THE HORROR BIBLE FOR HORROR FANS WWW.SCREAMHORRORMAG.COM
scream
THE WORLD’S NO.1 HORROR MAGAZINE
0 0 1 BLOODY PAGES!
ISSUE 45 £4.50
NOW
THE DREAM WARRIOR
CREATOR WES KELTNER TALKS JASON VOORHEES
KEN SAGOES REMEMBERS ELM STREET 3
A NIGHTMARE
ON ELM STREET 3 30 YEARS OF DREAM WARRIORS
PLUS!
DON MANCINI, FIONA DOURIF & JENNIFER TILLY TALK KILLER DOLLS!
THE BRIDE IN BLACK
TOM FITZPATRICK TALKS INSIDIOUS 2 & 3 scream
HAMMER HORROR, THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2, BETTER WATCH OUT, MAYHEM, THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, BRITISH WITCHCRAFT CINEMA, VHS ATE MY BRAIN, 21ST CENTURY FRIGHTS, BEHIND THE SCREAMS, DVDS/BLU-RAYS, BOOKS, GAMES, COMICS, NEWS, REVIEWS, PREVIEWS & MUCH MORE!
NOV/DEC 2017
NOT FOR SALE TO MINORS
DVD DVD
Free Super Saver Delivery and Unlimited One-Day Delivery with Amazon Prime are available on eligible orders. Terms and Conditions apply. See Amazon.co.uk for details. Amazon, the Amazon logo and Amazon.co.uk are registered trademarks of Amazon EU SARL or its affiliates.
DVD
24 THE HORROR BIBLE FOR HORROR FANS ISSUE #45, NOV/DEC EDITION 2017 If all goes to plan this issue will be hitting UK newsstands on October 26th, just in time for HALLOWEEN. Apologies to our overseas readers in America, Canada and Australia where your copies hit newsstands towards the end of November! Can’t be helped, it takes 4/5 weeks shipping from England but you can always consider subscribing and we’ll send your copies out as soon as they are released! Unless you are reading this on your iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC etc by our iSCREAM digital editions, you will notice this issue is a little on the weighty side! Yes! Even more pages for you! Last issue saw us at 84 pages and this issue sees us at 100. Making SCREAM 100 pages has always been my dream and I feel now is the time to just do it. We have such a talented group of writers and a huge readership within the magazine all over the world both in print and digital and I want to be able to give back something great to all of you who have not only supported us from the first issue but to those who have recently found us via our mainstream distribution to stores all over the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. We can do a lot more with the mag too! And this is where I ask for your help. No matter who you are and where you live, if you love what we are doing with SCREAM do please help. A simple sharing of our Facebook page, a tweet from our Twitter feed or a post from our Instagram account. It all helps! The more readers we get for SCREAM means the more we can do for all of you! We are proud and astounded on how big our readership is worldwide and I am sure there is the same size readership again out there who just don’t know about us yet! So do please help us on sharing our social media to the masses and spread the word about the magazine. Enjoy this issue! Let us know what you want to see in future issues! SCREAM, after all, is your mag! See you in 60 days!
16
46 CULT OF CHUCKY Don Mancini, Fiona Dourif & Jennifer Tilly talk killer dolls!
THE BRIDE IN BLACK Tom Fitzpatrick talks Insidious 2 & 3
A SKIN FOR DANCING IN Classic British witchcraft horror examined...
THE SEQUEL THAT SAVED A FRANCHISE 30 years of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
KINCAID SPEAKS - KEN SAGOES REMEMBERS A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
HORROR GAMING Wes Keltner talks Friday The 13th: The Game
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (Part 2) The legacy of Leatherface
THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN A Hammer Horror Classic Revisited...
MAYHEM A different kind of infection bloodbath gives Joe Lynch the chance to vent against corporate injustice
BETTER WATCH OUT Writer/director Chris Peckover has some shocking surprises under the tree in his Christmas horror film
THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 Zack Andrews & Bobby Roe talk indie horror
THE HISTORY OF DC/VERTIGO
When the going gets weird, the weird publishes comics
DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews The latest releases examined
Behind The Screams News & gossip from the world of horror
Horror Book Reviews The Good, The Bad & The Horror-ific
VHS Ate My Brain The Blob, Mutant, The Nest & The Vineyard
21st Century Frights (Part 14) The Memorable & The Forgotten January-June 2014)
6 10 16 24 32 42 46 60 66 76 84 92 36 70 80 73 54
screamhorrormag.com customerservice@screamhorrormag.com facebook.com/ScreamTheHorrorMagazine @screamhorrormag instagram.com/screamhorrormagazine youtube.com/screamthehorrormagazine
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
STAR LETTER COUNTING THE DAYS! Dear SCREAM,
I received my subscription copy of issue #44 today and I have spent the whole evening reading it from cover to cover. This is rather unusual for me as I try and spread my reading out of each edition over a few nights but as soon as I unwrapped the latest issue and flipped over the page I was hooked from start to finish. Seriously guys, you have such an outstanding publication. I have read numerous other horror magazine’s in the past but for content, quality, design and price SCREAM is more than miles ahead of any others.
Richard Cooper office@screamhorrormag.com
I’m a huge fan of detailed articles and retrospective features on classic films and each issue never disappoints. This issues Texas Chain Saw Massacre piece by Kat Ellinger especially is superb. To say I am looking forward to the next issue is the understatement of the year. I’m seriously counting the days! Wishing all the SCREAM Team lots of continued success. David Wheeler, Cornwall - UK (By Email) (Glad I am not the only one, David, who counts down the days to each new issue of SCREAM! I too get very excited! Ha! You’re this issues STAR LETTER, so something pretty amazing will be off to you in the mail soon! - Richard)
Have something to say or ask? Send us your thoughts and words via email or our social network!
Copy Editor Rebecca Allen
Submissions Editor Alan Clayton submissions@screamhorrormag.com
Marketing Manager Anthony Bailey marketing@screamhorrormag.com
Press Manager Marsha Harris press@screamhorrormag.com
Advertising Mollie Wilson advertising@screamhorrormag.com Trey McGriff trey@screamhorrormag.com
Publicity & Promotions Tamzin Moores promotions@screamhorrormag.com
Central Scrutinizer Peter Allen
Subscriptions
I LOVE REMAKES!
Dear SCREAM, Congratulations on the latest issue (#44) and thank you for the additional extra pages. As usual, SCREAM is a tremendous read. I particularly enjoyed the Psycho and Texas Chainsaw features and the interviews with the director and cast of IT. Like so many other cinemagoers recently I thoroughly enjoyed the new IT remake. The film has received so much hype this year but I was happy to see that it was sound. Not many film fans enjoy remakes/ reboots but I have to say that I am one of the fare few viewers that actively seek them out. The new IT remake definitely has a thumbs up from me and I am very excited about the next chapter in the series in 2018. Thank you again for such an outstanding publication. You have a reader for life here! Anthony Marsh, Birmingham - UK (By Email) (I don’t mind a remake either, Anthony. The new IT film was superb but I do remember not enjoying the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake for some reason. Thanks for your great support, it’s so much appreciated! - Richard)
HORROR POSTERS
Dear Richard, I have been reading SCREAM from issue one back in 2010. It has been very exciting seeing how the magazine has gone from strength to strength. I thoroughly enjoy each issue - there is always plenty of quality content to delve into. One thing I do very much appreciate is the amount of rare horror posters used within the features. It is easy to forget other countries release these gems and of course would have their own Promotional artwork and imagery done. Do please keep featuring these rare posters as much as possible. I love SCREAM MAGAZINE so much! Thanks to all of you who work on getting such an awesome publication out there to all us crazy horror addicts! Sara Batemen, Chicago - USA (By Email) (We love HORROR posters, Sara! Some of the Asian promotional artworks from the early 80s are especially beautiful. Rest assured we shall continue to feature them inside the mag! They deserve to be seen, right? Thanks for loving SCREAM so much, too! - Richard)
Alice Shoreland subscriptions@screamhorrormag.com Design Imran Kelly Contributors Kevan Farrow, Jessy Williams, Kat Ellinger, Jonathan Reitan, Michael Gingold, Jon Dickinson, MJ Simpson, Rob Talbot, Andrew Tadman, Kieran Fisher, Sheila Merritt The publishers make no representations, endorsements, guarantees or warranties concerning the products, services or events advertised within this publication. We expressly disclaim any and all liability relating to or arising from the sale, manufacture, distribution, use or misuse of such. All photographs, images and logos remain the copyright of the respective distributors or photographer. No infringement of copyright is intended or inferred. The views and comments expressed in these pages are not necessarily those of the editor or publishing group. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed or transmitted whatsoever without permission from the Publishers. © SCREAM MAGAZINE 2017 ISSN 2045-2128 DISTRIBUTED BY Warners Group
Don Mancini, Fiona Dourif & Jennifer Tilly Talk Killer Dolls!
Don Mancini’s much-beloved Child’s Play franchise has been keeping genre fans cheering with murderous glee for nearly 30 years. In that time, the franchise has seen some incredible highs and it has also seen a fair share of controversy. And now Don Mancini is back with the seventh instalment, Cult of Chucky and we couldn’t be any more excited. Picking up where the events of Curse Of Chucky left off, Cult of Chucky catches
6
SCREAM
up with Nica (Fiona Dourif), Chucky’s wheelchair-prone human victim who has been confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years. After her psychiatrist introduces a Good Guy doll as a new therapeutic ‘tool’ a string of murders plague the wards. Meanwhile, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) Chucky’s nowgrown-up nemesis rushes to Nica’s aid but he must get past Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), Chucky’s wife who will do anything to help
her beloved devil doll get his revenge. Based on the fact that Cult of Chucky brings together three timelines together for a clash like no other, we sent along our very own Jon Dickinson to interview Cult of Chucky’s Director Don Mancini and stars Fiona Dourif and Jennifer Tilly. Join us as we discuss Don’s inspirations, the benefits of working with a Canadian Crew and we ask a very important question... where are Glen and Glenda? www.screamhorrormag.com
at first because it’s so subtle. Juicy Fruit! In the scene with the actor that plays WIll Sampson goes “ah, Juicy Fruit”... JT: That’s what’s so good about Don’s movies. He’s such a horror fan and a film fan in general that he loves to include playful homages to the films that have come before. He loves to include references and inside jokes. Often you have to be a film buff to catch a lot of them but when you do it really makes you smile. SCREAM: Fiona. It’s fair to say that Nica goes through some, shall we say, changes in Cult of Chucky. What was it like to reprise the role? SCREAM: Don, how does it feel to be back in London for the world premiere of Cult of Chucky?
fan service but a means to find out what it would be like to exist in the world where all these characters came together.
DON MANCINI: It’s great to be back for FrightFest as we had so much fun when we were here with Curse. It’s very rare that we get to feel like rock stars, well, that’s every day in Jennifer’s life, but for Fiona and I, especially when we were here with Curse we made every effort to walk around Leicester Square and see the fans so, yeah... it’s great to be back with the world premiere of Cult of Chucky.
SCREAM: Cult of Chucky is set within the confines of a mental institution and in places reminded me of the fantastic A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 as well as a number of other films. Did any of these films inspire your style when making Cult?
SCREAM: So Cult of Chucky, where did the idea come from? DM: Where did it come from? JENNIFER TILLY: From Don’s oversized noggin (laughing).
DM: Yes. Shutter Island, Nightmare 3 and Inception. JT: Oh, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. DM: Ah yes, of course! We have two references to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. At one point Chucky says Cuckoo’s Nest which Brad really resisted... JT: Because he was in that...
DM: Yes. I wanted to continue the story of Nica that we had left dangling at the end of Curse. I love that character and I thought her predicament at the end of Curse where Chucky has framed her for all those murders which sent her to the loony bin. So I thought it was a cool prescription for suspense to pick up with this character after four years of drugs and electroshock therapy has her convinced that Chucky was just a delusion and it was she who was a murderess. The guilt that comes with this fascinated me and made for a really good first page to jump off from because it has the audience screaming no and that she was right the first time... that he’s alive. So for me, it was a means to further the story and also to find out what would happen tonally when you take different chapters in the franchise such as Jennifer Tilly and Alex Vincent’s characters. Putting them all on this collision course wasn’t simply to satisfy www.screamhorrormag.com
DM: There’s another reference in there too which we like that catches fans off guard
FIONA DOURIF: It was really fun. This was the first time that I’ve done something that was written for me. I felt very confident with it and the places I got to go as the character were very surreal and maybe the funnest thing I have done in my life. JT: Yeah. I watched a lot of the filming during the shoot and when I saw her I was like FUCK, Fiona is a really good actress. I couldn’t believe how great she was. FD: Aww, thanks very much Jennifer. SCREAM: We agree, Fiona you were fantastic in the movie as were you Jennifer. Speaking of which, Jennifer, we saw you in a blink and miss it moment in Curse but you ruled the screen in Bride and Seed. What was it like to return as Tiffany? JT: It was great. The biggest challenge I faced was that Tiffany is meant to be the same age as she was 20 years ago in Bride. So when Don told me that he wrote a part for me in the new movie he told me that I
SCREAM
7
was going to be very hot so I immediately dropped the bagel that I was eating as that was a lot of pressure. So yeah, that was the biggest challenge I faced to be as hot as I was all those years ago... DM: Mission accomplished! JT: Thank you... you know I love doing these movies. I love Don and he writes terrific parts for women that are packed with twists and turns. SCREAM: So what was it like for you both to work together? JT: I love what he’s done for Fiona and I. We met on the last movie. We didn’t have a scene together but we met in passing. So when we both knew we were working together we were so excited. It’s like playing tennis, you always have someone who lobs the ball back at you. Everything I gave to her there was this sort of imperceptible flinch happening on her face. SCREAM: Sounds like it was a fun shoot. JT: It was. Fiona and I kinda ganged up on Don. In real life, there’s the happy-go-lucky Don that will go see movies and loves to eat peanut-butter M&Ms. But on set there’s this stressed out, outer Don so on set Fiona and I would come around the corner and keep asking questions and his head would explode. It was fun. SCREAM: It seems like you all shared a tight almost family-like bond on set. Was this shared with the crew too? JT: You know what, the crews, I don’t know what he does to those underpaid Canadian crews but they adore him and they would give their lives for him. FD: It’s true. They really would. JT: I keep saying this but Don really is one of the best people to work with. Everyone made such an amazing crew together and it was fantastic to see so many people loving to be part of a film.
8
JT: For me it was mostly being on set and working with Don again hearing him say how excited he was to be working with Tiffany again. The first day I came in he got so excited and he’s so enthusiastic and always makes you feel like there are no wrong choices... just choices he would prefer you wouldn’t do. But I would feel bad one day if there was a Chucky script that I wasn’t in. DM: For me, it was probably at the Marsh where we shot the end. It was 40 below and was an actual blizzard. Even though we had all kinds of problems such as the zoom lens freezing and one night we got snowed out and we had to go home. There was such a sense of family amongst the crew like you were working in the elements like that we all had each others’ back and under these circumstances, it was evident that we were really working as a team. FD: For me, I loved the fact that we got to shoot in the Natural History Museum. So on the times that I was not working I was off learning about all kinds like birds and stuff. Also, pretty much, we had the exact same crew that we had in Winnipeg was the exact same crew that we had for Curse. We knew that people had given up longer jobs to come work on this film with us and we really did become this really big family. It was nice. There were even tears at the end. JT: Yeah, we had a lot of the same people. I already knew a lot of them already because I’m Canadian. We talked about the films we were involved with and we reminisced together about all times. Canadian crews are really the best. We shot Seed of Chucky in Romania and the labour was cheaper but the language barrier really proved to be a problem in areas. Thankfully for Curse and on Cult, the process was so much easier and that helped us come closer together. SCREAM: We’re almost out of time but before we go, let’s talk sequels. Army of Chucky, Legion of Chucky, League of Chucky... what’s next for the franchise? DM: Do you want to see another Chucky movie?
DM: Yeah, the crew are great. We love working with them in Winnipeg. We did Curse there and we are all just horror geeks where we can celebrate the fact that we’re making another Chucky movie. Everyone’s being so excited to be a part of it.
SCREAM: Did you even have to ask?
SCREAM: Excellent. So what were your favourite memories of being on set?
DM: You know, Jennifer and I recently had dinner with Billy Boyd...
SCREAM
DM: Good, so do I! SCREAM: So does this mean we will see an appearance from Glen and Glenda?
JT: God, he was so adorable... DM: Yeah, it was at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where they had screened Bride. There was this really cute moment with this young girl who had a Glen doll. She came up on stage and Billy signed it for her and he did some of his dialogue. I love that character and over the years it has been really great to see how that character has been more and more embraced. I’m not sure if I should call him a character or characters because he’s kind of two. JT: Exactly. There was a line in Cult where Tiffany openly talks about how much she misses Glen and Glenda since they were taken to prison. But it was ultimately cut so hopefully in the next one we will see them return. DM: Yeah. I also love how the character and the franchise have been embraced by the LGBT community. I’m proud that we were one of the first, a big studio horror franchise, to be so inclusive of the LGBT Community from the outset. DM: So yes, when it comes to Glen and Glenda... You know, it’s really up to the fans. They need to let us know if you want to see them return. So if the demand is there we will certainly consider bringing them back. SCREAM: Excellent. Well, you read it here first folks. Do you want to see Glen and Glenda return? Let the team know! DM: Thanks, Jon. Cult of Chucky is unleashed on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD across the UK now.
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
9
THE BRIDE IN BLACK TOM FITZPATRICK TALKS INSIDIOUS 2 & 3 Words: Graham Le Neve Painter
Tom Fitzpatrick has been a prolific TV, stage and movie actor for over forty years. Recent roles include “Coleman” in Real Husbands of Hollywood, as well as guest spots in the likes of New Girl and spooky kids show the Haunted Hathaways among others. Tom very generously gave up some time to talk candidly about his experiences on Insidious: Chapter 2 & 3, where he portrayed The Bride in Black aka Parker Crane. TOM FITZPATRICK: How exciting. Hello! SCREAM: Hi Tom! I just saw the photos of you as The Bride last Halloween? TF: That happened to coincide with the day that silly queen finished the gown I had made for the con circuit. I ordered the gown and had him cut it down and that was the day it was finished. It turned out to be Halloween. And we had this big weird pink building up the street from where I live, where all the tourists go. So I thought I’ll go over with the kids and scare the shit outta them decked out as the Bride in Black, and they paid absolutely no attention to me at all. It’s Halloween and it’s Hollywood, so I guess they just took it as a matter of course. And my friend shot a bunch of pictures. I need to get boobs for it, they’re sewn into the dress, but I need to get falsies to pad out my tits a little bit. SCREAM: [laughs] So how did you get the part of the Bride?
10
SCREAM
TF: It was just a casting call, and they were looking for somebody within my age range. I went in, and I had gotten the script [pages] beforehand and I’d learned it as I always do. I was reading for a role called ‘Philip’. It was about two pages long, which is a long scene for me. I’m a character guy and if I get one page of dialogue I think: “holy mackerel, it’s a leading role”. So, two pages. It was beautiful. It was a scene with an old man who was talking to a young lady. I didn’t know quite what the relationship was and there were no clues. And she says: “I’m so sorry about what my little boy did. I’m sorry you’re upset”. And I say: “No, no, no. I’m extremely highly strung. My fault entirely, I’m so sorry that I frightened your boy. I was a little startled and I overreacted.” So that was how it started, and we were talking about what a fine young boy he was, and how much
I admired him. Then my character started getting nostalgic about being a little boy again, which was a little bit weird. Then it really got into envying the kid… his life, and my character kept recounting more and more details, and then at the end he said; “and his beautiful little bedroom with framed finger paintings on the wall”. And his Mom’s mouth drops open, “how the fuck did he know that!?”, you know. That was the end of the scene. It went from this polite banter to this weird thing where it sounded like he was sneaking around in places where he couldn’t possibly get. It was very mysterious. I worked on it, and I thought; “What a sad little man”. So I kind of went for the sadness. And they always put you on tape so, I was taped doing it. Two, maybe three weeks went by and I completely forgot about it. I was at another audition and the phone rang and she says; “You got it!”. I say; “That’s great, what? What did I get?” “That thing you auditioned for, what was it called? Insidious, you got it!” “Oh that thing, oh cool!” I’d long ago written it off. So, I booked it, and they call you and have you over for costume fitting. And I guess that’s when I went in and realised I was going to be in DRAG! I didn’t know anything about it, I hadn’t seen Insidious 1! And I go in and the costume was really kind of cumbersome. They had basketball sized falsies, I think you hung them around your neck. They were on a string, like two balls!... they were the boobies. And for some www.screamhorrormag.com
reason the costumer had given him huge rubber soled platform wedges, they were like eight inches tall. Impossible to walk in. They gave them to me and I’m clumping round in those, and that made the skirt the right length, and it fit me perfectly. But it was something they obviously had before, they took it right off the rack. I didn’t know I was replacing somebody, having never seen the picture. So I guess I thought this is out of stock, what a weird costume. Then I went to set that day, and I still had my speech memorised, and they didn’t send me any new dialogue, so I thought well it’s probably not going to be much of a part, but I’ve got that one nice speech. I get to set and they say: “you’re not going to be doing that speech after all” [laughing] Oh, how sad. “And we have a new scene for you. You’re not going to be in the costume in the first scene. You’re going to be in a hospital bed, and you’ll be comatose. And the boy’s gonna come around by a table next to you and sorta look through the pill bottles, and when he gets to such and such a pill bottle you are to sit bolt upright in bed, scream, grab him and shake him, and try to strangle him, and people will pull you off.” So that was my first order of business. We did several rehearsals, and I wound up having somebody holding my feet down. I can do a pretty good sit-up, but the bed was so squishy that when I sat up my ass would go down into the softness of the bed and my legs would shoot up. SCREAM: [laughing] TF: So, a man would hold my feet out of shot and I would sit bolt upright really fast and grab the little kid, and shake the hell out of him and hold on for dear life, then I’d have two orderlies descend on me to pull me off. And I gave them a fight, I wouldn’t
let go. And there was this little Asian dude off in the corner who I’m not sure if he even spoke to me once or introduced himself to me.. and that was James Wan! At least some of them will come up and shake your hand and say; “Hi, I’m James”, I don’t think he even did that. Maybe he told me I didn’t have to scream so long. That was my only direction from James. Then all of a sudden he vanished, and I think I asked somebody: “Was that the director?” and they said: “Yeah, he’s gone. He had to go to get all his tests so he can go overseas on his next picture”. That’s all I ever saw of James. That was it baby. That’s how important I was to the show. SCREAM: What other memories of Chapter 2 do you have? TF: Actually, I had more in Part 2 than I thought I was going to do. I shot everything that was prescribed in the script, and then they must’ve gotten a brainstorm that it needs a little bit more because then they had me back in for a day to come to the old house where they shot a lot of the other stuff, and I had the scene where I put on the make-up and the wig and the gown and everything. And that wasn’t James of course because he was gone and it wasn’t Leigh because he wasn’t directing that. It was the DP, he just directed it. I was discovered in a wife beater and a pair of really unflattering boxer shorts, and I had to go through the whole bit of putting on the dress, the skirt and the blouse, and doing most of the whole make-up myself. Eleanor Sabaduquia did some of the basic make-up but I had to do the lipstick and some of the white paint, so I got to put the mouth on. And I put it on the way she always hated it. Pretty. I put the mouth on attractively. She hated that. She wanted the mouth beat up, the lipstick to go into the cracks of my lips and stuff like that, so it looked like I’d been eating a turkey leg or something like that. She wanted it all messed up, so for that scene I got to put it on just the way I liked it. Then I got to pick up the pretty chromium saw, cross the room and look like I was gonna cut the poor little girls neck. So that was all directed by the DP, because James was off shooting his automobile picture Fast and Furious. And what was interesting is that the character – when I read for it – was called Philip. Hello! What was the name of the man I replaced. SCREAM: Philip Friedman. TF: Yeah. So, after I found out Philip
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
11
played the part I thought: “What the fuck happened?” I never saw number one. SCREAM: He’s in part 1. But only for a couple of moments really. He has a couple of shots in the Further then at the end it cuts between him and Josh strangling Elise. In the first film the Bride wasn’t the main villain. Bizarrely the Bride seems to be a bit of a secret. Even the Blu-ray extras don’t cover her, and none of the publicity materials featured her for the sequels. TF: [laughs] When did they talk to the camera for the extras? SCREAM: It would’ve been whilst on set. Did they not interview you on set? TF: No. Never. It seems to me the Bride in Black is the one that caught the peoples fancy, which is kind of nice. But I think that makes them nervous that she seems to have a life of her own.
SCREAM: There’s plenty of spin off’s surrounding Wan’s Conjuring franchise now. I’d love the see a Bride in Black movie. TF: It’d be a very interesting character actually. When he was alive and kind of dangerous. A weird old man living in a mansion, prowling around in the flesh, before he killed himself. Trying to castrate himself. That would be a good scene, the self-castration scene. That’d be interesting. Then life as an unruly ghost, that would be fascinating. And maybe they’ll do it. The thing I always talk about which I fear is, she’s a popular character, we have to bring her back but we can’t trust that guy, he’s not an actor, we’ll get Terence Stamp or somebody like that in to play the fucking part. I always worry about that because you can’t tell who’s under all that make-up and shit. It could be anybody. SCREAM: That was certainly the case in the first film, but although you didn’t
originate the part you certainly took it further (pun intended) than originally envisioned. TF: I think I invested it with some energy it didn’t have before. I think I made it my own. They’d be crazy not to use me. I’m actually a pretty good actor but you know how people are. I don’t trust anybody in this business [laughs]. Leigh sort of likes me, so maybe if Leigh’s working on the script I’ll come up in number five or something, we’ll see. SCREAM: What was Leigh Whannell like as a director? TF: Leigh is nice. He’s Australian, gregarious, very in your face, but very sweet. On set all the while. Directing and tweaking and adjusting. Often from a room two rooms away, which is where video village was. And he would sometimes watch the takes on video, and he’d be hollering, he wouldn’t even bother coming to the set. [laughing] You would just get your direction between two rooms, at the top of his Australian lungs. But good-hearted. It was fun. I think it was his first directorial effort with the franchise, so he was taking no chances with anything. He was very hands-on. And sweet, very sweet. Really nice guy. I got the sense that James didn’t want to be bothered, didn’t want people in his face, just didn’t want to hear from you so that’s his style. But he had to go to his medical exam so he could do Furious 7. So that was my brush with James Wan, my brush with greatness. But Leigh was very dear. Gave me a line of dialogue. SCREAM: Was that “This is how you die” line in the script or was it something Leigh came up with on set? TF: It was on set. I even had one other line of dialogue which I can’t remember. I think I had a follow-up line in the same scene after that, but I can’t remember what it was, of course that was immediately cut the second I got on set, even before I’d read the line. So at least I didn’t feel like I read it so badly they cut the fucking line. SCREAM: Have you been approached for any other horror films recently? TF: I was up for 31, that Rob Zombie made. A pal of mine is kind of in his posse. He’s been in a few of his horror pictures, my friend Jeff Daniels Phillips. He recommended me to the casting people because I found out afterwards they were hoping to get Malcolm McDowell, but he was bitching about the extremely low
12
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
wages they were offering, so they had me in to read for that role. And they were offering a no name player like me six hundred dollars a day I think, and probably only a week and a half or two weeks of work. They were gonna shoot that thing fast and cheap. So, I’m sure they were offering more to Mr. McDowell, but I bet not a lot more because he wasn’t jumping at the chance. But anyway, he wound up playing it so I did not. But that was interesting to read for. But that’s kind of how it works. You have to know people, and you have to hang in for fucking ever. And if you’re lucky, god smiles and you get the one part for which you are absolutely right, and they recognise that you are the one, and you get it. You play it fabulously well and the franchise becomes massively popular, and hello, you have arrived. You know, after fucking 40 years of trying. SCREAM: You attended the Insidious: Chapter 3 premiere in full Bride in Black drag! TF: I loved every moment of it! First of all, they paid very well, for a change, and they did the make-up and the gowning, and they had a room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Terribly Hollywood. I just had a hard-on the whole time, I was so happy! SCREAM: [laughing] TF: The room at the Roosevelt Hotel was very high up, and you could look down at the forecourt of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and they indeed had a red carpet, the whole nine yards. And a crowd very early on started to gather, it’s amazing how popular that movie is. So, they gowned me, and the same wonderful make-up woman, Elenour Sadabuquia, who has always done the make-up did it for me. Then they took me downstairs, where they had a bunch of people who were being fed and given drinks. What did they call them? Not taste makers but that’s what they were. They were like opinion formers for a marketing firm, they wanted to market the picture. Anyway, they dragged me down to meet all of these nice people with their drinks and their canape’s, and they were all over me like a cheap suit! It was such a revelation. They all wanted to be photographed with me. Most of them wanted me to strangle them [laughs]. One girl would hand her camera to her girlfriend and I’d have to strangle the wench, then they would trade off the camera and me, and I would strangle the next one. I www.screamhorrormag.com
“IF YOU’RE LUCKY, GOD SMILES AND YOU GET THE ONE PART FOR WHICH YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT” probably did, like fifty people just downstairs when they were getting liquored up and fed, and I thought; “Well, this is going to be fun. This character is actually beloved”. I had no notion of what to expect. And then they led me across the street and turn me loose on the red carpet, and the people went fucking nuts! They love that character. So many, many, photographs on the red carpet where I’d have to strangle a succession of the real stars like Lin and Stephanie. I had to strangle Jason Blum which was fun, he’s so nice. I had to strangle Leigh, multiple times. He really loved getting in front of the camera. Never saw James, I don’t even think he was there. But that was grand fun and I was probably photographed more than anybody else. Which was pretty amazing.
everybody and their dog. And while I was there, I got the idea; “God damn man, you should go out on the festival circuit”. It never crossed my mind before. I worked for an hour easily, just strangling people. Running around having my picture taken. Then the movie was starting so they let me go across the street and I was given a very nice dinner and got to put my feet up for a while. Then the picture was over, and they were having an after party in a nightclub down the street, and I was supposed to work the after party. They had told me I would be making an entrance out of a platform, they were gonna have dry ice, fog, and they would have a blue spot pick me up, and I would just come out and look terrifying while they played that young ladies cover of Tiptoe Through The Tulips. What’s her name? Cherry?
SCREAM: There’s loads of photos of from that night!
SCREAM: Cherry Glazerr.
