Halloween Interviews

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="0cca11c3.gif"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0d47d540.gif" border=0 width="125" height="84" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/banzai/1009" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/banz"><U><U>Rob's Halloween Site</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Plot Outlines"><U>Plot Outlines</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="List Of Victims"><U>List Of Victims</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Picture Gallery"><U>Picture Gallery</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Downloads Multimedia"><U>Downloads & Multimedia</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Awards Advertisements "><U>Awards & Advertisements</U></A><A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Awards Advertisements "><U> </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Email Me"><U>E-mail Me</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halloween Articles"><U>Halloween Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U>Halloween Interviews</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halloween News"><U>Halloween News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Location Directions"><U>Location Directions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="F.A.Q."><U>F.A.Q.</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Film Connections"><U>Film Connections</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Remastering Halloween"><U>Remastering Halloween</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Curse Of The Thorn"><U>Curse Of The Thorn</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halloween On TV"><U>Halloween On TV</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Goof Ups"><U>Goof Ups</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="H20 At Planet Hollywood"><U>H20 At Planet Hollywood</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Characters"><U>The Characters</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reunion 2000"><U>Reunion 2000</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Additional Features"><U>Extra Features</U></A></div> <bR> <div>   <a href="http://member.bcentral.com/cgi-bin/fc/fastcounter-login?2408025" target="_top"> <img border="0" src="http://fastcounter.bcentral.com/fastcounter?2408025+4816057"></a>  <br>  <font face="arial" size="1"> <a href="http://fastcounter.bcentral.com/fc-join" target="_top">FastCounter by bCentral</a> </font><br>   </div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Rob's Halloween Site: The Michael Myers Territory</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT></div> <div> <IMG SRC="0cbf4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Halloween Interviews</div> <div> *click on the name of the person whose interviews you want to read</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#jlc_" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Jamie Leigh Cur</U></U></A><U>tis</U>      <A HREF="#brian_andrews" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Brian Andrews</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#nancy_loomis" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Nancy Loomis</U></U></A>             <A HREF="#david_kyle" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>David Kyle</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#tawny_moyer" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Tawny Moyer</U></U></A>              <A HREF="#dick_warlock" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Dick Warlock</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#alan_howarth" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Alan Howarth</U></U></A>              <A HREF="#lance_guest" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Lance Guest</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#pamela_shoop" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Pamela </U></U></A><A HREF="#pamela_shoop" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>S. Shoop</U></U></A>          <A HREF="#dan_o_herlihy" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Dan O'Herlihy</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#ellie_cornell" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Ellie Cornell</U></U></A>                 <A HREF="#carmen_filpi" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Carmen Filpi</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#slc_crew" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Salt Lake City Crew</U></U></A>    <A HREF="#daniel_farrands" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Daniel Farrands</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#moustappha_akkad" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Moustappha Akkad</U></U></A><U> </U>   <A HREF="#chris_durand" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Chris Durand</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#michelle_williams" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Michelle Williams</U></U></A>       <A HREF="#josh_hartnett" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Josh Hartnett</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#adam_arkin" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Adam Arkin</U></U></A>                 <A HREF="#kevin_williamson" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Kevin Williamson</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34_steve_miner_interview.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Halloween Articles"><U><U>Steve Miner</U></U></A>                  <A HREF="#robert_zappia" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Robert Zappia</U></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#philip_nutman" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Phil Nutman</U></U></A>                <A HREF="#t_l__wallace" TITLE="Halloween Interviews"><U><U>Tommy Lee Wallace</U></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Tommy Lee Wallace Interview</U><U> <A NAME="t_l__wallace"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Although over the years John Carpenter and Debra Hill have received much of the credit for creating HALLOWEEN, there was yet another face who played a large part in the creation of the first three HALLOWEEN films. Tommy Lee Wallace not only created the Shape's mask, but also directed HALLOWEEN III. Now, he's excited to look back at twenty years of terror!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>HALLOWEENMOVIES.COM:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Well to start off, we'd like to thank you for your huge contribution to the HALLOWEEN series over the years.</I></FONT></div> <div> TOMMY LEE WALLACE:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > Well, thank you!</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> How did you get involved in HALLOWEEN?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >Well, John and I go back a long way. We grew up in the same town. I actually helped John figure out where he wanted to go to school. He'd known for a long time that he was going to be a film director. I took him up to the library and showed him the blue book of colleges. We narrowed it down to NYU, Miami, UCLA, and USC. He finally decided on USC and off he went. I went with art school in Ohio. When it came time for graduate school, I decided to come out and join up John and blaze the trail. So I decided to follow him to USC. He was just getting out of USC as I was coming in. So I helped him and Dan O'Bannon on DARK STAR. Then he and Dan had a falling out and so I became his right hand man, especially where there were art department concerns.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Was it a big jump to Los Angeles?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > Well, sure. Naturally. We're "small town boys hit the big city." It was pretty interesting and pretty wild in some ways. But, you know, [Bowling Green] was a college town - so we weren't complete bumpkins by any means.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> How would you characterize John Carpenter?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >John is a very special person. He's always been a good friend to me. He's one of the most creative people I've ever met. In all candor, I think his greatest talent is perhaps as a song writer. I always assumed over the years that he would keep that up. I hope he goes back to it one day, 'cause he writes a hell of a song. We were in a rock n' roll band together.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Do the Coupe De'Villes ever get together anymore?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > (laughs) Yes, the Coupe De'Villes had a nice reunion earlier this year. We manage to get together every so often.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> What inspired you to create the look of the Shape's mask?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > Well, John asked me to go and find a couple of masks. It was clear from the script that this Michael Myers character was going to run around in the little town of Haddonfield wearing a mask. That was about all we knew. My mandate was to go to a hobby store and find a few masks and see what we could come up with. So I chose two. One was the old Emmett Kelly clown mask. The other - I wanted to try a much plainer, starker thing. So I just looked for a human face and the most likely one for what I wanted was the William Shatner mask. First we modeled the Emmett Kelly mask. I can't remember who put it on first. We had someone in the production office modeling these things. My girlfriend, soon to become my wife, Nancy Kyes - back then she was known as Nancy Loomis - had come up with a mechanic's jumpsuit. We put that on the person who was going to model the masks, and put the Emmett Kelly mask on first. And when the guy came out - it was pretty chilling. It was clear that a clown would be an excellent subject as a bad guy. And of course, that has been worn out on a number of pictures, including my own version of Stephen King's IT.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HW.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Right.</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > We were pretty impressed after modeling the clown. We said, "let's try the other one." I had just fiddled with the William Shatner mask. I had opened up the eyeholes more, tore off the sideburns, messed up the hair a little bit, and painted it a really stark white. That's something that the rest of the HALLOWEENs never did get right. And it's so simple it's absurd - why all the rest of the movies couldn't make the Shape look like the Shape! Anyway, when the William Shatner mask came out of the bathroom, we all just took a deep breath. It was the most chilling thing any of us had ever seen. I guess it was the idea that someone would choose that mask to wear, because it was so plain. You had to say, "What's wrong with this person for choosing that? That's really sick." And it really sent a chill through us and there was no question at that moment - that was the winner.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HM.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Have you seen the following Michael Myers sequels?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > No, I haven't seen any of them after HALLOWEEN II. I've just seen stills from the various other ones. But I did see H20.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HM.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> What was your reaction to that?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > I was favorably impresesed. Jamie Lee made a little speech before the presentation. She was, I think, thinking of John and Debra, and perhaps me and Dean Cundey, when she said it would hold up the standard of the original. And I think it went a pretty long way towards doing just that. It was a good thrill ride. It was fun. And well made. I give it a lot of respect.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HM.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Can we talk about HALLOWEEN III?</I></FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" >TLW:</FONT> My only regret about HALLOWEEN III is that it was <I>called</I> HALLOWEEN III. I think if anybody goes back and gives it a chance on its own terms, it's a good horror movie, in the vein of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. It's a pod movie, if you will, instead of a knife movie. The unfortunate fact was that Universal, I feel, simply blew it, the way they marketed the movie. We went into it with the understanding that this was not a true sequel and I think the mistake for John and Debra and me was not to insist that it be called something else. I think there was the opportunity to create a yearly anthology...which could have been started with a certain amount of hoopla that could have kicked things off in a successful fashion. Instead, they completely buried the fact that it was not a true sequel. I think what Universal wanted really was just a big opening weekend. Everybody who saw it felt burned. No Jamie Lee. No knife. No Shape. No Donald Pleasence. And the advertising really hadn't told that fact. So I have mixed feelings about it. A freat opportunity to make a movie. My directing debuet. But it was kind of a built-in flop because of the backlash.</div> <div> <I>HM.C: </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I>To what extent were you involved in HALLOWEEN II?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > It was offered to me first. It was an obvious kind of choice. We had our team going and it was a successful team. Clearly I was honored to be chosen as the director of the movie. John put it in a nutshell for me, he didn't mince words. He said I was a "hierling," which meant that all the heavy decisions would be made for me. And so I took a big chance and I held my breath and I passed. I really hated the script. Everybody sells their soul at some level, I suppose, in show business. But I felt like making a movie that really disgusted me...it was all the things the original was not. The original did all of its magic with light and shadows and suggestions and creative cutting. The second was all about hypodermic needles. It was a calculation on John's part. He thought that the times had changed, that in the interim between HALLOWEEN and HALLOWEEN II, the audiences were kind of demanding graphic violence and that other movies that had come out had really pushed the envelope. I can't say he was wrong, but I really hated the movie and the script, and I felt that truthfully doing the movie itself would be doing a disservice.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HM.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> Is there anything you can remember from working on the original that most fans may not know?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > I've been astonished at how sophisticated fans are. It would be hard to come up with something that most people are not aware of. The average fan I talk to about HALLOWEEN knows so much more than I would have expected.</FONT></div> <div> <I>HM.C:</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><I> So what's next in line for you?</I></FONT></div> <div> TLW:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > I'm raising money for an independent called DARK HORSE. In essence, it's a story that dabbles with violence in our high schools; and is actually a kind of re-telling of the rise and fall of the third reich, only in an American high school. Instead of Adolf Hitler, we have this beautiful young girl who's president of the student body. I have high hopes for it. It's a think piece of teenagers.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Philip Nutman Interview</U><U> <A NAME="philip_nutman"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Philip Nutman is a novelist (author of the award-nominated, critically acclaimed, cult classic apocalyptic zombie horror novel, WET WORK), short story writer, comic book scriptwriter, and, over the last couple of years has devoted much of his creative energies to screenwriting in collaboration with HALLOWEEN 6 writer, Daniel Farrands.</div> <div> Now the Halloween comic is finally out -- and selling out in stores across the country. Phil decided, despite his schedule getting more intense, to finally take a few minutes to pause before packing his bags to attend the LA screening at The Egyptian Theater and chat with us.</div> <div> Instead of a short preview interview, and to make up for the delay, he offered to give HALLOWEEN THE WEBSITE OF MICHAEL MYERS a longer, more in-depth, exclusive, interview.</div> <bR> <div> Part two will be a two-for-one deal as both Phil and Daniel Farrands will answer questions.</div> <bR> <div> HM: How were you approached about doing a HALLOWEEN comic book?</div> <div> PN: I wasn't; I suggested the idea.</div> <bR> <div> The short version is this. Chaos! Comics Publisher Brian Pulido and I were discussing potential movie-based comic book projects. One was on the table -- a specific request -- and that inspired the thought, what else can we do? And I said, "well, HALLOWEEN..."</div> <bR> <div> And Brian said, "yes!"</div> <bR> <div> The long version is:</div> <bR> <div> Over a year ago, I was approached by Cunningham Productions, who make the FRIDAY THE 13TH pictures. We had a prior relationship, primarily through comics, but also, potentially, through film (they'd asked me to come in for meetings and to pitch ideas). They confidentially informed me it seemed 95 percent certain they would be filming Jason X in the new year [2000], and that they wanted to plan a comic book tie-in, if not an actual on-going series -- and would I be interested in being involved? Furthermore, they were asking a favor of me: who should they approach, what comic book companies would be the most receptive to the idea?</div> <bR> <div> I suggested McFarlane, Dark Horse, and Chaos.</div> <bR> <div> They subsequently made overtures to the companies, but from what I understand, no one decided to take a bite.</div> <bR> <div> Then, in January this year, Geoff Garrett, who works with Sean, called to say Brian Pulido had contacted the company, stating they [Chaos] were seriously interested in doing a Jason book, and what was the status of the new movie?</div> <bR> <div> To cut a really long story short, Sean and Geoff (in tandem with former Cunningham Productions executive Mark Hasslett, who had originally developed a great comic book proposal) agreed, but again asked if I would be available. Since I wanted to work with Mark, I agreed.</div> <bR> <div> The bottom line is: a Jason book's still in the planning stages and Chaos wants to do it. But as far as this year was concerned, despite Chaos's attempts to aggressively pursue licensing agreements with several movie studios, the only one which came to fruition was the Halloween project. And that's because Mickey Yablans and Compass International jumped on my proposal.</div> <bR> <div> Suddenly, after weeks of talk, I get a call from [Chaos] managing editor Mike Francis saying we're on the fast track, and can I deliver a first draft script by Friday the following week?</div> <bR> <div> I couldn't and didn't -- I think I turned in a detailed page-by-page, panel-by-panel breakdown within a couple of weeks.</div> <bR> <div> It was that fast.</div> <div> HM: What were some of the difficulties you encountered in trying to take a </div> <div> popular horror film series and turn it into a comic book series?</div> <div> PN: Step one: to try and make it as authentic, as faithful to the intent of the original film -- and to incorporate elements which have evolved over the course of the sequels.</div> <bR> <div> Step two: -- and this directly pertains to step one -- to find the right story and a story which would work within the comics medium yet retained a cinematic feel to it.</div> <div> HM: How is the comic book series the same and how is it different from the </div> <div> films?</div> <bR> <div> PN: Had we managed to do this interview as a preview of the book a couple of months ago, I would have given a long, yet elusive answer. But now the book's out, I'll let the material speak for itself.</div> <bR> <div> But if I've performed my writing duties correctly -- and thanks to Dan's constant input -- then I've written a true Halloween story.</div> <bR> <div> Judging by initial reader response, we seem to have succeeded.</div> <div> HM: From start to finish, how long did it take to complete the first issue of </div> <div> the series (from you writing to the last drop of ink for the book's images)?</div> <div> PN: That's tough to answer off the top of my head since I wrote and edited the book.</div> <div> Basically, from March to early August -- but that's in terms of writing and editing.</div> <div> As far as writing's concerned, I looked at my work log the other day (I can track the number of hours/days on any given project as I'm usually juggling at least four projects -- a novel, a screenplay, maybe a comic or two, or a short story -- at any given time and have to break up my usual 12 - 14 hour days into blocks of time), and if I remember correctly, from original proposal to finished first draft, two weeks. That's two 40-hour weeks spread over a month or so, mind you.</div> <div> But in essence, the book was a major part of my life, between writing, editing, doing a final dialogue polish and proofing for close to six months.</div> <div> I put a hell of a lot more into this project than I would say, writing an issue of The Incredible Hulk, which any writer with a little experience could churn out in two days.