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COLUMNS
THE DR. SCOTT INTERVIEW: Uncle Creepy of The Horror Channel
by Dr. Scott
No genre makes a comeback like the horror genre, and we are in the midst of another one of its comebacks right now. Last year's HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES, CABIN FEVER, and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake revitalized the genre as it came out of the "Ironic Horror Era" that had started (and, eventually, overkilled) the genre back when SCREAM came out in the mid-90's.
2004 is turning into another great year for horror with the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, JU-ON, and SHAUN OF THE DEAD all delivering the goods. Meanwhile, Rob Zombie is editing THE DEVIL'S REJECTS (a sequel to his CORPSES), SAW is set to tear into audiences in October, and George Romero himself is hard at work on not one but two new zombie movies.
All of this is good news to the folks behind recently announced Horror Channel, which should be hitting an airwave (or airwaves, if you're that well-off) near you on Halloween later this year. Their timing couldn't have been better: horror geeks will finally have a channel to call their own- and in the midst of a theatrical horror comeback, no less! It's a good time to be a horror fan.
I sat down with the Horror Channel's own Uncle Creepy- the Horror Channel's "Creepy Jack of All Trades"- to get to the bottom of the grave they've been digging for us to find out what's in store for horror geeks once the channel goes live in October.
Doctor Scott VS. Uncle Creepy: The Introduction:
Thus begins my interview with Uncle Creepy of the Horror Channel.
DS: Okay, first of all, I gotta ask- what's the story behind the name "Uncle Creepy"? I mean, you don't hang around kids' birthday parties hittin' on their moms or anything...
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UC: (Laughs) No, no, nothing at all that...uh..strange or creepy. Actually, the name comes from an old Warren Comic called "Creepy Comics"-
DS: Uh-huh...
UC: - I guess it was in publication in the late 60's, early 70's. And, uh, I grew up with it. You know, actually, I didn't really "grow up with" it, my brother grew up with it, but then my mom saved all his comics, and when I was growing up in the 70's, she kind of gave them to me.
DS: Was it one of the EC Comics (Ed. Note: EC Comics published TALES FROM THE CRYPT in its original, comic-book form)?
UC: It was like an EC Comic, and "Uncle Creepy" was the host, so-
DS: Like the "Crypt Keeper".
UC: Yeah, sort of. So, "Uncle Creepy" is my homage to that kind of stuff.
DS: Cool.
UC: But, then, my whole identity is an homage. I'm that much of a fuckin' fan.
DS: (Laughs) But do you have any horror tattoos?
UC: Uh, per se, no. But I have spiders, spider webs, and skulls all over me.
DS: Well, that's some serious homage.
UC: It's what I love, yeah.
DS: What were you doing before you got involved with The Horror Channel?
UC: Interestingly enough, I was working at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and, uh, long story short, I ended up meeting Tony Timpone of FANGORIA magazine-
DS: Wow, really-
UC: - and he gave me a job working on their website, and, you know, it was a pretty cool gig; I mean, who could say "no" to working at FANGORIA?
DS: Sure.
UC: - and then that position led me to The Horror Channel. People were, you know, giving me a chance to get involved with something I really loved. So, in a way, the last couple of years have been like a dream ride. Especially for me, as a fan, because that's what I am above and beyond anything else.
DS: Right. Well, what is your official title at The Horror Channel? You know, besides "Uncle".
UC: (Laughs) You know, we were just talking about that, as a matter of fact. Because I've been taking on a larger bit of responsibility at The Horror Channel (Ed. Note- Hereafter, "The H.C.") as of late, and I wear a number of hats on any given day. I mean, from programming to producing to direction and all that other stuff. Officially, right now, I'm the managing editor for the website, but I'm also involved in alot of other ways . We're supposed to be figuring out exactly what title to give me.
DS: So, like..."Creepy Jack of All Trades."
UC: "Creepy Jack of All Trades."
DS: That's what you should put on your business cards.
UC: Actually, on my business cards it says "Creepy Lil' White Foo'", otherwise known as Huggy Bear's kid on STARSKY AND HUTCH, but that's...
