Stevan Mena Interview
Many of you may not know his name but don't worry, you will soon. Stevan Mena is the writer/producer/editor/composer/director of the new horror movie Malevolence and his name is one that will be around for a long time. I was at the movies premiere in Worcester Massachutes and was able to meet and interview Mr. Mena and not only is he a talented director, but a very down to earth and cool guy who also knows his shit about horror. I video taped the interview so yes, this will be a 2 part interview but it is all worth it. Trust me,
It was about 7:30 when we came to the Bijou theatre, one of the only theatres I know of that has a bar inside of it. My friends Rick and Bob and myself were sitting at a table in the theatre not knowing that the 3 people sitting behind us were in fact Stevan Mena, Brandon Johnson (actor who plays Julian) and Scott Currie, so once that was pointed out....we started talking. Now, we didn't film the beginning cause we were just talking and me being me, didn't realize I should put the camera on. So I will start with the first thing I remember and then go into what was recorded....
Rick:: So how did you get the money for this movie?
::Stevan just pulls out his wallet and starts pulling out credit cards and throwing them on the table::
Stevan: That's how (laughs)
OK....ON TO THE VIDEO TAPED PORTION OF THE INTERVIEW.LOL I will start from where the volume of the camera actually made out what was being said. See, some band was playing outside and its so loud, I am lucky to get any of it on there. So here it is....
Marcus:: So how long did it take you to start making this?
Stevan:: The whole thing started in the fall of 2000 and we didn't finish till mid 2002 so it was like 2 years. But it was because we had so many problems happen to us you know, everything was always being interrupted. Whether we ran out of money, lost locations, one of our actors had brain aneurisms. I mean, everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong! That's why it dragged out, then the winter came and no continuity so we would have to wait 6 months and...yeah...you name it. It happened.
Marcus:: It went wrong!
Stevan:: Yeah yeah...so just the fact that it's actually finished and we can actually watch it is to me, is amazing. So the fact that we won festivals is BEYOND amazing ya know?
Marcus:: Yeah, well what is it like actually being able to see your film on the big screen?
Stevan:: Well to me it's amazing! That's the best part! It DOES make it all worth it you know, you never think that but when you see people reacting to it, and the fact that you know it could go world wide. Everybody can see what you have done! That is cool ya know...that's a great feeling. Yeah I mean you will get people who will knock your film, you will always get people who will rip it apart, we've had that happen to. But in the end you can't please everybody...but we have had nothing but positive experiences with this thing so...for us it's been great.
Marcus:: This is a part of a trilogy...now was there any reason why you picked the middle of the trilogy?
Stevan:: Yes. Very big reason. The reason is this is the only part of the trilogy that could be filmed...ultra low budget. With no money cause like this whole film takes place in one house. The prequel is very dramatic piece...and it has a lot to do with the whole back story that deals with the young boy's kidnapping, the person who kidnaps him and his father and how this whole cycle of violence that plays out in the first part of the story. And to really pull that off you need really good actors...no offense to Brandon
Brandon looks up with a funny what the hell kind of look and everyone laughed.
Stevan:: But you need really experienced, trained, dramatic actors, name actors to pull it off. It would take a big budget cause the sets are much more elaborate. This part of the film is really just a simple, small part of the story that takes place in this one house so we were able to pull it off ya know? And the sequel is a bunch of car chases and they are hunting the killers in actual localized towns. There was NO way we were going to pull that off without a decent sized budget. So basically money.
Marcus:: How did you come up with the idea for Malevolence?
Stevan:: It actually came about because I wanted to do a horror film, I wanted to do a slasher film, that's my favorite type of horror film. I just couldn't figure out why the killer would be wearing a mask and it all came about with the thought of the bank robbers started, cause you know the bank robbers mask became the killers mask. It kind of developed from there and it became something so much bigger. I mean the script ended up being like 500 pages. It just kept writing itself, it kept developing and developing and one time one idea would turn into 3 other ideas. Like if you like this film, I think the prequel will be like a total mind trip cause the prequel changes this story completely! It takes place the day before this one happens, changes everything and actually over lapses into the third film! If you like this, I think you will see a lot of things get turned on its head again in the prequel so...pretty bizarre.
