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Interview By Don Nornamm
Tell us a little about yourself and
how you got involved in filmmaking.
I was born in Oklahoma City and
raised in Dallas, Texas. Many years ago I moved to L.A. with
my band, THE JUDAS ENGINE. Although TJE had a CD under its
belt, was playing gigs regularly, and had a new demo
recorded, it was brutally murdered by (certain)
circumstances, about eight months after our arrival in
California. I was suddenly a lost soul and too burned out to
pursue music anymore. My only opportunity lay in some good
luck I’d had in meeting two professional film producers.
They read the unpublished (at the time) manuscript of my
novel PUZZLEMAN, liked the story, and wanted to get it into
script form ASAP.
I took the challenge and launched
into an endless screenplay writing exercise that eventually
went nowhere. I could never please two producers of
different minds and myself, too. I also wrote a second
feature, LOVE ME, based on an old short story I’d written
many years before, but was nearly thrashed to death by
criticism upon completion of the first draft. It was then
that I realized the only way anyone was ever going to take
my cinematic visions seriously, or even understand them, was
if I took control and made a film myself.
My first choice was SCREAM FOR ME,
based on another of my short stories –– a little tale that
people either loved or absolutely hated. I had quite a bit
to prove to the world, as well as to myself, so I wanted to
shoot a movie that broke rules. In the case of SFM, that
meant dealing with controversial subject matter, male
nudity, sexual violence, excessive language, back-to-back
monologues, a one-room location, and a lead character that
constantly wore reflective mirror sunglasses. Most all of
those challenges are considered bad luck for a first-time
filmmaker. (Or even a pro.)
“3 DEAD GIRLS” is a pretty
provocative concept and title. How did you come up with it?
I was already working on 3DG when I
came up with the title and concept, which might seem a
little after the fact. Thing is, all I did was finally
realize that I had been following a theme all along. The
character motivation and plot of every short I had done was
driven by the wrongful and sudden death of a woman. I think
that was far more obvious to those around me than it was to
myself, just because I was so close to the subject matter.
But, quite literally, I was standing in my kitchen one
night, sipping a martini, starring at all the stuff on my
fridge door, and wondering what the hell I was going call
this damn DVD.
Months prior I had printed out a
strip –– a production still of each dead girl, vertically
aligned, for a film festival submission. I liked it and had
put one on my fridge –– a souvenir of three films completed.
Many months later, I had my little revelation while starring
at the damn thing. I hurried to my desk, grabbed a black
Sharpie, went back to the kitchen, pulled the strip of pics
off the fridge, and scribbled out my prospective and
inspired title. The “3”, “Dead”, and “Girls!” fell between
the pictures in the white, dividing border areas. And it was
that one-off scribbling that also became the official DVD
title logo.
As I had mentioned in the
review, there seems to be a pretty remarkable relationship
between you and Tony Simmons as director and actor. How did
that come about?
I met Tony by the sheer luck of
fate. I’d put out a casting call for my first short, SCREAM
FOR ME, in “Backstage West”, a trade mag here in L.A. When I
submitted the ad info I stated that the film contained “some
nudity” and that there was “no pay” for the actors. When the
ad was printed, however, it read as “some nudity” and “some
pay”. I freaked out and called immediately to complain.
“Backstage West” now informed me that because of growing
sexual abuse issues at auditions, they had recently changed
their policy on films with nudity: if an actor has to
perform nude, he/she has to get paid something. Now exactly
how problems of sexual abuse would be solved by offering
“some pay” is still beyond me, but whatever.
At the time, I was mainly concerned
with having to explain to the actors I wanted to audition
that “Backstage West” had misprinted the ad and there was
actually no money to be had at all. What an embarrassment.
To my surprise, however, everyone I called (about 30 people
for each of the three parts) accepted the chance to audition
anyway –– including a very mean and scary-looking guy named
Tony Simmons. I fell in love with his headshot immediately,
but was terrified by the fact that he looked like he’d enjoy
nothing better than beating the hell out of anyone that
looked his direction –– especially some no-name filmmaker
suddenly telling him sorry, there really is no pay.
I was also terrified that because
he so looked the part of Madman, he probably couldn’t act
worth a flip. But my fears were unfounded –– Tony’s audition
blew me away. No other actor even came close. The following
week I offered Tony the part, and he accepted immediately. A
couple years later, when we were shooting MY SKIN, he
confessed that he never answered ads that stated “no pay”.
So, that’s why I say that the sheer luck of fate brought us
together. If “Backstage West” hadn’t changed their policy,
and arbitrarily changed my ad info, Tony never would’ve sent
his headshot. He also told me that the only reason he went
through with the audition was that when he read the sides
I’d put out for the call, he was blown away by my writing;
especially the voice of Madman.
Again, a match made in heaven. Tony
is a great, down-to-earth guy; one of the nicest people
you’d ever hope to meet –– nothing like that scary headshot
he sent me. He’s also very professional and easy to work
with. So, we just clicked, and I couldn’t help but want to
use him again and again. As well, I think he has a fantastic
presence on screen. His talent for inhabiting a character,
his unfounded ability to listen to and comprehend direction,
and his fantastic facial features are truly a gift to me as
a writer and filmmaker.
Have you always been interested
in horror, or had you been interested in other genres before
this?
My mother still tells me about how
I used to sit in front of the TV as a toddler and watch the
daytime series “Dark Shadows”. Apparently I was quite in awe
of the vampire Barnabas Collins. The first horror film I
remember seeing was also on television: “The Night Stalker”
with Darren McGaven. I was so terrified I couldn’t look at
the screen, and had to ask my Mom and Dad what was
happening. In spite of my early fascination with horror,
however, I mostly found myself watching old comedies and
musicals –– films with The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy,
W.C. Fields, and Abbott and Costello, etc. I still love
those movies. Of course, my favorite Abbott and Costello
films turned out to be the funny spook movies, like “Hold
That Ghost” and “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” or
“...the Wolfman” or “...the Invisible Man”.
