Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS interview. This is our second interview focusing on the talented folks behind THEATRE BIZARRE, a horror anthology I reviewed here. The film is newly released on DVD and BluRay. I had a chance to talk with legendary FX God and director Tom Savini who directed and starred in his own segment in the film entitled WET DREAMS. Here’s what Mr. Savini had to say about his fascinating life making showbiz magic in front of and behind the camera…
AMBUSH BUG (BUG): Hi, Mr. Savini. TOM SAVINI (TS): So how’s Harry Knowles doing these days?
BUG: Harry’s pretty good. I’m out in Chicago, so I don’t get to see him except at like San Diego and some conventions and things like that. I hear he’s pretty good. I’ll most likely see him again this summer.
TS: I see him on Facebook all the time.
BUG: Yeah, me too. So, it’s a real honor talking with you. I’ve watched your films and seen your special effects and seen you acting and being a stuntman and everything for, gosh, for ages. I don’t want to make you feel old or anything like that, but probably one of the first movies that I saw was one of yours, which is probably the reason why I’m such a ghoulish person today, but it’s a good thing.
TS: Well thanks.
BUG: So let’s talk about THEATER BIZARRE. How did you become associated with that film?
TS: Well, Mike Ruggiero is a good friend of mine. We’ve worked together quite a few times. Mike used to be with the Starz network and I used to host their Halloween horror festival in October. Every weekend they would show different horror movies and they would come to my place or my school and we even went to Italy and did a bunch of taped promos, so we introduced the films. I’ve known Mike since he was a kid at conventions, you know, 35 years ago, so he was brought on by David Gregory to produce THEATER BIZARRE and I think he went to Greg Nicotero first, but Greg had to bail out, so he came to me to direct one and it was an episode that was written by John Esposito and if you’ve seen it, the opening is a dream that I had when I was about nine years old, the whole woman in the room and it turns out…you have seen it, haven’t you?
BUG: Yes, I have. TS: Okay, so that pussy monster is something that I dreamt about when I was nine years old and I had John put it in the beginning of the script. It was Mike Ruggiero that brought me on.
BUG: Very cool. Well yeah, let’s talk a little bit about it. It’s kind of Freudian. It definitely has some psychological…your character has some deeply psychological issues in there. What inspired that? Did you do much research with that stuff or was it based mainly on dreams like that?
TS: Well the dream sequence was just something I wanted…you know, every story needs to have a grabber at the beginning and this was literally a grabber, because my intention was this woman would go “Argh” and then, speaking of grabbers, flusters in pain, you know? It was just a story grabber. That scene was something John Esposito and I put into the script. He and I were working on it a long time ago. So we finally got to create something and the original script had sort of a lovemaking thing at the beginning, but I thought it was more important if you follow this beautiful woman running down a hallway and you’re turned on by that and then when it leads up to what you would think is the next possible step and that pussy monster is the surprise. It kind of has a lot to do with his relationship, Debbie, and the fact that I play the psychiatrist…you know, I have psychiatrist and psychologist friends and they got into that because of their own personal demons, you know? They are all sort of fucked up in their own way, so I think it was appropriate for me, the fucked up person who directed it, to be the psychiatrist.
BUG: That’s great, yeah. My day job, I’m a therapist and a lot of my colleagues and probably myself have all of our own issues, so that’s very true.
TS: I think everybody does. It’s like you can’t control what comes at you, but you certainly can control how you react to what comes at you. BUG: Yeah. So there’s quite a few really cool effects in this sequence. Did you do the effects or did you supervise them?
TS: No, some friends…Fred Norgal, who I used to teach at my first school, and Jeremy, his partner, did the effects on it and you know, it’s always a little frustrating to watch puppet effects guys do stuff, but in this particular case it there were a few things that needed my help. I jumped in when I had to, but I gave them free reign up until the day needed to go quicker or something or there were problems, you know?
BUG: It would remind me of a really great guitar player watching someone else play guitar and just not being able to play themselves. Were you just kind of missing it or was it more of just you felt like you could add some things to it?
TS: No, not really. The saw on the table maybe that wouldn’t move on its own, so I just said to Jeremy “Go grab some fish line” and I showed them how to just go under a table and pull up the effect. I needed it to go faster, you know? Certainly we could have sped up the film later, but you know I believe in, as you know, doing things as practically as can be right there in front of the camera. I will be at conventions…I mean, I know what you’re talking about. I do conventions and now I’m hard pressed to think of who it was, but it was…I know who it was, Bruce Campbell was there and some guy walked in dressed up as Bruce from EVIL DEAD and that’s like playing guitar in front of Paul McCartney or Jimmy Hendrix, you know?
BUG: Sure. I would definitely have to duck out and do a quick wardrobe change if I saw…
TS: Well exactly.
BUG: Well, speaking of which, have you officially retired from making special effects? Are you teaching now? Is that the main thing that you do?
TS: No, that was a rumor that maybe this article could help dispel. I’ve never retired from anything. I just did makeup effects on this film in Australia called REDD INC. and there’s an underlying meaning to that title as well, but yeah the school does keep me busy, but I’m at home here. I’m sculpting and painting all of the time. I just don’t do it for a living anymore, you know except the thing I just in Australia. I’m fine with just acting and directing. I’m in the new Tarantino movie that we are shooting right now, DJANGO UNCHAINED. BUG: Yeah, can you talk a little bit about that or are you forced to secrecy on that film?
TS: I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say on it, but I have learned in the past that the less I say they better it is.
BUG: Sure.
TS: There’s been a big release on the internet with Leonardo Dicaprio and Jaimie Fox and Christoph Waltz…
BUG: What character do you play in that?
TS: I’m playing…you know, it’s funny, because in the script the character’s name is…I’m one of the trackers. There are a bunch of trackers. Me, Robert Carradine, James Parks, who is Michael Parks’ son…we are all trackers. We are all these slave trackers and we have attack dogs and everything, but my name in the script was “Tracker 2,” but when I got there I went to some of the KNB guys and they said, “How do you feel about being called “Cheney?” I learned Quentin Tarantino changed the character’s name to “Tracker Cheney” and that’s a big honor. When I first got to the set there, you know, Quentin was up there on the train with his tomboy hat on and the first thing I said to him was “Thanks so much for having me aboard and also thanks so much for changing my name to “Cheney.” He tipped his tomboy hat to me and said, “I knew you would appreciate that” and I do.
BUG: That’s awesome. That’s a great story. Well back to THEATER BIZARRE, so you’ve obviously seen the rest of the films, right? TS: Yeah.
BUG: Do you have a favorite one out of all of them that isn’t your own?
TS: Well I really like Buddy Giovinazzo’s I LOVE YOU and Doug Buck’s episode, and I think after that I would say Richard Stanley, but I think…I’m crazy about all of them, you know? I think it’s the newest sort of CREEPSHOW, you know. It’s the newest sort of CREEPSHOW anthology. TALES FROM THE CRYPT and all of that…you know, from Hammer films…I love stuff like that, but then I think of GRINDHOUSE and I think it succeeded as a double feature and to think of the six films with the shorts and you’re getting a whole evening of entertainment and they are so diverse. I think there’s something in it for everybody. Not all of them are my cup of tea, but I think people will just love it. It comes out on DVD next Tuesday.
BUG: Yeah, and I’m going to try to get the interview up next week, so that it’s in time for the DVD to come out.
TS: Excellent.
BUG: You’ve worked with some really fantastic directors. Has that helped you in your own directing?
TS: Well, you’re still working with Robert Rodriquez or George Romero…I mean, Robert Rodriguez is brilliant, he’s a genius, but now working with Quentin…you know, I’ve worked with Quentin before as an actor, but never as a director and he is just…he’s amazing. He is so smart. He’s so polite and so intelligent. I mean, he writes the things as well. I’m really interested by him, but before that the reason I got into acting and directing was all of the stuff I was reading about with Sam Peckinpah or Sam Fuller or Edward…I mean, I’ve studied director’s work for…I’m 55 now and still out there and doing stuff, but you also learn a lot by doing it. I mean, I think the enemy that you have is…I always say that limitations make you more creative, and I believe they do. Limitations like not enough money, not enough people, not enough time…time is the killer. An artist, a true artist, is never done, you’re simply out of time, you know? BUG: That’s great. Yeah, that’s very true, too. Do you teach at your school or are you overseeing things there? What do you do with that?
TS: I’m more involved in overseeing. If I’m in town, I’m there at least once or twice a week. What I try to do is make sure that the students are putting a portfolio together, you know, something that proves what they do, because two of the biggest things that happen in my life is because I had my portfolio with me and when I was at the right place at the right time I was ready and I could show what I did and that’s how I got my first job. That’s how I got a full teaching fellowship to Carnegie Mellon University and the rest is history, you know? And how I got my job in…so my thing to do is make sure that they are all putting a portfolio together that when they leave will get them work, you know? My teachers are guys who used to be assistants that went out to LA and worked for top guys like Rick Baker or Steve Johnson and Stan Winston…I’ve brought them back to teach at the school.
BUG: That’s great--and I think I just recently saw you on the TV series, FACE OFF. Did you make an appearance on that?
TS: Yeah.
BUG: I love that series. I’m so addicted to it. With that it feels, though, like in films everyone is moving more towards digital. How do you feel about that? TS: I love CGI when it’s done well and the best makeup effects that exist today are a combination of the real practical makeup effects and CGI. I wish I had that tool a long time ago when I was doing my stuff. My films and Rick Baker’s, like AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and when that stuff was happening it was just like a hundred years ago, there was no CGI assist going on there, but in LORD OF THE RINGS and movies where story and character are important and it’s not about effects work, you know CGI played a role, but a minimum role like “make the eyes bigger” or “enhance this,” but they still haven’t mastered people falling off buildings or blood splatter. Though SPARTACUS, it was amazing what they were accomplishing with CGI, but there seems to be a collective dislike of it and not with the younger generation, because we are training them to accept that. If they have to make the effort to pretend what’s happening is really happening and you shouldn’t have to make that effort. You’d rather see it happen right in front of you, but I really love it when it’s done well.
BUG: I grew up watching THE PROWLER and FRIDAY THE 13TH and all of the other films that you’ve done and it’s…
TS: Yeah, that stuff was happening right in front of you.
BUG: Definitely, and it does seem like the actors are reacting to ping pong balls on a screen or something and when it’s not done very well it’s so blatantly obvious and distracting.
TS: I read a quote today… “Prostitution is like acting, it’s not done very well by amateurs.”
[Both laugh]
BUG: Very true. So what’s next for you? You said you’re working on DJANGO UNCHAINED. Are you directing something soon? TS: I’m supposed to direct for FANGORIA a remake of CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS this summer.
BUG: The Bob Clark film?
TS: Yeah. I’m also about to direct a remake of DERANGED. Even while I was down in New Orleans I went down to Austin and did a video game called LOCO CYCLE which comes out some time before Christmas, you know? So acting, directing…it’s like the first thing I said in my book GRANDE ILLUSIONS: the more you do, the more you get to do, you know? Versatility is frowned on in today’s world, like if you do one thing well then you can’t do another thing well, but that’s not me. When I grew up my dad could do anything. My dad was a carpenter, a bricklayer, an electrician, a shoemaker…I mean, I grew up thinking you’re supposed to do many things well and I’m happy that I get to do a lot of things.
BUG: You mentioned DERANGED. Did you do effects work on that film?
TS: I did, yeah. That was my second film for Bob Clark.
BUG: Very cool. I could talk with you all day about all of this stuff, because I’m such a huge fan, but is there anything else about THEATER BIZARRE that you would like to tell? Any stories from the set or anything like that that you want to share?
TS: Stories from the set…I wish it would have happened, but we should have sat around and done a DVD commentary that people could listen to, but here at my desk nothing is coming to mind. If the episode was playing right in front of me I would talk about all sorts of stuff that was going on about my girlfriend from Australia who was visiting me and I shoot her and the girl on the beginning who are on the torture rack and she didn’t expect to be doing this stuff inside a big wooden cage with splinters and cold sets and sticky blood and that was not something she expected to do, but there she was and did it like a trooper and was very good in it, you know?
BUG: Did you hear about that later, then? Did she yell at you? TS: No, no yelling. Like I said, she put up with it like a trooper and never complained. In fact, when we were casting her body to create the fake body for the rack it was way painful and I made sure that they sped her up and then I even made them take it off before it was even totally dry, because of her pain. She took it like a trooper and she wasn’t expecting to be in it, but once she was, she just took it like a pro. There are little things like that. The pussy monster itself was something that when I was in Spain at the Sitges Film Festival with Greg Nicotero we were at lunch one day and I told him I was going off to direct this thing and he was like “We can do that.” I said, “Well, I don’t know if we can afford KNB” and he said, “No, no, no…” and so he did it for me for my birthday. People think that’s still my girlfriend’s body, but there’s a whole fake body when you pan down and see the actual monster. In fact, we were asked at a screening, I think it was Montreal, and somebody from the audience asked Jodie, my girlfriend, what it felt like to have that pussy monster on her and it wasn’t her. It was a total fake body and if you watch the episode, I have her start to grab and fondle her own breast and move her hand down and when I cut back to her, it’s the fake body and I still put her hand moving down, so that connection made you think the body was still hers. That was a big misdirection and it made it scarier, that thing, that tentacle thing down there, you know? People thought that was her real body and it’s not, it’s a fake body. Hopefully people will listen to this after they see it, you know?
BUG: You have this way of really directing effects and I guess that goes to show how good of a director you are as well. I remember reading an interview with you or I think I might have seen it where you were talking about, I believe it was THE BURNING, and you showed the hedge clippers hitting something solid, before slicing through a person and it made it so much more believable that it was a real hedge clipper.
TS: I did the same thing in FRIDAY THE 13TH. I recommend that and I think I wrote about it in my book, but you know if you’re using a rubber weapon, make the real one to give it some solidity. You know, have the ax chop into a wall, so when a rubber axe heads towards the actor you still think it has the power of being that sharp heavy instrument. Later on in my career it was in my contract, like I would direct the sequences that would have my effects, because I was learning that some directors didn’t realize these things are magic tricks and they have to be set up like magic tricks as far as the angle and that’s very important. I think that’s part of directing as well. BUG: Yeah, well I’m a proud owner of GRANDE ILLUSIONS. It’s there all beaten up on my library shelf. I got it when I was a little kid and it was one of my favorite reads when I was probably like ten or eleven and I still check it out from time to time.
TS: Great.
BUG: Well, thank you so much for your time, Tom. I really appreciate it. Best of luck with your films and your acting and everything, all of the things that you’re doing. Hopefully we can catch up again on your next project.
TS: Okay, and best of luck with this interview. Thanks.
BUG: Thank you.
THEATRE BIZARRE is available on DVD and BluRay now!
See ya Friday with a new AICN HORROR Column, folks!
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/reviewer/co-editor of AICN Comics for over ten years. He has written comics such as MUSCLES & FIGHTS, MUSCLES & FRIGHTS, VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS TINGLERS & WITCHFINDER GENERAL, THE DEATHSPORT GAMES, WONDERLAND ANNUAL 2010 & NANNY & HANK (soon to be made into a feature film from Uptown 6 Films). He is also a regular writer for FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND & has co-written their first ever comic book LUNA: ORDER OF THE WEREWOLF (to be released in October 2012 as an 100-pg original graphic novel). Mark has just announced his new comic book miniseries GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS THE JUNGLE BOOK from Zenescope Entertainment to be released in March 2012.
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