Reminds me of the good old days of director William Girdler and his Grizzy or Day of the Animals. More as it comes!

Source: Bloody-Disgusting

The Film:

Do you want to play a game?

And we have, each and every Halloween these last handful of years, and there’s one thing we all can agree on when it comes to the Saw sequels: Jigsaw is the King of Halloween. Regardless of how you personally feel about the quality of each sequel, they make money, and in this business that’s the bottom line. Coming off Saw V, a sequel that left many either confused or left an odd taste in their mouths (even though I personally enjoyed it), Saw VI quickly picks up from that film’s cliffhanger ending, and now Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is the lone apprentice to Jigsaw, with seemingly no one knowing his identity and involvement. Hoffman now sets the final game into motion.

I really don’t want to talk about the plot, because if you’ve seen a few of these films, then the point of how to have fun with them is the twists and turns of the stories. Saw VI is a very satisfying sequel for a handful of reasons. One of the complaints of the last few sequels, were people felt each entry was incomplete because the film’s would leave plot points left unanswered. Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton make Saw VI into a caper for the previous films, finally answering some long wondered questions, while juggling an interesting solo story. We get questions answered, which should please the long time fans, and tells a sick little moralistic tale that goes back to the origin of Jigsaw. Saw VI won’t win over any newbies, but it doesn’t have too. If you’re late in this game, go back to the beginning. Maybe that’s good advice for all of us Saw fans, because you’ll appreciate this film a lot more, with all of the subplots fresh in your mind.

Another issue this film should rectify for most fans, is the traps. Many felt Saw V’s were weak, or not that inventive, and while I see their complaint, I felt those traps worked for the nature of that story. But here, we get plenty of fun, gory, interesting traps, disproving my own theory that maybe Melton and Dunstan were tapped out of ideas, after the trap-heavy The Collector. Each of the traps are satisfying. From the opening prologue, where two characters must shed more flesh than the other in 60 seconds in order to live, or the spinning carousel that stops for a shotgun blast, they’re constantly fun and sick. That’s exactly how this series came to become famous, was the wicked traps, and fans, they’re back.

On a technical side, long time Saw editor Kevin Greutert turned director for this film, and he uses that editor eye to great success. Saw VI is a well crafted film, probably the best paced and edited film since Saw II. Greutert makes everything clear; from visuals, to the easy-to-follow story structure, Saw VI is one of the more accessible of the Saw sequels. Again, that clears away a gripe many have had with the series, is that it’s a bit hard to follow. I don’t know how he done it, but Greutert gets away with a lot of gore in this film, more so than Bousman or Hackl did in their respective sequels.

Finally, we cannot discuss a Saw film without talking about Tobin Bell. It seems like each sequel, he gets less and less screen time, and even here it feels like he is barely in the film for 12 minutes, but he completely owns the film. True, it’s Tobin’s sixth go-round with the character, and that certainly helps, but if you haven’t considered it yet, do so: Tobin Bell as John/Jigsaw is a modern horror icon that will be in the same discussions as Robert Englund’s Freddy and Kane Hodder’s Jason Voorhees. Jigsaw is a face of horror for this new generation’s nightmares. I know most fans will always have their favorite or least favorite in this series, and that’s fine, but Saw VI perfectly caps the series off in a satisfying manner. Game over! Well, at least the current arc is complete, and while they’ll be more sequels, Saw VI is a thrilling entry. It’s no Saw II, but like that film, it’s a solid torture-infused entry.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: LGF’s Saw films on high def are getting better and better, and this is near the best, if not the best. Blacks permeate the film and the high def transfer holds up great. The little amount of colors in the film are bright and strong, and clarity is top notch. It’s a superb looking disc, and the DTS audio is equally amazing. Aggressive, bass heavy, and a decent array of surround activity, make this another winner from LGF.

Commentaries: The first track features the producers, Mark Burg and others, as they discuss the production of the film, the history, and how this ties into the rest of the franchise. It’s light and fun, but most will enjoy the second track with director Kevin Greutert and writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. That tracks offers up juicy info, focuses squarely on the film, as it breezy and an easy listen.

Traps of Saw VI: We’ve seen this piece on other discs, as they love to tout the inventive work on the famous traps. So fans of props and makeup will dig this. In HD.

Jigsaw Revealed: Tobin Bell talks about his work in the franchise, as well as off-screen related Saw events. In HD.

