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by Rusty White
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Eye of the Hurricane. Angelique (Christine Gallo) contemplates a short future. |
EInsiders.com: I really loved the two establishing shots which brought the audience
down from a pitch of terror to one of calm. After the girls receive the
letter you cut to a shot of the bed. During another scene you cut from a
tension filled scene to an extreme close up of Christine Gallo's eye. Great
shots. They brought me down to the level you wanted me to be immediately. It
was like cinematic thorazine. Again, was this a script decision or an editing
room decision?
Sal Ciavarello: Most of it was in the script but the extreme close-up of Christine
Gallo's eye was not a planned shot at all. Huy was setting up for a close-up
of Christine Gallo and so he had zoomed in really tight on her eye to get
focus, also Huy likes to keep the camera rolling a few seconds before and
after a shot, so luckily the extreme close-up of the eye lasted long enough
for me to use. I really fell in love with the shot once I saw in the editing
room and found the perfect spot for it in the scene. It adds a great sense of
serenity for that brief moment that works for both the pacing of the story
and the frame of mind which the character was in.
I'm one of the contributors to Einsider.com's "Video Risk" section. We
review older movies that we feel were overlooked and in need of discovery by
a new audience. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and love to let younger audience
know about some of the stuff I was passionate about back then. If you were
the Video Risk guy for a day, what four or five films would you recommend and
why?
"The Innocents" is what "The Others" wanted to be and happens to be the
scariest film I have ever seen! But that may be just me since I find ghosts
very scary. Let's see...I can add Hammer's "Horror of Dracula", "Rosemary's
Baby", oh God, there are so many more like Bava's "Black Sunday", and
Corman's "Pit and the Pendulum". How's that? Anyone who has not seen these
films and considers themselves real horror fans...do not walk but run to your
local video store and see these great horror films.
Have you ever seen the kinky prequel to "The Innocents" called "The
Nightcomers"? It stars Marlon Brando as Quint. If so, what did you think of
it? Also, in the same vein as "The Innocents" did you see the original "The
Haunting" by Robert Wise? If so, how does it hold up, in your mind to "The
Innocents"?
This must be my birthday because I have not heard of "The Nightcomers"
and didn't realize there was a prequel to one of my favorite films! Wow,
that's a must buy or a must rent for me. I wish I could remember "The
Haunting" enough to comment on it, but from what I can remember I think I
would still take "The Innocents" over "The Haunting," but that's not to say
that the Haunting was not a good film.
Obviously you love the horror genre. Any other types of movies get you
blood rushing?
Besides Horror I love Cassavette's "Woman Under the Influence" which
my DP Huy Truong introduced to me. One of Anthony Fariello's, my producer's,
favorite films as well as mine is "Twelve Angry Men" with Henry Fonda. Wow,
what a well acted and well written film! Of course the Godfather films,
Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," and "Goodfellas," and if you don't mind I'd like to
mention a few non-theatrical work like Sterling's Twilight Zone, and Star
Trek: Next Generation are all high on my list.
Have you ever seen "Haxen" or "Witchcraft Through the Ages" as it is also
known? I reviewed it as part of a boxed set called "Weirdness Through the
Ages." There was a scene in which the witches sealed their pact with the
devil by kissing his ass on camera. I was reminded of it while watching HPE.
If you haven't seen it, it is an amazing movie. Great special effects
considering the fact it is 81 years old. The version I have has a jazz score
from the 60s and a tacked on introduction by William Buroughs.
Sounds like my kind of film! No, I haven't seen it but I'll be checking
that out pretty soon.
Have you ever seen "Race With the Devil"? It is a great B-Movie from
the 70s with Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. Two couples are chased all over
the Southwest by a group of Satanists they happened to stumble upon during
the commission of a human sacrifice. Great mix of action and horror.
No, but that's another one I'm going to have to add to my list.
You said on the commentary track that you prefer "The Howling" to
"American Werewolf in London." I believe you said it was due to the "less is
more" approach during the transformation scenes. Correct me if I'm wrong. I
have to disagree. I loved David Naughton's original transformation. I think
If I had come up with that technology, I would have shown it off that way
too. That aside, I have to agree that "The Howling" as a whole was much more
stylish and terrifying. Eddie's transformation in the old barn still scares
me. Anyway, this is a round about way of asking which you prefer, werewolves
or vampires? How about a list of favorites and why.
Well, you may ask Rick Baker if he was happy with the way his effects
were shot...I heard that he wasn't too happy. But on the other hand it does
work because the film was more comedy than horror. But I did love the final
werewolf going through the subway station and in a later scene decapitating
the British cop.
Personally, I have always preferred werewolves. As a kid I wanted to become
one. My favorite is to no surprise "The Howling." I saw that film at a very
young age and it scarred me. I couldn't sleep for about a week. I love when
that happens. A very recent film called "Ginger Snaps" is probably one of the
best werewolf films made in a long ass time. There aren't too many good ones
worth mentioning..."Wolf" could have been great..."Silver Bullet" can be a
guilty pleasure...
