Kristy Langford: What are your favorite horror films?
Matthew Jason Walsh: For something that inspired me to go out and do it myself, I'd have to say, HALLOWEEN, no question. John Carpenter inspired me to want to score movies, write movies, direct movies. I have a few that I really like that I could watch over and over again: THE EXORCIST, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, ALIEN, stuff like that. I think the most horrifying film I ever saw was DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD.
KL: How did you get started in the indie horror
film industry?
MJW: I had written my first real screenplay when I was sixteen, and was trying to get it made. Of course, when you're sixteen, that's easier said than done. And this was in the late Eighties, when even owning a video camera was kind of a big deal, so there weren't eight million people out there shooting movies in their back yards. Finally, I was so desperate to get something going, I took out an ad in Fangoria magazine. I actually got a few responses -- like I said, nobody was really doing this kind of stuff, at the time! -- and one of the people who responded was a cat named J.R. Bookwalter. It pretty much went from there.
KL: As you already know, Bloodletting is my all
time favorite film. What was it like directing this
film? Do you have any funny stories that you
can talk about?
MJW: Awwww, thanks! Directing the movie was like being in Vietnam, except not as much fun. We shot it in one of the worst winters in Ohio history, so we were always cold and miserable. All of my stories about the making of BLOODLETTING are more horrific than funny, but I do have a relatively amusing one I can share: we were shooting on my birthday and we were setting up the basement set where the Butch and Serena characters kill the Bobbi Jo character. I was staying in the pad of the infamous Jeffrey "Spud" Scaduto (who also shows up in the prologue of the movie, as the bystander who makes a remark to Serena) and we were transporting his old king-sized bed to the set on the bed of his pickup truck. I remember I was in the process of bitching to him about how bad the movie seemed to be going as we drove along. Suddenly, as if on cue, it felt like we'd gone over a bump. I looked out of the rear window just in time to see the king-sized mattress fly off of the back of the truck. I was horrified, especially since we were on a major highway during a snowstorm doing about sixty miles an hour! I turned to Spud and remarked, "Well, maybe we can go back and get it ..." and that's when I turned again and saw a semi smash right through it. So I turned back to Spud and yelled, "DRIVE!" That's why, in the movie, Butch and Serena are sleeping on just a box spring.
KL: How did you get your start working with
David DeCoteau?
MJW: I met Dave through J.R., who was working with DeCoteau at the time. DeCoteau had read the original draft of THE SANDMAN and knew I could write, so we'd talked about working together on something. Our first gig was what is now MORGANA, and at the time, it was a big deal -- it was a million and a half dollar movie for Academy Entertainment. I wasn't even old enough to drink, and here I was, sitting in on these huge development meetings in Hollywood. The screenplay went through a couple of different writers and wound up getting made by Full Moon. Dave liked that I could crank out a shootable script on short notice, so I wound up writing a ton of stuff for him.
KL: What projects are you currently working on?
MJW: Right now, I'm working on the score for the Bad Movie Police DVDs that Tempe will be putting out starting this fall. After three years of nonstop writing, it's kind of nice to do something different, and music's something that's pretty important to me. I'm also finally sending out my own screenplays for sale, and I've got a few more flicks I'd like to get made. One of which is the long-discussed KINGDOM OF THE VAMPIRE remake, and we're at least to the point with that where we have a great ensemble of people we're talking to about being in it.
KL: Is there anybody that you want to work with
in the future?
MJW: Well, if you asked "ANYBODY", I'd say Christopher Walken. Before I die, I will work on a movie with Christopher Walken. But in a more real vein, I am dying to work with Brinke Stevens. We've been rapping for about a year about getting her in as Mom in the KINGDOM remake and she really wants to do it. I was just blown away by her enthusiasm and intelligence. She's exactly the kind of person you want around on the set. I've written quite a few movies she's appeared in, like THE FRIGHTENING and WITCHOUSE 3, but I'd love to direct her.
KL: Before we go, is there anything that you want to say to all your fans out there?
MJW: Yeah: you guys are FREAKIN' SICK! No, seriously, I appreciate it. I get letters all the time from people who enjoy the movies, and I've met quite a few of them at conventions. I'm always amazed, but I'm also always gratified. I just hope I can entertain you even MORE in the years to come.
KL: I really want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me. YOU ROCK!
MJW: No ... YOU ROCK!
