was thinking. Though I was a victim in Carrie, not part of the action really.


TB: What do you think it is about your character in Carrie that has remained with people all this time?

BB: Miss Collins? I didn’t know it had remained with people all this time, thank you for saying that.


TB: Yes, that's a big part of what my column will be about. As an actor, are there insights you have now about Miss Collins that you wish you’d had then?

BB: Well I wish I hadn’t let me wear those socks! I wish I’d worn normal gym socks, but they put me in those knee-highs. When I first saw it on the big screen, that really bothered me. It’s always a shock to see yourself on the big screen, which is why I’m so anxious to see The Happening, to see myself in this form!


TB: I’m going to have to send you an email after the film comes out--

BB: --You have to, Tom. You have to tell me what you think!


TB: No, I meant I want you to tell me what you think! Now, on another subject entirely... when I told the owner of my local video store that I would be talking to you, he immediately showed me your brief, powerful scene in Woody Allen's Another Woman, which he thinks stole the whole show. Woody Allen is notorious for not giving much direction to his actors; did you muster all of that firepower on your own?

BB: It was hysterical. He’s so very vague! I played the ex-wife of Ian Holm, who is having his engagement party with Gena Rowlands (who’s one of my favorite actresses in the whole world, and I got to go to work with her every day-- we shared a car and I was in heaven the whole time!). Gene Hackman and all these great New York actors were also in the scene as the guests. And Allen just said to me, “You’re coming over to break up the engagement party, with the excuse that you’re returning some stuff," and you know, whatever. And then he turns to all these incredible actors who are in the room for the party-- very serious, wonderful theatre actors-- and says, “Some of you know her, some of you don’t, some of you have a friendship with her—I don’t know, whatever you feel like.” And one of the grips just started laughing, and so did I, because he really had no idea what he wanted us to do. And he turned around and looked at me then, sort of mischievous and gleeful.


TB: Did you film any more scenes in that movie that were cut?

BB: It was just that one scene, but we did about twelve takes. And my favorite version of it was when I had this whole tantrum in the doorway, and then as I was going out, I ran into the door! I thought it was perfect, but he didn’t use that take. Actually, that reminds me of when I was filming Tender Mercies: I was in a scene where I had a tantrum in the dressing room, in the scene with Wilford Brimley, and when he leaves I throw this wine glass against the wall. Well, in one of the takes, I threw the glass and the wine flew through the air and hit me in the face... you couldn’t duplicate it--the liquid flew in a perfect arc, right into my face! But of course they didn’t use that either.


TB: While we’re on the subject of directors you’ve had, are there any that you’ve missed so far that you’d really like to work with?

BB: Well I'd been really hopeful to work with Sydney Pollack, and I was so sorry when he died, it was very sad. I’d love to work with Baz Luhrrmann; I just did a miniseries called Pacific which will air next year, which was produced by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg, and I’d love to actually be directed by Spielberg. There are a whole fleet of directors I’d be thrilled to work with! De Palma again, and Polanski, I hope. Scorcese, of course-- I frequently want to write him a fan letter and ask “Can I work with you?” but I’ve never had the courage to do it.


TB: Well when The Happening comes out and you see what’s there, you may suddenly find yourself feeling very brave!

BB: [Laughs] I just hope people know I’m playing a character! When you play these crazy people, sometimes people think that’s who you are.


TB: Don't they know by now? It’s not like you’re an unknown actress just starting out...

BB: People have short memories, they tend to remember the most recent thing you did. That’s about as narrow as our imagination often is.


TB: Maybe so, but in talking to people about this interview, I discovered that you've covered so much ground that no two people seem to have the same concept of what you’ve actually done.

BB: Thank you, that’s very nice. I felt as a young person that it was important to be good at a lot of different things, so that you were always employable.


TB: Do you have some incredible talents we don’t know about that you’re saving in case all this falls through?

BB: Not exactly, but I do ride cutting horses on my ranch in Texas, and I show them—and I’m not very good at it. I’m desperately trying to be better! I’ve got a lot of time this summer to practice, I found a trainer right down the road, so I’m hoping this summer I can get better. It’s frustrating to not be good at something at this late age in my life! I’d also like to learn to play the guitar. And recently I had this a great experience working with a choreographer for a possible Broadway show, and that re-inspired my love of dance and made me want to go back to dance class, and even I’m thinking “You’re nuts!” My body’s getting older-- why do I have all these lofty physical goals? Do I really have to show horses and play guitar and take dance classes all at once? At the very least it seems like a reason to roll out of bed each day and have some fun.

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INTERVIEW - The Wire's Omar Talks Up Two New Horror Adaptations

Life is funny. In setting out to write about the coming adaptation of The Road, I wound up getting in touch with Michael K. Williams, who played Omar Little on The Wire. Those last five words alone are enough to send tons of people into a slobbering fan-panic, so it's no surprise I wound up devoting the entire column to Williams' take on his two upcoming movies, both adaptations from scary-as-hell literature. Even so, you'll find the bulk of our chat right here.

