Well, it comes out on Tuesday the
17th, October 17th. We’re actually gonna show the Unrated
Version on the big-screen out here in Los Angeles on
Tuesday, at this thing called ‘Screamfest L.A’., and it
should be a lot of fun!
Absolutely, definitely. So,
let’s hit you up with the first question here: What’s life
been like for you after “Project Greenlight”? Has it been
about what you expected (and has it been) “less” crazy or
“more” crazy?
Well, I guess it would be “more
crazy.” I mean, I always say if I use that word ‘surreal’
one more time, I’m gonna have to kill myself, but the past
two years have been so surreal. Basically, in a way, we just
finished the movie. It sat unfinished until fairly recently,
when our number came up and we got the call that we could
finish the film. I really haven’t done that much until I
could (finish up), because I really don’t care for when
other directors direct things, and then just kind of run off
and do other things and let other people finish up (their
film). I’m gonna stay on this thing until Tuesday, which is
the last time I’ll have any kind of control over anything.
When we show it at Screamfest, I’ll be there to make sure
that the sound is up loud and stuff like that, and then I’ll
have to let it go. When it comes out on DVD, that’s when it
will finally be finished for me, and then I’ll have the
opportunities to do more films; that’s the main thing.
It must feel kind of like
watching your ‘kid’ grow up, and you’re sending him out into
the world and saying “Okay, I’ve done what I can, so here ya
go.”
Oh, yeah! Because things always go
wrong. At every screening, I’d get messages from across the
country about how FEAST was playing somewhere and there was
no sound, or it was in the wrong aspect ratio and everything
looked all ‘squeezed’…I mean, you just have no idea what’s
going to happen. And every time when I’d go to the theater,
I’d have to run up to the projection booth and have (the
guy) turn it up louder because it would be too soft, and
this is kind of a ‘rock-‘n’-roll movie. Like when they used
to put on the old record albums how it should be played at
‘maximum volume’. It requires that, it needs that – it’s a
loud, bombastic gorefest. So, my last job is just to make
sure that it’s turned up loud at every theater! (laughs)
Yeah, it’s just about making
sure it’s cranked up “to eleven”!
Or in this case, eight! I think the
normal setting in most theaters is ‘seven’! They actually
have a scale that they use, and sometimes I’d go to the
theaters and would be at about ‘six’, and I’d think “You’re
playing it even SOFTER than normal?”
Okay, next question: Between
re-shoots, post-production and the whole thing between
Disney and The Weinstein Company, what would you say was the
biggest obstacle that kept FEAST from finally getting
released?
When the Weinsteins left Disney,
and they took Dimension (Pictures) with them – FEAST had
always been a “Dimension” film – we went with them since
they liked the movie. The main thing - it was all about
building a new company – getting financing, buying films,
getting other films released that they already had. We were
just kind of in line, and we weren’t exactly the ‘highest
thing on the totem pole.’ I mean, in their world, we we’re
considered a fairly low-budget film, so it was just a matter
of waiting (for our turn). It just took a certain amount of
time, and far as people wondering where the film went – did
it get shelved, was it a piece of crap? – It was kind of a
bummer. But whatever people think, the truth is we just got
caught in the middle of things. Just a case of bad luck; you
know – luck of the draw, timing.
Well, to be honest with you, I
was a huge fan of “Greenlight” from the first season, but I
stopped watching after about Season Two or Three, because
although I liked how they were showing you all the
“behind-the-scenes” stuff dealing with the filmmaking
process, the movies that got produced just didn’t turn me on
all that much. So when I heard that Wes Craven was going to
be an Executive Producer on the season that you were
involved in, I said “Holy shit! I’ve gotta watch this
season!”
There was a press release early on
before the show started, and it was something along the
lines of (Ben) Affleck saying that if anybody had a film
(concept) where somebody’s head gets chopped off or a script
where someone fucks a pie, send it in! This is the year
we’re gonna do some sort of genre movie. So, basically,
people sent in comedies, horror and suspense movies, and in
the end they picked one of each of those kinds of scripts.