A Killer Maze: This piece focuses on the new Universal Studios maze, as it’s a mix between a promo and making-of. Eh, but I’m sure going there to this work rock.

Music Videos: We have videos from Mushroomhead, Suicide Silence, Memphis May Fire, and Hatebreed. I really like Suicide Silence, and am glad they’re getting more attention, but I understand many are not into the whole deathcore scene.

Saw: A bonus disc, featuring the original Saw on Blu-ray is here. As far as I can quickly tell, it is just the original Blu-ray release repackaged for Saw VI.

The Trailer, BD-Live features, iTouch and Metaremote material round out the extras.

Conclusion: A great Saw sequel that ties up a lot of loose ends. LGF Blu-ray is a great set for fans.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Do you want to play a game?

And we have, each and every Halloween these last handful of years, and there’s one thing we all can agree on when it comes to the Saw sequels: Jigsaw is the King of Halloween. Regardless of how you personally feel about the quality of each sequel, they make money, and in this business that’s the bottom line. Coming off Saw V, a sequel that left many either confused or left an odd taste in their mouths (even though I personally enjoyed it), Saw VI quickly picks up from that film’s cliffhanger ending, and now Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is the lone apprentice to Jigsaw, with seemingly no one knowing his identity and involvement. Hoffman now sets the final game into motion.

I really don’t want to talk about the plot, because if you’ve seen a few of these films, then the point of how to have fun with them is the twists and turns of the stories. Saw VI is a very satisfying sequel for a handful of reasons. One of the complaints of the last few sequels, were people felt each entry was incomplete because the film’s would leave plot points left unanswered. Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton make Saw VI into a caper for the previous films, finally answering some long wondered questions, while juggling an interesting solo story. We get questions answered, which should please the long time fans, and tells a sick little moralistic tale that goes back to the origin of Jigsaw. Saw VI won’t win over any newbies, but it doesn’t have too. If you’re late in this game, go back to the beginning. Maybe that’s good advice for all of us Saw fans, because you’ll appreciate this film a lot more, with all of the subplots fresh in your mind.

Another issue this film should rectify for most fans, is the traps. Many felt Saw V‘s were weak, or not that inventive, and while I see their complaint, I felt those traps worked for the nature of that story. But here, we get plenty of fun, gory, interesting traps, disproving my own theory that maybe Melton and Dunstan were tapped out of ideas, after the trap-heavy The Collector. Each of the traps are satisfying. From the opening prologue, where two characters must shed more flesh than the other in 60 seconds in order to live, or the spinning carousel that stops for a shotgun blast, they’re constantly fun and sick. That’s exactly how this series came to become famous, was the wicked traps, and fans, they’re back.

On a technical side, long time Saw editor Kevin Greutert turned director for this film, and he uses that editor eye to great success. Saw VI is a well crafted film, probably the best paced and edited film since Saw II. Greutert makes everything clear; from visuals, to the easy-to-follow story structure, Saw VI is one of the more accessible of the Saw sequels. Again, that clears away a gripe many have had with the series, is that it’s a bit hard to follow. I don’t know how he done it, but Greutert gets away with a lot of gore in this film, more so than Bousman or Hackl did in their respective sequels.

Finally, we cannot discuss a Saw film without talking about Tobin Bell. It seems like each sequel, he gets less and less screen time, and even here it feels like he is barely in the film for 12 minutes, but he completely owns the film. True, it’s Tobin’s sixth go-round with the character, and that certainly helps, but if you haven’t considered it yet, do so: Tobin Bell as John/Jigsaw is a modern horror icon that will be in the same discussions as Robert Englund’s Freddy and Kane Hodder’s Jason Voorhees. Jigsaw is a face of horror for this new generation’s nightmares. I know most fans will always have their favorite or least favorite in this series, and that’s fine, but Saw VI perfectly caps the series off in a satisfying manner. Game over! Well, at least the current arc is complete, and while they’ll be more sequels, Saw VI is a thrilling entry. It’s no Saw II, but like that film, it’s a solid torture-infused entry.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“SAW VII 3D pre production begins TODAY!! I’m so cranked”, he stated on his Facebook status. “The story is always the most important thing in my opinion. This time I want it to be a game for everyone. I want to create the effect of feeling like you are right in a trap.”