The character of Omar was something of a brick heaved into the hornet's nest that was The Wire. A grim highwayman who robbed drug dealers and dealt violent retribution according to his own strict moral code--while shattering gay stereotypes left and right-- Omar was someone that most of us can relate to. (Well, I certainly can.) Williams' fearless portrayal is a huge part of why people are always obnoxiously telling you to watch this show. Including me-- watch it!!

[Click here for the interview!]

TB: What sort of environment were you in while filming The Road?

MKW: We filmed on location at Lake Erie in the state park over there. While it was very beautiful, in the context of our scene it could have been a very scary place. It was no joke, we were in the elements, and it was freezing.


TB: Did you find it difficult to shake the apocalyptic frame of mind that you had to adopt while acting in this film?

MKW: It was a good scare, because it could happen—it could actually happen! And it makes you pray that it doesn’t. This has made me very grateful, and it’s made me reassess the little things we take for granted, like shelter, food, water and even companionship and human contact. It’s crazy that we were scrounging and killing for the things we take for granted in everyday life.


TB: Considering which character you played, you must not have had much contact with other actors, right?

MKW: All my scenes were with Viggo and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is an amazing young man-- he’ll be doing huge things once this movie gets out.


TB: Do you think it's even possible for a filmed version of this story to live up to the book?

MKW: There’s a lot of graphic stuff that you’ll see; to read and imagine it is better, but to actually see those things portrayed with actors and human faces is going to be pretty dark and pretty scary. Within the ugliness, like cannibalism and all that craziness, you see all these levels of humanity. You can't kill the human spirit! No matter what happens, that will to love and be compassionate is ever there in the darkness.


TB: Did you meet Cormac McCarthy?

MKW: No, he wasn’t there the days I worked. He was very much involved though, in fact one day he had notes for me.


TB: Wow, you got notes from Cormac Mccarthy?

MKW: Yes I did! Via the director of course, but yes, I had notes from him on how he saw the character.


TB: It must be weird to appear in an adaptation, knowing that if you ever go back and read the book again, that’s YOU in there.

MKW: I especially got that feeling from The Road. Right after I was cast, Tyson Beckford and I were hanging out in a club, and this young lady and I started talking. We talked about The Wire and so forth, and then she asked me, “So what’s new?” And honestly I hadn’t read the book yet, so I said, “This Cormac McCarthy book called The Road, actually.” And she went “OH MY GOD!”—you know, her voice went up in pitch. And then she asked what role I’d be playing-- I guess she assumed I’d be one of the road-gang members, right? But I said, "No, I’ve got this weird thing with Viggo over a shopping cart." And she went fucking ballistic. “No fucking way. You’re cart-man??” So she sat me down and explained what that scene means in the story, and how pivotal that part of the book was to her, and it really opened my eyes. It made me rush to go pick up the book and read it.


TB: When the movie comes out, I wonder if you’ll get notes from her.

MKW: You know something? I would actually welcome that, because of her knowledge of the character in the book. I hadn’t even read the script at that point, but she was dead on. Everything she told me that night at the club was accurate, down to the level of intensity that John [Hillcoat] was telling me he wanted in that scene. So if I ever see her, I’d love to get her opinion on how I did.


TB: Okay, now tell me a little bit about Tell-Tale. What would you like horror fans to know about this film?

MKW: First of all, Josh Lucas is an amazing actor, I really enjoyed watching his work. The Tell-Tale Heart is my favorite of Poe’s stories, and as for writing an adaptation, it’s set in modern times, but the story and the emotion are the exact same.


TB: Fair enough. Is it safe to say you've had a really dark and creepy acting career so far? Why is that?

MKW: It’s definitely a painful place to go, but for some reason I’m drawn to it. I guess I've gotten used to equating my good work with dark traumatic stories, but that’s just where I’m at. It's a cross between what’s out there and what I find interesting. I’ve gotta go with that until I feel something different-- maybe I need to go through a nice funny love story in Hawaii in order to balance things out. [Laughs]


TB: After bedding down with one role for so long on The Wire, is it strange to be in movies and jump from role to role?

MKW: It’s not really weird. I kind of always had that vision for myself, and I knew The Wire would end one day. What’s interesting is that it’s pretty much like starting from scratch again—like you earn credits, but when you go to another school, you have to start at the freshman level at that school. That’s where I’m at now, I’m at the beginning of a new phase of my career, but I’m starting at that level and working my way up, hopefully.


TB: Well if you don’t mind my saying so, if you have to pick a level to start from, that’s a pretty good one.

MKW: Yes, I guess it is!


TB: Is there anything out there that you'd really love to see get adapted or remade into a new film?

