söndag 27 september 2009

Interview with David Hess



Keep repeating to yourself: he is only an actor, he is only an actor, he is only an actor…

The most dangerous actor ever committed to celloluid, David Hess speaks!

Interview by Christer Persson

You think Brad Pitt is a badass in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS? Or wait! You thought that John Lithgow was scary in RAISING CAINE or you might even have thought that Robert De Niro was really naughty in CAPE FEAR? Let me tell you, there is a guy that are scarier, more bad-ass and more naughty than all of them tied together on a stick… his name is David Hess! And when he´ll tell you to piss you pants, you better do it right away!

Or wait… was that the characters he played? David Hess has been cast as a badass in movies since that infamous LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT got people repeat to themselves that it was only a movie. The sheer presence of Hess in movies since then sort of makes you really dislike the guy. He has played bad guys in AUTOSTOP ROSSO SANGUE, THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK and SWAMP THING. Of course, there is more to the story. Do you for instance know that he has a couple of Grammy awards at home? Did you know that he wrote the hitsong Speedy Gonzales and even wrote a tune for that guy from Memphis…what´s-his-name… Elvis Presley?
So, what more is there? Mr. David Hess was kind enough to answer a few questions for you to find out!



















Christer: You are most famous for your character Krug, from Wes Cravens classic LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. A film that was influential to many of the violent movies of the seventies. Today there is a new wave of these violent and misogynic movies (and remakes as you most certainly know) what do you think is the main difference between the older movies and the new ones?

David: More Hollywood control, more interest in the all mighty buck and less interest in making a movie. Hard to repeat something that's seminal to begin with!

Christer: AUTOSTOP ROSSO SANGUE, in which you played against Corinne Clery and Franco Nero, is a very special and well made movie. What do you think makes it so special that it even today finds new fans?

David: It's an ensemble work and in order to work trust is the most important element. We all loved each other and because of that were able to dig down into that untapped part of who we all are at root level.



Christer: One of the funniest roles you’ve made is in Ruggero Deodato´s BODYCOUNT, which is a sort of FRIDAY THE 13:TH rip-off. It seems like you had a lot of fun on the set with Mimsy Farmer and Charles Napier. Was Ruggero Deodato a more relaxed director than when you were making HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK?

David: Not really! Ruggie is always pretty intense and the consummate perfectionist. He had problems with english early on in his career, so the producers asked me to direct the english ensemble part of the movie, but we worked together and we have remained friends to this day.

Christer: Is it a different spirit in today’s “up and coming” filmmakers, than the spirit filmmakers, for instance Wes Craven, had in the early seventies?

David: I don't know if it's much different, but there are so many more things available. The computer editing systems for one. Better special effects, blue screen techniques etc. We had to work from film and be able to visualize everything right through to the final print. Now with the new equipment, it makes covering mistakes much easier and maybe that's made the new breed of directors a little lazy and somewhat careless. But a good filmmaker will always be a good filmmaker and a good story is just that! As for Wes, I think he got caught in a time warp because of his early success and never really overcame his reputation as a B horror film director. He's better than his films!

Christer: What do you want to be remembered for, when you (god forbid!) pass over to the other side? Your music, your acting or do you have something else up your sleeve that I don´t know of?

David: My essence is music. That's what I've always been about! Everything I do from writing to acting to directing has a musical base. When I act I think in musical terms as do I when I write. I'm at my happiest when I'm composing or performing whether on stage or in a recording studio. Without my songs I'd be a shell of man. My music is what keeps me alive.

Christer: Does people get surprised when they find out that you’re musician and not only that, that you also is a Grammy award winner?

David: A little bit. It's always interesting to see their reactions when they find out I'm more than just KRUG from LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

Christer: What movie that you have starred in, are you most proud of?

David: Hard to say? I think that the last film I did...SMASH CUT, is pretty interesting, but I'm not much of a self rater. I let the work do my talking...but I must say that the 'trilogy', ending with AUTOSTOP ROSSO SANGUE was as good as it gets.



Christer: Is there anything (apart from this interview) you really regret doing or not doing in your time in show business?

David: I would like to have done more Broadway. I turned down a lot of musicals, for what ever reasons and then the offers just stopped. Singing and acting on Broadway would have been a high point, but I have a wonderful family and that, too, is a high point. Most importantly is not what we regret not doing, but that we live with the choices we make.

