Patrick Lussier Talks My Bloody Valentine 3D

So you guys ended up getting the R rating without any real problems. Were you at all concerned?

Well, with any R rated film it's a thing right? You're wanting to make sure that you're leaning over the edge but not falling into it.

It appears that filmmakers today are getting away with a lot more with that R rating than they did in the 90's. Any thoughts on that?

I think it all depends on who you are and who you work for. Certainly "Lord of the Rings" has beheadings and flying heads flying over walls and they get a PG13. So you know, there seems to be not a lot of rhyme or reason across the board.

Are you suggesting that there might be some politics involved? (laughs)

I wouldn't know anything about that (laughs).

So how did you get involved with "My Bloody Valentine"?

Well I was editing "The Eye" over at Lions Gate and met with the producers who were in the process of acquiring the rights from Paramount to remake [the film], and we were talking about it, and [my] first reaction was "wasn't that the movie where someone gets killed with wiener water? (laughs) .

Then they started talking to me more, and we started talking about the script and the story and it actually became pretty provocative. There's a lot of really cool horrific elements to bring out. The thing I remember most about the original film is that it had an amazing iconic killer. Having edited the "Scream" movies and "Halloween H20", I was very aware of the power of an iconic killer.

So you were familiar with the original film before this then?

Ya, back in the 80's I worked in a video store so I had seen it for free (laughs). and being originally from Canada it was a tried and true Canadian content film... With all the Moosehead beer and everything like that in it. So we were all very aware of it in high school.

So there was some pride in the film for you, being a Canadian? (laughs)

Aaaaahhhh.. i'm not sure a lot of people would say that the original is a great source of national pride, but why not, ya sure (laughs).

It seems like a pretty obscure film as far as the mainstream goes, whose idea was it to remake it?

All the credit goes to Mike Paseornek over at Lions Gate. He's a fantastic supporter of the genre. He was involved in the original film, he was one of the executives working on it at a studio level. So it had been on his radar since it was made to eventually do a remake. I think when they got "The Eye" from paramount, he thought hey here's an opportunity with this joint venture to perhaps bring MBV over to Lions Gate and give it the remake that it deserves.

So then you guys went out and got Todd Farmer to write it, who I know is also a massive genre fan. How did that come about?

Todd and I have been friends for years. We met at the end of "Darkness Falls", which I was a visual consultant on. You can assume that is whatever it is... and Todd and I worked on "Scarecrow", which was ultimately made as "The Messengers" without me. So we spent about 5 months on that project and became close friends, and had been looking to work together after that. As I read the first couple drafts of Valentine, which had a couple really promising things in them, it needed somebody with a lot more experience to really drive that home.

Todd was the first and foremost that came to mind, as he really knew how to nail the small town dynamics that this story would have. this kind of "Scream meets Twin Peaks" vibe that we were going to go for. He did an excellent job bringing out the story and fleshing out the script and really making it all come together.

Plus, he's a HUGE horror fan. We'll sit there and have encyclopedic conversations about horror, and then we'll have convo after convo about how you kill somebody (laughs). I'm sure we're probably on several government watch lists.

"Scream meets Twin Peaks"? That's a pretty bold statement.

Yeah. It's certainly an observation a lot of people have made when we've showed it to them. People watch it expecting to see a really fun slasher movie and as it unfolds they realize not only are they getting that, but they're getting something else on top of it... A story with some very rich characters and some very dark undertones that were in both of those films.

We really were going for that, to create an environment that wasn't just how many teenagers can we kill with a pick-axe, but to have a real story to hook you into it. That was a vital component for us... Then of course Todd and I had to figure out how many amazing ways you can kill someone with a pick-axe. (laughs)

Okay, so you had all of these personnel and story elements in place... how did this huge decision to go 3D come about?

It came from Mike at Lions Gate. They had been talking about doing a 3D film, and we were one of the next ones on the docket. They had worked with me and my director of photography on "The Eye", and we became a natural choice because we had a good technical background. So we started saying lets figure it out and they set up various meetings with some 3D companies, and as we started doing it we began to realize that not only was it a viable approach for the film, but with this particular story, it worked perfect.

3D is all about selling depth and claustrophobia. There's a reason "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was done in 3D. There's something about the confined space of the caves and seeing long vanishing point lines... where you have dimensional space all around you. So what kind of maybe was chosen initially as a lark, it became the perfect choice.

Horror films have a pretty mixed track record when it comes to 3D. Will we be seeing any popping eyeballs like in "Friday the 13th Part 3D"?

Will you see any eyeballs? Wouldn't we be remiss if you didn't? (laughs) I will say we may have something like that, and we may have a lot more "oh my" moments that can go into the 3D slasher movie canon.

Which leads me to my next question, will we be seeing more practical or CG effects?

Much more practical. We have some really great CG augmentation of some great practical effects that were done by Gary Tunnicliffe. Our goal was to live up to the title of the film, and do a lot of practical elements wherever we could, and by virtue of that, Gary created some of his best work in any film I think he's ever worked on. Some really spectacular... "I swear that was the actor in front of me and I can't believe you just ripped that part off of him" kind of stuff. (laughs)

So how did you end up with Tom Atkins in the film? He's got quite the cult following amongst fans of 80's horror.

It was a combination of things. The horror-thriller writer Tom Picarelli and I are really good friends and we were going to Pittsburgh. He had met Tom Atkins at a convention there and he said that Tom lives in Pittsburgh and we should look him up. I was like "oh my god we have to find him right away!" So we ended up talking to Pittsburgh casting, and they were surprised we knew who he was. So we set up a meeting and met and interestingly he and I hit it off, absolutely adored him, and he said he'd love to do it.

One of the parts in the film we ended up augmenting, and making it bigger specifically for him. He was perfect for the film. He added such a great weight to the story, and such a richness to his character. Plus he is the sweetest guy to work with, and we had a great time with him. There's 10 major leading roles, and it's definitely one of those roles. He plays the Sheriff in the opening sequence and then has several scenes 10 years later as events renew.

So does he still have the mustache?

Absolutely! [I had] an amazing shock of "oh my god i can't believe he has such great hair". Tom Atkins is the silver fox.

So now that we're getting closer to the release, do you have a feel for the picture?

It feels like a very tight, incredibly suspenseful thrillride. [I'm] absolutely thrilled at how exciting the movie is. How the mystery unfolds and how you feel the story accelerating, and the trap that the characters are caught in getting tighter and tighter as the movie goes on.

And how does the 3D feel?

We worked with [a guy] from a great 3D company called Paradise FX, who had been around 3D for a long time and knows an incredible amount about the evolution of 3D. When we showed him the film put together, he turned around and said "this is the movie I've been waiting my entire life to make"

So if it's successful, do you think we'll be seeing a sequel?

Umm... sure. I think I'd be lying if I said Todd and I haven't had several conversations about it. (laughs) You know one of the things that we've really enjoyed in this process was the fact that we had such a great cast, and that there is such an amazingly iconic villain. Both of those things entice Todd and I tremendously. If we were to be so lucky, knock on wood, by all means we would love to be considered for that.

Is there somewhere that the story can go?

Oh yeah. (laughs)

That's all you're going to tell me isn't it...

Oh yeah. (laughs)

(laughs). Well alright then, just one more question. Any thoughts on the "Friday the 13th" remake kind of stealing your thunder with the Valentine's Day release?

I don't really know anything about it. Marcus Nispel's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" revisiting was actually really well made. So I'm curious to see it and curious to see it and what they've done with the character. I was really lucky to work with Derek Mears a few years ago, and he's a great performer and he'll bring an incredible amount to that character.