MKW: It’s funny you should say that— there’s this old film with James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, and Richard Pryor called The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings. I love that movie, and I'd love to see it get another chance!


TB: That sounds great. You’ve got to get on that!

MKW: Yeah, I guess I do, right?


TB: So do you consider yourself a horror fan?

MKW: I grew up watching horror movies. To this day, I can’t go camping-- I’m a grown man, and I still cannot go camping. I'm fine in the daytime, but when that sun drops and I can’t see my hand in front of my face anymore, that’s a wrap! As I get older, I’ve started to shy away from the bloodier movies. A good murder mystery scares the shit out of me, but I can’t take the gore anymore. When I was growing up, I was scared by like, Jason, and the early Freddy Kruegers-- and those characters scared the living hell out of me. Michael Myers was my all time favorite, though; even the last one they just released, where they showed him as a kid... I thought it was amazing, I flipped! It still frightens the shit out of me.


TB: Yeah, I still have bad dreams about some of those movies, and it seems so ridiculous afterward when I wake up.

MKW: No it doesn’t, man! Those are good old-fashioned horror movies.


TB: So it doesn't bother you that they're remaking all those older horror movies now, like Nightmare on Elm Street?

MKW: Why should a new generation be deprived of all that horror, and years of trauma and nightmares? It shouldn’t be limited to us.

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INTERVIEW - Project Runway's Chris March Delivers the Best of the Worst

I normally don't feel anything for people when they are sent home from reality TV shows, because I'm dead inside. But I was furious when Project Runway sent Chris March home this season, seemingly squeamish over his garments made of human hair (which is apparently beautiful when it's glued to your scalp, but disgusting when it fringes your jacket?). I tried to suss out how bitter he was by asking what he'd like to dress Heidi Klum as for Halloween-- and his answer shocked me with its total absence of malice. Humbled, I am.

Chris gave me his top ten horror movies, but asked if he could send me a second list of his top ten bad horror movies-- the best of the worst, as it were. I'm happy to be able to include that awesomeness right here, Don Knotts and all. Thanks, Chris!

[Click here for the interview!]

TB: First, can you catch us up a little on what you're doing now?

CM: I am working on the pilot for a new fashion makeover show I will be hosting. I am also working on some Broadway projects, a coffee table book of my costume designs, designing red carpet dresses, plus a few new projects with Bravo--whew! So, I guess you could say I'm a little busy.


TB: You endured a really long run on Project Runway. Was there any sort of hangover for you when it was all done?

CM: As soon as filming was finished, I literally slept for two months. Then I had to get to work on my Bryant Park collection, and go right back into filming the finale week. So I'm still a little bit exhausted, believe it or not.


TB: Horror and fashion intersect all over the place; if you had an opportunity to costume the remake of any movie, what would it be?

CM: I suppose I'd go with a classic and say Dracula, but I'd love to get my hands on that Bride of Frankenstein hairdo!


TB: Earlier you mentioned a deep appreciation for "the best of the worst." Can you explain what draws you to those movies?

CM: The sheer audacity of making something with such a high schlock factor is fascinating to me. Did they know it was bad? Was it bad on purpose? I find the humor (intended or not) to be a great compliment to the horror.


TB: You seem like a person who's pretty hard to shock. What's the last movie you saw that really scared you?

CM: One of the only movies that has truly scared me (even though I left it off my list) was Candyman. I got caught up in the idea that those childhood games could really make something terrible happen.


TB: When you presented your final garments to the Project Runway judges, there was a flap about the fact that you'd used real human hair in your designs. Considering the crazy shit that goes down runways all the time, I felt the judges' queasy reactions were quite unfair. Care to comment on this?

CM: You know, its funny. People seem to be clearly divided about this--either they think its disgusting and they hated it, or they love it and think it was completely inspired and creative. Other designers have used the exact same hair at Fashion Week, and been thought of as cutting edge. Its reality television, and they couldn't resist taking aim at the obvious. But people are still talking about it...


TB: Heidi Klum and Seal celebrate Halloween very conspicuously. If you were in charge of her costume this year, what would it be?

CM: I would love to see Heidi as an incredibly beautiful and artistic version of the Teutonic goddess Brunhilde (!) or the inimitable Marie Antoinette. (I have already been asked by Nina Garcia to make her Halloween costume!)


TB: In general, why do you love horror, or think it's important?

CM: It gives me a great fun scary feeling, like Halloween, Saturday morning monster movies, and being afraid of the dark all mixed together. I think safely experiencing fear by watching a horror movie makes real life a little less frightening.


