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Thanks
to a gracious contributor, Cinemusings now has an interview with
Fred Vogel, |
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Is the script all
ready done for Penance and if so, what could you tell us? The Penance script is done. It was finished way before The Redsin Tower script. Penance is a lot more structured and intense than the first two. We will make this one more disturbing with lots of great fx gore. It’s the final movie. I have to give you guys the sickest thing you ever seen... right? Do you see yourself doing side projects like Murder-Set-Pieces again i.e. doing fx for other films or, perhaps even a Hollywood film? Yes, we have some movies in the works that we are doing fx for this year. We will always do fx for movies from indie to studio. We just want to help filmmakers who want our kind of fx. What films inspired you into making movies? Frankenstein (1932), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Last House On Dead End Street, The Entity. I could go on and on but these are just some of the movies that really got me loving horror. I hold Frankenstein very close to my heart. This movie turned a four year old kid in to a monster in my own right. How much further can you go, and do you think there are any other moviemakers who could outdo what you’ve made? I want to take Penance to the edge. Where that is I don’t even know myself. All I know is that every film that I make or a film that ToeTag works on is going to have that ToeTag sickness. There is stuff in the Penance script that makes me question is that too far? I know that what you guys are going to get with my films is something different, be it sick, disturbing, gory, or just fucked up. We make movies with small budgets but we do our best and with lots of love for the genre we care about. What could you tell us about Penance? This movie is going to go as far as we can push it. This is the final film of the series and it will be the most intense. AU was much more darker than AUM. AUM is very over the top. Penance is the downward spiral of my character with Crusty’s character by my side. Killjoy will return and Gunnar Hanson is signed on to play my father. There will be some cameos in the film but I don’t want to give it all away. When can will you begin filming Penance? Penance will began
shooting in the winter of 2005. I don’t want to rush the final
film. Yes, it’s the last film so I am pulling out all the stops. Are you eager to begin filming Penance? I am very excited about AUP and can’t wait to get started on it. Right now The Redsin Tower is my top priority.
Are you going to release all three films together in a box set? Penance will be released separate but there will be a box set with a special edition Mordum and Penance. The set will be released in 2007. When can you see August Underground on DVD and will it be with extras? AU is coming to DVD in August of 2005 and will be a 2 disc special edition. The discs will have everything from documentaries to commentaries. It’s been 5 years since I made AU and I want to give the fans a great DVD. If Lions Gate or another company hired your crew to work on a film and asked you to cut it to rated R for the MPAA would you and just release the uncut DVD or would you walk out? When it comes to working with a studio on a film, it is their call. As a director you want your vision to shine in the picture. The studio wants to make money and when the studio makes money you make money. I have never done a studio film but when I do I will have to play ball and make sure that I can put out a directors cut on DVD. When the time comes for me to make a studio picture I want to push it as far as I can …that’s what I do. Any idea when we can expect Penance or Redsin Tower finished or DVD? AUP will start production in winter of 2005; I’m still editing The Redsin Tower and looking for an Oct.2005 release. M-S-P should be out on DVD this year …when I’m not really sure What were you thinking when you began writing August Underground, and did you know it was going to be across three films? I had no idea that AU would grow into a trilogy. AUM started out as a music video for Necrophagia. AUP is will be the best of both films ….the crazy, hardcore gore from AUM and the structure from AU. The script is really good and I think it’s the most intense script I ever wrote. How do you feel about Hollywood’s direction with the horror genre and the remakes to asian films coming over? Are you as sad as others to know that we will neversee another Maniac type horror movie again on the big screen? I would never remake a film; I care too much about the horror genre to do that. I hate the fact that remakes are the new “in thing.” Remakes of films have been happening since the golden age of cinema. It hurts when they remake something you hold so close to you. The Asian remakes
are America’s way of taking something and making it bigger and
better …in their eyes, so they take a Asian film put a pretty cast
together add some slick editing and a Nu-Metal soundtrack. I like
most Asian films. Lots of them are too slow for most viewers but
that is the point. Hollywood must think us Americans have the
attention span of a goldfish. What scene that you recall you had the most fun in? I had so much fun on The Redsin Tower set. Every scene was fun. All the actors were pretty much first timers. It was exciting to watch them try new things…the ToeTag way. In AU the convenience store scene was a lot of fun…crazy but a lot of fun. I got to put my brothers head through the glass… by accident of course. Do people call you names for the type of films you created? How do you feel about that? I don’t care what people call me. I don’t care what people think about my movies. I make movies for the horror fans like myself who want to see something different. I knew when I was making these kinds of movies that lots of people would hate the movies and me BUT they are just movies. I got a letter once where someone called me an ass clown ….I thought it was funny. What could you tell us about Redsin Tower? What type of film is it i.e. slasher? The Redsin Tower is nothing like the AU movies. It is not shot like a home video. All I can say is that we used 50lbs of real pig guts in a scene. Is there anyone in the business that you admire or look up too? I admire anyone who puts his or her heart and soul in to making a movie/art. It takes lots of persistence and determination to make movies. Some come out good and some are crap. The thing is they did it. You created a whole new level of pseudo snuff films that not even Eric Stanze or the guinea pigs could touch. Was that your goal or did you just follow your vision? Do you feel you set the bar high on yourself? My goal was to make the most realistic serial killer movie, showing how serial killers really are NOT the way most serial killer movies glamorize the characters. Thank you for thinking my films are at the top of the list when it comes to a pseudo snuff. The other films out there are good and I know most of the creators behind them and give them credit where credit is due. I wanted the AU movies to look as real as we could make and from a lot of the fans out there I guess we did it.
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