DS: I don't even wanna tell you what my card says.
UC: Rock and roll.
What Horror Geeks Can Expect From The Horror Channel:
In this next section, Uncle Creepy answered every damn one of my questions about the Horror Channel. As you'll soon read, it sounds like whatever these guys have planned for us is going to rock all of our socks directly off our bodies. Uncle Creepy talks about the programming they're setting up for the channel, what sort of syndicated horror shows we can expect to see on the air, how the Horror Channel is avoiding any run-ins with the FCC, and the Horror Channel's commitment to bringing happy little children scary fucking shows. It's actually quite touching.
DS: Let's take care of a few technical questions right off the bat. For one thing, and excuse me if I'm using the wrong terminology, but what company is behind the H.C. ? I mean, is Viacom doing it, or-
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UC: It's independently owned.
DS: What was the genesis of the H.C.? I imagine a group of gore hounds sitting around at 3 in the morning, flipping through channels trying to find something worth watching and finding nothing but soft core porn-
UC: You wouldn't be too far off. The H.C. is the brainchild of Nick Psaltos. And Nick Psaltos, he has a background with- he worked for Bravo, A&E, a bunch of stuff, and the one thing he felt was missing on cable TV was a horror channel. So, now he decided to do it himself, and alot of his buddies...I'm happy to say that there's not a non-horror fan in the entire company, and that's really interesting. Basically, we're exactly what you'd imagine: a bunch of horror fans trying to fill a void that has been there way too long.
DS: Yeah, well "The Horror Channel" doesn't really sound like the result of a meeting between five old white guys in stiff suits sitting around a big-ass table.
UC: (Laughs) Yeah, well it's really weird- alot of people that think "horror" automatically (imagine) the goth kid with eyeliner and gel in his hair. Tattoos. Whatever. But, interestingly enough, from my dealings with alot of people you deal with, I realize that horror fans come in all different packages. The extreme fans, like myself...and, again, all I really am is a fan that got really lucky and managed to do something with this vast fountain of... what I thought up until now was useless information. (Laughs) And it's trippy, because "horror" is, like, the dirtiest word in the industry. Everyone refuses to admit that something is horror, even so much as some directors...I saw one director, made a film, and was calling his movie a "psychological thriller with supernatural overtones". I don't even know what the hell that means-
DS: (Laughs)
UC: - but, sorry, dude, you made a horror movie. I hate when people smack their core audience in the face like that. We're the people who get in line for movies, that wait for the DVD's, that go to the conventions, get the tattoos, buy the t-shirts- and for (directors) not to embrace us while we're the ones lining their pockets is...well. One of our missions is to let people know that, hey, this is legit, dude. Recognize horror films, the horror genre. Alot of the best movies that were ever made are horror movies. From the original FRANKENSTEIN to PSYCHO to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS- alot of people saw that and said it wasn't horror; Sorry, there's a serial killer and he's wearing human skin as a mask, that's horror- JAWS, a nature run amok movie. A really good one, but a horror film nonetheless...
DS: Well, I think that there's this misconceived, negative connotation that goes along with horror that makes people think it has less artistic merit because-
UC: It's ridiculous.
DS: - because of the gore movies and stuff like that. People don't realize that, like you said about the fans- horror comes in all shapes and sizes.
UC: And that's what we're really here to do. We want to bring it to people and do it in a way that, uh, hasn't been possible until now. Alot of people think "horror movies" and they think that all that's out there is, like, the FRIDAY THE 13TH movies, or NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, or HALLOWEEN.
DS: Right.
UC: But there's really a vast landscape of horror films out there. People in Japan are doing amazing things with horror right now. People all over the world are making horror films that, until recently, fans had to either A) go online and buy some ludicrously expensive DVD, or B)- I'm sorry to say- download the movies, which is the worst thing you can do. And what we're wanting to do is to launch a channel that caters to all the interests. We want to air stuff that you can't just go to Blockbuster and rent. I mean, we want to do a fair share of that, too, but we want to cover every aspect of the genre, and that includes video games, books...
DS: Well, getting any network up and running must be enormously complicated-
UC: I think I slept in March once...