Long time readers of Killer Film, should know that I really enjoy the Saw series, as well as Hackl’s Saw V, even though no other horror or non-horror websites really showed much love towards it. Their loss. I think he’ll knock this out of the ball park, as 3-D-while a gimmick-seems like it would create a great world for Jigsaw’s future games.

Look for Saw VII next October in 2010.

Now, that Hackl is back for Saw VII, the writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, hot off the premiere of The Collector, let it out of the bag that Saw VII will be in fact, 3-D.

I, for one, think this is a neat idea, as the traps and gore should look awesome in 3-D.

Source: Shock Till You Drop

Now, Saw VII will be directed by David Hackl, Saw V‘s director! I like Hackl, he’s a good guy as evident in our interview together earlier this year, but I know some had issues with his Saw V. What do you all think?

Source: B-D

The Film:

(Original theatrical review)

I love to hear people moan and groan about this franchise, especially from people who haven’t seen one. “another one?” they offer. “When are they going to stop?” I usually respond, “what does it matter to you?” Not the most witty comeback, but if you aren’t a fan, don’t dog a franchise that has offered us plenty of twists and turns, let alone the key ingredients that keep us coming back.

I’ve said it numerous times, and I’ll say it again: Saw is the best horror franchise around outside of Nightmare on Elm Street. The Halloween series is only good for the first two, Friday the 13th you can take or leave many of them, Hellraiser had potential until it hit the DTV market, and the same is true for many others. At least Saw is original while sticking to its formula, offering us a wicked concept, and finally, Jigsaw is the definitive modern killer for our times. I’ll stop there because many of you are thinking I’m defending every move this series makes, and well, I kind of am.

Saw V seems to have been a dividing mark in the fans, as some either hated its story and ending, while others liked its new approach and twists. While the other films focused more on the traps and the moralistic game Jigsaw is playing, Saw V returns to the first film’s cat-and-mouse style, offering up two pitted against each other with only one winner. Agent Strahm is hell-bent on figuring out why the Jigsaw murders are continuing and suspects Agent Hoffman to be an accomplice. There seems to be a bigger game going on here, so the main trap seems unfulfilled, but the real tension is the battle between Hoffman and Strahm and it’s a good time.

Hackl takes over for Bousman this time around and delivers a steady film, with attention to detail, telling one of the series most straight forward stories. As with any Saw sequel time is giving to elements most likely concluding in the next chapter, but I appreciated the execution in telling what is one of the series most self-contained story. The traps are wicked; the pendulum trap and the final sliding walls trap are tortuous and effective. I am a Saw V fan, as I think it’s a solid entry in the franchise and when compared to other slasher franchises’ fifth entry, there’s no comparison.

.The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: The DTS was phenomenal; loud, crushing bass, clear and crisp dialogue, all in all a near-demo worthy track. While the high def video looks highly detailed and rich, there were a few times that grain in the shadows was a bit too over-whelming. After Lions Gate started to handle their Blu Rays better, they became a top-notch studio. Saw IV looked amazing, so I was a little disappointed with V. But it should be noted that while I was lukewarm with the presentation, this is the best it looked outside of theatrical showing.

Commentary: Two are offered here, one with Hackl and Steve Webb. That one is engaging enough, listenable as they tackle the film, and what it was like coming in after Bousman. The other audio track is from the producers and its okay.

Slicing the Cube: Editing the Cube Trap: This is the longer of the featurettes as it devotes its time to Kevin Greutert (editor and future Saw VI director) and his efforts in the franchise. Even Tobin Bell stops by to offer up some of his wisdom.

The Pendulum Trap, The Coffin Trap, The Cable Trap, and The Fatal Five: Each of these are short in length but offer up some good little info from Hackl, the actors, and the FX team. My favorite bit of info comes from Hackl when he’s talking about the Cable Trap and its origin. We see some home video of Hackl’s son mimicking what will become the concept of the scene and function of the trap. Pretty funny and sick!

A Trailer and a Digital Copy round out the extras.

Conclusion: Like it or not, there is a Saw V and guess what? I dug it. The Blu Ray is a decent disc, although I wished the extras were more outside of the traps. Perhaps some Tobin Bell? Fans will dig this disc though.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Jon: Hi, thanks for speaking with us at Killer Film today.

David Hackl: Hi, how are you?

Jon: Good! Outlander opened recently; can you talk briefly about that film, since you did the production design for it?