</div> <div> HM: So this book was a labor of love?</div> <div> PN: Definiteley.</div> <div> HM: How many issues do they plan on doing? How many are you going to be </div> <div> working on?</div> <div> PN: That's yet to be decided or finalized, and is out of my hands, so I'm sorry I can't give you a solid answer right now.</div> <bR> <div> I sincerely hope there will be another, and I know both Chaos Comics Publisher Brian Pulido, and Mickey Yablans, son of Halloween creator and producer, Irwin, who is the front rank in handling the licensing of the book, were so wildly enthusiastic about the material I was producing, they want to see future issues happen. </div> <bR> <div> Brian gave me free reign as both writer and editor, and that was also due to Mickey being so happy with the writing. This is not the first licensed comic project I've worked on, but thanks to Brian's faith in me and Mickey's total support and encouragement, it was the most pleasurable. Not the easiest -- these types of project are never easy -- but, personally, the most enjoyable.</div> <bR> <div> As far as I'm concerned, if there's another one-shot or a miniseries (which is what I'd prefer; I enjoy having a bigger canvass to work on rather than just telling a story in 22 pages) -- and I believe there will be -- I want to write it. And any further issues, too.</div> <bR> <div> Judging by the fact the regular edition sold out in under a week, I think further issues are inevitable, even if the comic book market is shrinking. I certainly have plenty of stories in mind.</div> <bR> <div> But I'll only do them on one condition.</div> <div> HM: Which is?</div> <div> PN: That Daniel Farrands, who penned the screenplay of HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS, and who has become a great friend in addition to being my on-going regular screenwriting partner for film scripts, continues to be involved.</div> <bR> <div> I know I could have written a good Halloween comic solo; but having Dan's involvement made the comic what it is. And the truth of the matter is: a lot better than I initially imagined.</div> <bR> <div> He's tremendously talented, and he and I work together like a dream. Besides, as you guys, and I'm sure many visitors to the site know, Dan's a walking Halloween encyclopedia. Man, did he catch every little detail!</div> <div> HM: So how do you and Dan know each other, and how did you start writing together? And how did you collaborate on the comic?</div> <div> PN: That's a long answer. Why don't we save that for part two and have Dan participate?</div> <div> HM: That would be great.</div> <div> The first part of "Tales of the Jack O' Lantern," Phil's extended editorial (excerpted in the comic) is now up at his website -- and further installments will be posted each Tuesday throughout the month of October, with the final segment appearing on October 31st.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> PART 2 - COMING SOON!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Robert Zappia Interview</U><U> <A NAME="robert_zappia"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> All movies begin with a script. A blank page of paper with the first words of "Fade In" can lead to a box office blockbuster or a frightening failure. In the early days of HALLOWEEN H20's conception, Robert Zappia was brought on board to help bring Michael Myers back to life for his 20th anniversary. Zappia, who's numerous credits include writing for HOME IMPROVEMENT, has lots to tell about scripting the scares of H20...</div> <bR> <div> halloweenmovies.com<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Do you classify yourself as a HALLOWEEN fan?</FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Robert Zappia<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Absolutely. I was too young to see the movie in the theater during its original release, but I became acquainted with it on TV, like many of the fans. It scared the hell out of me. Had nightmares for weeks. Every window I looked out at my house I would fear I would see that pale white mask glaring back at me. One of the first tunes I learned to play on the piano was the "Halloween" Theme -- to the dismay of my mother. My wife's not real happy about it either -- I always play it when she's in the shower. Hee-hee-hee <evil grin>.</FONT></div> <div> I, too, like many of the fans, was disappointed with the third</div> <div> installment...hoping to see Michael back for more...what a disappointment. I was happy with the fourth installment (yay! Michael's back!!!). The fifth was okay. And I didn't see the sixth until I was hired for H20.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: How did you first get involved with H20?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: To make a long story short...I started my career in television; always with an eye toward feature writing. I wrote for the sitcom "Home Improvement" amongst other things. All the while I was writing feature specs and one hour drama specs. Dimension Films got a hold of an "X-Files" spec I had written and asked me if I would be interested in writing Halloween 7. WOW! I would have written Halloween 50 if I had a chance! Of course I was interested.</FONT></div> <div> I wrote a treatment and a draft before Jamie Lee Curtis was involved. Once Jamie Lee showed interest, the producers decided to keep me on board to write the script.</div> <div> 3) What was your first step in creating the storyline? Did you feel the need to change from Williamson's treatment? This was a unique situation because I had already written a draft pre-Jamie Lee. So I used elements from my previous work (the characters of the students, the setting of a secluded private school, etc...) in the later drafts.</div> <div> I didn't necessarily feel the need to change Kevin's treatment, after all he doesn't need help from me. There were certain elements that I had a difference of opinion on and discussed those things with the producers and director. Somethings I was able to change others remained the same.</div> <div> Kevin's treatment was very brief, so it also allowed me to embelish quit a bit during the draft process. That gave me a lot of creative freedom.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: How much input did Jamie Lee Curtis have on the character development as well as the script itself?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Jamie Lee had a very precise view of where Laurie Strode would be 20 years later. She knows that character better than any writer could, after all she's lived it. The director would frequently confer with Jamie Lee about script changes. After all, if Jamie wasn't happy with the script, this movie wouldn't have been made.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Was there a conscious effort to ignore the previous sequels?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Yes. I felt more issues needed to be addressed (i.e. Laurie abandoning her only daughter, etc...), but Dimension and the director felt these issues were better left unaddressed. On the other hand, I didn't think we needed to go into the cult aspects of the sequels only because this sequel was about Laurie Strode more than it was Michael. I mean, think about it...after Halloween 2, Michael was the main character, the guy we'd come to love over 20 years. But now, here comes the only other person who's been there since the beginning. It was Laurie Strode's turn to kick ass.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Was it a pure coincidence that some of the scenes were reminiscent of scenes from previous HALLOWEENs, such as Will Brennan being stabbed in the back (ala Part II) or Michael being thrown off the truck (as in Part 4)?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: No coincidence there. Many of the elements/dialogue in the movie pay homage to the previous films.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: How many drafts did you end up with?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Let me count the ways...I think six or seven.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Did the actors and actresses who were cast fit the visual image you had</FONT></div> <div> of the characters?</div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Some did, others were totally different. It's weird how you sit at a computer and write these voices that are in your head and one day this person shows up and says, "I'm the person you've been writing about for eight months." And it's like, kind of a shock. You want to say, "That's not you. You look like this and this, not like that."</FONT></div> <div> And then other times (like in the case of Laurie Strode's boyfriend, Adam Arkin) you're like, "Wow. I never would have pictured you in the part, but you're SO PERFECT." I thought he was really great. I think he added a whole new dimension to that role.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Who do you think was the most interesting character to write for in the</FONT></div> <div> film?</div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Most interesting had to be Laurie Strode. I mean the chance to write about this character 20 years later...it's not often you get to revisit a character like that. Sometimes I wish I could have spent another two hours of film time just exploring that character. Imagine what a therapy session with Laurie Strode would be like?!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Was it your idea to resurrect Marion?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: No. I think it was Kevin who first mentioned that idea.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Were there any major conflicts that Steve Miner, Paul Freeman, Jamie</FONT></div> <div> Lee Curtis, or Dimension Film executives had with your script?</div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Oh sure. I'd finally write a script that one group was happy with and the other group would hate it. It was like running on a treadmill -- you're running, you're working up a sweat, but you're not getting anywhere.</FONT></div> <div> But that's how it goes. When you're dealing with story and plot and dialogue, it's all so objective. I'm going to like one thing and you're going to hate it and vice versa. So there was a lot of that kind of stuff going on. You try and please everyone and you can't. And you just have to try to do what YOU think's best. Sometimes it gets you in trouble, other times it works out.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Can you tell us about scenes you wrote that never saw the light of day?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I don't want to clog the internet. Over the course of the seven drafts, there are alot of scenes that never made it to the screen. Boo-hoo. Some of them would have been scarier then hell. But the great thing about writing is, you can keep all that stuff and maybe use it in a future project. Nothing's ever dead, it's just waiting for the perfect opportunity to be used again.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: With the ending, did you set out to kill the Shape once and for all, or</FONT></div> <div> did you feel the need to leave it open for a possible sequel?</div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: That issue was taken out of my hands VERY early on. I wrote different endings with just about every draft that I wrote. Some were ambiguous about the Shape's death, others involved, well, the infamous chopping off of the head.</FONT></div> <div> Moustapha Akkad is VERY protective of his franchise (I would be, too!) And he would never have let the Shape be killed without the possibility (no matter how small) that he could come back to kill again.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Why was Matt Greenberg brought in?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well, you can imagine after seven drafts and over a year on one project, you begin to see double. I was beginning to lose sight of the whole picture, and was too busy trying to fit all the various pieces of the puzzle together.</FONT></div> <div> Everyone agreed, including myself, that it was time to get a fresh pair of eyes in to look at script in a way that I wasn't able to do anymore.</div> <div> Matt came in and did a really terrific job. He really made the movie better.</div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Were you happy with the final cut of the movie?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: All in all, I was. Sure there are things you miss, or things you wish you could do differently, but I was amazed how well it turned out considering all the incarnations of the script.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: What's next in line for you?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I'm currently writing a script for Walt Disney Pictures called "Let's All Kill Jennifer" based on the novel "Scream, Jennifer, Scream" by R.L. Stine. I'm also writing a movie called "House of Secrets" for Warner Bros. based on the graphic novel by the same name. They're both real fun projects to work on. They both should be released in the next year.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Any advice for aspiring filmmakers?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Be persistent. Never give up on a dream. In th end, the only people who fail are the people who do not try.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Would you return for a future installment of HALLOWEEN?</FONT></div> <div> RZ<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I'll give you the same answer I give when people ask if there will be a Halloween 8....NEVER SAY NEVER</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Kevin Williamson Interview</U><U> <A NAME="kevin_williamson"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> In the past few years, Kevin Williamson has become a household name across America. Penning the mega-hit SCREAM gave him a quick rise to stardom. The screenwriter moved on to I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, SCREAM 2, and recently created the critically acclaimed DAWSON'S CREEK television series for WB. Underneath it all, this hot Hollywood property is a huge HALLOWEEN fan and he was more than happy to contribute to the 20th anniversary of HALLOWEEN.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>Q: What was your extent of work on H20?</I></div> <div> KW: Well, ya know, I did some writing on it. You can probably pick out my moments if you know my work. I took my friend to see it last night and he said, "you did that scene, didn't you? And that was your line!" That's executive producer stuff. I'd say, "Hey writer, what about this, what about that?" It's kind of like on DAWSON'S CREEK, where we have eight writers. Just give me the scene, put it on my desk, I'll take care of it. We're doing HALLOWEEN H20 with Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg, who are two very good writers. Matt Greenberg came up with the whole road stop scene (see the movie). It was actually pushing the story forward. You know, how did Michael Myers go from Haddonfield to Northern California. Everyone involved was doing it because of passion, which is the key. Robert Zappia is a huge fan. Matt Greenberg, huge fan of the genere, huge fan of HALLOWEEN. Steve Miner, of course, from his FRIDAY THE 13th days, and Jamie Lee Curtis' passion just sort of umbrella-ed everything. And it just - the movie happened.</div> <div> <I>Q: How could you </I><I><B>not</B></I><I> be involved?</I></div> <div> KW: Exactly. Bob Weinstein called me up and said "We want you to be involved in this movie, we want you to help out." I was like, "No, I'm just tired. No." And then I met Jamie Lee down in North Carolina and [Bob Weinstein] said Jamie Lee's going to be involved and I didn't believe him. Why would she do part 7?! It doesn't make sense. And then I met her. Steve Miner introduced me to her. The first words out of her mouth were "We're making a 20th anniversary to HALLOWEEN and dadada..." and then I thought I gotta be involved if <B>she's</B> going to do it.</div> <div> <I>Q: Is H20 a direct sequel to HALLOWEEN? What about the sequels?</I></div> <div> KW: I do think Part II is a sequel, 'cause it had Jamie Lee Curtis in it. And if you remember Part III, Season of the Witch, had nothing to do with nothing. I call this one Part III, but Steve [Miner] calls it Part II. But Jamie Lee was in the sequel, and it was in the sequel that we learned they were brother and sister. So you have to sorta - you have to include Part II.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you think there's pressure on H20 since the last few sequels haven't lived up to expectations?</I></div> <div> KW: Well, let's be honest - they stunk. They were really some bad ones. Not all of them were bad, because I personally like 4 and 5, because I love that little character of Jamie. I think the actress was just adorable. I enjoyed watching her run from the killer. So I really liked 4 and 5. I thought 6 was a mistake, really went off the deep end. I think everyone thought that. And so I really wanted to make sure they didn't go there again, and I really wanted to get back to the respect of what HALLOWEEN initially was. I think that was the goal. And you've got Bob Weinstein who created an entire studio to honor this type of film. He's got that passion, he really loved that first movie. When I sold SCREAM, I remember we sat down for the first time and Bob just started talking about how much he loved HALLOWEEN. When he read the script, he knew that SCREAM was an homage to HALLOWEEN. He caught that Tatum (Rose McGowan) got killed in a garage. Annie got killed in a garage in HALLOWEEN. He saw the popping popcorn. He saw everything I was trying to do and he had such a love for it. That's why I hit it off so well with him.</div> <div> <I>Q: Were John Carpenter and Debra Hill ever close to being involved in H20?</I></div> <div> KW: Well, Debra Hill kinda is, I mean she was. I don't know what her involvement initially was, 'cause I just don't know all that business stuff. John Carpenter was asked. he didn't want to do it, just for personal reasons. He didn't want to go to the same well twice. I guess he felt he had the experience of HALLOWEEN and was moving on, which was too bad for me because I was really hoping to work with him. But, I'm glad it worked out this way because we got Steve Miner, who's like - my best friend.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you have to worry about getting audiences back due to earlier HALLOWEEN sequels? Or are fans so devoted they'll show up anyway?</I></div> <div> KW: I think the true HALLOWEEN fans will, so you've got that contingent. And then I think we're in a nice wave of horror movies where horror movies are kind of exciting right now. There's sort of been a rebirth of them, so you've got that contingent. And then you've got Jamie Lee Curtis, that will bring in that contingent, the fans of Jamie Lee Curtis. So hopefully, with all of that, it should do well, on a bunch of different levels. It'll appeal to a bunch of different people.</div> <div> <I>Q: Can you explain the nostalgia? Because there's a lot of self-referential points in H20.</I></div> <div> KW: Yeah. While SCREAM was a tribute to all horror movies, this one pays tribute to the first [HALLOWEEN]. If you truly know the first film, you'll get all the inside stuff. There's a lot of lines from the first movie that are spoken in [H20]. I think it's really cool. When she takes the kids and says, "Barricade yourselves in the closet," and they're like, "No," and she says, "Do as I say!" Then immediately I go right back to the first movie when she screams at Tommy Doyle, "Do as I say!" She's performing it the exact same way. So it's just sort of nostalgia.</div> <div> <I>Q: Like the "keys" scene?</I></div> <div> KW: Yeah, when she's knocking on the door saying, "Open up, open up." We got that in there. (Williamson breaks into an impression of Laurie saying "Ohhh, the keys....the keys!") It's the weirdest thing. That's looped. If you look in the first movie, she's not saying "the keys." They're reminding the audience she doesn't have the keys.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you like to see the audience have fun in a movie?</I></div> <div> KW: Yeah, it's sorta like, lets go back to the audience participation. HALLOWEEN was total audience participation. I was pounding my feet. I was running when she was running. I told Steve [Miner], "You make sure you have her <B>run</B>!" because there's so many horror movies now where there's no chase scene. You don't actually see the victim running from the killer. [Steve Miner] did FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2 and the best part of that movie was when that girl was actually running, and how she ran, and how she got away. That's the fun stuff of the movie.</div> <div> <I>Q: The bad thing with horror movies, is when one becomes a hit, very bad imitators follow.</I></div> <div> Yeah, I know. There's a slew of them coming out. I know there's like 14 in production right now.</div> <div> <I>Q: You've had so much happen to you in the last year and a half. What else do you want to do?</I></div> <div> KW: Well, I'm kind of doing it. I mean, I wanted to do DAWSON'S CREEK. That was so personal to me, that was my childhood, and I got to do it. And now, I've got another television series coming out this fall with ABC. It's not my childhood so much now, it's my college years (Williamson adjusts in his chair). And I've got a romantic comedy in the works that's going to be shot this year. I've got an action film, because I'm such a fan of DIE HARD and 3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR. Maybe another horror movie. Who knows. You just have to write what's passionate, what's personal.