| iR:
So how did you get started? |
| |
| I started as a publicist at MPI in Chicago,
and was showing "Henry: The Portrait of a Serial
Killer" around, pushing it to festivals and eventually
launched the film when no one else cared about it. Then
I started working with John McNaughton on movies like
"Mad Dog and Glory" and "Normal Life"
for a few years. Later, I went back to MPI and proposed
the Henry sequel. I wrote it, but we either couldn't find
a director who cared about the material or someone whom
we could afford. The company was very mistrustful of outside
people and liked to work with people that they know, so
eventually I got to direct it. It was kind of a long route
around. I did go to film school in Chicago, but I hadn't
planned on a directing career. I wanted to be more of
a screenwriter than a director then. |
| |
| iR:
How was the shoot of "Henry 2"? |
| |
| Tough production. Shot in Chicago in the
winter and froze our asses off. Frightening and scary
with pyrotechnics. |
| |
| iR:
What are the movies that you like? |
| |
| My favorite movies are stuff like "In
Cold Blood" and "Last Exit to Brooklyn,"
movies that usually involve dark subject matter and true
story and that seem like things are happening in real
life. I certainly have other interests, but I seem to
be doing this pretty well in this genre. I'd like to do
a movie without violence someday, but I can't see someone
hiring me to do one in the foreseeable future. I'll keep
doing it as long as I'm doing it well and not getting
stale. |
| |
 |
|
a
hung body in "Ed Gein"
|
|
| |
| iR:
You seem to be drawn toward serial killers, or am I
wrong? |
| |
| There's a lot to say about killers because
each of them has an individual life story. Every one's
circumstances is different. I would usually do a ton of
research. I've studied and read about killers for so many
years. I would try to find a pattern and try to make them
three dimensional. Serial killers do have another life
other than their murders and murderous impulses. Typically,
they live a long time before they go out and kill someone,
and sometimes they have a good reason to do so. People
find them fascinating. |
| |
| For example, Henry is a very fascinating
character. "Henry 2" is a real challenge to
do because the first film was such a classic. It was hard
not to repeat what happened in the first film and tried
to say something else. In "Henry 2," I'm trying
to say that he couldn't help what he's doingŠ he' s just
powerless to his deeds. |
| |
| iR:
What about "Ed Gein," your latest film? |
| |
 |
| Steve
Railsback as Chuck Parello's "Ed Gein" |
Ed Gein is more of a sympathetic character. You get to
understand where he is from. Steve Railsback (who plays
Gein in the movie) made his character wonderful. You sympathize
with Gein and it's hard to watch what he does. So it's
quite different from Henry. There's a lot more of a backstory
in "Ed Gein." While Ed Gein is basically a little
boy who misses his momma, Henry is a beaten and abused
kid who fits more the typical mode of a serial killer.
They are both charming in their own rights. |
| |
| iR:
What do you find charming about them? |
| |
| Henry is a gentleman. He's a guardian to
women when, of course, he's not killing them. Ed Gein
is one of the nicest people and has a wacky humor. Gein
just doesn't fit in into his time and place, but people
let him ride and dismiss his eccentricity. He's an all
around nice guy if he's not hanging up women in the shack. |
| |
| iR:
How did people react to "Henry 2"? |
| |
| "Henry 2" faced a negative and
dismissive attitude with people who loved the original
so much. But when people gave it a chance to actually
look at the movie, they found out how well done it was.
It faced and still faces a lot of prejudice just because
people think it's only catching a good name from the original. |
| |
 |
"It
was my first film, and they were more my ideas." |
|
Neil
Giuntoli as Henry
|
|
|
| |
| iR:
How would you compare "Henry 2" to "Ed
Gein"? |
| |
| "Henry 2" is more heartfelt than
"Ed Gein." It was my first film and they were
all my ideas. "Henry 2" was all made up by me,
while Ed Gein is a true story. |
| |
| iR:
How did you go from "Henry 2" to "Ed Gein"? |
| |
| The producer of "Ed Gein," Hamish
McAlpine, was teasing John McNaughton that someone (wink
wink: me) stole his idea. John stuck up for "Henry
2," which made Hamish curious about watching it.