Marcus:: I'll bet! Now I take it you are a horror fan...so what are your favorite horror movies?
Stevan:: Texas, Halloween, The Shining, Evil Dead, Suspiria, Phantasm, Nightmare on Elm Street, Loved Scream...I met Wes Craven out in Scream Fest...
Marcus:: Oh you did!?
Stevan:: He was really cool, oh yeah, he was screening Scream out at Scream fest and I had some pictures taken with him. It was cool. Yeah those are pretty much all of my favorites. Also a very big fan of Se7en...not really a horror film but it had a lot of influence on this film. Oh yeah, big influence on this film, Psycho obviously. You are going to see a lot of references to that too.
Marcus:: I LOVE Psycho!
Stevan:: Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead...
Marcus:: Yeah all the originals.
Stevan:: Yeah!
Marcus:: What do you think of all of these remakes that have been coming out?
Stevan:: I....hmmm...I think on one hand...I say if you are going to remake something...if you can make it better then it was...like for example Van Halen remaking Roy Orbison...THAT'S COOL! You can improve on that! How do you improve on Dawn of the Dead? That's a masterpiece! It's like how do you take a Beatles song and make it better? I mean you can't. How do you improve Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Its a total classic so how do you make that better? If you can...good go ahead! So far I haven't seen any of the remakes improve on the originals so as far as I'm concerned...there is no point in having them. Except for the fact that maybe the kids of today who are like 18, 19 don't remember those films cause I have actually met kids who have actually been like "There was a original Texas Chainsaw?" It's like yeah there was an original one and it was MUCH better! You should check it out! So...I get kind of irritated with that! (You aren't alone on that my friend...you are not alone!) I don't know if you know...Gunnar Hansen is going to be here!
Marcus:: Oh yeah! I have been told!
Brandon:: What did you think of the remake to the Exorcist?
Stevan:: What? oh no no no no no that's a prequel. Whole different part of the story.
Marcus:: Yeah they are actually coming out with 2 versions of that movie supposedly on the same day.
Stevan:: Yes! That is so awesome! How often do you get to see...a film that you like done by a different director. See what he would do with it? Finally get to see what two different director's would do with the same script!
Marcus:: Yeah! I can't wait! I have actually heard they are having trouble getting it out and rated and what not. They actually had to cut some of it down for the one that is going into theatres.
Stevan:: Really...
Marcus:: Yeah that is what I have been hearing.
Stevan:: ...cause I know they complained about the first director not making it gory enough...
Marcus:: Yeah now it's to gory...yeah...you never know with them.
Stevan:: Yeah...ya know, the whole reason they are doing it is cause it's guaranteed because it's already got an established name. So you know when it comes down to the decision process, why redo Texas Chainsaw Massacre....its a brand name. It's a trade name so they know people will go see it! Even if you don't like the idea....you will go anyway cause you're curious "Well what did they do to screw up my favorite movie?"
Marcus:: Exactly!! You can also tell that they kept on pushing the fact that it was based on a true story!
Stevan:: Yeah ::rolls eyes::
Scott:: You couldn't do better then to sell the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! If you look at it, it is the singular best investment ever made in the history of film! It grossed over 4 million, and it cost 35 thousand to make!
::At this point, I wanted to make sure we would be getting sound on it for there was a band playing outside the theatre and I had feared all we would hear is the music::
Marcus:: This was your directorial debut, not did you direct, but you also wrote AND produced the movie. Did you find it to be difficult to do all 3 along side each other?
Stevan:: No...because I am a total control freak. So it's kinda like when you are doing that many things it gives you that much more of an inspiration to keep going. You get blinded to the fact you can't be wrong so you just gotta keep moving forward. It doesn't matter what anyone says...you are just gonna do it! Writing, directing, producing, no one is going to tell me my script isn't what it's should be because I wrote it and I also produced it so I am arguing with myself. I think the hardest part is BECAUSE we didn't have any money and I'm doing everything simultaneously...that's where it becomes tricky. Ya know, the generator for the lights runs out of gas...I got to go to the gas station and get the gas to fill up the tank! Like in the morning...everyone is looking for coffee...I'm the one going to get it! I'm the one going to Dunkin Donuts to get the big pitcher of coffee so that everyone is happy during the day!
