\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/hVFu9qQ.png\")
For people unfamiliar, who is Doug Brunell?<\/strong>\nGreat question \u2026 and there is almost no way to answer it without sounding pompous, so thanks.\u00a0 I think the answer depends on who you would ask.\u00a0 Since you are asking me, I would say I\u2019m just a guy who writes so as to keep out of the serial killing business.\u00a0 I write about movies, culture, politics and, above everything else, stories about people doing horrible things.\u00a0 The darker side of mankind has always held a certain fascination for me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t shy away from it.\u00a0 In fact, I study it in order to know myself better.\u00a0 Of course, what I learn comes out in my writing, and if the darker side of life appeals to you, then my writing may appeal to you.\u00a0 I\u2019m also someone who is deeply interested in the fluid nature of reality and how easy it is to change it and manipulate it, but that may be for another interview.<\/p>\n
If you want the boring biographical stuff, I live in Northern California, don\u2019t smoke pot, stalked Tori Spelling for a long time (TV Guide actually wrote me a letter asking me to stop writing the publication letters about her), enjoy playing elaborate pranks, have some tattoos and piercings, can legally marry folks, and think I would have made a great Pope (Jake Darkstar would have been my Pope name).\u00a0 That about cover it?<\/p>\n
What influenced you and your love for film and filmmaking?<\/strong> My mom ended up buying me that film for my birthday, and I was blown away.\u00a0 I had seen Star Wars, A Clockwork Orange and a host of others and loved them, but Leatherface\u2019s tale showed me what film could accomplish.\u00a0 That movie worked magic like no other I had ever seen. Roger Ebert (rest in peace) and Michael Weldon also both inspired a desire to understand film better and led to me becoming a film journalist.\u00a0 They both have totally different ways of working, but I never got the impression that either of them took film for granted.\u00a0 Ebert especially knew how to dissect a film by a certain set of rules, and that has definitely translated into my writings on film.\u00a0 I don\u2019t always agree with them, but I also don\u2019t have to.\u00a0 They are, in their own ways, amazing.<\/p>\n Did you ever consider directing or writing your own feature film?<\/strong> I knew then that filmmaking would not be something I would pursue too heavily.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I could handle the compromise too well.\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say I won\u2019t pursue it in the future, or that I wouldn\u2019t lend a hand to a project.\u00a0 I definitely believe film is a powerful tool for getting a story across.\u00a0 I think, however, my time and skills can be better utilized by sticking to the written word.\u00a0 I can say, however, if I did get a chance to make a film, it would probably be relegated to the fringes because it surely won\u2019t play at the local mall \u2026 and I wouldn\u2019t want it to.<\/p>\n When did you begin writing?<\/strong> I don\u2019t have that story anymore, but I\u2019m fairly sure it was horrible.<\/p>\n What writers have influenced you over the years?<\/strong> In all honesty, almost every writer I\u2019ve read has inspired me in one way or another.\u00a0 Sometimes it is all because of one perfect sentence.\u00a0 Other times it is for a concept or execution of an idea.\u00a0 I try never to imitate, however.<\/p>\n What would you say is your favorite film of all time?<\/strong> I want to get to the credits and actually feel something.\u00a0 Being purely entertained is fine for some things;\u00a0I like a lot of films that are just entertainment.\u00a0 The ones that stick with me, though, and move me and inspire me are the ones that grab me by the throat with their teeth and give me a good shaking.\u00a0 I like films where I can\u2019t tell what is going to happen next and anything can happen.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like it when films play it safe.\u00a0 I want them to feel dangerous.\u00a0 Those two films feel dangerous.\u00a0 I think that comes through in my writing, too, or at least I hope it does.<\/p>\n What do you think is the main aspect of modern film bringing down the business?<\/strong> They are a fine snack food, but nothing you\u2019d want to live on.\u00a0 In fact, you\u2019d eventually die if you did.\u00a0 So there really is no \u201cmain aspect\u201d bringing it down.\u00a0 When any art form is reduced to demographics it becomes a paint-by-numbers business.\u00a0 That is where modern filmmaking is at now.\u00a0 I will say that it is nice that television is finally realizing its power and this is where some of the most creative and daring material is being produced.\u00a0 American mainstream film, however, is more concerned with the dollar.