</div> <div> <I>Q: And you're directing right now.</I></div> <div> KW: Yeah, I'm directing KILLING MRS. TINGLE, which was the first script I ever wrote. This is as personal as it can get. I'm real excited.</div> <div> <I>Q: What's the status of SCREAM 3?</I></div> <div> KW: I just agreed this week to start writing it. We just struck my deal, so I guess the other deals are starting to follow. I'll be done in April, I'm guessing. We're planning on a December [1999] release.</div> <div> <I>Q: Will Neve Campbell return?</I></div> <div> KW: Well, I guess she needs to wait to see if she has a character. If she doesn't want to be in it, then we'll write it without her. The good thing about SCREAM 3 is I've got three plans. There's the Sid version, the Sid-less version, and....the bottom line is the story itself doesn't rely so much on her character.</div> <div> <I>Q: What's the third version?</I></div> <div> KW: (Smiling) I can't say. It's not so much about Sidney anymore. It's about the world that was created with "Stab." The story itself thematically works, regardless of who is in it.</div> <div> <I>Q: What's crazy is that people on the websites have the plots - and you haven't even written it yet!</I></div> <div> KW: And they're so wrong! I went on there this morning. I wrote in there and I said, "Guys, you guys are off!" And then they'll write back, "Who are <B>you</B>?! How do <B>you</B> know?!" (laughs)</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you ever check out the HALLOWEEN website?</I></div> <div> KW: Yes! There's one that a guy in Wisconsin works on...</div> <div> <I>Q: My partner, Bruce.</I></div> <div> KW: Yes! Who's who?</div> <div> <I>Q: I'm Brian Martin, he's Bruce Dierbeck (smiles all around).</I></div> <div> KW: Oh yeah. he just came out here and visited the set of KILLING MRS. TINGLE. What a nice guy! We talk all the time on email. He just sent me this tape. He found this movie that I was in where I play a drunk American guy. He put it a tape with a Miramax promo and said, "For Academy consideration - Kevin Williamson: Drunk American Guy." It was funny!</div> <div> <I>Q: How do you divide your time up with so much happening?</I></div> <div> KW: Time management, which I'm starting to get pretty good at.</div> <div> <I>Q: You've been called the man who saved the horror genere. Do you think that's true?</I></div> <div> KW: (Pauses) I don't think I saved it. I think it just came back for a few days and it'll be gone again. I think Wes [Craven] had a lot to do with it, too. I don't know. It came back for a year, and these horror movies are going to go away again, and then they'll come back again in 10 years. Everything's a cycle. It was bound to happen. If I didn't do it, somebody else was going to do it.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Adam Arkin Interview</U><U> <A NAME="adam_arkin"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Adam Arkin is a seasoned professional in Hollywood. Appearing in numerous plays, movies, and television shows, he was ready to take a vacation from his dramatic role as Dr. Shutt on CHICAGO HOPE for some trick-or-treating with Michael Myers in HALLOWEEN H20.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you recall the first time you saw the first HALLOWEEN?</I></div> <div> AA: Yeah, because it was really recently. I saw it when I knew I was going to be doing this one. I was one of the few people on the planet who didn't see the original when it came out.</div> <div> <I>Q: Has it held up 20 years? Is it still a scary movie?</I></div> <div> AA: Oh yeah! Actually, I think it holds up pretty damn well, I think.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you feel like you're someone who would be a likely candidate for a horror film?</I></div> <div> AA: I don't know who that would be. I mean, we'd be talking about Mia Farrow and Jack Nicholson and a lot of talented people who have been in horror movies over the years. Everyone with every kind of acting ability has done it. When I heard who was involved in the film, it made perfect sense that I would get to be a part of it, and I felt like I would be really foolish not to be.</div> <div> <I>Q: What's the kick of doing it?</I></div> <div> AA: The biggest kick of doing it doesn't have to do with the style of movie. The biggest kick of doing any movie is the people involved, for me. If it's a good group, a group that enjoys one anothers company and works well together, all of which was the case on this. I had never worked with Jamie Lee before. I had known her socially for many years. Our kids have played together at Roxbury Park. Steve Miner and I had had a really good experience together on an episode of CHICAGO HOPE that he directed. I made a note at the time that this was one of the best 2 or 3 directors we've ever had on the show. H20 had all the earmarks of something that was going to be an event, and you just gotta go with those.</div> <div> <I>Q: You and Jamie Lee Curtis have love scenes in the film. Is it difficult to do something like that, especially knowing she has a husband?</I></div> <div> AA: No...in an odd way that just makes it better (laughs)! Knowing her, I think, actually made it easier. Because you're always dealing with, you know, "are they going to misinterpret this? Am I going to do something that makes a fool out of myself?" And when you know someone and have some degree of comfort with them, everybody knows where you're coming from and you also know you have a job to do. Part of that job is to look like you're used to this and good at it. So we kind of checked all subconsciousness at the door. She actually got me, and I think herself, relaxed a number of times by not waiting 'til the cameras were on. She would just occasionally, in front of the whole crew, come over and plant one on me and say, "You better get used to it because we're going to have to be doing this in front of the camera in a minute." And she also called and left extensive messages as to what mouth wash she did and didn't like, so that we would be in perfect synch.</div> <div> <I>Q: If "Will" survives H20, could we see him back for H21?</I></div> <div> AA: God, why not! I'd be back if the script was good and the same people were involved. I'd come back in a minute.</div> <div> <I>Q: You've been involved in lot of work the critics likes. Are you satisfied with it all?</I></div> <div> AA: It doesn't satisfy the need to do feature work, because its not features. But it satisfies the need to be in work of integrity, and that's really the first priority. I would rather be on a great TV show than a mediocre film. I want to do good work and be surrounded by good people and have good material to work on. I think I've been fairly smart in a lot of the things I've selected to do.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Josh Hartnett Interview</U><U> <A NAME="josh_hartnett"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> At 19 years old, Josh Hartnett is a brand new face in the film world...making his cinematic debut in HALLOWEEN H20. What's more frightening is that he plays John Tate, the nephew of Michael Myers! Hartnett speaks in a very deep, but quiet voice. Sporting the same blue hat he wore on the set of HALLOWEEN H20, Hartnett sat down to tell us about his experience with Michael Myers!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>Q: Josh, on the behind the scenes clips we've seen you're in that same blue hat you're wearing now. Is there something special about that hat?</I></div> <div> JH: I did a movie where I've got extensions and when I'm on the set, it's just nice to - hide myself.</div> <div> <I>Q: What are you working on right now?</I></div> <div> JH: Right now I'm working on a movie called VIRTUAL SUICIDES. Sophia Coppola is directing.</div> <div> <I>Q: This is your feature film debut. Seeing the fame previous HALLOWEEN alumni have reached, do you think any of that will happen to you?</I></div> <div> JH: I can just hope for the best and kinda take what's coming...try and be respectful to fans who want autographs.</div> <div> <I>Q: As an actor, don't you even dream of fame?</I></div> <div> JH: I never really did. I know its probably completely senile, but what I really want to do is theater. I went to theater school and got booted, got kicked out.</div> <div> <I>Q: Why?</I></div> <div> JH: (Laughs) You really ask good questions. Ahhh....why. Lots of reasons, lots of reasons. Well, it's a state run school, and they don't really have a lot of funding for the arts, so they can't really afford to graduate everyone they take in. They took in 26 of us and the first day they told us only 7 of us would graduate. And that's not a good position to put a volatile young actor in, to pin 'em against each other. So anyway, I told them that's probably not the best way to go about it, in this very eloquently written letter. And they really didn't appreciate it. And there was also something about a professor's daughter...(laughs)</div> <div> <I>Q: A lot of your scenes in H20 are with Jamie Lee Curtis. What's she like to work with?</I></div> <div> JH: Jamie Lee...she is a luminous person. She's got charisma and such passion. And that's something every young actor should take a look at. To sit back and watch the way she works is really a lesson. She's just great.</div> <div> <I>Q: Likewise, what was Michelle Williams like?</I></div> <div> JH: She's a talented actress. I had to strain just to keep my jaw off the floor.</div> <div> <I>Q: Did you watch the first HALLOWEEN before working on H20?</I></div> <div> JH: Yeah. I saw the first one tow weeks before we started. it is a classic movie. That's where the horror cliché came from.</div> <div> <I>Q: How much of you is in the character of John Tate?</I></div> <div> JH: Quite a bit actually.</div> <div> <I>Q: Can you picture yourself becoming a teen idol?</I></div> <div> JH: I don't think there's any problem with being a teen idol if you can handle it, if that's what comes. It's such an insane business. There's this standard you have to be in order to be a teen idol. I dunno if I could handle that.</div> <div> <I>Q: Who and what were some of your influences in the movies?</I></div> <div> JH: Ethan Hawke. He's a terrific actor. My inspiration when I was younger - my Dad made me watch ON THE WATERFRONT. Jimmy Stewart, people like that.</div> <div> <I>Q: When did you know you wanted to be an actor?</I></div> <div> JH: About three years ago. I hurt my knee while playing football. I auditioned for this play...and I got the part. I got up on stage and people were clapping - and looking at <B>me</B>. It was exciting. I felt like I had a place.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Michelle Williams Interview</U><U> <A NAME="michelle_williams"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Michelle Williams has become one of the newest crop of Hollywood stars. After small roles in SPECIES and A THOUSAND ACRES, she landed her big break as "Jennifer" on the WB drama DAWSON'S CREEK. Now, she returns to the big screen as Molly in HALLOWEEN H20.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>Q: So when was the first time you saw HALLOWEEN?</I></div> <div> MW: Actaully, when I first signed on to do [H20]. I figured I better go watch it.</div> <div> <I>Q: Did it scare you?</I></div> <div> MW: Three times. There were three points where I jumped out of the couch.</div> <div> <I>Q: So why sign on for something like this?</I></div> <div> MW: The director I had worked with before. It's great when you have a level of trust with somebody. Kevin Williamson was involved...and Jamie Lee Curtis! So why not!</div> <div> <I>Q: Was it scary making it?</I></div> <div> MW: You know, it really wasn't. There were a few times that got a little unnerving, but for the most part, they call cut and you go grab a cookie and joke around.</div> <div> <I>Q: Any bad dreams from it?</I></div> <div> MW: Fortunently, no. Not that I remember anyway. But, maybe that's why I woke up in a cold sweat most of hte time. I just don't have a retention for my nightmares.</div> <div> <I>Q: How would you rate yourself as a scream queen?</I></div> <div> MW: There is...no. Jamie is really the only scream queen. The reigning one.</div> <div> <I>Q: How would you define scream queen?</I></div> <div> MW: (laughing) Jamie Lee Curtis. She really is it. She is what began it. She was a scream queen before there was a title for that.</div> <div> <I>Q: Did you feel silly at all while doing H20? Having a guy in a rubber mask chase you around?</I></div> <div> MW: It's exhausting. The 12th take of running in the dark, and you're not very coordinated and your lungs hurt and there's a knife at your back. You have to sort of keep that level of fear going all night. You have to keep that tension in your shoulders and that out of breath thing. It's hard work being in a horror movie.</div> <div> <I>Q: There's not a lot of day shoots.</I></div> <div> MW: Oh no! There were like 2 days shoots. The rest you had to completely readjust your sleeping schedule.</div> <div> <I>Q: Would you be open to any more horror movies or is H20 it?</I></div> <div> MW: I think...I'm done. You sort of tend to exhaust one subject. It's not really all that inducive to growth.</div> <div> <I>Q: You've risen to be a big star since the success of DAWSON'S CREEK, spending a lot of time in North Carolina, away from home. Is that a problem?</I></div> <div> MW: Well, first of all I wouldn't say I've emerged as a big star. I've just sort of - emerged. [Being away from home] is in the sense of having to uproot my life and everything that comforts me: my favorite coffee shop, my friends who live 4 minutes away. It's really difficult to even imagine. Moving your life is just something you would never pick, other than the fact that your job forces you to do that.</div> <div> <I>Q: How has your new fame affected your life?</I></div> <div> MW: I'm really trying to not let it. You know, "I'm just going to go to the shopping mall and not let it bother me." And then it really does, because at the shopping mall you're constantly looking over your shoulder making sure that school didn't just get out. That's the trick. You've gotta figure out the time. If you go from 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, it's fine. As soon as that school gets out, you want to stear clear of the mall!</div> <div> <I>Q: That's the downside. What's the upside of all the things happening to you?</I></div> <div> MW: Just the fact that I've been working non-stop for a year. I'm paying my rent here! I love the work itself. I love to be working. I love being on set in the middle of a scene. It seems to be the really peripherial stuff that really tires you out and the reasons I never expected to encounter. it's the photo shoots and the freakin' Leno interviews. It's those kinds of things that just drain you.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you think you've "arrived?"</I></div> <div> MW: How do you know when you arrive? I think if you're the kind of person that's never really satisfied then I don't know if you ever really feel like you've arrived. I feel like I'm on a very slow tram, sort of like one of those slow moving things that take you to your car at Disneyland. I just want to get in and drive it. But, I don't know how you define the feeling of arrival.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you think your H20 character Molly is at all like your character on DAWSON'S CREEK?</I></div> <div> MW: No. I think Molly is sort of very sweet. Reserved. Kind of unexperienced. The girl is the exact opposite of Jenn. I don't think there's anything she hasn't touched. Or anyone!</div> <div> <I>Q: Most horror movies have a sex scene. Was that ever a part of H20?</I></div> <div> MW: Nope! I know, I should have had to bear my breasts to get this role!</div> <div> <I>Q: So you were happy you didn't have to?</I></div> <div> MW: To bear my breasts?! Yes! (clutches her chest) They're mine! That was the function of the horror films of the 80's. There was nothing that placed a woman in a respectible role. That was all they were - slasher silicone.</div> <div> <I>Q: How about the uniform you wear in H20?</I></div> <div> MW: (laughs) The catholic girl uniform was the blunt of many cast members' jokes.</div> <div> <I>Q: What's next up for you?</I></div> <div> MW: The one I just finished up in Toronto. It's called DICK...it's about Richard Nixon.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Chris Durand Interview</U><U> <A NAME="chris_durand"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Portraying the most brutal killer in the history of motion pictures takes a bit of talent. There's more to playing the Shape than just putting on a mask and walking around with a shiny blade ready to slice and dice. There's definently pressure, with HALLOWEEN fans unhappy with previous stuntmen who took their turn as the Shape. Chris Durand, however, was ready to tackle all of these problems as he enters the HALLOWEEN hall-of-fame as HALLOWEEN H20's Michael Myers.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>halloweenmovies.com: Well we know a lot of HALLOWEEN fans appreciate your contribution to H20.</I></div> <div> CHRIS DURAND: Oh, I hope so! Thank you!</div> <div> <I>hm.c: How did you get involved with H20?</I></div> <div> CD: I was actually called in for an audition. The original call was based on size and abilities, what I could do physically.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Can you tell us what an audition for the Shape is like?</I></div> <div> CD: It was actually very simple. I went in and spoke with Steve Miner and his assistant for about 3 minutes. Just sat down and talked to him about what I've done in the past, what kind of physical things I could do, what they were looking to do. That was really it. In fact, half of this went on a recommendation from Donna Keegan, who is Jamie's stunt double, who coordinated the show for stunts.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Was there any special preparation you went about to prepare for the role? Such as watching the movies?</I></div> <div> CD: Actually I sat and talked to Steve at that point and had an idea of what he was after. I kinda had a feel for this character. I think I saw the original when I was a kid, but I don't even know if I saw the whole thing, to be honest. At the point, I chose not to go and rent them all. I thought it might serve us all better if I went did it clean and didn't try to second guess myself, and try to match up to anything everyone else has done before. As we went, I'd just get feedback from Steve and feedback from everybody else. It seemed to be going well. So to this day I've never gone and rented it.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: That's a first. Most of the previous Shapes have studied their predacessors.</I></div> <div> CD: Well, you know, this is pretty basic kind of a guy. I mean, it's really primal. If I can hit those one or two spots that really sell that, then I'll just stick with that. Make it work our way. I didn't want to guess how somebody else was doing it and mimic what they did, you know. I'd be second guessing myself the whole time.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: How would you characterize Michael Myers?</I></div> <div> CD: (pause) Wow. (pause) Determined. (chuckle) Absolutely focused on what he wants. He's kinda the Energizer Bunny of killers here. That's how I tried to play him, actually. Just absolute focus of what I was doing. When I put the mask on I'd pick a target, if you will. And I'd give all of my energy to that one spot and go. He's just evil. The thing that makes him scary, I think, is that he's also human under all of this. If you have some huge alien monster, you don't relate to it quite on the same level, you know? It can be scary, but it's a different scary. If it's a human and he won't quit and he won't die, there's something about that - you can understand the evil in it. And that's just much more frightening.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What was the most difficult part in shooting the film?</I></div> <div> CD: Well, the stunts are always something you really have to pay attention to. And the difficulty on those is made greater by the fact that you're wearing this mask. But in general, I think that's the most difficult part. You're wearing this mask. You've got limited vision. Your hearing isn't quite as sharp as it could be. You tend to miss a few of the cues. It's hard to hit your mark and make everything work real cleanly. You're working under restricted conditions.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Obviously Jamie Lee Curtis was out to kick your butt in this film.</I></div> <div> CD: Ohhh yeah!</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Was there ever a dangerous situation that came about between you two?</I></div> <div> CD: No. Having come from a background of stunts, that's always something we're looking for, first and foremost. Where the danger is and how are we going to minimalize it or avoid it all together. Everybody on the shoot had the same mindset, including Jamie. We very much avoided any dangerous spot, as far as playing with knives and axes and everything (laugh)! There's times when you're going to take a thump or two in the smaller sense, because you've got to get hit with something. It's all set up, it's all prepped, it's all rehearsed. Everything's pretty much minimalized.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What has been your family's and friend's reactions to you playing this dreaded serial killer?