Your new film is called Stockholm Syndrome. Can you tell us
in a few phrases what the movie's about?
The film is about human trafficking
in a small town. We follow a husband and wife, as they get kidnapped
and are forced into this bad situation. We follow them as they do whatever they can to survive.
In writing, Stockholm
Syndrome sounds very violent. How far do you go in your depiction of
violence on screen?
When
I was writing it, I thought I had really pushed the violence as far as I
could but, after watching it several times, I truly think I could have
pushed it even further.The
violence is strong and brutal but, it doesn’t take away from the story,
it just adds to it.
Would you consider your film as what
is now termed as torture porn, and what are your thoughts about
films that bear that brand proudly, like the Hostel-series?
It's
funny because a few reviewers considered the film torture porn and I
really don’t feel like it is. I
tried aiming the film in that direction, but it didn’t come out that
way. In my opinion there is
only one real scene where I would consider it torture porn. There is a scene where a priest comes in to buy a girl and he
tortures her to death. That
is the only scene in the film that I would even consider torture porn. The rest of the film is truly about these characters trying
to survive. It also goes into
the characters who are committing these crimes.
So, the viewer gets a taste of everything.
The film was also considered to be like Hostel but, I disagree.
The story in Stockholm Syndrome was based on actual events.
It may have elements in it like Hostel but, I think the film can
stand on its own two feet.
What
were your inspirations for the movie's plot?
I
had just watched the film Last
House on the Left and I recall how real
that film felt. It wasn’t
about monsters or UFO people, but it was about humans doing bad things to
other humans which I find to be more scary then anything else. At the same time there was a new report about a few girls that had
been kidnapped and forced into prostitution in a town that wasn’t far
from where I was. It scared
me to know that these things are happening in you’re my own back yard. So, I did some research and read some horror able stories.
My script then came from those stories.
A few words
about your cast?
I
had a lot of my normal actors working with me again. I had Eddie Benevich who is a good friend and a kick ass
actor. He came on to play
Geno, one of the bad guys. I
also had Jason Senior (David – Husband) and Todd Proesl (Priest) who are
also good friends, join the cast. I
was lucky enough to work with some new faces. I had the fabulous Lisa Marano who plays the pregnant wife and Todd
Humes who plays the other bad guy, Ty. Everyone did a great job and worked really hard to bring this film
to life. The cast suffered
through a very rough shoot. A lot of cold weather and really bad shooting locations.
The film's website/mySpace/whatever
else?
www.myspace.com/4thfloorpictures
www.myspace.com/stockholm_syndrome2008
When and where will Stockholm Syndrome be
released? The film will be released on 5/5/09 through Brain Damage
Films:
www.braindamagefilms.com Let's leave the present behind for a while and
go back to your beginnings. What got you started as a filmmaker? I’ve
always been making movies since I was a kid.
I spent a lot of time making up stories when I was younger.
I didn’t have any video equipment when I was younger, so I would
draw a lot of comic books. Most
of them being horror related comic books. When I hit high school, my parents were nice enough to get me
a VHS camera and I was able to get my hands on some video equipment at the
school, this started the film making monster in me. I kept making short films with my friends and continued to do
so into my college days. It
was in college that I started 4th Floor Pictures and just
continued to build from there. It
was during my college days that I ate, slept, and breathed film making.
I loved every bit of it and I pushed to get my own films made, even
when I didn’t have a dime to my name.
Your
first feature film was Serial Killer
back in 2002. Would you like
to talk about that one?
Serial
Killer was my first feature film. It
was a very low budget film done for a few hundred dollars.
The basic idea was to make a very cheap film and have tons of nudity in
it. I think we achieved that…. I
did some quick research on Serial
Killer and wrote a quick script with a “Who
did it” type of ending. Basically, we were going to use Serial
Killer to raise
funds to make a better film. We
were hoping that Serial
Killer would appeal to the fans of erotic films.
We sold enough copies to make another film and that was the real goal of
the film.
That one was followed by
Demon Slaughter, a gangster/monster movie hybrid. How did you even
think up that special blend?
Demon
Slaughter was the second film I did. I
shot this right after completing Serial
Killer. It was another film done with no budget.
