Tom Savini
Tom Savini is the undisputed King of Horror. In addition to doing effects in such films as Friday the 13th, Day of the Dead and Monkey Shines, he also acted in Dawn of the Dead, The Ripper and From Dusk Till Dawn. He has now moved on to Directing films like Night of the Living Dead (the remake), Claustrophobia, and the upcoming, Vampirates.
My girlfriend at the time and I ran into Tom at the NY Fango-Con, and he agreed to be interviewed. Of course, had I known how the interview would turn out, I probably would have skipped it.
Please note that this interview was done about a week after Titanic opened.
Spat: How've you been, tom?
Tom Savini: Is that past tense?
S: Actually, it's a small fight. And a baby oyster.
TS: Seen Titanic? I have seen it 8 times.
S: Tom, do you have to mention the Titanic in every conversation? Are they paying you or something?
TS: No, no, no, it is the greatest love story ever. Spat, maybe it's question time
S: If you're up to it?
TS: Lets try one. Ask me now or never
S: Okay, here goes: Did you have any formal training in special effects, or did you gain all of your experience from apprenticeships?
TS: Frustration
S: Is that your answer?
TS: I, like most of the make up artists working today, over 30, are self taught. When I was learning, no one shared secrets.
S: Have you ever done an effect that was so good that after the scene was shot, even you were amazed at how well it worked?
TS: I try to make them all like that.
S: But was there one that amazed even you? That you thought would never work?
TS: If I don't get the same feeling I got seeing the real thing in Vietnam, it is not real enough for me to present in a film.
S: Good answer. Has there ever been an effect done in a movie that was not one of yours that you couldn't believe was possible? Something that you couldn't even do? Not counting computerized ones.
TS: Probably the faceless, brain exposed thing in Day of the Dead.
S: Do you think that computer generated effects will ever supplant latex and gore in horror films?
TS: Yes. They already do
S: For real? You think the days of the FX artist are numbered?
TS: Yes.
S: You make a living scaring the hell out of people, what scares you?
TS: Spiders and razor blades
S: Have you seen the Alien Autopsy video?
TS: Well, this brainless thing fooled Dick Smith, the god of make up, he had to call me and ask how I did it. He even wrote about it in the introduction of my last book.
S: So, you're saying you did it?
TS: Alien Autopsy was done by Gordon Smith.
S: Stan Winston, another great in the FX biz, was actually quoted as saying that the video had to be real because special effects could not recreate what was done in the documentary. How much do you think they had to pay him to say that? Or do you think he really believe that?
TS: He doesn't need to be paid.
S: True.
TS: Those effects can easily be done, maybe he's been doing too many big monsters lately. I have done all of the things he said couldn't be done. We are training audiences to accept such crap. Look at Scream.
S: Tell us again why you hate Scream so much.
TS: Stupidity. My 12 year old daughter could have made that movie
S: And probably better.
TS: It could be funny, but when your an independent filmmaker trying to get a project off the ground, and you see what they are green lighting, it's frustrating.
S: If you could stage your own death as a special effect, how would you do it?
TS: Wait a minute, I was being profound. A molecular disrupter.
S: Okay, next question... Has anyone ever mistaken your love for gore with necrophelia?
TS: I don't have a love for gore, but obviously you, and many others think so. I simply take a script and create what is in it realistically as possible.
S: So, you're not a horror fan yourself? Or just not a gore fiend?
TS: No, I am a huge horror fan but that doesn't mean gore. Or rather just gore.
S: Got it. Do you let you daughter watch the films you make? Do you think it affects them to see that kind of gore, or are they used to it now?
TS: My daughter is hip and knows what is going on.
S: She understands that it's fake?
TS: If you were to sit next to her in a theatre you would hear her ask, "is that a blue screen, foam latex or gelatin, yak hair or human?"
S: Cool kid. Do you think that horror films and violence on TV cause people to become violent themselves, or does it desensitize them to the violence around them?
TS: I think it defuses it.
S: What did you dress as for Halloween this year?
TS: I was too busy making up others.
S: Who do you think is the best FX guy working in film right now (with the exception of yourself, of course)?
TS: Rick Baker.
S: He is really good.
TS: Next to Dick Smith.
S: Any particular effect of his you really like?
TS: Yes.
S: The creatures, or the apes?
TS: Nutty Professor.
S: Do you prefer big budget Hollywood films, or low budget independent ones?