Hackl: Sure, yeah. Well, what do you want to know about Outlander? Let me tell you, it was an epic experience, that’s for sure. I loved working on it; it was like being a kid again. I got to build this amazing Viking village, it was pretty outrageous! We used more lumber than I have ever had to on a single set that I built in my entire career. It was probably as much lumber as all of my movies together and on top of that, getting to build a 50 foot Viking ship from scratch was just incredible. It was a dream, I always wanted to build a ship for myself and what was crazy was that ship actually sailed! Beautifully, I might add, and in fact, the sea captain from Nova Scotia, who was our main marine wrangler, said it was one of the nicest things he ever sailed! (laughs)

Jon: Prior to Saw V’s opening, I asked Darren Bousman what we could expect from you and he went on about how this film is your vision and not a carbon copy of his films. Was there anything purposely you wanted to do that was different or did the different approach come from what the script gave you?

Hackl: Mainly the thing I wanted to do was to play on the relationships, certainly with Hoffman and Jigsaw, you can see more of that in there. I also had to, uh; personally I get drawn into a film more by the dramatic moments. I don’t think any of us are that drawn into a movie, sucked into the suspension of disbelief more because of just a car chase. It’s the relationships. We get drawn into more of that car chase because of the people and the relationships. That’s why we’re drawn into a movie because of the human relationships. I wanted to do more of that and I also wanted to give the fans more back story of how this all happened. So even with myself, working on all of these movies for all of these years, I had questions myself. How does one develop and perpetrate these traps? You know, I wanted to answer that for myself just as much as anybody. I am probably one of the biggest fans of the franchise, I don’t know if that will help… (laughs)

Jon: How much input did you have in the development of the script with Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan?

Hackl: Absolutely! I had done production design on Repo! The Genetic Opera and I had left the production about a week before they finished shooting to fly to Los Angeles to meet Patrick and Marcus and really hash out the story. Matter of fact, the day Saw IV came out in the theaters; we talked with the producers at Lions Gate and Twisted Pictures and presented the idea to them. It was great. They really responded well to it and that’s how the whole process began. We spent about a week coming up with the preliminary ideas and then it was non-stop until we finished shooting and editing. The Saw movies are kind of unique in that way, you don’t leave anything alone before sending it in the can and sending it off.

Jon: With the quick turnaround that this series has to get the next one out, was it hard to balance elements that set-up the next film and yet still tell a self-contained and satisfying story that was Saw V?

Hackl: One of the things I always hoped for was that V could be a self-contained film that wasn’t just there to fill in back story on all of the others or to just set-up for the next one. Truthfully, that isn’t what we had in mind; we really wanted to make the film a solid film on its own. I know for a lot of the die-hard fans it’s a film that does support the prior films and future ones, hopefully, future ones, it was a story that was watchable on its own and I think that does come through.

Jon: Getting to the DVD, fans get excited when they hear horror films are uncut. Saw V has uncut footage reinserted. Does this allow you to shoot freely knowing no matter what the MPAA requests for an R rating; the film will be seen as you envisioned it?

Hackl: A lot of that is the producers doing. You know, really, I think people find it’s a difficult negative process with the MPAA, but I didn’t find that at all. I found them to be very supportive. Their relationship with the Saw franchise is kind of unique in that it’s an on going story and I think they understand it’s important to tell the story. I remember getting comments from them a long the lines of “we’re not asking you to destroy the story in any way, we just want certain shots in context because that really makes a difference for how people feel about them” and so they were really great to work with. I found that it wasn’t something like they were trying to destroy the picture at all. They were pretty cool about it, so I found it to be a great process with them.

As far as the unrated director’s cut goes, I think the producers were so pleased with what they saw in the theatrical cut that they essentially let me do what I want for the director’s cut. They left me alone! After we got the initial story together, they saw the theatrical cut and walked away from it. I was really pleased that they were really happy with my work to allow me that type of freedom.

Jon: With Blu Ray creeping into the mainstream, is it exciting from a production designer’s as well as from a director’s standpoint to see your work in high def or is it more stressful to make sure everything is pitch perfect because the little details can be picked up?

Hackl: No, I think we had such a great production team on the Saw franchise, all together the carpenters, set decorators, scenic artists are pretty amazing and if you stand there on set to the naked eye it’s pretty impressive. I was just talking to Dan Heffner the executive producer yesterday who related a story to me on how Julie Benz was walking to the set for the final trap and then she became quite physically upset just before the time we starting filming the final scene. Because it was so real to her, that she became so emotional about it. To me, that’s an excellent compliment! (laughs)

Jon: Like you said, you also worked on Repo! for which you served as a production designer, again with Darren (Bousman). He’s excited Lions Gate Films put it out on Blu Ray mostly because of your work. Can you talk about designing that film and working with that Genesis camera?