</I></div> <div> CD: I think they think it's cool (laughs)! My Mom I was worried about, going to see the movie. I didn't really know what her reaction would be, with me running around killing people. She loved it. She had a blast. She thought it was a lot of fun. My Dad - made it about half way through and left because he can't handle scary movies (laughs again)! Overall, everyone's been great about it. I don't think I really understood what a big deal this is until I got half way through the shoot. It's been great. Everyone's been real supportive. It's fun.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Would you have any advice you could pass on to someone who would like to play the Shape in a future installment?</I></div> <div> CD: Just trust your instincts with this. Keep it simple, keep it clean. This guy isn't about anything fancy. It's about basic primal evil. If you stick to those things, he's gonna be scary.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Of course, there's that rumor that Michael Myers isn't really dead. Would you be interested in returning to play Michael again?</I></div> <div> CD: Absolutely! If they do another film, I would love to come back!</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What else can your fans look forward to in the future?</I></div> <div> CD: Well, I've got a couple of things pending, which is to say I have no idea what's going to happen (laughs). You usually have five job offers, and then four of them fall through and one comes through, and then you get something totally different. A friend of mine wants me to play an assassin in a film he's prepping. At the moment, I'm just kind of going around the country, making appearences at haunted houses and conventions and stuff.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What's that like? Going to a convention and saying "Hey, I'm Michael Myers."</I></div> <div> CD: Actually, one of the main reactions is "No way, no way. What are you doing here? Why are you in <I>this</I> town?" because you go to smaller towns and you go all over the place. But everybody's excited about it. Everybody's like, "How was it working with Jamie? Was it fun to do?" People want to know a behind the scenes aspect of it. To be honest, (laughs) but the time they realize it is me and I actually played the part, they get a little bit tounge-tied, and they don't ask that many questions. It's kinda neat though - to have that recognition for something that I've done. And at the same time, it's a recognition of name and something that I've done, but it's not a recognition of face. In a sense I guess that's the best kind of fame to have - because I can go out to the grocery store and out to dinner and not get bothered by anybody (laughs)!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Moustappha Akkad Interview</U><U> <A NAME="moustappha_akkad"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> The only thing that every single HALLOWEEN film has in common is Moustapha Akkad. Through the years, actors, directors, and producers have briefly left their mark on the franchise, but the man who's taken charge of Michael Myers has stood behind each film, serving first as financier and as executive producer on sequels. Now, Moustapha Akkad speaks, complete with his "old world" accent, about the Season of the Witch, a famous scream queen, and that menace named Michael Myers.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Q: How did HALLOWEEN come about?</div> <div> Akkad: It's a strange story I had. I was shooting a big epic - LION OF THE DESERT - and Carpenter, John Carpenter, came to me with a script. I didn't have time to read the script with a budget of $300,000. I was surprised, I mean, you worry when the budget is low and you worry when the budget is high. I said "$300,000 to do a film?" He said, "Yes." "What's the story about?" He said, "Babysitters to be killed by the boogeyman." The word babysitter just really kind of clicked with me because I thought every kid in America knows what a babysitter is. I thought this would really be something the kids could relate to. "Are you sure you can make it for $300,000?" He said "Yes, I'm not taking fees...I'm taking points," which was smart of him, of course. I said, "Let's go," because I was spending $300,000 a day shooting an epic, a big epic. And the picture was done, and came on budget and on time. So I added about $20,000 for some pocket money at least you know, after I saw the rough cut I thought it was a winner.</div> <div> Q: What do you recall about that first film? What stands out?</div> <div> A: What stands out is that really horror based on suspense. Nothing of the blood and the gore and the special effects. Maybe because the budget was low - we couldn't afford even extras. It was a very empty picture, very "haunty" looking. And I thought, my god, it's nothing of a subject, but there is so much of cinematic language into it. It was very cinematic.</div> <div> Q: How did that picture differ from HALLOWEEN: H20?</div> <div> A: Oh well, obviously, the budget first of all. From $300,000 to $15 million is quite a jump. Plus the first one, we didn't distribute it nationally at the same time, we went from state to state, it was that kind of thing. Now, with Miramax, it obviously is a big boost for the franchise, for the promotion, distribution. It makes it a big film. The content I don't think changes. There is a victim and there is that killer. So really, no change. Just more expensive and distributed by Miramax. That's what gives it the boost.</div> <div> Q: What is the story thread that ties the first HALLOWEEN to this HALLOWEEN?</div> <div> A: Well, you know, because of the success of the first one, we always, every one we do, we like to go back to the first one. I mean, that's beacuse that's the success. We did II - it was quite a success. III - we had an argument. Let's change a little bit. At the time, the sequels was not even...there wasn't any sequels, I mean, we started sequels on all this. So, III, they said, let's change, let's change the story. And we did III without Michael Myers. And it was not as successful. So, on 4, I took it over and went back to the basics of number one. And it hit. And so we try always to go back to the number one, which was based only on the suspense, because you know Michael Myers is a human. The more we make him human, the more we make him human, the more he becomes believable. I mean that could happen to anybody, any home. I mean, it's not that force from the sky with the 10 eyes and 10 tails, and so on. The fiction-like. It's real scare - and that's what scares people.</div> <div> Q: You had one character, and one actress, who was in that first one, who's also in this one. Who is that?</div> <div> A: Oh, well, Jamie Lee Curtis. The first one, I think we were influenced by the success of PSYCHO. Janet Leigh was in PSYCHO and then we found out that she has a daughter - Jamie Lee. So let's put Jamie Lee in, and of course it was a great success. Now, being the twentieth anniversary, it was nice of her to do it [reprise her role]. So, it's interesting probably to ask the question why do people like to go to the movies, to pay money, to be scared? This has always amazed me. And so we did some studies, psychological studies, we got results...of security, like sitting on your chair. And then I asked my son, he was 17 years old, why do you like to go to the theater - pay money - to be scared? He said, "Daddy, I take a girl to the movies, after 5 minutes she's sitting in my lap, hugging each other. The next day I take a whole new girl. You don't have to break the ice, or have to touch her hand." It was funny, but I think it's working!</div> <div> Q: What do you recall about working with Jamie Lee 20 years ago?</div> <div> A: Well, I mean, it was very hard at the time, because she was just starting, and we were concentrating on Michael Myers and then, all of the sudden, her talent showed through while she was doing it, even at that age. She gave the picture that scare that conveyed to every kid in America. And obviously now, she's well established. She's so enthusiastic about the drama and the scare of the movie.</div> <div> Q: How did HALLOWEEN: H20 come together?</div> <div> A: Oh, lots of credit goes to Miramax. As a studio as big as Miramax, they were able to recruit the best talent and obviously with the best promotions, it came about. I am the protector of the franchise. Michael Myers - I love this guy! I keep protecting him on and on and on until (laugh) until I die!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Daniel Farrands Interview</U><U> <A NAME="daniel_farrands"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised in Santa Rosa, California, Daniel Farrands has become a leading expert in the world of Michael Myers. He first came to the producers' attention during the making of HALLOWEEN 5. After submitting several ideas for HALLOWEEN 6, he was finally chosen to pen HALLOWEEN The Curse of Michael Myers.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Farrands sent a non-Halloween script to series executive producer Moustapha Akkad via a delivery man dressed as The Shape. "He's got a sense of what kids want," Farrands says of Akkad.</div> <div> Farrands first saw HALLOWEEN when it aired on NBC in 1981 as the movie of the week, a week before Halloween II opened. His family was so freaked out by the film, that they left him alone on the couch, where Farrands curled up in the corner he was so terrified.</div> <div> Well, getting right into the "Halloween 6" fiasco, Farrands found creative challenges working with producer Paul Freeman, director Joe Chappelle, and the studio itself, Dimension Films. He wrote, re-wrote, and re-wrote HALLOWEEN 6 several times, changing many of the key story line elements.</div> <div> Many scenes were filmed for HALLOWEEN 6 that never reached the screen. First off, a scene at the beginning of the movie was filmed. It picked up right from the last shot of Halloween 5. Jamie walks out from the police station, and sees Myers being put into the van from Smith's Grove. Suddenly, she is kidnapped by the Thorn cult, and the police station explodes in a burst of flames. Farrands reports that originally, Danielle Harris was cast to play Jamie. The filmmakers figured that Harris would have no interest in playing the role again, so they held auditions. Harris walked into the audition, and told the producers that it was her role, her part, and that SHE would play it. However, due to financial matters, Harris was replaced the day before shooting commenced. Dimension did not want to pay her a mere $5,000 to play Jamie Lloyd one more time. Her replacement: J.C. Brandy, who had never seen the Halloween films. Farrands does complement her on a terrific performance, since she had to run around in the snow in just a hospital gown.</div> <div> Although Farrands wanted to concentrate heavily on the "spirit" of Halloween (such as Mrs. Blankenship explaining to Danny the dark origins of the holiday), much of the myth and lore he wanted to include was dropped. The script was supposed to uplay the battle between two Doctors (Loomis and Wynn) over Michael Myers' soul. It seemed to Farrands that he and Malek Akkad (Moustpha's son who associate produced the film) had to fight for the things they wanted in the film - and not much made it.</div> <div> An early idea for the Halloween 6 script, first written by Phil Rosenberg, had Jamie as a runaway in Chicago and Michael as a homeless man, but that didn't work. Akkad went through 5 or 6 writers, none of which he liked, and finally had Farrands to come in and pen the script. Farrands also wanted the movie to be filmed in South Pasadena (the filming site of the first two HALLOWEEN films) but in the end, filming took place in Salt Lake City, which of course experienced an early winter, making filming much more difficult. Farrands was partly responsible for finding the location for the Myers' house, which he insisted on looking more like the original Myers' house than the gothic "castle-like" one in part 5. Another interesting bit of trivia, the interior scenes for the Myers house were filmed at a deserted Mormon Army barrack.</div> <div> Another deleted scene takes place with Barry Simms, the radio announcer. Barry is seen walking out to the van after the Halloween carnival, on his way to the Myers' house. Farrands told me that it should have been very different. Barry was supposed to walk out, and see Michael standing there. Barry, thinking the Shape is just a costumed kid, asks him to come to the Myers house to scare Tim and Beth. After he tosses Michael $40, Barry realizes that it's the one and only Michael Myers. Myers chases him around, turning this "macho jerk" into a screaming fool. Barry runs around to parked cars, begging for help, and ends up crawling into a van, with the title "Smith's Grove-Warren County Sanitarium" on the side. After a few breathless moments, Michael smashes through the window, and plows Barry's cellular phone through him. The next scene entails Tim and Beth walking out of the carnival, seeing Michael carrying Barry's body (shot much like the first film where Michael carries Annie's body). Next, instead of simply having one little girl saying "it's raining red," there was supposed to have been several children poking at a Halloween pinata. As it bursts and candy falls all over the place, blood comes down with it, revealing the dead body in the tree, causing the commotion at the Halloween carnival.</div> <div> There was also a great scene in which John Strode (the father) comes home drunk from work. John should have come home, and sat down on the sofa, and turned on the television. While flipping through the channels, he comes across HALLOWEEN III on television - he says "what is this shit?!" and turns it! Farrands also insists that "his head didn't blow up" in the script.</div> <div> Joe wanted to make HALLOWEEN 6 more like FRIDAY THE 13TH (upon a mandate from Miramax to add more blood, guts and exploding heads). It was at that moment that Dan Farrands knew that his vision for HALLOWEEN 6 was doomed.</div> <div> As for the ending of the film? Farrands says, "the entire ending of the movie (the one that was released to theaters) had NOTHING to do with the (count 'em!) -- 11 different versions which I had scripted. Although another ending was shot (the one that can be seen on the bootlegged "producer's cut" version), it was also a pretty emasculated version of several different endings which I had suggested in various scripted drafts." Although this "producer's cut" ending wasn't the best, "I felt that the original ending DID make a bit more sense than the "quasi-DNA testing/dead babies in aquariums/let's hit Michael with a pipe and walk away and it's over" ending Joe wrote and filmed for the finished version."</div> <div> Farrands feels "sad that the fans didn't get the movie they should have seen." However, he was extremely happy to have heard the late Donald Pleasence read his lines. Donald called him after reading the script, and told him that "it was the best one since the first one." Pleasence also commented on the script during an Entertainment Tonight interview. Farrands insists however that director Joe Chappelle wasn't much of a Loomis fan. "He thought his [Donald Pleasence's] performance was boring."</div> <div> Another interesting point Farrands made was Michael's breathing. Of course, Michael has a very distinct breathing sound. Farrands went as far as to talk with Debra Hill about getting the original tapes of Michael's breathing. Hill couldn't find them, and told Farrands to simply use the laserdisc's audio track. Despite Farrands' best efforts to convince the producer and director to use the original breathing tracks for Michael Myers, they simply had an actor stand in front of a microphone making 'heavy breathing' noises.</div> <div> Speaking of sound, Farrands was disappointed with the soundtrack's quality. It was taped in UltraStereo, which has a tiny "band of sound." He would much rather have seen the movie in Dolby Surround Sound and filmed in Panavision widescreen.</div> <div> As for the music for the movie, Farrands said that director Joe Chappelle wasn't too keen on Alan Howarth (who has worked on every Halloween film since part II). Alan just didn't have the edge that Joe Chappelle was looking for. Chappelle wanted to use lots of sound effects, instead of concentrating on the Halloween themes.</div> <div> Farrands is currently working on things outside the HALLOWEEN sphere. He has co-written a new horror script entitled "The Tooth Fairy" which features a female terror as the lead character. Things are currently moving ahead with this project, which he is attached to direct. Additionally, he has created (along with two of the producers from TALES FROM THE CRYPT) a new television series for FOX Broadcasting and Polygram TV entitled FEAR ITSELF. He directed a documentary on the Amityville horrors, set to air on the History Channel in the fall of 2000.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Salt Lake City Crew Interview</U><U> <A NAME="slc_crew"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> As most fans are aware, three installments in the HALLOWEEN series were filmed in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah. This was not only home to Michael Myers for the last decade, but also to a group of talented filmmakers who were brought together to resurrect the Shape. These are their stories - what REALLY went on behind the scenes of HALLOWEEN 4, 5, and 6!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>ROGER CRANDALL</B></div> <div> As art director, it was Mr. Crandall's job to design all the sets, and, as he puts it, "create everything you saw in the film except the people!" His mind is full of HALLOWEEN memories. "What we did," he says, "is get a book of odd, spooky Halloween images, still photographs." The art department looked to this book for haunting imagery - from scarecrows on tractors to pumpkins on a porch. Most of the pictures in the book were a bit odd. "Just something a little bit eerie about them." They then took that and used it as their visual theme.</div> <div> "The house with the big stairwell was the Ellis mansion," he says, which was deserted at the time of production. "The prison (Ridgemont) at the beginning of the film was the old death row at the Utah State Prison," he says. It, too, was deserted, allowing for Michael Myers to haunt its hallways. The long street where the Discount Mart sat was located in the town of Midvale. Meanwhile, the scenes at the schoolhouse were filmed at the Douglas School in Salt Lake City. This former elementary school now centers around special education.</div> <div> Mr. Crandall insists on what a great crew worked on HALLOWEEN 4. "The director [Dwight Little] was a terrific guy. They were all great."</div> <div> "That was filmed around March," he remembers. Like most HALLOWEEN films, Part 4 was plagued with a lack of pumpkins. A shipment of real pumpkins was supposed to arrive from Mexico, but it fell through. So, the crew painted and decorated other gourds to appear like pumpkins. "We did different things," he laughs. "Maybe...ohh...I'd say eight of the pumpkins are real."</div> <div> One of the most interesting artistic points he found in HALLOWEEN 4 was put together by the set decorator. The budget didn't allow for spending much money on decorations. So, the set decorator took large sheets of butcher paper, had people lay down on them, and drew their outline. They cut these out, and put them up on the schoolhouse walls, which gave a very eerie effect.</div> <div> Someone else nearly joined Sasha Jenson's character in death on the stairwell of the old Ellis mansion. "I remember the gaffer was up on a ladder on the stairwell, hanging a light," he says of the scene where Brady confronts Michael. "He slipped, his arm...wrist...went through the glass," which caused the pane to shatter. The gaffer was rushed off to the hospital.</div> <div> "Which ending did they use?" he questioned. Apparently, the producers weren't quite sure how the ending of the film would work. It was difficult to orchestrate Michael's demise down a mine shaft. The production was drawing to a close and the production company was financially drained. "There wasn't any money to make it!" he says. So, the crew dug a hole and installed plywood over it. They rigged a cable so that when it came time for the Shape to take his fall, everything would work correctly. When the cameras rolled, "Nothing happened," he laughs. Mr. Crandall ran up to the hole and removed a 4x4, causing the collapse. "I'm not sure if I ended up on film or not!"</div> <div> He met longtime series producer Moustapha Akkad once. Mr. Crandall describes him as someone who really doesn't get involved in the dirty work. He kept his "hands off in day to day production." But, he says, Akkad knew how to keep perspective, since he had been involved in the series so long.</div> <div> Remembering back, he seems happy with his contribution to the HALLOWEEN world. "It was OK. There, of course, were certain things...improvements I would make." Mr. Crandall did visit the set of Part 5 once. "The set was much more evil, darker. I'm not sure if it was thematic over spill or what." It seemed to him that everyone was in a bad mood on the set. Which was the exact opposite of Part 4. "Everyone had a great time," referring to Part 4.</div> <bR> <div> <B>TROY ROHOVIT</B></div> <div> Mr. Rohovit's involvement in the series dates back to HALLOWEEN 4, where he worked as a production assistant. He then returned for the next installments, rising to 2nd assistant director for HALLOWEEN 6. "My job as a 2nd assistant director, is helping the 1st assistant director coordinate everything on the set, the background players, facilitating everything" he says.