AUGUST, 2005 - FANGORIA
MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS
MEANS TO AN END WRITER/DIRECTORS: PAUL SOLET & JAKE HAMILTON
FOR RELEASE OF MEANS TO AN END ON NEW DVD: "BLOOD DRIVE 2"
1. Did you see the first BLOOD DRIVE? Any thoughts? Did that affect your
decision to go for BLOOD DRIVE 2?
P: We saw the first BLOOD DRIVE, yes. Jake rented it and showed me a few of
the films. The fact that most of the stuff was DV kind of inspired us to
sit down and see what we could do with that format in a couple months. We
were both in Boston at the time, but I was moving to LA in about three
months, so it seemed like a fun challenge to just blast out some
guerilla-gore on a zero budget. I had been doing a whole lot of writing
since film school, but only worked on a handful of films, so, yeah, BLOOD
DRIVE definitely stirred up that old craving to get down to business, and
get back on set.
J: After viewing the first BLOOD DRIVE, Paul and I dared each other to write
something really compelling and original. We had a first draft in a couple
weeks, and by then were so into the script, we knew we had to shoot it.
2. How did you conceive of MEANS TO AN END?
P: MEANS TO AN END started with Jake and I taking a realistic assessment of
what we had to work with – which basically amounted to Jake’s credit card,
each other, and a bunch of talented, enthusiastic friends. We figured our
own dynamic as friends and fellow genre freaks was just absurd enough to
exploit. All we did was write ourselves, a few notches up on the insanity
scale. The dedication to horror, the willingness to go to any lengths to
raise the bar on the genre, and our friendship are all very real. The
gore-montage was conceived along with our brilliant effects artist, Matt
Morgan, and our DP, Adam Alleca – both extremely talented filmmakers in
their own right. Once we knew Matt was on board, the possibilities for our
protagonists’ mutual mutilation went through the roof. We sat down with our
original list, and said, ‘What other household objects can we massacre each
other with?’ I confessed that I had always wanted to see human skin
extruded through a cheese grater, and volunteered my own ass for the gig.
That was our process for gore conception.
J: Paul and I didn't just play the lead characters, we are the lead
characters. The question we posed to ourselves was, “How far are we willing
to go for our work?" Paul answered, quite simply, "Pain is temporary... Film
is forever!" Pete and Jasper, our characters in the short, just take it a
few steps further.
??3, What was the most
successful effect you pulled off?
P: They all look really fantastic, but I think the consensus is that the
cheese-grated ass cheek works the best. Sewing up the gash on the arm looks
pretty great, too.
J: I find that no matter how many times I watch it, the whole splatter
sequence is just a really great display of what happens when a few sick,
creative freaks smash their heads together. But the cheese-grater takes the
cake - and the ass.
4. What was the most difficult effect to pull off?
J: Surprisingly the simple knife slash in the opening scene proved to be
rather difficult. We wanted to shoot is straight on, and even though that’s
the one effect that is actually intended not to look realistic, it was a
surprisingly tough effect to get right. I remember the actor, Morgan Berns,
had to hold his arm up until it got sore before we nailed that one. He was
a good sport, though.
P: Yeah, that was a little hairy. Again, I’d say the cheese grater, but I’m
biased because it was my ass that had to be shorn and latexed. God, that
didn’t sound too good. Completely apart from the shaving of my posterior –
which is included as a freakish extra on our own screeners – we used a bunch
of layers of delicately applied liquid latex, each of which I had to allow
to dry while standing around naked in Jake’s parent’s house. I guess that
part was probably most difficult for the rest of the crew…. Then, once we
were ready to roll, we really only had one shot at the effect. The truth
is, though, the team was super tight, so the effects went pretty smoothly.
?5. Has anyone you’ve shown it to ever looked away from the screen because
of your gore quotient?
P: Absolutely. People don’t realize what their getting into. It’s so funny
to watch people watch the movie. The first scene is disarming, you can see
it on people’s faces, that, ‘Oh God, here goes another bad short. Smile and
pretend you don’t hate it,’ look. Then, when we swish to the reveal, people
are just totally vulnerable to the onslaught of mutilation that proceeds.
It’s beautiful. The majority of viewers, even some of the horror buffs,
just cringe and can’t watch. ??
6. How did Executive
Producer Scooter McCrae come aboard?