Chris March's "Best of the Worst" Movies:

10. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

9. Theater of Blood

8. Gruesome Twosome

7. Strait Jacket

6. The Tingler

5. Lesbos Vampyros

4. Parents

3. Motel Hell

2. Leprechaun 4: In Space

1. The Abominable Dr. Phibes

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INTERVIEW - Jennifer Lynch Under Surveillance at Cannes

Jennifer Lynch was mere hours away from Cannes and the debut of her new film, Surveillance, when we spoke on Monday. Since this is her first feature film since 1993's controversial Boxing Helena, there's really no telling what awaits her there, but Lynch was more relaxed and good-humored than you'd think a person could possibly be, under the circumstances.

The movie itself looks really good, and goddamn sinister. Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman star, her father, David Lynch, is executive producer-- and Cheri Oteri is in there somewhere too(!). It all seems to add up to something very unusual and very upsetting, which is just my style.

Jennifer opened up about her concern for child actors, her own daughter's participation in the film, her parents' influence. The only thing left unclear is whether I'll be hired as her valet the next time she takes off for Cannes. (Jennifer, you know where to reach me!!)

[Click here to read the interview!]

TB: I know you’re traveling today, so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

JL: That’s alright, I hate it when men say they’re going to “keep this short and sweet,” so you know, just do what you need to do.


TB: Oh. I actually hate it when women say “Just do what you need to do.”

JL: Oh, sorry! Then let’s have a good long talk together; let’s take as much time as we need, Tom.


TB: Who have you screened Surveillance with so far?

JL: The list goes on and on... I’m more informed about the list of people who haven’t seen it yet. I guess there are some folks seeing it today in Cannes at a market screening, so when I get there they can either yell at me or salute me, whatever they feel is appropriate.


TB: I had an interesting talk with Tracy Letts about the way that Bug was promoted, and how often interesting, intelligent thrillers wind up being re-packaged to draw in a hardcore horror audience. I’m curious about your perception of Surveillance—do you think the film they’re showing off in the trailer is the film that you’ve made?

JL: It concerns me a little bit that the big reaction I get is, “Wow, that looks scary.” Because I made what I hope is a frightening film at times, but it’s more psychologically scary than it is Saw 5. So hopefully it won’t be billed as anything but a thriller and will stay away from the horror market, because if people go in expecting a horror film, they may find themselves disappointed.


TB: Boxing Helena came out in 1993. Are we going to have to wait another 15 years for your next movie?

JL: No you’re not! Those 15 years were filled with working on a book, and trying to recover from the backlash of Boxing Helena. And I got pregnant, and realized I was going to raise my daughter alone; she’s twelve now, she’ll be thirteen in September, so now I can get back to work. I also had three consecutive spinal surgeries, and that took some time. I’ve already got my next picture planned, though, and I’ll be shooting this summer.


TB: What can you tell us about that?

JL: I can tell you I’m very excited about it, and that I’m shooting it in India.


TB: Gotcha. As a mother and someone who had a great exposure to film as a child, what was it like to direct Ryan Simpkins, an actress who is about your daughter’s age?

JL: It was fantastic! What I love about Ryan is that she’s an incredible performer, but she’s not a kid actress. No offense to kid actors out there, but they scare me. I worry for them. Ryan just happens to be a kid who can perform very well. I was very careful to protect her from some of the images that I didn’t think she needed to see. But obviously I needed her to be reacting as if she had, so she and I spent some time creating things that are okay for a kid to be afraid of, or for a kid to be confused about-- so that, like everyone else, she could enjoy the experience of the film and then not carry it around afterward like terrifying baggage.

The role I wrote for Ryan was inspired by my daughter, and by the fact that children see so much more than we give them credit for seeing, because they’re not caught up in their ego, they’re not caught up in “How do I look? Is my ass too big? Do they like me?”


TB: Was your daughter around a lot while you were filming?

JL: Yes, the entire time. And I would have let her do [Simpkins’ role] but… if she wants to flip me off when she’s 18 and say, “Mom, I’m going to be an actress,” that’s fine, but right now, I don’t want that for her.


TB: Do you really think that’s going to happen?

JL: I don’t know! There are little insert shots of her in the film; if that’s what she wants to do, I’ll celebrate it. I’ll say, “Yay!” and then come home and curl into a ball—but I’ll say “Yay!” in front of her.


TB: Does it ever get tiresome when people ask about your father’s influence on your work?

JL: What's funny is that he had nothing to do with this film. The Executive Producer credit is both my gift to him for all his help over the years, and his gift to me. He loved the script, he was thrilled to help make it happen. He saw it for the first time after I was done cutting it, his influence is obviously in there, but if you look through my mother's paintings, you'd see her influence in there too. It never gets tiring. I adore my parents, even when we piss each other off. Hopefully they're as proud as they keep saying they are after seeing this film.


TB: Tell me about working with Bill Pullman, who seems to take lots of risks to be in some fantastic and unusual movies.

