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 Art tips and techniques, reviews and interviews from my studio. Archived here and at World Famous Comics. Comics 101 for 10/21/2004 Kane Hodder on The Devil's Rejects and The Incredible Two-Headed Marathon: Revenge of the Horror Hosts! For all of this month and just in time for my favorite holiday, Halloween, Comics 101 will be featuring articles of the more macabre variety as we focus on the theme of "horror" (one of my favorite genres of comics and film). So here each week in October, sink your plastic fangs into a horror flavored Comics 101 feature!This past weekend, October 16th and 17th, I attended the Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan. I had a great time selling my Star Wars artwork, signing autographs and plugging my latest project, Star Wars: Empire #25, from Dark Horse Comics and penciled by yours truly (it's on sale NOW so be sure to pick up a copy today). Usually at these conventions, I'm just as much a fan as anyone else when it comes to meeting other artists, writers, creators and celebrities and this particular show was no different. Saturday afternoon, while taking a break from my table for some lunch in the complimentary suite provided for guests of the show, I found myself sitting down for a bite with none other than "Jason Vorhees" himself, actor and stuntman Kane Hodder of the Friday the 13th series of films. Since space was tight in the room with the other tables filled and seeing how he had just sat down across from me, I chose to let him enjoy some of his lunch before I went into fanboy mode.  About three bites of chili later I couldn't hold back. "You're Kane Hodder aren't you?" "Yes", quietly replied the seemingly seven foot tall burly, beared man in the custom made "hockey mask" jersey. I had told him, "You know, they mispelled your name on your banner and in the flyers for the show. Aren't there two D's in your last name?" He then mentioned he had noticed and how that might end up hurting his autograph sales somewhat but it really wasn't too big of a deal. The initial intimidation of who I was sitting next to seemed to wear off after breaking the ice now. Then the conversation began to get more interesting as I found out the guy is just as big a horror movie buff as I am. 
"What have you been working on lately?" I asked. "I just finished the House of 1000 Corpses sequel with Rob Zombie". "The Devil's Rejects?!?", I replied. "You're in the movie? What did you do for it?"Turns out Kane was stunt coordinator for the film as it just wrapped principal photography last June or July. He's not "in" the film per say, director Rob Zombie didn't want demean the film with throwaway horror cameos, including himself or Mr. Hodder... at his own profound disappointment. I told Kane I'm not sure how that reasoning could quite apply since Rob's first film featured some of the most well known character actors and icons of horror films gone by - Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part Two and The Night of the Living Dead and The Blob remakes), Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror, Children of the Corn IV), Sid Haig (Galaxy of Terror), Dennis Fimple (Fangs and Creature from Black Lake), Michael J. Pollard (American Gothic, Sleepaway Camp III and Split Second) and Irwin Keyes (The Exterminator movies, Bloodrage and Disturbed). Though he expressed how fun it would have been to have had a walk on role, he still was very enthusiastic about the film's production. It seems Kane is a huge fan of Rob's first film and was ecstatic when he learned he would be shooting the sequel on location in and around L.A. making it easy for him to work from home. "It's gonna blow the first film away, I loved the first film too but it's even better than that one." I asked him what the budget of this one might be. "Around nine to ten million I think," was his reply. Though low by today's big studio standards, we both conceded that for a hardcore horror flick that's plenty of money to play with. Especially with someone as talented as Zombie behind the camera. He did make it sound that Lion's Gate Films were doing a great job and had no intention of dropping the ball on this one. Kane did note, however, that some of the cast would not be returning for the sequel. From what he understood both Karen Black, who played Mama Firefly, and Robert Allen Mukes, who played Rufus or R.J., from the first film wouldn't be returning because he believed they asked for too much money for their participation in a sequel. He told me Karen's character was replaced with the blonde actress, Leslie Easterbrook, from the Police Academy films and that Tyler Mane, Sabertooth from X-Men, had replaced Mukes as Rufus. But favorites Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon and even Matthew McGrory as "Tiny" would be returning to their roles. Supposedly, Matt looks even more larger than life in this film since, according to Kane, Rob employed numerous camera tricks and effects to make his character seem even more fearsome and gigantic this time around. Kane described how Matt's health condition prevented him from barely being able to walk throughout production but that he admired working with him on the set. I told Kane even as fearsome and maniacally entertaining Moseley was as "Otis Driftwood" that Sid Haig as "Captain Spaulding" really stole the show for me in the first movie. "He's in this one even more, he has a really big part in the film", he mentioned. When I poked him about the sequel's plot, noting that I had heard it's in the Natural Born Killers' vein this time around with the family on a homicidal killing spree road trip, he seemed to concur promptly. I then asked him how he enjoyed working with the cast, who was his favorite and if had any good stories from the set. "William Forsythe (Raising Arizona, Stone Cold, Extreme Prejudice and Dick Tracy) steals this movie." According to Mr. Hodder, he is the "sickest, most vulgar character out of all of them." Forsythe plays the sheriff chasing the family of killers and "he's even more demented and twisted then they are". As he tells it, there was one incident when Forsythe walked off the set very upset. He really had to prepare to get into his character before each scene because of how mentally twisted and morally deprived he was supposed to be. When he arrived on set and told Rob's Director of Photography he was ready to shoot the scene as scheduled the DP was blowing him off and at the last minute was changing the lighting and other camera set ups while ignoring the actor. It got to the point almost a half hour later where he just couldn't take it anymore so Forsythe walked off the set. Fortunately, Rob showed up and brought him back but not before ridiculing his DP himself for the near disaster. Another interesting and fun moment on the set also involved Forsythe's Sheriff "Wydell" character. At one point in the movie, Wydell is holding a prop gun point blank to Brian Posehn's head (famed comedian and probably most recognized as the backwards mail clerk in NBC's Just Shoot Me) who plays another seedy individual in the film. While rehearsing the scene, there were problems with the prop gun going off take after take and Brian reluctanctly declared while on his knees looking up at the deranged sheriff, "Just shoot me." Whether or not they immediately realized the irony of the statement it none the less stirred a few laughs from the cast and crew present on the scene. 