DS: (Laughs) There must be so much to do- scheduling, producing, writing, filming, juggling the programming of original stuff versus syndicated shows. I'm sure you're doing all of these things as we speak, but what kind of original programming can we expect from the H.C. ? I mean, can you describe a few of the shows for the readers?
UC: Here's an area I really wish I could spill the beans about, but, unfortunately, I gotta be a little tight-lipped in terms of the very exciting original programming that we have in the works. But I can tell you that you'll have your talk shows, your game shows, but we're cooking up some really big- actually, quite a few really big projects with names that are staples of the horror genre. You know how it is when you're sitting on a mountain of answers, and you just really wanna tell all the people that are asking you stuff, "Dude, we know what we're doing!" We're excited. We're excited both from a technical standpoint and from a fan's standpoint. It's been amazing, dude. In the next few weeks, or the next few months, we're going to make some really huge announcements that are gonna blow horror fans away.
DS: Well, that was my next question: if you were going to be brining in horror directors- people like Eli Roth and Rob Zombie, people that have been really doing their part to revitalize the horror genre- if you were gonna have them come in-
UC: Absolutely.
DS: - and I'd also heard a rumor, you may wanna comment on this. I heard rumors about a Clint Howard-hosted talk show. Can you comment on that?
UC: Clint Howard...talk show?
DS: I'm fucking with you, I'm not serious.
UC: (Laughs, clearly relieved) That's an interesting idea.
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DS: Well, he was in THE ICE CREAM MAN, so I know he'd be tough to get with that on his resume...
UC: (Laughs) The only way we'd do a Clint Howard talk show is if we could get him to suspend himself inside a church- a la EVIL SPEAK- with boars running around...
DS: You know, I was completely unaware of that flick until I read an article about it in last month's FANGORIA.
UC: Oh, dude, that movie is 80's bliss.
DS: Have you actually filmed any of the shows yet? Or is everything still in the scripting stages?
UC: Alot of it is in pre-production.
DS: When are you planning on having the channel, you know, up and running?
UC: October 31st, 2004.
DS: Wow. That's soon.
UC: Right down the line, baby. We're totally on target...we'll be making an announcement shortly about who's picked us up...hopefully in the next two weeks or so.
DS: Well, I was gonna ask, is the intention to have the H.C. part of the basic cable package, like Comedy Central, or is it going to be something you have to subscribe to?
UC: Here's the deal. When we first started throwing the idea around, we decided we'd be on a digital cable and satellite only. The one thing we always had in mind was not having fans have to pay to have the channel. On our website, HorrorCHannel.com. We have the forums over there, which we've been using as a conduit to the fans. We take that seriously; in effect, the fans are doing the programming for us. It's a wonderful thing, an amazing resource. The audience is telling us what they wanna see-
DS: Which'll ensure your success that much more, if you're putting out exactly what you know the audience wants to see.
UC: Exactly. And I can assure you that there is no other company out there that pays as close attention to their fans and what they want as we do. And we always wanna be that way. We were reading on the forums that alot of people were saying they couldn't afford to upgrade to pay for the channel, so we restructured our basic business plan to include the channel on basic cable...basically, we said that we didn't want to leave any fan behind. If you're a fan of the horror genre, it's gonna be there for you to watch.
DS: Okay. Well, besides the original programming that you can't talk about, I'm assuming that you're going to have syndicated shows, horror anthologies, DARK SHADOWS...
UC: Here's the bottom line: if it's horror, and it's out there, we're interested. We want to do this the right way, we're gonna give the fans exactly what they wanna see. And in the way they want to see it. By that I mean that there won't be commercial interruptions, the films won't be edited-
DS: Well, now, that's definitely something I wanted to touch on, because horror- as a genre- isn't exactly known for its restraint. You've got explicit, messy violence, profanity, nudity, sex, frequent appearances by Warwick Davis- it can get pretty rough--
UC: (Laughs)
DS: Now, those are all mainstays of the horror genre. With the FCC cracking down on TV and radio, how are you planning on bringing horror fans the quote-unquote "adults only" thrills that they've come to expect from the genre?