TS: Depends on the film, don't forget TITANIC.
S: Had to mention it again....
TS: Titanic, Titanic, TITANIC, TITANIC, TITANIC. Can you draw a sword?
S: I can draw flies if I don't shower for a while. Yes, I could draw a sword if I had one nearby.
TS: .neercs siht dniheb deppart ma I .pleH
S: Up the dosage.
TS: Sorry, acid flashback
S: S'okay.
TS: Let's continue
S: Once and for all, what caused the dead to rise in the Living Dead films?
TS: George Romero.
S: Besides George Romero?
TS: His typewriter.
S: You got me on a technicality. In From Dusk Till Dawn, everyone that turns into a vampire eventually turns into a bat, except for you. You turn into a giant rat. Why is that?
TS: I turned into a rat because Howard Berger of KNB bit me.
S: He's a rat?
TS: Must be.
S: Are you planning to make, or remake any more Living Dead films?
TS: Brunch of the Dead.
S: Starring...?
TS: Alice Cooper, and the Rolling Stones. Sorry another acid flashback. Actually, I have only done it once, and it was horrible.
S: Well, speaking of the rockstars, tell us about your upcoming role as Blackbeard.
TS: I am shooting a film this summer in St. Thomas called VAMPIRATES.
S: Tell us about Vampirates.
TS: I love you…, let's call ourselves THE SECRET SOCIETY, and meet here often.
S: You're avoiding the question.
TS: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
S: Someone needs a time out.
TS: I think I fucked up with these z's. Okay, here it comes. Vampirates. In a nutshell. Okay. Blackbeard.
S: I'm going to the next question.
TS: Dies a horribly historically accurate death.
S: Oh, here it comes.
TS: Are you ready yet?
S: Yes, and waiting patiently.
TS: Most fun I have had all day.
S: Glad I could amuse you.
TS: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry.
S: Tell us a little about your new film, Claustrophobia. What's it About?
TS: (Claustrophobia) Is Dead Calm in a cave.
S: We hear that you are working on the sequel of From Dusk Till Dawn. Is it really a prequel? Are you reprising your role as Sex Machine? Who else is working on it? What is it about (besides vampires)?
TS: Vampires.......hmmmmm......that reminds me of a film called VAMPIRATES.
S: No such movie, doesn't exist. Oh god, kill me now. Death, where is thy sting?
TS: Okay, seriously. I am not involved with the sequels and prequel. They are going right to video and I hear they are not very good.
S: So, Blackbeard dies, a voodoo priestess revives him and his crew, they sail off and live in a cave somewhere for a hundred years...
TS: Wait a minute, you know all about VAMPIRATES. You asked me at the Convention.
S: Yeah, but I need you to say it for the interview!!
TS: Sorry. Ok, ask.
S: So, what's Vampirates about?
TS: Okay, give me a minute, then voila.
S: La la la la.
TS: Smoke if you got 'em.
S: Way ahead of you.
TS: Blackbeard the pirate dies an historically accurate death, he was shot and stabbed about 30 times. The film will begin with this scene. Then a voodoo princess, oops, did mention he was beheaded? Well he was. Then the princess cuts down his head and sews it back on, breathing life into him again. He , I mean they, raise up the crew, and sail away. Two hundred years later, they have settled in modern day St. Thomas and feed, as Vampirates, off the living, from underwater caves.. They are underwater Vampires. So there. Now, I am going to search for a cigarette, was it good for you?
S: It was great. Worth the wait. And who are the other pirates?
TS: The other pirates when I return
S: You're not going out to the store, are you? I think I feel an ulcer coming on. Tom, still there? Or still searching for that smoke?
TS: I went upstairs to find a cigarette, and someone was in my kitchen. He turned out to be a spy, so naturally I had to take him to Washington. On the train he caught me off guard and knocked me out. When I woke up I was bound hand and foot, and had to crawl all the way back here. Sorry.
S: S'okay. But did you get the smoke?
TS: No
S: Too bad. Opinion time: Bill Clinton or Bob Dole? Tom?
TS: V A M P I R A T E S
S: Don't start that again. This is like a bad Marx brothers bit. Tom, Bill or Bob?
TS: Lets write a song using the letters in VAMPIRATES.
S: What does an embolism feel like?
TS: Squishy.
S: I'm seeing spots.
TS: The actors.