JL: He is one of the greatest actors, men, friends, or guys you could pass in an airport, in the whole world. He’s so devoted as a performer, and has an intellect and genuine playfulness that is unmatched in most other people. You can’t help but just sort of giggle around him! And he can go from a really dark moment to “Hey, how’s it going” in a flash. I wanted him from the start, and he wasn’t available and wasn’t into it. Three years later, when I was literally a week from shooting, I lost my lead actor, so I called him up and said, “Bill, I won’t be able to sleep again unless I at least try. I know you can only give me one of two answers. Yes or no?” And he said, “Now, why didn’t I want to do it before?” And I said, “I don’t remember.” So I sent him the script, and he called me a few hours later and said, “I’m flying to Canada.” It all came full circle.

What shocked me more was the fact that Julia Ormond actually called ME… When I heard that Julia Ormond wanted to meet with me about this part, I said, “THE Julia Ormond? Well damn, sure I’ll have coffee with her!” And she just blew me away. She’s totally undercover as a proper English woman, but there is sex in Julia when she just walks across the room, or clears her throat. She’s a powerhouse.


TB: Are there any other films at Cannes that you’re looking forward to seeing as an audience member?

JL: I want to see them All, but I’m not going to get to see a doggone one of them. I want to see Woody Allen’s new picture, I want to see Kung Fu Panda with my daughter. I want to see the films I’m in the same category as, such as Barry Levinson’s film.


TB: What kind of pressure do you feel from Cannes as far as Surveillance’s US release?

JL: Magnolia’s picked it up, so we have a distributor. Pressure… [laughs] having never been, and having come out of 15 years of a totally different life, the whole thing is exhilarating and terrifying. I feel like I’m about to enter an enormous library; it’s really only 26 letters jumbled up in different ways, and all these stories are alive in there. All of this imagination, all these facts, all these opinions. And that’s where it feels like I’m headed, to this cinematic library where we’re all using the same 26 letters to tell our stories, and I just hope the way I’ve arranged them works for people.


TB: I think you'll find that people are already very excited and curious about it-- though I can't speak for people in Cannes, since AMC's not sending me to cover it.

JL: They should be. Want me to make a phone call?

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INTERVIEW - Nico Muhly Has a Tongue For Your Ear

Falling for Nico Muhly's music was the next logical step; I'm a fan of Philip Glass, Björk, and Antony and the Johnsons, and he's worked with all of them. It's like there's some rowdy street-gang of musicians out there that occasionally puts down their hockey-sticks and paintball guns long enough to conduct an orchestra or release a mindblowing album.

Incidentally, today's the day Nico's new album, Mothertongue, enjoy its digital release (physical album available July 22nd), and while I can't describe it, I also can't stop listening to it.

As you may have guessed, I got Nico to share his top ten horror films, but I'd be remiss if I didn't post the rest of his comments here, or append this one on his choosing The Exorcist over Rosemary's Baby, (submitted via email):

"This actually could be number one, although now I just watch it and wait for her to get that haircut and say, ive BEEEEN to viDAAAL sasSOOOn, so the terror has been replaced by high camp."

Thanks, that made my whole day.
[Click here for the interview!]

TB: Horror and classical music have intersected frequently-- almost symbiotically-- throughout history. Do you think they'll continue to?

NM: I hope that they do! Horror is such an extreme emotion-- specifically suspense, actually-- and I think classical music is really best suited to marry with those kinds of images and narrative vocabulary. In fact I'm not sure what kind of non-classical music could work with horror...


TB: What are some pieces of music that never fail to give you the creeps?

NM: The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky is constantly shudder-inducing. The Arvo Pärt Miserere is good at the awe and the terror of the old testament. And the theme from Rosemary's Baby is scary and simple.


TB: After deciding to do the soundtrack for Joshua did you watch any particular movies for inspiration?

NM: I watched a whole bunch of old movies with Bernard Hermann scores, then some obvious newer ones, like The Omen or whatever, but I tried to avoid giving the filmmakers anything that sounded like other movies... Horror music now I think has lost its intrigue and is just a bunch of bowed cymbals and synthesizers. Bring back the pitch!


TB: Your new album Mothertongue will be many people's first exposure to your music. What do you hope they hear in it?

NM: I hope they hear a very wide breadth of influence on my musicianship and also a real sense of drama (as compared to my first album which is more about texture). Also I would hope that first-time listeners will be excited by the three very different treatments of the human voice.


TB: Can you tell me why you love horror or think it's important?

NM: I like watching horror movies because they remain viscerally scary even in this very plugged-in and otherwise rational age. All those Japanese "ghost in the machine" films opened up whole new realms of things to be scared by, too. When that girl came through the TV in Ringu-- that was major. Unlike, say, science fiction, which I feel like has run its course a bit, good horror can still be a punch to the gut.

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INTERVIEW - Faces of Death Interview Part II: Director JT Petty's Underground Approach to Horror

After discussing special effects with Allan Apone, I had a lovely chat with JT Petty confirming his plans for a Faces of Death-inspired horror film. It's still in its early stages, as he just finished up The Burrowers last week, a film I've been dying to see for a long time-- but more on that in a bit.