Scott:: The Box of Joe!
Stevan:: YEAH! The box of Joe! (chuckles) That's right! Which they don't serve now in town by the way. That's how backwards that town is! No box of Joe!
Marcus:: How large was the crew for the movie?
Stevan:: Large? Hmmm ::turns to Brandon:: About 20 people?
Brandon:: Yeah about 23 people I thought.
Stevan:: Well the actual crew...we did two and two...two grips and two electric. And you had like sound, DP, AC, second AC, so...I'd say about 10....the crew was about 10 people at one time. But...because we shot it over 2 years....you are going to see the crew listed in the credits as like 150 people because nobody ever wanted to come back! Once they shot with us and they saw what we were doing, nobody ever came back to...
Marcus:: Kinda like Evil Dead and all those...
Stevan:: Yeah! Yeah nobody ever wanted to deal with those! It's like..."Where are the bathrooms?" It's like....there are no bathrooms...we are out in the middle of nowhere! Ya know...deal with it...it's low budget! (laughs)
Marcus:: (Laughs) Yeah. Did you actually know any of the cast before hand?
Stevan:: Yes! Yes! The girl who plays Courtney is my niece! But she was the only one...everyone else was cast. Actually here is a good story for you...Brandon...was actually cast...2 weeks before principal photography started. We didn't have anyone for the lead role and he actually missed auditions! He called us 2 weeks before...we had totally forgotten about him. He ended up coming to my apartment and we interviewed him right there and he got hired right on the spot. Worked out very well!
Brandon:: And here we are...
Stevan:: Here we are...
Brandon:: We're screwed! (laughs)
Rick:: How many people do you think you auditioned before final casting?
Stevan:: About a thousand...
Rick:: A thousand?
Stevan:: Yeah easily! Easily a thousand! Cause you think we did about at least 50 a day!
Rick:: How long did it take you?
Stevan:: Well it took about 3 months...again I couldn't decide on anybody! But you would be surprised...how many people CAN act who are trying to be actors. You will testify to that ::looks at Brandon::
Brandon:: Yeah
Stevan:: It's a process....if you know what you are looking for....its really hard to find it. But if you don't really care, you can do it in a day! If you have a real specific idea of what you want...it's like a needle in a hay stack! That was the problem! Like with this guy ::points at Brandon:: I knew that is exactly what I wanted! And when he walked in the room, I was like that's the guy! That's who we want for Julian! The DP didn't think so...(laughs)...but I did! What does he know?
Marcus:: Who was your biggest inspiration as a director?
Stevan:: My biggest inspiration...umm I'm a big fan of Ridley Scott...like as far as which director would I think about, like how would this guy do this, I think of Ridley Scott. But actually "Texas" was a huge influence for me! I love the film, I saw it when I was 12 years old in the theatre when New line released it. I became like obsessed with that movie and when I found out how it was made...like with no money...I was like wow! It can actually be done! You don't have to like win the lottery! You can make low-budget films so for me back in like the mid-80's...I was aware of low budget filming. I would say that definitely put the bug in me. That I could pull it off.
Marcus:: Oh wow! So after Malevolence, what is next on your plate?
Stevan:: Let's see....after Malevolence ummm I don't know. I have so many projects I want to do and stuff that is in development but it may end up being Malevolence 2 IF this does well. I know they want to complete the trilogy so that would probably be the next thing...but it all depends on whether or not Malevolence is well received or not. Otherwise it will be...something else. (chuckles)
Marcus:: Did you actually have to film any shorts before this?
Stevan:: I did film one short...I have actually been making short movies since I was 11. I was one of the geeks with the video camera and...I'm actually dating myself but I had one of the camera's with the VCR that you put over your shoulder...
