Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
And just in time for Comic-Con, where I’m sure you’ll be seeing all sorts of DEVIL’S REJECTS stuff, like the exclusive two-pack of action figures or maybe even the film itself. I still haven’t been invited to a screening of this one, but that’s fine by me. I’d love to see what an opening weekend crowd makes of what I hear is a really brutal ride. Check this out:
With the release of THE DEVIL’S REJECTS just days away now, I find myself frequently discussing the film with people. They’ve usually read my first three interviews with the horror auteur --
-- and ask me if it’s really as great as I claim it is and if Rob has truly grown as a filmmaker. To that, I simply reply, “Yes and yes.”
So, here it is... the final segment of my interview with Rob Zombie. Dig it...
OBI-SWAN: As an artist, those early images you saw in the theater or on TV as a kid are indelible. Even the bad movies probably stay with you and affect your creative identity.
ROB ZOMBIE: Totally. They’re in your head in some way that’s probably not realistic. I’m sure everyone’s done this, you love a movie and then you show it to someone else for the first time and they’re like, that movie sucks. Why do you like THE OMEGA MAN so much? But you’re seeing it through fourteen-year-old eyes in 1973. And I think it really resonates in this movie because look at the cast. If I had cast the whole movie with twenty-year-olds, how are they gonna evoke that essence? They didn’t live through it. They don’t even know what it is. But since the cast is an older cast they know exactly what it is. For the most part, all their careers where at their height at that time. Every one of them had their cult film... THE HILLS HAVE EYES, DAWN OF THE DEAD... it’s always the 70’s. Everyone just reeks of that time period. Without even trying they added to the atmosphere.
OS: I’m sure you would have loved to make movies in the 70’s.
RZ: It would have been amazing.
OS: And maybe your way of getting close to it is to work with people who are so immediately connected to that era.
RZ: Those are the people I love. When I was casting – I don’t wanna mention names – but people would come to me with names of actors who are hot now and go, how about this person? And I have no interest in that whatsoever. A lot of people think it’s all some kind of “stunt casting” getting all these cult names, and it totally wasn’t. Like, as a kid, I’ve always loved Geoffrey Lewis.
OS: Great actor.
RZ: He’s a great actor. Go back and watch him in everything from EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE to HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER... he’s awesome. I’ve always loved him as an actor and I was very excited to work with him.
OS: Another great actor from CORPSES was Harrison Young. He had an uncredited part in TAXI DRIVER, but never really made his mark until the late 90’s when he played Old Man Ryan in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. I thought that was a really inspired choice, because it seemed like your intention with that was to pervert the Norman Rockwell-esque American icon Steven Spielberg had recently created.
RZ: That was sort of a big joke that we were killing Private Ryan.
OS: Was he wearing the same jacket he wore in PRIVATE RYAN?
RZ: (Laughs) It wasn’t anything intentional. It might have just been an accident.
OS: The shot where he falls face first in the mud after being shot by Otis...
RZ: Right.
OS: And you’ve got the song by Slim Whitman, “I Remember You”...
RZ: Yeah.
OS: That’s such a great moment and a great scene. The visuals and the soundtrack come together so well.
RZ: That was my favorite moment from that movie, the “I Remember You” scene. A lot of people thought that was supposed to be funny, because it’s Slim Whitman. But I never thought Slim Whitman was funny. He kind of got a bad rep because they had those TV commercials where they’d sell his records on TV. I just thought that was a beautiful song and it worked well with the visuals.
OS: I never thought during either of the two movies that you were trying to be funny with any of your music choices.
RZ: No, I never wanted that. I haven’t watched the first one in a couple years. Only REJECTS is fresh in my mind right now because I’m working on it everyday. But there’s not a moment in this movie where I wanted the music to get a laugh. In fact, if it did, I wanted to change it. That was never the intention. Sometimes it can get a laugh because when you juxtapose images sometimes people aren’t sure what to make of it so they think, oh, I’m supposed to laugh, I guess.
OS: One of the things in the “I Remember You” sequence I thought was so brilliant was the quick flashback to Christmas morning at the Willis house, with them waving to the Super-8 camera. I thought that was a beautiful, haunting, completely surprising moment.
