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Interview By Gavin Schmitt
I’ve been talking with a lot of
Troma veterans lately (Doug Sakmann, Tiffany Shepis, Joe
Lynch, Debbie Rochon). I honestly didn’t know you were
involved with Troma — a great film they made called “Troma’s
War” — until I started researching these questions. What’s
your awesome getting-started-with-Troma story? Why do I
suspect your father, who was involved with “Bloodsucking
Freaks”, may have played a part in this?
Well, you’re right. My short time
with Troma did start with my father. Once I decided to be a
film director at the age of 14, I wanted to get on real
movie sets. Growing up in New York, the independent route
was the easiest. My father, who was a film editor, made some
calls and got me some P.A. work during the summer in between
school. I worked on my first professional film when I was
16. “Chief Zabu” retitled “Rich Boys” shot upstate New York
at Bard College. To this day, the film was never released.
Then I worked on a low budget slasher entitled “Posed for
Murder” directed by Brian Thomas Jones the following summer.
Then, just before I started college, I got on to “Troma’s
War”. My previous P.A. work kinda prepared me for what would
happen but not really. I started as a P.A. and worked for
about three weeks in pre-production, doing errands as they
cast and prepped the film. I was then assigned to be a P.A.
in the grip department and we were all shipped up to a
National Guard park to shoot the film. It was the biggest
budget Troma ever had at the time.
The schedule and conditions were
horrible. We were sleeping in the National Guard quarters
with five or six people in every room and had to get up at
5:00 a.m. every morning to load the equipment into the
surrounding woods and hills for filming. Lunch consisted of
cheese sandwiches. We’d work until 9:00 or 10:00 every night
and then had to load the lighting equipment back into the
trucks which would keep us there until about midnight. Get
to sleep at 1:00 a.m. if we were lucky and have to be back
on the set at 5:00 a.m. The grip department started with
about 8 people and half of them quit by the end of the first
week so we were doing the jobs of two or three people.
Carrying dolly tracks and sandbags up these steep dirt hills
all day long. A small riot occurred on the set by the end of
the first week because of the food or rather, lack of it.
So, most of the crew decided to not show up until 8:00 a.m.
the next day even though call was for 5:30 a.m. Many thought
that we would all be fired and replaced with a new crew
which Troma had done in the past. This did not happen and
meat was added to the lunch food.
However, that is also when the rain
started. So, the dirt hills became mud and we were trying to
carry this heavy camera and lighting equipment up
mud-sliding hills without falling and breaking our necks.
This was also a concern for the stunt performers. There were
a lot of stunts in the film but the budget was still too low
to afford all professional stunt people so New York cab
drivers and others who were willing (aka stupid enough) to
agree to try a stunt were brought up to the location. I
remember one guy was 40 feet up in a tree and was supposed
to be shot and fall into the pile of mattresses down below.
Well, it took him almost a half hour to build up the courage
to do the fall and he just hit the corner of the mats.
Another foot and he would have missed it completely. I asked
him what the highest fall he ever did was and he said, “Oh,
that was it. I’m usually a cab driver.”
Well, I was on the production for
about three weeks before all the rain and poor food and poor
sleeping conditions got to me. Since I was about to start
college in two weeks, I thought I should leave before I get
really sick. Also, I was working entirely for free. But
since so many people quit and we were doing all of their
work, I did receive a two hundred dollar check for my month
of work on “Troma’s War” and got my name in the end credits.
It’s misspelled. In short, that is my Troma story. As for my
father and “Bloodsucking Freaks”. Yes, he did edit the film
but that was way before Troma was involved. They bought the
rights years later. But my father did cut a few trailers for
them and I kept in touch with Lloyd over the years. He has
made a few acting cameos in my films, “TOMORROW BY MIDNIGHT”
and “PRETTY COOL”. He also helped us find an actress for
“PRETTY COOL” and gave us permission to use posters and
trailers for the video store set in “TOMORROW BY MIDNIGHT”.
He also said some wonderful things about “NIGHTMARE MAN” and
is on the special features section of the DVD.
Many people, including yourself,
have observed that “There’s Nothing Out There” predates
“Scream” and may have influenced Craven’s film. Were there
any horror-comedies that inspired you to make one, such as
one of my favorites, “Student Bodies”?