Scott:: Tether!
Stevan:: Yeah! You remember those!
Scott:: Oh yeah!
Stevan:: So umm...I have always been doing it but this is definitely my first real film. This is actually the first I completed from start to finish.
Marcus:: At any point....did you ever just want to throw in the towel or....?
Stevan:: No, no, never! Never! I mean most people tried to get me to quit even my production manager was like "let's just forget it." For example...like when the cop....::turns toward Brandon:: remember the cop? I don't even remember his name!
Brandon:: The first one? I don't know.
Stevan:: We had shot over 2 days worth of footage of the guy playing the police man and the third time we were supposed to work with him which was the finale of the film, he calls up and says he got a part with a Richard Greco short and he couldn't make it so he dropped out of the film! We just shot everything in the last 2 days....put thousands of dollars into this guy....and he just drops out. At that point...we were already 2/3rds of the way in...and with everything that had gone wrong....I had already been arrested and lost locations and stuff and I was like yeah, I don't know how much more of this I can do! And everyone was saying yeah we all agree! But I never wanted to quit because this is what I wanted to do! I had already invested so much time and money and effort and planning and hoping for this... it comes to a point where you aren't gonna stop. You just have to keep going till the end. It's like sex....once your in it...its like...ok! I gotta finish! ::laughs::
Marcus:: ::Laughs:::
Rick:: Do you see yourself staying an independent film maker or do you want to break into the Hollywood mainstream?
Stevan:: Nobody wants to stay independent, everybody wants to be picked up by a major studio and get a 3 picture deal and be able to spend as much money as they want, do whatever they want. Have total control! I would love to be able to make BIG pictures. But for me...I would not have a problem not only staying independent....but coming back and doing pictures like this. I love the total control! When you are an independent...you have control over everything. That's the best part about it! So people who do stay independent...if anything they are control freaks cause they don't cause they don't want any one tampering with there work. That's the ONLY reason why you would stay independent. There is such a risk with doing that also cause you got to worry about distribution. Cause if you are a true independent, you have nothing. You don't have distribution, you don't have money. So you are working from nothing...it's a risk! Where if you are working for a studio...you know who's paying the bills....and you know when the film is done...you know it's going to be seen, its going to be released. It takes that risk away. It all depends on what kind of personality you are...like for me...I've had enough risks with this film to last me a life time! Some one wants to come by and pick me up for a picture deal...I'm all for it! So...that's the way I look at it.
Rick:: Can you kind of explain what kind of psyche it takes to risk everything and put everything on credit cards and not know how it's going to turn out?
Stevan:: Yeah, you are insane. You have to be insane to do this. I don't think anybody who's done what I've done with this process would look back and say...yeah that was a sane decision. When your credit is ruined and you are living in a one bedroom apartment and you have no money and you don't know WHATS going to happen...cause then your whole life is based upon what people think of your movie. Even with all this effort you put into it....years and years and money and everything...you could still go and show it and everybody is like "Yeah that sucked!" and then where are you? Ya know... you still have nothing! You have to be a total loon to want to do this. But the people who do it...HAVE to do it...I can't picture myself doing ANYTHING else. I HAVE to do this! ::turns to Brandon:: He HAS to be an actor! He can't do anything else! He could never work in a cubicle and whatever am I right?
Brandon:: Yeah definitely not the 9-5 kind of guy. There is definitely something that...learning to work from the center and be true to yourself I think is the best gift you can give yourself...is to pursue and become your dream.
Scott:: Brandon's deepening up! (laughs)
Marcus:: Have you guys shown your families the movie yet?
Stevan:: Oh yeah!
Marcus:: What did they think about it?
Stevan:: I haven't gotten any calls from them since! (laughs) No I'm just joking. Yeah everybody is supportive of me. I'm very lucky that my family does support me. So in that respect, I have a lot going for me.
Rick:: Have they supported you from the very beginning?
Stevan:: Yeah, most of them have. My mother never expected me to amount to anything so she doesn't really...but everybody else does. Like in high school, voted most likely to disappoint his parents. (laughs)
Bob:: What is your opinion on the reoccurring trend going away from Stan Winston style special effects and going towards CGI?