\u00a0 Gems filter through, but as long as the dollar is the pursuit, the industry will never be pure.<\/p>\n I would blame the audiences.\u00a0 As long as they keep flocking to junk, junk will keep being made.\u00a0 I have no problem with movies that are pure entertainment, but when that is all you take in \u2026 well, that isn\u2019t good.\u00a0 I know far too many people who say, \u201cI just want to be entertained.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to always have to think.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s fine, but if you look into what else they consume, it\u2019s all entertainment.\u00a0 There is nothing of worth, weight or value.\u00a0 And then, those same audiences say things like, \u201cIf the critics hate it, I love it.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to take a person like that very seriously, but those people are what drive the films that come out of Hollywood.\u00a0 Without them, Hollywood wouldn\u2019t exist (though that isn\u2019t quite that horrible).\u00a0 Again, I have no problem with pure entertainment, but it should be tempered with films that move you or make you think.\u00a0 We have far too many films being made for 17 year old boys and the men who are still there intellectually, and this degrades an entire art form.<\/p>\n These audiences don\u2019t understand film, and they don\u2019t understand film criticism, yet their tastes dictate a large portion of what we see.\u00a0 Honestly, I\u2019ve lost friends because of film reviews.\u00a0 These people weren\u2019t even involved in the films I reviewed \u2013 they were viewers.\u00a0 I wrote reviews that plainly stated that the films should be avoided if you couldn\u2019t handle what I was writing about, but they were good films nonetheless.\u00a0 People decided to see them anyway and then got irate that I would give such a film a good review.\u00a0 One broke the friendship because he was horrified I could find Amateur Porn Star Killer worthy of serious criticism and gave it a positive review.\u00a0 He watched it despite my warnings and was traumatized.\u00a0 His favorite film?\u00a0 Spider-Man.\u00a0 How do you fight that?<\/p>\n What do you enjoy about modern film?<\/strong> At this point, if you want to see a film no matter the country, you can.\u00a0 If you want to make a film, you can.\u00a0 This will produce a lot of junk, but will also leave the door open for the next Stanley Kubrick.<\/p>\n What director or directors influenced your love for film?<\/strong> What’s the most important thing you’ve learned since you began writing?<\/strong> They are basically men of low cultural status and are considered weak because of their actions.\u00a0 It was such a beautiful term, but using it as a title was risky. I figured if anyone knew what it meant, part of the story\u2019s mystique would be instantly blown, but it could also lead to a sense of dread as that reader would be waiting for that aspect of the story to come out.\u00a0 I figured most people wouldn\u2019t know what the term meant, however.\u00a0 It really seemed perfect for the story.\u00a0 When I came across it I already had many of the characters and plot points firmly in mind, and hearing that label, well I couldn\u2019t help but use it.<\/p>\n How did you come up with the idea for “Nothing Men”?<\/strong> This was Bigfoot country.\u00a0 As she was throwing up on the shoulder of the road, I looked down the mountain and saw some lights from some houses in the valley below.\u00a0 It was then I realized how isolated those people were, and since I grew up in the Poconos, I had a very good understanding of redneck, hillbilly culture, and this was the kind of area we were in, too.\u00a0 Those areas are almost lawless.\u00a0 Anything can happen, and usually does.\u00a0 I started imaging what went on in the dark down in that area.\u00a0 Couple that with all the Bigfoot rumors and the fact that I\u2019m fascinated by the subject matter at the heart of Nothing Men (not to give anything away), and an idea was born.<\/p>\n Is “Nothing Men” your first novel?<\/strong> How long did “Nothing Men” take to write?<\/strong> Which audience do you think will love “Nothing Men” the most?<\/strong> How was Momma Rose conceived for this story?<\/strong> What genre do you particularly find entertaining to write?<\/strong> What kind of characters are the best to write in a horror story for you?<\/strong> When I have a character who develops into something more \u2013 that\u2019s when I think the story starts to shine.\u00a0 In Nothing Men, Sammy was a character who did that.\u00a0 Charles and Momma Rose had that same evolution, too.\u00a0 I think any author would say the same thing.<\/p>\n How has the critical reception been for “Nothing Men” so far?<\/strong> When a reader tells me that, I feel like I\u2019ve done my job, though I suppose I should wish they could finish the tale.