Adam Green is a name the horror genre will remember after the release of Hatchet, which has been dubbed as the "return of the slasher film" by many fans of this beloved genre. I've yet to see the movie, but hopefully all the hype surrounding it stays true and the film does bring back the old school feel that's missing in the genre now-a-days. Adam speaks about the said-movie, along with how he got his start in the biz and whats next in his career as a director.
CONDUCTED BY: Dan AKA Master of Horror
EDITED BY: FrighT MasteR
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON: 1/20/07
How did you initially get your start in film?
My first job out of college was making really bad low budget cable commercials in Boston. I was able to “borrow” the equipment there to start making my own short films overnight. It was there that I made my first feature film (COFFEE & DONUTS) which sort of paved my way into Hollywood. When I first got here- it was rough. No money, nothing happening- doing menial assistant jobs and often taking lots of abuse. I found myself doing the weirdest jobs…everything from having to dress like a cowboy and serve appetizers at some lame movie premiere to being an extra in a J-Lo video. I did whatever I could to get by. Eventually the right people saw COFFEE & DONUTS and things started to move.
Tell us a bit more on your first project Coffee & Donuts.
C&D was based on my real life, so it was no real stretch to play myself. It was spawned really from the fear that if I didn’t find a way to make SOMETHING real, I’d be making cable commercials for the rest of my life. So I rounded up a group of friends and volunteers, started taking the cable company’s equipment on a regular basis, and forced myself to stay awake nightly for about 6 months and then go back to work the next day as if nothing was going on. Man, did I have a cool boss. Looking back I would have fired my ass so fast the second I knew the extent of what was going on!
Nobody involved knew the movie would go as far as it did. To this day it’s still sort of the thing that defines me. More so the story of how I did it than the quality of the movie. It kind of proves to kids everywhere that you don’t need Hollywood connections or money to prove that you can tell a story cinematically. We made it for just $400. The film itself was a comedy based mostly on a long term relationship that I just couldn’t accept as being over. In making the film I not only broke into Hollywood, but I was able to take a good step back and laugh at what a loser I had become over this one girl that I had been in love with my whole life. I suppose the other life lesson people can take from C&D is that…when a girl says she needs “space” she really means she doesn’t love you anymore and she wants to sleep with other people, football teams, and college campuses. Actually, in all seriousness, there’s a message that says “don’t let love be your everything when you’re so young”. More often than not, you’re going to be disappointed.
What kind of distribution has it received?
When Disney/Touchstone bought C&D in 2003, it was with the intention of turning it into a TV series that I was hired to create. Unfortunately, the pilot script wound up at UPN and in the end…a story about a suburban white kid coming to terms with the end of his childhood just wasn’t urban enough for their network. (Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t see that coming.) But now UPN and the WB have formed the CW and eventually the rights will be mine again. I have no intentions at the moment of re-shooting the movie, but I do hope to do the TV series one day if I ever have the time again.
Tell us about your second film, Hatchet.
HATCHET is my love letter to the slasher films I grew up with. I think I wrote it as a response to being disappointed by where the genre was going in terms of slashers. In the 80’s- we had great villains, gore, nudity, and R ratings…in the 90’s, we finally had good scripts but no more monsters. The iconic slashers were replaced by teen who-done-it’s, a lack of on screen gore/magic, poorly done CG, and PG-13 ratings. So I wrote the slasher film that I wanted to see and didn’t pay any attention to the current trends or what’s “in”. HATCHET is painfully old school in terms of formula…but the characters and situations are witty and the gore flows freely like it used to way back when. It’s not a spoof, but it doesn’t try and take itself so seriously either. I’m really tired of the trailers that try and make every new horror film seem like the most “disturbing film ever made”. Get over it. Perhaps instead of trying to shock- we could make something that’s actually entertaining? Yes, HATCHET’s gore is over the top…but even people who normally can’t take that kind of violence find themselves truly enjoying the movie. I think the secret to the success it’s having is that I hired real actors and didn’t underestimate my audience. Just because we like horror movies doesn’t mean we don’t know what a good movie is. I was respectful of the fans. And as a fan…that’s not something I feel I get every day.
What was behind your decision to follow up Coffee & Donuts (a comedy) with a horror film?
I am a die hard horror fanatic. In fact, in C&D- my character’s bedroom is filled with horror posters and toys. There’s even a scene where I talk about why horror movies are the only good movies ever made. It was inevitable that I would make HATCHET, it was just a matter of when.
Word is that Hatchet is the "second coming" of the slasher film. How do you feel about that?
It’s obviously very flattering but I think we have a ways to go before that kind of bold statement can be declared. It’s also a lot of pressure to live up to in terms of expectations on my part. I never asked to lead a movement to take the genre back- I just made the movie I wanted to see and apparently there were a lot of people who were waiting for it. For now I’d feel better if people just supported it as that tells the Hollywood system that we’re ready for more stuff like this and less remakes and PG-13 schlock. The audience responses, the fan letters, and the reviews are just mind blowing. I never thought it would turn into what it has. I am consistently blown away by the passion of the genre fans. Typically the internet is used to trash talk every movie that comes out…yet the fans are getting on-line after seeing this movie and helping spread the word. I can’t tell you what an honor that is and how much every single person who worked on this film appreciates what it is you guys are doing. In ten years if people want to declare HATCHET the “second coming” of the slasher film, I’ll accept it. But the film and I still have a lot to prove.
Do you believe you've created a new horror icon with Victor Crowley?
