November 16, 2005

HATCHET director Adam Green gave Fango some exclusive comments on his new film SPIRAL, which begins shooting November 29. The dramatic thriller will star HATCHET’s Joel Moore, Amber (THE RING) Tamblyn and Zachary (LESS THAN PERFECT) Levi. Green will co-direct with Moore, from a script Moore co-wrote with Jeremy Danial. The story, per SPIRAL’s official log line: “A reclusive artist finds new life in the eyes of his latest subject, but the past that haunts him may come to haunt her as well.”

“After bonding through the making of HATCHET together, Joel and I have become very good friends, and I know that he and I are going to deliver something great with this one,” Green says. “SPIRAL [no relation to the Japanese chiller of the same title] is a total 180-degree turn for me after doing something as horrifically violent and fun as HATCHET, so I’m privileged to have the opportunity to be involved in such a huge way with it. What attracted me to the project is that it’s a character-driven piece that is fully scored with jazz, yet it also has genuinely spine-tingling moments. Those are things you don’t always get together in the same film. It’s different, and I love it.”

Moore and Green will lens SPIRAL on a compressed 18-day shoot—wrapping on Christmas Eve, no less. The Starz cable network will be following the production for a “Making of” special set to air in January. “With how quickly this whole thing is coming together, SPIRAL will probably be out before HATCHET,” says Green, who rehired his HATCHET camera crew for the new film. “With only 18 days budgeted, SPIRAL is going to be a huge challenge. You can’t exactly light for an entire scene that is a 360-degree Steadicam shot inside a practical set very quickly, you know? But the whole team of producers is supporting Joel and I. We are challenging ourselves with this film. We don’t agree on the suspenseful moments until we’re both literally clapping over what we’re going to do. That’s another huge thing. HATCHET was very in-your-face and straightforward. SPIRAL focuses way more on the suspense.”

Green hasn’t had time for a breather between his two fright flicks. “Though I still haven’t taken a day off from HATCHET, I can tell you that SPIRAL could not have happened at a better time for me as a filmmaker,” he tells Fango. “I had been going back and forth in my head as to what my next project should be, and the one thing I was sure of was that I wanted to step in a different direction from HATCHET for a bit. As everyone knows, sometimes it can be hard for a horror director to get opportunities outside of the genre, so the next film is always a big choice. With HATCHET being as violent, gory and over-the-top as it is, I had to make a good decision on what sort of film I chose to do next. I mean, HATCHET is my love letter to the ’80s slasher films, but it’s certainly not the only type of film I want to make. So I’ve been developing in other areas.”

Those “other areas” will include laughs as well as screams. Green is currently developing a comedy with Terra Firmer Films (the producers of the AMERICAN PIE series), and he also plans to shoot the humorous GOD ONLY KNOWS next year too. Scares come first, however. “When I read the script for SPIRAL and Joel approached me about co-directing it with him, I was thrilled,” he notes. “This is something that is not only completely different from HATCHET in tone, but it’s also completely different cinematically. As much as the term ‘art-house’ makes me gag, there is nothing about SPIRAL that is going to be like a regular everyday thriller. It’s going to feel different. The shots and angles that Moore and I have come up with together skew away from anything traditional.”

Green adds that he derives much of the pleasure from directing when he gets to work with accomplished actors. SPIRAL will also offer the two helmers a few unique scenarios. “One of the things I am most proud of with HATCHET are the performances,” he notes. “I hope when people see it, they’ll notice that the actors and I went at the characters a bit more seriously than you typically see in a ‘slasher’ film. You actually…like them. Whereas HATCHET was an ensemble cast, SPIRAL is just three main characters. So the time and room that I’ll get to shape the performances on set will be way more than I ever had on HATCHET.

“The co-directing thing can be troublesome for some people,” he continues. “Typically, I would not sign on to something like that. But with Joel there is not a concern in the world. He and I have so much respect for each other as creatives that it’s only helping the process. This is an intimate crew and an intimate group. Everyone’s here because they want to be here, and everyone involved has a lot to bring to the table. How Joel and I are going to be able to contain all of this enthusiasm into one little 18-day shoot, I have no idea. But we’re up for the challenge.”

Speaking of HATCHET, when will fans get to see the retro stalker film? “It’s done, it’s great and it’s out of my hands,” Green says. “If I could have it my way, I’d show HATCHET to the world tomorrow. But there’s a whole business aspect to it that dictates otherwise. Even though they already have theatrical offers on the table, the sales reps are not going to show anyone anything for a while still. I wish I understood why it works like that, but I just make movies, I don’t sell them. I’ll leave it to the professionals. Things look great for Victor Crowley, though, and you’ll all meet him in 2006. I can assure you that much. But for now, it’s on to the next one.” —Tony Timpone

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