Christer: The final question is the one I ask every prominent interviewee: What is the meaning of life?

David: That answer would take knowing the meaning of not-life. Maybe the Buddist have it right in the end. The striving for Samadhi...cleansing one’s mind of all thought, is the answer. I just don't know, but then that's a good definition of life, also.
















Make sure to check out Davids website: http://www.davidhess.com/

måndag 14 september 2009



From psychopathic to ecclesiastic!
An interview with the former bad boy of Italian horror cinema, John Morghen!
av Christer Persson

John Morghen, or Giovanni Lombardo Radice if you will, is one actor whose characters always seemed to get into a lot of trouble. Perhaps he was type casted a lot, but there wasn´t many other actors had could portray these characters in such a vivid way that John, or Johnny as he prefers to be called, did. I remember seeing that famous drill scene from City of the living dead over and over again, looked in amazement over the giant hole he got in his stomach in Cannibal Apokalypse, cringed when his private parts was cut off in Cannibal Ferox, rooted for his character Ricky in House at the edge of the park and enjoyed his portrayal of the homosexual Brett in Stage fright. But Johnny has done so much more than these low budget shockers.
Because Johnny is multilingual, he has no problems to work in either Italian, French or English productions. He has proven his talents by appearing in various stage plays, drama movies and directing operas among other things. If the eighties was his way up to stardom, the last decade has been a lot more profitable for him with big budget teveseries and the remake of The Omen which has made him a star. Heeeeere´s Johnny!


1. Even though movies like House at the edge of the park, Cannibal Apocalypse, Cannibal Ferox, City Of The Living Dead and Stage Fright were made long ago, it seems like having a life of their own. Do you feel intimidated that so many remember you from these kinds of movies? And is it weird to be recognized even in a small cold country as Sweden?

At the beginning, some years ago, when I found out that my old movies had so many fans I was quite surprised. By now I got used to it and accepted this fact with pleasure, because it’s always good to be liked and remembered even by young people who weren’t even born when those movies were shot.


J
John and David Hess in The house at the edge of the park

2. Many of the roles that you played, especially in the eighties, often ended in gruesome deaths. Was it a conscience choice to accept these roles, or was it the only roles offered to you?

Italian directors do not have a great amount of fantasy. I started with a thriller (House At The Edge Of The Park) with a crazy neurotic kind of character and was typecast as such. I did what they offered me and never hid the fact that horror movies are not the ones I prefer. But I always tried to do my best and treated the scripts as if they were by Shakespeare (a bit hard at times…). Later on I was called for different things, but mainly for TV productions (most generally European fiction shot in English). So I also had fun with Middle Ages sagas or the Bible. But I am aware that my popularity stills come from the horror movies.

3. Which movie was the worst experience to appear in and which one has been the best?

Cannibal Ferox was an atrocious movie. I hated it from the beginning. I accepted it only because I needed the money and regretted afterwards because of the pointless and stupid racist violence in it. Surely the only one movie I am ashamed of and the most difficult and hard to shoot, because of the locations in the jungle, and the continual shouting by the director (he wasn’t shouting at me, but it was enervating all the same).
The best- even watching it back after almost thirty years- was Cannibal Apocalypse, because director Antonio Margheriti was a real gentleman and an enchanting person and I liked the character of Charlie Bukowski very much.



John in a mindopening scene from Cannibal Ferox

4. My all time favourite film with you, as the gay actor Brett, is Michele Soavi´s Stage Fright. You gave a great and memorable performance in that one. Do you have any fun memories from that set?

Shooting was hard because it was a very low budget movie, but we were all quite enthusiastic about being there because of the passion Michele Soavi was putting in the movie (his first one). I was a great friend of his since we had met whilst shooting Lucio Fulci’s Gates Of Hell and so I was very eager to give him my best. Furthermore I liked the role, because it was the first “funny” role I was offered and on stage I have a reputation for being a pretty good comedy actor. Michele gave me the freedom to improvise and I remember funny bitching dialogues with Mary Sellers.

The famous drillscene from Fulci´s City of the living Dead (a.k.a Gates of Hell)

5. You also work as a screenwriter, appear in stage plays, television series, translate plays and have directed some operas. What do you enjoy the most? And how do you find the energy and motivation?