The conversation turned to his work as Jason Vorhees and I mentioned that the new Friday the 13th DVD boxed set had just been released. He had indicated he enjoyed doing the commentaries for them so I look forward to checking those out some time soon myself. Having recently seen Jason X, I told him I was pleasantly surprised at how fun the movie was given the just about ludicrous concept of Jason killing teens in outer space. He seemed somewhat disappointed when I brought this flick up and he mentioned the movie would have been better received had they released it on schedule. Instead, it sat on the shelf for nearly two years after production and most of the die-hard horror fans had either seen it online already or were picking up bootleg copies of it at comic conventions prior to it's release.I asked him what he thought of Freddy vs. Jason and he we both agreed it left much to be desired. "It was a Freddy picture with Jason just thrown in there," was his assessment. He wasn't the biggest fan of director Ronny Yu, someone who had no history with either horror franchise and had never seen any of the previous films, but was adamant that a different actor with a different body build play the part of Jason. I asked Kane how much pull Sean Cunningham, creator, director and producer of the Friday films had with New Line and Kane stated, "He was producer in name only. He fought as hard as he could for me to get the part but he could only do so much. He only had so much power." We talked about how the horror fans tried to rally for him online and most seemed displeased that the actor most famous for bringing the Jason character to life wouldn't be ressurecting him for the film. When I asked him about the possibility of him reprising Jason for Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash which is currently on the verge of being greenlit by New Line, he denied that he would have involvement with the prospect more or less stating that the producers don't see him as necessary to the project as the fans do. All in all, Kane seemed like a really cool, down to earth guy. He seemed very enthusiastic, letting his guard down a bit, when talking about horror movies and genre actors with me and it was great how his eyes would light up ever so slightly any time we talked about his experience working on The Devil's Rejects. If you're attending a comic book or horror convention anywhere in the country and he happens to be a guest you owe it to yourself as a horror fan to stop by his table and say hi. He's the real deal. Also this weekend, Saturday October 23rd at 10 p.m. until noon on Sunday the 24th, I'll be attending The Incredible Two-Headed Marathon: Revenge of the Horror Hosts! at the Drexel Grandview Theatre here in Columbus, Ohio. It's eight bone-chilling movie shockers of unbearable horror. The event is being presented by the horrifying terror twins of Joe Neff and Bruce Bartoo, rising from the murky depths to distill their forty-three years and over two-thousand hours of marathon experience into one blood curdling night of unrelenting scream-a-rama terror. The special premieres in this year's line up are: 
The Ohio Premiere of Saw - This macabre directorial debut by James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Wannel, who also co-stars with Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, is a gritty, gruesome twist on Se7en, Cube and other similar genre favorites. Terrific performances, a smart "who done it" script and a riveting score from NIN's Charlie Clouser add up to a brutally satisfying schocker.The Ohio Premiere of Gozu - The latest release from the elegantly twisted imagination of Takashi Miike concerns a Yakuza's search for the missing body of his accidentally slain mentor. An increasingly bizarre small town, the joys of lactation and the title creature, a human body with a cow's head, all add to the surreal wierdness. The Ohio Premiere of The Machinist - Brad Anderson's trip into the paranoia and madness features a tour de force performance by Chistian "Batman" Bale who lost one-third of his already lean body weight to play his frightening role. A year of insomnia is driving him over the industrial edge with Michael Ironside and Jennifer Jason Leigh along for his excrutiating, emaciated plunge. The Ohio Premiere of The Last Horror Movie - Not much is known about this movie other than a video rental lures victims into the nightmare world of a serial killer in this graphically violent shocker from jolly old England. The other films that round out the festival include:  Deep Red - Italian horror auteur Dario Argento's stylish Grand Guignol set pieces puncuate David Hemming's desperate pursuit of a serial killer. With the director's lovely wife Daria Nicolodi and a classic score from Goblin.Cannibal Holocaust - A disgusting Blair Witch style exploitation exercise for the gore hounds which centers on supposedly found footage of an American mondo film crew who provoked a jungle tribe to commit atrocities and found themselves on the menu. The Incredible Two Headed Translplant - This drive-in fodder from AIP features mad doctor Bruce Dern who grafts the head of a homicidal maniac onto a mentally challenged handyman. The Munsters' Pat Priest and radio's boy wonder himself, Casey Kasem, are along for the rampage. Sing along to the theme song, "It's Incredible!" and finally...  The Return of the The Living Dead - "Brains!" they scream while the punks party in the cemetery and toxic waste oozes all about. The Damned, The Cramps and Roky Erikson wail through the proceedings. Dan O'Bannon's E.C. Comics - influenced branch of the living dead franchise is at once hilarious and frightening and features Clu Gulager and Linnea Quigley.Along with the traditional costume and "scream" contests there will be live music provided by 16 Bitch Pile-Up, a Columbus cover band known for their "psychotic sledgehammer of sound". Also expect the horror marathon traditional short favorites, Night of the Living Bread, Loaf, Another Bread Film and Sandwich. Tickets are still available now, $16 advance or $20 at the door this Saturday night. Though I'm expecting it will sell out so hurry since seats are limited. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets check out the The Drexel Grandview Theatre's official website. You'll be too scared to sleep and too tired to scream! See you Saturday night! -Joe Recent Columns:
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