But in my mind, I always thought they’d end up doing a
horror film, and they did, which, of course, made me glad
about that decision. When I read the different scripts and
they asked me which one I’d like to do, there was no
question about picking FEAST. And it definitely worked out!
Do you still keep in touch with
any of the guys from the “Greenlight” experience, and which
ones?
Almost everybody. We’ve all become
friends, since we’ve been through quite an experience to put
it lightly, and I’m really good friends with Marcus (Dunstan)
and Patrick (Melton), the writers. We keep in touch and it
helps that we live only a few miles from each other. We do a
lot of stuff together. You know, like when it’s two in the
morning, we can call each other and go hit an all-night
diner and hang out, that kind of thing. And of course –
movies, movies, movies! Matt and Ben came to the premiere –
of course, it’s not like I see them on a regular basis – but
they came out to help us drum up a little press, which was
really nice. I see the producers, Joel (Soisson) and Mike
(Leahy) a lot. There really isn’t anybody I’m not friends
with, except for maybe one person. But other than that, I
pretty much on good terms with everyone.
Well, I’m gonna be polite and
not try to guess who that ‘one person’ is, but I think I
have an idea! (laughs)
Yeah, I think so, too! (laughs)
I gotta tell ya, man, there were
moments when I was yelling at my TV screen so loud, I think
the neighbors thought I was watching the WWE – “The
Undertaker vs. Triple H” match or something like that?
JG (laughing): I was probably
yelling at the same show, so…
‘Cause I was like: “Are you out
of your FUCKING mind? WHAT are you doing? Leave the guy
alone!!!!”
Thank you…
Absolutely!
Well, at least it had a happy
ending. Maybe it wasn’t quite so rough at the beginning, and
maybe not-so-happy towards the end, but it was pretty happy
in general. The thing is that the ending of the “Greenlight”
show really wasn’t a (conclusion). It just…ended. We hadn’t
finished the film, there was no premiere, none of the things
that traditionally wrapped up the previous two seasons. It
was kind of like they said “Well, we just don’t have the
money to hang out anymore.” So we just had to go home and
edit together what we had and put that on the air. But
things eventually did come together and now we have the film
coming out and the DVD, so the way the real ending came
about has been pretty interesting.
I really felt at the time myself
that this experience can NOT have an ending – a coda – to
it, until FEAST is actually in a theater somewhere, where I
can pay my ten bucks to go and see it.
Yeah, that’s the thing...I watched
the two previous seasons - and this one, of course – but
even if I hadn’t been a part of it I would still have to go
and see the movies when they came out, because I’d have to
see what happened. Because otherwise, it would be like
watching nine weeks of the build-up to a joke, and then not
having a punch-line.
Exactly.
Even if (the film concluding the
season) was a disaster, I would still have to go check it
out, at least, from my point of view. Plus, I WANT people to
come and see it!
Which brings us to another
interesting question: After some of the casting SNAFUS you
faced, were there any particular cast members who surprised
you in a good way, regarding what you had in mind for the
characters?
Well, like…everybody! (laughter all
round) I was pretty pleased with everybody, though there
were a couple of performances that stood out. Krista (Allen)
just does a superlative job, and I didn’t know who she was
back then, because I’d never seen any of the “Emmanuelle”
things she’d done, where everybody else was pretty smitten
with her already, if you know what I mean. She turns in a
pretty good performance, especially for this kind of film
which you know is kind of “out-there”…And there’s Judah,
Dwayne and Jenny Wade, Josh; everybody does a good job.
Diane (Goldner), who you know from the show is my
girlfriend; I don’t want to give anything away, but she’s a
real trouper the way she dives in there and does this
amazing bit in the movie for us. And of course, Dad (Clu
Gulager), Eileen Ryan and Henry Rollins, who you would NEVER
know is the singer from ‘Black Flag’, except for one moment
where you can see part of a tattoo on his leg. It was just
so big, we couldn’t cover it up! But other than that, he
doesn’t play the ‘bad-ass metal rock singer’. And of course,
Balthazar (Getty).