TF: I know! Me strangling famous people, it’s so funny. Then they took me along through the crowd, and I had to strangle
TF: Yeah! It’s a wonderful cover of that old song. And they’d given me the recording the night before, and thought; “Oh man,
SCREAM
13
wouldn’t it be fucking cool if the Bride in Black lip-synced to this song! So when we had the rehearsal that night, before the people actually got there, I said: “I have this brainstorm. Can you play the song and put the follow spot on me and let me show you what I have in mind?” So, I did it. They played the song and I carried on like a lunatic, and they thought it was the greatest thing they’d ever seen. So I was permitted to do that. They had their party going full tilt boogie, and they announce the Bride in Black was going to come in. They cranked up the dry ice, got that blue spot, and they dropped the needle on the recording. And out I came [laughs], I lip-synched the fucking song, and they went bananas. Then I needed to do a victory lap around the god damned room, throttling everybody of course. I had probably strangled 200 people, so that was the night I decided to go out on the con circuit. SCREAM: Were you at the Premiere of Insidious 2? TF: I wasn’t invited to anything for 2 at all, so I was so astounded when I got asked to come to the Premiere of 3. I can only attribute that to the sweet nature of Leigh Whannell, and maybe somebody in PR saying; “Oh, actually, we could make a little bit of hay with the old guy”. That’s how I got invited, I think they just thought it would be a good publicity gag, and by god it was. But nobody paid any attention to me in number two. I saw it in a theatre with my manager, only to discover they’d misspelt my name in the crawl at the end. They gave me Tom Fitzgerald’s credit, that really hurt my feelings. So, I had this little bit in number two and they didn’t even get my name right. SCREAM: How long were you on set during each movie? TF: I had two scenes in the hospital strangling the kid and down in the elevator, and then, in the old house. In the hospital, I also got down really close to the camera, and there were two handles right under the lenses, that I was to grab and they represented Josh’s neck, I guess I was strangling Josh in close-up? I don’t even know what the fuck I was doing, but I was told I was strangling somebody. I didn’t know who anybody was, I’d never read the script [laughs]. It’s odd, when you have like small-y parts, sometimes you read the whole script, and sometimes you don’t. In the case of Insidious 2, it was never sent to me. I thought I’ll have one or two scenes,
14
SCREAM
TF: Yes! Horrible horrible dump. They fixed up one room for Parker, and lit it, and it was gorgeous. And the rest of the place hasn’t been use since 1956 or something. And it closed because there were murders and other strange deaths there. Very, very sinister. I heard now they’ve made it into an old age home, good luck to those old people! I wouldn’t want to spend my last years there! More money to be made from old dying people than crazy filmmakers! But by the time they got over on Insidious 3, maybe it was economically more feasible to have everything contained in a studio. So they built everything in the studio. The Further, and the little middle class house where I throttle Lin, that was all in a studio.
and I had not seen the previous one so I didn’t know the story or the franchise, or who the fuck I was strangling but it was somebody. And then at the old house, I did nothing except be exorcised. I was put on to like, a rolling platform. In kind of a velvet tube. It was fun. They would start on a close up and they would yank the tube up through the platform, it was on wheels and they would yank me up through the velvet tube, I’m screaming all the way, that was me being exorcised. So that was all I was supposed to do, but as I said someone got the bright idea that they need me getting into the drag and doing my nefarious thing. So that was a total of three days. That’s all I worked the first time on that thing. Then they had me in for a photoshoot about a month later, with the little boy who played Young Josh, the little kid I throttled in the hospital. Many shots with him, then many more with that god damned candle that I’d never held before but they stuck the candle in my hand… the candle and the lantern. I think they were looking for something for the poster, I don’t know if they got it or not, I don’t think they used it. SCREAM: I’d love to see those pictures! TF: Then for Insidious 3, it was all shot on a sound stage. Number two was in this really old spooky abandoned hospital, that everybody does film shoots in, and everybody’s terrified of because it’s haunted. Terrifying. Linda Vista Hospital. Oh god is that place creepy! And at night, thank you, no! I wouldn’t go anywhere in that place without company with me. SCREAM: Because they fixed up the corridor and lift area for when we see you as Parker Crane, but the rest of the place, they didn’t touch.
SCREAM: What was your first day back on Chapter 3 set like? TF: The first thing I had to do was the strangling Lin thing. Which entailed her throwing off my arms and me being yanked out of the camera range, I think by somebody physically pulling me out, and then of course the continuation of the shot was Mr. Stunt Man on wires, being flown out and doing a backflip and landing on the floor, and then another shot of me kind of picking myself up, and glaring at her, and vanishing back into the shadows. That was the first days shooting I guess. And poor thing, right after that scene she was gonna have to do that nice long scene in the bedroom with the demon who’s playing her dead husband. It’s a very sweet scene. But then she realises this is fake and he’s a demon so she whips out a knife and stabs him. She had to do that scene right after being throttled, so she was one nervous lady about being throttled, oh baby. Did I get instructions about that! But we got it right. Many takes on the strangling, then many, many takes on that emotional scene with the husband. And I watched her work, and she was really amazing. They maybe did at least six takes of it, maybe longer, and that was a long scene, and they did it without a cut. Just a two-scene, and she did it impeccably every time, and cried at the same fucking place every time. It was an astounding piece of work, and she had been strangled for an hour before. She’s a pro to her backbone that kid, it was a wonderful thing to watch. SCREAM:Thanks for talking to SCREAM, Tom. It has been fun and extremly insightful. (Laughs). TF: You are very welcome, thank you all very much. www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
15
CLASSIC BRITISH WITCHCRAFT HORROR EXAMINED‌ Words: Kat Ellinger
As Halloween approaches and the nights begin to draw in there is no denying there is a special magic in the air you can smell amongst the autumnal leaves and first frost. Historically, Britain is steeped in a rich pagan tradition. It is here Halloween belongs: to the witches and cunning folk. A far cry from the commercialised festivities of the modern world, the day began as Samhain— the Celtic New Year and festival of the dead. It is said on this night the veil between the land of the living and the dead dissolves; allowing
departed ancestors to pass through, making it the perfect time for divination, scrying, tarot cards and spellcraft. Traditionally an extra place would be set for dinner to welcome the ancestors home. And while some customs still exist, like putting out Jack O’ Lanterns to ward off evil spirits, or dressing up in costumes, new ones have been forged. Today, especially for horror fans, Halloween is the night to celebrate our love of the genre we hold so dear, and so if you are wondering what to watch on that most spookiest of nights, join us at SCREAM as we explore witchcraft in classic British horror. For a nation with such a rich history in the subject matter, cinematically witchcraft in film was a bit thin on the ground in those early days. Although adaptations of Faust (and Satanic pacts) litter early British silent era cinema — including one of the earliest horror shorts, George Albert Smith’s Faust and Mephistopheles (1898) — depictions of actual witches are sadly absent. One of the few exceptions being 1901’s The Magic Sword (directed by Walter R Booth); a fantasy inspired short that features a host of innovative effects: giants, spooks, and a witch who flies off on a broomstick. The Magic Sword is delightful; an early
example of a trick film, under which cinema becomes a phantasmagorical experience. Booth, who worked as a magician, as well as collaborating with Robert W Paul (creator of the Paul-Acres Camera: the first British moving image camera), was able to use his knowledge of creating magic tricks to pioneer some elaborate cinematic effects in his work. The results of which are enchanting. It would take over half a century for the first real witchcraft themed films to appear. 1957 was a landmark year for British horror, seeing the release of Hammer’s seminal The Curse of Frankenstein. Meanwhile French director Jacques Tourneur (most known www.screamhorrormag.com
for Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943) made Curse of the Demon for British company Sabre (the film was distributed by Columbia in the US under the title Night of the Demon). However the film was left to stand in the shadow of The Curse of Frankenstein somewhat; the latter claiming the title of the first British horror film in colour. Tourneur’s atmospheric black and white cinematography couldn’t quite compete. Despite this, the film proves to be a creepy little chiller packed with a dark Gothic ambience. Charles Bennett and Hal E Lester’s screenplay loosely adapts M R James Casting The Runes, pitting a young sceptical doctor, John Holden (Dana Andrews) against the powers of a nefarious occult magician Julian Karswell (Niall Macginnis). Initially thinking Karswell to be a charlatan, Holden finds himself the victim of a dreadful curse from which time is running out for him to escape. Tourneur never intended for the actual demon to
be shown, but the resulting beast really is quite magnificent, even if it erodes the less is more atmosphere originally intended. The story plays out a wonderful riff on the idea of Victorian occultists who would famously undertake hex battles against one another (most famously between French Fin De Siecle black magicians Joris- Karl Huysmans, Stanislas de Guaita and Jules Bois, or Aleister Crowley and former members of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn). 1960 was a groundbreaking year for witchcraft themed films in Europe as Mario Bava’s Black Sunday sent ripples through the genre inspiring a new form of lush Gothic that revelled in witchcraft and curses. In Britain matters were not as sensational, but witchcraft was still firmly on the menu in John Llewellyn Moxey’s The City of the Dead (Horror Hotel). Set in Massachusetts, in a town called Whitewood, the film stars Christopher Lee as Professor Alan
SCREAM
17
Driscoll who lures a young student, Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) on the ruse of researching old witches. What she doesn’t know is the town harbours a cult that seeks to sacrifice young virgins in the honour of a seventeenth century witch, Elizabeth Selwyn (Patricia Jessel), in order to keep her immortal. Overall the film is a pedestrian affair, but as well as sharing some of the
themes of Bava’s Black Sunday— executed witches, curses, witchfinders— it does introduce the concept, seen in many later British witchcraft films, of a local community in cahoots with the forces of witchcraft for evil means. It also allows Christopher Lee the opportunity to engage in black mass and don a hooded cloak, which certainly makes it worthy despite its lack of pace or action. 1962 would fare better with Sidney Hayer’s Night of the Eagle (Burn, Witch, Burn), a film based on Fritz Leiber’s book Conjure Wife. Bringing matters back to Britain, psychic attacks take place in domesticated suburbia, in the classroom, and an isolated cottage on a windswept coastline. Following on with themes from Night of the Demon, Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is the square jawed professor who scoffs at all matters of the supernatural and the occult. Norman’s wife Tansy (Janet Blair) is not so sceptical. She picked up a few tricks while the couple were out in Jamaica and is attached to the poppets and charms she uses to protect her husband; believing someone is trying to place a curse on him. Night of the Eagle oozes with atmosphere and tension. Loading up on traditional witchcraft motifs, Gothic crypts and a bit of voodoo here and
there, Hayers builds up claustrophobia and dread throughout. As Norman’s disbelief is tested to the limit the film becomes a perfect metaphor for the rationality of “male” science versus the forces of inexplicable nature which are linked to “female” intuition, sensitivity and old magic. Witchcraft (1964) is a twee black and white horror starring Lon Chaney Jr as head of a witchcraft cult. Duelling families The Whitlocks and the Laniers have been arguing since the seventeenth century. Landowners The Laniers had one of the Whitlock’s female descendants, Vanessa, burned as a witch during the witch trials. Ever since the Whitlocks have been looking to get revenge for this injustice. The modern day contingents of both families come to blows again when the Laniers start ploughing up the ancient graveyard to develop the land, and accidentally damage the grave of Vanessa Whitlock. In the process the bulldozer manages to break the protective seal on the coffin that keeps Vanessa’s powers contained within. With a Witches Sabbat fast approaching, the modern-day Laniers are about to find themselves in deep water, as their rivals set about using a magical connection with the past to put right an ancient wrongdoing. Directed by Don Sharp (Kiss of the Vampire (1963), the film suffers from wooden performances, only offset by Chaney’s dynamic rendition as Morgan Whitlock, but for all its flaws and lack of overt horror, it is, nevertheless, one of those films you can put on to while away a Sunday afternoon. Lindsay Shonteff’s oddity Devil Doll (1964) goes slightly more exotic with its magical themes giving an evil ventriloquist, The Great Vorelli (Bryant Halliday) some occult powers from the East, and a creepy animated doll,
Hugo, as a sidekick. The story follows Vorelli on his mission to seduce the wealthy Marianne Horn (Yvonne Romain, Curse of the Werewolf) by putting her into a coma, while her reporter boyfriend Mark English (William Sylvester) tries to get to the bottom of Vorelli’s mysterious past in order to save her. Although the film isn’t overtly witchcraft based— mingling in magician themes, ventriloquism, hypnosis and lots of stage activity filmed at acute angles (one scene which involves a poor hypnotised woman forced to strip)— the film does possess some down and dirty exploitation flavour and the mystical element is an interesting touch. Lance Comfort’s Devils of Darkness (1965) combines vampires and magic— much like Hammer’s Kiss of the Vampire (1963), linking vampirism to satanic worship; the cult headed by Count Sinistre (Hubert Noel)—
but sprinkles in a dash of gypsy magic to explore a folklore edge. The film has some beautiful set pieces, is wonderfully lurid in colour (including an bewitching opener that takes place at a gypsy wedding) but sadly lacks something in pace and excitement. Initially set on All Souls Night the film does tap into the Halloween theme perfectly. Things really took off for British Witchcraft in a pagan sense with Hammer Horror’s adaptation of Norah Lofts novel The Devil’s Own, The Witches, a year later in 1966. Joan Fontaine is Gwen Mayfield, a schoolteacher who has retired to the idyll of chocolate box country life in a sleepy village after an unfortunate episode out in Africa where she was exposed to some of the local magical rituals and had a nervous breakdown. Life in the village isn’t quite the retreat Gwen had hoped for. She soon finds herself mixed up with the local coven, headed by Stephanie Bax (Kay Walsh). A coven that likes to frolic,performing frivolous rituals by night; featuring crazed dancing and the sacrifice of nubile young women. The Witches tends to get unfairly overlooked in favour of Hammer’s more lurid numbers from the period, despite this it is an engaging tale that adds in some unusual subthreads to the central narrative. Female-centric plots were rare for the studio at the time— excluding the www.screamhorrormag.com
few female monster features that had begun to pop up, The Gorgon (1964) or The Reptile (1966) — yet here we have strong women filling the shoes of both protagonist and antagonist. The film is quite tame by today’s standards, but scratch beneath the surface and a mild hint of lesbian undercurrent can be found lurking (something Hammer wouldn’t fully embrace until the seventies with The Vampire Lovers (1971); thus making The Witches quite daring for its time. The film also has a few parallels to the later, far more successful, The Wicker Man (1973); bringing witchcraft back to paganism, as well as fully exploring the idea of a seemingly innocent tight knit rural community hiding their true identities as members of a secret witch coven. Most fascinating is the film’s exploration of witchcraft twinned with science, with the two— while seemingly opposing forces— being connected throughout history, in the realm of alchemy, and post-enlightenment occultism. This is something rarely explored in witchcraft cinema.
British/Italian co-production The She Beast (1966) reunited star Barbara Steele (Black Sunday) with the witchcraft theme again, as well as providing young director Michael Reeves (Witchfinder General (1968) with his first chance to engage in the theme. Throwing just about everything but the kitchen sink into the mix, the film boasts its very own Von Helsing (John Karlen)— not a typo! —, a crazy old witch (who meets quite a nasty end in the preamble setup) a Transylvanian setting and curses from beyond the grave, in a plot that is difficult to summarise because it goes so off the rails, but is one hell of a lot of fun. Reeves favourite Ian Ogilvy also takes a starring role as hero Philip, who is honeymooning in the
SCREAM
19
Carpathian Mountains with his new wife Veronica (Steele), when she mysteriously disappears. Meanwhile a dead witch, Vardella, is back from the grave and out for vengeance. Exceptionally trashy in many respects, and on that note, a far cry from Reeves’ later, much more serious, Witchfinder General, the film is perfect entertainment for a Halloween beer and popcorn night. Back on a serious note, Eye of the Devil (1966) is another curious precursor to the aforementioned The Wicker Man (1973). The de Montfaucon family appear to be living the perfect life in suburban Paris. Husband Philippe (David Niven) and wife Catherine (Deborah Kerr), with their two children Jacques and Antoinette, seem to have everything they need. But when Philippe receives news from his home at Castle Bellenac that the vineyard crops have failed for the third year running, it is time for him to return in order to fulfil an ancestral pact he made to appease the old Gods, to make a sacrifice that will restore vitality to the land. The film not only boasts a strong cast list— amongst which is the iconic Sharon Tate in her first feature role and a young David Hemmings (Deep Red) — but comes led by the talent of director J Lee Thompson. Eye of the Devil is an exquisitely crafted film, if not only for the top notch performances but the strong artistic quality of the visuals, and the way in which director Lee is able to inject a suffocating atmosphere into a fairly simple narrative. The plot comes adapted from Philip Loraine’s original novel Day of the Arrow. Even if some might lament the slow pacing, Eye of the Devil is a strong occult based thriller. Definitely one of the more obscure British witchcraft titles that is well worth checking out if you appreciate a slow burn.
20
SCREAM
1968’s Curse of the Crimson Altar, directed by Vernon Sewell, might not be the best (or most interesting title) in this article, but it does have much value based on the casting of Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff— the two icons were very good friends in real life but only starred in a handful of roles together: only two of which were horror full length features (this film and the delightful Corridors of Blood (1958). The film is a loose adaptation of H P Lovecraft’s The Dreams in a Witch House, tracking the plight of Robert Manning (Mark Eden) who turns up at a country mansion— Craxted Lodge— looking for his brother who has been missing for some time, where he meets the occupant, Morley (Lee), and is told no one has ever met his brother. Even though the story digresses wildly from Lovecraft’s original short, the film does use elements of the tale to feature some gorgeously lurid— in colour and tone— hallucinatory scenes, in which Barbara Steele cameos as Morley’s
blue/green skinned, dead witch ancestor, Lavinia, holding court over what can be only described as an LSD fuelled S&M dungeon complete with bondage slaves in leather chaps. Director Michael Reeves was back again the same year to make his masterpiece Witchfinder General (1968): a film that remains one of the best genre pieces to approach witchcraft from a historical angle— removing notions of the supernatural, and instead focusing on the atrocities committed by supposed men of the church hunting “witches”. The film supplied Vincent Price with his nastiest role in a career that spanned decades in horror film; the actor starring as the villainous and perverse Matthew Hopkins. Legend goes that Reeves had originally wanted Donald Pleasence for the role of Hopkins, and was not impressed with the studio choice to cast Price in the leading role. Regardless of this, Price shines in the role. Hopkins really is a despicable character, who indulges in torture and murder as he pursues his quest for fame and power. When the Witchfinder and his band of hideous cohorts storm the town of Brandeston, Hopkins uses sexual coercion to deflower a young maiden, Sara (Hilary Dwyer) by holding her uncle, a priest, John Lowes (Rupert Davis), hostage on the suspicion of witchcraft. What Hopkins doesn’t know is that Sara is waiting for her dashing young soldier fiancé to return from the Civil War, Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy). When he arrives he is out for vengeance and will stop at nothing to make Hopkins pay. Shortly after the film’s release director Michael Reeves was found dead of an overdose, making the film’s history a tragic one when you consider the talent demonstrated by the filmmaker. Reeves was only 25 at the time of his death and showed great promise. The
www.screamhorrormag.com
film was released for US audiences under the alternate title The Conqueror Worm in order to continue the link with actor Price and the author Edgar Allan Poe (started in the famous Poe series of seven films he did with director Roger Corman); although Poe’s work had nothing to do with the Hopkins story. 1968 was a great year for occult themes in British horror, and despite the fact The Devil Rides Out is more of a Satanic based film it does deserve a brief mention here if only for its spectacular ritual and spellcraft scenes. Hammer horror cast Christopher Lee as Duc De Richleau in one of his best leading roles of the period— this time on the side of good— pitting him against the sinister occult Satanist Mocata (Charles Grey), in a reworking of Dennis Wheatley’s book of the same name. Christopher Lee and Vincent Price would team up again in Gordon Hessler’s 1969 The Oblong Box. The film was originally intended for Michael Reeves, who died, and therefore Hessler took over the reins. While the title is borrowed from a story by Edgar Allan Poe, it has nothing to do with the original tale, in a similar situation to Witchfinder General. Instead the basis of the story is voodoo, with Price starring as Julian Markham, the brother of the poor unfortunate Sir Edward (Alister Williamson): a man who has his face magically mutated into a hideous deformity by an African tribe. Julian cannot bear the fact his brother is so disgusting to look at and so locks him away, and then ends up burying him alive (a common Poe theme). The plot then descends into proto-slasher territory with some nasty murders to follow. Lee takes a smaller role as Dr Newhartt, grave robber and unwilling accomplice to Sir Edward. The film does make good use of the body count theme to stack up some tasty deaths making it far more entertaining than it gets credit for. A year later Hessler would cast Price again for Cry of the Banshee (1970), a much more traditional witchcraft yarn featuring aspects of Witchfinder General and a dash of Price’s former alter ego Prince Prospero— Masque of the Red Death (1964). Cry of the Banshee brings in a number of influences, blending folk horror, with Satanism and also a taste of the werewolf too. Price is placed in the role of magistrate Lord Edward Whitman. Whitman is the head of a dysfunctional family where his son delights in raping and abusing local village girls, as well as his new stepmother. The family have also taken into their fold a mysterious young man www.screamhorrormag.com
called Roderick (Patrick Mower, Devil Rides Out). Roderick carries a strange talent for taming wild animals that hints at some latent witchy power. When the family come to blows with the local witch, in a moment of weakness Lord Whitman sets her free; only to find she is a witch with a penchant for black masses and satanic rituals, setting a curse upon Whitman, his family and all those who are loyal to him. Price as Whitman displays a contrasting role to the one he played in Witchfinder General despite its similar characteristics. While Matthew Hopkins is ruthless and cruel, Whitman shows moments of humanity, albeit not many and he
SCREAM
21
still remains an unlikable character. Whitman is weak willed, self-absorbed, and cowardly in contrast to Hopkins’s lust for power. As a Price film in general, Cry of the Banshee is uncharacteristically packed with nudity, of the female kind, a sign of the times and not a factor that occurs in the rest of the bulk of the actor’s work. The film would form a trilogy for Hessler— all starring Price— with The Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again (1970). The folk horror themes would continue for Piers Haggard’s Blood on Satan’s Claw (1970). The film— which was originally titled The Devil’s Touch and Satan’s Skin— brings satanic panic to a sleepy West Country village. When an ominous claw is ploughed up in a field, the young people of the village succumb to bizarre behaviour. Guided by a malevolent energy that infects the population like a plague, the children prepare for the coming of a satanic force, pushed along by their newly elected leader, the viciously manipulative Angel Blake (Linda Hayden). The film, for its time, touches on controversial themes, such as child murder and rape, and remains outstanding in its luscious production values, strong casting, and cleverly concocted script. Linda as Angel carries the film, her strong screen presence exudes a confidence that is rarely seen in young talent. It is not surprising the
film remains a cult classic. Although perhaps not overtly horror Roddy Mcdowell’s only directorial credit Tam Lin (The Devil’s Widow) (1970) is a curiosity that may be of value to fans. Ava Gardner stars as Mickey, a woman who may or may not be a witch, but who keeps a group of young beautiful people around seemingly under some sort of magic spell in order to make her feel forever young. Her favourite pet Tom (Ian McShane) gets the hots for the local vicar’s daughter (Stephanie Beecham) and it starts a spiral of obsession and control. It isn’t a film that relies on opulent period sets, or an attempt to bury its message in special effects. It’s told quite simply— bar one scene with a ropey fire effect. There are moments of the psychedelic that pop up during the closing act that add in a nice tone of nightmarish macabre. Other than that the film has a fresh, slick, retro-fashion cool look, which infuses the organic folky feel of lush countryside settings to make something quite strange in its atmosphere. Ray Austin’s The Virgin Witch (1972) stepped things up a gear when it came to sex and nudity. Starring real life sisters Vicky and Ann Michelle— both actresses have since disowned the film. The story begins when Christine (Ann) is enticed to a country mansion on the promise of a modelling job. The more innocent sister
Betty (Vicky) tags along and on arrival it soon becomes apparent the job doesn’t involve modelling clothes. What ensues is a bizarre story featuring a satanic cult who wants to initiate the sisters into their ranks. Cue tons of nudity, cavorting and ritual, and not very much horror. But for a veritable seventies style sleazefest the film is an absolute feast. Perhaps the most well known cult British witchcraft horror is Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973). Unfortunately director Robin Hardy died last year, but the legacy he left to British horror with this one film is unrivalled even to this day. The story almost needs no introduction. Pious cop Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the mysterious island of Summerisle after he is tipped off that a local girl, Rowan Morrison, has gone missing. What he finds there disgusts him; the residents of Summerisle are free in their worship of pagan gods— romping naked around the village, indulging in open air lovemaking, defacing churches, dancing round maypoles, and generally celebrating their most carnal desires for all to see. As he continues in his quest to find Rowan he is stalled at every turn. Island leader, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee in one of his personal favourite roles), is no help either. With last year’s crops failed, Summerisle is getting ready for their Beltane Festival to lay sacrifice to the gods in the
hope that this year will be fruitful. Howie feels this is somehow linked to the disappearance of the girl and races against time to find out. For its time and place The Wicker Man was something people had never seen before. It was the claw inside the glove, its razor sharp teeth chewing through the usual good versus evil morality lessons that came stuffed in the foundations of horror. Everything is inverted in The Wicker Man even the— almost unbreakable— enshrined horror film codes that involve the onus on characters usually being punished for indulging in sex or other lewd behaviour. It was forward thinking, fresh and innovative, and to this day outclasses most of its peers in terms of sheer ingenuity. By dipping into the aesthetic of both New Age hippy culture and quaint village life, while infusing a tone of brooding insanity, along with a quirky artistic design, the film is a wonderful example of a fear and fantasy based horror that becomes something of an occasion to watch. 1973 would see Lee linked to yet another witch themed film, Peter Sasdy’s Nothing But the Night, where the actor was joined by his old favourite teammate Peter Cushing. The film is an unexpected surprise, starting off in the realm of thriller, Lee as Colonel Bingham, and Cushing as Sir Mark Ashley embark on the investigation of a series of strange deaths of a group of trustees who are in charge of managing the finances for an orphanage in a remote country location. The deaths appear to be suicides, but Bingham suspects there is much more to it. Following a parallel to themes seen in Brotherhood of Satan (1971) (without the overt black magic references) Nothing But the Night is slightly unconventional, and thoroughly engrossing if you just go with the flow. To say anymore would spoil things, but it is a film that rewards patience with a fascinating plot twist in its memorable climactic scenes. And last, but certainly not least, for those who like their witch horror delivered with a gory twist, two films by Britsploitation legend Norman J Warren: Satan’s Slave (1976) and Terror (1978). Satan’s Slave (Evil Heritage) was independent filmmaker Warren’s first foray into horror. It took some of the Gothic elements inherent in Hammer Horror but spiced them up with a contemporary twist, all with a nice slice of sadistic violence and sexual undercurrent. Candace Denning is Catherine Yorke, a young woman who on visiting her Uncle Alexander (Michael Gough) and cousin Stephen (Martin Potter) at their Tudor Manor House in middle of the lush countryside is involved in a road accident that leaves her parents dead. Staying at Alexander’s to recover from her www.screamhorrormag.com
bereavement she gets wrapped up in the mystery of an old family association with witchcraft. The film has some scenes of graphic violence— a woman being stabbed with scissors and a man diving head first off an apartment block are both gratuitously splendid set pieces— successfully giving Gothic a fresh new outlook that aligned with audience tastes for the time. Terror (1978) was Warren’s ode to Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977). Part slasher, part supernatural Gothic, the director once again mingles horror past and present to stunning effect. The story bases itself around a film director James Garrick (John Nolan) and his cousin Ann (Carolyn Courage). James has just completed a period horror film that he declares is based on the true story of his family and the witch’s curse that has plagued it. Apparently all the Garrick ancestors, including James’ late father, have met violent ends in one way or another. As if to confirm things during a post-production private screening party at James’ home, Ann is hypnotised in a parlour game and tries to attack her cousin with a sword. Shocked, everyone laughs it off as an elaborate prank; that is until people who are close to James and Ann start dying in horrifically violent
ways. Terror is a real highlight for mid to late seventies British horror when the industry was starting to wane in terms of output and quality. The film does owe a great debt to the Italian forerunners of the decade, yet it still manages to retain a strong British personality. Honourable mentions: While this article has tried to encompass much of the witchcraft horror to come out of Britain during the classic years, some films didn’t make the cut because they transgressed too far from the central theme of horror and witchcraft in a traditional sense. However, for a brilliant example of witchcraft and sublime art, check out Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) — not horror so it didn’t make the main list, but it does feature nuns cavorting with phallic objects, possession, and Oliver Reed in one of his most memorable roles. Also, on the theme of Reed, Blue Blood (1973) pops the actor into the shoes of a highly entertaining butler turned satanic, child sacrificing coven leader. Final mention goes to Psychomania (1973), which while not witchcraft, is a fun romp into the world of a bunch of undead rebellious bikers who have made a pact for immortality and are out to cause death and destruction.