</div> <div> "Joe Chappelle was great," he says. "He had a real good understanding of HALLOWEEN. He had a great sense of suspense." Mr. Rohovit was sad, like many, to see the changes made to HALLOWEEN 6 for its theatrical release. "They went for more blood," he says, as compared to the original, where "more of it is implied."</div> <div> Although he doesn't recall many specific stories from the set, he says all the films were shot in an area called The Avenues in Salt Lake City. He recalls that some scenes in Part 4 were shot in an area called Ogden, while some shots in Part 5 were filmed in a small town called Provo. Rohovit seemed to enjoy working with young Danielle Harris. "It was interesting to watch her change between 4 and 5...because she was real young in Part 4."</div> <div> Today, he continues to work in the film industry, keeping in touch with former Michael Myers - Don Shanks. Overall, he was very happy to be a part of the HALLOWEEN series. "I really enjoyed it. I look back on it fondly."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Carmen Filpi Interview</U><U> <A NAME="carmen_filpi"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> "Hop in here, old man!" With those words, Carmen Filpi brought the character of Reverend Sayer to life in HALLOWEEN 4: The Return of Michael Myers. He was called in to audition for the part. "The industry knows my name," he says. "I had the look and I read for the part."<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Donald Pleasence was the only HALLOWEEN actor to work with Mr. Filpi. "He has such patience! I had to sing a song while I was driving this truck," he recalls. "[Pleasence] just stood by and waited for me to get it right, encouraging me. He was just wonderful. You know, he really was one of the last great actors." The scene took "3 or 4 takes" as Filpi recalls.</div> <div> To play the part of the demented religious reverend, he studied and meditated on the character, trying to bring to it what the writer had intended. Then he had to hunt down a tape of the song he had to memorize. "I had a hell of a time finding that tape!" After working for two to three days, he had his "Beautiful, Beautiful River" song downpat. When he plays a role, he tries hard not to bring himself into the character. "I had to work on the mannerisms...anytime I perform I try to 'get away from myself' and portray exactly what the writer wanted. I'm not at all like the character in real life!"</div> <div> The character of Reverend Sayer has become one of the most popular "cult characters" in the HALLOWEEN world. "Get out of here!" he says. "I'll tell you, I run into people at airports and racetracks, and they say to me, 'Gosh, I know you...from somewhere,' but they never remember my name. But that's okay, because I'm a character actor - not a big star."</div> <div> Filpi has had several lead roles on stage, but prefers to stick with smaller roles in films. After 45 years in the business ("the older you get, the harder it is to get roles"), Filpi shows no signs of slowing down. He'll appear in the upcoming films THE WEDDING SINGER and THE PHOENIX. He also recently auditioned for a role in a film about vampire gypsies, "in which I have to have a Yugoslavian accent!" he laughs.</div> <div> Overall, his experience with HALLOWEEN 4 was a good one. "Everything you do helps contribute to the next job you get," he says. Finally, what if the character of Reverend Sayer were written into a future HALLOWEEN film? Would Filipi be back? "Most definitely!" he exclaims.</div> <bR> <div> If you'd like to write to Carmen Filpi, you can send fan mail to:</div> <div> Carmen Filpi</div> <div> c/o Coast to Coast Talent Corp.</div> <div> 4942 Vineland Ave Suite 200</div> <div> North Hollywood, CA 91601</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Ellie Cornell Interview</U><U> <A NAME="ellie_cornell"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> HALLOWEEN 4 marked the return of the long-dormant Michael Myers. It also introduced a whole new family to be haunted by his curse - the Corruthers. Of course, while Michael was mainly on the hunt for little Jamie Lloyd (played by Danielle Harris), a major obstacle in his path was Rachel, her step-sister...played by Ellie Cornell. Truly, Cornell is a remarkable member of HALLOWEEN alumni.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> "It was one of the best and scariest movies I've seen," recalls Ms. Cornell on John Carpenter's original thriller, which she saw for the first time when it aired on television in the early 80's. "It wasn't too gross...a classic." Although she had not seen the second installment, she did catch HALLOWEEN III, which seemed to have her a little worried at the time about acting in a fourth film. However, Director Dwight Little (who went on to direct FREE WILLY 2) tried to set the tone as close to the original as possible. Ms. Cornell also points out how important key character development is to the success of any movie. "Jamie Lee Curtis [Laurie Strode] was such a serious and strong character."</div> <div> "Charming!" is the only word to describe Donald Pleasence. "He wasn't as much hands on...he could [play Dr. Loomis] with his eyes closed! I was very honored to work with him." Ms. Cornell also got along quite well with a younger cast member. "Danielle Harris was awesome! Sweet as she could be." The two grew very close on the set...it was their first starring roles and they became good friends - as well as with director Little.</div> <div> But it wasn't all fun and games either. "There was a TON of physical work," Ms. Cornell says. The crew set up the roof-top scene out in the Rolling Hills, outside of Salt Lake City, Utah to shoot the sequence at night. Ms. Cornell shudders remembering a nail on the roof getting stuck in her torso as she slid down the rooftop. Working all night and sleeping all day was a bit hard on both of the starring girls. The shoot lasted about 41 days and Harris and Cornell were required to be on set for "something like 36 days of those."</div> <div> Originally, Cornell wasn't planning on returning for Part 5. "I really liked the character," she says - and since Rachel was one of the only characters in history to survive the wrath of Michael Myers...she returned in Part 5. "I didn't like the philosophy in Part 5," Cornell says. It was a quick job for her though...she flew in for 2 1/2 weeks of shooting and was gone until the ending scene in the Myers' house. She did get to re-write her own death scene. Originally, the script called for the scissors to be shoved down her throat...but Ms. Cornell wasn't too keen on that idea.</div> <div> HALLOWEEN 4 of course opened up as a major success. Spending three weeks at #1 in the fall of 1988, Ellie Cornell had a hit on her hands. "I was able to say I had a lead in a recognizable film." She appeared in a Disney film, and worked on television some, such as a guest star on the show GABRIEL'S FIRE with James Earl Jones. Cornell has been out of the business now for 6 years...taking time off to start some businesses and for other personal things. As for acting - she'll probably a return (as Michael did those years ago) soon - "Acting...it's a ball!"</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Dan O'Herlihy Interview</U><U> <A NAME="dan_o_herlihy"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Dan O'Herlihy has had a long career in film that stretches back to 1947. His work includes everything from THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award™) to THE LAST STARFIGHTER to ROBOCOP. But he is best remembered by HALLOWEEN fans as the diabolical Conal Cochran from HALLOWEEN III Season of the Witch. With a little refreshing about the movie, O'Herlihy was more than happy to tell about his experience as the evil warlock of HALLOWEEN III.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Are you much of a horror movie fan?</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well, I'm not a fan of movies at all. I don't watch them much. I do sometimes watch them on TV. If you spend 50 years in it, and you retire, like I have, you're not terribly interested in it unless it's something that's terribly terribly unusual.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: How did you get involved with HALLOWEEN III?</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: My agent called me and said they had an offer in for me to do it, so I said yes. They paid sufficently.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Was the story interesting to you, since you played the "bad guy?"</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: No. I was able to play him very Southern Irish, so I thought that would be fun. It was a well written script. If it wasn't a well written script, I would have never done it.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Do you recall any special steps you took to prepare for the character?</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: No, I just played it.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Do you have any memories from the set?</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I remember somehow there was a long sequence where I was supposed to come down to the stage through a sequence of movements - and I got completely lost and I couldn't get down. That's all I remember.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Over the years, a lot of people have had a negative reaction to HALLOWEEN III since it was a different storyline from previous HALLOWEEN films. What's your reaction to it?</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I had no idea if they liked it or didn't like it. I didn't even know if they went to see it. Why would they have objected, do you know?</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Well, mainly because HALLOWEEN III deviated from the narrative that the other HALLOWEEN films were telling.</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Oh, the one I was in was not a continuation? I didn't even know that because I haven't seen the others!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: So what are you up to these days? You said you had retired...</div> <div> DO<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well, I retired, but if something surprisingly good comes along, then I'd do it. I did one last year for almost no money because I loved the part. That was THE RAT PACK. I played Joe Kennedy in it. I loved the character. I did do that. If something attracts me that much, then yes I'll d</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > to. I did enjoy the experience of doing it. Every movie you make, there's a feeling from the people you're working with that is either good or bad. And that was all goo</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <U>Pamela S. Shoop Interview</U><U> <A NAME="pamela_shoop"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Haddonfield Memorial nurses are not cut from the same mold. Some are frigid conservative types, Others might come across as blonde and clueless. Nurse Karen, played by Pamela Susan Shoop, balanced charm with wit and good looks. Twenty years later, Shoop is ready to take a trip back to the therapy pool...</div> <bR> <div> HM.C: How did you first get involved with HALLOWEEN II?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: It was very simple, really. I just went on an audition, as I did for all the other roles I’ve done. I believe that I read for Debra Hill and the director, Rick Rosenthal and possibly also John Carpenter. I believe that Moustapha Akkad was also there. I went to interview a few times, and then was told that they wanted me for the role of ‘Karen.’ I remember that there were some discussions between my agent and the producers before I signed the contract about the limits of the nudity, etc. But then, it all went smoothly. </div> <div> HM.C: Do you remember the first time you saw the film?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: I remember that after I signed to play the part, Debra and Rick asked me if I’d seen HALLOWEEN…and I was embarrassed to say that I hadn’t! I felt terrible! They were very kind about it, and set up a screening in their offices for me. So, one afternoon I just went in and watched it by myself. It was great! The first time I saw HALLOWEEN II was at the cast and crew screening, I believe. I don’t think I ever went to dailies, as I recall. </div> <div> HM.C: How would you characterize Karen?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Interesting question. Actually Rick and I had some different opinions about how the role should be played, but eventually she became a combination of his vision and of mine. I didn’t want her to be a carbon copy of the role that P. J. Soles played in the first version. That character was very free with her sexuality…she had a wonderful sauciness to her because of her youth. But I wanted ‘Karen’ to have a little different approach. Being a nurse rather than a teenager, I felt she should have more depth and make decisions based on her intellect as well as her desires. She found herself attracted to Bud, even if she didn’t want to be. I wanted her to have a bit of modesty, too, because of the situation – being in a hospital with babies, I didn’t feel she should jump so readily into the jacuzzi! She needed some coaxing. And I wanted her to have a sense of responsibility, which I believe she would have had to have in order to become a nurse in the first place. In the instance where she is late to work, yet she has promised to drive her friend home, she has a dilemma and a choice to make. I thought she should have a bit of a conscience about how to resolve her mistakes. Rick had a great way of bringing out the character’s independence, as well. I remember he wanted me to wear a bright pink belt over my nurse’s uniform. In one scene I put it on, but I believe they ended up cutting out the scene where Mrs. Alves makes me take it off. So, there I am for the rest of the film with no belt on! But it was great little touches like that which Rick came up with…little insights, which went against type for me. They were very helpful. </div> <div> HM.C: We imagine the therapy scene wasn’t easy to do. What was it like?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: You’re right…it wasn’t easy, and for many reasons. Number one, the water in the hot tub was freezing! It also wasn’t particularly clean and I ended up with an ear infection. Poor Leo and I were so cold, and it was hard to pretend that we were comfortable. They used smoke machines of some kind to create the steam. Leo was great to work with – very sensitive about the situation, for himself as well as for me. But it was difficult. I had asked to have a closed set, but at one point I looked around and counted 19 people in the room! Debra Hill was just terrific to me. That scene took two days to shoot, and she protected me every step of the way regarding the nudity. I’ve always been grateful to her for that, and would work for her anytime. The hardest part, of course, was having to drop that towel! I’m rather a modest person, and it was really hard. I remember Rick saying to me, “well, if you want us to, the whole crew will take off our clothes to make you more comfortable.” So, I said, “okay.” But the crew flatly refused! It was funny…but it also lets you know that it’s not that easy to take off your clothes in front of a bunch of strangers. Dick Warlock who played Michael Myers – The Shape – was as gentle as he could be during the “dunking.” But it took a long time. They would dunk me, then inject Vaseline between my skin and latex…then dunk me some more…then inject more Vaseline, etc. This gave the effect that my face was being boiled more and more every time I went under the hot water. But AFTER we shot two days of all that, they then did what is called “the beauty shot” – where I FIRST GET INTO the jacuzzi. I will never understand why they did that shot last! They could not get the Vaseline out of my hair! The hairdresser washed it over and over, and even put dry cleaning fluid on it to try to get the grease out. It was a mess. But in the end, I think the scene turned out very well…it scared me! </div> <div> HM.C: What was your family/friends’ reaction to such a gruesome death for you?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Well, as you can imagine, my parents – especially, my mom – hated it. She said it wasn’t so much the nudity that bothered her – (although she didn’t like it) – but seeing me die. Actually, I think that’s the only time I can remember being killed in a show. My friends were surprised because they know me to be very modest and proper. The roles I usually play are innocent girl-next-door types and this was very far afield from that. I remember my agent telling me, however, that it was important that I do the role for that kind of experience. Sometimes I’ve regretted it. But I also value the fans I’ve met who love the movie so much that it’s made me very happy to have been a part of it. I also very much appreciate the people with whom I worked. </div> <div> HM.C: The majority of your work was with Leo Rossi. What was he like to work with?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Just great! He is such a nice guy, and a really good actor. He was giving and respectful – even if his character wasn’t! I’ve been so happy to have seen his career do so well. Whenever I see him in a show, I think he does such a fine job. Being a character actor is wonderful in my opinion. The roles are so varied, and require different skills each time. He’s played a wide variety of characters, and I think he’s excellent. </div> <div> HM.C: Looking back almost 20 years later, do you think HALLOWEEN II is a good film?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: I don’t think there’s any denying that HALLOWEEN II has made a strong impression on audiences, and continues to do so. I don’t think a “bad” film could do that. The fans that I meet seem to feel that HALLOWEEN I and II are, by far, the best of the series. And I’m happy to have been associated with one of them. Yet, films are matters of taste. My best friend and I never seem to like the same movies! And, of course, in this case, you have to have a taste for the particular genre. But I think it’s suspenseful and scary, and has all the right elements to make it a classic of its kind. To me, characters are extremely important in a film, not just the stunts. This film brings characters you care about into suspenseful situations beautifully. And the music’s terrific! </div> <bR> <div> HM.C: Do you still stay in touch with anyone from the movie?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Not too often. Occasionally, I’ve run into Jamie Lee Curtis – a great girl, by the way. She’s willing to do whatever she’s asked on a set, and was a terrific sport with all she had to do. She’s also a wonderful actress. I’ve worked with Ana Alicia once or twice since we made the movie. We did “Buck Rogers in the 25<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> Century” together, and one other show, I think. Dick Warlock and I email back and forth quite a bit. He’s just the nicest person…a very kind man. But a lot of time has passed, and people’s careers and lives go other directions. They were all nice to work with, though. Recently, I did a collectors show here in Los Angeles called Fangoria. I was asked to co-present the lifetime achievement award to Moustapha Akkad. What a wonderful speech he made! It was so nice to be reacquainted with him. He and his family are lovely people, and a credit to our business. </div> <div> HM.C: If you had the chance, would you do a cameo in another HALLOWEEN film?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Of course! I’d love to! I think it would be terrific if something like that could happen. It would be such fun, and I have an idea or two how it could work! </div> <div> HM.C: Do you think it’s a neat thing that all the fans are so into the HALLOWEEN movies?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Well, certainly! What would the movie be without someone to watch it? I’ve never understood that – how people might resent the fans’ interest. Fans are what make our work possible. I’m happy that I had some small part in giving them pleasure.</div> <div> HM.C: You recently appeared at the Fangoria convention. Was it exciting?<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> SHOOP: Absolutely! You know, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve only done the Hollywood Collector Show, so I’m a bit new to the convention circuit. But, what a thrill! I can tell you that – to the fan – every single person I met was respectful, courteous, and polite. Their enthusiasm was just terrific, and it really made me happy! It is a wonderful thing for an actor to know that his work is appreciated. When fans come up to me and quote dialogue or remember special scenes, it makes it all worthwhile. I’ve done a lot of stage work, which is very rewarding because the audience is right there with you. But in film and television, it’s different. It was a pleasure to meet each and every person who came my way, and to know that my work – in some way – has mattered to them. </div> <div> HM.C: What else are you involved in today?</div> <div> SHOOP: I’ve been doing a lot of writing. I co-authored a book with my husband entitled, <U>WHAT GOD HATH JOINED</U>. You can buy it from my web site: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>www.pamelasusanshoop.com</U></FONT> or through Amazon.com. I’d love to continue acting…it’s my first love, and always will be. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Lance Guest Interview</U><U> <A NAME="lance_guest"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> HALLOWEEN II reunited those surviving the bloodbath of the original film and introduced a whole new group of young people for the Shape to wreak havoc on. One of the more important characters in the second installment was Jimmy, the upbeat orderly of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Now, Lance Guest reveals what it's like to confront Michael Myers, save the universe, and confront a pretty big shark.