Actually, the surprising thing
for me was that the night before the episode where they got
into a lot of the casting (issues) on the show, I saw a clip
for LOST HIGHWAY, and I’d forgotten that both Balthazar and
Henry were in that!
Yeah! Well, Henry’s usual thing
back then was that you always saw him playing a guard or
something like that. He’s broken out of that, now, he
doesn’t have to do that anymore; hopefully, with our film,
his ‘guard-playing’ days have been put to rest forever! But
Balthazar – he was one of the reasons I loved LOST HIGHWAY.
I’m a David Lynch fan, and I thought Balthazar was so great
in it. And he told me something really interesting about
working with David on it. He was shooting a scene where he
was supposed to be talking to his dad, (played by Gary Busey),
and they broke for lunch. When they came back, David had
something like twelve pages of notes, and one of the notes
said: “Imagine there’s a hummingbird on your father’s head.”
I thought that was great!
(laughter all round)
We became good friends and he’s a
really great actor. Although he’s one of these guys who
really has a hard time talking about being an actor…he has
that really concentrated, “intense” thing going on, but he
has a great presence, and I’d like to do something with him
sometime that’s a lot more understated, since FEAST is
pretty close to an “over-the-top” kind of craziness. We
walked that fine line between that and just pure campiness,
and he didn’t go for the “crazy” angle.
Oh, you mean the stuff like
Stuart Gordon’s RE-ANIMATOR or FROM BEYOND?
Of course. Now RE-ANIMATOR is one
of my favorite films of all time, because they went to a
place where…you know – any movie that takes somebody’s head
and gives a whole new meaning to “giving head” can’t be all
bad! And of course, there was Barbara Crampton…That’s also a
big favorite of the writers, too, and my dad.
That was one of the movies that
made me glad to be a horror fan.
But they didn’t hold back, see?
They didn’t hold back in RE-ANIMATOR, and that’s one of the
things that I hope somebody can say about my films someday,
whether it’s this one or something I do down the road. That
we didn’t hold back; we weren’t pussies or we just “do what
we were told”. We took it to a place that was “unexpected”.
Speaking of “unexpected” – one
of the films that helped me turn a corner as a horror fan
that showed me how there were no boundaries in terms of what
was possible in the horror genre was actually the one your
dad did: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Oh, yeah!
That was the one that made me a
Clu Gulager fan for life. I mean, I’d seen him in TV movies,
westerns and other stuff before, but this one really WOWED
me. That was the one that made me say “This fuckin’ ROCKS!”
You know, Tobe Hooper was supposed
to direct that, but did LIFEFORCE instead. It (RETURN) was
already written, and he asked Dan O’Bannon “Why don’t you
direct it?” And he did a great job. And of course, for guys
our age, there was a certain character in it that “did it”
for us (a-HEM), you know…with a certain moment on top of a
tombstone!
Ahh, yesss! THAT’S an image
that’s gonna stay with me for a while! (laughs)
Anyway…Since the completion of FEAST, there’s a lot of other
movies that have attempted to do what you had in mind –
entertain while pushing the horror envelope – things like
HOSTEL, SLITHER and the SAW franchise…
Yeah, and I have to say…I’ll just
go ahead and say it here: it took so long for our movie to
come out (and we were making ours before SLITHER and SNAKES
ON A PLANE). We just didn’t get it out before them, and I’ll
probably never say that again.
That’s what I was thinking when
those movies came out…I wondered if you’d already done what
these flicks were doing, and if you kind of hadn’t already
started the trend before everybody else piled on, yet just
missed getting the props. Out of the “bumper crop” of movies
just coming out now, though, do you have any current
favorites?
Are you talking about the ones just
coming out just this Halloween?
I mean the ones from about the
last two or three months or so.
Well, I’ve seen part of SAW (haha),
‘cause I’m friends with Darren (Lynn Bousman, director of
SAW 2 and 3), so I’m waiting to see that. (He calls out to
Diane in the background at this point for a reminder about
what they’ve seen lately.) I actually just saw WOLF CREEK
for the first time the other night. We’re catching up now on
a few things. I saw AUDITION and really liked that, and THE
DEVIL’S REJECTS. It’s like we’ve just been doing our own
thing. (Chats with Diane in the background briefly about
what they might’ve seen recently.) To Diane: Oh, and thanks
for reminding me of all the ones we didn’t like. I’m not
gonna say what they were…(laughs)
What were some of the lessons
you took away from that whole experience, and how has it
affected the way you approach filmmaking, if at all?
I’m beginning to be able to see
when the studio sometimes gets involved with the test
screenings, and maybe they do re-shoots and the footage
looks slightly different, or something happens where the
studio notes affect the way the film comes out, with fixes
and what not. I’m able to spot that a lot more easily now
and although it can be annoying, if you like the movie, it
just doesn’t matter what they do as long as it works. If it
doesn’t, it makes it easier for the audience to pick your
movie apart.
Working with friends and family
obviously made filming a little more comfortable for you.
Any plans on doing future projects with them?
Well, I’m looking forward to the
day when I can cast a film I make the way I want, assign it
to myself as director, that sort of thing. Actually, I’m
working on a western now with my dad…
Really? Now THAT sounds cool!
Yeah, “the most violent film ever
made”, that kind of thing. Well see how it turns out and if
we can get it produced…you know, it takes money to make that
kind of film. But I think that what we’ve got right now is
pretty…horrific, even though it’s not a monster movie. I
think that if anybody out there liked HIGH TENSION, they’ll
probably like our ‘western’!
How has it been for you becoming
a ‘known celebrity’, actually having a fan base of people
who actually recognize you on the street?
Well, I don’t know how much of a
‘fan base’ I have! (laughs) But I do get recognized, mostly
around colleges and stuff. Or here in Los Angeles and New
York where they really watched the show, and evidently
nobody else anywhere did! A lot of them are people who work
in television, who probably watched the shows and talked
about them the next day. The people who stop me on the
street are usually very nice and supportive. They usually
ask things like “What happened to the movie?” or “When’s it
coming out?” Or they give a lot of encouragement: “Man,
we’re pulling for you!” that type of thing. It feels pretty
good. The internet, on the other hand, well…people can be
pretty cruel. We’ve gotten some pretty polarized reviews,
not surprisingly enough; people who said things like
“Obviously, John Gulager doesn’t know the first thing about
filmmaking!” A lot of it comes from the fact that some
people didn’t care for the subject matter, since like
RE-ANIMATOR, we went for the gross-out stuff a lot of time
for comedic effect. We actually had a review where the
critic just said: “I’d like to tell the filmmakers – YOU
SUCK!” (laughs all round)
And THAT was the review?
Oh, yeah, that was it!
Do you think you’d like to work
exclusively in the genre category – horror, sci-fi, fantasy?
Or do you think you’d like to “stretch out” into other areas
and do like a comedy here, a drama there?
You know, I don’t want to do
anything exclusively. I think the next thing will probably
be a horror film, but I hope that whatever I’m doing, the
same sensibility comes with me, so that after a few films
people can see the way I work, the things I like to include
in each film no matter what the genre is that makes them
similar. It’ll probably be something a little horrific in
each one!
So do you think your next
project will outdo FEAST?
Well, you know, FEAST is a comedy,
and the next one probably won’t be. Unless, of course, it
comes out really horrible, and then we can call it a comedy!
(laughs) But the next one will probably be straight, intense
horror…just the way we like it!
Well, it has been fantastic
talking with you, John! Seriously! Break-a-leg on whatever
your next project is, and whatever it is, I will be the
first one in line to see it!
Thank you, and tell anybody who
sees the movie – if you hate it, don’t hold it against me;
if you love it, it’s all my fault!
Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be
‘hatin’on’ it anytime soon! I mean, you are talking to a guy
who’s gonna be watching THE DEVIL’S RAIN probably within the
next five minutes…and LOVING it! (laughs all round)
Thanks again!
John Gulager
