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SCOTTER McCREE
By Wendell ReddingWENDELL - So, the SHATTER DEAD dvd has arrived. I read in the recent Fangoria writer bio clips that you were very satisfied with the outcome. Care to elaborate for the fans?
SCOOTER - Since VHS is pretty much a dead format to the serious film collector, there's nothing more exciting than seeing a project that's been through a lot of different tape incarnations suddenly being preserved in digital resolution! Really, SHATTER DEAD is gonna' be nine years old this October, and it's a good feeling to know that it's on a disc and I can walk away from it and move on to other projects in my life. It was my first feature, and I'm proud of it for what it is, but I've got a second feature that I've almost fully completed and I'm satisfied with, and I want to get this one out there into the world so people can see that I've developed as a director and as a technician. Working on this DVD was like giving birth to something you've come to hate; there's such a sense of accomplishment to feeling it torn away from you like a benign cancer that you have nourished but also completely outgrown. And now that all is said and done, I have to say that I'm very pleased with the disc, and what Ron and his technicians at Sub Rosa and Rebel Filmwurks have done with all the material I handed over to them, which was a considerable amount. I think the supplements run longer than the feature itself! Not including the three commentary tracks, of course. Not that anyone should listen to all three, unless they're into being bored in a RASHOMON kinda' way; viewers should listen to a track until they get tired of it and then switch to another one until they get tired of that one, etc.
WENDELL - SHATTER DEAD really focuses on religion, and what happens to the soul after death. What are your personal religious convictions?
SCOOTER - Technically, I'm what I like to call an angry atheist. By that I mean I don't believe in what most people would define as being a "God", and if this so-called "God" did exist I'd probably try to beat the shit out of him for being such a contrary idiot. Religion in general seems like the only sanctioned form of insanity allowed by the government; sure, we put up with the artistic types, but at least churches get a tax break! Looking back, it seems to me that religion was the first science in that it tried to explain natural phenomena in a way that could be interpreted (or at least abstracted) by the average person. But while the goal of most scientific branches is to gather ever more knowledge and expand the known horizons, religion is a dead science that seeks to choke any active resistance to it's acknowledged tenets, and by resistance I mean anything that questions the established criteria. In real science, anomalies are to be studied to expand the established parameters, while most religions declare any deviations from the established norms to be heretical, which ends up getting "witches" burned at the stake or leagues of decency condemning films, etc. If there were a God, you'd almost have to hope that we're an experiment gone wrong; that God is like the idiot mad scientist of some bad B-movie who's just gone too far and created a planet of uncontrollable monsters. In SHATTER DEAD I wanted to convey the feeling that God just kind of packed-up and went home and left the planet to his Angels to fuck around with as they pleased. I probably should have expanded the tagline: GOD HATES YOU, BUT THE ANGELS WILL REALLY FUCK WITH YOU! Not to sound like a whiny pessimist, which I most certainly am not, but I also don't need anything resembling a God to justify my daily existence, and it concerns me that so many outwardly happy and seemingly normal people do. Not to belittle the beliefs of others, which is not my intention, but I find it much more hopeful and emotionally honest to simply believe in myself and trust in the do-unto-others-as-you'd-have-done-to-yourself credo. If everyone lived like that, we wouldn't need a God.
WENDELL - Obviously, zombie movies were a big influence on you when making your first feature. Do you prefer the Italian Fulci fare or the Romero contribution? Where do movies like RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or RESIDENT EVIL fall for you?