Hackl: Yeah, well, it’s funny because of the debate about film versus HD. As far as that goes it’s more important to tell a good story. As the medium it lays down on is important and I think as any artist, you pick your palette and you pick your tools and that does have a relationship to what the final product will be. Given the choice of telling a story or not telling a story because of budget, I would always go for telling more of a story because you were allowed more time to dabble in more material in using HD versus film, rather than to tell not much of your story for simple budget reasons. Now, I don’t think we chose the Genesis camera for budget reasons, rather for the amount of visual effects we needed to do, for the entire process of making that film and what we needed. To establish that early on was great because were could adjust the lighting; adjust the colors of the set, to make it fantastical as possible.

Jon: It’s a really beautiful looking movie; I just picked it up on Blu Ray as well as Saw V…

Hackl: Well, thanks! Thank you. You know when Darren first came to me about that idea years ago, I was excited as it was something I felt I had to do. I really had to do that movie and it always stuck in my head from the first time he told me about it. So when the opportunity came up, I was thrilled to have it. I really felt like it was one of the most fun projects I had ever worked on.

Jon: I asked Darren this prior to Saw V, now I’ll ask you: What can we expect from Kevin Greutert’s take on Saw franchise as he helms Saw VI?

Hackl: I have nothing but respect for Kevin. I think he really has brought a unique quality to the editing of all of the Saw movies, mine included. I was so thrilled to have him as an editor on my movie, because he really just understands the story, he understands the energy of this kind of story, and I think his movie is going to be as strong as all of them, maybe even better in the final editing stage, as he might have something up his sleeve he’s been holding back from all of us. I wouldn’t blame him! It’s going to be great. Kevin’s a really creative guy too, he’s got a very dark side to his personality that I appreciate, and he’s a brilliant, brilliant man.

Jon: Thanks a lot David Hackl, for spending time talking to me and the fans at Killer Film, I appreciated it!

Hackl: Great! Thanks a lot!

On the DVD side of things, like I said horror and cult own this month. I’m eager to tackle the new special edition of the original My Bloody Valentine as Lions Gate releases it for the first time in its uncut form, filled with extras just in time for the release of the remake. After the insane fun that was Machine Girl, Nobori Iguchi is back with Tokyo Gore Police. The footage on You Tube looked crazy and if it’s anything like his first film, fans of over-the-top Asian films will be delighted. Our own Serena didn’t care too much for it, but I’m eagerly awaiting it.

I think the DVD everyone is looking forward too is Pineapple Express. Apatow usually loads the discs up with a ton of material so expect this DVD to be a lot of fun. It was a good year for comedies last year, but they didn’t stay with me like I thought they would. Maybe now for home use, I can be in the right mind set to enjoy it…cough…cough.

To me and everyone at Killer Film, the disc to own in January is the Blu Ray of Repo! A Genetic Opera.Everyone who reads this site regularly knows the amount of love we have for this flick and the use of the Genesis camera Bousman shot it with, should make for a spectacular looking disc. Even after all the interviews I did for the film, I’m still excited to hear Bousman and the crew on the disc’s three audio commentaries. The film is truly unique so it’ll be fun to hear them dissect it. Maybe we’ll get more into the reasons why Lions Gate damn near dumped it. As great as the film is (it’s a party movie), it needed to be seen with like-minded crowds, so bring everyone over to see Repo!

Speaking of Blu Ray, there are some hot titles coming out on the format this month. Appaloosa, Max Payne, King Kong (2005), Zodiac, and the Bourne Trilogy are all great titles. As we move forward I think 2009 will be a pivotal year in the acceptance of Blu Ray into the mainstream. I feel it’s almost there and titles this year like the fore-mentioned and Lord of the Rings, Gone with the Wind, and Raging Bull will definitely help. All of those mainstream films will sell, but it’ll Blu Ray’s handling of cult titles that fuel the interest in collectors would have not yet adopted the format, will be an under-appreciated selling point. How will a high def transfer of Friday the 13th, Akira, or Dead and Buried look? Will it be a huge improvement over the DVD?