That’s not for me to decide, really. If the fans embrace him and he gets to come back for more- than maybe I’ll accept that opinion. One thing you gotta keep in mind is that “icons” can’t be bought or created on purpose. Every time someone tries to do that, they fail. Leatherface, Jason, Myers, Freddy…no one could have predicted what they would ultimately become. It’s almost like a happy accident. With Victor Crowley, I had him in my head for over 20 years. I knew exactly what he would look like, move like, sound like, and breathe like. Just 5 years ago if you could have told me that not only would I get to meet Crowley some day…but that Kane Hodder would be portraying him, John Buechler would be designing him, and Robert Englund and Tony Todd would be appearing in his first film…I would have said you were high.
Can we expect to see Victor again? Has there been talk of Hatchet 2?
There is a lot to Victor’s story that I purposely left unanswered in HATCHET. I have very specific plans for where the story will go. But unfortunately, sequels are only green-lit if the first one is considered a big enough financial success- so it’s out of my hands. I could tell you exactly what is going to happen in HATCHET 2…but that would jinx it. Who knows if I’ll even get to be a part of it? As we see so often, the original writers and directors sometimes get thrown under the bus for sequels. The distributors would rather pay an unknown nothing to step in and do it cheaply because they know the film will make money regardless. They start cutting corners and pulling punches. Hopefully that doesn’t happen here. The one thing I can promise you all is that if I stay with the franchise…I’m not going to start writing absurd plot twists or sending Victor Crowley to Manhattan and space. The big question is how do I top the deaths of the first one? Hopefully we’ll get to find out.
If the decision is made to turn Hatchet into a franchise will you be involved every step of the way or will it be a "side-lines" deal? 
In a perfect world I’ll stay with HATCHET forever. But there’s politics involved sometimes. Not to mention that if I don’t like where the distributor is going with it, I’d rather respectfully step to the sidelines than sell-out and make a movie I don’t believe in. I can tell you this, the distributor we are going with believes in this film so, so, so much that it would be hard to imagine NOT figuring out a way for me to stay with the franchise. I just hope the fans are always respected and that their opinions are taken into account as largely as possible when decisions are made.
Spiral is your latest project, care to tell us about it?
SPIRAL was shot between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. It was really Joel David Moore’s passion project. When he asked me to come on board and co-direct it with him, my first reaction was to say no. I mean, who wants to co-direct? It’s just asking for problems. But it wasn’t really about that. Joel is a dear, dear friend and as people are seeing in HATCHET, we work amazingly well together. So on one hand I was attracted to SPIRAL because I was going to make it with my friends…and on the other hand, it was such a different type of film than HATCHET that I just loved it that much more. It’s dark, dramatic, and beautiful. So I said yes, and Joel and I co-directed pretty famously. The movie is just now finishing up post-production, but I have a feeling that the producers will sit on it until the right festival to unveil it. I’m not sure what fans of HATCHET will think of SPIRAL. It’s truly an art-house piece and it centers around relationships, jazz, and art. It’s got some thrilling moments but it’s not a “horror” film. Personally I am tremendously proud of the performances and look of the film. It was a great chance to flex my craft and do something completely different.
Would it appeal to horror fans?
Well, I’m a horror fan and I dig it. But is it a traditional “horror” film? No way. Not at all. The thrills come from the character’s relationships and this sort of underlying despair about what’s really going on in the main character’s head. It’s eerie and at times very haunting. But no one gets their face sawed off with a belt sander if that’s what you’re asking.
Next on your slate is the Western horror film Dead West, what's it about?
DEAD WEST is a bad-ass graphic novel that is about a bounty hunter who chases a fugitive into a town that has been overrun with Indian zombies who have returned from the grave to seek revenge on the white men who slaughtered them. (If that’s not enough to turn you on, I don’t know what is.) I’m so excited for this one I can’t even stand it. Think THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY meets DAWN OF THE DEAD. I plan to borrow heavily from both Leone and Romero in terms of tone.
Horror seems to have a huge shortage of Wild West horror film. Is this a pet project for you?
Oddly enough, this is a project that was brought to me by a producer who had seen a very early print of HATCHET and just thought I was the right guy for it. Once I read the graphic novel I just got that sort of wet palmed, nervous leg twitch feeling as I started seeing sets and scenes fly by in my head. That’s how I know something’s right for me. I get submitted a LOT of good material these days. But being a good project isn’t enough to want to direct it. If I’m not giddy with ideas and thinking I HAVE to direct something, I’ll pass on it very quickly. Another huge attraction to me when I’m picking projects is the people I’ll be working with. Some people say they’re here to make movies, not friends. Well I actually AM here to make friends because better movies are made that way. Steve L’Heureux (the producer) has already become someone I consider a friend. This project is gonna be a BLAST.
In your opinion how is the genre looking right now?
In my opinion the genre is at a crossroads. The real fans are starting to voice their distaste for the PG-13 crap. Hollywood is running out of remakes quickly. I mean, by 2008…will there by ANYTHING left to remake? And the J-Horror craze seems to be fading fast as we’ve seen one two many creepy Japanese kids crawl across the floor at this point. The torture films like SAW and HOSTEL are doing great (rightfully so) but how much further can they go before people get bored and desensitized to the torture? The bottom line in my humble opinion is that horror will always be alive…but it will only remain on top if the films are entertaining. Whether it’s the slasher in the woods, the big CG monster, and the creepy kid with the imaginary friend in the new house, or the torture film…it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day all we ask is that the movie entertains us. Is HATCHET the answer we’re looking for? Who knows? I’m just doing what I like- take it or leave it.
Special thanks goes out to Adam Green for the interview and my buddy Brian "Horror Pimp" Harris.