SCOOTER - Zombie movies still scare the shit out of me, which is kind of embarrassing to admit, especially the Euro flicks, but obviously I've also got a special place in my heart for Romero's special kind of mayhem. Seeing Fulci's zombie classics definitely inspired me into the direction of no-holds barred violence pushed to the point of surrealism, while Romero's films made me aware of my own predilection for subtext and linear plotting devices. And while Fulci's Byzantine plot constructions are awe-inspiring in the free-association leaps that are made (where visuals form the glue that holds the seemingly random plot machinations together), I could not have thought for a moment I could begin a project if it wasn't for Romero's DIY low-budget kind of filmmaking. Since I couldn't afford the Fulci visuals, I figured if I could come up with a good, cheap idea that could be made on the run with family and friends then I'd be able to pull something off from the Romero school. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a classic film, and one that really shouldn't have worked at all; a zombie comedy? But it's got a very good script, a perfect cast, and Dan O'Bannon's direction is just spot-on perfect. He uses a lot of long camera set-ups and lets the cast work out their blocking within the frame instead of punching into close-ups to make the comedy and/or horror work. It's very effective, and it's sad that he hasn't been given more of an opportunity to direct based on this and THE RESSURECTED (which is nowhere near as good a film, but quite interesting in places). I haven't seen RESIDENT EVIL yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Funny how you'd never know it was a zombie film based on the commercials I've seen! It looks like a lot of fun, and if makes enough money maybe someone will hand Romero the funds he needs to make another zombie movie; or any movie, for that matter!
WENDELL - You are also an accomplished actor, as you mention on the SHATTER DEAD dvd interviews. It seems like you really have a good time "hamming it up," so to speak, in a variety of movies to the point where you now have a cult following. Any favorite roles you have from these endeavors?
SCOOTER - My favorite role is always the next one; see what a greedy whore I can be? I do tend to prefer roles with less dialogue and more physical action, but I've definitely had a lot of fun on Kevin Lindenmuth's projects. He learned the hard way with me, giving me a whole lot of dialogue in my first role for him, but now he knows just to stick me in as a cameo every now and then! I always give myself a cameo in my own projects; I tend to take on the roles that nobody else has any interest in doing. Obviously, that's much harder to do when you're the cameraperson as well as the director, so I'm only in one shot in SIXTEEN TONGUES, but it's a set-up that I think will leave an impression on viewers.
WENDELL - SHATTER DEAD has a really oppressive and almost depressing tone. The lead actress, Stark Raven, seems almost coldly detached to everything. Even though there's a lot of raw footage on the disc, it's not clear what the tone on the set was. Was it a very depressing, somber experience or did everyone really dig in and have a great time during production?
SCOOTER - Yeah, I tried to get the on-set mood across in the supplements, but it's difficult to achieve a balance between what a viewer might actually find interesting to watch and at what point you've achieved a whole new level of boring self-indulgence. The mood was pretty light all around since we were all good friends and the project was just a weekend lark for most of the performers (minus Stark, or course, who's in pretty much every single scene). You can hear a lot of confusion on the set since I was usually just outside of frame holding the microphone and having my director of photography Matt Howe calling for "action" instead of me. It made more sense since he was seeing the frame more clearly than I was; I had a video monitor to keep an eye on things sometimes, but most of the time I prefer just being around the actor's eyeline and keeping a handle on the performance. I'm a very laid-back director, but I have to say that sitting in front of a monitor while everyone else is doing their thing has never really struck me as directing; it's much more exciting for me to be closer to the performers and trying to help keep things interesting for them. On SIXTEEN TONGUES, in which I was the cameraperson as well as the director, I tried to solve that problem by using wide-angle lenses and staying in the performer's faces so they wouldn't lose track of me as a presence while they were working. It sounds like a strange solution, but it worked out very well and perfectly matches the tone of the material. I wanted TONGUES to feel like we plopped a camera down into the middle of a world 20 years from now and just followed people around the room in a documentary style; trying to make some hallways and a bedroom feel like a war zone during an emotional combat. It's difficult to explain without it sounding stupid and maybe a little bit pretentious, but it seems to work.
WENDELL - Has Stark Raven done any genre films after SHATTER DEAD? Her performance was quite good, and she obviously has no problems with the skin factor required for many genre films.