He became the UK distributor for "Henry 2,"
and once they got the Ed Gein project they called me. |
| |
 |
|
the
original leather face is Ed Gein
|
|
| |
| iR:
Did you get more of a budget for "Ed Gein"? |
| |
| "Ed Gein" was done very cheaply.
No resources. Ultimately the film turned out very well.
The pay wasn't much, but when you really want to do a
film you do it anyway. |
| |
| iR:
What's going to happen to "Ed Gein"? |
| |
| It's playing festivals and it's going to
be released theatrically in U.S. It would be a really
small theatrical. |
| |
| iR:
Ideally, what kind of projects do you want to make? |
| |
| Something that's not genre and about serial
killer at this point. I like genre movies but ultimately
I don't think I fit in that category. My films are more
for adults than teenagers. |
| |
| iR:
Can you explain more? |
| |
| Well, it's in a sad state of affairs. The
whole genre. It's just really awful, because genre movies
are made to appeal to a real dumbed-down sector of viewers.
Plus, I've made movies with too many dead bodies, and
I can never get the actors to stop breathing convincingly. |
| |
| iR:
Let's say that if you know everything that you know
now, would you have done "Henry 2" or "Ed
Gein" differently? |
| |
| We had such a limited schedule and money
that there was not much room for interpretation. It's
tough having no money to make a movie. I think I did good
within the circumstances. Anybody who shoots no budget
films would know how impossible it is. |
| |
| iR:
What do you think about film festivals and how your
films fit in or not fit in? |
| |
| Films like "Ed Gein" or even "Henry
2" fit into a more commercial profile. Often, selection
committees are automatically dismissive because of the
subject matter. They're instantly prejudiced and think
of themselves as above or superior to the material. That's
a shame because "Ed Gein" is a very good movie
and features a lot of talented people. Steve Railsback
and Kerry Snodgress gave really good performances. |
| |
| "It's great
to be able to write and direct films. But just good
luck about getting paid." |
|
| |
| iR:
How do you feel about this whole indie filmmaking scene? |
| |
| I've been lucky that people are hiring me
now. It takes a lot to get a name or reputation. It's
great to be able to write and direct films. But just good
luck about getting paid. |
| |
| iR:
How hard has it been for you to get paid? |
| |
| It's been impossible. The producers I've
worked for are so goddamn greedy and heartless and they
show no appreciation. It's all about their own greed.
They're nice to you when they want you to work real hard.
But when money's rolling in, they don't return your calls.
I guess no one thinks what a writer or director does is
real work. They don't realize how much time and effort
it takes. The business is so competitive that they think
they always can get someone else other than you. |
| |
| iR:
Okay, this is a stupid questionŠ but if someone who wants
to be a filmmaker, what would you tell them? |
| |
| Go for it. It can be done. I've never dreamed
about being a film director, and I just kind of worked
and worked and get lucked into it. It's better to give
it a try than one day you realize that this was what you
would have liked to do. Sometimes, people are so critical
of other people's films. If they had any idea of how much
work that went into producing that film, they would have
more respect. Until you've made a film yourself, please
refrain from criticizing other people's works, especially
my own. |
| |
| "Until
you've made a film yourself, please refrain from
criticizing other people's works, especially my
own." |
|
| |
| iR:
What are you working on now? |
| |
A few projects. Immediately I'm writing
and directing "Deep Forest" for Brian Yuzna's
Fantastic Factory. It's a true story set in 1852 in
North Spain about a man who murders thirteen people
including men and women and who claims to have been
in a werewolf form when committing those murders. I
have a pet project called "Citygas," a crime
thriller about a multi-millionaire gas station magnet
who hires hit men to bump off itinerant workers, people
and informants on his illegal business practices. .jpg) |