RZ: I like weird moments like that. Weird things always pop into your mind at horrible moments. I just figured that maybe that’s what it was... his last happy thought.
OS: Referencing the first film again, Baby had a Burlesque musical number, “I Wanna Be Loved By You.” Of course, there’s nothing in REJECTS that approaches that kind of over-the-top, stylized theatrics. But I was wondering, while watching REJECTS, if you might attempt a scene for Baby that’s a sort of tonal counter-point. A musical number that’s nothing like anything in the first film, tone-wise. I was surprised you didn’t try something like that.
RZ: I’m trying to think if there was a... in earlier drafts of the script, there were scenes that sort of related back to the first film. But the longer I wrote on the script, the further and further away I kept getting away from the first movie. So there were a few things that were more in line with that sort of thing that eventually went away. Movies are funny. They sort of take on a life of their own. Like with albums, the songs can take on a life of their own. You may think, I’m gonna do it like this, but it just wants to go another direction. The worst thing you can do sometimes is stop it. Things can have a natural flow and sometimes they just end up in a better place. And this time I had a lot of time with the script and I had a lot of time to rehearse with the actors. We really had time to hammer things out. The only problem was we had only twenty-nine days to make it. So everybody really had to show up in the zone. And the actors really did. You gotta give ‘em credit. We’ve all stayed really close friends since making the first movie. Had we all gone off and not talked to each other for years then come back to make this movie, it would have been disastrous. But me and Bill and Sid and Sheri and everyone... we’re all such close friends that I think as our relationships matured the characters also matured.
OS: Bill Moseley is one hell of an actor. If you ask me who the hardest working, most talented actor genre film is, I’d have to say Bill Moseley. No question. I love the stuff in the DVD extras on CORPSES, where we get to see some of the early read-thrus and screen tests. Even in those early tests, Moseley is one hundred percent committed. He plays several roles in CORPSES, too. And if you want to see range, just look at Tom Savini’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD where he plays...
RZ: Johnny, I think...
OS: For years I had no idea that was the guy from CHAIN SAW 2.
RZ: I think he’s amazing in this film. I think is by far his best performance. I know Bill really well, and oddly enough, Chop-Top is closer to his actual personality than Otis. Because Bill is kind this funny, wiry kind of guy and has that kind of energy. And Otis is a performance he had to pull out of himself. It wasn’t like him at all.
OS: I was at the MASTERS OF HORROR party a few weeks ago and ran into Irwin Keyes [Ravelli from CORPSES]. I had about a twenty minute talk with him. I don’t remember exactly what he told me about him, but I think he said Bill went to Harvard or was an MIT graduate or something..? If this is true, Bill scares the shit out of me.
RZ: I’m not really sure. Bill’s a really smart guy. He’s had so many bizarre jobs and he’s told me so many insane stories. He used to write for OMNI magazine.
OS: He was pretty young when he played Chop-Top.
RZ: He was probably thirty-two... thirty-three. That’s my bet.
OS: Thank you for indulging me in the Bill Moseley biography section of this interview.
RZ: (Laughs).
OS: I’ll bring it back to you, though. This is something I’ve wondered. Given your love of the old monster movies, and in particular the Universal stuff, do you think there was ever a chance, say several years ago, that you could have been tempted down the family-friendly road and made stuff like THE MUMMY or VAN HELSING?
RZ: No, not in that way. I could see myself doing something family-friendly, but it would have to be full-on that direction. Those films, to me, seem like they fight to be family-friendly. Like they really shouldn’t be. To me, they seem watered down. But my natural tendency with everything is to be more... hard. I don’t know if I could even do that kind of stuff. And my idea of family-friendly might not be such a good idea (Laughs).
OS: Also, before I forget, I nearly cheered the other night at the screening during the opening titles when Baby’s butt crack made it’s reappearance.
RZ: Oh (Laughs).
OS: That was my first indication that I was in good hands.
RZ: Yeah, it’s kind of a recurring theme.
OS: Not trying to be funny, it’s those little touches that show your attention to detail and character. It shows you care.