SCOOTER - She's only recently done some more work in Tina Krause's first feature, which I'm very excited about, and she has a brief-but-memorable cameo in SIXTEEN TONGUES. In fact, Tina has a wonderful moment in TONGUES as well that showcases not only her well-documented beauty but also her marvelous comic timing. Stark should definitely do more work in the genre because, as I hope people will see in the DVD supplements, she's very entertaining and a breeze to work with, and she's also damn fearless about the things she's willing to do if she truly believes in the project she's working on. That kind of dedication is rare in any field, and I have to say I was extremely lucky to find her. Actually, I have to admit that I've been very lucky with everyone I've had to work with so far; I try to make my actors aware right up front what they'll be getting themselves into. I don't want to discover any wilting flowers on-set when it's time for the first nude or violent moment to be created. I need to know that someone is going to be comfortable doing some usually very-unusual things. The sacred pact in a good relationship between an actor and a director is that the performer will give you their all to the best of their abilities and that you as a director must make sure that the work they are doing for you is recorded in a way that does not betray or embarrass them and their performance. Once that's been established, there's a lot of interesting and wonderful things that have the potential to develop.
WENDELL - Your work is obviously very personal and you really pour yourself into every facet of it, from setpieces to camera angles. It reminds me very much of David Cronenberg's early films---are you a Cronenberg fan?
SCOOTER - Yeah, I'm a big Cronenberg fan. He hasn't made a bad film yet (although some are obviously better than others). Hell, 20 years later and the world still hasn't caught up to VIDEODROME; that film is still another 10 years ahead of the times! Like Romero, I think some of his best work is when he was still trying to figure out the basic workings of cinema; the films he made before he was able to afford dolly tracks and such (I'm generalizing, of course, but you know what I mean). Just like I think some of Romero's best films are the ones he shot with Mike Gornick on camera; he's not the world's greatest cameraperson, but he was at his best working with Romero and really helped establish a look and a feel to their collaborations. The same way the Cronenberg's best work was probably achieved when he was working with Mark Irwin behind the camera. Most of the key images from his work that people remember come from that period. I like the kind of punchy camerawork and jump-cuts that most people tend to sand off the edges of their work; it establishes an uneasy feeling if used correctly, as opposed to ineptitude in the hands of an amateur or someone trying to cut against the grain of their own instincts. My favorite films are the ones that seamlessly marry the theme to the presentation. For example, DON'T LOOK NOW and THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (both by Nicolas Roeg) are perfect films with seemingly perfunctory camerawork and odd visual juxtapositions that play with the nature of time and how a viewer processes information both emotionally and intellectually. Films like these, the kind of films that make you learn more about yourself as a storyteller and make you understand how you process information and regurgitate it for others, are rare and very important.
WENDELL - Tell us about the craziest thing that happened while shooting SHATTER DEAD--- there's so many great stories on the commentaries of the DVD, but give readers a sample of what they'll hear about when they pick this disc up.
SCOOTER - Hell, the craziest thing that happened is that I ever even thought about picking up a camera and making the damn thing! That's the hardest thing to make people who've never done a project themselves understand; how simple the decision to make a movie is, and how difficult it is to actually go all the way with your decision. But I think the zombie extras attacking this woman in her car who randomly drove by our location was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. I mean they were so into it, and the poor woman was so frightened by the situation. I didn't realize just how freaked-out she was until the police car came driving by about ten minutes later (that moment captured on camera in the blooper reel) as we were shooting the attack on our film car. The police were friendly and very curious about what we were doing, but they let us continue and left us alone. The poor woman's parents came by as well later on to see what was going happening; apparently, she thought we were some kind of devil-worshipping cult group and nearly had a breakdown when she got home! I felt so bad, but her parents were really nice and told us not to worry about it. Go figure.
WENDELL - When SHATTER DEAD first came out, I remember the first batch of tapes that came out were defective. It's so good to see it represented so well in such an extensive dvd package, but what was your reaction when it first came out in the mid '90's and all those tapes were messed up? I remember the distributor made an effort to replace some of them, but I still have my copy where the opening is all glitched out...
SCOOTER - Wow, this is the first time I've heard about this bad batch of tapes! I had no idea this had occurred! I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you on this one. I've got a couple of unopened copies from that initial batch saved as trophies, but I never really took a good look at them because they were all filmlooked, and I really can't stand the process. I hated the way SHATTER DEAD looked on the original release tapes. When Something Weird Video got ahold of the title I gave them my Betacam mastertape and I was much happier with the way it looked. Obviously, the Sub Rosa release is the best it's ever looked. When I showed the test-disc for the first time to people who worked on it they couldn't believe that SHATTER DEAD ever looked this good! It's so well shot and it was sad that people couldn't see that, even though it's a low-budget home-made movie, we actually had a real craftsman behind the lens making the flick look much better than it had any right to!
