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Joe Castro
Joe Castro is the FX-man turned director who made his mark with THE LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRA from Troma Ent. and the recently released TERROR TOONS from Brain Damage Films.
BI - What led to your involvement in making movies?
JC - When I was 7, my father sat me down in front of the t.v. one Saturday afternoon and told me to watch "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster". It was the first sci-fi horror movie I had ever seen. When it was over I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up.
BI - I actually had this discussion with someone else recently where we traced back the exact instant we knew film was it for us. For me, it was the very first movie I ever saw in a theater, PETE'S DRAGON. Since then my interests have changed, but you still are interested in genre fare. The first movie where you received some noted publicity was in fact a monster movie, THE LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRA. What was the journey like going from genre enthusiast to genre movie maker and fulfilling that dream?
JC - The journey has been a slow and gratifying process that has involved a lot of hard work. Sometimes to the point of exhaustion and emergency medical care! I am not kidding. Making full length features in 3 to 6 days can kill you if you are not careful.
BI - Emergency medical care?
JC - Yes, you may need some severe medical attention if you screw up in some of the situations you may find yourself in on my movie sets...i.e.: Standing on the edge of a rock cliff with several days of inadiquite sleep, acting as if you are about ready to jump off!
BI - You started as a make-up man. How did that prepare you for directing?
JC - The make-up aspect of my career did not prepare me at all for directing. I still am learning to be a director. Even though I feel that I have a strong grasp in the field of special effects, I still improve my skills on every film.
BI - How were you able to make the transition from one trained field to the other?
JC - The key to making the transition from one field to another has been to use one field to compliment the other so that the fields have actually become a new field...an illusionist.
BI - That's an interesting way to put it. Basically you consider yourself a magician who works with film as opposed to performing on stage.
JC - YES!
BI - What do you look for when you choose/develop a project?
JC - Definitely originality, and strong shock value... and this does not apply to just horror movies. I plan to cross over into an new Genre of film making, a bizarre drama.
BI - A bizarre drama? Care to elaborate?
JC - To me a bizarre drama would be one that incorporates the horrifing and shocking values of my past films without the supernatural elements. Pure drama with a psychotic tone throughout the entire film! Of course there will be blood and violence and effects...all presented in a hyper/realistic manner.
BI - How soon can we expect this new creation?
JC - Ready for Market?...One year. But "Near Death" will be ready in six months.
BI - What can you tell about Near Death?
JC - "Near Death" is a movie that is set up as a classic horror film from the 1940's with modern techniques and digital effects. Also it is serious like a "Twilight Zone" episode or "Tales from the Crypt" but, it has my over the top style! It is loaded with ghosts, zombies, and ghouls!
BI - Do you feel you have a particular directorial style?
JC - Some times I feel that because I get such a kick out of watching people freak out on my films and especially the effects...My style is mainly about reactions: people reacting to bizarre situations and showing my audience shocking and bizarre scenes that you just can't get anywhere else.
BI - That sounds a great deal like early John Waters, or someone like Takashi Miike from Japan. Are there certain filmmakers you look towards for inspiration?
JC - There are many filmmakers that have truly inspired me...David Cronenberg, Tony Scott, Herschell Gordon Lewis, William Friedkin, Adrian Lyne, and Joel Schumacher.
BI - What do you try to bring out in each actor's performance?
JC - It depends, If they are the protagonist I want them to be very likeable, even loveable. If they are the villain, I want them to make you uncomfortable even if they are just standing still.
BI - What are some examples of how you would go about this? Is it an organic process where you work with the actors or do you go more for a Roger Corman approach where you just allow the actors to do their own thing?
JC - The process I use to achieve these traits are most of the time purely, on the spot , gestures and movements that I direct the actors to use...other times I use the late hours and uncomfortable situations I put my cast through to bring about these natural reactions to unnatural situations...so basically I purposely traumatize my cast to get the performance for the film.
BI - It almost sounds like you're using a forced form of spontaneity caused by the groggy state of the actors mind late at night. When the actor is tired, he can't think things through ahead of time as effectively. More improvised reaction.
JC - I just basically find that you can take away the actors inabitions and get them to do things they would never ever do!...i.e.: Eat pizza covered in bugs.
BI - There seems to be a humourous undertone to your work. Even the promotional material for MANIACLE seems to have an underlying dark humor. Is this something you try to bring out in each project?
JC - No. Until just recently I have also noticed that., and I think I really am a comedian at heart and I will eventually make sick comedies...so I have to try even harder to be serious.
BI - Another thing I've noticed are references to religion? Some of the images in CEREMONY. Discussion about Catholicism in CHUPACABRA. And the escaped-from-hell plot in TERROR TOONS. Are you spiritual man? Are you trying to reflect a specific attitude towards religion in your work?
JC - I am a spiritual man. I was given the gift of artistry from a higher power which I chose to call God...and I am constantly battling my own demons that try to take these talents away from me...So naturally I incorporate this in my work because I consider the loss of my talents one of my deepest fears.
BI - I'm a spiritual man myself. In a recent interview I participated in, the interviewer was surprised that I'm able to reinforce my faith through the horror genre, which for the most part is pretty condescending towards religion. Do you purposely try to infuse your spirituality into your work?