Well, the first film I remember
watching was “Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde” when I was four years old. I then watched them every
Sunday morning for the next 12 or so years. I loved all of
their horror/comedies and of course, “Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein” is still one of the best. I loved the
blend of humor and scares. Yes, I am a fan of “Student
Bodies” and “Evil Dead 2”, “Fright Night”, “Night of the
Creeps”, “American Werewolf in London” and “House” are all
good examples of walking that thin line between laughs and
shocks. I love these movies. When I was around 10 years old
I wrote a 109 page story/script called “Kill Here, Kill
There, Kill Almost Anywhere” which was a slasher mystery and
a send-up of slasher films. When I got a video camera at age
13, the first short I made was a comedy/horror flick
entitled “Breaking and Entering”. So, I was always attracted
to this blend of genres. I wrote the script for “THERE’S
NOTHING OUT THERE” when I was a senior in high school as an
experiment to see how long it would take me to write one of
these teen exploitation horror films.
I had started really watching and
studying horror films when I was 14 because at the time most
first time filmmakers made horror films. But as I was
writing “TNOT” I couldn’t do the same old clichés so I
decided to add a character who was like me. He had seen
every horror film on video and knew the warning signs,
counting the mistakes everyone makes. At that point, I had
never seen it done. I thought he would be the audience,
saying and doing everything the audience yells at the screen
like “Don’t drop the knife! Don’t go skinny dipping! Don’t
wander into the basement by yourself! Where did that cat
come from?” Since I had written a slasher comedy when I was
twelve, I decided to make “TNOT” a monster/alien movie and
homage to the 50’s as well as classics like “Humanoids from
the Deep”. It was a parody but not quite like an “Airplane”
movie or a Troma film. But I did throw in a big homage to
the Blake Edwards’ “Pink Panther” movies and broke the
fourth wall twice with a nod to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. I
was very happy with the final film and am still proud of it
today. As for the “Scream” franchise, I think they are very
different but if you compare ‘Mike” from “TNOT” and ‘Randy’
from “SCREAM”, I think you can see a connection.
Both fans and critics have
called “The Hazing” a knock off of “Evil Dead”, with the
similar plots revolving around spirits, an ancient book and
a chainsaw. Your film even blatantly mentions “Evil Dead”
and features Bruce Campbell’s biography. Defend yourself: is
“The Hazing” a knock off, homage, or something else?
Okay, let’s talk about “THE
HAZING”. It started as an attempt to make “HELL NIGHT 2”. I
was working with producer Joe Wolf who had been one of the
producers on “Hell Night” and wrote a treatment for a
sequel. It never happened but a few years later, I convinced
another producer I was working with, Alain Siritzky, to pay
me to write it. This was during the whole “Scream” craze and
people were telling me to write something like that or
remake “TNOT”. I didn’t want to remake my movie or rip-off
“Scream”. Around this time, everyone was doing slasher films
so I thought it would be fun to do a supernatural thing. So,
the basic idea was “Hell Night” meets “Evil Dead” but with a
twist that neither film had done. I thought it would be
great to introduce a group of college kids pledging a frat
and they start as one-dimensional clichés. You’ve got the
jock, the blonde bimbo, the computer geek and so one.
However, once the real horror starts, the kids drop the
facades and become real people. “Breakfast Club” as a horror
film. That’s what made the film different. The plot and
situations was pure 80’s. “Evil Dead”, “Night of the Demons
1 & 2” with a touch of “Patrick” thrown in for good measure.
Well, it took almost eight years to
finally get the film produced. But during all this time,
still nobody had done “The Breakfast Club” horror idea so I
thought horror fans would get a kick out of it. It sets up
the standard rules and then breaks them. Because of the book
and the staff, I knew people were going to see the “Evil
Dead” connection so I insisted that we mention “Evil Dead”
in the script and got permission from Bruce Campbell to use
his headshot. I felt you had to have his or Sam Raimi’s
blessing to make this movie. My producer, Tom Seidman at one
point tried to cut a lot of the humor out of the script. I
fought with him about that because without the characters
and the humor, this was just a rip-off and I would get
attacked for stealing from “Evil Dead”. I wanted this to be
a knowing nod to the audience and say, “Yes, this film is
not original but enjoy a trip through memory lane of 80s
horror. It’s not too scary but it is a fun ride if you enjoy
horror/comedies. I believe Tarantino has used a similar
approach with the homages in his movies as well.