I also remember being utterly
fascinated with “King Kong” (1933). When I was seven or
eight I got two large books on the making of the film and
was obsessed with learning about the stop-motion effects.
But having said all that, I really strayed away from horror
films or books until I was about 21. I was always more into
sci-fi. I was also very interested in various religions and
belief systems, especially the dark ones like Satanism ––
anything that involved pagan rituals, black masses, or
ritual sacrifice fascinated me, and still does.
But it was when I was making notes
on a novel I still haven’t written, back when I was 19 and
20, that I suddenly realized that no matter what kind of
books I read or movies I watched everything that I created
myself always had a macabre flavor to it. So I simply
embraced my dark side and gave up trying to steer my
creative mind toward sci-fi or something else. Even today I
wouldn’t say that I’m really that big of a horror fan, but
that the horror is innate within me. It’s just the way my
brain works.
Who are some of your “horror
heroes” in front of and behind the camera?
I would say my first horror
influences were writers, first Stephen King and then Clive
Barker. I remember while writing the first draft of my novel
PUZZLEMAN I was up late and then couldn’t sleep, so I pulled
out the first BOOKS OF BLOOD and started reading this new
guy Clive Barker. When I read the first short story, THE
MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, I was totally blown away.
That story really changed my life
and writing. As far as my cinematic influences are
concerned, I think all the films I’ve seen have influenced
me in one way or another. If I had to name all the movies,
directors, writers, and actors that have inspired me, the
list would go on for pages. Nevertheless, movies and
directors I’ve come back to time and time again are: BLADE
RUNNER (Ridley Scott), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and CLOSE
ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (Spielberg), STAR WARS (George
Lucas), THE ABYSS (James Cameron), TWELVE MONKEYS (Terry
Gilliam), ALTERED STATES (Ken Russell), ALIEN 3, FIGHT CLUB
and SEVEN (David Fincher), SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Jonathan
Demme), VERTIGO (Hitchcock), PSYCHO (Hitchcock),
FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (James Whale),
KING KONG (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack), FREAKS
(Todd Browning), and anything with Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff,
and Bela Lugosi. Geez, and that’s just the beginning!
We met at Texas Frightmare
Weekend, although I seem to remember you mentioning that you
are now based in Los Angeles. Are you a Texas native, and
what do you think about the explosion of horror filmmakers
there?
Actually I was born in Oklahoma
City and moved to Dallas when I was eight years old.
Although I’ve been in L.A. for quite a while now, I’ve still
lived in Texas longer than anywhere else –– so I still
consider myself a Texan. As for the explosion of Texas
horror filmmakers, I think it’s great! When I lived in
Texas, nothing was happening at all. Hardly any kind of
filmmaking. Hmmmm...maybe I should move back. I don’t really
like L.A. anyway. And at least in Texas there are
thunderstorms. I really do miss the thunderstorms.
Would you ever consider making
films in other genres – comedies, dramas, action films?
Maybe. But first I’d like to make
the films I want to make. Which simply means “my” films. And
my stories always seem to be dark, deranged, and macabre as
hell.
How’s “3DG” doing on the
festival and convention circuits? What’s the audience
feedback been like?
To be honest, I’m not really
pushing 3DG on the festival circuit. It’s a compilation DVD
after all, and all three of my films contained therein have
already played over 30 international film fests and have
collectively won over 15 “Best Of” awards. So now I’m
seeking national and international distribution for the DVD.
Although anyone who wants to dive in can buy one through my
website @
www.BlackCabProductions.com/STORE.html.
The DVD is $16.99 and has over 4
hours of bonus features. There are 11 Commentaries,
including Critics' Commentaries for each film with Eve
Blaack (publisher of the underground horror magazine THE
HACKER'S SOURCE [Magazine:http://www.myspace.com/eveblaack]
and Christopher Webster (Producer of HELLRAISER, HELLBOUND:
HELLRAISER II, HEATHERS, SEVERED TIES), plus Photo
Galleries, Trailers, Interviews, and 7 New Behind-The-Scenes
Featurettes! So, needless to say, I’m very proud of the
project and it’s just a great DVD for anyone that’s
interested in filmmaking. But also, I’m running a special
right now: horror fans can buy both 3 DEAD GIRLS! and my
novel PUZZLEMAN together for just $24.99. You can’t beat
that anywhere. (Now how’s that for some shameless
self-promotion?)
What’s next for you? Will you be
doing a lot more work with Tony, and is there anything
coming up in the near future?
The future is a little up in the
air right now. But there are a lot of projects I’d like to
do. RETARD is a feature currently in the hands of producer
Christopher Webster, which I’m attached to direct. I wrote
the script with actor/writer John Franklin (who played Isaac
in CHILDREN OF THE CORN and CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666:
ISAAC’S RETURN). I’d also really love to make my
erotic-horror-feature LOVE ME. And I’m also about 300-pages
into writing another horror novel called HEATHER’S TREEHOUSE.
It isn’t nearly as complex of a story as PUZZLEMAN, but it’s
definitely as visceral and graphic.
It should be a fun read, if I can
ever get the time to finish it. I’m also about 60 pages into
a shorter novel I plan to call ‘M’, which is a very personal
story and is written in first person with a stream of
conscious feel to it –– definitely very different from
PUZZLEMAN or HEATHER’S TREEHOUSE. Then there are a couple
children’s stories I’d like to write too. And the project
list goes on. And another script called PIECES OF HATE. All
in all, there’s just lots and lots to do before I drop dead.
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Writer/Director/Producer
