Tim Sullivan is a name that hit the horror scene officially with the release of 2001 Maniacs -- the DVD smash hit that re-introduced a fun-filled gore flick that didn't have to come out of a foreign country. Tim returns to UHM with his second interview, where he speaks about his current film Driftwood, the Snoop Dogg starrer Hood of Horror and his upcoming sequel to 2001 Maniacs, cleverly-titled 2002 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillies; gotta love it!

CONDUCTED BY: Dan AKA Master of Horror
EDITED BY: FrighT MasteR
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON: 10/01/06

2001 Maniacs is done and finished and now fans are eagerly awaiting Driftwood, tell us a bit about the film? What was behind your decision to direct a supernatural thriller? How did you come up with the idea behind Driftwood?

After the “splatsitck” of both MANIACS and HOOD OF HORROR, I wanted to flex my muscles a bit, try something different. A total 180 flip in vibe and tone. I wanted to try something that was more character driven, relied more on atmosphere than blood and guts. Ever since the Columbine incident in America where two teenagers attacked and killed their classmates, there has been a disturbing trend in which places called Attitude Adjustment camps are springing up all over the place. These camps are privately owned and operated with no government interference, and they are a place where parents can send their kids if they feel they need severe discipline. Certainly, some kids need such discipline, but sadly, the majority OF kids who end up at such places are kids who simply are misunderstood by their parents. Maybe they listen to HIM or AFI when their parents want them to listen to Barry Manilow, or they read FANGORIA and log onto to UHM, or perhaps they prefer the boy next door to the girl next door… Whatever it is, if a parent so wishes, they can send their child to such a place, and if he is under the age of 18, he IS shit out of luck and condemned to live in these camps where mental and physical brutality is the norm. In many cases, there have even been deaths! So, as someone who HATES anybody trying to make me into something I am not, I decided to tell the story of these camps, to tell the story of a boy (played by Ricky Ullman of Disney’s PHIL OF THE FUTURE) who is sent to a camp run by an evil warden (played by champion wrestler and DEVILS REJECTS star Diamond Dallas Page) who may or may not be responsible for the disappearance of another teen whose ghostly spirit haunts the halls of Driftwood. It’s definitely a different type of horror than MANIACS and HOOD, and I hope viewers are willing to take that ride with me.

In your opinion, is anybody making worthwhile supernatural thrillers?

Sure. I thought Scott Derrickson’s EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE was one of the best films in the genre I’ve seen in the last twenty years. Scared the hell out of me, because it was brilliantly rooted in a reality that HONESTLY made you believe in the existence of true, supernatural evil. THE OTHERS was fantastic as well.

When casting Driftwood, what made you select Dallas Page for the role of Captain Kennedy?

I gotta tell you, before I made DRIFTWOOD, I didn’t even know who Diamond Dallas PAGE was! I am not a wrestling fan, so I never heard of him. Which is a good thing, for if I know he was a wrestler, I probably would have been biased and have thought he couldn’t pull off a roll with that much dialogue. But my producer, Barry Levine (with whom I produced DETROIT ROCK CITY) is a close friend of DDP, and he insisted I meet with him. Reluctantly, I took a meeting, figuring I would give him the role of one of the guards or something just to please Barry- but during the course of the meeting (we watched 2001 MANIACS together), we bonded so well, realizing we had so much in common- both from broken homes, both from Jersey, both struggled all our lives being told that our dreams were impossible—Before the meeting was over, I knew that this was a guy who could accomplish anything he put his mind to accomplish- He had the physical presence I needed for the Captain, he could turn on the evil vibe of the Captain, yet still charm the hell out of you- Hell, he was the captain. And so to my surprise, and his and Barry’s, the next day I called him up and told him I would like him to play the role.

Are you happy with the casting? Is this your ideal line-up?

I couldn’t be happier. Thanks to Barry and my other producers, Mike Richardson, Bob Engelman and Bud Smith, I was able to choose who truly was right for the part. And so I got to give actors like Ricky Ullman and Talan Torriero a chance to break out of the types of roles they are best known for- Disney and MTV reality show crap. They got to show they can really act and, along with DDP and a bunch of other very talented young newcomers, they really RAISED the film to another level.

For those that don't know, Chris Kobin is your writing partner correct? How did that relationship come about?

Chris tried to pick me up in a Starbucks on Sunset, which surprised me as he is a married man. Just kidding… After DETROIT ROCK CITY, I had a production office and was looking for other projects. One day Chris just walked in off the street to talk to another producer in the office, and told him he had the rights to remake the films of HG Lewis. The minute I heard that, I grabbed Chris and we started talking. I told him I was very interested, but that the first thing we needed was a script. Not having the money to pay a writer, and being writers ourselves, we decided we would write the script together. It turned out to be such an enjoyable experience, we’ve been writing together ever since.