SCREAM
23
The30Sequel That Saved a Franchise YEARS OF A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS Words: Kevan Farrow
If Wes Craven had gotten his way, there never would have been any sequels to his iconic 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film’s ending – in which Freddy returns to snatch Nancy’s mother, and the Elm Street kids drive off in a car with a familiarly red and green striped roof – was added at the insistence of New Line Cinema head honcho Robert Shaye as a compromise between him and Craven; Shaye wanted Freddy driving the car (he would of course get his wish with Freddy driving the school bus in 1985’s A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge) whereas Craven, who insisted then and has many times since that good should always triumph over evil, wanted no suggestion that Freddy was anything other than dead and gone for good. As he had been pretty much constantly from the moment he traded in his previous life as a humanities professor for one in filmmaking, Craven was in dire financial
24
SCREAM
difficulties when he began to shop his script around. A Nightmare on Elm Street was rejected by a string of major studios (although bizarrely, Disney did take a fleeting interest) and, almost bankrupt, Craven lost his house and all his savings in his struggle to get his film made. He finally caught a break when he approached New Line and the rest, as they say, is history. But while the film’s success propelled the independent studio onto a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory (New Line is often referred to as ‘the house that Freddy built’), Craven was paid a Director’s Guild minimum fee and saw very little of the profits. Furthermore, in order to overcome his financial woes, he had agreed to a deal with New Line that meant that as the creator of the characters, he would sell all ownership rights to any sequels. As A Nightmare on Elm Street began raking it in at the box office, Shaye was already formulating franchise plans. For Part www.screamhorrormag.com
2, he ensured that Freddy Krueger’s sharp edges be softened somewhat, playing down the absolute evil he embodied, despite it being inherent to the character’s DNA, and making him, as Craven says in Brian J. Robb’s Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven, “a little bit more of a buffoon.” Despite being under no obligation to do so however, Shaye did approach Craven to direct the sequel but, regardless
www.screamhorrormag.com
of his ongoing financial struggles, the director promptly turned down the offer upon seeing the script. Despite the story issues which can be clearly seen onscreen, A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge proved another hit for New Line (making $30 million on a $3 million budget), and the writing was on the wall for Freddy to become as ubiquitous a 1980’s pop culture icon as ET or Michael Jackson. “We’re
not out to alienate the horror audience,” Shaye told genre mag Cinefantastique at the time, regarding Freddy’s new, easier to swallow incarnation, “but we do want to broaden the film’s potential audiences.” Evidently, his method of achieving this was not just to play down the child-killer aspects of the character, but to flood shops with Freddy merchandise that included anything from cheap replica gloves and masks to model kits, lunchboxes and Christmas decorations. Before the 80’s were through, no less than seven American theme parks featured Freddy Krueger rides. Even Shaye though, seemed to consider Freddy’s Revenge something of a misjudgement (albeit a commercially successful one) and in order to get the series back on track, he contacted Craven once again for a third instalment. Craven was finishing work on his relatively unloved
SCREAM
25
1986 misstep Deadly Friend and was unavailable to direct, but he did propose an idea that New Line liked, and was promptly hired to pen the script. Craven’s idea revolved around the idea that as Freddy harvested more souls, he became stronger; too strong to be defeated by just one character. His premise was that a group of teens would each bring a unique skill into the dream world, teaming up to defeat Freddy on the dream stalker’s own turf. Craven co-wrote the script with Bruce Wagner, and while Shaye brought in fresh writers to rework it – key scenes were removed, others added, almost all character names changed – Craven’s core idea remained, as did his method of bringing things back to the original film with the return of Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy and her father Don (John Saxon). Together with what turned out to be a strong directorial choice, these elements combined to make what many fans consider the best Elm Street sequel, and one that is fondly remembered and still celebrated, 30 years since it first hit screens. The majority of the action in Dream Warriors takes place inside of Westin Hills, a facility for troubled teenagers, all of whom suffer from “pattern nightmares”. They also happen to be the last remaining children of
the Elm Street parents who burned Freddy Krueger alive years previous. Kristen (future star Patricia Arquette, in her first screen role) is admitted to the hospital by her mother who believes her to be suicidal, after a night time encounter with Freddy leaves her wrists slashed. As orderlies – including Laurence (then Larry) Fishburne’s Max – try to sedate her, she is calmed only by the arrival of therapist Nancy Thompson, who knows more than a little about the man haunting Kristen’s dreams. Freddy again attacks Kristen in her sleep, this time in the guise of a giant snake, but Kristen manages to drag Nancy into her dream to save her. After the deaths of habitual sleepwalker Phillip and wannabe TV star Jennifer are assumed to be suicides (although their fellow patients know better), Nancy encourages Kristen to use her talent to bring the remaining teenagers – former drug addict Taryn; tough, cynical Kincaid; wheelchair-bound role play geek Will and Joey, who is too traumatised to ever speak – into the dream world together to do battle with Freddy. In the real world meanwhile, head doctor Neil Gordon is instructed by the mysterious Sister Mary Helena to lay Freddy’s remains to rest, and enlists the help of Nancy’s father to end the killings once and for all. Much of what makes Dream Warriors
work can be accredited to it having successfully made Freddy scary again. While the assembling of the titular army introduced a decidedly more fantastical, comic book edge, the film is kept grounded in horror by Freddy, who is more fierce and malevolent than in Part 2, and arguably any subsequent entry in the series (aside perhaps, from 1994’s New Nightmare). The comic excesses of Freddy’s Revenge were dialled back and while Robert Englund still got to spout some enjoyable oneliners, Freddy’s taunts to his victims are laced with vulgarity and spite. The kills are more frequent and far more violent than in Part 2, and Freddy is further given back his dark edge as the story delves into his past. Appearing to Neil throughout the film, Sister Mary Helena tells him the sorry tale of Amanda Krueger, a nun who was accidentally locked in a room with hundreds of mental patients and raped repeatedly, leading her to become pregnant with Freddy – “the bastard son of a hundred maniacs.” The moniker makes for one hell of an impactful phrase but one that apparently never appeared in Craven and Wagner’s original script, having been added during rewrites. The writers brought in by New Line to rework the script were Chuck Russell and a young writer-for-hire with no feature experience, named Frank
BEFORE THE 80’S WERE THROUGH, NO LESS THAN SEVEN AMERICAN THEME PARKS FEATURED FREDDY KRUEGER RIDES
26
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
Darabont. Darabont – who went on to find success and wide acclaim with the likes of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist – admitted at the time that he hadn’t seen the first two films and was only vaguely aware of Freddy as a character. The pair worked on the script for eleven days and, just three weeks after they were first hired, Chuck Russell hopped into the director’s chair for the start of
production. While Dream Warriors became his first directing gig, Russell actually had something of an indirect link to A Nightmare on Elm Street prior to his hiring. Russell had scripted 1984 sci-fi/fantasy/ adventure Dreamscape, a film that Craven had maintained took key ideas from his original Elm Street script. “Everybody in the industry knew about A Nightmare on Elm Street three years before we made the movie,” Craven says in Screams & Nightmares, noting that Dreamscape’s basic premise was “suspiciously coincidental”, in its similarities to his own script. The upset was initiated when those very similarities led Paramount to turn down Craven’s film in favour of putting out Dreamscape. History of course walks its
www.screamhorrormag.com
own path, and we all know which of the two films made the bigger lasting impact. Having his Dream Warriors script changed so drastically by the man who wrote Dreamscape must have been a hefty blow to Craven, and one can only imagine how he felt when Russell was kept on to direct. Nevertheless, Craven did take an executive producer credit, and was given to understand that he would play a creative role in the film’s production. As he explains in Screams & Nightmares however, “the reality was that New Line Cinema never really contacted me again after they had the script...they were interested in having my name on another Nightmare film.” As Shaye recalls it however; “We thought [Craven’s script] needed more work. There was never any
SCREAM
27
acrimony as far as I know.” Craven maintains he was not informed about the changes to his and Wagner’s script – which left little but his key ideas of the Dream Warriors themselves, the return of Nancy and Don and of course, the apparent good-defeats-evil ending intact – or even when production was to begin. The matter ended up in arbitration at the Writer’s Guild, and in the end all four writers (Craven, Wagner, Russell and Darabont) were credited onscreen. The completion of the reworked script did not mean the end of the troubles surrounding Dream Warriors’ production however, and its journey to the screen continued to be a turbulent one. The accelerated production schedule saw the film shot over a six-week period ending in December 1986, with additional pick-up shots taking place in January ’87 and a
US release scheduled for mid-February. Somewhat aptly given the series’ subject, first-time director Russell apparently barely slept for the shoot’s entirety. The ambitious script that saw far more of the action taking place in Freddy’s dream world than either of the first two films caused big challenges on a production design front. While the budget for the third film had been upped to $4 million, it was still far below what the script really called for. The film’s art directors, brother and sister team Mick and C.J. Strawn, were already building a reputation for maximising tight budgets onscreen, having between them worked on the likes of action-horror The Hidden and cult anthology series Tales from the Darkside. The pair proved instrumental in bringing Freddy’s world to life, and
IT WAS DREAM WARRIORS THAT TRULY BUILT THE ELM STREET FRANCHISE FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL FILM
28
SCREAM
were subsequently re-hired as production designers for 1988’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. C.J. would also stick around for two more instalments, while Mick worked on cash-in TV series Freddy’s Nightmares. Construction on the extensive sets for Dream Warriors was underway three months before shooting began. A dilapidated, rotting version of the original Elm Street house was built, complete with floors of sludge and rooms with collapsing walls, as well as several sets for the ‘Freddy Hell’, where the film’s climactic battle takes place. With a first-time director pushed to the limit, a budget stretched paper-thin and four credited writers, Dream Warriors could – and perhaps should – have been an incoherent mess. Somehow though, Russell pulled it together into one, while certainly not flawless, damn entertaining whole. It was his ability to deliver a critically and commercially successful film under such pressure that led to him directing a studio remake of The Blob the following year (which he co-wrote with Darabont), before scoring a major hit with 1994 comedy The Mask. Shaye had been persuaded to hire Russell to direct in part due to the writer’s criticisms of the previous film. “With the first two films, the nightmares were based in the real world,” Russell told Fangoria following Dream Warriors’ release. “In this picture, we go deeper into Freddy’s territory.” Russell also explained that, “we have gone to great lengths to make the fantasy deaths much more interesting than the literal slasher deaths,” and it is in this respect that Dream Warriors really set a new beginning of sorts within the Elm Street series. Russell described the Freddy of Part 2 as “just another mad slasher,” and was determined to do something more than the straight-forward slicing and stabbing of that film’s swimming pool massacre, for instance. While none of Dream Warriors’ kills are as visceral and gut-wrenching as Tina’s infamous ‘rotating set’ death in the original film, Russell’s film introduced a new level of ambitious spectacle with its set pieces, setting a benchmark which its follow-ups would seek to match. The first kill is fiendishly inventive, and establishes the idea of Freddy’s killing methods mirroring the individual quirks of his respective victims. Doomed sleepwalker Philip passes the time by carving string puppets. As he sleeps, one of his creations takes the form of Freddy, who tears ropes of gore from Philip’s limbs and marches him up to the top of Westin Hills’ disused bell tower like a ghoulish puppet, from www.screamhorrormag.com
where he falls to his death. It’s vicious and spectacular, and provides the film with one of its most memorable images. Then there’s fame-hungry Jennifer, who is plunged through the TV screen when Freddy’s head emerges from the box (sporting the antenna), and delivers the double-quip of: “This is it, Jennifer, you’re big break in TV! Welcome to prime-time, bitch!” (the dual one-liners came about with Englund saying the first for two takes, then adlibbing the second. Russell liked them both so just stitched the takes together). In perhaps Freddy’s most spiteful outburst, he kills recovering addict Taryn with fingers morphed into syringes (“let’s get high!”). Freddy takes on a number of surreal guises throughout the film. Aside from the string puppet and the TV, we also see him possess his own skeleton and adopt the form of the now infamous Freddy snake, which almost eats Kristen whole (the giant puppet was hurriedly covered in dark, viscous goop to cover its decidedly pink hue when it was deemed a little too phallic). During the climactic scenes, we also see for the first time the faces of tormented souls screaming from Freddy’s torso, an image that would play a large part in the climax of the fourth film. 1988’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in fact, furthered the ideas of its predecessor in a way that the two disconnected previous sequels had not. For one thing, the core group of teenagers in The Dream Master includes returning characters Kincaid, Joey and Kristen (played by Tuesday Knight, with Patricia Arquette unable to reprise her role), although (spoiler alert!) none survive too far into the film. More so though, it was Craven’s concept of each of the kids bringing a certain power into the dream world that would inform the direction the series would take. The Dream Master introduces the character of Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a shy daydreamer whom Freddy targets after killing Kristen, the last of the Elm Street children. Whereas in Dream Warriors, the kids each used their unique dream power to battle Freddy together, Alice absorbs each of her friends’ powers as they are killed one by one, becoming strong enough to face Freddy alone. It’s a nice twist on the mythology established in the previous film, and with Alice surviving to the end credits, an idea that would carry through to the next. We see more dream land powers in 1989’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, which also harkens back to Dream Warriors by further exploring the events that led to Amanda Krueger’s pregnancy, presenting us with scenes www.screamhorrormag.com
that were only spoken about in Part 3. Alice’s dreams take us inside the asylum in which the young nun was locked with a horde of inmates, one of whom is played by Englund, sans Freddy make-up. With variations on themes established in Dream Warriors, as well as recurring characters and a continuity to the look of the dream worlds, the fourth and fifth films in the Elm Street franchise join Part 3 to make up something of an unofficial trilogy within the series; one bookended by Parts 2 and 6, arguably the saga’s weakest entries. A box office hit (it made $45 million in the States alone) and a new starting point for the Elm Street legacy, Dream Warriors was not without its controversies. While Craven claimed his script represented a legitimate attempt to tackle a tough subject, a certain section of the press tried to accredit a spate of teenage suicides in New Jersey to
the recently released film. Similarly in the UK, tabloids claimed the film had inspired a string of copycat suicides. By 1987, Britain’s press-led Video Nasties witch hunt had begun to die down but newspapers were still keen to blame any flavour-ofthe-month societal issue on Satanism, heavy metal or of course, horror films. As Englund notes in Screams & Nightmares: “Timing meant Dream Warriors became the scapegoat, whereas we all know it could have been any other horror film released at the time.” The reports troubled Craven who, despite his previous feelings on what Robert Shaye had turned his script into, was actually rather impressed with the finished product. So much so in fact, that he did submit an idea for the fourth film to Shaye and series producer Sara Risher, although it was rejected. Despite the frosty relations between them, Risher later came back to Craven with a view to him rewriting a script written by William Kotzwinkle but he declined, essentially cutting ties with the series (for the time being, at least). By the time work began on The Dream Child, New Line had simply given up calling him. After the first, somewhat misguided attempt at a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street, it was Dream Warriors that truly built the Elm Street franchise following the original film. The combination of Craven’s inspired concept of teenage heroes battling Freddy on their terms while tethering the story to his original film and Chuck Russell’s assured direction made for a film that would ensure both the continuation and the enduring appeal of the series. Breathing new life into the Elm Street mythos, Dream Warriors remains a firm fan favourite, and paved the way for Freddy to go on killing for years to come.
SCREAM
29
Secrets revealed. Stories told.
BearManor Media P O Box 71426 • Albany, GA 31708 Phone: 580-252-3547
www.bearmanormedia.com
30
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
31
Kincaid Speaks! Ken Sagoes Remembers A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors Words: Kevan Farrow
In Freddy Krueger’s inaugural screen outing in 1984, the dream-stalking child killer was bested by Heather Langenkamp’s plucky, level-headed teenager Nancy Thompson when she nullifies his power by turning her back on him. In the following year’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Freddy was halted (temporarily, at least) when the bond between Mark Patton’s Jesse and his girlfriend Lisa broke the hold Freddy had over Jesse, whose body he had possessed. By the time creator Wes Craven returned to pen the script for a third instalment, the iconic director reasoned that the strength Freddy had gained from
32
SCREAM
the souls of his victims would require an army of teens to beat him. From this seed of an idea, the Dream Warriors were born. Released in 1987, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors saw the return of Nancy, who encourages the troubled teenage inmates at Westin Hills Hospital to adopt their dream world alter-egos to battle Freddy together. While recovering addict Taryn (who, in Dreamland is “beautiful... and bad!”, wielding twin switchblades and a mean mohican) and nerdy, nervous Will (“the wizard master!”) both perish at Freddy’s hand during the fight, three are triumphant, surviving their encounters with Freddy – Patricia Arquette’s Kristen, Joey (Rodney Eastman) and tough street kid Roland Kincaid, who was played by 19-year-old Ken Sagoes, in his first significant feature role. With Dream Warriors turning 30 this year, Ken talked to SCREAM about his time as one of the Elm Street children, which saw him play Kincaid twice, in both the franchise’s third and fourth entries. With Dream Warriors having become such a fan favourite, considered by many to be the best of the Elm Street sequels, I begin by asking Ken if there was a sense during shooting that he was a part of something more than just another cash-in horror sequel. The 80’s genre landscape consisted in no small part of such fare, after all. “Not really for me,” he admits, revealing: “I wasn’t a Nightmare on Elm Street fan. Believe it or not, I had not heard of A
Nightmare on Elm Street until my agent called and told me he had an audition for me.” Given the success of the previous two films and the fact that Freddy Krueger was already well on his way to pop culture immortality this, it must be said, comes as some surprise. “When [my agent] told me the breakdown of the role, it did not fit me physically, so I didn’t want to go out on it,” Ken continues. “However, when I was on the bus, I shared where I was going to an older lady, and when I told her the name of the movie I was auditioning for she became extremely excited. She knew all about it. You would have thought I was auditioning for a remake of Gone with the Wind or something!” While the enthusiasm of the lady Ken met on the bus may have given him at least some sense that the film he was auditioning for was a bigger deal than he had realised, www.screamhorrormag.com
n a g n i e b k n i h t “I s a h d i k t e e r t S Elm . g n i s s e l b a n e be I am a part of history"
the young actor remained somewhat reluctant to audition, as he tells me now. “I didn’t want to go out on the audition because it didn’t fit me physically,” he reiterates; “I was much too large for what was stated in the breakdown. On that day it was heavily raining in Los Angeles, [and] I had to go to court that morning. I had no transportation at the time. So as far as I was concerned, I wanted to pass on the audition and deal with the court and getting my behind back home. Also, the audition was across town from where I lived and even farther from the courthouse.” Ken’s appointment at the court concerned nothing more than a few traffic tickets, and its coinciding with his Elm Street audition amounted simply to a case of bad timing. The day proved to be something of a nightmare in itself however, as he explains: “Like most auditions, you go in, sign in, and wait for your time,” Ken begins. “Usually, you don’t have to wait but a few minutes, even when they are running behind. I had lost the case at court (very pissed), and the rain was pouring down even harder. I had to catch three buses to get there. I had everything planned out. My audition was at 4:20, so the bus got me there around 3:50. I thought since I was early I could go in, they see me a little early, and I could be out in time to catch a 4:55 bus. I walked in the audition and www.screamhorrormag.com
there were more actors outside the door than I can count. They were running more than 45 minutes behind. Plus, every actor that was there for the Kincaid role was extremely well built; to me I didn’t have a chance. I knew that I wasn’t going to catch my 4:55 bus, plus it was getting into everyone getting off work, and my clothes were wet; I just didn’t want to be at this damn place. I called my agent and told him what was going on, and could they set up another appointment. He told me that it was important that I meet this casting director for other projects. Long story short, more than an hour passed, and finally it
was my turn to go into the audition room. The casting director and Chuck Russell, the director, were sitting there. Yes, I had a little attitude when I walked into the room. I read the scene, and the director got up and said he liked it. I really just wanted to get this over with and leave. Chuck said to read it more like you would feel and do what you feel. So I said a few cuss words as I would say it, and knocked a few things around. All Chuck and the casting director said was, ‘thank you.’ When I got home and walked in the door, my phone was ringing. It was my agent; ‘Ken, what the hell did you do in that room?!’ I proceeded to say how
SCREAM
33
sorry I was; it was just a bad day. My agent interrupted me and said, ‘they loved you, you got the role.’ That is how I got the role of Kincaid.” Clearly then, the “attitude” Ken brought to his audition played in his favour and, watching Dream Warriors it’s not difficult to see why. Kincaid is cynical, sarcastic and short-tempered, regularly spending time in isolation. He is something of a deliberate outsider within the Westin Hills group, distancing himself from the supportive bond between his fellow inmates and showing a lack of compassion during their group sessions. His tough exterior (not to mention his dreamland super-strength) becomes his greatest asset during the film’s climactic battle with Freddy however, when his courage ensures not just his own survival, but that of Joey, for whom Kincaid risks his life. Despite the emotional distance Kincaid maintains from his peers at Westin Hills though, Ken built strong relationships with his co-stars, saying that, “we not only became friends, we became another family.” Of the prolific genre star and cult screen legend John Saxon, who reprised his role as Nancy’s father Don in the film however, Ken laments: “I didn’t spend as much time [with him] as I would have liked while we were filming,” but does add that “...over the years we have met at conventions and I’ve had time to converse. He has passed some wonderful stories to me.” Talking of actors with stories to tell,
any number of Elm Street alumni have talked very warmly of Robert Englund, often referring to him as something of a father figure onset, and Ken’s memories of the iconic actor are no different. “At first, I was nervous,” he says of his first day acting with Englund, “but Robert makes you feel comfortable. He never presented himself as a star, but a giving and caring artist. If you listen to Robert for 10 minutes, you will feel like you have taken a class at Yale or Harvard. He is a wonderful storyteller, a teacher, and an all-around artist.” One person Ken never met during filming was Wes Craven who, after having his and Bruce Wagner’s script more or less eviscerated (save for the core idea of the Dream Warriors themselves, and the returning of Nancy and Don) and taking an executive producer credit, played no further part in the making of the film. “While I was filming, Wes Craven took a back seat,” Ken explains; “I never saw him during the filming of Nightmare 3 or 4. I met him at a function and we talked for a while. He told me he was pleased with
my work as Kincaid, and encouraged me to keep going. The last time I ran into him, he said ‘we have to find you another good role like Kincaid’. We never crossed paths again, but I know he’s looking down on us. I’m glad I got a chance to thank him for allowing me to be a part of him making history in the horror world; I became the first black [character] to survive an international horror film and return for a sequel.” Ken closes this thought by adding: “Thank you again, Mr. Wes.” After being brought in to rework Craven and Wagner’s script alongside future The Shawshank Redemption/The Mist director Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell found himself at the helm of Dream Warriors. His first time in the director’s chair, Russell proved himself to be more than competent when it came to handling onscreen horror and would, the following year direct a fantastic remake of The Blob. “Chuck Russell brought us together a couple of weeks before we started filming,” Ken recalls. “He was the type of director that built a family or an ensemble of friends that knew each
k c a l b t s r i f e “I became th urvive an character to s ror film r o h l a n o i t a n r e int " l e u q e s a r o f and return
other, so the day we first started to film it really helped and I think he helped make us become better actors as a group [and a] family.” Surviving the climactic showdown with Freddy, Kincaid would live to battle the bastard son of a hundred maniacs once more in 1988’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, which was rushed into production following Dream Warriors’ success, and directed by the then-relatively unknown Renny Harlin, who would later direct Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea. “Renny Harlin was more a director without prep,” Ken says. “He knew exactly what he wanted and expressed it to us. Rodney [Eastman] and I knew our characters because of Chuck Russell. [Harlin] allowed us to build on it. Both had
www.screamhorrormag.com
their own styles that helped as an actor.” True to form, Ken adds: “Thank you, Chuck and Renny.” A lot can change in the space of a year and, despite Ken’s initial reticence to audition for Dream Warriors, of the opportunity to return for Part 4 he tells me: “When I received the call I accepted. I had no reservations.” Of the three surviving Dream Warriors, none make it too far into The Dream Master, making way for new characters and a new battle with Freddy. Despite not making it past the twenty minute mark however, it looks like Ken got to have a lot of fun, particularly in the enjoyable scrap yard sequence which culminates in Kincaid’s death at Freddy’s gloved hand. “I think Kincaid had one of the best death scenes in Part
4,” Ken says. “I remember that night well. It was so cold. It took us three days to film it; the last day was very sad. At the time, Robert was getting ready to be a part of the Nightmare on Elm Street TV series [Freddy’s Nightmares]. He was so encouraging for me to be a part of it. There were three different shots of the death scene. It was different looks that we gave each other. I’m happy about the one they chose.” Since his time playing Kincaid, Ken has appeared in a number of films and TV series. He followed The Dream Master with a role in cult slasher Death by Dialogue, before taking to the small screen throughout the 90’s. After a supporting role in the Coen Brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty in 2003, Ken was absent from films until 2012’s littleseen comedy Brother White and, as he tells me, “...recently completed two films, Nation’s Fire and Gorenons. I enjoyed both of them,” he says. It is undoubtedly though, his time as a Dream Warrior for which Ken continues to be best known. “I don’t really like watching myself, it’s been a while,” he admits when I ask about the last time he revisited his first trip to Elm Street, “but I’m proud of the whole film.” Of his fellow Westin Hills inmates, he says that “we don’t always see each other as often as some of us might like, but when we do, it’s a family thing.” Like so many of his Elm Street peers, Ken has openly embraced the convention circuit, telling me that “I do 2 or maybe 3 a year. All the funds I make from signing my pictures go to a non-profit called the GBC - Giving Back Corporation, [that] I founded in 1997. The funds go to inner city youths across the country, and internationally.” It’s nice to know that the man whose most famous role was as a troubled youth now spends his time and energies helping real young people. “GBC has helped more than 300 college-bound students, sent over 500 youths to summer camp, put more than 5000 supplies in classrooms, and tutors young people who are having problems in school,” he continues. “I do this because I remember when I was one of these kids that dreamed and wanted, but just didn’t have the funds. I promised God that I would not forget those that helped me. That’s why giving back is so important to me.” While Ken may have grown up a poor kid however, he has, for 30 years now, been immortalised as an Elm Street kid. And despite being less than enthused to attend that audition on a rainy day more than 30 years ago, Ken remains proud of his role as Kincaid. “I think being an Elm Street kid has been a blessing,” he beams today. “I am a part of history.”
SCREAM
35
M
WHAT’S HOT IN THE WORLD OF DVD & BLU-RAY... CAGE DIVE THE FILM: In this surprise second sequel to Open Water, three friends film their adventures cave diving to win a place on a reality show. However, things take a turn for the fatal when the boat is overturned and they’re left stranded in shark-infested waters. The biggest problem with Cage Dive is its similarity to the intense Open Water from 2003. Sure, it’s a sequel and this should be expected, but the comparisons are what prevents Cage Dive from being the claustrophobic and exciting feature it expects to be. We’ve seen this done before and we’ve seen it done better, so Cage Dive becomes a frustratingly dull and fruitless affair that will leave you on the brink of sleep, rather than on the edge of your seat. Cage Dive begins as you’d expect – sadly – introducing a trio of young adults whose personalities are as dull as dishwater. There’s a loved-up couple and a best mate on the end, who you’ll be surprised to learn is sleeping with his best mate’s girlfriend. Shock horror! That’s the biggest surprise of the film – and I’m sorry I’ve ruined that for you but don’t worry, it’s revealed fairly early - and it will garner little more than an eye roll. You can bet that the little secret will expose itself at the worst possible time. The lack of excitement in Cage Dive is not too surprising, because Open Water managed to achieve the impossible by making a film that followed 2 people floating in the ocean a palm-sweating, unbearably tense experience. Cage Dive is devoid of this intensity, because it’s more concerned with keeping the hand-held camera rolling than the action that is occurring in front of it. So, expect plenty of ridiculous moments where the camera captures events that would be impossible even for those with the most steady hand. The camera never stops rolling, but it probably should have. At a mere 70 minutes, it’s sad to say that Cage Dive has very little to show in its meagre run time. It’s not scary or shocking in the slightest and will
36
SCREAM
unsurprising that most of these were left on the cutting room floor, but they’re amusing enough.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 CAGE DIVE is out now on UK DVD courtesy of Lionsgate Films. REVIEWED BY JESSY WILLIAMS
PHOENIX FORGOTTEN
probably only frighten those of the most sensitive disposition. For a film set in “sharkinfested” waters, there’s very little shark action. The shark action that we do see is shot shakily, giving us a limited view of the scenes that we’re most keen to see. It’s a disappointment. With very few sharks and very little depth, Cage Dive is a lacklustre and tiresome feature that doesn’t sail as high as recent sharkhorrors like The Shallows and 47 Meters Down. Watch one of those instead.
THE FILM: 20 years after the disappearance of her brother and two of his friends, Sophie seeks to uncover the truth of their disappearance and whether it has anything to do with mysterious lights documented over Phoenix, Arizona. You may think Phoenix Forgotten sounds suspiciously identical to The Blair Witch Project and you’d be right. It has Blair Witch written all over it and the only real difference is that this one is concerned with UFOs and not witches. Nonetheless, Phoenix Forgotten is tremendously entertaining and soars thanks to its likeable characters, surprisingly gripping storyline and a solid, simple execution. It just works. It has been argued countless times that the found footage style of filmmaking is dead;
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 SPECIAL FEATURES: There are a couple of fun extras in the behind the scenes and deleted scenes for Cage Dive. If you’re keen to learn more about the cast and crew’s sea sickness and the inspiration behind director Gerald Rascionato’s decision to make a shark movie, then you should find the behind the scenes particularly interesting. It’s only a few minutes long, so it would have garnered a stronger rating if it was a little more in-depth. The deleted scenes are so-so and feature the characters eating Vegemite and throwing their shoes on a tree - it’s www.screamhorrormag.com
that no more can the sub-genre scare or surprise, because each one is identical to the last or just generally unbelievable. Phoenix Forgotten takes us back to the days when found footage was impressive and was used to heighten the realism within the story, rather than using a hand-held camera for a gimmick or a way to make a horror film cheaply. Phoenix Forgotten feels authentic as it draws on the real life events from 1997 which immediately grounds the film in credibility that most found footage films are without. The story becomes criminally gripping as Sophie re-treads the steps of the three teenagers and interviews police officers in a documentary of her own. The film becomes a consistently creative mix of styles, keeping the film visually interesting and ensuring that no aspects of the story outstay their welcome. A shaky cam element is attached to the teens’ footage to emphasise their amateur ability to shoot their surroundings, which suitably justifies the poor recording of their UFO hunting and becomes a knowing joke within the film. There is also retrospective looks back at faux news footage from the teens’ disappearance, as well as the modern filming of Sophie’s investigation. Phoenix Forgotten will keep you on your toes until the very end, delivering a satisfying pay-off when we finally get to see what happened to the missing children. Director Justin Barber certainly doesn’t skimp on the tension and mystery, devoting the film’s final 20 minutes – which is a quarter of the runtime – to following the final footsteps of the missing teens. It’s transfixing, scary and full of suspense, drawing Phoenix Forgotten to a somewhat predictable but exciting finale. The combination of likeable characters and an enticing sense of mystery that will gauge a genuine eagerness to uncover the truth from its audience, Phoenix Forgotten is a well-paced and exciting rollercoaster, neatly squeezed into a short and sweet 80 minutes. Phoenix Forgotten is a found footage delight that you’ll certainly remember.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 PHOENIX FORGOTTEN is out now on UK DVD courtesy of Signature Entertainment. REVIEWED BY JESSY WILLIAMS
THE MONSTER PROJECT THE FILM: If you want to see a film that completely squanders its creative and refreshing potential, then The Monster Project is it. At its most simple and potentially excellent, The Monster Project is a unique and intelligent approach to foundfootage that promises something we’ve not seen before. The self-aware premise that follows a www.screamhorrormag.com
interview, the group have to fight for survival. Prepare for 40 minutes of shaky cameras, running around and general indecipherable nonsense. All the events come together to reveal a dull twist, which you will probably see coming. All in all, The Monster Project has the potential to be a fun and scary feature, but succumbs to over-complication and tedium. Skip!