The market is funny right now. There’s little revenue anymore in DVD, even though the studios and stores still make money off of it, it’s not like it was a handful of years ago. Regardless, people still like to own movies so people will flock to pick of the titles they want. Stores and studios will promote Blu Ray even more as 2009 moves on. For those who haven’t made the leap yet, let me tell you from a film fan to another, it’s a great format. There are a few hiccups that need to be ironed out, mostly player prices as Blu Ray discs are getting lowered in price, the education of the technology by most people isn’t fully understood yet, and it’s just one piece to the high def puzzle. You got to own a 1080p TV and even a good surround sound system to fully enjoy Blu Ray, but it’s a good format. Don’t be scared. Follow us as we here at Killer film trust the format.

So enjoy this month’s release and follow what’s coming out each and every week with our New Release Tuesday list as those will be more in-depth. I’ll see you all next month with Looking Forward for February and until then…Press Play.

I heard they originally planned a 6-film series, so here it is. I think any more would be a terrible idea after VI, but as Saw V continues to climb towards what Saw IV made, and we haven’t seen DVD or Blu Ray sales for V yet, I doubt if they’ll drop this franchise. Excited for more blood? Talk back below!

Jon: Thanks for taking time, I know your really busy, to talk with us at Killer Film.

Bill: Yeah, that’s fine. Let’s fire away then.

Jon: When I spoke to Darren Lynn Bousman (reread that here) about Repo!, he said it was a constant uphill battle in convincing the studio and actors about the film. What was it that got you involved?

Bill: I first heard of Repo! a couple of years ago actually when I went to see Repo! when it was a little stage show on Hollywood Boulevard. It was a little store front theater, maybe three, three to four years ago. A friend of mine took me to see this cool play and thought it was fantastic. I didn’t mean Darren, that I recall but I was certainly impressed with the play, I thought I was a lot of fun. Then a couple of years ago I was at a horror convention, I think it was the Fangoria convention up in San Jose, and I was doing a Q and A in a section of a ballroom that had moving walls that created different sections. In the little room next to mine, after I did the Q and A, I heard Darren, who was also there talking to people in his Q and A talking about what I thought was Repo! and he was describing it. Again I was hearing this through a partition and I thought, man I’ve seen that before! As it turned out it was Repo! the show I had seen on Hollywood Boulevard and that Darren was planning on doing it after he finished Saw IV.

I talked to him and said I’d seen that show and boy, if you’re going to do that, to keep me in mind. Then flash forward and I got a call from him saying he’s ready to do Repo! and wanted me to meet with him, and the two creators Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich at the very cool Roosevelt hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. I met with them and we are seemed to relatively like each other. But the big question was that if I could sing. They gave me a song to prepare and I’ve been taking singing lessons for the last fifteen years and so the answer to that question was yes, I can sing. I was able to take that song to my singing teacher and we worked on it so that I could get the notes and get the dramatic presentation to it. I showed up to the studio one night and sang for the assembled director, creators, and the music people of Repo! and did a good enough job so they hired me.

Jon: So conventions aren’t all that bad! You got to meet future collaborators…

Bill: Those conventions are really cool. First of all, you get to meet the fans. Horror fans are the coolest fans of all and there they can meet their favorite movie stars and as I say “kick our tires”. They get to find out if someone is an asshole or not, or someone is cool, so that’s fun. Also, it’s fun to hang out with my “monsters” as I call them, because I am a horror fan. Well, I call them that because I love my fellow “monsters” because we’re trying to get the same job. It’s like a convention for dentists; we all talk shop, who’s doing what, who’s directing and hiring, sometimes there are directors or young filmmakers that want to make it someday, with maybe a cool script, you know there’s a lot of fun stuff that goes one there.

Jon: Yeah I just went to my first convention, Texas Frightmare this past February.

Bill: That’s a good one man, Lloyd Cryer. I remember doing the first two of those. Actually I think the first one was in Grapevine, Texas, with Sid Haig, Tom Savini, Ed Neal, the original hitchhiker from Texas Chain Saw, it cool. It’s just cool to be sitting there and across from you there’s Pinhead, there’s Gunnar Hanson, Leatherface, the hitchhiker, Ken Foree from Dawn of the Dead, you think ‘wow, man’ that’s Ashley Lawrence from Hellraiser, it’s cool. You just look around and think it’s cool.

Jon: Tell us about your character, Luigi Largo?