Stevan:: I'm all for it...it depends on how it's done. I think the problem with CGI is when it's done well, like Gladiator and it's suttle...it enhances the backgrounds and really adds to the story...I think it's awesome. When it is the story, when the whole movie is BASED on CGI like...
Bob:: Like Frankenstein swinging from a rope....
Stevan:: yeah like in ummm...
Marcus:: Van Helsing?
Stevan:: Yeah! Van Helsing! Where the whole movie is based on it and you write up your budget for 200 million. I think when you have an unlimited budget, you kind of lose that creative edge. You lose that voice that says "Is this working? Is this right?" And I think the stuff that Stan Winston does a lot of real care goes into it. I met Stan Winston actually out at Screamfest! They were screening Wrong Turn with Rob Schmidt so I talked to him. It's a totally different style. I don't know what I prefer...I have no real preference. I certainly have respect for the old way and the new way. But since I have never really been able to USE CGI...I really don't have an opinion. I may really like it!
Brandon:: Wait till everything is a green screen.
Stevan:: Yeah well if we do the sequel the kid who played the kid was filmed so long ago...we will need CGI to make him look younger again just cause he is like so much older!
Scott:: That's the favor before they use the digital actor!
Stevan:: Right! Right!
Scott:: Learn how to animate now!
Brandon:: Smeagle...I'm getting replaced by Smeagle!
Stevan:: So if the actors walk on there contract...you just...CGI'em.
(Everyone Laughs)
Rick:: How closely did you work with he editor or were you the editor?
Stevan:: I was the editor.
Rick:: Did you have an assistant editor?
Stevan:: Yeah actually Eddie Ackmall came over and we hung out and edited.
Rick:: So does that make you the script supervisor as well?
Stevan:: Actually we DID have a script supervisor, but she was always just hanging around with her head phones on like she had a walkman. We would be shooting, and she would come up to us after and be like "Wasn't he supposed to have the knife in that scene?" It's like...where were you!? "Oh I was outside ya know...I didn't know you were shooting" It was very disorganized but yes, we did have one. Eliza was her name right?
Brandon:: Yes!
Stevan:: Eliza Lamb but yeah...we had a lot of edits.
Rick:: Is this a new thing for you, being questioned over and over again about your work?
Stevan:: I've been questioned before...but yeah you never really get used to it ya know? That's why I am a director...I want to work BEHIND THE SCENES! I don't really feel comfortable in front of the camera ya know? But I have no problem...I really like answering the questions, I like talking about it, it's my thing.
Marcus:: What was your goal when you made this film? Did you set out to disturb some people, did you want to just scare people....
Stevan:: Actually, my goal was, aside from finishing it my goal was really to do a film that had something else at stake...ya know every horror film you watch is like kids having sex, doing drugs, I wanted to do something that had something else going on besides the killer. There was another story line at stake and I haven't really seen that done to many times. So I was hoping I could pull that off without the audience getting lost. Cause there is a risk when you have two types of genres colliding....you know drama or action and horror...like your gonna lose the audience like well what is it? I think we were able to pull it off from what I have gotten from the reviews and stuff but it's a risk. That is what I was going for. Something a little more different, something with a little more context to the story then just "Ok, they're here....kill them"
Marcus:: Yeah so you actually wanted characters...you wanted character development.
Stevan:: Yeah you actually want to care about the characters, you want to care that they make it out alive. And when they don't you actually care that they got killed. If you don't care about them, then you do run into that cliché I think all of the sequels to say...Halloween run into that cliché...like they sit around the table and say "How can we get a bunch of people in one room and then, figure out a way to split them off, one at a time, so they get killed and then NOBODY else in the house...HEARS anything!
Marcus:: Yeah, that's basically the Friday the 13th series altogether!
Stevan:: Yeah or like the most recent Halloween...they are all in the same house but nobody hears people screaming at the top of there lungs up the stairs.