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 THE MONSTER PROJECT is released November 13th on UK DVD courtesy of Studiocanal. REVIEWED BY JESSY WILLIAMS
BIGFOOT COUNTRY
documentary film crew as they interview apparently “real” monsters will sound mighty appealing to found footage fans and horror fans alike. Sadly, due to an unnecessarily convoluted and heavy-handed storyline, The Monster Project becomes tiresome and predictable. The bland characters were the first warning sign. None are particularly interesting and the attempt to give one character a bit of depth is attempted by making him a drug addict. This is when the film’s heavy-handedness rears its head, because his struggle with addiction screams that the “real” monsters aren’t the real monsters, if you know what I mean? The monsters lie within us, the humans. Sigh. It becomes the kind of film that is more concerned with ramming an important message down its audience’s throat, rather than focusing on the fun, scary premise – where a vampire, a skin-walker and a demon are interviewed for a documentary. It’s all well and good to have dramatic themes at the core of your film, where some characters are hiding secrets and others are trying to forget their past mistakes and move on with the present. However, The Monster Project shifts between these serious moments and a more comedic tone, making the film feel uneven and confused of its own identity. Jamal (Jamal Quesaire) is the clown of the group and his characterisation feels extremely stereotypical, so even when he offers knowing dialogue like, “So much for the black guy dying first”, it won’t have the desired laugh-out-loud response from the audience. Rather, you’ll be aware of the film’s inability to hit the comedy mark. Aside from a couple of cheap, jumpy moments there’s nothing remotely scary about The Monster Project. After 40 minutes in you’ll be ready for it to end, because by then, it’s become a bit of a mess. After everything goes expectedly to shit at the
THE FILM: Jason Mills has a string of independent horror titles under his belt and his latest project, Bigfoot Country follows four friends determined to enjoy a weekend camping in the woods. After ignoring the warnings from a local guide, the group accidentally shoots the legendary Sasquatch, unaware that there’s a whole family of Sasquatches in the woods that will do anything to keep their territory safe from invaders. Starring a motley crew of unknown actors, Bigfoot Country tries its best to be a bold monster movie. As director, Mills creates an environment that keeps a sufficient standard of tension alive by obscuring just enough of the action to keep his audience on edge injecting a few surprises along the way. However, it comes as a great shame that the cast don’t seem to share Mills’ enthusiasm for the project. Speaking of which, as an ensemble, every performance in this film falls flat. In fact, as a result, the emotionally demanding pivotal moments in this film always fail to hit their mark. Expect over the top acting, banshee screams and zero chemistry on-screen
SCREAM
37
amongst the cast. Not only is this frustrating to see but it only serves to cheapen the viewing experience dragging down the overall standard of the film. So as much as I can appreciate the work behind the camera to make the most of its limited budget, Bigfoot Country still fails to impress as a whole. It takes far too long to get to the meat of the story and its characters are completely unlikeable. In this state, the film is difficult to connect with and the end result is a missed opportunity for Mills to shine as a director.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 BIGFOOT COUNTRY is out now on US DVD courtesy of Sector 5 Films REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
CHARLOTTE THE FILM: Charlotte is an anthology film featuring shorts from a bunch of independent filmmakers who have experienced different levels of success. Presented as a series of shorts with an interesting wrap around directed by Patrick Rea (Enclosure), Charlotte’s segments are introduced as a series of shorts that are shown to a babysitter who is held hostage by an evil doll. Generally speaking, anthology movies consist of a collection of shorts linked together by a common theme. However, Charlotte’s segments do not fit this mould. Instead, it serves as a platform for Patrick Rea to showcase his previous shorts alongside the work from Colin Cambell, Corey Norman, Calvin Main, Johnny Lee and April Wright. As a whole, the project is not as polished as other anthology films like Creepshow or V/H/S but the concept of being able to showcase a bunch of shorts from independent filmmakers to an audience outside of the festival circuit by creating an
38
SCREAM
anthology film itself is a fantastic idea. So speaking of the segments, there are eight in total and they all range between eight and ten minutes running time. Although Charlotte’s segments different in quality and production value there’s still a lot of fun to be had here. This rings true with Rea’s ‘Get Off My Porch’ sees a man defend his home from a pair of unrelenting Girl Scouts determined to sell their cookies. Corey Norman’s ‘Tickle’ starts out as a harmless urban legend but the end result is a bloody good watch. Both segments were hilarious and show plenty of creativity from both filmmakers and their crew. However, my favourite segment of the film comes in the form of ‘Howl of a Good Time’ which stars Leslie Easterbrook (Devil’s Rejects) as a cinema usherette who crosses paths with a young girl who sneaks into the cinema. What at first appears as as as simple straight-forward monster flick turns into something worth checking out. On reflection, Charlotte, as an anthology film, doesn’t offer enough to keep the pace alive. Maybe the project would benefit from cutting out a couple of the segments but I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth to appreciate the stronger segments.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 CHARLOTTE is out now on US DVD courtesy of MVD. REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
THE BLACK ROOM THE FILM: Rolfe Kanefsky’s The Black Room is distinctly strange. More of a pitch black comedy than horror, it is essentially Wishmaster meets 50 Shades of Grey. The Black Room stars Natasha Henstridge (Species) and Lukas Hassel (The Blacklist) as a married couple whose first intimate moments in their new home is savagely interrupted by an evil force lurking in their basement. Played for straight but completely hilarious without ever crossing into spoof territory, Kanefsky has delivered a film that serves as a unique take on the succubus mythology. Completing the package with some pretty effective practical effects that are admittedly quite impressive and the end result is far from unwatchable. Making a surprising appearance on-screen with Henstridge and Hassel is everyone’s favourite godmother of horror, Lin Shaye. Her character might consist of a blink and miss it cameo but thankfully, Natasha Henstridge and Lukas Hassel do a great job to carry the film... but only if you don’t take it seriously. The rest of the cast only serve as cannon fodder for the evil succubus but that’s not a bad thing. So what is essentially a film where a
demon seduces his prey, audiences can look forward to seeing ghastly kills, over the top orgasms, dark humour and a backstory that will make your grandmother blush. Clearly, The Black Room will not appeal to many but for the few of you looking for a light-hearted gore-fueled time then this is for you.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 THE BLACK ROOM is out now on US DVD courtesy of MVD. REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
THE GLASS COFFIN THE FILM: Haritz Zubillaga’s Glass Coffin is a claustrophobic thriller that tells the harrowing experience of Amanda (Paola Bontempi), a successful actress who finds herself imprisoned inside a luxury limousine by an unknown assailant. With the windows heavily tinted and her mobile phone jammed she has nowhere to run or hide. As director, Zubillaga has plenty to offer his audience by imposing a nononsense style of filmmaking. A clear plot, fantastic performances and a stunning ending complemented by some stunning cinematography, Zubillaga takes no prisoners and holds his audience in a vice-tight grip that’s not easy to shake. Meanwhile, in the lead role, Paola Bontempi harnesses the raw power to deliver a performance that will have audiences on the edge of their seat. As Amanda, Bontempi works hard to keep the attention of the audience in this single-location chiller. Her performance feels wholly believable and in this film, she shines brightly. Looking beyond the unbearable scenes of torture and sexual violence, The Glass Coffin is not by any means an easy watch. In fact, as a whole, it has plenty of reasons to make an audience scream with an abundance of horrific sequences that will surely instil a www.screamhorrormag.com
nervous disposition in the most hardened of viewers. So with no further spoilers or comments, let me tell you that by the time of its unexpected third act, I was left feeling stunned and in a deep state of shock.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 THE GLASS COFFIN is out now on US DVD courtesy of MVD. REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
LEATHERFACE THE FILM: It’s difficult to approach a film with an open mind when the fact that it exists at all feels like an issue. There are few who would argue that Leatherface: The Formative Years was something the world needed and yet here we find ourselves; mourning the loss of Tobe Hooper as an unnecessary prequel to his most monumental of cinematic achievements lands on us. Not that the beloved director would be exactly turning in his grave however; he and original Texas Chain Saw Massacre writer/producer Kim Henkel both serve as executive producers on this new vision, after all. Leaving behind the Sawyer homestead for most of its duration (or rather, hurtling toward it), Leatherface eschews the ‘kidsget-stranded-and-set-upon’ narrative, opting instead for a violent, Bonnie and Clyde (plus three) road movie. Pursued by Stephen Dorff’s Ranger Hal Hartman, whose daughter is murdered by the Sawyer clan during the film’s opening, five fugitives hit the road, led by psychotic lovers Ike and Clarice who charge across the country like Mickey and Mallory Knox, blasting through the patrons at a diner en route to Mexico, in one of the film’s stand-out scenes. Indeed, it is during the more violent moments like the diner massacre that the film finds itself working rather well. The narrative’s strongest asset is the ambiguity surrounding Jed’s identity. When www.screamhorrormag.com
Lili Taylor’s Verna Sawyer (far and away the film’s best performance – all controlled, bubbling fury and concealed mania) bursts into the hospital where her son is held, she is told that all the inmates’ names have been changed, and it becomes something of a guessing game as to who among the core group will eventually don that famous mask. It’s a bold decision that differentiates the film from other such origin stories, and raises questions throughout. It does mean however, that we are made to wait for the finale for any real chainsaw action, although when it comes, boy howdy is it bloody. The climax as a whole though, is pretty undercooked, with no time given to the tearing apart of one of the film’s key relationships, and little belief that the burgeoning monster is on the doorstep of becoming the iconic figure of the title. We are taken to the Sawyer house for the third act, and into a familiar hallway, but it is as though the film is holding back on treading too closely to the original film for fear of disrespect, when in this regard, it could have done with daring to go all in. A smart move in bringing Leatherface to the screen was the hiring of Inside directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury; if you’re going to cash-in on a classic, you may as well make it look nice. And while visually the film breaks no new ground, it is satisfying to look at, with all the sun-baked Southern sweat you’d expect although – as with Marcus Nispel’s 2003 TCM remake – none of the grimy, queasy Texas authenticity of the original. And is that not the problem with all more recent films linked to the franchise; ramping up the gore is little substitute for the squalid danger of Hooper’s landmark film. Whereas Rob Zombie’s depiction of Michael Myers’ upbringing formed part of a reimagined take on its source material, Leatherface marks itself as a prequel to one of the greatest films of all time, without
feeling as though it runs into it. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre told us all we needed to know about its murderous man-child, due to the late Gunnar Hansen’s tragic, unhinged portrayal. Taking an interesting narrative approach to the subject, Leatherface is perfectly watchable, well performed and enjoyably bloody, and about as good as a completely unnecessary prequel can reasonably be. Like Nispel’s take, it’s a solid if unremarkable horror flick, but if you’re going to hang onto the heels of a classic, you simply must deliver more than that. It’s probably the best Texas Chainsaw film not directed by Hooper although, unfortunately, that amounts to a pretty flimsy endorsement.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 LEATHERFACE is out January 9th on UK DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate. REVIEWED BY KEVAN FARROW
#FROMJENNIFER THE FILM: There are times when you see a film’s poster and your expectations suddenly lower themselves. Well in the case of Frank Merle’s #FromJennifer, the poster certainly left me with an impending sense of dread. However, within five minutes of watching, I knew that I was in for something special. Based on characters created by James Cullen Bressack, director of the modern ‘video nasty’ Hate Crime, #FromJennifer is a strange movie but in a really good way! Tapping into the YouTube craze, where content creators have the potential to earn millions by posting regular videos to their YouTube channel, the film follows struggling actress Jennifer (Danielle Taddei) who discovers her ex-boyfriend has posted a sex video of them both. Fired by her manager and left to fend for herself she takes inspiration from her best friend Stephanie to harness the power of social media to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend and teach an important lesson to those that love to post revenge porn. Filmed entirely from the use of action cameras, #FromJennifer operates with a low-budget aesthetic that echoes the semiprofessional production values shared by the video blogs uploaded to YouTube every day. As director, Merle does a superb job to set up the story and uses the hand-held gimmick to create a film that is compelling to watch. Throw in a razor-sharp script also written by Merle and what you have is a solid effort all round that will have you laughing one minute and creeped out the next. In the lead, Danielle Taddei gives a solid performance as Jennifer. Her ability to deliver a flat sense of humour without cracking a smile gives her character a lovable charm. Meanwhile, playing her right-hand-man in the revenge plot is Derek Mears (Friday the 13th)
SCREAM
39
who appears as Butch Valentine. Socially awkward and physically imposing, Mears is the exact opposite to Taddei and together their relationship keeps the film ticking along perfectly. #FromJennifer is completely different in tone from Bressack’s previous projects. Cementing a sense of realism with an added edge, Merle has done a fantastic job with this film. It’s hilarious and the final act is to die for! Put it this way, if #FromJennifer was an actual YouTube video, I’d give it the thumbs up and I’d subscribe to that shit because it’s bloody marvellous!
Meanwhile, his nemesis Ruby (Lucy Lawless) is struggling to keep control of her demon offspring and discovers the only way to stop them is to turn to the man she hates the most... our hero, Ash! Right off the bat Ash vs Evil Dead plays to every trope that the Evil Dead franchise is famous for. Slapstick comedy, over the top gore effects and gratuitous violence and you can bet that I bloody loved every goofy second of it. From the unbelievable fight sequence between Ash and a corpse in “The Morgue”, a surprising appearance from a familiar deadite in “Trapped Inside” and one hell of a finale, season two embodies everything I love about the franchise and it never takes itself too seriously providing a much-needed breath of fresh air when compared to other horror shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. Moving on, unsurprisingly the cast is fantastic. Seeing Bruce Campbell as his iconic character fills me with so much joy. He’s still hilarious, strangely charming and capable of keeping his energy levels high. As for the rest of the cast, they perfectly fit into the tone of the show too. Dana DeLorenzo and Ray Santiago (and Lucy Lawless too) are
just as watchable as Campbell and it’s great to see them hold their own against his antics. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of checking this show out, believe me when I tell you that you’re missing out on one hell of a blood-soaked adventure. So, if you like a healthy dose of dark humour with over the top gore effects I urge you to seek Ash vs Evil Dead. You really won’t regret it!
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 SPECIAL FEATURES: Talk about an extras package! This two-disc collection offers a commentary track for every episode and if that wasn’t enough it’s featurettes provide a keen insight into the making of the series. “Up Your Ash” talks about that famous scene in the Morgue, “Puppets are Cute” allows viewers to get more Ashy Slashy action more and the Fatality Mash-up is a forty-seven sizzle reel showing every death across the whole series... it’s awesome!
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 ASH VS EVIL DEAD SEASON 2 is out now on UK DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox. REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 SPECIAL FEATURES: Although the film is quite enjoyable the extras on this single-disc DVD are disappointingly average. Here we have an alternative opening, an alternative ending, a handful of deleted scenes, blooper reel and trailers. Standard fodder offering little to no value to the film.
Rating: 4 4 4 4 4 #FROMJENNIFER is out now on US DVD courtesy of Sector 5 Films. REVIEWED BY JON DICKINSON
ASH VS EVIL DEAD SEASON 2 THE SERIES: Hail to the king! The Chin himself, Bruce Campbell is back as Ash in the second season of Ash vs Evil Dead! Offering audiences plenty of blood, profanity and brief nudity, the second series not only serves as a direct sequel to the infamous trilogy but it expands the Evil Dead universe delivering ten more fun-fueled episodes. Picking off right after the events of the first season, Ash (Campbell) is loving life in Jacksonville distracting himself with beer and women with his pals Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) and Pablo (Ray Santiago) by his side.
40
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
From the celebrated author of BIRD BOX and BLACK MAD WHEEL, a very special 13th book in Earthling’s annual Halloween Series
“Goblin is a mesmerizing, terrifying tight-rope walk.” —Clive Barker
500 deluxe, signed, numbered copies: $50 Now available at earthlingpub.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
“Malerman has created a Derry for a new generation.” —Sarah Pinborough “An incredible Halloween find for all.” —Dave Simms, Cemetery Dance Online “Hair-raising....fans of creepy, eerie, genuinely unsettling horror will devour (or be devoured by) this set of vignettes about the aptly named town of Goblin.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
SCREAM
41
WES KELTNER TALKS
Words: Jon Dickinson
Ever since the early days of gaming, the market has been saturated by a plethora of games based on popular movies. So in the past, famous franchises such as ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, ‘Alien’, ‘Predator’, ‘The Thing’ and ‘Friday the 13th’ have all been given the video game treatment. Thankfully, as technology has advanced over the last thirty years the side-scrolling 2D game environment have been given a much-needed facelift. With fully rendered 3D environments, decent storytelling, application of strategy and in-your-face gore, games have become more immersive and have demonstrated the ability to perfectly capture all the elements to be just as terrifying as their celluloid counterparts. Recently, gamers who are fans of the Friday the 13th franchise have been given a real treat. Friday the 13th: The Game has been unleashed across all gaming platforms. A love letter to slasher fans across the globe, the game places the player in the last twenty minutes of a Friday the 13th film with only one mission... to survive or kill. Developed by IllFonic and designed by Tom Savini, Wes Keltner and Ronnie
42
SCREAM
Hobbs, Friday the 13th: The Game might have divided critics and players on its opening weekend but it has continued to become a firm favourite amongst genre fans. Interested to know more about the game we sent our very own Jon Dickinson to interview lead game designer Wes Keltner to discuss the development of the project, the problems experienced on release and talk about how the game is ever changing. SCREAM: Can you tell us about how you got started in the games industry?
WES: I got started helping major brands get a better understanding of the video game market and gamers in general. My clients were Ford Motor Company, Samsung, American Apparel and several brands within Unilever and P&G. I pivoted from this type of consulting, to helping game publishers make their games better. I put together a team of ex-journalists, and we would fly to game studios to play games that were in either a very early state, or near launch. We did this for 3-4 years and I started to get antsy. I wanted to make my own games. I raised a few www.screamhorrormag.com
dollars from local investors and created my first game; Breach & Clear. B&C was a mobile game that was inspired by games like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon. It’s a top down, tactical game where you control a team of special forces operators and take on bad guys in different locations. It was a successful title with over 1.5M downloads and it really helped me cut my teeth on how games are made. We then started writing the design for Slasher Vol 1: Summer Camp. Our love letter to slasher films, with Friday the 13th being the biggest influencer.
WES: Easy. Friday the 13th (of course) and these come in order: 6, 3, 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, X. I love Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street (especially the first and Dream Warriors). I love The Thing, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and pretty much anything Argento, Bava or Fulci did.
SCREAM: Your game is everything a Friday the 13th Fan could want. Are you a fan of the horror genre? If so, what are your favourite scary movies?
WES: We set out to create a game inspired by 80’s slashers, because we grew up enamoured by them, especially Friday the 13th. That’s why we originally designed Slasher Vol.1: Summer Camp as an homage to our favourite Slasher from that era, Jason Voorhees. Once we had a design in place that we thought could allow players to play in the last 20 minutes of an F13 movie, we hired on Tom Savini, Kane Hodder, and Harry Manfredini, all people who worked on some of the original films in the franchise. Once the Gun team and our first wave of Hollywood horror legends were assembled, it all grew and quickly took on a life of it’s own.
SCREAM: Before your game was officially titled Friday the 13th: The Game, the project was titled Summer Camp and as you say, it was to serve as a homage to the genre. Can you tell us more about what inspired the game?
SCREAM: Getting everyone together must have been tough for you. Were there any concerns that the project would not go ahead? WES: When we did our Kickstarter, we were more than confident with the support we were getting and the outreach that had occurred. Obviously, there are times when things felt slow, but we were sure things would work out and we were able to successfully fund the project!
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM: Tell me about the crowd-funding experience... What was it like to have such a positive reaction? WES: We knew it would be big, just you never know how big it’ll actually be. It seemed like everywhere we looked we were getting coverage on launch day, and that was pretty amazing to say the least. Just the other day we had Elijah Wood and Roy Hibbert of the Los Angeles Lakers tweeting about the game. Basically, we were blown away by the support from all of the Friday the 13th fans. SCREAM: So what was your first reaction when you found out that the team secured the Friday the 13th license rights? WES: At first, we were intimidated. I remember Ronnie Hobbs and I looking at each other, during the call, and giving each other a look. A look of concern, that we had perhaps got a little too close to the flame. This was, after all, our love letter to Friday the 13th. Luckily Sean (Cunningham) was calling to tell us that he had received said love letter, but that we were missing two things; him and the license. After the shock wore off, Ronnie and I both knew we didn’t have the money required to pay for the license. We’re just a small indie team. But Sean had one more surprise up his sleeve…He gave us the license as a gift, gratis. Working with Sean has been a dream so far. There are so many similarities to when he first got started with the first Friday the 13th. A small team with a small budget, driven by creativity and a real passion for horror. I think that’s why we connected so fast with Sean. When creatives get together, they can’t help but inspire each other.
SCREAM
43
SCREAM: It’s a common trend for horror games to be turned into a feature but your game does the opposite. Knowing how big the Friday the 13th fan base is, what did the production team do to ensure fan expectations were met? WES: Lots and lots and lots of research. We put a lot of time and effort into combing through every aspect of each film to ensure everything was as authentic as possible. Each Jason and each mask, the locations and even props were all meticulously researched. Every single prop in the game comes from something drawn from the movies, right down to the bell on Packanack Lodge. The goal from the getgo was to ensure that when you stepped into Camp Crystal Lake that you felt right at home. SCREAM: Based on data captured on the beta test and pre-orders you added an additional 30% cushion when setting up your servers. However, when the game launched, it proved even more popular than
anticipated. What did you do to cope with this level of demand? WES: Cope? Surviving is probably a better word to use. The entire team slept at their desks trying to keep up with demand. It’s an experience I’ll never forget. With our small budget, we couldn’t afford a large scale QA effort. We did a PC beta and gleaned a lot of great data from that. But again, we weren’t ready for the tidal wave of players. SCREAM: With any new game, bugs and leaks can disappoint players and put gamers off from checking out the game. What action did you take after release to manage these? WES: As the player count continued to rise, a memory leak became apparent, which was difficult to find until the build went out into the wild and hundreds of thousands of players began playing. This showed up primarily on the Xbox SKU and we shifted our efforts to finding where this leak was
occurring. We released a patch recently that helps, but it’s still not a 100% fix. We’ve brought on two other teams to help us locate the source, and our partners at Microsoft and Epic (UE4) are helping us day and night to completely fix this issue. SCREAM: The game divided critics and fans on release. How did this make you feel and did it inspire the team to make any changes to the game? WES: Metacritic scores used to be the lifeblood of games. For today’s consumer, it’s not as relevant. I think there are two reasons for this; Early Access and Content Creators (YouTubers and streamers). In my opinion, these are the two biggest disruptions in our industry, with Twitch probably being the biggest game changer. Five years ago publishers would be frantically hiring mock reviewers to try to get a good estimate of what their Metacritic score would be. Today, they have meetings where they ask the entire team; ‘Does our game stream well?’ As for reviews and feedback, many of the low scores and negative impressions were based on performance and server issues, and not gameplay. At the end of the day, it’s difficult to rate a game highly if it isn’t functioning as intended. So from a design perspective, it is great to know we succeeded. Looking at every single one of those reviews; it becomes obvious that people like the game, they enjoy playing. We can hold our head up high knowing that we created a fun game. The challenge now becomes a technical one. Once the technical issues get ironed out, we feel like consumers will get to experience our full vision. There’s also a rise in “Community Multiplayer Games” which only a handful of games are focusing on right now and they are proving to be a success and a shift in the industry. SCREAM: Let’s talk about the design of the game. How did the team first go about creating the cast, the locations and how did you decide on which versions of Jason to use? WES: Friday the 13th is different. It’s not competitive based. We’re also not really a ‘survival horror’, at least not by how most define it. We don’t require the player to drink water, find food, stay warm, etc. Counsellors also don’t pack firearms, so scavenging for ammo isn’t a mechanic we rely on either. But there is something trying to kill you. A nearly unstoppable killing
44
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
force in Jason Voorhees. It didn’t seem right to allow counsellors to arm up, boost skills, etc to get on an even playing field with Jason. Then you become a skillsfocused game. We wanted to remove a lot of that and get down to a more visceral approach to gameplay. Everyone has watched a horror movie with friends, and after the film, they turn to each other with a simple question; “What would you do in that situation?” That’s where we started. Let’s give players the tools to answer that question. From there, we looked at what was available to us; what could we work on that would offer the most bang-for-your-buck for fans. We wanted to diversify Jason as well as our counsellors. We looked at tropes, we looked at what we all remember and from there it came down to ensure the feel of the franchise was captured overall. SCREAM: The game features lots of blood and gore which we adore. What is your favourite kill in the game and why?
WES: My favourite kills, at least from the ones publicly known, is a kill that Jason part 6 does. It involves pushing his weapon (fence pole) through the temples of the counsellors...and then continuing to push them down to the end of the pole. I like that kill because the camera doesn’t cut away or flinch. It shows the victim trying to fight back but then fails. It shows their eyes go from shock (open, scared) to slowly closing (dead). It sounds a little twisted to talk about it this way, but there was a lot of love that went into that. Savini designed that kill (as well as all the others) but I directed it. I was there, during the late nights, working with animators to get the blood correct and make sure the camera panned the way I wanted it to. Those things all add up to bring power to the kill...and that one took a www.screamhorrormag.com
while to get just right. But wait till you see what we have planned next. SCREAM: What decisions did you make to ensure the marketing of the game was on-point? WES: Some teams think it’s a “Field of Dreams” type of scenario; you build it, they will come. I’ve met several small teams that have this impression and few of them seem to rise above the noise. With F13 we focused on a healthy mixture of traditional press and content creators/ streamers. Of course, having the F13 IP is a huge advantage. There’s an innate ability for that license to open doors. One mistake that teams make is that they don’t start thinking about marketing/PR until closer to launch. We were meeting with traditional press outlets nearly two years before launch. Even before we had the F13 license, and we were “Summer Camp”, we were reaching out to the press. Going to conventions is also a great way to get some face time with your favourite journalist. But the biggest mistake is waiting too late to start the PR engine. The same amount of energy and thought that you put into gameplay mechanics, features and content should go into your PR and marketing. Sure there are stories out there of two or three people making a game, with very little talk in the press, and they hit big. But why would you put so much of your time and energy into a project, and then bet it all that lightning will strike? SCREAM: So what is the most important lesson that you have learned from being part of this experience?
SCREAM: What does the future have instore for Friday the 13th: The Game? WES: Our number one priority right now is stability and squashing bugs. That’s what all of our engineers are focusing on. We’ve nearly doubled our team size to help with this issue. But our content/art teams are free to work on new content, and that’s what we’ve been doing. Players can expect new maps, characters, Easter eggs and other great updates in the near future. I think fans are really going to enjoy what we have planned, as some of this content comes directly from player feedback/ requests. While some others are surprises we’ve had up our sleeves for several months now. SCREAM: What’s next for you?
WES: Our biggest challenge is team size and experience. This is our first time at ‘the big table’ and we have stumbled throughout this process. What we lack in experience we make up for with passion and heart. However, in some cases, this weakness is also a strength. We are nimble and we communicate internally very effectively. I’m aware there are huge bonuses to having 300+ people working on a title, but there’s something about having a team of 30 that makes this experience intimate. There was nothing about making this game that felt like an assembly line. Which again, I think was what allowed us to be authentic and listen to fans.
WES: We have a lot we’re looking at, but right now we’re completely focused on support for Friday the 13th. Fans will be seeing more content coming soon! SCREAM: Thanks for talking to us, Wes. WES: My pleasure, thank you. We would like to thank Wes for his time. If you would like to experience the horrors of Friday the 13th: The Game you can seek it out across all gaming platforms now or visit the website at: www.f13game.com
SCREAM
45
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE: THE LEGACY OF LEATHERFACE
PART 2 Words: Kat Ellinger
In the last edition of SCREAM Magazine we took a look at Tobe Hooper’s genredefining grim classic Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and its dark comedy sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. The loss of director Hooper recently, in August 2017, hammered home the fact the director was part of a generation of filmmakers — which included the late great Wes Craven, and George A Romero — all of whom started from very modest roots, working in independent cinema that shaped horror film for the next four decades, and beyond; all of whom are now gone and can never be replaced. And therefore, it is with some sadness that this article is written, as SCREAM reflects on the legacy of Tobe Hooper. We examine how his original films eventually became a franchise, just like Craven’s Nightmare series, and Romero’s Dead series. We take a look at some of the remakes, reboots, prequels and sequels and study the evolution of Leatherface, while reflecting on how these later episodes compared to the original films.
domain, becoming something of a legend in its own right on the tape trading circuit. The film features a performance from genre stalwart Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead, 1978), as Benny, a survivalist who gives Leatherface and co a run for their money. It was also an early role for Viggo Mortensen, who played crazy cowboy Tex, before going on to star in Hollywood films such The Lord of the Rings and its sequels, as well as A History of Violence and The Road. Unable to secure Gunnar Hansen for the part of Leatherface, R.A. Mihailoff slipped on the mask. Mihailoff would later appear in another TCM inspired film, Hatchet II; although Kane Hodder played the monstrous killer as far as that picture goes. Unlike the group of young people in the first film, and the scream queen in the second, part III features a slasher standard couple, Michelle and Ryan, played by relative newcomers Kate Hodge and William Butler. There is a small cameo from Caroline Williams, star of the second film where she played final girl Stretch, as a reporter.