Also, if you compare it to THERE’S
NOTHING OUT THERE, you’ll see I was purposely twisting a lot
of things around. Mike, the comic lead with all the
one-liners is similar to Roy in “The Hazing” and guess who
dies first? I flipped it all around. So, yes, THE HAZING is
a blatant wink to “Evil Dead” and “Night of the Demons” but
with a major character twist that allows it to stand by
itself while still being retro.
You’ve said Brad Dourif added
much to his character of Professor Kapps, such as the accent
and occult knowledge. Can you explain how this scenario
comes up: Brad walking in and saying, “Hey, I happen to know
a lot about tarot cards and ancient alchemy and I’d love to
use it”? I would think that would come off as rather odd or
creepy.
Brad Dourif got a hold of the
script from our casting people who knew his manager. He was
on our short list for Professor Kapps and getting him to
agree to do it between “Lord of the Rings” and just before
he started “Deadwood” was amazing. He did not audition. We
offered him the role and he liked the script and said yes.
When I met him for the first time, he started discussing his
character and got very involved. He didn’t treat this as
just a quick payday. He really wanted to explore his
character and I had no objection. In truth, his role was the
weakest in the original script. I focused on the kids and he
was the villain of the piece. So, I went to Brad’s house and
he showed me all these books on Jung and Tarot cards. He
used to be into these things a long time ago so I borrowed
some of his books and happily incorporated the ideas into
the script. He also suggested doing an English accent. Once
again, I thought it was a great idea and would help make his
character distinct. He was then very kind to work with
Philip Andrew and Tiffany Shepis to help them do the accent
as well. Brad’s a complete professional, a very dedicated
actor and it was an honor to work with him.
Of course, one can’t help but
notice you seem to have an addiction to casting Tiffany
Shepis. I suppose the obvious reason is that she’s a very
talented and beautiful actress. Is there anything more we
should know?
Well, I’ve known Tiffany Shepis for
eight years now and we’ve worked together seven times so
far. Yes, she’s beautiful, talented and also a hell of a lot
of fun to be around. Making movies can be very stressful and
difficult but Tiffany makes everyone feel good. She is a
force of nature, a wonderful human being, and a great mom.
At this point, she is also my muse. We have a great working
relationship together and are close friends. I know how to
write for her and she brings my scripts to life. It also
just so happens that she is perfect for the women characters
I like to write. If you ever see TOMORROW BY MIDNIGHT, the
character of Tori is Tiffany in so many ways. Unfortunately,
I didn’t meet her until a year later. If I had known her
earlier, I’m sure she would have gotten that role although
Jennifer Lambert did a fantastic job. I think Tiffany and I
complement each other well.
I’ve heard a rumor you’re single
and looking to date. Let Killer Reviews work our magic for
you: what kind of woman is Rolfe Kanefsky looking for?
What kind of woman am I looking
for? Well, since Tiffany Shepis is taken I guess I have to
find someone else. Obviously someone who loves movies, all
kinds and it would help if they enjoyed horror flicks, older
classics, and musicals as well. Since I’m fairly shy, I
think she would have to be outgoing and aggressive. Sexual
is always a plus. Basically, someone cool, independent, with
a sense of humor, and likes cats. I have two cats. Also, she
should probably not be offended by my movies. If my short
“Mood Boobs”, the tongue scene from “The Hazing”, and my
flick “Rod Steele 0014” rubs her the wrong way, we might not
see eye to eye.
You and I are both fans of a
lesser-known film called “The Stepfather”, starring TV’s
Terry O’Quinn. What is it about this film that really caught
your attention (besides Terry’s full frontal scene)?
Well, don’t forget Jill Schoelen’s
nudity either. Another highlight. Seriously, I saw “The
Stepfather” in the theaters when it first came out. I knew
nothing about the movie, thought the poster was interesting,
and gave it a shot. I had no idea what it was about and it
surprised the hell out of me. I thought Terry O’Quinn’s
performance blew Jack Nicolson’s “The Shining” away. He was
likable and terrifying. The scene when he freaks out in the
basement and Jill sees him and then he sees her, still gives
me chills every time I watch it. It wasn’t in theaters long
but I managed to catch it four times and dragged everyone to
see it. There was only like twenty people in the theater but
the audience went crazy every time. It’s a smart, scary
thriller with a great dark sense of humor. Beautifully
directed by Joseph Ruben who I loved since I first saw
“Dreamscape”. I had lunch with him once and we talked a lot
about “The Stepfather”. He had just directed “Sleeping with
the Enemy” which was about to break 100 million at the box
office. It was a lot like “The Stepfather” but with a movie
star in the lead. Same tricks but a lot better theatrical
exposure even if it’s not as good a movie. But “The
Stepfather” holds up wonderfully. It all works!
