 The Interview:
By Don NormannFirst, it’s pretty obvious that
you’re a fan of the horror genre. How long have you been
into horror films?
I’ve been a horror fan for as long
as I can remember. My favorite horror film is ALIEN. I saw
it during its first release in ‘79, and if effected me
horribly. As I walked out of the screening into the sunny
afternoon, I was so traumatized by the film that I couldn’t
remember anything I’d just seen on the screen. That evening,
the nightmares started.
Eventually, my family took me to a
counselor, but I continued to have regular nightmares for
fourteen more years. As for favorite horror directors, I
find David Cronenberg consistently interesting. His horror
is smart, it has complexity. Even if I don’t respond to all
of his films, they’re always worth discussing later. Not the
case for most recent horror films – once the theater lights
turn on, the ride is over.
Can you name a few favorites,
and which ones were the inspiration for HELLBENT?
My main influences for HELLBENT
come from the ‘golden age’ of horror – the 70s. The best of
those films have a great balance of raw character, shocking
violence and gore, and - surprisingly - wit. BLACK CHRISTMAS
and HALLOWEEN are among my favorites. And with repeated
viewings, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is incredibly funny. There
were a few “odd” influences tossed into the mix as well:
BLACK ORPHEUS, BLACK NARCISSUS, INVADERS FROM MARS, and the
films of Kenneth Anger.
Another strong influence was my
videotape of PSYCHOMANIA. Not the movie, just the box cover.
It depicts everything I wanted in HELLBENT: party ghouls,
handcuffs, motorcycles, and good lovin’.
 Once you had written the script
and began shopping it around, did you find the idea of a
‘gay’ slasher film to be a tough sell? And how did Joe
Wolf’s (late producer of the HALLOWEEN and NIGHTMARE ON ELM
STREET series) participation come about?
Joe Wolf was onboard long before I was! How I became
involved with HELLBENT is an interesting story: The
producers needed a gay horror movie. They had some vague
ideas: “The killer wears a mask!”, “The film takes place on
Halloween!”, “The film takes place on Halloween in West
Hollywood!” One of the producers had read a few pages of an
unfinished romantic comedy I’d written (at the time, I
worked in the offices). Based on this meager writing sample,
they brought me in to create their gay slasher. I’d never
written a script, I’d never directed a movie. But I was sure
game to try.
As for why Joe Wolf is involved: the producers aren’t blind
to the movie’s novel hook. The queer twist helps make our
slasher movie distinctive in the marketplace. HELLBENT also
offers an opportunity to attract the gay horror fans to the
theater.
Aside from Andrew Levitas, a
lot of the actors were unfamiliar. Was it difficult getting
the right cast together for the lead roles, and was the
material a problem for any of the actors who auditioned?
During the casting process, I
stressed that I didn't want actors who played "gay". I
wanted the sexuality of the characters to feel incidental
rather than be their defining trait. I envisioned the leads
to be regular guys - regular, beautiful guys (it's an
escapist movie, after all). I also needed capable, intuitive
actors who could create their characters on the run. Our
shooting schedule was maddeningly tight, and rehearsal time
was a luxury we didn't have. (The actors were cast two days
before principle photography began - just enough time to
costume them.)
I really credit the actors with
making the characters seem like a real group of friends. The
process of making a movie - especially a micro-budget movie
- is a bonding experience for everyone. It’s like war – you
rely on your buddies to make it through the night, and they
you. This “brotherhood” comes through in the cast’s
portrayals. Personally, I think it’s the strongest aspect of
the movie. That, and the punk rock soundtrack.
As for the casts’ problems with the
characters, one of my actors dreaded wearing heels for the
entire shoot – and he did take some nasty spills. But other
than that, the cast was game.
A fun fact: the actor who portrays the Devil is an
Abercrombie & Fitch model.
 I understand that the WeHo
Halloween Bash footage was shot on-location in real time,
instead of using ‘stock’ footage. How did you manage to
coordinate that?
The West Hollywood Halloween
Carnival claims to be the largest one-night street festival
in the world, with attendance in excess of 450,000 people.