Which did you prefer: Lon Chaney's straight "Wolfman" or his comic turn
in "Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein"? Also, who would win if Henry
Hull's "Werewolf of London" meet Oliver Reed's werewolf from "Curse of the
Werewolf" in a dark alley?
Lon Chaney's out of make-up performance was pretty funny in Abbott and
Costello's version. As for the lycanthrope match I think Reed's werewolf
would tear Hull's werewolf apart. I mean the guy's clothes are torn to shreds
when he changes and he was a hell of a lot furrier. I mean, come on.
How do you feel about the works of Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci and Dario
Argento?
I consider Mario Bava's and Argento's work to be very influential. Their
visuals are breathtaking and are truly beautiful artistic paintings come to
life.
Argento has the reputation of delivering style over substance. In Phil
Hardy's The Overlook Encyclopedia of Horror Films there are several
references to Argento's formula which delivers stylish shocks at the expense
of coherent plots or developed characters. Do you agree with that assessment,
and considering the deeply developed characters in HPE, do you consider
characterization secondary to just delivering stylish shocks?
I think it's quite obvious that Argento places visuals before story and
character development. But some folks have to understand that Dario Argento's
horror films fall into a category of their own. I personally love his films
but I could never sacrifice character development over visuals; although with
that said I would like to one day have the money to make a feature where you
can balance the two.
In HPE, one character is savagely murdered. The scene comes at the end of
one of your finely paced build ups. I was slammed back into my seat by the
scene. Only after watching the film a second time with the commentary track
did I realize that we never really saw the violence. Was this a conscious
choice? I was reminded of the shower scene in "Psycho" in that so much
brutality was suggested and not shown. It was powerful movie making!
Wow, thank you very much for that. I'm truly touched to hear that you
have seen what I had intended to do with that scene. I don't mention that in
the audio commentary and it's funny that you were reminded by "Psycho's"
shower scene because I had that in my mind through out the entire time I
edited that particular scene.
I'm a vampire movie fan first and foremost. I loved the end of "Dracula
2000" where it was revealed that Dracula was in fact Judas Iscariot. I
thought that step by the screenwriters bumped that film into a higher
category. I felt the same way, to a lesser degree by the revelations about
the cult's plans at the ending of your movie. I say to a lesser degree
because the premise you set up is a great wrap up for the story, but it isn't
visualized in the movie. What I'm getting at is, if you ever get HPE
recognized to the point of financial success do you plan on developing the
ending premise in a sequel?
HPE was never really meant to be made. I had written a screenplay way
before HPE called "Revelations" and that story is something I still want to
bring to the silver screen. It deals with the same Satanic cult but only in a
grander scale. It will expose the vast and incredibly evil world of these
Satanists and it can definitely be considered a sequel to HPE. And the ending
revelation in HPE may be a part of it.
Director Curtis Herrington is a master of ambiguity and irony. I love
his films for that reason. Your ending had a degree of irony which really
added to my enjoyment of the movie. The fates of the heroines were brilliant
and totally unexpected. If put in the same position, who would you prefer to
be at the end of HPE: Angelique, Sarah or Ellie?
I would prefer to be Angelique but I don't know if I would have the guts
to do what she did. That's a very good and tough question! You've got me
really thinking now...wow, yes, I'd like to think that I could be in
Angelique's position and be as strong as she was. Yeah, that's my final
answer, Regis...whoops I mean Rusty.
You are distributing HPE through the Internet. (www.hpemovie.com) Tell
me about the steps you took to get distribution and why you decided to
distribute your work this way.
Well, it's not like nobody wanted it, there were some distributors who
were interested in releasing it but they approached me with really shitty
deals. Making the DVD was the actual tough and expensive part of distributing
it. Many horror publications have been quite supportive to me and my film
even though I'm not a major distributor or even a mini-major. Hopefully, I'll
continue to get press. That's the killer, if people don't know about your
film they can't buy it. So, prepare to budget lots of cash towards
advertising but be very smart if you're thinking of taking this route.
How has HPE done on the festival circuit? Do you have plans to enter it
into any other festivals?
We have submitted it to Sundance and word on it's acceptance should be
coming out this December. I really doubt that Sundance will accept this kind
of film. After all, it's horror and it doesn't have any major stars. That's
two strikes against us already. HPE played at Germany this past Halloween and
is planned to be shown in LA at the Festival of Darkness.
Did you go to Germany? The DVD cover said HPE was nominated for best
feature at the "International Festival of Darkness," was that the festival in
Germany? What happened at the festival?
No, I was unable to make it to Germany. The Festival of Darkness is
planned to take place this summer in LA which I'm hoping to attend. The movie
was nominated for Best Feature when it was accepted for exhibition at the
festival.
What's in the works right now?
A revision of the script "Revelations" and hopefully followed by
financial backing.
Thanks Sal.
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Rusty White
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