LEATHERFACE: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III (1990) Who, why, when, where? With the direct to video horror market in full swing, and the slasher taking on new life through Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and its consequent sequels, New Line Cinema saw potential in The Texas Chainsaw and after buying the rights from Cannon, embarked on a third film. Without the involvement of Tobe Hooper, directorial duties went to Jeff Burr — who had previously worked on cult classic From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) (an anthology film starring Vincent Price in the wraparound scenes, in one of his later career roles) as well as Stepfather II. Although, the original choice is rumoured to have been John McNaughton (Henry: A Portrait of a Serial Killer, 1986). Burr, an unashamed horror fan, set about injecting more of an Ed Gein flavour into the mix — the serial killer’s backstory providing an inspiration for the original film — moving part three away from the black comedy of the first sequel, and back into the domain of terror. Things were not exactly plain sailing however, and the finished result was considered far too violent for audiences, meaning that in order to obtain an MPAA rating in the States the film had to be heavily cut. The print was also trimmed and censored for UK audiences. However, Jeff Burr’s fully uncut workprint somehow managed to make it into the bootleg
What does the film bring to the Leatherface family dinner table? While family played an important part in the first two episodes, what part III offers, that hadn’t been seen before, was a matriarch character Mama Leatherface (Miriam ByrdNethery) and a little girl (Jennifer Banko, who had previously appeared in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, 1988). There are no women in the Chainsaw tribe in either the original film, or part two, and you have to wonder where femininity would fit into such a strange environment anyway. Part three attempts to address that angle. Interestingly, Banko’s character is credited as “Leatherface’s daughter”
adding to the sexualised element seen in part two. However, it is not made explicit how she was conceived. Leatherface, for the most part, and in line with the other two films, is portrayed as childlike. At one point he is seen punching “food” into a Speak and Spell which offers the picture of a person as a clue to the mystery word he has to guess. The daughter is depicted as a feral dangerous child, who loves to play with dead things. While Mama keeps things in order, even though she has to talk with the aid of an electronic voice box she holds to her neck. Mortensen as Tex, and co-stars Joe Unger as Tinker Leatherface and Tom Everett as Alfredo Leatherface, double up for the previous patriarch/crazy young men type characters seen in the first film. Grandpa is now dead, and sits decomposing at the dinner table in what seems like a reference to Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). That is if you consider discussions offered up by both Jeff Burr and screenwriter David J. Schow in the making of documentary, where they both cite Psycho in reference to Ed Gein, before making a direct connection to the TCM series, and their own film via the real life serial killer. How does the film rate in the franchise overall? Now regarded as something of a cult classic, Leatherface: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, in its uncut form, rode the slasher train and used graphic violence, absent in the first two films, to make its gruesome point. From finger nailing, head smashing, gory meat hooks galore and a swamp punch up, it might not hold the same atmosphere of Hooper’s original film, but it does prove to be a fairly competent body count by numbers film all the same that doesn’t hold back on violence or gore.
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION (1994) Who, why, when, where? Written, produced and directed by Kim Henkel, co-writer of the original 1974 film, on which he also served as associate producer,
found fame in Bridget Jones Diary (2001), for which the actress was nominated for an Academy Award, has since more or less disowned the film. Marilyn Burns, the original film’s Sally Hardesty makes a small cameo. While Leatherface is played by yet another actor (Robert Jacks) whose career was cut short when he died in 2001. Jacks is also credited as having a hand in the film’s soundtrack, which surprisingly also features Debbie Harry.
With such a strong cast, and Henkel’s involvement, it is difficult to see what went so wrong, until you try to actually watch the film the fourth installment, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, is a curious film. Originally titled The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was Henkel’s intention to make the violence more horrific while stuffing in a ton of black comedy, as well as social satire. However, the result has often been described by fans as one of the worst horror films they have ever seen, and is generally considered the weakest of the early chapters in the franchise. The film stands as Henkel’s only directorial effort.
48
SCREAM
He described the experience in a making of documentary, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Documentary (1996), as challenging because of the way in which, as someone who describes himself as solitary, he found himself working closely with people as part of a team. What makes this chapter of the saga even more strange is its association with two Hollywood A listers, Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger, in early roles. Apparently, Zellweger, who
What does the film bring to the Leatherface family dinner table? With such a strong cast, and Henkel’s involvement, it is difficult to see what went so wrong, until you try to actually watch the film. It has so many ideas, but none of them really work together in one coherent whole. The story starts off like a straight up slasher, and we meet four teenagers, Jenny (Renee Zellweger) Heather (Lisa Marie Newmyer) John Harrison (Sean) and Barry (Tyler Shea Cone) who sneak away from their prom, only to get lost in the middle of nowhere, before crashing their car, and wandering into Leatherface’s territory. It is here the “fun” starts. Until this point, the film plays out like a paint by numbers eighties slasher. Henkel explained he used prom kids because they were an all American stereotype like “Ken and Barbie”. Once at the house the film becomes a stunt driven spectacle, with performances as over the top as the gore. Matthew McConaughey in particular appears to be giving it his all, as the sadistic Vilmer, and could have given Woody Harrelson’s Mickey Knox, from Natural Born Killers, a run for his money (which came out the same year) had he been given more to work with. As it was, Henkel’s decision to add, not only an Illuminati subplot into the mix, but Leatherface’s gender-bending antics (maybe channelling The Silence of the Lambs) make this instalment less TCM and more WTF?! Henkel, in the aforementioned documentary, described Leatherface’s sexuality as complex. However, he did little to outline his motive in the decision. What the character arc amounts to on-screen is a Leatherface who ends up clad in a negligee, screaming, with a made up face. Hardly a reflection of the seductive posters which featured a beautiful woman’s face, with a chainsaw shaped like a lipstick. How does the film rate in the franchise overall? Although Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is a confused film, you have to give it points for trying. Social www.screamhorrormag.com
Good Stuff, 1993) Wet Wet Wet (Love is All Around, 1994) Janet Jackson (Runaway, 1995) Spice Girls (Spice up Your Life, 1997) and Ronan Keating (Life is a Rollercoaster, 2000) amongst many others. He also shot documentaries. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre can be considered a breakout role for actress Jessica Biel who later went on to star in a number of Hollywood films. Perhaps the most notable member of the cast is R. Lee Ermey, known to many as the sadistic drill sergeant from Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987). The actor appears in both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning as the sexually perverted, and thoroughly rotten Sheriff Hoyt. The two films share a
experiments, and “spiritual experiences” aside, and excluding the man in the suit, the bionic legs, Leatherface’s crying and all the face licking, it is, if nothing more, a truly unique experience. As part of the franchise overall, it stands as a lone wolf. Not really part of any coherent mythos surrounding Leatherface and his family, it plays by its own rules. Whether it gets to win is up to each individual viewer and what they are expecting to get out of it.
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) & THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING (2006) Who, why, when, where? While the previous couple of films lacked any continuity, 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its direct sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, attempted to provide just that. Both productions were the fruit of Platinum Dunes horror line; a production company set up by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. The unit is responsible for a number of classic horror remakes; including The Amityville Horror (2005), The Hitcher (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), as well as original features, The Purge (2013), The Purge Anarchy (2014) and upcoming The Purge: The Island (2018). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the first of these films. The influence of Michael Bay on the films, although they are not directed by him, is obvious. Bay is well known for his
furiously paced, explosive action films, like the Transformers series, or Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. It is in this spirit that the next two installments of TCM appear to have been made. Marcus Nispel was an interesting choice to direct the 2003 feature given his background was in making music videos and commercials, not cinema. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the director’s first major feature film. Prior to this he had worked on over a thousand television commercials for huge brands like CocaCola, Pepsi, Panasonic, Motorola, Nissan, Canon and Kodak. Alongside this, he was also a prolific music video director and shot videos for artists like Mariah Carey (Make it Happen, 1991) The B-52’s (The
number of common cast members including Andrew Bryniarski who plays both incarnations of Leatherface aka Thomas Hewitt (a deformed idiot driven to murder by his crazy family), Terrence Evans as Old Monty (the Grandpa figure) Marietta Marich as the film’s matriarch Luda Mae Hewitt and finally Kathy Lamkin as the sinister “Tea Lady”. Meanwhile, the 2006 follow-up The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning did come with an experienced director of sorts. Jonathan Liebesman had previously had some commercial success with Darkness Falls (2003) although it wasn’t particularly well received by critics. He had also made the short horror film Rings (2005) which was based on Samara’s story from the American remake of the Japanese film Ringu (1998), entitled The Ring (2002). Joining him was Jordana Brewster as the film’s final girl Chrissie. Brewster, who met her future husband, producer Andrew Form on the set of the film, was already known by this point for her role as Mia Toretto in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious and has since gone on to appear in a further four Fast & Furious sequels. What does the film bring to the Leatherface family dinner table? The first film takes the recipe from the original and strips it down, makes it darker, meaner, and far more violence-driven and sadistic than Hooper’s original film. Gone is the crazy hitchhiker with his head cheese, to be replaced by a traumatised girl, who, after removing a gun from between her legs, blows her own brains out in a camper full of young hippies on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. The scene
50
SCREAM
is graphic, and uses camera effects to follow the bullet trajectory, right through the hole in the girl’s head. Her smashed brain continues to play a prominent role in the film, and features in a number of gross-out scenes. It doesn’t stop there. In fact, in both films the violence is strong, in line with the torture porn era of filmmaking, with very little left to the imagination as people are sawed in half, mercilessly beaten, have their heads caved in or are hung on meathooks. Both films move incredibly fast too, and are action packed from start to finish, bringing them more in line with Michael Bay’s own features, rather than the brooding insanity of Tobe Hooper’s earlier film. In a line taken straight out of late eighties slasher Slaughterhouse (1987) recession caused by closure of the local meatpacking plant, and isolation from the wider community in general, forces the Hewitt family, as they are called here, to take desperate measures to survive. When R. Lee Ermey’s character kills the local law enforcement and gives himself the position of Sheriff — as seen in prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning — it gives him licence to run riot, and take the lives of anyone who steps foot on his turf. Which he does, starting with the four young people seen in the first film. Far more terrifying than anything Leatherface can offer — who by this point resembles something superhuman, like a character from WWE wrestling — Sheriff Hoyt is completely deranged and incredibly sadistic, with a taste for young flesh. He is the kind of man that has a girl’s teeth removed and beats her senseless, before raping her. In this way, Leatherface, becomes almost a secondary character to Hoyt as both stories develop.
Hoyt is in charge, and Hoyt drives the violence and encourages Leatherface to get involved. It is Hoyt’s show and the rest of the family just go along with it. How do the films rate in the franchise overall? The success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre allowed Platinum Dunes to build up a fairly successful line in horror remakes. It’s departure from the original film allows it to stand on its own feet, however, as previously mentioned, it is more of a spectacle than anything else, relying on shock rather than atmosphere. When it comes to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, the same formula is followed. In an attempt to explain the origins of Leatherface, something never really attempted before, it shows his traumatic birth on the meat packing plant floor, it suggests his deformed facial features made him a loner, where, at the mercy of his family who fall into lunacy, he becomes a house attack dog. Despite the film’s attempts to add meaning to the Texas Chainsaw series, the brisk pacing and incessant violence mean that they work more like gory action flicks rather than offering anything of substance. However, of all the crazy characters, Ermey has to take the prize for the nastiest villain of the series. Which is something, according to the many interviews he’s given on the films, he appears to be rather proud of.
TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D (2013) Who, why, when, where? Although 2013’s chapter reunited original cast members in small roles, Marilyn Burns, and Gunnar Hansen (in his final role), as well
www.screamhorrormag.com
has hidden away in a secret basement, and doesn’t like being disturbed by the newcomers. What scriptwriter Adam Marcus, who had previously provided the story for Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), hadn’t anticipated is that while horror fans might be prepared to accept cannibalism, and are happy to go along with the story of a crazy family trapping, torturing and eating passers by, but the obvious time line error, which would mean that Leatherface would have been knocking on a bit by the time Heather arrives, and yet can still cause havoc and look like a professional bodybuilder, might just be a step too far for many. How does the film rate in the franchise overall? Generally regarded as the poorest film in the entire franchise, Texas Chainsaw 3D came out at a time when audiences were clamouring for new ideas, and tired of remakes and reboots which dominated the previous decade. Although the filmmakers attempted to do something different here, which should be taken as admirable at least, even the 3D effects were not enough to save it from critical failure. This said, in their day, parts 2, 3 and 4 were all dismissed at the time of their release, only to go on to find cult followings in later years. As the film is still relatively new, only time will tell if this is the case for Texas Chainsaw 3D. One thing we can count on with the latest episode Leatherface (2017) opening recently, to favourable reviews from critics, the franchise appears to still have more mileage to go.
as Bill Mosley, all playing different parts to their previous characters, and despite the fact the film took up the gauntlet to add in 3D effects, the film wasn’t very well received by fans or critics. Regardless of this it recouped its original budget of $20 million and more than doubled it at the box office, raking in the tidy sum of $47.2 million. It was directed by John Luessenhop, who had previously worked on a few low budget films. The film also starred Dan Yeager as Leatherface, Alexandra Daddario as the film’s Final Girl, and descendant of the Leatherface clan Heather Miller, and R&B artist Trey Songz as Heather’s boyfriend Ryan.
What does the film bring to the Leatherface family dinner table? Part of the issue fans seem to have had with the story is its attempt to link events to the original 1974 film. The story begins, using original footage, and sees the Sawyer family held up in a Rob Zombie ala Devil’s Reject’s-style shoot out with the law, following Sally Hardesty’s escape in the first film. Fast forward to the present day and Heather Miller inherits the house, travelling there to take up ownership. Unknown to her, her friends or her boyfriend, the house comes with an additional occupant. Leatherface
Part of the issue fans seem to have had with the story is its attempt to link events to the original 1974 film
“ RELENTLESS
AND
BONE CHILLING ”
ADDICTED TO HORROR MOVIES
“ VOTED #1 AS
THE BEST PLOT TWISTS AT FRIGHTFEST 2016 ” BRITFLICKS
OUT ON DVD
9TH OCTOBER AVAIL A BL E AT THES E GOOD R ETA ILER S
52
SCREAM
Free Super Saver Delivery and Unlimited Free One-Day Delivery with Amazon Prime are available. Terms and Conditions apply. See Amazon.co.uk for details. www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
53
21ST CENTURY
FRIGHTS: PART 14
Words: MJ Simpson
JANUARY-JUNE
2014
By the mid-teens, the year-onyear increase in British horror film production had started to plateau out at a reasonably steady 80-ish each year, so for this six-month period we’ve got 38 movies to look at, covering the usual gamut of themes and quality. But I want to start with a film that was shot a full decade earlier. Andrew Parkinson received deserved critical acclaim for his 1998 debut I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain, one of the original tent pegs of the whole British Horror Revival, and for his 2001 followup Dead Creatures. Not wanting to be stuck with zombies, for his third feature he chose a trippy, Cronenberg-ian tale of a depressed woman and the relationship she builds with a small, weird, limbless creature she finds on the beach. Described by the director as an “alien baby mermaid with a mouth like a vagina”, this thing feeds on orgasmic energy, gradually growing in size and danger. Shot in 2004, Venus Drowning played festivals in 2006 but was way too weird for any distributor. Eventually Julian (The Last Horror Movie) Richards released it in 2014 on his Jinga label along with Andrew’s previous two films as a (very) loose ‘trilogy’. The creature effects are by Red Dwarf’s Mike Tucker, and Cryptic director Bart Ruspoli has a supporting role. By comparison, the four-year wait to see Isle of Dogs seems but a moment. Directed by American Tammi Sutton (Killjoy 2) from a script by Sean Hogan
54
SCREAM
Venus Drowning
(The Devil’s Business) this geezer gangster giallo tanked at Frightfest 2010 but was subsequently recut and rescored into a stylish, gripping film. Barbara Scrabbleboard from Hostel stars as the East European trophy wife of a sociopathic gangster, having an affair with one of his underlings. Hogan’s twisty-turny script pulls the rug out every time you think you’ve worked out who knows what about who’s doing what to or with whom. There are also gangsters (well, ex-gangsters) in animator Martyn Pick’s live-action feature
The Haunting of Harry Payne. A series of brutal murders are blamed on a local ghost for local people but the copper investigating reckons it’s ex-con Harry up to his old tricks. In fact Harry is having psychic visions which could provide clues, although these have no real bearing on the film’s resolution. The distributor marketed this fun supernatural thriller, which features Doctor Who alumna Katy Manning as Harry’s wife, as a realistic geezer gangster film under the title Evil Never Dies. In today’s crowded British horror www.screamhorrormag.com
marketplace, one way to distinguish your film is by importing a name value American actor, which is how Tony Todd ended up in SJ Evan’s low-budget Welsh shocker Dead of the Nite. A ghost-hunting TV crew are locked in an old manor for the night where they find someone is out to kill them. Todd is the caretaker, prime suspect in the police procedural framing story, not least because there’s a picture of him on the DVD sleeve wielding a dangerous-looking sickle. Evans’ greatest achievement is shooting this well-worn idea without resorting to found footage, just using occasional camera POV shots. Todd joins a long list of interesting US stars in low-budget British horror, from Robert Englund in Strippers vs Werewolves to Mark Hamill in Airborne, but when Jonathan (Sexy Beast) Glazer adapted Michel Faber’s sci-fi novel Under the Skin, he somehow roped in genuine Hollywood A-list talent in the shapely form of Scarlett freaking Johansson! She plays an alien prowling Scotland in a white van picking up isolated men who won’t be missed. It’s an arty, enigmatic film that most critics loved and most audiences hated. Luke Massey rounded up two ex-pat Welsh boys with TV name value for his claustrophobic war film The Captive. Joseph Morgan from The Vampire Diaries is a Royal Marine who wakes up in a house from which he cannot escape. For two years he works to keep himself sane and fit, fending off daily monster attacks, eventually finding a diary by a WW1 soldier (Matt Ryan from Constantine) who was a previous incumbent. While the resolution is pretty obvious, the execution is very fine indeed with a real sense of claustrophobia and helplessness. This was released in the States as Armistice and in Germany under its original title of Warhouse. There are more soldiers in Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz. Kieran Parker, producer of the first two Outpost films, moved into the director’s chair for this one, set on the Eastern front in 1945. I had to look up what ‘Spetsnaz’ means… and so, probably, will you. While we’re playing war games, time to also mention Rishi Thaker’s risible SAS Black Ops (aka Slaughter is the Best Medicine), in which a group of mercenaries – who are nothing to do with the SAS – are sent to find a scientist in some English woodland on a sunny day. They see visions of a hot chick and a clown and get killed by unseen assailants. This is so cheap that ‘radio contact’ is represented by characters talking to each other with a finger in their ear. www.screamhorrormag.com
Whereas the mercenaries in Billy O’Brien’s Scintilla (aka The Hybrid) prefer to contact each other by talking into their lapels. Given that this enjoyably daft sci-fi/ horror movie had money to spend on vehicles, guns and extras, it’s amazing they couldn’t round up a couple of actual radios. Or just paint a fag packet black and pin it on. The mercenaries’ goal is a secret research lab under a rebel base in a former Soviet republic where Kate Winslet’s sister is raising two alien-human hybrids. There was more sci-fi in Simon Horrocks’ Third Contact, an arty, existentialist conspiracy thriller about a psychotherapist investigating the death of a patient who uncovers a secretive organisation that offers ‘quantum suicide’ – the chance to carry on existing in a parallel world after being euthanised in this one. Or something. The steadily increasing tension as our hero gets in over his head is adroitly handled in this ambitious microbudget epic. It’s one of the few films to have played theatrically but not had a DVD release, instead popping up on YouTube in 2016. But the best sci-fi/ horror film of the year was The Machine, a Dick-ian meditation on the horrors of artificial intelligence. Toby Stephens is a government scientist working on human enhancement chips who puts one in an android body to create a dangerously perfect AI. It’s set against the background
of a second cold war against China and features Denis ‘Wedge’ Lawson as an evil politician overseeing the research. Stylish and thought-provoking, Caradog W James’ feature is a powerful, postFrankenstein-ian tale. The quiet ones, they say, are always the worst – and Hammer’s The Quiet Ones is indeed the worst of the company’s 21st century productions. Which, given that they have pumped out shite like Wake Wood and The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, is quite an achievement. An Oxford academic subjects a teenage girl to unethical experiments in an attempt to somehow disprove the paranormal. He is convinced she’s mentally ill rather than possessed, despite clear evidence of telekinesis, pyrokinesis and even ectoplasm. The story is set in 1974 but the haircuts certainly aren’t. This was directed by Yank helmer John Pogue from a story by Urban Gothic creator Tom De Ville. The Haunting of Baylock Residence is also set in the 1970’s but almost gets away with it by being in black and white. Made for a tiny fraction of Hammer’s budget by busy Nottingham auteur Anthony M Winson, this has a woman inheriting her late sister’s house – a creepy Victorian edifice – and her housemaid. Spooky things start happening, mostly portrayed by simple practical ‘effects’ such as a door closing or a book falling
HAMMER’S THE QUIET ONES IS INDEED THE WORST OF THE COMPANY’S 21ST CENTURY PRODUCTIONS.
SCREAM
55
Borderlands
of a shelf. It’s this restraint that make this micro-budget ghost story – which Winson has recently remade as The Baylock Residence – worth watching. Also worth a punt is Any Minute Now, the second feature from Peter (Season of the Witch) Goddard, in which a teenage girl is dumped in a strange coastal village with an uptight aunt and uncle while her parents sort out their differences. She makes new friends but is worried by disturbing visions including a small boy with facial wounds and a strange man in her aunt’s garden. It’s all something to do with an unmentioned, shameful incident in the village’s past. Zammo from Grange Hill adds token name value as a teacher. Ghost stories were quite the mode in 2014, another example being Daljinder Singh’s enjoyable The Library. Postgrad student Lucy takes a part-time position in the titular bibliotheque (another creepy Victorian edifice) without realising that the job’s previous incumbent was murdered. Singh cleverly combines disturbing supernatural goings-on with the stress and problems of Lucy’s real life so that we’re uncertain what’s real and what’s psychological. Well worth seeking out. Isabel Croixet’s Another Me is a similarly satisfying and creepy ghost story (adapted from a 2003 novel) which does a good job of repeatedly wrong-footing the audience with possible explanations of what’s happening as a teenager becomes
56
SCREAM
aware of a doppelganger shadowing her. Is it a jealous lookalike classmate, a psychological symptom of her concern over her father’s illness and her mother’s infidelity – or the ghost of a stillborn twin sister? A solid cast includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Geraldine Chaplin and Rhys Ifans. Elliott Goldner’s The Borderlands has a good reputation (for a found footage picture) but I’m not sure why. Two cynical, rational priests plus an openminded techie are sent by the Vatican to investigate an alleged miracle in a parish church. They set up cameras around the
building and, for absolutely no reason at all, around the cottage they’re staying in. Despite good performances of well-drawn characters with smart dialogue, the found footage approach hobbles the storytelling while adding nothing to the weak narrative. Cinematic editing renders the technique pointless anyway, and occasionally the filmmakers forget altogether and stick in a time-lapse sunrise. Shot as The Devil Lies Beneath, this was released in the States as Final Prayer. The third feature by Rob (Dead Frequency) Burrows, Flowerman is an unjustifiably obscure treatise on domestic violence and gender-based abuse. Happily married florist Sarah is kidnapped by psycho customer Nigel who gradually breaks her will, not only giving her a new name but tattooing it on her skin. Sarah’s upset husband is confused and distracted by a torch-carrying colleague who makes a move on him, leading the coppers to see this as a domestic spat rather than a suspicious disappearance. Amy Ormston gives a genuinely brilliant performance in the lead role, utterly credible and utterly pathetic in the truest sense of the term. Many films about men torturing and abusing women are misogynist trash, but Flowerman is sensitive and astute, a film about the suffering of the victim, not the power of the abuser. Similarly, and despite a trailer that suggests it will just be a psycho abusing a www.screamhorrormag.com
young woman in the countryside (yawn), Ross Shepherd’s Low turns out to be an upsetting, shocking, bleak, depressing, grim and downright horrible film which I can’t recommend highly enough. Low is very difficult to synopsise without giving out spoilers; suffice to say that both characters have complex back-stories revealed through flashbacks which are not presented chronologically and which sometimes change their significance as we learn more. Amy Comper and David Keyes deserve credit for their superb performances. What else have we got here? Mark J Howard’s Lock In was retitled Clown Kill when it finally hit DVD earlier this year but it had a VOD release back in 2014 under its original monicker. An advertising exec working late on a circus account is terrorised by a psycho clown in this corporate slasher. The humour works better than the tension but slick technical aspects make up for deficiencies such as the killer’s identity being pretty damn obvious. Howard’s eclectic pre-filmmaking CV includes a stint at Cosgrove Hall Animation Studios and managing Peter Kay’s official website. Meanwhile in She’s Dead, a blackly comic horror from Nik Box and the Dead Good Films Like team, a young man who wakes up next to an unidentified dead girl calls in a fixer to help dispose of the body but is hindered by an idiot friend with a taste for necrophilia. Unsurprisingly (so I don’t think this counts as a spoiler) it turns out that She’s Not Really Dead After All. The DGFL gang were also responsible, around this time, for Terror Telly: Chopping Channels, a flatpack anthology sequel to their 2012 compilation Terror Telly. Everyone knows you can’t trust five-star Amazon reviews as they’re often written by the cast and crew (or their mates) but at least they’re usually discreet. When Mark Ashmore posted a comment about how great his film The Lost Generation is, he forgot to use an alias account. Busted! He claimed he’d “heard about this from the various film festivals it has been shown at” but as far as I can tell it had just one screening in Stockport before hitting DVD/ VOD. I’ve not seen this sub-Battle Royale take on young people forced to kill each other for reality TV but sadly I’m inclined to believe the one-star reviews on Amazon that weren’t written by the director. Hey listen, if you’re in the market for nonsensical, cliched, stupid rubbish about unlikeable characters doing dumb things, then you should really seek out Sean J Vincent’s The Addicted (variously aka www.screamhorrormag.com
and her alcoholic mother are bullied by neighbours but the girl somehow unleashes an ancient witch, and a detective has to sort out what’s going on. Time for a quick round-up of odds and sods before we reveal my top three films for this half-year. Alu Djarar’s A Warning to the Curious sounds like an MR James adaptation but turns out to be a generic found footage picture about ghost hunters. Similarly Ian Lewis’ The Death of Merlin (aka Enchantress) is not as Arthurian as the title suggests; it’s about a stage magician caught up in a violent local turf war. Paul Tanter’s Shame the Devil has Simon Phillips as a detective tracking a Saw-like serial killer to New York, with a cameo for Sir Doug Bradley. While The Devil’s Bargain, from Umbrage director Drew Cullingham, has a tense hippy love-
ELLIOTT GOLDNER’S THE BORDERLANDS HAS A GOOD REPUTATION (FOR A FOUND FOOTAGE PICTURE) BUT I’M NOT SURE WHY Rehab or The Clinic) for which one star would be excessive praise. An aspiring TV journo takes her boyfriend and two mates to spend the night in a former drug rehab clinic where her dad was the director who (in flashbacks) killed a patient in order to have an affair with the guy’s wife. Magic camera batteries last all night long, characters come and go for no reason, and one of them is a psycho in a grinning mask. The plot hinges on our lead character not realising that her boyfriend is the brother she grew up with. What? Speaking of utter crap, what was Philip Gardiner up to around this time? Well, he changed his professional name to ‘The Aquinas’ and banged out two films: one was called Dark Satanic Magick and the other is variously known as Succubi or Ancient Succubi or Ancient Demon Succubi, depending on how much time you’ve got to waste. Despite my best efforts I haven’t tracked down either of these yet (I say ‘best efforts’ but I’m not really looking too hard – you know, in case I find them). The former has Gardiner’s muse Melanie Denholme as a woman with no memory who is raped and abused by a Satanist. The latter is similar but has some other actors in it. While we’re dealing with Gardiner, when he started making movies a few years earlier his muse was Layla Randle-Conde. Her only non-Gardiner feature role was in Ray Wilkes’ tale of Black Country witchcraft Molly Crows, released around this time. A young girl
triangle played out under the imminent arrival of a world-destroying asteroid. In 1974. Cold Blood is a Cyprus-set gory revenge thriller from Mumtaz Yildirimlar, one of those filmmakers who has amassed an impressive body of work without most people having heard of any of it. Nathan Codrington’s The 9th is variously described as a “neo-noir whodunnit” and a “metaphoric game of Cluedo”, all set around a party on the ninth floor of a building. It features “surreal intrigue, horrific brutality and cool jazz”, apparently. Whoops!, jointly directed by Tony Hipwell and Miles Watts, is a black comedy about a respectable lady who becomes an accidental serial killer and her husband’s efforts to dispose of the bodies. And Mike Jeavons’ Nerdquest has a bunch of live action role players head into the woods with their foam swords, only to find that someone is killing them for real. Which brings us, as ever, to Mike’s top three. We’ve been surprisingly short on zombie films this time but don’t worry because Damian Morter’s Book of the Dead (aka The Eschatrilogy) is an intelligent zombie anthology that’s really three good films bolted together. The tales are set during the start, development and aftermath of a generic zombie apocalypse and are thematically linked, all exploring notions of parenthood. In ‘Dead Inside’ a jobbing painter and decorator gets bitten by one of the first
SCREAM
57
zombies. He sets off home to protect his wife and daughter – but when he gets there, how much humanity remains within him? ‘The Dying Breed’ sees a young man wordlessly making his way through the chaos, baseball bat in hand, refusing to get involved when he sees a father trying to protect his son from the encroaching undead horde. This middle story is a meditation on morality, helped by a tour-de-force performance by Paul Collin-Thomas. Finally ‘A Father for the Dead’ has another dad seeking shelter and care for his young son who has been bitten but not turned. A framing story has a lone survivor reading these stories from a book carried by a mysterious stranger who may be a metaphorical or even literal angel of death. Some recognisable background zombies recur across the three tales, and CBeebies fans will be delighted to spot the fabulous Sarah-Jane Honeywell in a small role. In compiling these articles (or rather, the British horror master list these are derived from) I have to make judgement calls about borderline films – and silver medallist Benny Loves Killing is definitely one of those. Strictly speaking, this is a film about someone making a horror movie but it has enough of a horror aesthetic that it definitely sits on the fringes of the genre. Director Ben Woodiwiss previously wrote stylish vampire thriller Blood + Roses and before that he spent some time in Tromaville helping Uncle Lloyd make Citizen Toxie. But Benny Loves Killing is a long way from Troma and I don’t want the phrase “about someone making a horror movie” to suggest this is yet another recursive mockumentary. Pauline Cousty gives a stunning performance as Benny, studying for a degree in film studies and determined to submit her thesis in the form of an independent horror feature. Benny is a long way from likeable: she steals, she takes copious quantities of coke and she imposes herself on what few friends she still has. Woodiwiss observes this neurotic, self-destructive young woman through a tight, handheld lens and the result is a terrifyingly intense psychodrama, filmed with a fluid, cinematic poetry that makes this feel like a horror film even without bloodshed, monsters or abject terror. This is a unique and memorable movie. ‘Unique and memorable’ also ably describes this issue’s top dog, Navin Dev’s brilliant Red Kingdom Rising. Worst Witch alumna Emily Stride stars as nursery school teacher Mary Ann, returning to her childhood home – yet another edifice