UC: Here's the problem we're facing. You cannot dilute a horror film. We couldn't do that and say to the fans, hey, this is the Horror Channel; you're gonna like it. You can't cut the balls off the movies. Because if a horror fan sees cut product like that, they're just gonna say, "I am never watching that fucking bullshit again." We wouldn't even attempt to do that. But there's a loophole, and it's a great loophole. And we plan to fully exploit that friggin' loophole (laughs).
DS: (After a beat) Can you tell me what the loophole is, or-
UC: I'm about to. Do you remember, about 6 or 7 years ago there was that band Prodigy?
DS: Sure.
UC: Remember there was that song "Smack My Bitch Up"?
DS: Oh, yeah, sure.
UC: Well, MTV was allowed to show that video, but they were only allowed to show that video at night. There was nudity in it, and violence, and whatever else...fans can expect the Horror Channel experience to be something like that. Early in the afternoon, we'll have whatever sort of programming...game shows or movies that aren't really, you know, that graphic or anything. But as the night goes on, and the 11 o'clock hour comes along, we're allowed to show pretty much whatever we want.
DS: Huh (Ed. Note- I'm a master of verbiage).
UC: And that's what we're gonna do, basically. It's the only way to do it. Look at IFC, and they have that show "Dinner For Five"-
DS: Yeah (Ed. Note- See?).
UC: -and they're like "fuck this" and "fuck that", and it's on at 10 p.m. As long as you're late enough, you get alot of leeway with what you can show. Obviously, you know, we're not going to be putting CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST on in the afternoons, nothing that's that extreme. So the afternoons it'll probably be older films, blah, blah, blah- and when nighttime comes, PG-13 type stuff. But once 11 hits, it's whatever we want, baby.
DS: That's great to hear. And it kind of ties into my next question. When I was growing up, I remember that Nickelodeon had this horror anthology show on called ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK, and I know that there's been a successful kids' series based on that line of kids' horror books called GOOSEBUMPS. Now, this may sound crazy, I know, but...are you planning on having any sort of programming for kids on the channel?
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UC: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. When you think about horror, especially in the 50's and 60's, horror was very kid friendly, very campy. Horror really does for us- well, let's be totally honest here. As fans, we're all big kids. And the reason we love it is because it provides that, like, roller coaster feeling, that charge you get riding on a roller coaster. I've pursued that feeling for, like, my whole life. That feeling of being scared shitless and being okay in the end makes for a great trip! So, in order for us to make the channel all-encompassing, we have to realize that there are fans out there that are kids, too.
DS: Mm-hmm.
UC: And, besides, if the kids see something they shouldn't see and the parents are complaining, being that we're the Horror Channel, it's like, dude - we're the Horror Channel! It's great. What did you expect? Do you let your kids watch the Playboy Channel? Or the Spice channel?
DS: (Laughing) Yeah, right, right. You got your bases covered just with the name of the channel.
UC: And nowadays, you know, if you don't want your kids watching it...put the parental control on it! The channel won't ever come on. But for those out there that are open minded...I mean, I'm thankful that my parents let me pursue my...likes? But, yeah, man, if it's out there and it's horror, we're interested. We'll have all kinds of stuff. In the beginning, you may not be able to see everything you wanna see. But eventually, as the company grows and the channel is nurtured, we want to bring the fans every single thing they could ever want. There's no reason why we should have to come home on a Friday night or a Saturday night and not be able to find something to our tastes (as horror fans) on TV. I mean, I live on a steady diet of DVD's and videotapes. That's all I watch, not TV. And look at all the channels they have right now, for all kinds of interests. Right now, there's a golf channel. You can tune in and watch a guy hit a golf ball twelve feet across the grass at any time during the day...but I gotta turn on my VCR or my DVD player if I wanna see EVIL DEAD? That's bullshit.
DS: I agree. When I heard that they- you- were starting up a Horror Channel, it was like...it's great, because that's going to satisfy an itch that's been waiting to be scratched for a long time.
