Following on from our exclusive interview with Adrienne King, star of Friday the 13th, we bring you an exclusive interview with the producer and co-writer of a new horror film, Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming which Adrienne recently worked on in The Misty Moon Gallery in South London during her hugely successful exhibition: ‘The Return’. Andrew Jones’ Swansea based production company North Bank Entertainment, together with Mad Science Films and Independent Moving Pictures are currently in production on this new version of the classic 1974 slasher film Silent Night, Bloody Night. Paul Worts caught up with Andrew Jones who somehow managed to find some time amid the hectic shooting schedule to give us an insight into what inspired him to become a filmmaker and what scare fans can look forward to from Andrew and North Bank Entertainment.
I read in a previous interview that when you were five years old you tried to persuade your parents to rent ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’? (Perfectly acceptable fare for a five year-old I might add!). They eventually agreed with the proviso that they sat and watched them with you to explain it was all make-believe and special effects It must surely therefore be surreal to find yourself today co-writing and co-producing a horror film with the star of that self-same ‘Friday the 13th’?
I read in a previous interview that when you were five years old you tried to persuade your parents to rent ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’? (Perfectly acceptable fare for a five year-old I might add!). They eventually agreed with the proviso that they sat and watched them with you to explain it was all make-believe and special effects It must surely therefore be surreal to find yourself today co-writing and co-producing a horror film with the star of that self-same ‘Friday the 13th’?
First of all, I'm so thankful my parents relented and let me watch those movies at such a young age. I'd probably not be making horror films today if they hadn't!
It can be kind of surreal meeting and working with people now who had such a huge impact on my life all those years ago. I've been lucky enough to meet a few genre icons who I grew up watching in films and working with Adrienne was definitely one of my favourite experiences. She's an amazing professional and what came through when meeting her is the love and appreciation she has for her fans. I think the great thing is that so many of us who grew up as fans of the genre in the 70s and 80s are now filmmakers. So you have the great genre actors from those movies appearing frequently in modern genre films, which I think long term horror fans always enjoy.
Can you tell us about your remake of the creepy 1974 ‘Silent Night, Bloody Night’ and what you can about Adrienne King’s involvement (assuming it doesn’t give too much away)?The story focuses on a creepy old manor house that has been left abandoned after the death of the owner Wilfred Butler. Wilfred's grandson Jeffrey and his lawyer turn up years later on Christmas Eve to negotiate the sale of the house, but an axe wielding maniac who has taken shelter there doesn't take too kindly to the idea. What we're doing with our version is re-booting the original concept, but bringing a lot more to it to give us the potential to expand the original story and bring our own ideas to the table. Looking at what we've already shot I believe that quite a few scenes in this film will really freak people out. The film will have suspense and tension, but it won't pull any punches in terms of the violence. But whereas in a lot of slasher films it's just dumb cliché characters who get bumped off, there's actually more substance and back story going on with our set of characters. There's a twisted method to the madness.
I won't go into too much detail about Adrienne's work on the film just yet, but it's definitely the complete opposite of her role in Friday the 13th. She's on the other side of things this time!
What particularly appealed to you about ‘Silent Night, Bloody Night’?
I always thought Silent Night, Bloody Night was one of the forgotten horror classics. The film is flawed and somewhat dated now, but it's a wonderfully atmospheric mix of Giallo and Slasher. That film pioneered some of the conventions of the slasher sub genre, such as the killer POV shot, before even Black Christmas or Halloween. I've always wanted to make a slasher film and I thought the material in Silent Night, Bloody Night had the potential to go so much further than it did. Hopefully we can go further, while retaining the great creepy atmosphere of the original film. Although it's a modern film, we are aiming to re-create an old school vibe with it.Now, according to IMDB, the house used for the Butler mansion in the original film is still standing today in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York – where Adrienne King was born – surely an incredible coincidence?