P: Our Scooter McCrae – actually our Associate Producer – is a friend of
ours from Boston, not the filmmaker you may be thinking of. He’s Option C
Productions’ face man. Scooter, also known as Mike, is a professional poker
player. The guy’s a genius with people. He brought his charm and charisma
to the team along with a willingness to just do whatever needed to be done.
He did a lot of leg work, landing locations, tracking down props, and all
kinds of other stuff. At one point in production, Scooter came to me and
asked if there was anything he could do. I suggested that he could put on
our lovely PA, Erica’s panties and stand in for a scene. He did. The man’s
a saint. A saint in panties…..
J: Yeah, Scooter’s definitely a renaissance man. He did whatever needed
doing. He shot the behind the scenes footage, too. He was huge with
landing us that convenient store location, last minute. He’s a pro
schmoozer, all the way, as well as an unbelievably selfless team player.
7. What was the toughest part of making this movie? (Doing all that gore
must have been time consuming!)
P: It’s funny, looking back, it just was such a functional set, and our cast
and crew were so great, it’s really hard to answer that. We did extensive
preproduction, everything was storyboarded, locations had been thoroughly
scouted, props were all secured and everyone was so damn enthusiastic about
the script, we all just had an awesome time. The fact that I was moving
three thousand miles away the day after we wrapped added some stress –
primarily to my girlfriend, who was left to manage that task. Paying off
Jake’s 3000 dollar credit card bill hasn’t been especially fulfilling.
J: Actually the gore shoot was the most fun of all. We had budgeted our time
in such a way that we had time to improvise and let people throw around
their ideas. The day we shot our ejection-from-the-set stunt was a true test
of just how willing Paul and me were to put our characters’ philosophies to
work for real. For me, the hardest thing was wrapping and saying goodbye,
because a few members of our team relocated West, soon after.
??8. Was it fun?
P: Hell yes. Our team was fantastic. Everyone was so psyched about the
script, our cast and crew were totally jazzed to be on board. Getting to
run around with Jake, and massacre each other on film, was awesome. We’ve
both been shooting bloodbaths since we were old enough to commandeer our
families’ camcorders, so it comes pretty naturally, at this point.
9. Do you have any role model filmmakers in the genre/heroes?
P: Eli Roth has been a really amazing mentor of mine since I was about
eleven. I was the only kid toting around a Fango at the day camp where he
and his brothers were counselors, so we hit it off immediately. He schooled
me in the classics early on, and I was weaned on the films he did with his
brothers growing up – stuff like SUPERCOOL SECRET SPIES, and KITTY CARRIOL
MEETS LEATHERFACE. Watching Eli made the idea of making horror movies into
an attainable goal. I followed his lead through film school, and then his
encouragement to move out to LA. Eight days after I got to California, Eli
brought me to Tarrentino’s house to watch SEAN OF THE DEAD. He’s that kind
guy. Other role models of mine, you’ve got Takashi Miike, Don Coscarelli,
David Cronenberg, Larry Cohen, old John Carpenter, Guierlmo del Toro, David
Lynch, Bob Clark, Chan Wook Park, George Romero, and of course, Deodato,
Lenzi and Fulci, for the gore. The list is so long, and ever growing, but
those are the kind of filmmakers I look up to.
J: I’ve always been a big Savini nut. Early Carpenter, like THE THING and
PRINCE OF DARKNESS warped me pretty bad as a kid. ALIEN and THE EXORCIST
smashed my brain pretty good, too. With movies like MEANS TO AN END, the
strongest inspiration comes from Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEADs. And then there are
the guys behind the scenes, like Tony Timpone, Rod Gudino and Jovanka
Vucovick.
??10. Have you seen any of
the other BLOOD DRIVE 2 films?
P: I saw WE ALL FALL DOWN at Visionfest in New York, where a feature script
I wrote, called HEARTLAND, picked up an award. Really well photographed,
great sound design and some nice performances. The other film I saw was
Adam Barnick’s MAINSTREAM, which totally blew me away. Extremely creepy,
mature film. Well written, gorgeously shot and skillfully cut. He’s
another one with a really fantastic ear for sound design. That short ends,
and things sound different. As a fan, I can’t wait to see what he comes up
with next.
?11. Would you go for BLOOD
DRIVE 3?
P: Absolutely. This year’s disc will really raise the bar, so BLOOD DRIVE 3
should be amazing. It’s been a lifelong dream of ours to scar the pages of
Fango, and I haven’t been the least bit disappointed interacting with you
guys. Even with all Tony Timpone has going on, he returns emails faster
than I can send them. So yeah, definitely.