(Our version of West Hollywood and the party is partly
fictional – as people familiar with the area will tell you.)
We shot our first footage for
HELLBENT at the Carnival in 2001. At the time, I hadn't
written the script and only had a vague idea of what the
film would be about. I sent three camera crews into the
crowd with the instructions: "Shoot anything cool." We ended
up with approximately six hours of 2nd Unit footage, less
than two minutes of which appear in the film.
The following year, I had a script
and a cast ready for the Carnival. Shooting on Santa Monica
Boulevard proved challenging. The producers had the
unenviable task of not only shepherding thirty cast and crew
members through the party crowds, but also keeping us
focused on our work. Mixed success: some of us went home
drunk.
We also created Carnival sets to
serve the needs of the story. For instance, the Meat Locker
– the leather club featured in the film – is actually a
local church we dressed for the film. A funny story:
shooting went very late one Saturday, and the crew had to
scramble to remove all the rubber corpses from the church
ceiling before the Sunday service began.
Okay – Best and worst things
about the HELLBENT shoot.
BEST: HELLBENT offered me the
opportunity to create a film peopled with confident,
likable, queer kids. The young men in HELLBENT have moved
beyond worrying about whether “it’s ok to be gay” or not.
These kids have the real-life concerns of their generation:
“Who’s that hot guy?”, “Why do I always have to be the sober
one?”, and “Will I never get out of these heels?!” I was
totally writing a movie I wanted to see.
WORST: The typical bugaboos – not
enough time and money. That said, I think we achieved some
incredible results considering our meager resources.
 For the record, I thought the
“Name The Film” Contest was a great idea, and yes, I did
submit an entry (just don’t ask me to remember what it was!)
Whose idea was the contest, and did it help to drum up more
business for the film?
I hadn't been able to come up with
an appropriate title in the two years I'd spent making the
movie, so the producers proposed the contest as a solution.
I thought it was a great idea: the prospect of using the
combined power of the world's greatest queer wits to solve
my title problem seemed like a swell idea. Then the title
submissions started coming in, and they were awful. Most
were campy or too topical: "28 Gays Later", "Queer Eye for
the Dead Guy", "Boy Meets Knife". They didn't fit our film
at all. (In their defense, our contributors hadn't actually
seen the movie, they were submitting blindly.)
After
receiving thousands of rank submissions, I began to sweat.
On the last day of the contest, one of the final eight
submissions was Hellbent. Immediately, I knew this was our
title. Simple, Aggressive, and a great play on both the
"devil" villain and the "gay" aspect of the film. One could
argue that the title describes the killer, or the
characters' recklessness. Or the film's pacing. Hellbent.
The title works.
How did you get “Nick Name”
involved, and what was it like working with him at that
time?
I wanted HELLBENT to have a
soundtrack that captured both the current gay youth culture
and the horror tone of film. Obviously, the typical
“circuit” music wouldn’t work. I needed a soundscape that
was confident, aggressive, and driving. As my music
supervisor and I were looking for an appropriate musical
palette, I read an article about the Los Angeles gay punk
music underground. Nick Name was one of the featured
artists. I contacted him immediately, and he agreed to be
involved. Total luck or fate – Nick Name (and Texas Terri,
who I cast before knowing she was a musician) in large part
defined for me the film that I was making.
 Not to give away anything, but
the ending was a nifty shocker! Any plans to reunite the
surviving characters and that ‘horny devil” of a killer in a
sequel?
I’ve got a kick-ass story ready for
the sequel. Unfortunately, the film’s executive producer,
Joe Wolf, died last September. As he was the chief
instrument in getting HELLBENT made, I’m not certain if the
sequel will ever be realized.
What are you working on right
now and what kind of future projects do you have in mind?
I have a variety of projects in the
works: I’ve optioned a horror/action comic, “Elsie Hooper”.
I expect to be pitching the script to studios by Christmas.
I’m attached to several projects (sci-fi/family, a thriller,
more horror) as a director. Last but not least, along with a
group of established horror directors, I’m developing a
horror series for television.
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