JC - I never try to infuse my spirituality into my work. It is very present in many forms of my life and it shows up when it is appropriate.
BI - How did THE LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRA come about?
JC - I have always wanted to make a movie about the CHUPACABRA... I grew up on a goat farm in Helotes, TX. and after my father died in a freak truck accident on 1997, I decided to make a Chupacabra movie on his goat ranch and dedicate the movie it to him.
BI - So it's an homage to your father and his work?
JC - It definately is a homage to my father's work and the love and respect he had for me and my talent.
BI - THE LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRA was a released in the shadow of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. How do you feel this helped/hurt the release of your film?
JC - I don't think it really affected my film because they are two entirely different movies... mine is an obvious comedy.
BI - That's interesting. Being a message board junkie, I check out all the major horror sites just to see what the fans are talking about. One of the never-ending debates is "this and that ripped off BLAIR WITCH", or even better, "BLAIR WITCH ripped off this and that". Of course this all comes down to the mock-documentary style used to tell the story. When fans start rattling off titles in terms of which films stole from which, yours is one that's generally left out. Where you at least able to capitalize off the other film's success in terms of marketing?
JC - Yes.
BI - Where did the idea for TERROR TOONS come from?
JC - A friend of mine and I just had a brain fart one day while we were talking shop in the car on the way to a movie set and we were inspired by an evil looking cartoon cat sticker on another car.
BI - How were you able to develop the story?
JC - The development of the story was done over a period of 6 weeks during pre-production. I came up with a majority of the story like the hell and cartoon dimension along with the super hero aspect of cindy's character. Steven Escobar contributed the DVD influence in the story and Rudy Balli filled in the wraparounds.
BI - TERROR TOONS definitely isn't your conventional horror flick! It felt like a live action Tex Avery cartoon gone mental. What exactly where you going for?
JC - Well, just what you describe sounds great to me, but no, really I just tried to incorporate all the things that I really love about cartoons especially the sick ones.
BI - So you were just creating live action images of what you grew up with?
JC - Yes, I was creating live action images of what I grew up with in cartoons and also things I have always wanted to see in cartoons.
BI - I heard the actual live-action production was only 2-3 days. Is thiscorrect?
JC - Yes it took three days of principle photography and one half day of pick ups to shoot the entire film. One 12 hour day, one 16, hour day , and one 22 hour day...Never again! But you know back in the late 50's it was very common to shoot an entire movie in 3 days, hell even Roger Corman used to do this in the early 80's.
BI - And Roger was shooting with all the complexities of film. Videomakers today seem to forget how easy they have it. Sometimes you can do double, if not triple the number of set-ups in a day with video. Is this the reason you shoot with the format, or is it budgetary?
JC - It is primarily budgetary reasons that prevents my productions from being shot on film.
BI - Since you bring up budgets, and I know many independent film and videomakers will read this, how do you go about raising your capital and finding backers?
JC - It is simple to raise capital for features now that all my films have turned a profit. I find people who enjoy or are interested in making money creating films and I show them the results and profit figures from my passed work.
BI - How were you able to raise the capital before you gained marketability?
JC - Even from the very first time I was hired to create a piece of art work my ideas have been extremely successful for my investors...In 1991 I was contracted to create prosthetic breasts for Dixie Dynamite and the finished effect made a profit for the company that hired me over a quater of a million dollars. They invested only a few grand into the product. This was before the movie was even released and strictly based on photos of the effect that were given to the retail outlet stores so that they would pre-order copies.
BI - How long was post-production on TERROR TOONS and what did that entail (ie. the computer effects, etc...).
JC - It took six months for Steven J. Escobar to complete the editing and computer fx for the movie (which he did with out any prior experience) and then another two months for the sound which was extremely important. The cartoon sound effects were a blast to create and the music which was composed by Josh M. Logan was also a large part of the magic behind the final product
BI - How satisfied are you with the final product?
JC - I was truly overwhelmed with the large amount of production value and quality we were able to achieve with very little. I am very happy and satisfied with the final product.
BI - What lies in store for Joe Castro?
JC - Something sick and twisted! Really! I want to continue to make films that get the biggest and most extreme reactions from my viewers...But as I mentioned before I will be directing a new drama this fall and it will be shocking and bloody!
BI - This is the second time you've mentioned the need for extreme reactions from your viewers. Do you place more emphasis on the shock rather than the story?
JC - Okay. Yes, I do place a lot of emphasis on shock....I like to provided my viewers with visions that are truly original and that you can't get anywhere else. I believe that this angle will separated me from the rest of the pack.
BI - Advice for up and coming directors?
JC - Keep directing even if it is something small and make notes to yourself about how to get that performance or reaction...when you react to something make a note of it and use it in your films. Nothing beats the real thing so try to duplicate it.
BI - Just pull from your own experiences...
JC - Definitely
Do you have a question for Joe Castro? Be part of the second phase of interviewing by sending your questions to almaric@usa.net with "Castro Questions" in the subject. In the next few weeks I'll compile the questions and send them off to Joe.
For more information on the work of Joe Castro just head to any of the following sites.