Bill: Luigi Largo is one of the three children of Largo, played by Paul Sorvino, the founder of an organ company called GeneCo. GeneCo. has risen, uh, in the future there’s been a massive epidemic of organ failures and there a company that has found a way to I guess clone organs somehow, I guess they’re kinda artificial or maybe cloned. What we do is sell organs to people who need them. We provide very liberal credit arrangements. The only problem is that if you can’t make your payments, we send the Repo Man to repossess their organs. So if you got a heart and aren’t making your payments, thanks to an act by Congress, the Repo Man can take the heart back even if it kills you and it’s not a crime. (laughs) The crime is not paying back the money you owe.

Of course it’s very topical these days. Congress hasn’t made it legal yet but that might be coming soon.

Jon: Like you’ve said the film has Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, and Paris Hilton. There’s a pretty eccentric group of actors, actresses and musicians, how was being on set and working with them?

Bill: It was a ball! I was pretty comfortable with my character and to give you a quick thumbnail of him, Luigi is the oldest of the three children, I think I’m the heir apparent and dad’s been coughing lately so I might succeed him. He thinks we all useless trash and we’re very rich and can do whatever we want. I’m just very angry all the time, very intolerant, very frustrated, and I just lash out on everybody. I stab people, I throw them under trucks, and because we’re apart of the most powerful family on earth, dad just writes a check and everything is cool. So that’s who I am, I’m pissed and again I play Paris’ brother and Ogre’s from Skinny Puppy.

In terms of being on set with that type of group, it was really a lot of fun. What I think made it a lot of fun was that it wasn’t a clash of titanic egos, which could’ve happened I suppose, we were all just in love with the story we were telling, we loved the music, there’s was comradely, and there wasn’t a weak link in the cast. We all contributed an equal amount of talent and experience. Also, we loved Darren Bousman, the director. He had such a strong passionate vision of what he wanted Repo! to be that we just fell in love with his enthusiasm and we all worked very hard to see his vision come true.

Jon: Yeah, when I interviewed him, he seemed very naturalistically passionate about the film. It got me excited and I think it’s gathered steam and people are now excited to see it when it comes out in limited release November 7^th.

Bill: Yeah! It’s too bad, I’m looking at this other Twisted Pictures film, and Lions Gate helped Twisted Pictures do Repo! and I’m looking at the landscape of their poster child for the horror business, Saw V. Just looking at the amount of money they put behind Saw V, it opened somewhere in 3,000 theaters. They plugged the heck out of it and my golly! it made it’s $30 million bucks and I only wished there was that type of enthusiasm and money behind Repo! I think we’re opening in only 7 theaters, as opposed to 3,049 or whatever it was. There hasn’t been much of an advertising budget for us; I think we’re considered the awkward step-child. In all fairness to any company, in any publicity department or marketing department, to sell a horror opera to the general public is close to impossible.

I don’t think there is any easy way to do it, so that’s why we’ve just been banging the drum. The marketing has been pretty much just on our shoulders and we’re trying to be as loud (laughs) and wide as possible by sending out MySpace stuff, website stuff, going out through the different media, and November 6^th is our big red carpet premiere in Las Vegas of all places. It opens in seven cities and each theater in those seven cities, but after that Darren and some of his buddies are literally towing a print of Repo! in a van and driving it to another seven cities. Of course all that information and where it is opening is on the website.

Jon: That brings up an interesting point because Bousman brought up that Hollywood does not reward uniqueness and the film is vastly unique. As I seen the trailer, I couldn’t think of anything prior that I might have seen that could be related and that’s awesome. But you guys are taking this grassroots approach to letting us know that this film exists and how do you feel that? You and Bousman are very passionate about it, how do you think the general public is going to respond to it?

Bill: I think there are going to be ones that love it or hate it. I doubt very much that there will be those in between. Whatever website you read, I hope there’s a lot more A’s than F’s, but they’re won’t be B’s, C’s, and D’s. Either you love it or you hate it, ten stars or one star. I think that’s great. I remember Rob (Zombie) saying I hope I get either ten stars or one star. He rather have people hate the movie than people giving it a C, saying it was okay, it wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad. To him that was a kiss of death and the same for Repo!

In part two of the interview, we discuss some final thoughts on Repo!, but also we talk about Rob Zombie, the Oscars, his new films opening next year, and Omaha? Huh? Check back in part two of my interview with Bill Moseley, only on Killer Film!