I did notice that on the IMDB! I've been thinking about potential projects to approach Adrienne with for years so the Oyster Bay link was just the sign I needed to let me know that this film was the one we were finally going to collaborate on.
Most of us love movies (particularly horror films), but few of us take the leap from viewer and fan to actual filmmaker. What was the catalyst that persuaded you to take up the camera yourself?
Probably the Indie scene in the US in the 90s. Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Larry Clark. Movies like Clerks, Reservoir Dogs and Kids are great movies but they are so brilliantly simplistic in their concepts and presentation that I saw those films and thought “I could do that”. Not in an arrogant way, it just opened my eyes to how you can do a lot with a good basic concept. Whereas when I grew up all the movies I saw seemed so big budget and fantastical that the idea of making one of those myself seemed like an impossible dream. Even horror, which was the genre I loved the most. The effects laden stuff of the 80s just seemed unattainable. Then I started seeing good movies that were basically just people talking and a few years later the digital revolution made getting the camera equipment possible for the average Joe. So those things together inspired me to give it a shot myself. I started out doing gritty character based dramas because they seemed the most simple kind of film to make. But even in those films there were visual references to a bunch of horror movies, and I was always trying to cast genre actors in the roles. I remember I offered Michael Berryman the role of a heroin dealer in my drama The Feral Generation and his agent was very offended. I always found the agent being offended kind of weird considering the crazy roles Michael has played down the years. But I think it's a bit too raw when horrible things are presented to people realistically in a straight drama. Yet when it's wrapped up in the often hyper real world of the horror genre, it's more palpable for an audience. The horror genre is the perfect vehicle to explore the dark side of humanity but also give the audience an entertaining ride in the process. It's a safe scare.
It's difficult to pick just one; I often have a different favourite that I watch more frequently all the time. Obviously I can never get enough of the classics I grew up with – Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street. But two of the films I've really grown to love even more in recent years are The Hills Have Eyes and The Fog. The Hills Have Eyes is probably as much of an influence on Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection as the original Night of the Living Dead was, certainly in terms of having a family as some of the central characters. I love that film because of how it deals with the A and B side of life and how the most civilised can often end up being the most savage when all of their familiar comforts are stripped away from them. The Fog I always loved but in recent years I've come to appreciate even more just how brilliantly atmospheric that film is. It's probably one of John Carpenter's most under rated films.
You were commissioned in 2008 to write and direct a remake of the once notorious ‘video nasty’ ‘The Driller Killer’. (A much maligned and misunderstood gem which I first saw at the Scala Cinema in Kings’ Cross) and I understand cult actor David Hess, star of ‘Last House on the Left’ was onboard in the lead role – but unfortunately the production never got off the ground due to a dispute between the producers. That must have been a huge disappointment – particularly with the subsequent death of David Hess in 2011?
(I have fond memories of seeing David Hess at FrightFest in 2010 when he came to the UK to promote ‘Smash Cut’. After the screening he sat on the stage in front of the huge Empire cinema screen and gave us a couple of acoustic songs).
Yeah it was disappointing that The Driller Killer didn't work out. In my short time on the outskirts of the film industry I've seen that business disputes often get in the way of creative plans so now I just shrug my shoulders and move on when projects don't happen. As a producer I do my best to placate all sides and make deals happen but often some people want more than you can offer and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down if everyone isn't willing to compromise. In the case of The Driller Killer you had two separate rights holders of the original who couldn't reach an agreement, so unfortunately whatever I did was never going to be enough if they couldn't agree with each other first! The only thing that is disappointing in hindsight is that, as you say, it was one of a few projects I had developed with David Hess that we didn't get off the ground before his death. I first met David in Soho, London back around 2007/2008 I think it was. He was a real hero of mine as I'd seen Last House on the Left, House on the Edge of the Park and Hitch Hike as a kid and loved his powerful screen presence. It was tremendous to meet him, I half expected him to have the intimidating vibe his characters had but he was a spiritual, creative soul. After that initial meeting we used to talk on the phone often and the experience he passed on about the industry helped me so much over the years. I learnt a lot from him and it's really sad to think we didn't get the chance to work together. David's sons are very talented guys as well so I hope in the future I'll get a chance to work with them on a project.