\u00a0 That\u2019s okay, though.\u00a0 I wrote a horror story.\u00a0 Horror stories should scare you.\u00a0 I just happened to write one that scared some people too much.<\/p>\n Can you write a novel only for the character Charles? She was easily my favorite character.<\/strong> As for another novel with her \u2026 I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I have actually considered writing her story and Sammy\u2019s story.\u00a0 The problem is, I have done a bit of her back story in the novel, and I\u2019m not sure how much I\u2019d want to write more of that.\u00a0 If there were a movie made of the book, I could see her becoming a fan favorite, too.<\/p>\n Where can readers look for your writing next?<\/strong> After that I\u2019m working on another manuscript, which will probably be the last one from one of my series that Amazon ran a few of years ago.\u00a0 They sold fairly well, so I think this one will do okay, too, despite the decidedly controversial subject matter.\u00a0 In the meantime, to get people ready, I may put out some of the other works in this series.<\/p>\n Between those two I\u2019m still working on my movie review book.\u00a0 That is turning into quite a project.<\/p>\n Those are the main things that are coming, but, like I mentioned, I may be releasing some previously written stories.<\/p>\n Thanks for your time, Mr. Brunell!<\/strong> I was first introduced to Doug Brunell back in 2004, when I discovered his column “Excess Hollywood” at Film Threat. His column was often so addictive and volatile I spent a few days reading the entire archive. When I joined Film Threat in 2005, I made a point of befriending Doug, because he’s simply one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[133,433,477,1043,1206],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-literature","tag-bigfoot","tag-grindhouse","tag-horror","tag-texas-chainsaw-massacre","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe easy answer is: every film I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 I think, though, if I would have to say who started me on that path, it was my late father.\u00a0 I have fond memories of watching the Saturday afternoon horror and martial arts movies on UHF out of Philadelphia and New York when I was a child.\u00a0 I would be sitting on the floor with a book (for during the commercials) and my father would turn on these wonderful movies and eventually fall asleep on the couch leaving me take them in on my own essentially.\u00a0 I was transfixed by their power.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I watched Terror in the Aisles and saw clips of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film I had only read about but really wanted to see (we had a horrible video rental store that did not carry titles of worth), that I understood the true power of film to instill a deep fear.<\/p>\n
\nI have.\u00a0 I used to be totally against the idea.\u00a0 I considered myself a writer and not a filmmaker.\u00a0 I don\u2019t work well in creative group efforts, but eventually I came around to the idea.\u00a0 I\u2019ve wrote a flashback scene for a friend for one of his films and the opening shot of another film at his request.\u00a0 Neither film of which got made.\u00a0 The opening scene I wrote, which has now been adapted for another novel I\u2019m working on, bothered the guy so much that he said it would never be seen in a mainstream theatre, and if it were, I would clear out half the audience before the opening credits.<\/p>\n
\nI started when I was nine years old.\u00a0 I had been a reader as long as I could remember, but one day I saw the trailer for The Shining and that changed everything.\u00a0 That trailer fascinated me, and I noticed there was a blurb instructing people to \u201cread the Signet book.\u201d\u00a0 I decided I had to have that book, so I convinced my dad to take me to the local (Quakertown, PA at the time) 7-11 for ice cream.\u00a0 I knew they had paperbacks there and I also had parents who never denied me books.\u00a0 I grabbed the book while he was getting the ice cream and asked him to buy it for me.\u00a0 He did, and I started reading it the moment I got home.\u00a0 (Later, after my mom read it, she stated she thought they should have never allowed me to read it at that age.)\u00a0 It terrified me.\u00a0 I knew at that moment I wanted to do the same thing to people, and started writing my first story as soon as I finished the novel.<\/p>\n
\nThere are so many.\u00a0 Stephen King, obviously.\u00a0 Jack Ketchum.\u00a0 Clive Barker.\u00a0 James Ellroy.\u00a0 Edgar Allan Poe.\u00a0 Alan Dean Foster.\u00a0 Garth Ennis.\u00a0 Kazou Koike.\u00a0 Grant Morrison.\u00a0 Noam Chomsky.\u00a0 Rex Miller.\u00a0 Frank Miller.\u00a0 H.P. Lovecraft.\u00a0 Edgar Allan Poe.\u00a0 Peter Sotos.\u00a0 Kafka.\u00a0 I could probably fill a book with the names, but those are the ones who immediately come to mind.\u00a0 If you know comic books, you\u2019ll see that there are some comic book writers on there.\u00a0 Ennis and Koike took the medium to new levels, as did Frank Miller, who inspired me to venture out of horror with my writing \u2026 before he went crazy.<\/p>\n