My editor, Gregg, loved
“Nightmare Man” and my good friend Trixie turned me on to
“The Hazing”. As the father of your films, I am asking you
to choose between your children: which one is your favorite
child and which is the red-headed stepchild you’d love to
beat with a croquet mallet?
Well, neither my favorite nor my
most hated are horror films. TOMORROW BY MIDNIGHT is still
my favorite film and it is still unavailable in the states.
It’s a dark comedy thriller about four college kids that
take a video store hostage for the night. It stars Alexis
Arquette in one of his best roles, an early performance by
Jorge Garcia (of “Lost” fame) and the wonderful Carol Kane.
Made for almost a million, shot at 2:35:1 ratio on 35 mm
with a great 5.1 Dolby digital mix, it is my most personal
and most mature film of my career. One day I hope people get
a chance to see it.
As for my least favorite…if I have
to pick one that I wrote and directed, I would choose the
one I also removed my name from; “The Ultimate Attraction”.
This was the first erotic film I did for Alain Siritzky. A
90 minute film shot on 16mm in 6 days. It was a terrible
experience except for being able to work with some cool
actors, namely Robert Donavan, who has since been in almost
every single film I’ve made in L.A. and Gabriella Hall. I
wrote a thirty page script as a writing sample and Alain
liked it so much that he asked me to stretch it out to a
feature to start off the series. I did but it is still a
thirty page idea stretched out to 90 minutes. My A.D. made
my life hell on the shoot and during post, they took it away
from me and I hated the music and the mix which is why I
finally decided to remove my name as the director. The film
did make money and as a late night erotic Cinemax flick, it
is sexy but it’s not really a good example of my work. My
follow up “Rod Steele 0014”, a sexy James Bond spoof, was
much, much better.
You’ve called “Corpses” a “bad
version” of “Shaun of the Dead”… I don’t know if I’ve heard
a film’s creator openly call his film bad since Bill Cosby’s
“Leonard Part 6″.
“Corpses” is up there with
“Ultimate Attraction” in many ways. It was the worst
experience I ever had on a film set. Everything that could
possibly go wrong, went wrong. However I was allowed to
finish the film the way I wanted to so I don’t disown this
movie. I’ve also said if you know it’s a comedy and have had
enough to drink, it is kinda fun. Again, the actors saved
this movie from being a total wash. A good twenty-five pages
got cut during production and I’m amazed that I actually
pulled off a feature film with the time and budget we had.
I’ve said that I could write a book about what it was like
making this movie and one day, I just might. The stories are
amazing. It seems that many people hate this movie and I
can’t argue with them but Tiffany Shepis likes the movie and
I like what I was able to do under the circumstances. So,
it’s still “A Rolfe Kanefsky Flick” but I recommend you
check out all the other films that my name is on first.
Who would be your dream actors
to work with? I know you love Bruce Campbell (who doesn’t?),
and if I were to take a lucky guess I’d say you’re a fan of
Linda Blair (because of your fondness for the
often-overlooked “Hell Night”). Who else, living or dead,
would you like to command?
I’ve always had trouble with the
“dream actors” question. There are a lot of actors I admire
but I also like actors without big egos. I want to work with
people who want to make the movie. I’ve been lucky so far.
All the “names” I’ve worked with over the years — Dee
Wallace, Alexis Arquette, Carol Kane, Brad Dourif, Jeff
Fahey, and Richard Moll have been really cool. At the moment
I have scripts that I think would be great vehicles for
possibly — Tilda Swenson, Emily Watson, Toni Collette, Seth
Green, Christopher Lee, Ken Foree, Jessica Biel, Jeffrey
Combs, and many others.
What is happening with
“Twisted”, a film you’ve described as “if Hitchcock made a
film inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft”? Also, where
did the film you were connected to, “Mutant”, disappear to?