RZ: I try to put care into everything I do. The more care and the more work you put into it, though, the real key is to make it look like you didn’t put anything into it. By that I sort of mean... we shot the whole film hand-held. Whole movie. And at all times we were very specific about how we framed every shot. Meticulous. But I always said I never wanted it to look like we framed a really cool shot. Because then the audience is thinking about you thinking about framing a cool shot. I wanted to be very specific and always play natural. Because when you’re watching a movie and as soon as you say, oh, I bet the editor thought that was really cool, you get taken out of the movie. That’s what I love about the 70’s. Everything feels like it’s just happening. Where as now movies feel really forced to me. Moments where the actor practically stops and winks to the audience, like, check that out. I hate that.
OS: 70’s hand-held wasn’t a gimmick. It was, most of the time, a necessity. That was way before it became a clichéd stylistic device. And with REJECTS, I never got the feeling you were trying to be visually clever. In fact, I didn’t even realize the entire movie was shot hand-held until you just told me.
RZ: The big thing we told both camera operators was “DON’T SHAKE THE CAMERA!” So it was sort of like a torture test. We made them shoot hand-held but we didn’t want the camera to jiggle. That way, the camera feels like the eyes of another person in the room. Because if the camera shakes, then it looks like NYPD Blue. It’s too conscious. Look at us. It’s like gritty, documentary filmmaking. Yet it’s all fake. But if you’re trying to hold it steady, which you would do if you’re making a documentary... no documentary filmmaker ever purposely shakes the camera. It’s a mistake if the camera shakes. That was our goal.
OS: Any chance we’ll ever get a Wydell Brothers prequel? A movie with them tracking down various psychotic killers?
RZ: The funny thing is... No... (Laughs) but, um, I would love to work with Tom Towles [Lieutenant Wydell from CORPSES] on a bigger scale. Both times I’ve worked with him it’s been so short and he’s so great to work with, it’s such a drag.
OS: On the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD commentary, Tom Savini speaks very well of Towles. I also love his work in HENRY.
RZ: He’s just the nicest guy and he’s so fun to be around.
OS: Well, I’d like to see the Wydells in another film, because whatever it is you decide to do next, it’s going to be an evolution. You’re going to be taking another step. I’d just love for you to someday go back and in some way explore this world and these characters again.
RZ: Yeah, it’s pretty hard to leave it behind.
OS: My friend, who I watched the double-feature with last night, is a video game junkie and wants to know if there’s ever going to be a HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES / THE DEVIL’S REJECTS video game.
RZ: There’s always been talk and several times there’s been a game in the works, but it just never seems to materialize. I think, based on the fact that video games take sooo long to make, that everyone’s like, we don’t even know if the movie will be a success. So we don’t want to spend two years on the development of a game. So maybe if this movie is a success, then it’ll be concert enough to make a game out of. But I’d love to. I think it would be great.
OS: Video games these days are so persuasive and the artistry is so jaw-dropping, and you’ve created enough fantastic characters, locations, and mythology with these two movies that a game would be awesome. You’ve got Captain Spaulding’s gas station and murder ride. You’ve got Dr. Satan’s underground layer.
RZ: I think it would be great. The one video game that was in the works was sort of like how you’re describing it. It was going to be amazing, but the deal fell apart after a while. But... one of these days...
OS: Well, that’s pretty much all I got. It’s been about an hour and I don’t want to take up any more of your time. I really appreciate you spending your lunch talking with me.
RZ: Sure. No problem. I’m excited for people to see this movie. The people I want most to see this movie are the people who hated the first movie. For me, it’s so different from the first one that I just can’t wait to see what people think.
I’d like to extend a final word of tremendous gratitude to the incredibly gracious Mr. Zombie for not only spending his time with me and entertaining my ramblings, but for also making such a cool flick. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
THE DEVIL’S REJECTS is set for release on July 22. Hope to see you there opening night.
Photography: jimevans/dl3
Thanks, Obi-Swan. Great interview, and I feel like you really got some great stuff out of Zombie over the course of all three pieces. I appreciate it, and enjoy Comic-Con. See you down there Friday.
"Moriarty" out.