What we can't compete with the studios on is budget. We only have limited resources whereas those big budget re-boots are often awash with money. But I don't think our limited budget is necessarily a bad thing as all of the horror movies I've loved down the years have been low budget. Low budget makes good filmmakers more creative and that's definitely the case with our team. Our director James Plumb always finds a way to be more creative with limited resources; it brings out the best in him. Plus I feel the studios tend to throw too much money at their horror flicks. I don't think they realise that part of the charm of the classic horrors of the 70s and 80s was the gritty, grindhouse feel a lot of them had. I know studios claim that modern audiences are used to everything looking so high tech and pristine so they couldn't get away with a grittier low budget feel now, but I disagree. Low budget grittiness with a cast of unknowns brings so much to a horror movie. A glossy looking horror flick starring the cast of '90210' or some other teen TV show is not scary, no matter how good the script is.
I think mainly what we have that the filmmakers involved with the studio re-imaginings don't have is creative freedom, which is definitely a major plus when you are a low budget independent project. With Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection we were free to go a completely different way than the original material. We retained the basic concept of a farmhouse and zombies of course, but we weren't forced to adhere to the plot turns and characters of the original film which is often the problem a lot of remakes run into. They don't have a different enough take on the material to make it interesting, it ends up just being a pointless retread of the same story. So you won't be seeing the same story with the same characters with our 'Living Dead' film. There are some familiar characters and we sometimes play on the audience's knowledge of the original for a scare here and there, but this is a completely different movie than the 1968 version. I hope people go into the film thinking it's going to be the same old stuff, because they will get a surprise. We take turns in the story that make it a brand new viewing experience.
I liked Savini's version, although it's probably well known by now that he was handcuffed by the producers on that movie a lot. If you listen to his audio commentary on the DVD or interviews with him years later it's clear he had more outlandish ideas for that film and I think if they had allowed him more creative freedom it would have been truly amazing. Obviously the MPAA ripped the guts out of the gore as well. But as it is, I think it's a really good film. I did like Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, that was a good film because they just took the concept- survivors in a mall surrounded by zombies- and went their own way with it. That's what you need to do really to make it interesting, there's no point trying to follow the original movie because everyone's already seen that. The only thing I don't like about that movie are the sprinting zombies. I hate that shit. Zombies don't run, simple as that. The film that started that was 28 Days Later'but that was a rage virus, not a zombie virus. It looks like a lot of fans have made their dislike of fast zombies pretty clear now so I hope we'll see less zombies running in flicks from now on.
The Friday the 13th remake to me was a strange one. On the surface you have all the elements of a Friday the 13th flick – promiscuous teens, outlandish deaths and a merciless killer. I actually thought Derek Mears made a great Jason. But no matter how much I have tried to since its release I can't bring myself to like the film. It's not because I'm part of the “Fuck remakes” brigade, because I'm producing remakes myself. So I've been trying to work out why I didn't like the movie and I think part of it is, as I've previously mentioned, that it's too glossy looking. Part of the charm of the original Friday the 13th movies is the low budget, sometimes even sleazy feel that they had. They just didn't replicate the feel of the original films in the remake and were probably placing too much emphasis on appealing to a “new” audience rather than pleasing the fans that made the original franchise such a success. I also didn't like that Jason kidnapped someone. I didn't like that - Jason doesn't kidnap people; he kills them.
Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween was much maligned and I sort of understand that but I do like Rob Zombie's style. Although The Devil's Rejects is more of a Western than a horror movie, it's a truly brilliant film and Rob is definitely an incredibly talented director. I appreciated the concept of his Halloween remake being a half prequel and there was a lot of potential in his ideas for exploring the childhood and Asylum years. But if you're going to go a completely different way, do that throughout the film. I think making the third act a rushed through retread of the original was a mistake and I'm pretty sure that a lot of studio interference didn't help the direction of that film. But if the studio executives are interested in what the fans want, before they start the next Halloween film they should look at all of the films in the Halloween franchise and ask themselves when Michael Myers was at his most effective. It's clearly the first film, because at that point Michael was a genuine force of evil with no discernible motive and scarier as a result. They need to get rid of all the Sister/Family bullshit, no reference to any motives or back story and just start with the tools of what made the original so great. Get a director with a true grasp of building suspense who can work with a writer who understands that the original Michael is all about being a constant threat that could spring up at any time in a seemingly safe suburban environment, something that was conveyed visually in the original but hasn't been done properly in any Halloween film since. We see too much of him in the sequels/remake and know too much about him. Michael is one of those rare characters in movie history who is far more powerful and effective the less we know about him. That's probably a big reason why many fans disliked Rob Zombie's version as it offered too much of an explanation of the character.
In the new film they should use the great original score in its entirety. Halloween IS Carpenter's original score. Cut John Carpenter a fat cheque and make sure this movie SOUNDS like a Halloween film all the way through. They should create a mask that resembles the creepy original identically. I know they often ask the FX guys on those movies to do a "close approximation" for legal reasons. But the studio has the money so they need to prioritize paying any amount they have to for an exact duplicate of the original film's mask. They should create a group of normal suburban characters who an audience can identify with. I think the Laurie and Loomis characters are played out so start afresh with new and interesting characters. Preferably ones who don't say 'Fuck' every other word. A good start to building suspense and tension is giving us leading characters/potential victims who we aren't wishing death on from the first moment they open their mouths, which I think was another thing that people disliked about the remake. The harsh language really worked for Rob Zombie's other movies but it did feel a little bit much for a Halloween flick.
The most important thing to remember is that any horror or slasher film does not have to break new ground to be a crowd pleaser. Scream is where we can go for the self referential, smart arse stuff, when it comes to the classic franchises like Halloween it should be all about executing a simple concept very well. The original Halloween is not a plethora of back story, complex characters and an FX bloodbath. It's a very simple concept but superbly directed by a guy who understands how to build suspense and deliver the chair jumpers. That's what we need for a new Halloween film, keep it simple but do it well. I guess you could apply a similar principle for a new Friday the 13th movie too.
How do you celebrate Halloween?
When I was a kid I remember Halloween night being synonymous with eggs! Shops wouldn't sell them to Under 18s on Halloween because they knew that if people couldn't offer a treat, the trick would be an egg splatting on their house! Now I celebrate Halloween by watching Halloween 1 & 2 back to back. So I won't be disturbed by trick or treaters I carve Gary Glitter's face into a pumpkin and put it in the window. No one comes knocking then.
Have you ever visited any scare attractions such as The London Dungeon or perhaps a seasonal installation for example at a farm etc?
I loved London Dungeon as a kid. My parents would often drive me up there from our home in Wales. I was never that disturbed by horror movies but I remember being a bit unnerved by the mocked up scenes of historical torture at the Dungeons. Film was always make believe to me but the idea that those kinds of things actually happened to people really creeped me out! I haven't been for years but when I have kids I will be taking them there to creep them out too!
And finally, what future projects do you have in the pipeline?
I've got a few things in development but for the rest of this year I'll be tied up with the two current projects. Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection will be coming out in the US through Grindstone Entertainment Group and Lionsgate Home Entertainment and we're also in the process of closing deals for the film in the UK and Europe. We also have to finish shooting and post production on Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming and get the distribution tied up on that too, hopefully in time for a Christmas release. There's around 5 projects I have to choose from to go into production on in 2013 so once the dust settles on Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection and Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming we'll see what we can move forward on next. I definitely want to stay in the horror genre for the foreseeable future, it's the only place I'm truly happy.
Paul Worts
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