58
SCREAM
ALSO WORTH A PUNT IS ANY MINUTE NOW, THE SECOND FEATURE FROM PETER (SEASON OF THE WITCH) GODDARD of the large, Victorian persuasion – for the first time since her father died. He was a horologist, forever tinkering with clocks, and often read to Mary Ann from the works of Lewis Carroll. Tonto fans of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson will know that the Red King is an important character in Alice Through the Looking Glass, usually ignored by screen adaptations – so they will revel in Dev’s film which explicitly plays on the notion, endemic to that character, of ‘who is dreaming all this?’ Dev skilfully draws on Carroll-ian themes and imagery including a grinning Cheshire Cat mask and – again purists will applaud – a yellow Alice dress (the blue dress was invented by Disney because it looked better in the cartoon). Not unexpectedly,
the film weaves a tales of repressed memories and psychological introspection. Beautifully crafted, powerful and thoughtprovoking, Red Kingdom Rising is a superb example of how British horror cinema can stretch itself well beyond the traditional slashers and zombies when it tries. Join me next time for the back end of 2014. There will be spiritualist psychics and Scottish psychos, cannibal cabinet ministers and frightened footballers, Indian undead and aliens in Afghanistan, vague vampires and (as always) creepy clowns. Plus, in my humble opinion, the best British horror film you have never heard of. What could that be? Patience, children, patience… www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
59
A HAMMER HORROR CLASSIC REVISITED… Words: Rob Talbot
May of this year saw the sixtieth anniversary of the release of inaugural Hammer Horror classic THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957), but less tends to be written of its splendid first sequel, THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958), which reaches that same milestone next June. Building on the success of 1955’s THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, CURSE was a massive international hit for the studio, planting the seeds of its destiny as the most successful British film production company in history. It had been nearly ten years since Universal’s Monster had his last gasp in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET
FRANKENSTEIN (1948) and it seemed the world was now ready for this new, sharper, bloodier, sexier take, rendered in full gory colour for the first time ever. DRACULA (US: HORROR OF DRACULA,1958) was the next for the treatment, of course, an even bigger hit for the studio, and production began on THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN a mere three days after that one wrapped, on Monday 6th January, 1958. It too would become one of the biggest successes, both artistically and financially, of what most consider to be Hammer’s Golden Age. DRACULA had in fact been produced for none other than Universal (at that time
Universal-International Pictures), inducing the Hollywood studio to offer up other properties for lucrative remakes. This soon led to Hammer versions of THE MUMMY (1959) and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1960), but a second Frankenstein feature was the most hotlytipped prospect. This prompted Columbia Pictures to quickly swoop in with an even better offer: a three-picture distribution deal including THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND and the largely forgotten THE SNORKEL (both 1958). Initially labouring under the title of BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN, REVENGE reunited the core CURSE/DRACULA team
of star Peter Cushing, director Terence Fisher, producer Anthony Hinds, and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, along with the other key figures in the then-current Bray Studios ‘family’. However, there were a couple of slight problems with a sequel. Not only had Christopher Lee’s Creature been dissolved in acid, but Victor Frankenstein himself had been consigned to the guillotine. Producer Hinds is quoted as saying: “I can well remember Jimmy and I rubbing our hands together with satisfaction when we wrote the last scene, saying: ‘They can’t possibly ask for a sequel now!’ But they did, and we had to devise a way for him to escape the blade.” When asked at the press launch how on earth they intended to bring the Baron back, Hammer chairman and founder James Carreras quipped, “Oh, we sew the head back on again.” It was with this film that it became clear Hammer were to chart a different course than Universal had with their series. Where the earlier films had the Monster (Hammer had to call theirs ‘The Creature’ in CURSE to avoid copyright hassles with Universal) as the sole returning constant, here we find Victor himself returning for
new misadventures. And, although Colin Clive’s unforgettable campery as ‘Henry’ Frankenstein in Universal’s first two flicks is nothing short of iconic, Cushing is still the definitive Doctor to most of us as a result. Bearing the distinction of being the only sequel in the series to pick up directly where the last one left off, the film begins with Cushing’s Baron being led to the guillotine. However, here a sly sideways
glance between a shifty-looking hunched figure accompanying him and the hooded executioner tips us off that something is amiss before we hear a scream and see the blade descend. As two drunken comedy grave-robbers (Lionel Jeffries and Hammer mainstay Michael Ripper) soon discover, the poor priest there to perform the last rites has had the chop instead, thanks to Frankenstein making a deal with the crippled Karl (Oscar Quitak), promising him a new body. Three years later we find that Victor has relocated to the township of Carlsbrück, running a successful medical practice in addition to tending to the poor and destitute under the alias of ‘Dr. Stein’. This is much to the chagrin of the local medical council, who are losing both their patients and their patience due to our anti-hero’s refusal to join their number. Three of them descend on Frank at his poor hospital and are given short shrift in classic Cushing fashion. However, one of this party, young Dr. Hans Kleve (Francis Matthews), recognises the Baron for who he is. A similar quester for scientific knowledge, he confronts ‘Dr. Stein’ in his quarters about his true identity and offers to assist him, in
order to learn the secrets of creating life. Accepting Kleve’s offer, the Baron reveals that he is indeed very much still in the game and has a new ‘Creature’ (Michael Gwynne) all prepped and ready to receive Karl’s brain. The operation is a complete success, and Karl is hidden away at the hospital to recuperate. However, when Kleve lets slip that Frankenstein plans to exhibit him around the world as a marvel of science, Karl craves escape, and soon gets his chance when drop-dead-gorgeous new hospital assistant Margaret (Eunice Gayson) takes pity on him and loosens his straps. No sooner has Karl fled than he is brutally beaten by the Baron’s boozy janitor (George Woodbridge) when caught trying to burn his old body. Said janitor becomes Karl’s first victim. What Frankenstein hasn’t mentioned to Kleve is that his last transplant attempt put the brain of an orang utan into a chimpanzee – said chimp promptly devoured its mate and has been strictly carnivorous ever since! As the poor, tormented Karl finds himself heading the same way, he also finds his old afflictions returning, his new body becoming twisted and deformed. As
62
SCREAM
another ‘Frankenstein Monster’ terrorises the community, the net closes in on everyone’s favourite surgical sociopath… REVENGE makes for a wonderful companion piece to CURSE, and is easily the earlier film’s equal in every respect. In some ways it surpasses it. Bernard Robinson’s set design rarely looked more sumptuous than it does here, even it is largely composed of reconfigured blocks of set from the just-completed DRACULA. From the ornate, classy settings of the medical council’s meeting room and the party at Margaret’s aunt’s house, to ‘Dr Stein’s’ humble quarters and the grimy locale of the poor hospital, all the settings have a lived-in, believable feel, as though one could step right into them. This is aided in no small way by the work of long time Hammer cinematographer Jack Asher. The CURSE and DRACULA DoP’s use of light and depth of field, rendered in rich, vibrant Technicolor makes the film appear as though it was made for five times its actual budget. While the settings are lived-in and believable, Asher’s work lends a sublimely unreal, ‘fairytale’ quality to the proceedings. It’s well documented that Terence Fisher
considered his Gothics to be ‘adult fairytales’ rather than ‘horror films’ and Asher, here as elsewhere, has succeeded admirably in bringing the director’s vision to life. Of course the most compelling element of any Hammer Frankenstein melodrama is always the fabulous Cushing in the role of the Baron. As ever, he lives up to his Hammer family nickname of ‘Props Pete’. He dissects his chicken dinner with surgical precision when initially confronted www.screamhorrormag.com
on the facts of his identity by Kleve, and his hands are busy throughout, whether he’s manipulating syringes or listening for a young patient’s pulse while at the same time impatiently checking his watch. While still ice-cold and driven, here Victor comes across as slightly less despicable a figure than he did in CURSE. In fact, thanks to his being far and away the most compelling character, the audience finds itself rooting for him rather than wanting him to come to a sticky end. Ghoulish as he seems, this consummate outsider genuinely believes what he is doing is for the benefit of mankind, even if he does crave some vague ‘revenge’ against the establishment that has vilified him. While still a million miles from Mary Shelley’s guilt-ridden Doctor, there’s still something heroic about this particular ‘Modern Prometheus’. His dastardly deeds in subsequent entries would soon overshadow this. A logical development hitherto unexplored comes at the climax when he is beaten to death by his down-andout hospital patients, once they have discovered his true identity. Having expected some such fate to befall him, he has prepared another composite creature in his own image, into which Kleve rapidly transfers his brain before the authorities arrive. He has, in effect, ultimately transformed himself into his own ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’. After this we’re all but punching the air at the film’s epilogue, when we discover that he’s alive and well, practising in London under the name of ‘Dr Franck’, and sporting a nifty moustache. However, even the mighty Cushing
www.screamhorrormag.com
go on to greater fame as the voice of Captain Scarlet and in the title role as ‘Paul Temple’ in a highly popular BBC TV show (1969-71). He’s note-perfect in the role of Dr. Kleve. His character represents a marked contrast to previous assistant Paul Krempe, as played by Robert Urquhart in the last film. Where Krempe ultimately condemned and turned against the Baron, Kleve looks up to Victor as a mentor to the very end, performing the operation that saves his life and even joining him in London, clearly to continue the work. The highly glamorous Eunice Gayson is perhaps not quite as memorable as the sublime Hazel Court in CURSE, but is still excellent in the role of rich-girl-out-of-water Margaret. The English actress is today much more famous for essaying the role of ‘Sylvia Trench’ in both DR NO (1962) and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963), beating Ursula Andress to the punch as the first ever ‘Bond Girl’ to appear on the screen. There is surely not a single viewer that would question why poor Karl falls in love with her at first sight. Our ‘Creature’, the post-op Karl, is played by Michael Gwynn, a fine character
cannot carry an entire movie singlehandedly, and luckily we have a fine supporting cast in evidence. Personable young actor Francis Matthews would also appear in Hammer’s DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS and RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK (both 1966), but would
SCREAM
63
actor that appeared in dozens of UK TV shows, along with Hammer’s CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND (1958), NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER (1960), and SCARS OF DRACULA (1970). His Creature may not be as indelibly burned into our collective psyches as Christopher Lee’s lumbering monstrosity in CURSE, but a fine nuanced performance is in evidence here. Sporting a much more minimal Phil Leakey make-up job than Lee did, he’s a completely sympathetic character; we feel his joy at first beholding his new physique just as we later acutely share his anguish when his old afflictions return. Also of scene-stealing note is Richard Wordsworth, in a ‘nudge-nudgewink-wink’ performance as the salacious ‘Up Patient’. He’s another familiar Hammer ‘face’, who also played the doomed astronaut of THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT and the woefully wronged beggar who passed on THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961). REVENGE is also noted for its excellent soundtrack. Whereas CURSE and DRACULA were scored by Hammer’s best known composer, James Bernard, here we find a somewhat less bombastic score
64
SCREAM
from Leonard Salzedo, a highly respected classical composer and conductor with a wide range of accomplishments outside of film work. Although he had composed scores for five of Hammer’s earlier nonhorror productions, this was not only his sole work on a Gothic but also his final film score period, only returning in 1980 for the ‘Silent Scream’ episode of TV show HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR. Rather than provide solid ‘horror’ themes, Salzedo here opts for a more ambient approach, his score first swelling in from under the peeling of the ominous, funereal bells at the film’s outset. Of course, the film is not without one or two minor faults. We’re encouraged to pity Karl as a poor, gentle soul (and we do), which conveniently overlooks the fact that he took part in the murder of an innocent man out of unashamed self-interest. ‘The whole continent breathed a sigh of relief,’ or so the on-screen caption at the start tells us; lucky for Victor that his execution wasn’t public, eh? And, after the party scene wherein Karl brings the secret of Victor’s identity out into the open (“Help me, Frankenstein!”), Karl is summarily forgotten about, along
with Margaret. Aside from these small nitpicks, however, REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN still stands as one of the very best films from Hammer’s finest period. It marked a huge financial success for the studio, so much so that Columbia Pictures were quick to strike another deal with them, not only to distribute another thirty Hammer films over the next five years, but also to buy a 49% share of Bray Studios. Unlike with CURSE, REVENGE had left things resolutely wide open for a sequel, but for various canny business reasons this wouldn’t happen until six years later with THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964) – for Universal! Of course, the film received the usual mixed notices from the critics. While Variety rightly called it “a high grade horror film” that was “well-plotted, peopled with interesting characters, aided by good performances”, Picturegoer would decree that “the net result is rib-tickling rather than spine-chilling”. Such has ever been the lot of the horror film, no matter how good it may be. But like a fine vintage port, the true connoisseurs will continue to dust this one off for many a year to come. www.screamhorrormag.com
Have a cold winter, Comrade The Nightmare Man is one of Russia’s most dangerous prisoners, serving a life sentence in isolation. He escapes his prison cell and flees across the frozen wilderness of Siberia. Determined to cross thousands of kilometres on foot. He is closely pursued by a psychopathic KGB agent and the brutal prison warden, two seasoned killers tracking his every move. This is survival at any cost. Always just one step ahead of the brutal men pursuing him he finally returns to his home, only to find a city under siege ... the dead have returned to life. With the dead owning the streets the New Mafia have stepped up, the new overlords of the city. This is the zombie apocalypse in Russia.
NOW
AVAILABLE on A mazon
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
65
A different kind of infection bloodbath gives Joe Lynch the chance to vent against corporate injustice…. Words: Michael Gingold
Director Joe Lynch last trapped Salma Hayek in an apartment besieged by violent attackers in EVERLY, and now he fills an entire office building with MAYHEM. Scripted by Matias Caruso, the film begins with Derek (THE WALKING DEAD’s Steven Yeun) being framed for a foul-up by his superior at the Towers & Smyth law firm and getting fired as a result. At the same time, the virulent “ID7 virus” begins spreading among the employees, leading to a quarantine that confines everyone inside. This is not the usual cinematic infection, though: The people afflicted maintain
awareness and their personalities, they just lose any control over their emotions. As his co-workers indulge in an orgy of sex and violence, Derek, accompanied by Melanie (Samara Weaving), a Towers & Smyth client who has also been screwed over that morning, fights his way to the floor where the CEOs dwell to forcibly take his job back. Energetic, action-packed, blood-drenched and possessed of a vicious streak of black humour, MAYHEM is a movie that anyone who has worked in an office, and been frustrated by the boss and/or the way things are run, can relate to. Certainly that was the case for Lynch, as he reveals to SCREAM…
SCREAM: How did you become involved with MAYHEM? JOE LYNCH: I was working this corporate job—and I don’t mean to slag on it, because it did pay the bills, thank God, but it just wasn’t for me, and I was feeling like I wasn’t doing what I was put on this Earth for. And right at that moment, the MAYHEM script came along. Now, I always try to find something I can relate to in every movie I do. Whether it’s my feelings toward reality shows and my love of 80’s splatter movies with WRONG TURN 2, my love of geek culture
in KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM, or thinking what it’s like to be a parent in EVERLY—in each of these projects, I looked for a way I could feel personal toward it. I had no ties whatsoever to the writing of MAYHEM, but it spoke to me so clearly and so resonantly that when I finished reading it, I thought, “I’m making this movie.” It was one of those love-at-first-sight moments; I distinctly remember closing the script in my cubicle, looking around and smiling, and thinking, “I’ve got this.” It almost made me feel like the previous couple of years of having to do that job was research—like I could justify all the bullshit I’d been dealing with for the past couple of years. And you know what? I think I would have made the film differently if I had not worked that job and felt the way that Derek feels. Not to say that Steven wasn’t able to immediately latch onto the plight and the stress and the kind of emotional suppression these jobs can inflict on people. There were times when we were shooting Steven at his desk, and I was watching the frustration on his face. Those are the moments you look for as a director as being truthful, and they’re the ones your
print. They’re the takes where you think, “That’s a real moment. I didn’t have to manufacture anything, I don’t have to worry about editing, I can just hang on the actor’s face, and he or she is telling me the truth.” And watching Steven in those moments— holy shit! I felt like I got a lot of feelings out, and was able to deal with what it was like to work that job and live in that culture, and make it personal. I mean, at the end of the day, I want to make something entertaining. I want people to have fun with these movies and go on the rollercoaster ride. But for the first time, more than on the other films I’ve done, MAYHEM was one where I had such a connection to the material that I felt no one else could make this movie but me, at that point in time. SCREAM: Do you see a parallel between MAYHEM’s depiction of the corporate world and the way things work in the film business? JL: Yeah, it’s very similar in terms of the structure where there needs to be an allinclusive, all-important sense of entitlement when it comes to any creative decision.
When creative decisions become corporate decisions, they cancel each other out, or your entire process gets mired in having 17 cooks in the kitchen. You know, we put artists on pedestals in the film world, and the industry is such that those people are championed, and everybody wants to be that person. It’s common knowledge that everyone wants to be the director on the set—or at least, most people do; they want to be the one who says, “I did that” or “I came up with that.” And when you have 17 of those people in one e-mail chain, everything becomes convoluted and no one can actually make a decision, so no decision gets made and everything slows down. That’s very much the way it is in the corporate world, to a fault. And at the time I got the MAYHEM script, that was where I was. When EVERLY came out in 2015, I was working my corporate media day job, and it was weird because I was doing my thing in that world by day and then going to my premiere at night. SCREAM: Many fans may not realise that a lot of genre directors need to have day jobs like that.
“I’VE BEEN A FAN FROM THE BEGINNING, AND GLENN HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY TOP THREE FAVOURITE CHARACTERS”
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
67
JL: Everybody’s got to make a dollar, and everybody’s got to survive. But there’s this fallacy that many people have, this thing you see in People or InStyle magazine, where it’s like, let’s follow this artist today as they’re getting ready for the big premiere! You see them getting a spa treatment, and going to meditate, and being expertly tailored. But the idea that directors and actors, especially in today’s industry, live this kind of pampered, posh life is so wrong. Those times are gone. I’m a middle-class filmmaker, a workingclass filmmaker. I’m lucky enough that I sometimes get to make ends meet through my art. But even when I’ve been able to do a feature every other year, I’ve still got to pay the bills in between those. The days of residuals and development deals being able to keep people afloat, unless you’re incredibly lucky and working on some kind of big tentpole, don’t happen any more. You really have to want to make movies if you’re going to do it today, because that passion is going to be the only thing that will keep pushing you
“I HAD NO TIES WHATSOEVER TO THE WRITING OF MAYHEM, BUT IT SPOKE TO ME SO CLEARLY AND SO RESONANTLY”
E E to do it. Many people quit, because they realise they have to work other jobs just to stay afloat—and freelance a lot of the time, because you never know when that next gig is going to come, and you have to be on standby. It’s very typical for actors, but I think even more so for directors and above-the-line people like DP’s and editors, where they have to take belowthe-line stuff just to stay afloat and support their passions. SCREAM: One of the interesting things about MAYHEM is that even though Yeun stars, and it’s about people afflicted by a rage-making virus, it isn’t a zombie or typical “infection” film.
JL: You know, I’ll be honest, of course that was the first thing in my head. But the moment we got green-lighted for the movie, one of the beautiful things was that our one investor essentially said, “It’s not cast-contingent.” That is huge right now, because when you’re trying to make a movie, everybody wants to be sure they’re making a wise investment, and one of the ways you can do that is by being sure you
68
SCREAM
have a bankable star. That’s why you see the same six dudes in all the movies these days; part of the reason is their value. Are they right for the part? Not necessarily, but does that really matter? Not to the people investing in the movie, who just want to see a return on their investment. But here, the backer just said, “Find the best actor.” And when we got the list of potential stars when we started to cast, I won’t lie—it was all 30-to-40-year-old white dudes. That bored me to tears, because even though some of them were like, “Holy shit, could we get him? Really? That would be awesome!”, at the same time, I found that paradigm incredibly boring. That was a Friday, and that Sunday was the episode of THE WALKING DEAD where Glenn fakedied. I’ve been a fan from the beginning, and Glenn has always been one of my top three favourite characters. Steven was so damn likeable that even in the darkest moments they put Glenn through, you couldn’t not sympathise and empathise and relate to him. He’s got that star quality, and at the same time, he’s got an everyman aspect that makes you feel like you don’t have to put him on the hero’s pedestal.
So when he fake-died on that episode, I was so affected by that, because of how Steven had portrayed Glenn over those years. Then I checked Twitter and saw how it melted down when that happened, so on a creative level, I thought, “That’s my guy.” Does it matter that he’s Asian? It shouldn’t, and you’ll find that in the movie, we don’t make a big deal out of it. He’s an American, or if anything, he is just a man. So when I went in the next day to the producers and said that, thankfully, those guys from Circle of Confusion were also connected to THE WALKING DEAD, and for me to suggest someone they knew already was good. Not one eyelash was batted over it; they all went, “That’s a fucking great idea!” I’d say that was probably the best decision I made. SCREAM: Were you concerned about people getting that wrong idea about MAYHEM before seeing it? JL: It’s already happened! You know, no matter what, when anyone reads, “Outbreak, pandemic, virus, people going insane,” it’s understandable that they would www.screamhorrormag.com
come up with that idea. But the difference between this and a zombie movie or 28 DAYS LATER or whatever is the fact that everyone is still themselves, it’s just that this emotional component is cut off. So they’re not either undead or mindless crazy people; they’re still themselves. I knew it was going to be perceived that way, but again, I had to go with my gut, and I knew that Steven was the best actor for it and I had to let that shit go. SCREAM: Did you film MAYHEM in actual offices, and if so, were there any issues involved in splattering blood all over them? JL: We shot in an actual industrial park. We found one in Belgrade that fit our purposes; all the other buildings around were either too expensive, way too big or did not fit our needs. This one place would allow us to use two floors and the bottom floor, so we ended redressing those over and over again. The building was still occupied, too, and when the people working there saw our actors running around with blood all over their faces, looking like they’d just tried to kill each other, I’m sure it was a little unnerving. But at the same time, they never stopped us at all. They would give us curious looks at lunch and be like, [Serbian accent] “What are they doing in this place?” They figured out very quickly that we were not making a romantic comedy! SCREAM: Were there any scenes that were especially difficult to do, in terms of the action or the make-up effects? JL: Everything was difficult [laughs], but in particular, there’s a scene toward the end of the movie where Derek and Melanie and one of the partners, played by Kerry Fox, are having this conference meeting. Of course, it’s not your average conference meeting, because people are about to get the shit beaten out of them. We shot in every available location in that building multiple times, but we totally ran out of rooms to film in. The only place we could find for this scene was a basement area that had no windows, no ventilation—it was a coffin, a glass coffin. It became so stifling in there that people were getting sick, and at the same time it really hindered us because I had two fights going on simultaneously in this one space, that I had to be aware of the choreography and the timing for. It was so stressful and hot and sweaty down there that right before lunch, I kind of
passed out! I lost my balance and fell back against a wall, and everyone was like, “Oh shit, you look like crap!” So they forced me to go to my trailer—and that’s when I went, “I have a trailer?” because I didn’t actually know before then—and hooked me up to an IV. I was dehydrated, I was debilitated, but the show must go on, right? So I was like, “Hook me up and let me know when we’re all ready to shoot.” Then I heard on the walkie that my first AD, Chris Landry, was going to take over shooting. Now, I love Chris, he did a great job, but there was still that feeling of, “Wait! No! Only I can do these shots!” So I yanked out the IV like Eric Stoltz in THE FLY II and raced to the set. They were trying to hook me back up to the IV, and I just had to keep going. On an
indie film that doesn’t have a lot of budget and time, you don’t have the luxury of saying, “Everyone close down for the day!” You always have a gun to your head, but at the same time, there’s nothing better than walking away from a day like that, and even if you had to compromise, you still feel great that you accomplished something. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time. SCREAM: Thanks very much for the interview. JL: No problem! MAYHEM debuts in U.S. theatres and on VOD November 10th.
L
BEHIND THE
SCREAMS
THE LATEST NEWS AND GOSSIP FROM THE WORLD OF HORROR… Words: Jessy Williams
KYLE MACLACHLAN BOARDS ELI ROTH’S THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS Twin Peaks’ Detective Cooper AKA Kyle MacLachlan has boarded Eli Roth’s next horror feature The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Based on the novel written by John Bellairs, the script has been written by Boogeyman’s Eric Kipe and follows an orphaned child who discovers hidden passageways in his uncle’s house. MacLachlan will play the mysterious original owner of the house, Isaac Izard. After seeing the Twin Peaks revival, we certainly know that MacLachlan can do creepy, sinister and mysterious with ease, so we look forward to seeing him in this fantastical genre-bending film that blends horror and sci-fi. The cast is already impressive and features Cate Blanchett and Jack Black as well as Owen Vaccato, a young star from Daddy’s Home 2, so MacLachlan sits with good company. We haven’t got a confirmed release date yet, but will let you know when we do.
Thomas, Victoria Pedretti and Ouija: Origin of Evil/Annabelle: Creation star Lulu Wilson. Flanagan’s latest project Gerald’s Game has received overwhelming positive acclaim, which cements him as one of the most impressive horror directors currently working. and it would be great to see how he would handle directing a whole series. The 10-episode series is a contemporary re-imagining of Shirley Jackson’s classic 1959 novel, which was first adapted by Robert Wise. The film was then remade as a slightly less scarier, but nonetheless fun, version by Jan de Bont in 1999. The Haunting of Hill House heads to Netflix later this year.
IT: CHAPTER 2 FLOATS TO A CONFIRMED 2019 RELEASE DATE It was no surprise to learn that It: Chapter 2 was certain to happen; the first film has now broken the $500 million mark at the box office and has fast become one of the
highest grossing films of 2017. It has also edged out The Exorcist to be the highest grossing horror film of all time. Unadjusted for inflation that is. It: Chapter 2 will continue the Losers Club’s tale 30 years after the events of the first film, but will cut back to the events from Chapter 1 too. Andy Muschietti will be returning to direct the film and has already spoken about a few of his plans for the follow-up. Firstly, although the film will explore the more “cosmic” side to the story’s events, there will be no turtle from the original novel and Pennywise will not be shown in his spider form. Although this happened in the novel, many were unimpressed with the on-screen spider from 1990 so it’s no surprise that Muschietti will be deviating from spider Pennywise. Muschietti has additionally offered an insight into Mike Hanlon as an adult and has described that he will be a “librarian junkie” and a “wreck” when Chapter 2 begins. Staying in Derry seems to take its toll on poor Mike and, honestly, I’m not surprised to learn that he’s sought solace in potentially deadly escapism. It: Chapter 2 will hit our screens on 6th September 2019; just 23 months to go!
LARRY COHEN SAYS MANIAC COP REMAKE “NOT HAPPENING ANYMORE!” A very furious Larry Cohen has spoken about the remake of Maniac Cop and has said: “As far as I know, that’s not happening anymore, and if it is, they might be trying to keep it a secret, as they’d owe me $250,000…” He doesn’t stop there either, and goes on to criticise Ed Brubaker’s script saying, “I’ve read the script, and it’s not very good. If he’s [Brubaker] written a good script for a movie, I haven’t read it.” Ouch! Cohen elaborates by saying that he’d
MCKENNA GRACE CAST IN THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE Mckenna Grace has been cast in Netflix’s series adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House from director Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game). Grace is also set to star in the long-delayed Amityville: The Awakening, which is finally set to hit our screens on 28th October. (Miracle!) Grace joins the cast that additionally features Carla Gugino, Michiel Huisman, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, Kate Siegel, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Henry
70
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
L
written six new scenes for the film and that if he’d written the entire script.. “The movie would probably be happening, as the script would be good.” Double ouch! Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Neon Demon) was attached to direct the film, but apparently it has now died a death because the film couldn’t find financing. Cohen also ponders on this prospect and says, “I would like to be paid, or I’m going to call my lawyer, and it’s getting shut down.” Remakes are always tricky, but it seems like Cohen is not happy to see Maniac Cop remade. Not by Refn or Brubaker anyway. Cohen wrote the script for the original 1988 gritty horror-thriller and also its 2 sequels, so it’s understandable to see him getting a tad touchy when imagining a new take on the story. More as it comes, but it seems like the reimagining of Maniac Cop is not happening. Unless it is moving forward in secret…
UNIVERSAL TO BRING KILL THE MINOTAUR TO THE BIG SCREEN Universal Pictures is set to team up with Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment to bring a blockbuster adaptation of Kill the Minotaur to the big screen. Based on the comic written by Christian Cantamessa and Chris Pasetto, the story is a modern twist on the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. In the comic Theseus enters King Minos’ labyrinth, but finds the maze to be indescribably vast and housing a huge fantastical world. Theseus must defeat the Minotaur or the entire world will come to an end. Cantamessa and Pasetto will write the script for the film and when speaking about a big-screen adaptation they said: “When we created the comic, we wanted to put our own spin on a classic Greek myth, incorporating strong relatable characters and spectacular scenes so it would read like a blockbuster movie. It’s a dream come true that we can now make this story come alive on the big screen.” It sounds like the perfect story for a huge sci-fi blockbuster and is nothing like what we’ve seen for a very long time. If the story relates to the big screen as well as the writers hope, then this could be an awe-inspiring and hugely impressive blockbuster.
IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN; NEW IMAGE FROM I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: DEJA VU Everything is set to come full circle in the belated sequel I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu. After surviving a brutal attack www.screamhorrormag.com
and wreaking havoc on the assailants in revenge, Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) is set to go through it all again, but this time, her daughter Christy Hills (Jamie Bernadette) is kidnapped and tortured too. In Deja Vu, Jennifer Hills is now a bestselling author, living in New York with her daughter Christy, a famous model. Having never let go of the fact that Jennifer was vindicated of killing her four assailants in 1978, the relatives of her tormentors seek her out and kidnap both her and Christy, intent on exacting their own revenge. The first image from the film shows Christy in a bit of trouble, expectedly at the hands of someone looking for revenge played by Jonathan Peacy. Zarchi himself also has a cameo role as Priest, according to IMDb, so keep a look out for an appearance from him. This film will be a direct sequel to the original film from 1978 and will be written and directed by Meir Zarchi, who has not directed a film since 1985’s Don’t Mess With My Sister. Deja Vu will be the first time he revisits his infamous and iconic horror story of revenge; with Keaton returning too, it sounds like this could be the follow-up we’ve been waiting for. And how long we have been waiting! I Spit on your Grave: Deja Vu is currently in post-production and additionally stars Maria Olsen, Jim Travare and Ben Whalen.