\nThat really depends upon my mood.\u00a0 I am doing my favorite films list on my blog, \u201cThe Last Picture Blog,\u201d so I don\u2019t want to spoil it before I get there, but two of my favorites are I Stand Alone and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (not the remake).\u00a0 They are two very different films, but you can\u2019t avert your eyes from either, and they are both emotionally brutal.\u00a0 I like film that creates an emotional response.<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t think there is one main aspect of modern filmmaking that is doing it in.\u00a0 I think it is many different things all working together.\u00a0 You have filmmaking by committee.\u00a0 You have test audiences.\u00a0 You have the ratings board.\u00a0 You have uneducated filmmakers (ones who don\u2019t know their craft) making films for uneducated audiences (people who don\u2019t understand film).\u00a0 Film is a form of art.\u00a0 You can use it to entertain, too, but it should still maintain some artistic qualities.\u00a0 In America too many filmmakers and their audiences treat films like Twinkies.<\/p>\n
\nI love the fact that the world is wide open right now.\u00a0 It is so easy to see and obtain films from other countries, and independent film continues to remain vital.\u00a0 Of course, on the flipside of that, more independent film is starting to mimic Hollywood, but I think that was bound to happen.<\/p>\n
\nStanley Kubrick.\u00a0 Tobe Hooper.\u00a0 Gaspar No\u00e9.\u00a0 Martin Scorsese. Shane Ryan.\u00a0 George Lucas.\u00a0 Dario Argento.\u00a0 John Carpenter.\u00a0 Quentin Tarantino.\u00a0 Michael Mann.\u00a0 David Lynch.\u00a0 Lars von Trier.\u00a0 Darren Aronofsky.\u00a0 Akira Kurosawa.\u00a0 Sergio Leone.\u00a0 John Woo.\u00a0 Fritz Lang.\u00a0 Orson Welles.\u00a0 Robert Rodriguez.\u00a0 David Fincher.\u00a0 Werner Herzog.\u00a0 Lucio Fulci.\u00a0 That list could go on and on.\u00a0 Not all of them made miracles, but I admire and respect them in one way or another.<\/p>\n
\nPeople are always going to misinterpret what you write.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written things I\u2019ve thought would be highly controversial and they have barely elicited a shrug.\u00a0 Then I\u2019ve written things I think are benign and they cause outrage.\u00a0 Not only will people misinterpret what you\u2019ve written, but they\u2019ll form an instant opinion and hold you to it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had advice offered on a certain piece or interview I\u2019ve done, and the advice will essentially be, \u201cYou want to write that in a way that won\u2019t offend.\u201d\u00a0 I just laugh that off.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible to do that because someone can always be offended by the most minor things.\u00a0 Writers have to develop a thick skin in order to survive.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/cVUi58B.png\")
What does the title “Nothing Men” come from?<\/strong>
\nThe title came up when I was doing research for the novel.\u00a0 I think it would surprise people to know just how much research goes into any given fictional story.\u00a0 The amount I did for this book was nuts.\u00a0 I was looking into old gas pumps and how they worked, Native American tanning techniques, the preparation and cooking of various meats, and so on.\u00a0 When I was looking into a tribe of people, the Gimi (very interesting people with a strong respect for females), that term came up.\u00a0 It is a name given to men of the tribe who, without giving away the story, do the act engaged in by the men in \u201cNothing Men.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe first inkling of the story came on my first trip to Eureka, California.\u00a0 I was camping with two friends and my girlfriend at the time, and we had to head back to Redding, California in the middle of the night.\u00a0 We were on Highway 299, and for those unfamiliar with it, let me explain that it is this winding highway alongside a mountain that seems like it was designed by LSD addicts.\u00a0 It is scary in the daytime, but at night it is utterly creepy and horrifying.\u00a0 Anyway, the twists and turns of this mountainous road made my girlfriend carsick.\u00a0 We pulled over, which was dangerous due to the fact that we were in an area that had no guardrail and we were thousands of feet up a mountain, and it was pitch black out and totally silent.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s the first fiction one to be published, but not to be written.\u00a0 There are more are on the way.\u00a0 Some may consider that a warning.<\/p>\n
