Exclusive Interview: JOE DANTE ENJOYS HIS HOMECOMING
The director talks his MASTERS OF HORROR segment, political pundits and when PIRANHA will be remade.
By PETER BROWN, Contributing Editor
Published 7/11/2006
Joe Dante, the director of such classics as THE HOWLING and GREMLINS took advantage of his MASTERS OF HORROR opportunity by creating a horror tale of political corruption and social commentary all mixed together with a creamy zombie filling.
HOMECOMING deals with dead soldiers from an unnamed, unpopular war returning to life in order to vote in the presidential elections. HOMECOMING arrives on DVD today as part of the roll out of the MASTERS OF HORROR first season and Joe Dante sat down to talk to us about his segment.
iF MAGAZINE: So how did your participation in MASTERS OF HORROR come about?
JOE DANTE: The whole series was inspired by semi regular dinners we used to have, still have, with all of the directors from the series. At one point Mick Garris or someone said it would be great to do something together. The series idea was formed from that initial thought and idea was initially funded by AnchorBay and when Showtime became interested that sealed the deal. There wasn’t a lot of money involved here, everything is low budget, but everyone had total creative freedom – none of us had to be put through the mill. No testing of the material or going to the mall or seeing if any teenagers would like it.
iF: Having total freedom must have been a nice change.
DANTE: Freedom is a lot harder to come by these days and we took advantage of it. Most of the things that we wouldn’t normally be able to do through the normal channels we were now able to do. [HOMECOMING], in particular, I wouldn’t of had any interest at all due to the political subject matter and the unsubtly of it.
iF: So what drew you to the very not subtle HOMECOMING?
DANTE: Often you don’t get to do something that is not subtle and usually you have to make sure to not to offend anyone. I didn’t have those restrictions here. The plotline is from a short story about gun control by Dale Bailey called DEATH & SUFFRAGE. Dale and I thought it was a good template for what we wanted to do. And we wanted to do something that no one was talking about and something most people have been, are still, avoiding. Since then some features have come out, such as SYRIANA, and have taken political stances but at the time not a whole lot were willing to go as far as we did.
iF: Was it a delicate balance between telling this particular story but still being respectful to those who really have lost soldiers in the Iraq war?
DANTE: Absolutely. But the twist here is that the zombies are the good guys and you play off the expectations of what zombies are supposed to be and good guys are usually not one of the things you think about. This isn’t the most subtle of the things we have done and with such a short time for the episode and a low budget, we did the best we could. But it was something I needed to get off my chest.
iF: Well you crammed a ton of images into the film that weren’t obvious. I loved all the imagery in the campaign room with the signs of “Stay the course” and “Mission accomplished.”
DANTE: We are trying to appeal to intelligent people here. This isn’t a low brow zombie film. And that’s what a lot of the horror traditionalist didn’t like about HOMECOMING.
iF: Some fans didn’t like it then I take it?
DANTE: A lot of people say politics has its place and entertainment isn’t one of them. That entertainment, specifically horror, should not be political. I disagree.
iF: Have you received any feedback from any political pundits positive or negative?
DANTE: Not anyone on the TV. But there were a number of blogs that liked it and a number of blogs that hated it. It’s only a zombie movie, but people are still vilifying you and saying that you hate America.
iF: So, then I take it your not a fan of Ann Coulter?
DANTE: Who? I don’t know who you mean.
iF: What do you think about all the re-makes or re-imaging of the classic horror films in Hollywood?
DANTE: That’s funny because some of the re-imaging is literal because they have absolutely nothing to do with the original except the title. Look at HOUSE OF WAX. And then you have remakes such as THE OMEN that make it so similar they should just put CGI actors over a green screen and run the same footage.
iF: Any chance of THE HOWLING remake?
DANTE: They are definitely going to do it, because people keep calling me asking about who owns the rights to it. Stranger yet, I keep hearing about people wanting to remake PIRANHA. Which makes me think, “Why?” But this isn’t the first time someone has kicked the idea around.
iF: Are you doing another MASTERS OF HORROR segment in the second season?
DANTE: Yes, called SCREWFLY SOLUTION based on a story written in the 1970s that deals with a plague that turns people violent and makes them behave strangely.
iF: Who are stars in your MASTERS OF HORROR episode?
DANTE: Jason Priestley, Kerry Norton and Elliott Gould.
iF: Do you feel a pressure to top HOMECOMING or is this episode completely different in tone and style?
DANTE: It's as different as I could make it, considering it's still a short feature packed into ten days, shot in a country it's not set in.
iF: Any idea when it will air?
DANTE: Either December of this year or January 2007.
iF: So what can you tell me about TRAPPED ASHES?
DANTE: It is a movie about a group of people trapped in a room together and they tell each other a story. It is another low budget kind of a thing. I did the wrap around story.
iF: Is it a feature film or a TV series?
DANTE: It's a multi-story feature in the classical Amicus -- DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS -- mold.
iF: What is the wraparound about?
DANTE: A creepo movie studio tour guide Henry Gibson, who manages to trap himself and several customers in a studio "haunted house" with a dark past. Each of the couples reveals strange events in their pasts -- or is it their futures?. The ghost of Robert Bloch hovers over the whole thing. The other directors are Ken Russell, Monte Hellman, John Gaeta [FX maven of THE MATRIX] and Sean Cunningham.
iF: Do you have any feature film projects currently in development?
DANTE: I'm still looking for the rest of the funding on my story about Roger Corman making THE TRIP. Send checks!
iF: Did you have more fun working on MASTERS OF HORROR than some of your feature film gigs?
DANTE: Sure. The fast pace reminds me of my beginnings, since, just like Roger, they let me do whatever I want so long as it's cheap, fast and lurid.
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Director Joe Dante on the set of LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION
