Hey folks, Harry here... as morning breaks way to dawn... there is a light shining from those stormy clouds... Mark Altman (actually an old associate of mine from my magazine sidejobs) has called to reassure me that HOUSE OF THE DEAD is not the terrible sounding SCREAM-fest teenage self-referential masturbatory nightmare that I envisioned from Michael Fleming's Dishing from Variety. From what Altman is describing... it isn't so yutzy as 'aiming for the SCREAM-crowd'... but rather, it sounds like a genuine attempt to make a really good Zombie-style franchise that is different from the social satires of Romero's... but is something of worth in its own right. But the SCOOBY DOO and DUNE news still sucks... Looks like I jumped to conclusions on HOUSE OF THE DEAD based on a blurb that made what they had sound unappetizing... More than happy to be wrong here. Here's Altman with the scoop...
Dear Harry:
I'm surprised at you jumping to such assumptions based on a small blurb in Mike Fleming's column when you could have easily picked up a phone to clarify things with me first. Fact is "House of the Dead" is anything but a self-reflexive jokefest a la Return of the Living Dead. One of the biggest influences on our film is Val Lewton whose films like "I Walk With A Zombie" is definitely more of an influence than movies like "Scream." Which isn't to say there won't be some Raimi "Evildead"-type coolness as well. And while we're huge fans of the Romero school of horror, and nobody does that kind of film better than him, this is not the movie we're setting out to make.
If we're successful, we can combine Hitchcock-like suspense with some scares, cleverly conceived frights and awesome special effects make-up effects that is respectful of the genre without being beholden to it. I want to see "Twilight Of The Dead" get made as much as anyone, but we're not the one's to make it, Romero is. Our zombie film is something completely different -- and it ain't "Scream." Yes, we have strongly defined characters, they're not cyphers, but when they confront the horror, it's real and they certainly aren't worrying about which movies it reminds them of, they're worried about killing zombies and staying alive. And while the script isn't finished, I can assure you that the AMS, the mysterious government agency from the game will play a prominent part in the movie. We also have a villain that will hopefully join the horror lexicon right next to Freddy, Pinhead and Jason, if we do this right.
I know there's a lot of suspicion by the fans about the sudden rash of shitty zombie films on the horizon made by people who know nothing about this genre, but the fact is, "House of the Dead," is being made by people who love horror movies...and zombie movies...and know and love the genre. We're not looking to tread familiar ground, but take it a step further. Hopefully, we'll be successful. I guess we'll all know next Halloween.
Hope this clears things up for you.
Best Regards,
Mark A. Altman