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> HM.C: Well, when you think back to HALLOWEEN II, what do you remember?</div> <div> LANCE GUEST: What do I remember? That was about 20 years ago, you know! Ummm...I remember slipping in the blood. Sometimes when you need to corral a bunch of water on a film set you build this frame of 2' x 4's and you line it with plastic and you fill it with a bunch of liquid. We realized after filling maybe 50 gallons of red water in there, we realized that this was all the blood from one person! The director was like, "yeah, this is ridiculous! One person doesn't bleed this much!" So they scrapped the whole thing and just poured out a bunch of blood that one person may have in their body. We did a series of shots where we did a bunch of stunt cuts. That's what everybody remembers from that movie. I remember meeting Jamie.</div> <div> HM.C: What was she like to work with?</div> <div> LG: She was great. I liked her a lot. She was real positive and up all the time. Generous, friendly.</div> <div> HM.C: Do you keep in touch with anyone from the film?</div> <div> LG: I see people once in a while. On auditions and stuff. I see Leo Rossi all the time - he works all the time.</div> <div> HM.C: So how did you originally get into acting?</div> <div> LG: I did plays when I was in high school. I was a theater major in college.</div> <div> HM.C: Have you done much stage work?</div> <div> LG: Yeah. I've been doing it off and on for probably 25 years. In probably the last 3 or 4 years I did probably 4 plays. </div> <div> HM.C: Do you prefer screen or stage work?</div> <div> LG: Well, depends on what you're talking about. Stage work - the actor has more control over what they're doing. The actor has control over the performance to the extent that the writer and director think you're on the right page. Whereas in film a lot of times, it's a piece-together process where you'll only be able to shoot part of a scene at one time and maybe 2 weeks later you pick up the rest of the scene. You have to leave it up to the editor to establish continuity. I don't just mean physical continuity...emotional stuff. If you do any kind of analysis of the character you have to know where the high points and the low points are.</div> <div> HM.C: Speaking of character analysis - how would you characterize Jimmy?</div> <div> LG: I look at that film and gee - boy is that guy earnest and overly concerned! I was the young guy with lots of energy. I remember getting mad at Leo's character [Bud]. You know that's what you do when you're a young actor. Just grab hold of those scenes where you get to be really pissed off! Obviously I had something for Jamie's character. A horror movie is basically people terrified in action mood for 90 minutes - or in this case 80 minutes.</div> <div> HM.C: You also worked on JAWS IV. Comparing your roles in horror movies to say your character in THE LAST STARFIGHTER, do you prefer a sci-fi film or something with jumps like HALLOWEEN II?</div> <div> LG: Well, they're both the same really, in a sense. I shouldn't say they're the same. I've done things that were a little more character driven than THE LAST STARFIGHTER. STARFIGHTER was an adventure movie. A fantasy/adventure/special effects movie - so was JAWS. We went through the "acting part" in about 3 weeks. You know, all the scenes where you sit around and talk about how you're feeling - those kinda scenes. Everything else was reacting to the action that was required for the film. I've done other films, primarily independent films, where there's no special effects at all. They're all character driven. They're about what the story is.</div> <div> HM.C: Is something like that more fun to do than an action flick?</div> <div> LG: Well, it's hard to say. Action films are FUN. It is more fun - because it's really what you do. If you've never developed any kind of acting technique or never gone to acting class, you could still probably do a good job in an action movie just on intuition. There's a lot of actors that never went to acting school and have never learned how to formally act that are great action stars. It's kind of fun to just get out there and your job is to get to the end of the bow before the shark eats your friend. That's your motivation!</div> <div> HM.C: So, have you seen any of the other HALLOWEEN films?</div> <div> LG: I saw HALLOWEEN H20. </div> <div> HM.C: What did you think of that?</div> <div> LG: I thought it was pretty good. I thought Jamie did a good job.</div> <div> HM.C: Looking back, if your character had continued, would you have written a happy ending for you and Jamie Lee Curtis?</div> <div> LG: Interestingly enough, what was shot was a little happier ending. That movie, in it's various forms, whether it be on cable, video, or in the theater, it has different endings. One of which being she's driving away in the ambulance and some wrapped up person sits up in the ambulance and we all think it's the bad guy - and it's me. That was only one ending. Most of the other endings they just left me on the horn in the parking lot. I got this great '57 Chevy I got to drive - maybe '56. </div> <div> HM.C: So what else are you up to today? Aren't you in a band?</div> <div> LG: Oh yeah, there's this band called the Foremen that I was a part of. We've still been doing a couple gigs. It's like a comedy/folk/political satire band. We play across the country. Now it's more comic than political. Music's good. The harmony's are good. </div> <div> HM.C: How bout film work?</div> <div> LG: Well I did a thing for the Disney Channel. It's on right now. It's probably going to be on for another couple of weeks. We went down to Australia to shoot this TV movie called STEPSISTER FROM PLANET WEIRD. It's aimed for the younger crowd. It's pretty good. I had some good people I was working with and it was a good script. </div> <div> After confronting Michael Myers, Guest took on the universe in Nick Castle's THE LAST STARFIGHTER. Director Castle was in the editing room with John Carpenter for HALLOWEEN II and took notice of Guest's all-American attitude, which led to the part.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Alan Howarth Interview</U><U> <A NAME="alan_howarth"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> With the twentieth anniversary of HALLOWEEN upon us, what better time to catch up with Alan Howarth, the HALLOWEEN music man? He's got lots to tell about the twentieth anniversary soundtrack (which can be purchased now at the HALLOWEEN Online Store) as well as some other happenings.</div> <div> <I>halloweenmovies.com: Well, first off, tell us about the 20th Anniversary soundtrack!</I></div> <div> Alan Howarth: It was actually pretty interesting timing. Another record producer friend of mine named Ford Thaxton and I had this idea, seeing as we saw HALLOWEEN H20 coming out, since it's referential to the original HALLOWEEN, there would be some additional HALLOWEEN energy this year. So we made an appointment with Joseph Wolfe, who is part of the original producing group for Compass International PIctures, and he made the appointment on Halloween last year. Who knows why it happened like that, but I'll just go with that.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Very interesting.</I></div> <div> AH: We said, "Alright, Joe, next year is going to be another HALLOWEEN sequel." We didn't know what it was going to be at that point. "How about a twentieth anniversary CD?" He said what would we do that for...and I said, "Here's the deal." When I did originally, in 1983, the soundtrack album for HALLOWEEN, I was handed John Carpenter's original 16 track masters. At the time, I have to admit, I wasn't a full-on HALLOWEEN afficianado. I took that music and made it a stand alone piece, if you know what I mean. I didn't worry about what was in the movie. I tried to make the hippest tracks I could at the time. There were some rhythm things I brought up and some other stuff that wasn't originally a part of the way it played in the movie. So, over the years, I've been getting feedback that says, "Jeez, ya know, it's just not the same. The original movie is very gothic and this album is just not that."</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Right.</I></div> <div> AH: So I went back to Joe, and I said how about if we do a new thing...I'll go back into the original tracks...we've got digital technology right now, I'll really clean it up...and I'll make fresh new mixes that are proper, that reflect the way it was presented in the movie. So he went for it. As a spin off of that initial energy, he also said we're re-doing HALLOWEEN for DVD. I said, well, if we're going into it, I could do a complete remix on the original movie, sweetening with new music mixes that would be in stereo and even surround. That was a mono soundtrack from 1978 that was before all the technology that is available now...and DVD is a perfect reason...before we make a mono DVD, which they'd already done.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What was the first step to begin this restoration?</I></div> <div> AH: I went on a quest to find original elements for the DVD. The only thing that I could find, besides the plain-old soundtrack that we already know, was John's music. We went hunting and actually found them in a hot old locker in North Hollywood that Debra Hill had in storage. We finally found the masters and had to carefuly bake them and trasfer them to digital. Then, I started putting the music mixes up for what would ultimately be the movie and then the CD. It was quite interesting because the pitches and the tempos of the original tapes didn't match the movie. I talked to John Carpenter. I said, "John, they're not matching up. Did you guys do something?" He goes, "Noooo." It was like being a detective in this case. I had to transfer all this material into a digital audio work station called a Soundscape. It had digital time compression and digital pitch change. It was quite a puzzle to try and glue all this stuff back together. Took me about 2 weeks of fooling around. There were some key numbers in the digital world...that made stuff start to click.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: You also decided to add sound effects.</I></div> <div> AH: During the DVD sweetening, I also added sound effects. That's one of the other things I've been doing in my career besides music. Without violating the intent of the movie, there were opportunities for adding sound effects that were better than the original sound effects. An example would be when there's thunder and lightning when Donald Pleasence is driving to the sanitarium for the first time. So I put a nice beefy surround sound - fresh digital audio - thunder - lightning - rain stuff. I enhanced the car. In a lot of ways the movie is new and improved with lemon. It's a more emersive experience. All the fans out there should look forward to getting a hold of the DVD. There's also a Dolby Surround sound videotape edition. There was actually some talk of releasing HALLOWEEN theatrically as a double feature with HALLOWEEN H20. Had that happened, they would have used my new 5.1 digital audio track to the movie. It just turned out that the expense of all that stuff got to be more than what Miramax wanted to go for.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: How about the dialogue additions?</I></div> <div> AH: The new album plays more like a radio show of HALLOWEEN than just a soundtrack album. So for the fans that want just music only, there are cuts that just stand alone as music, but there's also the story telling in a linear fashion, throughout the CD so you know where you are in the movie by what cue goes down. In a way, I think it came out very good.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What would you say to fans who think the original mono track shouldn't be tampered with?</I></div> <div> AH: Don't buy it. The original movie is still available in original mono. If that's what they like, they can buy it that way. If someone wants to be a little more adventurous and see what revisiting it could do, then check out the new DVD. Again, I didn't violate the original intent. It's just better just because of what's available technology-wise now.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Was there any music you came across that maybe wasn't included in the film?</I></div> <div> AH: No, actually the original soundtrack is what it is. There were no extra cues in there that got thrown out. John used everything. There's just one moment when I took a little more liberty than total duplication. There's the moment after young Michael Myers kills Judith - and there's the walk out through the house. I put some echoes and some other pitch changes on it. It's a little more crazy than the original piece. Everybody that's seen it likes it. And John came by and approved all this stuff, so it's not like I did it without his blessing. He came by, heard everything and said, "Let's do it!"</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Have you seen H20?</I></div> <div> AH: I haven't seen H20, so I can't comment on the film itself. I tried to get my hat in the ring. I called up Paul Freeman (H20 and series producer) and he said that Steve Miner at the time was only interested in people who were part of the original HALLOWEEN. The people involved in the sequels were of no interest to him at the time. A that time, he wanted to get Jerry Goldsmith.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Would you like to have been involved in it?</I></div> <div> AH: Absolutely.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What's your take on just having an orchestration of the theme?</I></div> <div> AH: Umm...it's valid. I have to hear it. I'm shooting my mouth off if I didn't listen to it. But I know there was a lot of pressure from Miramax to make H20 really a version of SCREAM. I think they got off track. In homage to John Carpenter, he's the one who opened the door for me to get into the film scoring business anyway. The first score I ever did was ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK with him. As far as a protege or an understudy, I learned from the master. So if there's anyone who knows how to make a John Carpenter movie soundtrack, I got it.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: There's been lots of HALLOWEEN music throughout the years that wasn't released on the soundtracks. Might it ever see the light of day on CD?</I></div> <div> AH: The other producer, Ford Thaxton, is looking into us possibly going back into all these movies and do that. There's some contractual stuff to clear up because the original contracts have expired by now. I know HALLOWEEN 4 and 5 are no longer in the Varese Sarabande catalog at all. You can't get BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA , THEY LIVE, PRINCE OF DARKNESS...they're all out of print. One way or another, I'd like to go back and take advantage of the digital technology that we have for cleaning things up. Especially, one of my big interests, would be to go into ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and do it. When this stuff was done in the early 80's, this stuff was done for LP. CDs didn't exist at the time. On an LP you have a limited amount of sound space you can put on one side of a piece of vinyal. When you get past 20 minutes, you start squeezing the tracks down. There's a physical contraint. So I did a lot of editing on ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, HALLOWEEN II, even up to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: Do you ever sit down and watch a movie with one of your scores and imagine what you could have done different?</I></div> <div> AH: Well you could always have done something better if you revisit it. But it's in the past. The door is closed on it. I could see upgrading, like with HALLOWEEN, because the technology created an opportunity. In fact, recently I watched THEY LIVE. I sat through the whole thing and I really enjoyed it! It was a good job.</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What would be your favorite out of all the incarnation of the HALLOWEEN theme?</I></div> <div> AH: Well, the two strongest ones I've done without John Carpenter are 4 and 6. Of the two, I got my artistic rocks off more on 4. One thing I was quite pleased with was the opening titles on 6, when I added the guitars. I thought that actually was a good update on the HALLOWEEN theme. Actually I pulled that tape out the other day and played it for myself and said, "This is good!"</div> <div> <I>hm.c: What's next for Alan Howarth?</I></div> <div> AH: Well, we'll see. I just finished a movie called THE DENTIST II, that'll be out in the Spring. The producers of that have a 4-thriller pack that I'm talking to them about. And then there's some rumor about another sequel of HALLOWEEN.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Dick Warlock Interview</U><U> <A NAME="dick_warlock"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Dick Warlock was simply applying for a job as a stunt person on HALLOWEEN II. Instead, he ended up dawning the Shape's mask for the second installment in the series. Check out what happened behind the scenes of HALLOWEEN II with this exclusive online interview with Dick Warlock!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>How long have you been in the stunt business?</I></div> <div> Well, I started doing live stunt shows at a place in California called Corriganville in 1957. I joined the Screen Actors Guild in 60. My first union film was BALLAD OF A GUNFIGHTER, with Marty Robbins the country singer who made “El Paso” famous. I had worked in 4 episodes of a TV series called “Guns of the Lawless West” before joining S.A.G.</div> <div> <I>What made you want to be a stuntman?</I></div> <div> I started thinking about the movie business when I was about 9 years old. Playing Cowboys and Indians I think. I moved to California in February of 53. Began writing letters to the studios soon after seeking work as a stunt double for Dickie Jones in the Range Rider TV series. NO RESPONSE. I wonder why. I was about 14 at the time.</div> <div> <I>Was there ever a time in your career when you were afraid of doing a particular stunt or when you feared a dangerous stunt would not go off as planned? Please explain.</I></div> <div> Yes. I was asked to go to San Francisco to work on the TV series “Emergency”. I had agreed to do the action sequence as discussed by phone before leaving Los Angeles. Upon arrival in S.F. things had changed a bit. I was to be a worker on the Golden Gate bridge and fallen while working and was stranded, unconscious, dangling from a rope. The heroes were to arrive and effect the rescue. There was to be safety cables, A ladderwagon from the fire dept. standing by in case I had trouble, like appendicitis or something. We ere to be 90 some odd ft’ above the ground. There were three other stuntmen involved in this thing and after long discussion, we all backed out due to the lack of those safety features. We went home and they put every safety device we had asked for in place and had other guys do it. Oh, well.</div> <div> <I>You’ve done your fair share of acting as well. Which do you prefer -- acting or stuntwork -- and why?</I></div> <div> I prefer acting. I’ve just never had the opportunity to do a part that was long enough to convince the right people that I could carry a character through a whole film.</div> <div> <I>We hear many “horror stories” of stuntmen breaking bones and sustaining terrible injuries in the name of “getting the shot.” Jackie Chan comes immediately to mind. How many bones have you broken over the years, and any serious injuries while on the set?</I></div> <div> I’ve broken bones but not on the job. It was always on my dirt bike with my sons. Nothing serious. The most serious injury I’ve sustained on the job was on “Roller Ball”. Separated my right shoulder.</div> <div> <I>Who are some of the people you’ve done stunt double work for over the years ? Which actors have been your favorite to double for -- and which ones were not so nice, or you didn’t enjoy doubling for?</I></div> <div> Kurt Russell is by far my favorite. I was with him for 25 years. From “Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” to “Tango and Cash”. I’ve also doubled for Dean Jones, Joe Flynn, Buddy Hackett, Michele Lee, Helen Hayes, David Naughton, and a host of other character actors. With 37 years under my belt, there have been a lot. Buddy Hackett was a putz.</div> <div> <I>Looking at your filmography, over the years you’ve worked with such well-known personalities as Drew Barrymore, Kurt Russell, and John Carpenter to name a few. Have you remained friends with any of the “celebrities” you’ve worked with over the years?</I></div> <div> The only one I keep in touch with on a fairly regular basis is Kurt. It’s a funny business. I can’t say I’m friends with very many people in it. I value the word friend and most of the people I’ve come to know are business associates.</div> <div> <I>I’m sure you’ve been asked this many times in the past, but one more time for the record, how did you land the job of the Shape in HALLOWEEN II?</I></div> <div> I was the stunt coordinator on “Escape form New York” and Debra Hill asked me if I wanted the same job on their new movie. Halloween 2. I agreed and came to her office to meet the director, Rick Rosenthal. On the way down the hall to his office I passed an open door to another office. On the desk was the mask. I put it on and walked to the open door of Rick’s office. I just stood there and stared at him. He finally demanded to know who I was. I pulled it off and introduced myself. After our meeting I asked him if there was any reason I couldn’t play this Shape guy. He said he didn’t mind if it was ok with Debra. I ok’ed it with her and here we are.