\nFrom the first sprout of the idea to publication?\u00a0 About twenty years.\u00a0 That said, the actual hardcore researching, writing, editing and publishing only took about three to five years or so.\u00a0 After getting into a debate with one publisher over the ending I sat on it for a while.\u00a0 That publisher called the end \u201ctoo depressing.\u201d\u00a0 I was angry, but I could kind of understand it.\u00a0 It was a depressing conclusion, but it was meant to be.\u00a0 The conclusion he wanted was unrealistic and would have changed the entire story.\u00a0 Changing that ending wasn\u2019t something I was willing to do to get it published.\u00a0 My life would have been easier had I changed it, but it wouldn\u2019t have been my story anymore.<\/p>\n
\nThe people who love Twilight.\u00a0 Obviously that is my target audience.\u00a0 Seriously, though, I wrote it for myself.\u00a0 That\u2019s who I write for.\u00a0 If other people like it, that\u2019s the icing on the cake.\u00a0 It\u2019s a horror story, so the audience would be horror fans.\u00a0 Not supernatural horror necessarily…<\/p>\n
\nShe, like most of my characters, just happened naturally.\u00a0 I knew I wanted a strong female character who was kind of the centerpiece of the village.\u00a0 I had an idea of what I wanted her to be like, but it was a very basic idea.\u00a0 The evolution from that to what Momma Rose became was very organic.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think she\u2019s a character you\u2019ve seen much of in horror stories, and she\u2019s kind of a twist on what people are used to in other stories, but none of that was planned.\u00a0 It just happened.\u00a0 She wrote herself, really.<\/p>\n
\nI primarily write horror, but I\u2019ve written crime, too.\u00a0 Horror has to be my favorite, however.\u00a0 I like writing stories and characters where I can explore the darker side of humanity and myself.\u00a0 Horror lets me do that with few restrictions.\u00a0 Horror produces some incredible tension in readers, and offers them a safe release where they, too, can explore the nastier side of humans.\u00a0 Fear and violence are strong story devices.\u00a0 Now, not all horror needs violence, but when done correctly it has some amazing results.\u00a0 My crime stories have a horrific element to them, too.\u00a0 I think that if I were to really examine the stories I\u2019ve written in other genres I would find that they have horror aspects, as well.\u00a0 I believe when you write a story with people in it, horror naturally follows.<\/p>\n
\nI like the ones who aren\u2019t easy to define.\u00a0 It\u2019s real easy to write paint-by-numbers characters.\u00a0 They are genre stock and trade.\u00a0 I don\u2019t find that fun, though.\u00a0 Some stereotypical elements inevitably creep in, however.\u00a0 They are stereotypes for a reason and in some cases they are archetypes.<\/p>\n
\nSo far it has been good.\u00a0 I wish there would be more of it, but everything has been very positive.\u00a0 I have had people tell me they can\u2019t read past a certain point because it disturbs them to such a degree they just can\u2019t finish it.\u00a0 That makes me smile.<\/p>\n
\nThat is very kind.\u00a0 She is one of my favorites, too.\u00a0 She was one of those who wrote herself.\u00a0 I knew I wanted a young female character.\u00a0 I had no idea where she would come into the story.\u00a0 I had no idea what her name would be.\u00a0 I had no idea what she would be like.\u00a0 I had no idea what her back story would be.\u00a0 She was a surprise to me, and I think to readers, too.\u00a0 I have heard from a lot of people who like her quite a bit.\u00a0 She and Momma Rose are about equal when it comes to readers who consider them their favorites.\u00a0 As I was writing her I was wondering what it would be like to grow up in her situation, and I think someone would turn out like that.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of funny \u2013 she is the one who first clues readers in on what is happening in the village.<\/p>\n
\nPeople who follow me on Twitter<\/a> know I\u2019ve been working on something I\u2019ve called \u201cthe sex and violence manuscript.\u201d\u00a0 That one is a dark one.\u00a0 It is inspired by some actual events in my life and came from a very nasty period.\u00a0 I imagine I will have an extremely difficult time finding a publisher for that one.\u00a0 To say it is unpleasant is an understatement, and it has really messed with my head.\u00a0 Writing it has been an \u2026 experience.<\/p>\n
\nThank you!\u00a0 This has been great.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got a great website, and this has been an honor.\u00a0 If readers are interested, they can find Nothing Men on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and Kobobooks.com.\u00a0 You can also follow my \u201cCancerous Zeitgeist<\/a>.”\u00a0 Warning: It can be offensive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"