UC: There are a few other upstart companies out there trying to do what we're doing, and we wish them all the luck. I mean, after all- you can never have too much horror. But I know for a fact that every single person working at the H.C. right now is a horror fan, in every sense of the word. I can't really comment on those other companies, but I know that we're not in this to make a million dollars. I mean, that'd be nice. But we're interested in doing it right before we're interested in anything else. And I think that the devotion that will be shown by horror fans is really gonna be something.
DS: Is the Horror Channel looking to produce its own films, kinda like how HBO and the Sci-Fi Channel-
UC: Yes, eventually, down the road. Our goal is to go world wide and have all fans be able to get our channel. And of course we're going to be wanting to look at theatrical releases...and here's the catch-22 on that one: With us doing the theatrical thing, or even original programming...the thing is, in Hollywood, sometimes big-time horror directors will take the directors projects and make them water them down until it's barely a shell of their original vision. All in the name of making sure they they're product fits neatly into a box. The best horror is horror made out of the box. Who are these pencil pushing guys to tell filmmakers how they should make their films? How dare any one do that! We plan on giving the filmmakers the freedom to make what they want to make, and not hand cuff them into making what some one else "thinks" they should make.
DS: So, what you're basically saying is, you're anticipating that film makers and, you know, anyone else interested in making horror genre entertainment is gonna have an incentive- that being, like, more creative freedom and control on their projects- to sign up with you guys.
UC: Exactly.
DS: It seems like that would...I would think that someone like, say, Eli Roth would be banging down your door to do that. And if I were you, I'd hire Sherri Moon immediately and pay her as much as she wants to do whatever she wants.
UC: (Laughs)
The Horror Genre In General:
At this point, Uncle Creepy and I got on the subject of cheesy horror flicks that we'd both seen and loved. In this next passage, I talk with Uncle Creepy about TROLL 2, about having pride in starring in a shitty horror movie, the horror that was ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, and about the state of the horror genre today.
DS: Me, I have a soft spot for TROLL 2, I don't know if you've seen that...
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UC: Ah..."Nilbog" (Ed. Note- "Nilbog" is the name of the evil little town in TROLL 2; it's "gobliN" spelled backwards, a point indicative of the film's staggering sophistication).
DS: Oh, wow! You're familiar with it!
UC: Dude. Man, come on.
DS: You know, I actually got in touch with the guy who played Elliot in that not too long ago, and I got him to consent to an interview. But apparently he's involved with politics or something in the small town he lives in, and he kept dodging the interview once he'd agreed to it. I gathered that he was embarrassed about it. I was crushed.
UC: See, that's such bullshit. Not for nothing, man, but when you make these things, there are fans out there no matter what.
DS: Yeah, I think that he thought that I'd just be, you know, out to rag on him or whatever. And I honestly love that movie. I've got it on DVD, for Christ's sake.
UC: You're not alone! I mean, even though that movie is terrible- that's the thing about horror fans: we're pretty goddamn forgiving. You'd have to put something down on film that would be sacredly horrendous to turn horror fans away. And that's another thing that singular about the horror fans: we're the only people in any genre that, no matter what, no matter how much bad shit we hear about a movie, no matter how much we've been warned- we gotta see everything.
DS: (Laughs) Yup.
UC: Like, ANACONDAS: I was there in line opening night, I knew it was gonna suck, and I didn't care.
DS: ANACONDAS? That's devotion.
UC: Yeah! I'll tell ya what, though...I enjoyed it more than ALIEN VS. PREDATOR.
DS: Yeah, well...ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, I think, is probably just best left...forgotten. At least. Suppressed memories.
UC: It's almost like some sort of dirty secret you wanna sweep under a friggin' rug. Unless they make some really big changes to it for the DVD release...
DS: Well, you know, they quoted Paul Anderson as saying that- there was an industry screening, and he said that-
UC: - all the good parts, the studio cut them out.
DS: Yeah. Meanwhile, over at BloodyDisgusting.com, they're running this article-slash-interview with a guy that had worked on some draft of the script and was familiar with the one they eventually turned into a movie, and he said that that was bullshit. He said that the film was pretty much exactly as it had appeared on paper. And the thing about Paul Anderson is, he's done absolutely nothing with a camera that makes me think I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
UC: First of all: PG-13? And what about...