</div> <bR> <div> <I>What marching orders, if any, did Rick Rosenthal, John Carpenter and Debra Hill give you for performing the role of the Shape? Was there much discussion about the psychology of the character? Anything in particular they wanted you to convey with your body language (since of course the character doesn’t speak a word)?</I></div> <div> Not a single word was ever discussed with me regarding how to do the character. I didn’t even have words with John until he came out to do some pick-up shots at the end of the movie. I watched the first movie and used the scene where He sits up along side the bed and turns his head towards Laurie as my inspiration for the character. I found it to be very robotic. To the beat of the music. I did what I thought would work.</div> <div> <I>Did you have to mentally prepare for the role of Michael Myers before shooting the scenes or did you find that it was easy for you to get into character once you had the costume on?</I></div> <div> I found that when I put the costume on he was there. My ex-wife said that as filming went on I changed a little. She never explained that though.</div> <div> <I>Where was HALLOWEEN II filmed? Was it shot on location in a real hospital or was Haddonfield Memorial a specially-designed set built on a sound stage?</I></div> <div> The hospital was in fact several different places rolled into one. All were on location except the corridor I walked down on fire. That was at the studio under controlled conditions. Scenes were shot in Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and the San Fernando Valley.</div> <div> <I>Did you take the fall off the balcony at the beginning of HALLOWEEN II?</I></div> <div> Oh, please don’t remind me. That one people always ask about. “Looks like you walked up a platform” etc. Yes, I did walk up a platform because when I tried it without, because of where the little railing hit me, I’d end up flipping over on my face and I had to land on my back as Jim Winburn did in H1. We were short on time and what you see is what you got. Sorry.</div> <div> <I>Can you remember any “behind the scenes” stories or anecdotes from the set of HALLOWEEN II that maybe we don’t know about? Either funny things that happened behind the scenes, budding relationships between the cast members, disagreements between the creative powers, or talk of future HALLOWEEN movies beyond II at the time?</I></div> <div> It’s been 18 years. Behind the scene stories, huh. I had a tough time being the guy who had to keep the safety of the actors in mind on one hand and be the same guy the director would ask to do it harder or more violent or whatever. That only happened once or twice. I had a mad crush on Jamie Lee. I was married so that’s all it could have ever been. I do wonder what would have happened if I’d been single though. Wishful thinking. Debra Hill and Dickie Smothers were an item on set. No talk at that time of another HALLOWEEN. As far as they were concerned, that was it.</div> <div> <I>Tell us about your role in HALLOWEEN III.</I></div> <div> That was a lot of fun for me because I kept returning to fight the hero, sneeze in the elevator, pull a guys head off and on and on. It was just a blast. My son Lance was in that one to. Oh, he was in H2. (See below)</div> <div> <I>How did you prepare for the final scene in HALLOWEEN II where Michael Myers has to walk through flames, while you -- yourself -- are engulfed in them? How does one prepare (mentally and physically) for that task?</I></div> <div> That’s the easy part. Just surround yourself with the best guys in the business at doing fire and that’s it. Make sure that all of the parts are together. Your safety men are in place. Put the powder on. the suit on. The fires lit and when they call action, walk on in and do it. If you are required to stand around in the suit for a little time you start to sweat. That turns to steam when the heats on and you cook like a lobster like I started to do the first time we did it. Got myself burned on the arms. The second time went off without a hitch. Mentally it can be a bitch. Fire is a scary thing if it gets out of control.</div> <div> <I>Were you allowed to keep any memorabilia from the set of HALLOWEEN II after filming was completed?</I></div> <div> Yes. Debra gave me the mask, suit, boots kitchen knife and scalpel.</div> <div> <I>How often did John Carpenter and Debra Hill visit the set?</I></div> <div> Debra was there every day and John only came when he did the pickup shots at the end.</div> <div> <I>Is it true that John Carpenter came back to reshoot some of the sequences in HALLOWEEN II after Rick Rosenthal’s original cut did not make the grade? If so, which scenes in particular did Carpenter reshoot or enhance?</I></div> <div> Yes, John came in and did the sequence where the two girls are talking in the little town square. A small boy walks by with wearing a cowboy hat and has a radio and the voice on it is telling about Laurie being taken to the Haddonfield Hospital or something like that. The girls get into the Red Mustang and drive away. The kid walks right into the Shape and the shape heads off to the hospital. That boy is my youngest son, Lance. As for why he came in to do that ? I can only guess. I did, however, hear some rumors that he was not satisfied with a few things.</div> <div> <I>What are your FAVORITE and LEAST FAVORITE scenes in HALLOWEEN II?</I></div> <div> There was a lot of it that I liked. The one scene I especially didn’t like was where The shape has been shot in the eyes and is swinging wildly at the air while holding his hands over his eyes. I wish Rick had told me that it looked like crap. It’s very difficult to see these things as you do them. It felt alright and natural at the time but boy it didn’t look good to me when I saw it later.</div> <div> <I>How hot is it underneath the Myers mask?!</I></div> <div> Sometimes it got very sultry under that thing. Sweat isn’t good for the rubber either.</div> <div> <I>Have you seen the other entries in the series -- HALLOWEEN 4-6? If so, what did you think of the films and the performances of your successors (George Wilbur and Donald Shanks) as Michael Myers?</I></div> <div> only recently saw the other films. I liked them. I didn’t care for the new mask they used.</div> <div> <I>Are you interested in portraying the Shape again in HALLOWEEN 7?</I></div> <div> Are you kidding. I love to do it. If the fans want it. Then I want it for them.</div> <div> <I>How much longer do you want to continue making movies?</I></div> <div> I would like to make HalloweeN 7 my swan song. The end.</div> <div> <I>Outside of the movie realm, what’s a normal day like for Dick Warlock?</I></div> <div> Well, I like to play golf with my older son Billy. (A.J.Quartermaine on General Hospital) I’m at the computer a lot. I have some friends I have coffee with like Tom Morga who played not only Jason in F5 but Michael Myers in H 4 and Leatherface in one of them. He didn’t get credit for doing any except F5. I have Nascar2 on the computer and really dig racing those good old boys without getting hurt or it costing an arm and a leg.</div> <div> <I>What are some of your hobbies?</I></div> <div> Golf, Horseback riding, Motorcycle riding (Street and Dirt) Ham radio. KD6PLP.</div> <div> <I>Are you married? Any children?</I></div> <div> Yes to a wonderful woman named Cathy who is my business manager. Three grown children. Two boys and a girl. Already touched on that.</div> <div> <I>What kind of music and movies do you enjoy?</I></div> <div> Well, I’m a big Elvis fan and since I host Karaoke shows around town it’s only natural that I sing his music. I like all kinds of music. It depends upon my mood which type I listen to at any particular time. All types of movies. Comedy, Drama , Action, Tearjerkers. The works. I don’t like stunts for stunts sake.</div> <div> <I>Are you much of a Web surfer? If so, which Web sites do you visit most often?</I></div> <div> I don’t surf a lot. I like the email feature and answering mail. I go to the sites that people give me the links to. I’m a real neophyte when it comes to the net. My sincere thanks to all of you out there that have supported me since I’ve come on the net. I’ll never forget it. Just remember, I know where you live!!!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Tawny Moyer Interview</U><U> <A NAME="tawny_moyer"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> As nurse Jill, one of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital's caring nurses, actress Tawny Moyer experienced the fun and fright of making HALLOWEEN II. Almost twenty years since she met with Michael Myers, she's here to let you know that you really have to watch your back when Michael's nearby....<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Are you much of a fan of horror movies?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Yeah. I was really much more into them when I was younger. I have to admit the older I get, the scarier they are. I loved working on HALLOWEEN II because I loved learning about all of the tricks. All of the blood and the gore. It's a lot of fun.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: So, do you recall how you got involved in HALLOWEEN II?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I was sent on an audition, with the rest of the girls. Just a cold audition.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: How much of Jill is in you?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: (laughs)</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: She had a little blond ditzyness in the movie.</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Mmm-hmm. I wanted her to be so innocent. Like a little candy striper girl. Yeah. That's the innocent part of me. The girl who's like "WHAT?!"</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Do you remember any specific stories from the set?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well, you know, my death scene was fun to do. I was wearing the harness that was last used on MARY POPPINS, for her flying scenes. I always felt so bad for this poor grip. They had it on this pulley system and he would have to pull me up by hand everytime I got killed. So take after take, this poor guy was like <grunting sounds>.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: How many takes do you think you had to do of that scene?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Probably about 15. I got really bruised up. I got stunt pay for that. The stunt guy came up to me after that and said I was going to get stunt pay because that's just too much. It was fun because I chose those clogs to wear, so we could have them drop off in the death scene like that. That worked out great. But it was really creepy. Everytime he plunged the scapel into my back. They put a peice of balsa wood under my sweater. I wasn't in any danger, but everytime he stabbed me the pressure of it would push me forward a little bit.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Don't want to experience that in real life!</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Oh God, no!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: You worked a lot with Jamie Lee Curtis. Do you remember much about her?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Yeah! She was great. She was very supportive and very available. I really liked her a lot.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: How about the other girls you worked with? Ana Alicia...</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: What's going on with her? Have you talked to her?</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: No, we haven't. She's one of the hard ones to track down. If you're still in contact with her, send her our way!</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well, you never know. I might run into her!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: There have been rumors throughout the year that John Carpenter came in to direct a few sequences for the film. Were you affected by that at all?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Well actually some stuff got cut out that I had. The un-violent scenes. Things that weren't all that important I guess. I had some dialogue on the phone - and some other scenes. There wasn't room for them because John came in later and shot a few more scenes.</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: That publicity shot of you on the phone must have been one of your cut scenes.</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Yeah! That's my monologue! It's on the floor somewhere! So disheartening (laugh)!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: So what other film and television work have you been involved in?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: I did this film called A FINE MESS, with Ted Danson and Howie Mandel. Last season I had a recurring role on SPORTS NIGHT, which I'm hoping to revive this season. I had a little spot on THE NANNY last season, playing a nurse again!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Hopefully you didn't get killed that time out!</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: (laughs) No, but we almost killed Fran!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: Have you seen any of the other HALLOWEEN films?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Yeah. They all had their charm. They all have a moment or two when you go "Whoa! That was pretty good!"</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: What else are you involved in today?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Just doing the auditioning thing. Today I'm going to be meeting with the casting director for THE PRACTICE, hoping to find myself on there. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with the casting director for a new show called OH, GROW UP. Playing a newscaster. That's my new niche. I'm now an anchorwoman. Look for me next season and when you see me, write in a letter!</FONT></div> <div> hm.c: If there were any possible way to bring you back into the HALLOWEEN series and pin you against Michael Myers again, would you do it?</div> <div> TM<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >: Absolutely! I'll take him on!</FONT></div> <div> If you're interested in writing to Ms. Moyer, send fan mail to:</div> <div> Tawny Moyer</div> <div> c/o Hervey-Grimes</div> <div> PO Box 64249</div> <div> Los Angeles, CA 90064</div> <div> Note: When sending pictures to be autographed, it is generally wise to include a self-addressed stamped envelope.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>David Kyle Interview</U><U> <A NAME="david_kyle"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> David Kyle may perhaps be one of the luckiest people in Haddonfield. He actually escaped the wrath of Michael Myers. David Kyle Foster, as he's known today, had a bit part in a then unknown horror flick called HALLOWEEN. Although he appears on screen for only a few moments, his character was present just moments before Judith Myers was killed by her monstrous brother. Here's what he has to say about his involvement in the saga of Michael Myers.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>How did your participation in HALLOWEEN come about?</I></div> <div> I was very close friends with Nancy Loomis, Tommy Wallace and Craig Stearns. They asked me to do the part.</div> <div> <I>Was it hard to play your brief role? Were there any special instructions that John Carpenter directed that you can remember?</I></div> <div> The role was, of course, easy to play, but the waiting!!! It took an entire day of shooting to complete it, mostly because it was the first attempt in film history to do an unedited steadycam shot lasting 20 minutes or so. It was quite an historical moment in that sense and everyone was very intent on getting it right. John Carpenter's direction of the scene was focused on getting the shot correct technically, so he gave me virtually no acting direction. The shot lasted from the film's opening until the end of the first murder, without any editing.</div> <div> <I>Were friends and family excited that you had a role in HALLOWEEN and that it was such a major success?</I></div> <div> I didn't stay in touch with my family much during that time. My industry peers were puzzled that I was doing such a small role in such a low budget film. No one had the faintest idea that this picture was going to be anything but a small "drive-in movie" kind of flick, consequently, no one was particularly excited. I was happy getting paid for two days when only working one and for hanging around the set with three gorgeous girls. As for its eventual success, it has been the irony of my former acting career that the smallest part I ever did is the only part that people are now interested in that I did. It's been nice getting residuals for 18 years though!</div> <div> <I>How did the film help/hinder your career in acting?</I></div> <div> When I did the part, I had already decided (without telling anyone yet) that I was going to give up acting and go into the ministry. So any benefit that the success of the film may have had went unused. Small undistinguished parts never help a career anyway no matter what film they have been in.</div> <div> <I>You've gone on to create a religious organization. Can you briefly tell about that?</I></div> <div> My founding of Mastering Life Ministries came about as a result of God's work in my heart. I had become seriously messed up with sex, drugs and alcohol and had come to the realization that there was something more important to life than the fickle affirmation of an acting career and the drowning of my pain in an addictive lifestyle. As I began to seek God, while on a trip to Israel the same year that I did "Halloween", I found him in Jesus Christ and in the affirming love of God the Father. He began healing me of various issues and soon, I felt a call to help people who were messed up, particularly in areas involving the healthy expression of their sexuality.</div> <div> <I>Would you be excited to see HALLOWEEN return to the big screen for its 20th Anniversary?</I></div> <div> Yes, particularly if Michael Myers and everyone else in the picture discovers the beauty of living for Jesus Christ by film's end. I've got a feeling that's not going to happen, though.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Nancy Loomis Interview</U><U> <A NAME="nancy_loomis"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Although Nancy Louise Kyes has disappeared from the big screen, her face is a staple of the HALLOWEEN phenomenon. While she may be best known for her role as Annie, she also appeared in John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and THE FOG. She was also married to HALLOWEEN III director Tommy Lee Wallace. After years of searching, we've tracked her down to talk about her part in HALLOWEEN. And now we present you our exclusive interview with the former Nancy Loomis!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> HALLOWEENMOVIES.COM: So how did you first meet John Carpenter?</div> <div> NANCY KYES: I met him through Tommy Wallace, who, I guess, I was dating at the time. I made a film with Tommy Wallace when he was in graduate school. And Tommy and John go way back, as you probably know. I did some work for Tommy and then I met John through Tommy.</div> <div> HM.C: Do you recall your audition for ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13?</div> <div> NK: I don’t believe I did audition. Maybe I went and read. I had known John for quite some time before he wrote the screenplay. Since he knew he could count on all of his friends to participate in the film, he just wrote the part.</div> <div> HM.C: With you in mind?</div> <div> NK: Yeah. I think he did. And the part in THE FOG, as well. He really was comfortable working with people he knew quite well. So he did that for quite a number of years. I was always happy to do what I could. I always enjoyed working for him. I always enjoyed the camaraderie because I knew lots and lots of people on the crews. I even helped out on ASSAULT. I did the costumes and the props. I helped dress the sets. I did that on a lesser extent on HALLOWEEN, too.</div> <div> HM.C: To what extent was that?</div> <div> NK: I know I came up with quite a few costumes. The costume that his sister has in that opening shot - before she gets killed. Those were some clothes I’d had since I was in high school.</div> <div> HM.C: To make it look like the 60’s, right?</div> <div> NK: Yeah, right. I was still wearing those clothes! (Laughs) You know, costuming was my day job. When I wasn’t acting, I would support myself by doing costumes.</div> <div> HM.C: So where did you grow up?</div> <div> NK: I was born in Fall’s Church, Virginia. My father was in the Air Force, so I grew up all over the country. I graduated from high school in Riverside, California, then went to college in Chicago. I studied theater at Northwestern. That’s where I was trained.</div> <div> HM.C: Do you have a most memorable moment from the production of HALLOWEEN?</div> <div> NK: Well, you know, I’d have to think about that for a while. But, I do remember when we were shooting the opening shot, it was the first time that a steadicam had been used. John had planned these elaborate shots. The setup for it really was a lot of work.</div> <div> HM.C: So everybody was a part of the opening shot?