WENDELL - Tell us what it was like when SHATTER DEAD won the Fantafestival award.
SCOOTER - I wish I knew. I didn't have the funds to attend the Fantafestival in Italy, so I sat it out unaware that SHATTER DEAD was going to win any kind of award! A friend of mine who did attend, fellow director Howard Berger, did bring me back the actual plaque and tales of all the good times I missed. Lucio Fulci was on the judging panel, and he was a very big supporter of SHATTER DEAD even though he also thought it was a little slow and talky; hey, fine by me! I finally got to meet Maestro Fulci a few years later just before he passed away, and we spent a couple of days in New York hanging out during the Blizzard of '95. For me, that was the most profound thrill of the award; spending time with a Master of the genre (a man who's work obviously meant a lot to me) and trading stories over meals.
WENDELL - It's great that SHATTER DEAD has been released TOTALLY UNCUT in the states here again. That was incredible how it got banned in Britain, I believe it was. Tell us about that experience...
SCOOTER - It wasn't really banned in Britain and declared a video nasty like a lot of other unfortunate titles during that period, but it was confiscated at the border of Dover when I was sending a copy to the folks at Screen Edge for distribution consideration. I just found the paperwork the other day when I was doing some cleaning, and it's a pretty funny read, the letter that was sent by the office which impounded the tape. They told Richard King at Screen Edge that he was welcome to make an appointment and come down to their station to view the tape in the presence of an officer! Also, they had obviously taken the time to view the tape as they had a list of grievances, which of course had hilariously understated and proper descriptions of some of the more outrageous moments on the tape (ie: the fetal shotgun extraction was referred to as having violated the reckless child endangerment act, or something along those lines!). Eventually, I'm proud to say, both SHATTER DEAD and myself were denounced on the floor of British Parliament as being one of the bloodiest videos that had been released with a rating certificate in a very long time, and how it was detrimental to the well-being of society in general; my cameraman actually got a newspaper clipping from a British friend, a full-page screaming headline complete with photos and incredibly graphic descriptions of the most offending footage. It was a pretty strange welcome into the modern world for me, and I'm sure it didn't do anything but help whatever meager sales they did eventually achieve.
WENDELL - The SIXTEEN TONGUES trailer is included on the SHATTER DEAD disc. It looks quite striking, like you're headed into Clive Barker territory, kind of meshed with Cronenberg. How long have you been working on this long-anticipated film and when can we expect a release for it?
SCOOTER - Jesus, what a fucking nightmare working on TONGUES has been! This summer (2002) will be the forth and final year of production, if you can believe it! Producer Alex Kuciw and I have been really plugging away at it lately, getting the fine cut together, working on the special effects, and now beginning the music process. It will be done by the end of this summer, because if it's not I've vowed to just stop working on it and throw the whole thing away. Or maybe not. But still, working on something this long to the exclusion of all other projects has been a taxing experience, and one I hope will not have to be repeated if there is a next project. It's my first excursion into combining horror and science fiction, and it could be a magnificent failure or the beginning of a whole new storytelling path for me. Either way, it's exciting to be nearing completion on it, and the people I've shown the current fine cut to are pretty blown away, which helps keep the enthusiasm alive. If people are interested they should certainly check-out sixteentongues.com for all sorts of cool images and the occasional update.
WENDELL - Thanks a bunch for your time. Anything you'd care to add about the SHATTER DEAD disc or your upcoming films? And a final question--- would you ever use your home again as a location for a bloody horror film like you did in SHATTER DEAD?
SCOOTER - After the experience of destroying my apartment for SHATTER DEAD, I can assure you that my living quarters would never survive the onslaught of another project…
For more information on the work of Scooter McCree just head to any of the following sites.