ORIGINAL GHOSTFACE MASK TO APPEAR IN SCREAM SEASON 3 If you were disappointed that the iconic Ghostface mask from the Scream film franchise did not take centre stage in MTV’s TV series, then you’ll be pleased to know that it will do in the upcoming Season 3 event. Better late than never, eh? We thought season 1 and 2 were great regardless, but the inclusion of the original Ghostface mask does fill us with glee, especially if this is to be the last season. It gives the show the opportunity to go out
with a bang with a nice homage to Wes Craven’s original slasher tale of terror. Scream season 3 is set to mix things up by replacing the entire cast and focusing on an entirely different set of characters and location. Everything was pretty wrapped up by the end of season 2 – and its Halloween special – so we’re glad to see the show bringing something new and fresh with season 3. Scream season 3 stars Keke Palmer, RJ Cyler, Giorgia Whigham, Tyga, C. J. Wallace, Giullian Yao Gioiello and Jessica Sula. The third season will consist of 6 episodes and will air as a 3-night event in March 2018.
IT DIRECTOR’S CUT TO FEATURE IN FILM’S HOME RELEASE Being based on a novel that spans over 1,300 pages long means that – despite how brilliant Andy Muschietti’s adaptation was – plenty was left out. Either on the cutting room floor or skipped entirely, much of the story was left untold. Fortunately for fans, Muschietti has teased an extended director’s cut of the film which will be included on the film’s home release. It has been suggested that around 15 minutes of extra footage will be included and Muschietti described one particular scene he hopes will make the director’s cut: “There’s a great scene, it’s a bit of a pay-off of the Stanley Uris plot which is the bar mitzvah, where he delivers a speech against all expectations… it’s basically blaming all the adults of Derry [for the town’s history of deadly “accidents” and child disappearances], and it has a great resolution. … Maybe it will be in the director’s cut!” I definitely look forward to seeing even more from It and its characters like Stanley, even though the theatrical cut was a fantastic adaptation. There is no confirmation of a release date for the DVD and Blu-ray yet, but expect to hear about one soon.
SCREAM
71
l l
SPIKE CANCELS THE MIST AFTER SEASON ONE
It was not without its problems, but Spike’s The Mist managed to redeem itself with a couple of great final episodes. However, the show has been cancelled due to mediocre ratings that saw the series fail to draw 800,000 viewers per episode after 1.2 million watched the pilot.
her home town after recently graduating. American Gothic’s Megan Ketch has also been cast as charismatic doctor Mindy Sterngood. She has a strong fondness for Val, because he saved her from a Graboid when she was a child. The pilot episode will see the Graboids return to Perfection 25 years after the events of the first film. Valentine is, once again, called upon to save the town. Since he did so well the last time, what’s there to stop him this time? Alas, age and time have taken its toll and to beat the Graboids this time he will have to get over alcoholdependency and a delusional hero complex. It sounds like the perfect accompaniment to Ash vs Evil Dead, don’t you think? Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) will direct the pilot episode for SyFy, which was written by Andrew Miller.
STEPHEN KING TALKS ADAPTIONS OF THE STAND AND SALEM’S LOT
It’s a sad state of affairs, because now we’re left with a lot of unanswered questions and unfinished story lines. We’ll never know if a certain someone gets his comeuppance for raping poor Alex. Also, the train? What was going on there? I’m disappointed that I’ll never know what the final scene was about and what the Mist itself actually was. I guess we’ll have to add The Mist to the never-ending of unresolved series. Sigh. The Mist was based on the novella written by Stephen King and starred Morgan Spector, Frances Conroy, Alyssa Sutherland, Gus Birney, Dan Butler, Luke Cosgrove, Danica Curcic, Okezie Morro, Darren Pettie, Russell Posner, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. You can watch the entire first season on Netflix, right now.
Stephen King is undoubtedly the man of the hour in the horror world right now. Left, right and centre new adaptations of his work are hitting the big and small screen. Despite the disappointment of The Dark Tower, we’ve been spoilt with great screen adaptations of It and Gerald’s Game, with plenty more on the way. Andy Muschietti has already described his desire to remake Pet Sematary and who’s going to stop him? King himself has spoken about possible adaptations of The Stand and Salem’s lot: “There’s talk about doing The Stand as an extended TV series, possibly for Showtime or CBS All Access. And there’s been some interest in developing Salem’s Lot as a feature, probably because people are saying, ‘Well, we took an old miniseries called IT and turned it into a phenomenon, so maybe we can do it with something else.’ Nothing succeeds like excess!” He also teased a secret, unnamed
animated project, saying: “There’s talk about another thing, an animated feature, but I can’t tell you anything further — it’s a secret. That looks like it might happen.” An animated feature would be pretty phenomenal, but what novel/novella would work best in animated form? With so many of King’s work to choose from your guess would be as good as mine, but it’s definitely something to keep an excited eye out for.
WANT TO SEE KEVEN BACON AS FREDDY KRUEGER?
Robert Englund recently said he thought it would be “great” to see Kevin Bacon as Freddy Krueger: “Well the gossip I’ve heard, and I don’t know how valid this is, but there has been some talk about using, or perhaps he’s been approached, Kevin Bacon. I think that would be great. He’s in one of my favourite little horror movies, Stir of Echoes, and you should check it out if you haven’t seen it. And I just think Kevin’s the right size. I think he respects horror movies. He doesn’t make fun of them. I think it would be real interesting.” How about that? Kevin Bacon may not immediately come to mind when you’re thinking of an actor to take a stab at playing Freddy Krueger, but think about it. He’s had roles in Friday the 13th, Hollow Man and, as Englund mentioned, the excellent Stir of Echoes. He definitely has a sinister to edge to him when he wants, but can also have fun with his roles. The combination of comedic and horrific acting would be perfect at portraying Freddy Krueger. As we know, he’s a funny guy when he wants to be is Freddy! Although the last remake was a straightup travesty, I’m still open to a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and hope you are, too.
TREMORS TV SERIES CASTS THREE YOUNG ACTORS The TV reboot of Tremors is moving fast and furiously with Blumhouse on-board and now we have three new actors added to the cast. They will join Kevin Bacon who is set to reprise his role as Valentine McKee. Shiloh Fernandez will play Nico Garza, who works for Earl’s Graboid Waste Gobbling company. Vinyl’s Emily Tremaine joins the cast as Valentine’s daughter Emily McKee, who has managed to leave
72
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
VHS ATE MY
BRAIN
COPYRIGHT WARNING... TRAILERS... Words: Kevan Farrow
At the dawn of the home video revolution in the late 70’s, the major studios viewed the emerging technology with suspicion and borderline panic, seeing it as a legitimate threat to their box office revenue. The same had of course been true of television two decades earlier, before studio heads realised that more filthy lucre was to be made selling their films on for home broadcast. Late to the party again, the studios’ refusal to embrace home video left the burgeoning market lacking the mainstream fare audiences were accustomed to seeing at the cinema, and awash with the only films the small, start-up video companies could afford. While the porn industry was, as ever, quick to exploit the potential of new distribution channels, the shelves of the video shops that began spreading like a not unwelcome virus were also straining under the weight of low budget horror and exploitation flicks. In the absence of large companies to dominate and control the market, young entrepreneurs and barely legitimate small companies thrived in a new industry which was akin, here in the UK, to something of a lawless state. Films that would not have had a hope in hell of securing a cinema release were suddenly available uncut and sporting sensationally lurid cover art. The unregulated industry meant no formal classification or censorship, no consumer advice and no age restriction on renting tapes. In 1982, a twelve-year-old could merrily saunter into a high street video shop www.screamhorrormag.com
and leave with a copy of I Spit on Your Grave in their hands and a shit-eating grin on their face, and they frequently did. While the UK had no shortage of grubby fleapit cinemas, the drive-in and grindhouse culture of the US simply did not exist here, meaning that before VHS (and for a while, Betamax), folk could not see these types of films. In the UK, the birth of home video was a gift to cult and obscure cinema aficionados. While the Video Recordings Act of 1984 threatened to shut down the party, those hungry for more nastiness simply bypassed any lawful channels, leading to a thriving underground pirate and tape-trading culture. The outlaws running the show in the early days must have known even then that their time was limited, and the well-documented raids, arrests and tabloid-led moral panic that surrounded the setting up of the VRA would change the industry forever. The inevitable Government legislation did not slow the swelling of the video boom however, and it remained hugely lucrative for small business owners, with every corner shop in the country making room for a video rental section, before corporate giants led by Blockbuster bulldozed their way through the market in the 90’s. As the first UK video companies scrambled for product, 60’s and 70’s exploitation dominated, revived from forgotten runs in 42nd Street grindhouses and B-slots on drive-in bills. The DPP’s notorious Video Nasty shitlist featured
numerous Italian cannibal gut-crunchers, as well as Nazi camp exploitationers and grimy American grindhouse flicks. As the 80’s dawned and it became clear that this new technological terror was here to stay however, filmmakers would have had the VHS market in their heads as they embarked on new projects (though far more so later on of course, with the straight-tovideo release model). Advancements in prosthetics and creature effects, as well as the trend for ever-more excessive slasher flicks, saw a noticeable shift in the horror genre as it began to leave behind the grim cynicism of The Last House on the Left and its contemporaries. While unwary consumers were bringing videos into their homes from the late 70’s, it is the following decade when VHS came into its own, seeming to suit the way the horror genre was heading. Kids could rewind key shots and unpick the magic behind the effects, moving through gratuitously gory moments frame-by-frame. These big clunky bricks of overpriced plastic are now a key piece of 80’s pop iconography, and the entrepreneurial nature of the industry in its early days actually ran, for good or ill, with the Thatcherite spirit. Just as cocaine and capitalism made comfortable bedfellows, VHS seemed the perfect channel for 80’s horror. Here, I celebrate the video industry of the 1980’s with four films that seem, in some way, to sum up that most perfect of marriages.
SCREAM
73
THE BLOB (1988) Director: Chuck Russell Writers: Chuck Russell, Frank Darabont Starring: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch OK, so Chuck Russell’s B-movie remake was widely released in cinemas in 1988, but certainly found just as suitable a home on VHS, where kids could watch this masterpiece of gooey excess without the fear of being busted by some killjoy cinema usher. And while the film may be super-icky and gory as fuck, it was surely made with younger viewers partly in mind. There’s no nudity or grim, realist violence, and the video’s back cover even includes a glowing endorsement from Smash Hits magazine! Taking on the eponymous amorphous abomination are teenage criminal Brian
Flagg (a heavily-mulletted Kevin Dillon) and high school cheerleader Meg (Shawnee Smith, later star of the Saw series). We know from his first scene that Brian’s a bad boy; all the signs are there – leather jacket, motorbike, littering – but while his hair alone is enough to date the film, he’s actually a pretty good hero, and the pair make for a likeable team. Then of course there’s the
Mutant (1984)
Director: John ‘Bud’ Cardos Writers: Michael Jones, John C. Kruize, Peter Z. Orton Starring: Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, Jody Medford By the time he directed Mutant, B-cinema jack-of-all-trades John ‘Bud’ Cardos (or Caroos, according to the misspelled video cover) already had a long career in horror behind him, with acting and stunt credits on the likes of Nightmare in Wax, Satan’s Sadists and Psych-Out. More interestingly perhaps, he was an uncredited ‘bird handler’ on Hitchcock’s Psycho, and again (presumably in a more exhaustive capacity) on The Birds. Cardos had also directed a handful of films prior to Mutant, and continued working in the film industry as a driver well into his eighties. Mutant is something of a throwback to 50’s sci-fi B-movies, but with icky 80’s effects and a little Romero influence thrown in. It begins with brothers Josh and Mike driving into the country to get away from the stress of their city lives. They are driven off the road by a bunch of whoopin’, hollerin’ rednecks in a pickup,
74
SCREAM
and encounter further local hostility when they arrive in a small, backwoods town. Toothless, dungaree-clad halfwits are not the real problem though, as something is killing the townsfolk and leaving a toxic, infectious yellow goo behind. Mike becomes an early victim and it is left to Josh, teacher Holly and hard-drinkin’ Sheriff Will Stewart to fight for survival as the populace become rabid, infected killers. Mutant’s fairly generic and more-orless violence-free setup is effortlessly watchable thanks to likeable tough guy Wings Hauser leading as Josh, and some enjoyable scrapes with the drunken locals. Southern screen veteran Bo Hopkins (The Wild Bunch, American Graffiti) shines as the town’s disgraced Sheriff, but the fun really starts as the infection spreads, and people are turned into shambling, blue-skinned ghouls out for blood. While nowhere near frequent enough, the effects scenes are impressive, with swelling, ballooning faces and hands splitting open to spill the yellow gloop. The climactic scenes are more reminiscent of Dawn of the Dead than the Invasion of the Body Snatchers-
titular menace, which melts flesh, collapses faces from the inside, pulls victims down plugholes and causes havoc at a late screening of a slasher flick. With The Blob, Russell (who made his debut with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors the previous year) gave us what I genuinely consider – along with Carpenter’s The Thing and Cronenberg’s The Fly – one of the three great horror remakes of the 80’s. He strikes a masterful tone, playing things relatively straight whilst embracing the inherent silliness of the premise. Keeping sight of the 1958 original with both the narrative and smalltown setting while exploiting in full the 80’s leaps in prosthetic and animatronic effects, he created a massively satisfying and enjoyable beer ‘n’ pizza flick.
esque small town setup, as the groaning, bloodthirsty horde closes in on our heroes. Entertainment in Video accompanied this release with 1985’s unrelated Alien Predator, complete with near-identical artwork and a new title: Mutant II.
www.screamhorrormag.com
THE NEST (1988)
Langlois – who also put in enjoyable turns in the likes of Happy Birthday to Me, Rats and Class of 1984 – providing the film with much of its charm. The film’s genius stroke though, is its idea of the roaches constantly evolving, making escalation the game. The gore scenes get wilder throughout, culminating with the climactic encounter with the queen; a monstrous creation indeed. When the film ends however, you’ll find yourself wishing it had taken things just that bit further. I would happily see ten extra minutes added to the third act battle, which ends almost before it gets going.
Director: Terence H. Winkless Writer: Robert King Starring: Robert Lansing, Lisa Langlois, Franc Luz Mutated cockroaches start munching their way through an island community in this squirmy shocker, the directorial debut of The Howling co-writer Terence H. Winkless. The infestation is the result of experiments carried out by a shady corporation with whom the town’s Mayor is secretly working to eliminate the need for pesticides by breeding mutant, roachkilling roaches. Arriving back in town after four years away, the Mayor’s daughter Elizabeth (Lisa Langlois) rekindles her romance with Sheriff Richard Tarbell (Robert Lansing), just as pets begin disappearing around the island. The human residents are next, with the killer roaches pulling off a series of gory kills as they evolve and mutate to absorb physical elements of their victims. What ensues is a race against time to find the giant, hideous roach queen, before the authorities spray the entire island with a chemical that will wipe out all of its inhabitants.
The Nest should be great, and it does have moments that border on it. The kills provide some tasty morsels indeed, and the impressive gore effects surely push what was permissible on UK home video at the time. Performances are strong, with the always welcome presence of Lisa
The Vineyard (1989)
Directors: James Hong, William Rice Writers: James Hong, Harry Mok, Douglas Kondo, James Marlowe Starring: James Hong, Karren Witter, Michael Wong Made right at the tail-end of the 80’s but so clearly of that decade, The Vineyard is a work of demented, batshit crazy genius. It is the brainchild of James Hong, who may have co-written/directed but, also in the lead role, is fully playing auteur; it is clear that this is his film through and through. He gets to lord it up in a mansion while all around gaze upon him with love and admiration (“He is the most suave and debonair man in the whole entire world,” we are assured). While Hong’s name may not be immediately recognisable, you will almost certainly have seen him in one or more of his 400+ acting credits, which include Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China (he was Lo Pan, for God’s sake!) and more or less every American TV show of note from the 60’s to the 90’s. Hong plays Dr. Elson Po, a renowned winemaker whose famous concoction contains the blood of captive women and grapes fertilised with living corpses that lie half-buried in his vineyard. It also
www.screamhorrormag.com
grants him eternal life, but he must keep topping up so as to avoid rapid ageing. When he invites a group of young actors to his private island under the pretence of auditioning for a film, his true motives become clear as one by one, the guests discover his multitude of awful secrets. From beginning to glorious end, The Vineyard a beautiful, hilarious mess. The soundtrack is abysmal, the 80’s fashions will hurt your eyes (buff dudes in crop tops
and leggings, anyone?) and the viewer is treated to the most jaw-droppingly ugly dance scene they’ll ever see, led by Po himself. You’d be embarrassed for Hong if you could actually believe what you’re seeing. Hong fluffs lines, key exchanges are interrupted by entirely desultory lines delivered from offscreen and the fist fights...oh, man, the fist fights. One girl screams at the discovery of a rotting man buried up to his neck in the vineyard and runs to her boyfriend, hysterically telling him: “It was a dog, or something”; a conversation begins indoors and continues outside, with no break between lines; and when the ghouls rise from the ground as the climax nears, they stagger and groan with a hilarious lack of commitment. Oh, and sometimes Po has a rat on his shoulder. It is never explained why. This tape has sat on my shelf, unwatched until very recently and upon finally popping it in I was having spasms of excitement. It is rare to find a film that so comprehensively checks all the ‘bad movie’ boxes. I’m at a loss as to why I had not heard more about The Vineyard, because it is an absolute fucking gem of a bad movie, and fully deserves to be celebrated alongside the likes of Troll 2
SCREAM
75
we’re decorating the house together. It’s such a time of mirth and warmth and comfort, so of course, we as audiences revel in seeing that all get blasted away [laughs]. SCREAM: How did you wind up shooting the movie in Australia?
Writer/director Chris Peckover has some shocking surprises under the tree in his Christmas horror film. Words: Michael Gingold
There’s nary a Santa-suited stalker anywhere to be found in BETTER WATCH OUT, but it’s a true gift for anyone seeking a great Christmas horror film. As the holiday approaches, 12-year-old Lukas (Levi Miller) is looking forward to spending a night in the care of teenage babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge), on whom he has a massive crush. His attempts to proclaim his affection are interrupted when his suburban house falls under siege by masked strangers wielding shotguns, and the night becomes a fight for survival that takes some very nasty, bloody and surprising turns. Seeing release this fall/winter after a successful festival tour (under the title SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD at several of its early screenings), BETTER WATCH OUT is the second feature for writer (with Zack Kahn) and director Chris Peckover, following 2010’s borderline shocker UNDOCUMENTED. As things get progressively worse for Lukas and Ashley, Peckover keeps the shocks and startling developments coming while also delivering plenty of dark humour (plus some lighter moments courtesy of Patrick Warburton
and Virginia Madsen as Lukas’ parents). He also proves himself a strong director of younger actors—especially given that his central trio of American kids (rounded out by Lukas’ best friend Garrett, played by Ed Oxenbould, DeJonge’s co-star in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE VISIT) are all played by Australians. Speaking to SCREAM at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, Peckover discusses how he wound up making BETTER WATCH OUT Down Under, putting young actors through horrific situations, and more… SCREAM: What was behind the decision to make this a Christmas movie, since this story could pretty much have been told at any time of the year? CHRIS PECKOVER: A mixture of my love for HOME ALONE—when you see the film, you’ll see a lot of references in there—and also, Christmas is the coolest time for a horror movie to happen, because it’s the time of the year that we idealise the most. Everything has to go perfectly, we’re with our families, we’re on our best behaviour,
CP: We originally found financing to get the film made in South Carolina, and I was developing another project at Universal at the time, and there was an executive who had kind of become a mentor of mine. I asked him, “I don’t mean to double-dip, but would you mind reading this smaller project that I’m thinking of shooting in South Carolina?” He read it and said, “Pull the reins, I can get you more money than you’re shooting with.” Within two months, we had a producer based out of Sydney, Brett Thornquest, who offered to make the film for $3 million Australian, which is about $2 million U.S., and that was enough to convince me to make the movie in Australia [laughs]. Of course, that came with some difficulties, because we were going to be shooting during the summer and Sydney gets really hot then, and it was obviously not very Christmasy, so we had to be a little creative in how we attacked that. SCREAM: Were the snowy street scenes we see in the beginning also shot in Australia? CP: That montage that opens the film was shot in Minnesota on a single day, but anything involving the house or the back yard or the front yard or anything like that was entirely done during the summer in Sydney. The snow was this really gross concoction of, like, watered-down gelatin and paper, and our set was surrounded by it, because you see all four sides of the house at different points in the movie. The crew was constantly tracking that “snow” into the interior set, and it ended up being a nightmare, because it would stick to everyone’s shoes and get into the carpets and so on. There were a couple of people whose jobs were literally just to scream at people for tracking in snow; it was like being surrounded by a bunch of parents! SCREAM: Was there ever a question of using American kids in the leads? CP: Oh yeah, we did a search through all of Australia and the U.S., and other countries. In fact, my second and third picks for Lukas were both American. But anytime you hire an American actor for an Australian film, that bumps up everybody’s rate who’s Australian, so it’s tough.
SCREAM: And it’s a complete coincidence that you have both the stars of THE VISIT in your film? CP: Yeah, but to me the bigger coincidence is, why did M. Night Shyamalan hire two Australian kids to play brother and sister in Philadelphia? To me, it was obvious to go with them, because Olivia and Ed are two of the best Australian teenage actors around right now. SCREAM: Was it any different dealing with child actors in Australia than it would have been in America? CP: This is an interesting story: In New South Wales, at least, they have a child-services program whose sole job is to make sure that anyone 15 and under won’t be emotionally or physically affected by shooting a film. We had to justify every single line of dialogue, every bit of action—and there are so many different swear words and bits of horror and violence that happen in the film, and it took days of convincing them. I mean, they’re technically not allowed to censor you, but they are allowed to say, “This is not fit for a child to be in.” So we had to tell them that the parents had signed off on each and every moment, and we also had to hire a child psychologist to assess the actors and make sure they were emotionally OK to do the film. I have two favourite moments that resulted from that. One was that this psychologist finished interviewing the kids, and child services was looking for reasons to say no to making the movie—“Are they emotionally fit?” And she said, “These kids are more emotionally intelligent than a lot of you guys are, so they’re going to be fine.” Then there was a scene where Levi Miller had to say the f-word a bunch of times, and I was getting very limited by child services. They were saying, “You can only do two takes from three different camera angles, and that’s it.” That’s not the way I work; I usually get my best performances out of them after a couple of takes. So they asked Levi, “Are you OK?” and with kind of a flick of his eyes, he looked at them and said, “It’s just a word.” And they backed off after that. I have to hand it to Levi and Ed, who were constantly getting scrutinised that way, and did a great job of convincing everyone that they were absolutely fine with everything that happened. We could ask them, but I’m sure they weren’t emotionally affected by doing the film. SCREAM: They must have had a lot of fun, especially doing the action in the movie’s second half.
your title is psychotic, because they don’t come around that often.” Since the 80’s, there haven’t been that many that were worth their price of admission. So he came up with BETTER WATCH OUT; he said, “SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD is great for a home-invasion movie, but your film is a lot more than that, and I would love to devise a campaign around the holiday feeling.” He’s been really smart, and he’s come up with some great stuff. He keeps changing my titles; I’m in the middle of setting up my next project, and he told me that my title was terrible and came up with a new one, and I’ve gotta say, it’s better.
CP: It was fun! I read 200 kids for the two 12-year-old roles, and a good quarter of them, after the audition, regardless of whether they thought they were going to get the role or not, said, “Thank you for writing this movie. I really want to be in it!” [Laughs] SCREAM: You have to tell us about Patrick Warburton and the Christmas ornaments… CP: [Laughs] When I got a chance to meet Patrick over the phone, because at this point I was already in Australia, he was very complimentary and excited about the movie, and among other things, he said, “I have some props I’m going to bring.” He kind of left it at that, and when we met up in person, he had this giant crate of—there’s no other way to put it—gay Christmas ornaments, like ruby slippers and Scarlett O’Hara and the Wicked Witch and Judy Garland! Dozens of kitschy Christmas ornaments that people had given to him over the years, and he was like, “We’re putting these in the movie.” I kind of stared at him for a second, and then said, “Of course we are!” [Laughs] So he and Virginia Madsen have that hilarious scene where they riff on him wanting these ornaments on the tree, and her saying, “Absolutely not.” I can’t tell you how many hilarious takes I have that I can’t wait to share in the special disc features, because their improvising together was a masterclass, and it was very hard to choose a best take from them. SCREAM: I didn’t notice a credit for makeup effects; who did all your gore work? CP: Our key make-up artist, Jodee LenaineSmith, double-timed it the entire shoot—she covered not only the beautifying but also the gorifying. She had her work cut out for her; it was just her and an assistant. It was really a team effort; when things got bloodier, we had art department helping with that, so everyone kind of split the work. SCREAM: Was there ever a concern about how to market a film with so much violence involving children, and whether there would be any kind of backlash against that? CP: You know, it’s funny: Internationally, there was not any concern about that at all. In the U.S., there was a lot of concern, and it was tough finding the right distributor because of that. You know, we’re living in a very puritanical time right now, and there was absolutely a concern that mixing 12-year-olds and violence was going to
78
SCREAM
SCREAM: Are there any other holidays you’d like to make horror movies about?
be too much. But that was something I was already aware of while writing and shooting the movie, and for every moment that seems like it’s going to go too far, the movie kind of grabs your hand and takes you in another direction. SCREAM: Whose idea was it to change the title from SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD to BETTER WATCH OUT? CP: I met this marketer who just randomly came to one of the screenings for our actors’ agents. He kind of put his arm around my shoulder and said, “You don’t know my name, but I’m going to take you out for a beer, and I’m going to explain to you why I’m going to do the marketing for your film.” For the next three hours, he took me through everything, and it was brilliant. He said, “Your film’s going to be very hard to market, but you’re lucky that I love it and I like a challenge.” His name’s Josh Olson, and he did the trailers for the EVIL DEAD remake and DON’T BREATHE and a lot of other projects, and he works at one of the biggest trailer houses in LA. He convinced me and he convinced my producers, and it kind of felt like dealing with the Godfather, like, [does Marlon Brando voice] “I will spread word about your movie! Chris, I do this all for you, but I only ask for one thing in return.” I was like, “What? What do you want?” And he was like, “Money, you idiot!” [Laughs] I love him and have since become good friends with him, and asked if he wants to be a co-producer on everything I do from now on. His thinking with the title was, “You have a great Christmas horror movie, and the fact that you’re not exploiting that in
CP: Oh, man. You know, I can’t say [laughs], because I do have one in mind. It’s a very fun twist on a holiday, but it’s kind of brewing, it’s not at the forefront. I’ve made two movies now about the horrors of the human heart, and my next couple are shifting into the supernatural, and I’m very excited about that. SCREAM: How did you approach making a movie with so many surprises in the age of the Internet and on-line spoilers? CP: With a lot of trust [laughs]. So far, reviewers have been remarkably good about keeping the secret, because this film has a giant secret, and everyone has respected that. Mostly; I’ve read some people saying things like, “Oh, I’m not gonna spoil this for you,” and then the very next line is something that gives everything away. So, go to your trusted reviewers who you know not to give away the beans with the bag, and check it out. It might be frustrating, reading about a movie where no one wants to say anything about it, but the film plays best when you go in blind and cold. So if you like demented horror mixed with comedy, this is a movie that’s gonna be for you. If you’re a nerd for genre that keeps you on your toes and keeps you guessing about what’s happening, I hope you check this out. SCREAM: Thanks very much for the interview! CP: You’re very welcome, thanks for the support! BETTER WATCH OUT is currently available on U.S. VOD and hits disc there in December, and will see UK release in December as well. www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
79
HORROR BOOK REVIEW the good, the bad & the horror-ific...
THE VEIL
TOM WEAVER, BEARMANOR MEDIA Tom Weaver’s Scripts from the Crypt series chronicles some of the genre’s forgotten works from yesteryear. His first release, for example, dusts off Rob Clarke’s 1959 monster B-movie The Hideous Sun Demon, while others have focused on other obscure cult delights like Ed Wood’s Bride of the Monster and Dracula’s Daughter. It’s a must read series for any fan of horror history, and the latest instalment documents The Veil, an overlooked television series featuring one of the genre’s most foremost icons - Boris Karloff. Described by critics as “the greatest television series never seen,’’ The Veil was a short-lived anthology horror/suspense show from the late 50’s hosted by and starring the one and only “King of Monsters.’’. Each episode was inspired by alleged real-life supernatural phenomena and horrific events, but only 10 of the planned 39 were completed before Hal Roach Studios experienced financial woes. This resulted in the completed episodes being shelved for decades until a DVD was finally released in 2006. While the forgotten show has yet to garner the attention it deserves, this new book by Weaver, featuring contributions from Barbara Bibas Montero, Martin Varno, Robert Dale Owen, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, provides all the information about the show you’ll ever need to know. Not only is this book the pinnacle tome
80
SCREAM
pertaining to the show, but it’s an essential purchase for any Karloff fans and those who are interested in true-life tales of terror. As well as recounting all of the necessary information about The Veil and the spooky events which inspired its creation, there are essays about the actor’s life and career to complement the retrospectives. Furthermore, for the book’s introduction, Weaver has dug up an old article about the show penned by Karloff himself. However, the highlight of proceedings is a fantastic essay analysing the horror icon’s see-saw career as a television host. That said, there isn’t a chapter here that isn’t insightful and educational in some way. Overall, The Veil is an enlightening read that deserves a place on any classic horror fan’s bookshelf.
horrific events start to engulf their lives and the veil between reality and fantasy becomes a blur. However, the horrors they experience is happening regardless, and they suspect it involves a creepy legend dating back to the 1600’s. Silent Dawn is an entertaining read, and one which playfully mixes contemporary issues with historical legend. We live in a world where technology is advancing at a scary rate, and video game obsession among young people (and even a lot of adults) is alarming to some. Therefore, a story which takes advantage of these collective fears and manifests them in a good old fashioned terror tale is a fun idea. We’ve seen the haunted video game concept appear in scare fare countless times before, and while Silent Dawn offers nothing particularly new to the genre, it’s bound to please readers looking for something that’s easy to digest and comforting to their creepy needs. Overall, Silent Dawn is a well-written story born out of love for the genre and it shows. It might not resonate with readers looking for the next original or petrifying novel out there, but it’s a worthwhile read nonetheless if you just want to enjoy yourself for a couple of hundred pages. And with some relatable themes at play, it provides some interesting food for thought as well. REVIEWED BY KIERAN FISHER
RATING:
44444
REVIEWED BY KIERAN FISHER
RATING:
44444
SILENT DAWN
CL RAVEN, CREATESPACE INDEPENDENT PLATFORM Silent Dawn comes courtesy of Cathryn and Lynsey Davies, the Welsh author twins and ghost hunters who release horror novels under the pseudonym CL Raven. Their latest novel tells the story of a group of teenagers who become obsessed with a haunted video game to a disturbing degree. A string of
www.screamhorrormag.com
READING STEPHEN KING
BRIAN JAMES FREEMAN, CEMETERY DANCE PUBLICATIONS It’s been many years since a book has been released on the work of Stephen King that featured a compilation of essays and short pieces about the horror master’s work from scholars and his contemporaries alike. Works like Fear Itself & Kingdom Of Fear were made popular in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s by the noted and much missed small press publisher Underwood-Miller.
for the casual and the die-hard fans alike from essays by famed King scholars Tony Magistrale and Michael R. Collings, to writings on religion and King, the lost works of Stephen King, a look at being a foreign Stephen King fan, and reviews and pieces by King contemporaries and horror greats Clive Barker and Jack Ketchum. The book is being produced as a beautiful limited edition hardcover by King specialty press Cemetery Dance Publications and while the cover price tag of US$55 might not appeal to all fans, the words within which celebrate and embrace our love affair with Stephen King are worth every penny. REVIEWED BY JONATHAN REITAN
RATING:
44444
SHADOWS AND TEETH VOL. 3 GUY N. SMITH, ADAM MILLARD, DARKWATER SYNDICATE, INC.