</div> <div> NK: Everybody was working on it and we were shooting late at night. I just remember this steadicam as being this very exciting event. Everybody knew it was going to be this very dramatic thing - and it worked! And it just became this classic shot.</div> <div> HM.C: Was there something odd about your name being Loomis and HALLOWEEN featuring a Dr. Loomis character?</div> <div> NK: Well, I think John just liked the name. He thought it was so weird and quirky. But I really needed to change my name for personal reasons. I needed to go back to using Nancy Kyes and get rid of that other stage name.</div> <div> HM.C: Did you have any idea of the impact the film would have?</div> <div> NK: We really didn’t. We thought the script was really campy and a lot of fun. We all trusted John and we were all on his wavelength. That’s what made it fun. We were on a low budget. We were trying to make April in Los Angeles look like October in Indiana or wherever it was. That was a challenge. And fun. Just a lot of fun. We thought people would like it. I remember the jokes towards the end when we were just slogging through it saying, “I can see us now making HALLOWEEN 10.”</div> <div> HM.C: (laughing) And here we are, almost there! Speaking of sequels, have you seen any of them?</div> <div> NK: No, I haven’t. I saw HALLOWEEN III, ‘cause Tommy did that. That’s the only one that I’ve seen.</div> <div> HM.C: So what have you been up to since your years as a "Carpenter Scream Queen?"</div> <div> NK: Well, for many years I was a mother. I had two young children and I was working harder than I’ve ever worked in my entire life. And now I’m a sculptor. I work with found objects. It’s called assemblage.</div> <div> HM.C: Like “assemblage” but with a French pronunciation?</div> <div> NK: That’s correct. I smash them all together (found objects). Anything and everything. I twist them and tie them and nail them. Then I sculpt that material as you would clay or metal.</div> <div> HM.C: Sounds like fun!</div> <div> NK: It’s a blast!</div> <bR> <div> HM.C: How long have you been into that?</div> <div> NK: About five years now. I just had my first big show in Los Angeles.</div> <div> HM.C: Anywhere fans might be able to see some of your work?</div> <div> NK: Look for them as they arrive. I’m having a piece in a show in March at the University of Tucson called “What Do You Know?”</div> <div> HM.C: Did you keep any props or costumes from HALLOWEEN? Perhaps your yellow sweater?</div> <div> NK: You know what I have that I treasure? The plaid blanket that I wore in the second part of the movie. I still have that blanket. I guess it’s like some kind of security blanket. And I still have the shoes that I wore! They’re sitting on the back porch of my house.</div> <div> HM.C: Are you going to make them a part of a sculpture?</div> <div> NK: You know, that’s not a bad idea.</div> <div> HM.C: Maybe a HALLOWEEN sculpture!</div> <div> NK: I could. Somewhere around here I have some posters, too.</div> <div> HM.C: You know, those are worth some money now.</div> <div> NK: They are?! I better go look for them! (laughs)</div> <div> HM.C: How about this...if they found a way to resurrect your character, would you consider doing a future HALLOWEEN sequel?</div> <div> NK: As a grandmother babysitter?! (laughs) Locked in a laundry room?!</div> <div> HM.C: Well, maybe even a different character.</div> <div> NK: Oh, yeah. I’d probably do it. Sure. I love acting. I love being in the movies. But, I’m just not interested in the daily ritual of pursuing a career. I have two other jobs, so enough already!</div> <div> HM.C: What do your children think about having a famous Mom?</div> <div> NK: They’re kind of intrigued by it. I think they really like the idea that I worked with Jamie Lee Curtis. That really impressed them.</div> <div> HM.C: Was Nancy Loomis your stage name?</div> <div> NK: Nancy Kyes is my legal name. Nancy Loomis was the name that I had when I first married, before I married Tommy Wallace.</div> <div> HM.C: Are there any other films that your fans could catch you in?</div> <div> NK: Gosh, I don’t know. I did some work on various television shows, playing minor parts for years. Most of the work that I did was in Equity Waver’s Theater. That’s where I did the biggest roles and the most satisfying work. I made that handful of pictures for John. And I was in another picture I think called THE SEA GYPSIES. A family film.</div> <div> HM.C: Who came up with the “Oh Paul” song you sing in HALLOWEEN?</div> <div> NK: Oh yeah. Who was it...maybe Debra Hill? I can’t remember. I do, now that you mention it, remember singing it. I’m going to have to watch this movie again.’</div> <div> HM.C: When was the last time you watched it?</div> <div> NK: Good question. (pause) Wow. Oh man. I can’t remember the last time I watched it. It had to be over 15 years ago.</div> <div> HM.C: Wow! That’s a long time!</div> <div> NK: Yeah. It astonishes me that people are so into it. And they really are.</div> <div> HM.C: It’s truly a phenomenon. How does it feel now, 20 years later, to be a part of something that started so much?</div> <div> NK: It feels pretty good. It’s just coincidence that I was friends with John and John had this passion about horror.</div> <div> HM.C: How would you compare HALLOWEEN to horror films of today, like SCREAM?</div> <div> NK: I haven’t seen any horror movies! They’re a lot more fun to make than they are to watch, for me.</div> <div> HM.C: Does anybody recognize you on the street as “that girl from HALLOWEEN?”</div> <div> NK: (laughs) Once in a while.</div> <div> HM.C: How do you deal with those occasional “eccentric” fans?</div> <div> NK: Oh, I’m very polite. I’m very flattered people could recognize me! It astonishes me that people from time to time will get all excited. If anyone is keen enough to recognize me, I’m not going to say, “No no, you’re wrong. Leave me alone.”</div> <div> HM.C: Do you still keep in touch with anyone from HALLOWEEN?</div> <div> NK: Yeah, I do. I’m pretty good friends with the art director of that picture, Craig Sterns. My former husband, Tommy, of course. John, from time to time. Not too many people. You know, my life is so different now. I’m not in the same circles.</div> <div> HM.C: So, based on how much your life has changed, does it really feel like 20 years later?</div> <div> NK: Oh, it certainly does. I think it’s remarkable that the film is being celebrated in its 20th year and that people really care about it.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Brian Andrews Interview</U><U> <A NAME="brian_andrews"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> "You can't kill the boogeyman!" has become the motto of the HALLOWEEN series. The boy who warned Laurie Strode of Michael's wrath was Tommy Doyle, originally played by Brian Andrews.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Twenty years later, Andrews is glad he was a part of HALLOWEEN. "It wasn't scary at <B>all</B>!" he remembers. "The music had a lot to do with it. All I really had to do was scream and yell...scream and yell."</div> <div> "Of course, when I saw it, it scared the crap out of me!" Andrews got his first glimpse of the completed HALLOWEEN at a Director's Guild preview. Afterwards, he went out to dinner with several friends. He and a pal had to take a restroom break. "The bathroom was at the top of this long staircase. Neither I nor my friend made it up there!" he laughs.</div> <div> "Carpenter was very much a one-take director," Brian remembers. "John Carpenter never called me Brian." Carpenter would call for "Tommy." Of course, the set designer was also named Tommy (Lee Wallace) - which made for some confusion on the set.</div> <div> Andrews spent three hours a day dedicated to school while he was acting. Speaking of school, he recalled how difficult the scene with the smashing pumpkin was to film. Each time he fell, he would land on the pumpkin, but it wouldn't break. So, the crew broke the pumpkin, and used a close-up shot of him and the gourd hitting the ground. He says much of his first scene, the walk with Jamie Lee Curtis to the Myers' house, was improvised. Brian has fond memories of co-star Curtis. "She was so sweet. So sweet."</div> <div> He also remembers an incident in the Doyle living room. He, Kyle Richards, and Curtis would walk into the living room carrying popcorn. The television was supposed to be blaring THE THING. Of course, the television shots were added during editing. Brian would say "What are we watching?" Carpenter corrected him, saying it was not in the script. But, young Brian was actually wondering - what were they watching.</div> <div> Brian found himself famous at school. "Everyone had seen it! It was nice to be recognized." He was nicknamed "Halloweenie" by his peers. The kids at school teased him about one shot. "Me and Kyle [Richards] were in bed, sleeping. The kids at school were in the middle of puberty and wanted to know what was going on there!"</div> <div> He saw HALLOWEEN once in a theater with a crowd. As he left, someone picked him out, exclaiming"Hey! You were in that!" He was also noticed years later, around age 28, when he worked at a restaurant. "The guys were like, 'Hey! You were in HALLOWEEN!'"</div> <div> He has seen some of the HALLOWEEN sequels, but has yet to see HALLOWEEN 6, which resurrected his character. He did notice characters in HALLOWEEN 4 named Tommy and Lindsey. "I was watching it, and I was like, 'Hey! That's not me!'"</div> <div> As for a re-release of the original? "It'd be great. HALLOWEEN was a trend-setter. A genre-setter."</div> <div> Brian appeared in THE GREAT SANTINI before HALLOWEEN, and had a bit part in THREE O'CLOCK HIGH afterwards. "I had a great career from ages 2 to 12." He auditioned for a role in E.T. and actually met Steven Spielberg. Today, he's "an actor in between jobs" he laughs.</div> <div> As for the long-term effects of the violent slasher movie he once made, he says there are none. "No, I've ever had any kind of Michael Myers nightmares. Right after we saw it, my friend's mother was pretty upset with me because it scared him so much. He thought he saw a hand at his window that night."</div> <div> As for HALLOWEEN 7? Andrews would be interested, if the producers have a part. But until then, Brian will always be the original HALLOWEEN's "Halloweenie" - the original Tommy Doyle.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Jamie Leigh Curtis Interview</U><U> <A NAME="jlc_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></U></div> <div> Jamie Lee Curtis launched her career with the original HALLOWEEN. Now, it's twenty years later...and Curtis has returned to battle that evil brother of hers one more time in HALLOWEEN H20. Dressed loosely and acting a bit hyper for her last interview of the day, she has lots to tell. She's the one and only - Jamie Lee Curtis.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <I>Q: People have been saying that you're the one behind this project.</I></div> <div> JLC: I am.</div> <div> <I>Q: Why revisit HALLOWEEN twenty years later?</I></div> <div> JLC: I wanted to revisit for a three-fold reason that I've now articulated beautifully. One - twenty years. It's impossible. It's just been an impossible amount of time that's been in the making. Twenty years. I just can't believe it. I've been working as an actor for twenty years. It's more time since HALLOWEEN than I lived on the planet before HALLOWEEN. That's just insane. Something had to be done. It couldn't go by unnoticed. I don't think it's ever been done before. You know, there's been a couple movies where they bring the same actors back, I know the LAST PICTURE SHOW they did that. I'm more viable today than I was 20 years ago. The genre is more viable today than it was 20 years ago. It just seemed like an opportunity where if you missed it, you'd really regret it. For me, to be able to look back on this at the end of my career, and say, "You know what? I did that. That's so cool." To be able to go to a movie theater and watch a double bill </div> <bR> <div> of HALLOWEEN and H20? How great would that be! To watch the same actress play the same part 20 years later...that's just insane. Then, there's an opportunity on a personal level to say thank you to a group of people who truly gave me everything I have. I look at everything I have in my career, and its all attributable to my performance. Everything points back to horror movies, because they gave me everything I have. I started in horror movies, they gave me a platform to stand on, and its my way of saying thank you to that audience, that fan-base. It's like, "This blood's for you!" Here, have this one on me! Because I really appreciate it. I saw the opportunity to be realistic and show the horror of horror movies. Show the result of horror movies. Here's an opportunity for this girl, who's supposedly a survivor, but in fact, she's not a survivor - because she has no soul. That's what was ripped from her. Her ability to trust. Her ability to love. So even though she's done everything a woman's supposed to do to make her happy - she's gone to college, gotten a degree, got married and has a child - she's empty. She's a wreck, because he stole this from her. So if you set that up in a movie, and you really pay homage to that reality, and you don't shy from it, and you don't go "well this is a little heavy," and then create an opportunity for the character to escape. She can get away and keep running, but ultimately by running the metaphor, she'll die, because she's either blow her brains out in a year or she'll get in a car wreck, or whatever happens down the road. But she stops running, and turns around, and faces him head on. Mano a mano. To the death. She may die, physically, but she gets her soul back. Now that is a slightly long-winded and lofty goal for a horror movie, but if you can pull that off, then you have a movie to commemorate the first movie. This was my pitch over and over and over. I didn't care where they set it, how the other peripheral characters interplayed into the story. The focus of the story is Laurie Strode and her struggle. I really believe, and I have been supported, that, like the "field of screams," if you build it, they will come. If you create that movie, and you have the audience to care about that woman again. Look at the first movie. Twenty-five minutes goes by, nothing happens. We walk down streets, we talk about boyfriends. It's just mundane, with a couple creepy little moments. But it's really time to establish this character. And then when you bring this eerie element in, you really believe its happening. You care about her. I thought, we can do that again. But in a completely different circumstance, than I could make the movie.</div> <div> <I>Q: Were you like an executive producer?</I></div> <div> JLC: I am proudly an unbilled executive producer. I'm Laurie Strode's guardian angel.</div> <div> <I>Q: Did John [Carpenter] and Debra [Hill] at any point involved in H20?</I></div> <div> JLC: We started out together. Obviously, the first call I made was to John and to Debra. We had lunch at Hamburger Hamlet on Doheny and Sunset. We talked about it. We went to Bob [Weinstein] together. He said, "We have this movie coming out soon, it's called SCREAM, its going to reinvent the horror movie." We thought, oh great, excellent! But then when the realities came down about how we could make this movie, obviously it had to be released in the fall of '98, had to be made in Spring of '98, had to be pre-productioned in the winter of '97, had to be written in summer/spring of '97, at the time we actually plotted out how it was going to have to be made. They couldn't do it.</div> <div> <I>Q: Have they seen it?</I></div> <div> JLC: No, they haven't. But they're going to.</div> <div> <I>Q: Can you tell us a little bit about working with Paul Freeman and Moustapha Akkad?</I></div> <div> JLC: Those were aspects that were brought into the movie. Do you know that I had never met Moustapha Akkad in twenty years? The man who actually put up the money for HALLOWEEN I had never met, until about a week before shooting began, and we had a meeting about the script. And again, hammering home this hope for the story, which even met with some friction from them. Paul and Moustapha were good. They were the Paul and Moustapha side, whereas I was the Jamie/Steve side. Then there was Miramax in the middle. And we were all making the same movie. Ultimately, Steve is the boss, and Steve was great about handling all of the different aspects. And then there's Kevin. I mean, there's a bunch of different people involved here. I collaborated with them, but I really collaborated with Steve. He was really my partner on this.</div> <div> <I>Q: What was the resistance?</I></div> <div> JLC: I think they were afraid it was just too dark. I think that people were afraid to go where I wanted to go. I think they didn't know if that kind of dysfunction was going to be acceptable for the lead character in the movie. But I kept saying that she's the lead character in the movie who was stalked and terrorized at the age of 17. Let's not forget this. I don't think we have a lot of history where that kind of female character, an alcoholic drug-addict, is a winning example of a heroine. I think they were just hesitant. I think it was an accurate of somebody with a problem. I think there are a lot of people fighting "demons," like alcohol, drugs, abusive relationships, obesity.</div> <div> <I>Q: Do you like horror films?</I></div> <div> JLC: I'm a complete chicken. I've been saying this for 20 years, and nobody ever takes me seriously. I can't see a horror movie. I hate them. I don't like looking at them. I don't like to be frightened. I don't like to have that scary music, and know that something scary is going to jump out. Obviously, I can see the movies I'm in, because I know it's coming. But all the stuff in this movie, all the kids in the school...I couldn't watch that. I fast-forwarded through that. I watched SCREAM by fast-forward with the lights on.</div> <div> <I>Q: But you don't mind performing in them?</I></div> <div> JLC: No, that's not as bad. That's not a problem for me. It's when things jump out at me that I don't like. I couldn't have seen HALLOWEEN. I don't think I'll go see SAVING PRIVATE RYAN because I can't take it.</div> <div> <I>Q: Scary scenes like the bathroom scene in H20?</I></div> <div> JLC: The poster I wanted, was, there's one brief second, where you see [Michael's] face through the door. I wanted that frame to be the poster for the movie. It was so beautiful when I saw the dailies. You know, the truth was that little girl [in the scene] got really scared. The first day of shooting was that day. And they did the exterior. And in fact, she didn't have to interact with him at all. But, he was actually waiting around the side of this stall, to do his part of the scene, and she was leaving. She caught glimpse of this guy in the mask, and freaked out.</div> <div> <I>Q: Why did they jump over what happened to your marriage in this film?</I></div> <div> JLC: I think some of the dialogue was pretty much supposed to give you the answer. It was supposed to let you know that that marriage was a doomed marriage.</div> <div> <I>Q: Laurie must have had her son right away after the first film.</I></div> <div> JLC: Well, seventeen...yeah...three...yeah...probably in college. Maybe he was a professor. (laughs)</div> <bR> <div> <I>Q: Was it hard to get your mother for her cameo?</I></div> <div> JLC: It was hard to get her, only because I wouldn't let them get her until it was right. I was not content with just calling up my mom and saying "Mom, just play my secretary please." It really demanded good writing. And I made them go back to the table 3 or 4 times and said "Guys, write me a scene with my mom that will encompass everything we'd want to see with me and my mom in a movie." It had to be scary, it had to be poignant, it had to be very "knowing," very inside. It was very much like taking a bow. When she walks to the car and says "Happy Halloween," as far as I'm concerned, it's her doing a huge stage bow and saying, "Thank you very much for a great career." That's how I saw it.</div> <div> <I>Q: You seem so excited over all this work on the film, like a producer. Are you an actor or a producer?</I></div> <div> JLC: I'm not [a producer]. I can tell you that I can now understand the egomaniac-ness of aeuter directors. I totally understand now how it feels to move an audience with your ideas. As an actor, you just don't feel connected to it, because you're just a pawn in it. But to actually be crafting from your mind a set of experiences for a large group of people, it really gets you into the idea that wow, you can really movie masses of people. It was a really interesting experience for me which I've never had before, except for my children's books, which I get a tremendous sense of pride and pleasure from, because I can directly attribute their success to my mind. I can't say that about movies, but I can say that about this one [H20]. So I have this whole new respect for creating this movie-going experience. I also understand how scary it is to know that it may not work.</div> <div> <I>Q: Would you like to see the original HALLOWEEN re-released?</I></div> <div> JLC: I don't think they'll re-release it any kind of wide release, but I'm sure it will get rented a lot more.</div> <div> <I>Q: What have you learned from your parents about the Hollywood business that has helped you have a full life and career?</I></div> <div> JLC: (pauses) From my dad, I've learned that velvet always looks good (laughs). From my mom, I really learned about professional acting from my mom. She is the consummate professional.</div> <div> <I>Q: Did you always want to be an actress?</I></div> <div> JLC: I've always <I>been</I> an actress.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>