The storyline was about a gangster who wants to get out of his mob
family. After escaping the mob he
heads to a cabin where all of these bad things start happening.
The film has been described as The Sopranos meets Evil
Dead.
I’m not sure where the idea came from, but it had zombies, demons, and
a lot of action. It was quickly
made and pushed out into the market, so we could raise enough money to make
another film. Shooting quick and
cheap kinda became a theme around here.
A few words about your Dead
Body Man-trilogy?
Dead
Body Man was one of those films that just kinda happened by accident.
The original storyline was more of a serious film.
As we started filming we added these jokes into the film and it became
very funny. So, I quickly changed the script up and made it into a
horror/comedy, which was all new to me. We
continued filming and it was just blast to make.
There were no rules with a comedy. You
could say or do whatever in the film. It
found a following when it was released, so we ended up making a sequel.
The sequel didn’t hold back in any way and it’s just a balls-out
funny film. We complete the series
about two years ago with Dead Body Man Chronicles and it was just released
through GMD FILMS - www.gmdfilms.com.
What can you tell us about Day
of the Ax?
Day
of the Ax was my throw back to the 80’s slasher films.
I was always a big fan of Halloween and
Texas Chainsaw
Massacre,
so I wanted to do an old school slasher film.
I wrote a very basic script but, I tried to develop some type of
story that was different from anything done in the 80’s with slasher
films. Basically, the
storyline was about a group of kids who go camping and they run across this
inbred family who are raping girls to bring demon babies into the world.
And how about House of Carnage?
House of Carnage is actually a sequel to Day of the
Ax. The story just continues
where the first one left off. I
really never planned to do a sequel but, I got this great location and I
wanted to use it for something. So,
I quickly wrote a storyline and we started shooting.
There really wasn’t a solid script written because we didn’t
have the time. I just wrote a
lot of directions for each scene and the actors had to find their way in
those scenes. Much of the
film doesn’t even have dialogue. Some
day I would like to revisit this series and do the final film the right
way and give it some justice.
Your
film with the best title is in my view Aspiring Psychopath. Could
you please talk about that one for a bit?
Aspiring
Psychopath was a quick film. We had
this idea of doing a film about an individual wanting to be a killer.
So, we played around with the idea and decided to have a female as the
lead because it was something different. We
shot this off and on for several months. It
also didn’t have a solid storyline. The
idea was just basically a killer learning how to kill.
It was later picked up for distribution by SRS Cinema www.srscinema.com. Any future
projects you'd like to talk about? Right now we are in the production stages of a new
film called The Killing Fields. This
will be my 10th film. I
wanted to revisit the idea of serial killers again with a fresh idea.
So, I did several months of research and gathered a lot of nasty
stories and developed them into a script.
I think this film will one of the nastiest films I’ll ever do.
I’m looking forward to it. You usually write,
direct and produce your own films. Which aspect of moviemaking do you like
best, which the least? I
enjoy doing the writing and the directing.
It lets me create and that’s what I love to do.
The producing isn’t as fun.
The producing end always has to deal with the business stuff and
that’s something I really don’t enjoy doing.
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Directors who have influenced
you?
I
think every director out there has been an influence on me in some way.
There are just some many to name. I
would have to say Tobe Hooper was my first true influence.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the first film that made me want to direct
or to make my own movies. Your favourite movies? I’m
a big fan of indie films – Director Eric Stanze’s films (Ice on the
Sun, Scrapebook, Deadwood Park) So
many films to name… The big
ones - Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, Evil Dead (all of them),
Halloween, Satan’s Little
Helper, and Faust (1999 – by Jan Svankmajer). And some
films you really deplored? I
really don’t hate any films. There
are films I just don’t care for. Hatchet
is a film that I would pass on if I had to watch it again. Anything else you are dying
to tell us and I have simply forgotten to ask? I
think that covers it. Thank
you for the interview. To
find out more about 4th Floor Pictures and our films please
visit: www.myspace.com/4thfloorpictures. All
films are available at: www.braindamagefilms.com,
www.srscinema.com,
www.gmdfilms.com,
www.amazon.com. You can also rent them from
Netflix. Thanks
for the interview!
|