THE BRENT STEWART INTERVIEW LUAU!!
words J. Brent Stewart
pics Danny Cash

Lloyd Kaufman interview!

DragonCon just wouldn’t be the same without the colorful Troma booth. Over the years, Troma founder/producer/director/actor Lloyd Kaufman has brought Toxie, Sgt. Kabukiman and the Tromettes to the con each year to premiere the latest of their indie offerings.

Sometimes ignorantly brushed off as z-grade schlock, Troma has definitely had its highs and lows, but at its best, Troma has been the pioneer of independent cinema in the states, and indeed, all over the world.

The success of “The Toxic Avenger” paved the way for the independently produced horror film onslaught of the 80’s, building a slavish cult audience, bridging the gap between punk rock and cinema. The film proved so popular, it has spawned three sequels, a Saturday morning cartoon, action figure line, and comic books.

Since then, Troma has produced and released dozens, if not hundreds of films.
“Chopper Chicks from Zombie Town”, “Surf Nazis Must Die”, “Tromeo and Juliet”, “Class of Nuke ‘em High”…no doubt you’ve come across a Troma film in your life. And if you managed to watch it without laughing or appreciating the good-natured absurdity of the goings-on, you’re truly dead inside.

Mr. Kaufman was nice enough to have a chat with us at the con this year.

Lloyd Kaufman Interview

YMB: First of all, I was wondering how “Poultrygeist” was progressing, and if you’ve wrapped shooting.

LK: “Poultrygeist” just finished about 2 days ago. “Poultrygeist” is Troma’s best movie so far. It’s got some songs, on-screen singing and dancing. It takes place in a fast food establishment. It satirizes the fast food industry, and also the limousine liberal crowd.

YMB: Will there be theatrical distribution for it?

LK: Yes, yes! It’s a 35mm film, and it’s booked already in about 300 theaters that’ll play it.

YMB: That’s great. When will it roll out?

LK: Probably summer of 2006.

YMB: Great. How do you see your influence on independent film, in America, and abroad?

LK: Quentin Tarantino is always talking about Troma. Peter Jackson, you know, you read his interviews, he looked at Troma movies, “Toxic Avenger”, “Tromeo and Juliet”. You know, Takashi Miike in Japan wrote a big article about “Citizen Toxie”…Claude Chabrol…it’s all over the world. You know, we’re not rich, but Troma’s reach…it’s our 32nd year, I think, and the reach of Troma is huge. It’s a tremendous influence. It’s an artistic movement.

YMB: I agree, absolutely.

LK: It’s also a bowel movement.

YMB: What do you think the impact of digital cameras and digital filmmaking is on the world of indie film. Is it a better way to go for you, or do you prefer film?

LK: Well, I prefer 35mm film, but, you know, that costs about half a million dollars a movie. But we’ve financed some digital films…Tales from the Crapper is digital, and it’s very good.

We’ve got the United States premiere here at DragonCon of this film “Parts of the Family”. It’s brand new. It’s a very Troma-esque film, and it’s shot on 16mm and video together, because it makes light of the television media.

YMB: Is that showing this weekend?

LK: It showed last night at the DragonCon opening ceremonies.

YMB: Finally, we had someone that wanted us to ask you about “Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove”.

LK: Right, I acted in that film. It’s a very good film. I do a lot of acting. You know, a lot of my protégés are making movies now, like James Gunn, who just directed “Slither”, with the star of “Henry the Portrait of a Serial Killer”, and I acted in that. If you go to http://www.LloydKaufman.com you’ll see that I’ve been in about a hundred movies. I’m in “Poultrygeist” too. I sing and dance in “Poultrygeist”.

YMB: Can’t wait to see it!

LK: It’s pretty shitty, but…

So kids, keep your eyes peeled for “Poultrygeist” (which I reported on earlier this year over at www.totallygoblin.com), and head over to www.troma.com and www.lloydkaufman.com! The good people of Troma are still doing what they do best, and are doing it because they love it.

Sid Haig Interview!

I was surprised to find Sid Haig at DragonCon, as I hadn’t seen him listed in any of the promotional material. I’d had a chance to meet him the previous year (and get a picture with him, and a signed 8x10 from “Spider-Baby”) but couldn’t pass up a chance for
a quick interview.

Mr. Haig’s story as an actor is a fascinating one, as he has worked through a couple of generations of filmmakers, initially making his impact with the great Jack Hill grind house flicks (Coffee, Foxy Brown, Scissor Sisters, etc.) However, most movie fans of
today know him as the sinister clown Captain Spaulding, from Rob Zombie’s films “House of 1000 Corpses” and “The Devil’s Rejects”.

Mr. Haig was very gracious and generous in allowing us a few minutes of his time for this interview. Be sure to head to www.sidhaig.com and check out what he’s up to now!

YMB: I love the films you did with Jack Hill. Of those, “Spider Baby” is probably my favorite. Do you have any personal favorites from that era, or memories of that time?

SH: With Jack? Geez, I had so much fun doing all of them. It’s really hard to pick. We’ve done, like, eight films together. We met in 1961, and we’ve been friends and cohorts and working partners all that time. All of his stuff is great.

YMB: The finished films of Corpses and Rejects were very different kinds of movies. Was the making of the films also very different?

SH: Yeah, it was, it was. “The Devil’s Rejects” was much more concentrated, because we were all together, and we were pretty much separated on the first one. We were all together; we were basically in the same location, for the whole time, in the desert of
Southern California. Plus the fact that we had all become a lot closer, as friends, and were pretty much operating as family. So, just better all the way around.

YMB: One of my favorite things about TDR was the tremendous cast, so many great genre and character actors. Do you think it says something that a film like TDR has so many great actors, whereas most mainstream pictures have “names”, and what is the difference in the resulting quality of the pictures?

SH: Rob Zombie is a talent magnet, ok? And people that are in the music industry or the film industry just want to be around him, want to work with him. Most of those people that were in the film were basically not contacted by Rob; they contacted him. So, that says something for him, you know, the way he affects people.

YMB: Just one last question. What new projects are you working on now?

SH: I have a film that I just finished in Indiana that I’m very proud of, it’s called “Little Big Top”, and it’s a dramedy, if you want to call it that, that has some very humorous moments in it. It’s a slice of life piece. It’s about a guy whose life is pretty much destroyed, works his way out of it, and has a really heroic ending. So I’m really happy about it.

YMB: Will it be rolling out soon?

SH: It will probably be out within a year, we just finished it. It’s going to hit the film festival circuit first. I think they’re going to finish it time to enter it in Sundance, and hopefully that happens.

YMB: Sounds great, thanks!

Mr. Haig is a friendly guy and a very talented actor who has been in pretty much every kind of film you can imagine. Again, check out his site at www.sidhaig.com, and look for “Little Big Top” in the future! In the meantime, check out my review of “The Devil’s Rejects”, which I thought was a blast of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant summer for films:

http://www.totallygoblin.com/blog.aspx?id=7794

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