Decades later, editor Brian James Freeman offers up his latest and much anticipated book, Reading Stephen King, which compiles essays by King fans, critics, and those who have worked with the author himself. Author Stewart O’Nan opens with his piece, “Sometimes You Go Back” in which he explains the all knowing importance of revisiting classic King works again and again. Up next, publisher and writer Richard Chizmar recounts his love affair with King’s classic Christine which is followed by a highly entertaining piece by Director Frank Darabont celebrating the iconic artwork which graces the cover of King’s books. Other notable contributions to the book include Bev Vincent’s biographical and thoroughly researched piece on the mysteries King has written, “Living in a Web of Mystery”, and director Mick Garris’ essay on his failed The Talisman script which delves into the often overlooked process to screenwriting and adapting novels for the big screen. Reading Stephen King really has it all
www.screamhorrormag.com
Shadows and Teeth Volume 3 is the latest in a horror anthology series published by Darkwater Syndicate. There are some familiar authors included whose books I have covered before, including Guy N. Smith, Adam Millard and Richard Ayre. The ten stories in the collection bring us a variety of scares without an overarching theme throughout the book. The first story, Cannibal House by Guy N. Smith, starts the collection off strong. It’s a tale of residual evil that remains locked within a house and the new tenant who has to try to deal with it. Tree Huggers was another story I enjoyed. It had an unusual scenario and situation that our teens find themselves in. It’s always nice to read a really fresh take.
Adam Millard’s story, The House Wants What The House Wants, brought a bizarro and completely unexpected plot that was as creepy as it is excellent. One of the stand out stories of the collection is Bernadette. It’s a tale in the form of a letter. It’s set during the time of the Spanish Inquisition and involves possession and a djinn. It is outstanding. Another stand out is Richard Ayre’s story about a man returning to claim his family estate in Scotland. The mystery and bloodshed that comes along with the land builds to a gripping climax. Another favourite is Cruciform, which is the tale of a summoned and trapped demon. As you can imagine, that does not happen without consequences and retribution. As I’m sure you can tell based on the number of favourites I have, this is a great collection. This is one of the strongest anthologies I’ve covered, full of tight and diverse entries, and with no drop in the quality from one story to the next. The stories cover a range of horror. There is something for all tastes from the more subtle, supernaturally inclined, to cannibalism and monsters. Now I have to catch up on the previous two volumes of Shadows and Teeth and look forward to volume 4. REVIEWED BY ANDREW TADMAN
RATING:
44444
NOPE – NOTHING WRONG HERE: THE MAKING OF CUJO
LEE GAMBIN, BEARMANOR MEDIA When Stephen King’s novel Cujo made it to the big screen, it made a huge impact. Man’s best friend had betrayed us, and even more so because it was the lovable St. Bernard breed, renowned for helping people. I’m sure that after watching Cujo, people were taking a second look at dogs and wondering. The terror was all the more real because the rabid bite that turned Cujo into a beast wasn’t supernatural. I’m a huge fan of books that take you behind the scenes of horror movies. Lee Gambin brings us an incredibly in-depth look at the movie with Nope, Nothing Wrong Here. That title is a phrase that makes multiple appearances throughout the movie. The author takes us through the film scene by scene, examining the action and the wider cultural references around it, interspersed with interviews. The comprehensive nature of the book covers the soundtrack, the cinematography, and no stone is left unturned. Besides the author’s examination of the film and discussion of the making there are some great images. Some of the gems
SCREAM
81
include pages from Stephen King’s original screenplay draft, deleted scene stills, lobby cards, sheet music, and lots of behind the scene photographs. There are interviews with much of the team behind the movie. Gambin talks to director Lewis Teague, composer Charles Bernstein, make-up artists, and camera assistants. There are also extensive interviews with the cast including Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, and Daniel Hugh Kelly. The interviews all throughout the book provide fascinating insight into the film, the characters, and what they were trying to do with the film. I especially enjoyed hearing about directions that the plot was going to go in but didn’t for the final production. The part I was most looking forward to was the discussion of the pivotal siege scene where Cujo stalks a mother and son trapped in their broken down car. At over 500 pages, you may be worried that such in-depth examination of one single movie might be boring. It didn’t launch a franchise, and there is no wider world built around it. However, that is absolutely not the case. It’s a fascinating read. You really get to know all the actors and crew. If behind the scenes books interest you, or if you have any fondness for Cujo, then you will love this book. REVIEWED BY ANDREW TADMAN
RATING:
44444
THE 101 SCARIEST MOVIES EVER MADE BEARMANOR MEDIA
List books of scariest films are a fairly well treaded area of horror movie non-fiction. The 101 Scariest Movies Ever Made tackles this with a fresh perspective and an up-todate list of films. The presentation is well structured and concise. It also contains a foreword by Herschell Gordon Lewis. You will find the titles you would expect, such as Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Suspiria, Halloween, etc. The book does include more recent titles, such as Sinister, The Babadook, and The Conjuring. The earliest film covered is Nosferatu (1922), and the most recent entry is It Follows (2014). There is pretty broad coverage over the decades – it’s not all about the eighties. For each film title there are sections including Why it Made the List, Synopsis, Scariest Scene, Memorable Dialogue, Did You Know?, and What the Critics Said. This makes the book highly browsable. The book contains movie posters and stills. For the hardened horror fan you’re not going to find anything too groundbreaking. However, this
82
SCREAM
would serve as an excellent entry point to the genre for newcomers. Detailing the scariest scene of the movie is a bit of a spoiler if you haven’t seen the film. The Did You Know? and critic quotes were my favourite parts. I like that the critics quotes are from a diverse variety of publications. Of course any book such as this will open up a debate about whether a title should be on the list or not. There are some titles I disagree with, but with 101 films, the coverage is pretty broad. It’s a good reference book for a quick read over the titles that make our beloved genre what it is today. REVIEWED BY ANDREW TADMAN
RATING:
44444
THE WOLVES OF EL DIABLO
resistance and the werewolves catch up with them. From there things go from bad to worse. The setting of the Mexican desert and small towns gives the book a different sense of place. Dialogue in the book is interspersed with Spanish words. It’s a spaghetti western with werewolves and very much looks the part, from the dialogue to the action. Our three American cowboy heroes are rogues, criminals, and mercenaries. Despite all that, they are a likeable bunch, if not too deep. They are full of bravado and wisecracks. The two female characters in the book steal the show. Pilar is a brave local woman who fights with the cowboys. Azul is the powerful leader of the werewolves. She is strong, vicious, and single minded in her mission for revenge. There is a huge amount of build up to the final showdown - probably too much. I couldn’t help but think of the A-Team, locked in a garage or something, frantically building. It’s something of a siege narrative as the clock ticks on the fading day and rising moon. The action gets crazy when the silver bullets start flying and the werewolves keep coming. It’s a simple, fast paced, action packed story, with certainly more action than horror. When the werewolves are present there is plenty of gore - lots of biting and tearing of flesh. It’s cowboys versus werewolves on a speeding steam train. That’s all you really need to know. If that sounds good to you, you’ll like the book. REVIEWED BY ANDREW TADMAN
RATING:
44444
ERIC RED, SHORT, SCARY TALES PUBLICATIONS You might not know Eric Red the author, but you’ll certainly be aware of his screenwriting. He is best known for two horror classics, Near Dark and The Hitcher. The Wolves of El Diablo is the follow up to his first book in The Men Who Walk Like Wolves series. The first book, The Guns of Santa Sangre, is quickly recapped in the opening and this book takes place shortly after. I hadn’t read the first book, but I didn’t feel lost or like I was missing anything while reading the second. A group of werewolves enslaved and fed on a small Mexican town, Santa Sangre, until they were defeated by three American gunmen. Now the sister of the slain werewolf leader is looking for the gunmen with her own gang of wolves to enact some vicious retribution. The cowboys run in to trouble while robbing a train. They meet unexpected
If you have a book that you would like submitted for potential review in an upcoming edition of SCREAM please email us: press@screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
"Pulsing John Carpenter-esque keyboard work...Dante Tomaselli releases his fourth album of spooky soundtrack inspired instrumental music." – Rock! Shock! Pop!
“a meticulously crafted work...Tomaselli takes us on his most lurid sonic journey to date, integrating trance pulses, backbeats, and samples of beRserk cult leader Jim Jones...5 Skulls." – Rue Morgue Magazine
Bobby Roe and Zack Andrews Talk Indie Horror... Words: Jessy Williams
SCREAM recently caught up with the director-star Bobby Roe and producerstar Zack Andrews for The Houses October Built 2; their sequel to the 2014 haunted house horror film. In the second, the same cast return to face their fears, but signs of the Blue Skeleton suggest their previous ordeal may not be over. It’s an awesome and intense follow-up that expands upon their world of Halloween haunts and, in their own words, “Is bigger and badder”. In the interview the guys chat about the possibility of a Part 3, their love for Halloween and the prospect of creating their own Stranger Things world or remaking The Shining. Surely, you’d have to be crazy to do that?! SCREAM: Was it always your intention to make a follow-up to The Houses October Built?
aware of that. We tried to show lots of different events and things that we didn’t know about until we did research. The Zombie Pub Crawl and the Zombie 5K; that’s a million square foot place where people come from all over the world for disaster training. You can shoot an entire movie there. That place blew our minds. These are all real places that you can go to and see the same cast and characters. SCREAM: Did you find it difficult to continue the story? ZA: It came easy, because we’d always planned it that way. We wanted to get to the ending that we got to in Part 2, but there was just so much story so we had to break it up. We had done this so many times, so now we’re haunted house aficionados. We say that in the movie, but it’s actually true in real life.
BOBBY ROE: If we were lucky enough, yeah. We tried to make the ending an intermission where it asked you a question. So that people could argue whether they were maniacs or whether it was just a haunt.
BR: For the record, Zack just quoted himself inside the movie. Very meta.
ZACK ANDREWS: People thought we were dead, so when they found out we were doing a sequel they were like, “Why are you doing a sequel? They’re dead!” We’d then ask, “Did you really see us die?”
SCREAM: Well you could be... Were you always on the same page while writing or did you have disagreements?
BR: I’ve seen people online asking why we didn’t use a new cast and I hope that a lot of part 1 has to do with the chemistry of the group, that they were a group that you’ like to go and have a beer with. I go back to the Nightmare on Elm Street 2, because the moment Nancy wasn’t in it, that movie tanked. It had no connective tissue and it didn’t feel like the first one. I hope that Brandy has a little bit of that connective tissue for audiences. ZA: We’d also have to introduce 5 new characters, but these people are already established. We have the natural chemistry, but we don’t have to ask, “What’s your purpose? What is your personality like?” It was nice to be able to move right into the haunts. SCREAM: Other than the same cast and a continuation of the story, what else can fans expect from this sequel? BR: It’s bigger and badder. We’re expanding the world. It’s very easy to go through a bunch of haunted houses that are dark labyrinths again, so we were very
ZA: Very true to character. I’m in character right now.
BR: We always were and I think that’s what makes us such good writing partners. Zack always says that I see the trees and he sees the forest, so we have that yin and yang balance. I’m very meticulous and that’s difficult in this genre and when you’re filming on live sets, sometimes you’ve got to go with the flow. The actors did a great job. We had the story set in stone, but the
SCREAM: I don’t know how you can’t appreciate the first film’s ending. It’s really surprising, because it’s not all rainbows and butterflies with everyone going home safe.
dialogue doesn’t have to be when you’re in those situations. SCREAM: What challenges did you face on this one, that you perhaps didn’t encounter on the first film? ZA: Keeping everything fresh and getting the audience to believe that Brandy would come on-board. I think the first time it was believable that four friends would go on a Halloween tour, but after what happened to us... Is it really believable that Brandy would go back? I think a key scene is us showing up at her house, because I think the audience will go “Oh.. so the guys are just going to go on their own?” Eventually Bobby makes his emotional plea. I think it’s important for her character. It shows who she is and how much she cares about us. We show up and say “Oh, they’re going to pay us this time.. etc.”, but Brandy proves that it’s not really about that for her. When we were really knee-deep in it and needed her, that’s when she showed up. SCREAM: So, what is fresh in this sequel? BR: I think we have a bit of a hybrid. A lot of people roll their eyes with found footage, because they think that it’s been done over and over again, and it has. But, there are always fresh ways to do anything. We have drone shots that allow us to get those sweeping helicopter shots which you get in
BR: I think some people want their bow on top. To some people, the ambiguous ending is not enough. They want a fullon finale and so, hopefully, it will serve everyone with Part 2’s ending because there is a finale haunt and it’s completed. SCREAM: Completed? So, no plans for a third? BR: Maybe in your neck of the woods!
a normal feature. You wouldn’t be able to have that in found footage and I think that helps the entire scope of the movie. We also added a soundtrack which hopefully we give enough reason for, so that it still plays by the rules, but intensifies the scenes. Rebooting Halloween Spooks was fun. That is the exact song from the first film where the clown comes in and does that weird dance. It’s an old song, but we re-booted it in a Manson-Type O Negative kind of way for Part 2. ZA: I think the people who had a problem with the first film’s ending will be a little more satisfied with this one.
ZA: I think we’ve seen a lot of what we have to offer over here, but there’s a whole world filled with people doing crazy stuff for Halloween and I think we need to explore that. SCREAM: How about a festive version with The Houses December Built? BR: They’re actually doing that over here. They’re using their haunts for Valentine’s Day and St Patrick’s Day, where they hire little people to run around as leprechauns. Then they do Christmas with Krampus, so people are utilising their space very well. SCREAM: Can you share any cool stories from on-set?
“ I TH I N K WE HAVE A BIT OF A HYBRID. A LOT OF PEOPLE ROLL THEIR EYES WITH FOUN D FO OTAGE, BECAUSE THEY TH I N K THAT IT ’ S BEEN D ON E ”
86
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
BR: Well, that scene in the movie where the scare actor comes up to us and is very excited to see us is very natural, because he was a fan of the movie and didn’t realise who we were until he saw us come out with cameras. He was genuinely really excited, because he liked the movie. So we figured a way to interweave that in the film and it’s a tad meta, because you won’t fully know what he is referring to. I think it really helps the story, because he couldn’t fake that energy. SCREAM: Did you keep any secrets from the rest of the cast while filming? BR: Bandy didn’t know about the finale until that morning, so we kept pages of the script away from her. ZA: Bobby and I will do a trial run and scout out the haunts in the day, so we’re seeing all the things we want to catch. But we never let Brandy go through until the cameras are rolling. BR: If we let her run through and rehearse it, it wouldn’t have that same energy. She gets pretty scared, so it’s fun to send her through those. SCREAM: Was it easier to raise the money for the film this time round?
ZA: From a producer’s standpoint, these movies are taking a chance. Once that chance works you can justify expanding your budget. I’d be willing to bet that all these sequels had bigger budgets, so I think that helps too. BR: What money can buy you is time and I think that’s the most important thing. If you don’t have to be rushed, you can have more takes... and make things better. SCREAM: What would you guys have done if you had more time? BR: You’d always go back and do some changes. When shooting live, we couldn’t go back. We couldn’t go back the next night and shoot Zombie Pub Crawl, because it wasn’t there. ZA: Yeah, our time restrictions were based on the holiday. BR: But I will always take that live and natural set. I wouldn’t want to work on a set for these kind of movies, because realism outweighs almost everything in this genre. As long as you believe what you’re seeing. Also, you can’t kill someone without caring about them, so you have to have these characters who give a shit.
BR: Yeah, we love it. We always try to pay attention to story. I don’t need you to walk out the cinema and say that was your favourite movie, but if you can say “Oh, we never thought about that.” then Zack and I did our jobs. With horror you’re allowed to take those chances and try smart or innovative ideas, and you don’t need the star power for it. Us two chuckle-heads can be in it and all you’ve got to do is have a good story. SCREAM: What’s the dream project? BR: Being able to build a world like Stranger Things would be a lot of fun. This is so weird, I actually thought about it today.. but I’ve forgotten. You go Zack, if you’ve got one. ZA: For me, it would be Stephen King because I read him the most and I grew up idolising him. The Dark Tower is a little ambitious, but that’s my favourite and, recently, it didn’t get pulled off how they were hoping. I know they adapted Mutual Things and it didn’t go as well as they wanted it to, and that was a scary thing in my teens. I’m excited to see Gerald’s Game and obviously It crushed it. That was something that creeped me out the most growing up. I guess someone is going to remake The Shining at some point..
SCREAM: What’s next for you? BR: I think a lot of people were waiting to see how well we did internationally, because most places around the world don’t celebrate Halloween as crazy as America does. Even if you guys don’t celebrate it that way yet, I think you’re intrigued by it and you enjoy watching it. We see more and more of these haunts in Europe, Australia and the UK, so I think it’s coming around. ZA: Bobby just wants to go to Australia. SCREAM: There is a trend currently where the sequels to horror films are actually better than the first films – think Annabelle: Creations, Ouija: Origin of Evil and, as you say, The Conjuring 2. Why do you think that is? BR: You’re exactly right. I think the goal is to expand the universe and I think some of these first movies were quite contained and small in the beginning, so there’s an opportunity to open the world up. With most of your examples they’re going back to the beginning, right? So, you learn from your mistakes and with part 2 they start to build them up. www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM: Would you do that? BR: While doing Post for the last 8 months, we’ve been working on re-writing a script for some of the producers of The Walking Dead. Also, for a feature that we’d begin shooting in late winter or early spring. That’s going to be a normal feature and not found footage, so we’re excited for that and it will be horror. SCREAM: Is horror a genre you’re going to stick with?
ZA: *Laughs* I would love to and I think at some point it will be done. Who better to do it than someone who loves the book and movie? BR: I think something that better suits our way of telling stories might be a Nightmare on Elm Street reboot. When they tried to remake it 8 years ago, I think it was really dumb of them to have such a lack of dream sequences. The whole movie is about that! They could have had these wild and insane dream sequences, that could have been a lot of fun and they didn’t do that. That, to me, is the whole point of Freddy. Then there’s the purist in me who’s like, “Stop rebooting these. They were done the right way, alright?” SCREAM: Thanks for talking to us and good luck with the film. ZA: Thank you so much for your support. BR. Thank you SCREAM MAGAZINE.
Film images courtesy/copyright to KAREY RINKENBERGER.
SCREAM
87
RELEASE DATE 16 OCTOBER
HELLRISER is a stylish, shocking and sexy thrill ride to hell and back in the tradition of the original “video nasties”, starring Steve Dolton (The Curse of Robert) and Charlie Bond (Vendetta, Strippers vs Werewolves).
88
SCREAM
Warning - This film contains a sequence of flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy
www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
89
90
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
91
When The GoinG GeTs Weird, The Weird Publishes ComiCs: The History of DC/Vertigo Words: Words: Svetlana Fedotov
DC Comics has always been at the forefront of not only comic entertainment but comic innovation. Famously known for creating the first superheroes and launching three of the four ages of comic books, DC keeps on finding and being the ‘next big thing.’ Nothing makes that point clearer than the launch of their Vertigo imprint in 1993. Household names such as Neil Gaiman (The Sandman), Grant Morrison
(Animal Man, Doom Patrol), and Garth “The Menace” Ennis (Preacher) got their first big breaks in the imprint by penning some of the most critically acclaimed works in the industry. But it wasn’t always an easy ride to the top for the mega-star creating company and its humble origins actually start begin way back in the 1980’s with DC editor Karen Berger. Karen Berger joined DC Comics in 1979 as an editor. While it wasn’t known at the time, the late 1970’s marked the end of the Silver Age of Comics; an era that became credited to ending genre-specific comics such as horror, funnies, romance, and westerns and instead, began to be outsold by superhero works. Horror and mysticism superhero origins were now being replaced with sciencebased creations which helped usher in Spiderman, X-Men, and The Hulk with Marvel outselling DC almost every month. She had also arrived right after the infamous DC Explosion of 1978 which was categorised by a three-month increase in cover prices and comic pages in an attempt to bring fans, but instead, it ended up crashing the market in June ’78. The crash also forced layoffs of over 40% of their staff. Berger had a lot to live up to.
Words: Kieran Fisher Fresh out of art school, Berger started by editing Wonder Woman and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld before switching over to one of the few horror comics still in business, House of Mystery. Under her editorship, she began experimenting with longer format stories with the title I… Vampire created by JM DeMatteis. The series proved so popular that it ended up taking over the remaining run of House of Mystery. Eager to continue on the success of I…Vampire, Berger decided to re-launch another House of Mystery staple, Swamp Thing. This time, she decided to reach across the pond to the UK and with the help of Swamp Thing creator Len Wein, snatched up a relatively unknown author named Alan Moore. Though Moore
comics including domestic abuse and hate crimes. Moore was credited for bringing back a literary bent to the horror comic genre and elevating horror and fantasy comics to the level of high-end literature. It’s no exaggeration to say that he changed the game. Following the overwhelming popularity of The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Berger continued on her path of bringing writers from the UK and surrounding countries. Using the popular comic magazine 2000 AD as a guide, Berger brought over Neil Gaiman, Peter Mulligan (Shade the Changing Man), Grant Morrison, Jamie Delano (Hellblazer), among others. By the mid-late 80’s, the team launched seven new and re-imagined series ranging from
Neil Gaiman
never went on to work directly for Vertigo (having sworn off DC in 1989), he was an influential contributor who helped re-launch a collection of core Vertigo characters in his Swamp Thing run and created John Constantine. But it wasn’t just the character that he gave a much needed makeover to, it was to the entire comic genre, starting with a complete disregard for the Comic Code. Started in 1954, The Comic Code Authority was founded as an alternative to government regulation when it was arbitrarily decided that comics were created by the devil to tempt youth in to sex and drugs. Though never officially www.screamhorrormag.com
enforced, pressure from overly concerned citizens and comic book stands forced a lot comic companies to change how certain subjects can be approached or even what words can be used (no vampires or zombies for them!) While it fell out of favour by the late seventies, Moore drove the final nail in the coffin with his devil-may-care attitude on Swamp Thing. He touched on issues that haven’t been addressed in years such as drugs, environmentalism, and social issues next to a deep-rooted horror and fantasy story steeped in Louisiana folklore. He even addressed problems that have almost never been talked about in mainstream
horror and fantasy to dark superhero titles, each one bearing a ‘Suggested for Mature Readers’ tag, something that, at the time, wasn’t very common for mainstream comics. They even earned the collective title of ‘The Bergerverse’ in a credit to their founder. Each series found its own measure of success, but none so much as Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. The Sandman, just as the name implies, was focused on a physical manifestation of the idea of dreaming and subconscious landscape therein. The main character is one of seven deities who comprised the sum of human and non-human emotions and through a series of travels in both our world and his, he discovers what it means to truly delve into the heart of those that dream. The Sandman, much like Saga of the Swamp Thing, was heavily influenced by philosophy, horror, and fantasy, but where Moore focused more on the human experience and keeping the “other worlds” as a means of exploration, Gaiman decided to do the opposite. He kept his characters
SCREAM
93
more-or-less attached to the realm of imagination while choosing the human world to be the alien landscape. The comic ended up launching Neil Gaiman into super-stardom and garnered an innumerable amount of awards and critical recognition. It is even taught in some colleges alongside classic literature. Backed by a hefty selection of adultoriented comics, a 1992 meeting was held to discuss the specifics of launching an imprint for the ‘Bergerverse’ collection with an endgame of allowing for more creative freedom and helping the comic medium open up to mainstream, alternative comics. This inevitably led to the launch of Vertigo in January ’93. The imprint, officially publishing in March 1993, started with a mix of continuing titles and new series that included The Sandman #44, Hellblazer #63, Shade the Changing Man #33, Animal Man #57, Swamp Thing #129, and Doom Patrol #64. The two new series that launched with it was The Sandman companion, Death: The High Cost of Living and Enigma, an 8-issue limited series. Vertigo’s initial idea was to release two new series every month along with the already crowded schedule, with most ending up as either limited runs, crossovers, or ongoing series. Like most new series, some found long term success while some fizzled out after a couple year run. Most of the ongoing series that had existed before Vertigo’s launch stayed successful and ran for their entire storyline, such as The Sandman which reached its natural conclusion at issue #75 and Hellblazer, which ended in 2013 with its #300 issue, making it the longest running Vertigo title ever. Another large part of Vertigo’s financial success was it’s handling of original graphic novels as well as republishing older DC works that fit into the Vertigo mold. V for Vendetta, another Moore original that first debuted in the UK publication Warrior in 1982 and finished at DC in 1985, was re-collected and printed in a graphic novel format. Original works created purely for the longer format also came to dominate the Vertigo sales starting off with the Heart of the Beast in ’94 and the Mystery Play in ’95 up to more current times ending around 2012. Vertigo is credited for popularising trade-paperback collections, an idea that they propagated by being able to sell the books in both comic and book stores. No longer were comics limited to comic and magazine racks but instead, had cracked the literary world open by selling to a larger, book reading audience and so in turn, doubled their profit. Many comic
94
SCREAM
companies followed suit and the modern era of graphic novels was born. With Vertigo firmly established as the feisty newcomer with a heart of gold, it started to become the go to place to find the hottest new stories on the block with several core characters even making the transition over to the regular DC comics. Though Vertigo is mostly a separate universe, it is widely accepted that the first seven series that had continued under the Vertigo flag when it first launched were technically created before Vertigo which meant they were still DC cannon. Swamp Thing, John Constanine, Animal Man, and others are frequently seen crossing paths with DC’s finest and had made appearances in all of the major DC crises. In fact, Constantine ended up relaunching after the Hellblazer run as regular DC hero and even has his own team named Justice League Dark. A secondary series titled simply Constantine continued his solo career but ended at issue #23 with the new series Constantine: Hellblazer taking over. Over the next 25 years, the imprint continued to launch writers and artist deep into the fandom orbit. Popular titles such as Preacher, Y the Last Man, Fables, Sweet Tooth, swept the market and inspired readers who have never touched a comic to pick one up and start reading. Vertigo even had its own sub-imprints, each meeting with different levels of success and ranging from one-shot retellings of obscure heroes (Vertigo Visions) to focusing on more pop culture inspired works (Vertigo Pop). Perhaps their most successful subimprint was Vertigo Crime, a graphic novel line featuring black-and-white crime and thriller stories that ran from ’09-’11.
Of course, the real question is, what is it about Vertigo that keeps bringing readers back? What is it about its monsters and men that have managed to leave both a strong legacy and a genuine excitement for the next new series? What did Vertigo do differently? The answer is respect for the fans and the medium. Before Vertigo, hell, before Alan Moore even put pen on to paper, comics were considered a low-brow entertainment. Very few comics dared to step out of the boundaries of beat-em-ups and romantic sighs and those that did were either labeled ‘underground’ or forced into large format magazines to avoid the Comic Code. Vertigo knew the potential of comic books. They understood that fans wanted something genuine, something that speaks to the heart of human experience. They made comics that reflected that and in turn, saw success that ultimately ended up changing the face of modern comics. Vertigo didn’t just tell stories or draw pictures, they let their creators run freely across the pages knowing that it was time to break the mold. When Alan Moore wrote Swamp Thing for the first time or Neil Gaiman brought life to The Sandman, they saw the unlimited potential in their creations and pushed the boundaries of entertainment and art. Vertigo refused to be limited by trends and instead, walked their own path, one that still forges the way for newer and better works. Though Berger had stepped down from the company in 2013, her influence and foresight can still be felt throughout the imprint and with a growing readership every day, it’ll be long before we’re free of Vertigo’s grasp. But then again, why would we want to be?
www.screamhorrormag.com
FF FF m a e r c s
SO GOOD IT’S SCARY!
SUBSCRIBE TO THE WORLD’S NO.1 HORROR MAGAZINE
WORLDWIDE SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE!
Our subscriptions last for 6 full bloody colour glossy editions sent to your home every 8 weeks...
Subscription rates including shipping from the UK £20/US$46/Can$58/ €31
SUBSCRIBE NOW AT WWW.SCREAMHORRORMAG.COM/STORE SCREAM 95 DON’T FORGET! FOR DAILY NEWS, REVIEWS, FEATURES, COMPETITION’S & MORE - SURF OVER TO WWW.SCREAMHORRORMAG.COM www.screamhorrormag.com
96
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
97
98
SCREAM
www.screamhorrormag.com
PSYCHOPATHS HAVE A NEW ROLE MODEL IN DR. TODD THE SAVAGE SAGA CONTINUES FILM RIGHTS AVAILABLE
GENRE MASHING AUTHOR BRYAN ROBERTS IS BACK
SavageRobertsPublishing.com
www.screamhorrormag.com
SCREAM
99
DEE WALLACE
PATRICK MACNEE
a film by JOE DaNTE
100
SCREAM
© 1981 STUDIOCANAL. DISTRIBUTED BY STUDIOCANAL LIMITED. ARTWORK © 2017 STUDIOCANAL LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
www.screamhorrormag.com