Marcus:: Yeah or they can't break down a door of what is supposed to be a old decrepit house and they can't break down a door or anything like that!
Stevan:: It's silly...It's silly...so...
Rick:: I already asked this but do you have any aspirations to direct anything else outside the horror genre?
Stevan:: Oh yeah! Absolutely! I have a lot of different types of genres I want to get into. Definitely action, maybe drama, maybe even comedy. I've written scripts for all different styles. I love the horror genre, and one of the reasons I chose that as my first genre to go into aside from being a huge fan, obviously. It's really the only genre that has its own built in audience. They don't have fans for romantic comedies so when you make a horror film, even if it's really bad, you will get SOME KIND of response from the horror audience. Even if it's just curiosity and if you look at some of the really great directors who have come along...a lot of them start with horror movies. James Cameron with Piranha 2 was his first film. Stephen Spielberg did Duel, so many directors started out with a horror movie and then moved on...look at Sam Raimi! I mean he did Evil Dead NOW he's doing Spider man!
Marcus:: Yeah! Or Peter Jackson who used to do Bad Taste and Dead Alive...
Stevan:: Exactly! There is probably about 10 or 15 you can name that are names you would recognize that started in horror.
Marcus:: Well a lot of actors as well also started in horror like Jack Nicholson....
Stevan:: Yeah, it doesn't mean its the only thing you can do....obviously if you do it well like Wes Craven, if that is what you do and you do it good...then stick with it! But I certainly would like to try other things...everybody would.
Marcus:: If you had to pick one genre to go into next which one would it be?
Stevan:: I am actually looking to do a thriller next...which is just a little left of the horror scene. Less killing...more tension. I don't think I would be wise to come back...if I was successful with a horror film...to come back with like a comedy. Cause if I had a core audience I would lose them! They would be like "Hey what are you doing?" So it would be something close to what this is.
Marcus:: What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
Stevan:: Scariest thing that has ever happened to me...
Rick:: Yeah do you have any real life experiences that intergraded themselves into this?
Stevan:: Scariest thing that happened to me was actually on this set. It was during a reshoot, we went back to the house where this was filmed, and there was somebody living there! Ok? In this rat infested house! And we went inside and tried to make nice with him. We said "Listen we are supposed to be here shooting a film, we have a permit! What are you doing here? and he showed us his gun collection! ::laughs:: We found out later that this guy some how got permission from the owner a couple of months ago that he could go there whenever he wants. He just got divorced so...obviously he was not necessarily in his right mind. So he was there off and on and he happened to be there at the time. So we had to hire a security guard to watch the set. ::turns toward Brandon:: Do you remember the security guard?
Brandon:: Yes!
Stevan:: And that was the most terrifying time because we had no idea if this guy was gonna come out guns blazing at ANY time while we were shooting there for the two days. And the security guard...I mean he was cool and all...but I really didn't think he was going to take a bullet for me!
Marcus:: (laughs)
Stevan:: So the whole time we were like "Are we making to much noise?" So as far as real life danger and fear...that was up there for me.
Marcus:: Where did you actually find the location to film the movie?
Stevan:: That's actually a story in itself, it's to long for this, but we found it in Owenton Pennsylvania, in the outskirts of that area. We had actually there for something else, and we went all the way back there to see another house and when we got there, the woman's mother had died. She said we couldn't shoot there anymore so we stood around like "ok now what do we do?" We wandered around for a couple of days... and one day some guy was tinkering around with our picture car and we were like "Dude, what are you doing?" and he was like, ya know this is the car from that movie and I'm like yeah, we're shooting that movie. And he's like oh. We are like You wouldn't happen to know of any run down houses around here that we could you know, break down the walls and make a horror movie in with would you? He's like no. And we were like ok and walked away. He came back and was like Oh wait yeah! He ended up knowing the location of the slaughter house that we found and the rest is history. It was total luck!
Marcus:: I got one more question for ya, I originally was going to ask this before we started but we didn't have the camera going so, tell us about yourself.