In today's column I reconcile these two stunning sources for the sake of making some kind of a point, but both of these interviews have been so fascinating to me that I could hardly sit on the rest of what they had to say, so here you go. Special thanks to JT Petty for (at least temporarily) repairing my optimism for the genre.

[Click to read the interview!]

TB: When did you first see Faces of Death?

JTP: Like everybody, I watched it when I was twelve years old, from behind my fingers; I watched it again about a year ago when I got the writing job. Like anybody who watches it as a child and then as an adult, it’s amazing how fake it is. When you’re twelve, you’re like, “Oh my god, I just saw these people die!” but now it’s goofy as hell. What did the special effects guy have to say?


TB: [Recaps Allan Apone interview, i.e. monkey brains.]

JTP: Monkey brains specifically is hilarious. There’s no shot in that sequence that lasts longer than a second. Have you watched it again recently?


TB: [Admits technical ignorance of FOD]

JTP: There is real autopsy footage in it-- that I believe is real-- and that’s kind of fucked up to watch. But that’s not really horror, it’s just weirdly analytical. One thing I didn’t really remember about it at all is what a sort of false-hearted liberal diatribe it is. They keep trying to justify why they’re showing you all this horrible shit, so it’s like, “These are baby seals being clubbed,” and the voice over goes on to say something like, “Watching this I realize I could never again wear fur.” They do that for everything. After the monkey brains get eaten there’s a hint toward vegetarianism. Surprisingly moralizing. Which I guess all horror movies kind of are-- "If you have sex you get killed," that sort of thing.


TB: Your movie is a fictional take on the series, correct?

JTP: It’s a fictional narrative. I want to involve some real footage; I want to play with not knowing what’s fake and what’s real, which I think is just sort of interesting in general right now. Faces of Death would be impossible to make today, because if a kid wants to watch somebody die, they just go online and watch Saddam Hussein die-- you actually get to see real, honest-to-god murder anytime you want to. So figuring out how to make this movie scary again seems like an interesting challenge... When you don’t know what’s real and what’s not, how you’re allowed to enjoy it becomes really complicated, and ultimately, frightening.


TB: Do you think that the original film sparked an interest in this craving for real death footage, or was it merely symptomatic of our nature?

JTP: Faces of Death is totally more of a symptom than a cause. If you go back to the earliest motion pictures that Thomas Edison was making—


TB: Like the electrocution of that elephant?

JTP: The death of that elephant is just awful. There’s also The Execution of Mary Stuart, a silent movie where they lead this woman to a chopping block, put her head down on it, and then cut her head off. At the time it was pretty straightforward: “This is what it’s like to watch someone die.” I think technology was headed there right from the start, but pictures especially, and moving pictures very especially,


TB: In the meantime, what are your hopes for The Burrowers?

JTP: My hopes are high! It’s a pretty effects-heavy movie; when we were working on the picture, we worked on the sound and the visual effects separately, so I didn’t get to see it all put together until last week. So I got to watch it almost like a fresh audience, and it was really, really good-- and I’m usually fairly hard on myself with that kind of thing. I’m very happy with it. My biggest worry is how people are going to react to a horror Western. It’s not at all campy, it doesn't at all make a joke out of the fact that it’s in the old West. It’s just a straight-on John Carpenter horror kind of thing.


TB: Can you explain how a monster movie functions in that setting?

JTP: I’ve lived in NYC for 12 years now, and if I go out to the grasslands I get creeped out by the open spaces. The Burrowers is like that-- a horror movie in daylight, in open spaces. That’s what I’ve always liked about Jaws, it makes the ocean scary. It puts you and the poor bastards out in the middle of the ocean so you’re always on the monster’s turf.


TB: Speaking of the horror/Western crossover, do you feel competitive about GallowWalker coming out as well?

JTP: I saw the trailer for GallowWalker, and again, it seems pretty campy to me, so no. I really see both The Burrowers and Faces of Death as chances to get horror fans off-balance again, because we’re so insanely savvy about all the rules of the genre, you set up your five teenagers and you know in what order they’ll be killed in. If you set something in the old West, and you have something that doesn’t fit the mold, hopefully you can still surprise and frighten them.


TB: I can definitely see Faces of Death going in that direction.

JTP: People think that because it’s a Hollywood movie that it’s going to be safe. But then every once in Cronenberg sneaks The Fly through the system and you find yourself in the theatre saying “Motherfucker, what just happened to me?”

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INTERVIEW - Faces of Death Interview Part I: Allan Apone and the Special Effects That Inspired Urban Legend

When I was in grade school, Faces of Death was the ultimate taboo. Descriptions of the film's supposed contents-- real footage of actual deaths-- were passed by word-of-mouth so religiously that practically anyone could recall a litany of them in hushed tones, reducing younger kids to puddles of pale dread.