Is hostility toward homosexuality an underlying (unspoken) theme in Driftwood?

Absolutely. And though it is never actually spelled out, you’d have to be blind not to see the homophobia that drives Captain Kennedy and his henchman to terrorize and torture the young kids in Driftwood struggling with their identity.

Do you feel horror is beginning to accept homosexual fans, actors and filmmakers for who they are and not who they choose to sleep with?

First off, I prefer the term gay. Homosexuality sounds so clinical, bro. Like some disease! But yes, I think that the horror fan community certainly is very accepting. Horror fans know what it’s like to be an outsider- what it’s like to be ridiculed because you prefer watching Fright Night to the Super Bowl. And so I think that the horror community and the gay community have a special kinship, a bit of a brother and sisterhood. At least that’s my experience.

In your opinion, where is the genre right now? Are there any "modern day classics" out there any more?

Yes, all the time there are modern day classics. THE DEVILS REJECTS will go down as one of the greatest American crime/horror thrillers of the modern century. Trust me, Rob Zombie is the Martin Scorsese of horror. And Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming PAN’S LABRYNTH is not only one the best film of the year, it might even be one of the top ten fantasy/horror/genre films of all time. I was blessed to attend a special screening hosted by Frank Darabont, and all I can say is I felt humbled as a filmmaker. It is one of the most brutal and heart breaking films I have ever seen, yet also one of the most magical, uplifting, spiritual and enlightening. As far as I’m concerned, they should just give Guillermo the Oscar FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM right now!

It's now confirmed that there will be a 2002 Maniacs, spill the beans on the story? Will Robert be back?

Yes, Robert will be back, along with some of your favorite maniacs and some new ones. It’s called BEVERLY HELLBILLYS, so you can pretty much imagine the direction I’m going. Basically, the Sheriff plows over the detour road, so guests show up at this year’s Festival. Undaunted, Buckman and Granny figure if the guests won’t come to them, they’ll go to the guests. And so they head out on the road for California where they set up the Pleasant Valley Civil War Traveling Road Show. The script is done and we hope to shoot early next year. All new laffs, all new boobs and all new gore. Yee Haw!

What kind of release will Driftwood have? Do you have any idea at this point who might be distributing when it's ready to hit DVD?

DRIFTWOOD was always intended to be a straight to DVD release as it was funded completely by Image Home Entertainment as the first of their exclusive production deal with Dark Horse indie. We will be premiering the film at the Mann’s Chinese on FRIDAY OCTOBER 20th as part of the LA Screamfest (for tickets go to www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=119413), followed by a high profile cable premiere in late Fall on either Sci Fi Channel or MTV. An unrated, load DVD comes out February 13th. If you go to www.myspace.com/driftwoodthemovie, you can see the exclusive trailer and a brand new 5 minute featurette which was shown at Comic Con.

Tell us a bit about Hood of Horror, what can we expect from this urban horror film that Tales from the Hood failed to deliver?

Expect a lot of blood, boobs and bling! I gotta admit, dude, I actually liked TALES FROM THE HOOD- and that was the motivation to do HOOD OF HORROR. I couldn’t believe no one ever did a sequel, so when my friend, Jive Zomba record executive Jonathan McHugh, approached me about developing a horror project for Snoop, it just seemed a perfect match, to do an anthology with Snoop serving as the Hound of Hell- the Cribkeeper. The idea was to stay true to the vibe of the old EC comics, but set it in the hood and do urban morality tales, social commentary dealing with racism, gang banging, and corruption in the record industry, basically bad people doing bad things who then have VERY bad things happen to them. HOOD will be out in theaters on 500 screens on November 3rd, but beforehand, it will also premiere at the ScreamFest on October 18th. Like Driftwood, the premiere is open to the public. You can get tickets by going to www.screamfestla.com . You can also check out the new website at www.snoopshoodofhorror.com.

What was the last DVD Tim Sullivan watched?

Man, I just got this great DVD of 1950’s Science Fiction horror classics. I was so stoked- 5 of my favorite childhood creature features from for only twenty bucks! So last night I got myself a pizza and a six pack and watched THE MOLE PEOPLE, TARANTULA and MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS. What can I say? Once a monster kid, always a monster kid.

Special thanks goes out to ultra-cool Tim Sullivan for the interview and my buddy Brian "Horror Pimp" Harris.