(At this point, Dr. Scott and Uncle Creepy spend several minutes batting around the glaring, painfully obvious holes in ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, including the fact that it's an Alien film that doesn't feature an on-screen chest-bursting; the fact that, once all the human scientists are in Antarctica under 2,000 feet of ice, you never see their breath and they're all wearing jackets that look fresh off the early-Fall rack at Eddie Bauer. We each had our own list of most-despised moments, and we got pretty far off track from the interview. Eventually, we were both crying and I admitted that I never really knew my Grandfather and that what I really want to do with my life is play the accordion. Then we came back to, you know, the topic at hand.)
DS: It seems like every ten years or so, the horror genre gets a "renaissance period" with several flicks that will just rejuvenate the genre, and then the studios will take those good movies and their concepts and just beat them into the ground- it was slasher movies in the 80s; in the 90's SCREAM gave birth to what I call the "Ironic Horror Era", and now it seems like we're getting our horror renaissance right on time with films like CABIN FEVER, HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES- movies that go back to that gritty, no-nonsense, straight-faced horror of the 70's. Do you think this is the beginning of a slew of great horror flicks?
UC: I hope to hell so, man. Because- and I don't know about anyone else- but I am sick and tired of having the same thing spoon-fed down my throat every single...I mean, people need to realize that every story doesn't have a happy ending. I don't wanna see the typical Hollywood ending. I want something that grabs me by the throat and does not let me go until the credits end. And, thankfully, there's been a return to that recently. There's a film that's coming out right now called THE GHOULS, on DVD, that Heretic Films is putting out and it's...it's amazing; it's really hard core. And with HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES and THE DEVIL'S REJECTS coming out next year...and that TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake was surprisingly gritty. I mean, after PART FOUR, there wasn't much worse they could have done to the series. I was pleased with that remake, actually. WRONG TURN was a great step backward. And filmmakers seem to realize with these remakes that, maybe, to take a step forward, you gotta take a step backward. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
DS: Well, you brought up the CHAINSAW remake, and remakes in general, and my next question kind of revolves around that. We also had the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake this year, and remakes are in the works for THE BAD SEED, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR- for the most part, do you support the remaking of classic horror movies, or do you think it cheapens the originals?
UC: Remakes have one purpose, one thing that they're all, you know aiming for. Let's say you have a 14 year old kid who goes to see DAWN OF THE DEAD, the remake. And he loves it; it just knocks his socks off. The one thing that remakes definitely do is to point backward, to the films that inspired them. And, even if the kid doesn't like the remake, he's been pointing in the direction of that original- "If you didn't like this, maybe you'll like this". I like remakes when they're done right, when they bring something new to the table, not when it's some ludicrous take on it. THE THING was a remake, and some people will tell you it's not because it's based on this literary thing, and blah, blah, blah- bullshit, it was a remake. THE FLY was a great remake. Even THE BLOB-
DS: Good flick.
UC: - yeah. Remakes that were done right, served their purpose. Not just some shiny knock-off.
DS: Yeah. I liked the remake of CHAINSAW about ten times as much as I expected to. I loved it.
UC: I think a big part of that has to do with the dude they got to play Leatherface. Andrew Byranarski was fucking frightening! Huge, obviously strong, he could move very, very fast, was good with a chainsaw...
DS: I saw that three times in a theater.
UC: Yeah, I saw the DAWN remake three times in the weekend it came out.
DS: There were so many people bitching and moaning about that remake, and it was all purists who didn't wanna see the original toyed with.
UC: DAWN OF THE DEAD was nothing more than just...more DAWN OF THE DEAD. They didn't try to out-Romero, Romero, you know?