S: Yeah, the Pirates.
TS: Were talking to Dean Cain, and that Muldoon guy from Melrose Place and Starship Troopers and Alice Cooper, and Iggy Pop and Adam Ant. Alyssa Milano. Eric Roberts. Michaeal Biehn.
S: For real?
TS: For real
S: Tom, Wes Craven or John Carpenter?
TS: There was a guy in New York tapping on windows with video copies of Titanic.
S: For 5 bucks, right? That was me.
TS: I missed him or I would have bought one.
S: If you'll answer my last few questions, I'll get you a copy and send it to you. For real.
TS: No empty promises.
S: Yeah, I will bribe to get this done.
TS: Promise?
S: Promise, if you'll answer a few more questions.
TS: I want it
S: I'll get it next week and mail it to you. I'm dead serious.
TS: Wait, let me get this straight, you will send me a copy of Titanic, if I answer two more questions?
S: Make it four. Well, three of the four are really part of one question. So, technically, it is two.
TS: I want to know exactly when I will receive it. Fed ex will do.
S: Monday I will be in the city to go to work. There is a guy selling movies on the corner every other day. I'll get one, and mail it the same day.
TS: Wait, I am going to make a cigarette out of pipe tobacco, be right back.
S: AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! You realize, in ten minutes it will be three hours that I've been trying to get you to answer 20 questions? It's been three hours!
TS: Yeah it's like Titanic.
S: Ready Tom?
TS: All members of the SECRET SOCIETY must see TITANIC
S: Seen it. Not as many times as you.
TS: It's my daughter, lovesick for Leonardo DeCaprio. Actually, he's (Leonardo) kind of cute, really.
S: Do you want to get him in the men's room?
TS: Oh shit not again. Here we go.
S: Sorry, couldn't help myself. Tom, you realize that if you don't answer the questions, you don't get the tape.
TS: Deal. Dreaming of Titanic.
S: Uh oh. The tape is slowly being copied over by....The Ripper!
TS: Now you've done it.
S: There go the opening credits.....
TS: I am now forced onto one knee to apologize to the world for the Ripper.
S: There goes Bill Paxton. Bye Bill.
TS: Ask away, Goddammit.
S: Who do you like better, Bill Clinton or Bob Dole?
TS: Who are they?
S: Wes Craven or John Carpenter?
TS: Those two can CENSORED. Don't quote me on that.
S: Stephen King, Clive Barker, or Dean Koontz?
TS: Stephen.
S: Howard Stern or Don Imus?
TS: Stern.
S: And the last question...
TS: Hey, how many questions is that?
S: Hell, I skipped like 7 so far just to speed things up. If you could be any character in the Wizard of Oz, who would you be and why?
TS: I am the man behind the curtain
S: The wonderful Wizard of Oz. Why?
TS: Don't listen to the man behind the curtain.
S: Are you answering, or rambling? Or flashing back?
TS: No, don't you get it. I AM the man behind the curtain, making you believe things that aren't really true.
S: Good answer. Finally.
TS: Do I get the prize?
S: Prize? I have 32 pages of text to edit into 2. And you want a prize?
TS: DO I GET THE PRIZE MONDAY?
S: I'll e-mail you on Monday or Tuesday at the latest when I have the tape so you can tell me where to send it. And I won't copy over it. I promise. Just remember, I can't guarantee the quality of the tape.
TS: No, no, no, no, you promised on Monday, I will deny all answers.
S: Okay, Monday. You drive a hard bargain.
TS: Monday night the SECRET SOCIETY WILL MEET TO SEE IF I HAVE THE TAPE.
S: Well, thank you for the absolutely strangest interview that I've ever even heard of.
TS: You leaving?
S: Yeah, I need sleep. Why?
TS: Well, I must go pick up my daughter from one of those under age clubs, you should see the looks on the guys faces when they see me. They think I am really a vampire or something. I am lucky her friends are afraid of me.
S: Anyway, Tom, thanks for the painfully slow but fun interview.
TS: Good night. See you Monday.
Of course, I was just kidding about buying, and then mailing across State lines, a bootlegged movie. I would never do anything illegal. Honest.
If you'd like more info on Tom Savini, or want to know what he's been up to, click his name, or head to www.savini.com.
Me with Tom at the April Chiller Theatre.
If you have any questions, E-Mail me. Spat@spat-nospam-cave.com