I never got to see FOD, nor any of its sequels, which was fine by me. But I was intrigued to read recently that a DVD is being released, containing featurettes that give credit to the special effects artists whose work the film showcased. It was FAKE?? This bit of news totally un-traumatized me a little, and I decided that my next column at AMC would be devoted to the strange, windowless room in pop culture that this movie has become. Here you'll be able to read all about it, including my chat with director JT Petty, whose fictional meta-horror movie based on FOD is currently underway.

In the meantime, here's my chat with Allan A. Apone, whose career as a make-up and special effects artist spans over 30 years, and who has been powdering Samuel L. Jackson's nose for longer than I've been allowed to vote. I was nervous bringing up FOD with him, not knowing whether he'd put that hideous and notorious movie long behind him. Instead, I found myself gladly sharing in Allan's memories of his glory days as a young artist-- and learning the recipe for vegetarian monkey brains!

[Click to read the interview!]

TB: You've had such an extensive career that it’s almost impossible that people haven’t seen your work. What jobs stand out in your memory as your favorite?

AA: Friday the 13th part III is definitely one. And 1981's Evilspeak... I made so many lifelong friends on that movie, I doubt I could go through a week without talking to at least one of them.


TB: How did you originally become involved in Faces of Death?

AA: I got a phone call from the producer/director, who asked whether I’d be interested in doing some death-recreations and body parts and some specific props for a movie. They sent over a sort of outline since they didn’t have a script yet, and he told us what specific things they wanted to do, and asked us to give them a budget. It was all really low-budget, our company was very new; it was one of the first five things we did.


TB: When it was all over and the movie gained popular notoriety, were you at all open about your involvement?

AA: We totally tried to preserve the reality of it-- all of us who worked on it were very close friends as well, and we just loved the fact that people thought it was real. I remember the very first times I heard people talking about it, like someone saying, “Have you seen this Faces of Death video? Oh my god, it’s incredible!” "Did you see the occult sequence? What’s so weird is that my girlfriend’s-friend’s-boyfriend knows two of those people, and it really happened!” And we could just laugh. No one ever piped up and said, “Oh, that never happened, I did that sequence!” Everyone [who had seen it] wanted to be a part of it, or know something about it. I think that it’s one of the best things about the film-- how many years we preserved the myth that it was all real. I never, and I stress, never, on any movie set that I was on, heard anyone talk about how there was fake stuff in it-- and it was talked about all the time.


TB: What about the sequels? Did you work on them too?

AA: Oh, we did all of them.


TB: Wow. Well, I’m glad artists are finally getting credit for work they did a long time ago. Although... some of the footage is real, right?

AA: Sixty/forty. That’s what I think, about 60% real. That’s the thing that helped to sell it; they picked really good [real] footage, and they tried to match that same style of footage when they filmed.


TB: So how do you think the truth started getting around?

AA: I don’t know how, my guess is the internet. I think that also people started to talk about it, like people who weren’t there, but know their parents worked on it.

I never even told my kids about it until a few years ago. My son was maybe a senior in high school, and one day he came home with his friends and said, “Dad, do you know about this movie Faces of Death?” and I said, “Oh yeah... I did that.” Of course he was like, “NO WAY!” I showed him myself in the movie, and they thought it was the funniest thing in the world.


TB: Did you swear him to secrecy?

AA: No. I didn’t. So much time had passed.


TB: Do you think more people will be interested in revisiting FOD now that they know a lot of these scenes aren’t real?

AA: Sure, I think people will definitely do that. “This looked so real when I saw it, how the hell did I miss that?” It’s the same reason people went back to see The Sixth Sense again once they knew the ending; they'll watch to try to figure out what they missed.


TB: You mentioned working on the occult ritual-murder scene. What's another of your contributions?

AA: Monkey Brains! People eating the monkey brains. Everyone knows THAT’s real, right? It's cauliflower, with green food coloring and gelatin.


TB: ...I have to tell you, that’s a real load off my mind, knowing that.

AA: That’s a sculpture of the monkey’s head, and when they hit him on the head and pull the skin back to break the skull-- which is a plaster cap-- people went “AAAUGH!” [Laughs.] It was so much fun to work on. When we did FOD, we were all twenty-somethings, you know. We were just having a ball!

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A Woman In Trouble

I initially dug up this video because I'm hooked on the song and wanted to share. Then I got to the end of it and-- well if it doesn't belong here, where DOES it belong?

The funny thing is that before I saw this, when Tex played the song for me he said the female vocals in it gave him the creeps, that he couldn't help but envision "a woman in trouble," like Laura Dern in Inland Empire. Looks like he really called this one...