DS: Sure. Now, this next question, you're gonna have to..I don't know, put on your thinking cap; it's kind of complex. In the last several years, there's been this renewed interest in the zombie horror, uh, sub-genre. There was 28 DAYS LATER- which, you know, isn't technically a zombie movie, but for the sake of conversation it's good enough- and the DAWN remake, obviously. Romero is doing a fourth LIVING DEAD film as we speak, and he's got DIAMOND DEAD coming up next year. The zombie thing has gotten so popular that they've made a parody zombie movie now, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and that's gonna be out soon. Now, it seems to me that these zombie films may reflect current fears about, you know, bio-terrorism, biological weapons and huge attacks that inspire big media frenzies. Especially, in 28 DAYS LATER, that scene where there's all the flyers for missing people- it really reminded me of September 11th. So, do you think that that's possible, that these zombie films are gaining popularity because of our current fears of biological attacks and things of that nature, or should I be wearing a tinfoil hat right now?
UC: (Laughs) Do I think there's a connection as far as-?
DS: Well, present day fears of domestic attacks and biological weapons. It seems like the zombie genre mirrors some of the aspects of that sort of thing...I see a parallel.
UC: Oh, yeah, absolutely. And, let me say that I'm a big zombie buff. A zombie movie for me is like a candy bar on my nightstand- I don't care how it got there, who put it there, don't give a shit, I'm gonna eat it and enjoy it. You could put a zombie in anything and I'd enjoy it. To answer your question, I think that another part of that is what makes zombies scary. They're not supernatural beings. They're not monsters of aliens, they're us. They're neighbors or your father or your brother...people you interact with on a daily basis. And now they're infected and coming after you, or they're infected and they could go zombie at any minute and you gotta decide whether or not to kill them. That right there is a big part of what makes zombie movies scary, and of course it would make sense that our real world fears would be playing into that- there was the whole SARS thing, and that gave 28 DAYS LATER an entirely new meaning. Thousands and thousands of people could die if something got into the air that was, you know, dangerous. Horror films that make you feel that kind of terror- where it's rooted in reality- it makes you feel that rush of adrenaline because you could see that happening possibly. So, should you be wearing a tinfoil hat? No.
DS: Well, any time a horror film plays by the rules of, you know, reality will always be more scary than one that doesn't. A film like...I don't know, VIRUS, where you've got a computer or some shit killing people- that doesn't scare me. But I live in Texas. Sometimes it seems like, at any moment, my car could break down and I'd get beset upon by some group of blood-crazy hillbillies. And thus that's more scary. Maybe it's just living in Texas that's scary...
UC: (Laughs) Like BLAIR WITCH, or OPEN WATER- that was absolutely terrifying.
DS: I haven't seen it yet.
UC: Oh, man.
DS: Are you familiar with SAW?
UC: Sure.
DS: Have you seen it, by any chance?
UC: I haven't. But you know what I did see was SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
DS: Oh, wow, really? How was that?
UC: Excellent. A damn near flawless film. It really is that good. And I saw HAUTE TENSION.
DS: I'm excited about that one.
UC: That's a pretty brutal flick, man...there's sort of a twist ending on that one that you either buy it or you don't, and you'll either love it or hate it.
DS: Lion's Gate is releasing that later this year, yes?
UC: God bless 'em.
DS: Lion's Gate is our savior.
UC: Lion's Gate has quickly become the horror fan's best friend.
DS: They also released THE PUNISHER, though, right?
UC: They can't all be good...
DS: They were probably just shooting tequila one night and signed a contract.
And that about wrapped up my interview with Uncle Creepy from the Horror Channel. I don't know about you guys, but what Uncle Creepy told me has got me frothing at the mouth to sit like a rock on my sofa and soak of the Horror Channel for hours upon hours at a time. They're clearly spending alot of time making sure that everything that you, me, and all the other horror fans out there want to see ends up on their airwaves; I was really impressed with the degree to which these guys seem to be taking fan feedback into consideration. And besides all that, the guys at the Horror Channel sound like they're beyond passionate about the genre, and that's exactly who we should want in charge of bringing a channel like this to life.
Special Thanks to Uncle Creepy for taking the time to sit down with me, Dr. Scott, for ApeChild.com and SellAScript.com.
Word,
Dr. Scott
Visit the Dr. Scott archive on SellAScript.com by clicking here.
Please Note: The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily
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