Well… money is always a very good motivation, but this apart I always put a lot of energy in whatever I do and I like to change because I bore easily. The work as screenwriter is surely the one I liked the less, because I was writing mostly for TV series and when you do that your freedom as a writer is very limited. I love the stage and miss it terribly if I am not playing for a while and I adore the movies, because of the electric atmosphere on set, the rush, the sense of adventure, exotic locations. I am a bit of a gipsy actually, so the movies tribe is really the kind of company apt for me. Translating is a quiet, homely work that I do a lot, because I can do it wherever and I think I am pretty good at it. I translate plays and to do that, in my opinion, you must have an actor’s “ear”, the immediate feeling that a line sounds right or wrong.


6. Since many of the movies made were produced on a moderate budget, was it some special connection among the actors? Do you have contact with any of the old colleagues?

I got along very well with many actors whilst shooting, but afterwards I kept in touch with very few. I am in touch with David Hess and love him a lot and I had recently the pleasure of being to some conventions with Catriona McCall, who’s really a charming and sweet person. I occasionally meet in Rome Antonella Interlenghi (still beautiful as a rose) and, as for the directors I am in touch with Deodato and of course Soavi.

7. Soavi´s visually stunning The Church marked a turning point for your acting; you played a priest for the first time, which you also portrayed in the remake of The Omen. Do you think with age your appearance changed from rebellious punk, to a more serene confident look?

You only mention the Omen, but as a matter of fact I had a brilliant Ecclesiastic career since The Church, because I was promoted Cardinal in a Luigi Magni Tv movie (La Notte Di Pasquino) and then I was pope Pius XII in another Italian TV movie. And I fondly remember the other priest I played with Deodato in another movie I did with him – Can’t remember the English title – because my partner was Michael York and he was absolutely terrific. A real thrill. (The movie is called Phantom of Death)

As for my appearance… I really don’t know. They keep calling me mostly for bad guys, but probably age gave me a subtler quality of evilness, as it happens with father Spiletto in the Omen.

John as father Spiletto


8. Martin Scorsese´s Gangs of New York also featured you in a little role, how did you get that part?

I wouldn’t really call it a role. It was almost an extra job, even if I was paid as an actor and stayed on set for one week. In the original script the actors playing Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a few lines, but they were cut before shooting because of the considerable length of the movie. At that point my agent didn’t want me to do it, but I insisted because I was curious about the huge reconstruction of the Nineteen Century New York, the big cast and the importance of the movie. To me it was fun, but if you blink an eye you wouldn’t know I was there. So I don’t even put it in my curriculum.

9. Since you work on several continents and in different languages, what’s the biggest difference from Italian filmmaking from, let’s say, American?

Money and fantasy, strongly related one to the other. American directors generally work with big budgets and they can have whatever they ask and take their time for special effects or difficult scenes. Italian directors, most especially the horror ones I worked with, worked with little money and thus had to stimulate their fantasy to realise the sequences they had in mind. And as for that the Italian crews are incredibly good. They can do whatever out of a string and a piece of wood. And at times it’s more fun to be on a low budget movie set than on a rich one (salary apart, of course…)

10. If you get to show your fans one movie you have made from each decade, the seventies, eighties, nineties and the new millennia, which ones would you choose?

In the Seventies I wasn’t yet in the movies. My first movie (House At The Edge Of The Park) was shot at the end of 1979 and released in 1980. So I’ll name two for the Eighties and they are House At The Edge Of The Park and Cannibal Apocalypse. As for the Nineties I would say the TV mini-series The Heart And The Sword (directed by Fabrizio Costa) and for the new millennia the Bible episode about Saint Paul in which I was the cruel king Herod Agrippa.

John in Cannibal Apokalypse

11. The final question is the one I ask to every prominent person interviewed. Mr. Morghen, What is the meaning of life?

A hard one… I’ll answer you with a quote from Life Is A Dream by the Seventeen Century Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca: “But whether this might be reality or a dream, only one thing matters: to behave well. If it’s reality because it is and otherwise to find friends for the awakening moment”

For those who wonder what ecclesiastic means:
ecclesiastic –noun
1. a member of the clergy or other person in religious orders.
2. a member of the ecclesia in ancient Athens.

Also check out Johns´webbpage: http://www.giovannilombardoradice.com/