Stevan:: Ummm let's see...I'm actually pretty boring. There's not much going on in my life so that is why I am able to dedicate my life to this project. I'm married, I have a small daughter, she is 4 years old. We all live in this tiny, one bedroom apartment. We are pretty optimistic people, so we hope good things come out of all this. Showing my film, no matter where it is, is like a dream come true for me. So I'm like right now, living my dream. Don't know what the future holds for me...
Rick:: What advice do you give up and coming directors like Marcus here, what advice do you give them?
Stevan:: Ummm the web is the future! (laughs)
Marcus:: (laughs)
Stevan:: Don't do it...unless you have to do it. Don't do it cause you want to, or you're curious. Only do it if you absolutely, positively have to do it. There are so many obstacles in this business designed to make sure you don't make it and people will always tell you it's not true...ITS TRUE! It is set up so you can not succeed. So what you have to do is be so persistent that you can't let any of that get in the way and if you can do that, you WILL make it. No matter what it is in the business. You have to be so persistent that nothing can ever stop you from doing it aside from you being shot in the head that there is no way you would ever stop! That is the only way you can ever make it. Brandon for instance...he's been acting for 10 years now...he still hasn't broken through but he can't imagine himself doing anything else. Yeah so my advice would be yeah...you can definitely do it, just make sure this is what you definitely want to do cause it's not easy. Plan, keep good people around you, smart people around you. Doesn't hurt to know people with money but yeah...just be really into what you are doing. You also have to learn to live with things like rejection because that is what this business is all about. It's all about knocking on 100 doors and like, 99 say no, and 1 says yes. That's what it is all about. If you can handle rejection, then you can pull through it. It's a big part of it unfortunately, and films are out there to be criticized. You are going to get criticized no matter how good you are.
Marcus:: Have you taken any of the critics to offense at all...
Stevan:: Yeah we have gotten some REALLY nasty reviews, but ya know what, when that happens it's like, you have to take it from where it's coming from and keep that perspective. If it's constructive criticized, like someone will say to me "I really don't think that scene worked because..." and they have real good constructive criticism for it, which actually did happen. We actually ended up changing the movie based on the response on a lot of viewers, we went back and made a small edit in the film. But when it's just somebody mad, just ripping you apart, or they are jealous or they are in a bad mood. It's stuff like that that you really can't let it get to you. You know it's not really coming from an intellectual perspective. It's just coming from someone who is just being...whatever ya know? People love to criticize especially if you ask them their opinion, people will be like "What can I think of that would criticize the film?" Especially if you hand them the rating cards they will be like "Well what DIDN'T I like about the film?" It's very rare that people will be like well what DID I like about it? That's just human nature but you get used to it. I've definitely gotten used to it. we have gotten enough positive buzz on the film that it off sets ALL that stuff. I also say to myself, look, this is my first film. It's not like I had a 10 million dollar budget and I and wasted it on bad acting! I wasn't paying attention and I didn't really read the script through. I didn't know what I was doing! I didn't waste anybodies money, so in that respect, you can't really think that you failed especially when you are independent because you are your first critic.
Stevan and I sharing a drink outside the theatre before the movie began.
At this point, the interview ended and Stevan and Brandon remembered they were supposed to be at the Hotel to meet up with Gunnar Hansen. Rick, Bob and myself were invited along by Stevan which totally kicked ass. We were able to video tape most of the conversation with Gunnar and Stevan and that will be in another interview posted later on.
I want to thank Rick and Bob for coming along and helping me out, also want to thank Alan from M80 for setting this opportunity up for me. Also Robert Newton for setting up the time to meet and everything. Most importantly, Stevan Mena and Brandon Johnson for taking the time and doing the interview. Both are really cool guys and I had a blast. Right now Malevolence is playing at Long Island, New York in 2 theatres, Farmingdale Multiplex, and the Island 16 theatre. Check local listings for show times as well as there automated services. Be sure to check out Malevolence if you are in the area, and check out the official website "Http://www.malevolencemovie.com" Part 2 will be up soon so be sure to check that out! Malevolence is THE best horror movie I have seen all year.
Back to Interviews