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INTERVIEW - Pulitzer-Winner Tracy Letts Explains Why Bug Deserves Another Look

I was itching to pick Tracy Letts' brain about Bug long before he won the 2008 Pulitzer for his new play August: Osage County. The film flashed into theaters two years ago, flummoxing and enraging audiences who'd seen the trailer and looked forward to gorging on horror movie junk food, only to be served a full-course meal they weren't hungry for. I was entranced and repulsed by Bug, and everyone I've watched it with has been similarly impressed. So what the hell happened?

I spoke to Letts at length about this and more. An actor as well as a playwright, he has an natural appetite for horror and tragedy, and of course the easy humor that by necessity accompanies both. While Bug's off-Broadway run is ancient history, you can still catch his Pulitzer-winning play August: Osage County on Broadway if you hurry. You think parasites and conspiracy theories are scary? Wait till you meet the matriarch of the Weston family.

[Click here for the interview!]

TB: I’d planned on just talking to you about horror, but your recent Pulitzer Prize is sort of the elephant in the room. What has the last month been like? Do you feel a lot of pressure now?

TL: It hasn't really affected me; to receive the Pulitzer is very confirming. People who talk to me about the play I’m working on now say, “You must really feel a lot of pressure!” But it’s really the opposite. The pressure is off. It feels great.


TB: While you were adapting Bug from stage to screen, did you find any particular movies inspiring?

TL: I don’t know that I found other movies "inspiring." Certainly there’s a tradition of the paranoid movie, and that’s a very small niche-- you know, like The Conversation or even The Parallax View. Bug is such a bizarre little dude, a bizarre animal, a very strong cup of coffee, and I never saw it [becoming] a movie. The whole thing was staged on a single set, just a few actors. It was really Mr. Friedkin who said, “I think this is a film, and I also think you don’t have to do much to it in order to make it a film-- just a straight filmic adaptation within these claustrophobic parameters.”


TB: So he'd seen the play?

TL: He saw the play in New York, and called me. Obviously I was delighted-- I mean he’s William Friedkin. I was very excited to work with him, he’s a very geneous collaborator, and he’s become a good friend. I think the world of him.


TB: Bug is horrifying on many levels, but it was sold to audiences as a hardcore horror film—which wound up confusing a lot of people and interfered with how it was received. I found this very unfair to the film and to your script. Care to comment on this?

TL: It was the worst campaign in the history of motion pictures. It was just an absolutely abysmally conceived and executed plan. When they first talked about opening the thing on 2000 screens, Bill and I both said, “You’re crazy! Why would you do that? This is not that kind of movie, this is a small picture, you need to open this in New York and LA, and put it on the festival circuit to let it find its audience. But they had this plan in mind to open on all these screens and con kids into thinking it was Saw or Hostel to bring them into the theater. As a result, people who would have enjoyed the film didn’t go see it, because they were put off by the marketing campaign, and kids who were enthusiastic to see the movie advertised were furious. “Why are these people talking?” They didn’t understand that there would be these long scenes of dialogue, so they felt cheated. Because they were cheated!

I was very upset at the time-- but you know, after a little time goes by, people don’t remember marketing campaigns. Eventually this movie will find its audience. And I think it has already started to-- I‘ve started to hear from those people who see the thing on DVD and say, “Wow, I don’t know how I missed this.”


TB: Do you think theatre or movie audiences are harder to shock nowadays?

TL: I guess movies are harder to shock people with; we’ve pretty much given them everything we can give them. There’s something about the visceral experience of seeing live performers that movies will never be able to capture, but then you also can’t exactly build huge oil derricks in the theatre either, so they’re just two different experiences. I think people are more willing to go to live theatre not knowing what they’re going to see. We don’t do that with movies.


TB: Do you have plans to write any more screenplays?

TL: I believe August: Osage County is going to become a movie at some point, and I’ll be intrigued to see how that goes. I love movies, I’m a movie buff-- I have a stupid DVD collection that has gotten out of hand. So I’m interested in working with film. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent any time on a movie set, but they’re just the most boring places on earth, so that’s one of the advantages of being a writer at least.


TB: Can you tell me why you love horror or think it’s important?

TL: Oh-- I don’t know! I don’t know that I can! [Laughs.] I think the reason I can’t is that it appeals to a sort of primordial instinct in people, so it’s tough to identify what it is I like about it-- but I like pretty much everything about it! I love cheesy horror as much as I love well-made horror, so I’m pretty democratic in my love at least.


TB: Have you found any recent movies to be satisfyingly scary?

TL: No! [Laughs.] The simple answer is no. I was into J-horror when that started to appear, then they all got remade and watered down. Something always reignites (horror) though, just when you think it’s played out. Wait-- the remake of The Hills Have Eyes, of all things! I thought that was really pretty good. I don’t know that here’s acres of social commentary, but it was a pretty good scare.

View Tracy Letts' Top Ten Horror Movies

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