“Twisted” is one of many projects
I’d like to do. It was written as the ultimate vehicle for
Tiffany Shepis. I really hope we can do it together some
day. I just gave the script to someone looking to make a
million dollar horror film. I think “Twisted” would be
perfect. In short, it’s about a young woman living in an
apartment building and having an affair with a creature from
another dimension who needs fresh victims to stay alive.
However, this woman may or may not have a twin sister. So,
think “Vertigo” crossed with “Possession” and “They Came
From Within” with Tiffany acting up a storm in this very
sexy and very gory horror thriller.
“Mutant” and “House On Sorority
Row” turned out to be a waste of time. The producer that was
trying to remake them actually didn’t have the rights to the
original films. We did hold auditions for “Sorority Row” but
it turned out to be pointless. I wasn’t too disappointed
because I rather make original films than remakes. But I
think I could have done something interesting with both
movies. Some of my ideas for “Sorority Row” went into
“NIGHTMARE MAN” so at least something good came from it.
What are you digging lately
outside of your own work — be it books, TV, movies,
Broadway, McDonald’s value meals, etc.? What’s burrowing
into Rolfe’s subconscious only to rear its ugly head a
decade from now?
Well, I just read [Budd Schulberg’s
1941 novel] “What Makes Sammy Run?” — a wonderful book about
the film industry that everyone in this business should
read. I also read the Peter Falk book “Just One More Thing”.
It was fun. At the moment, I just bought the first seasons
of “The Fall Guy” and “The Odd Couple” on DVD. Got into
“Supernatural” as well. Thinking about checking out “Hex”.
Still watch “24” but last season really fell apart.
Currently watching “On The Lot” but it’s lousy. Listen to
Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks and Broadway musicals all the
time. Currently “Wicked”, “Movin’ Out”, “Little Shop of
Horrors”, Buffy’s “Once More With Feeling”, and always “The
Blues Brothers” are in my car CD player.
I would still love to make a
musical one day. If I could, I would try to turn the
off-Broadway show “Weird Romance” into a movie. Very
non-commercial but I don’t care. All a comedy/drama musical
show “Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down”. It what that
Tom Hanks film, “Punchline” should have been.
I’ve asked more questions than I
said I would — what an ass I am! Thanks so much for putting
up with this asinine line of questioning. What can you leave
us with that I failed to cover about things on the horizon?
Well, I have no idea what exactly
is coming next. My teen comedy “PRETTY COOL TOO” just got
released on DVD in most Blockbuster and Hollywood Video
stores. Once again, Tiffany Shepis is in it. We’re still
trying to lock down a domestic deal for “NIGHTMARE MAN”
which is a good horror thriller with a fantastic performance
by Tiffany. She’s won three awards for acting in the film so
far. Tiffany and I, along with Esther Goodstein, my
producer, are trying to launch a television show entitled
“Tiffany Shepis Presents ONCE UPON A HORROR”. Sort of a
“Tales From The Crypt” series with Tiffany as the
Elvira-like hostess and would act in some episodes as well.
Currently I am also attached to a cool thriller entitled
“HITCHCOCK, NEBRASKA” that a college friend of mine, Paul
Carro wrote. There is also a producer in Louisiana trying to
set two of my favorite scripts up down there that I may
direct in the fall. “NEVERMORE” my horror thriller based on
the work of Edgar Allan Poe and “DEMONS SUCK!” a
supernatural comedy. Think “Ghostbusters” meets “Dumb and
Dumber” or “Buffy” with stoners.
My most recent credit is as
screenwriter on the upcoming comedy “BLONDE AND BLONDER”
starring Pamela Anderson and Denise Richards. It was the
last film directed by Bob Clark. I wrote the script ten
years ago and last October/November it finally went in
production up in Canada. There have been talks about giving
it a theatrical release but at this point, we don’t know. At
the moment, I’m about to start writing another comedy script
but I’m open to anything that comes along. My dream project
is a thriller I wrote entitled “EXIT” based on a French
graphic novel. Basically, horror, comedy, and thrillers are
what I’m focusing on right now. Thanks for interviewing me
Gavin, and I hope you enjoy THE HAZING a little bit more the
next time you watch it.
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Writer/Director
Rolfe Kanefsky
