Sean and I hit a
karmic wall in 1982. I am happy to say we had a warm reunion at the time of
the 25th Anniversary celebration.
3) Along with A Stranger is Watching, Friday the 13th is one of the
only horror films on your resume. Are you a fan of the horror genre at all? |
I am not really a fan of the
horror genre. I scare far too easily. In 1946 I ran screaming from the
screening of "The Seven Keys to Baldpate" at the Green Cove Springs Naval
Base. That film was a horror comedy and, by present standards, is right up
there with Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy..
4) When is the last time
you’ve seen the film, and how do you think it holds up to today’s releases?
I have seen the film two or three times in the last couple of years. I still
think it is what Sean and I wanted to make: a damn scary roller coaster ride.
But I think today's films are hipper, more ironic, more self-referential. I
think my demographic is TiVo-ing Law & Order SVU.
5) There seems to be some
controversy surrounding the actual background of Jason. When writing the
script, did you see him in your mind as the deformed, mongoloid child that
appears onscreen?
|
Jason was, when alive, a
slightly retarded kid. He wasn't a deformed creature from the Black Lagoon,
but that's how movies are made. I don't think the ending would have been as
good if he were a cute blonde kid who looked like Betsy Palmer at 8 years old,
do you? Tom Savini's magic made that shot horrifying and we are all the
beneficiaries. 6)
Apparently, there were some uncredited rewites to the script by Ron Kurz. As a
writer, how does it feel to have your script changed, and see something
onscreen that you didn’t write? Is it personal, or does it come with the
territory on such a collaborative effort as filmmaking?
Read Eleanor Perry's Novel,
BLUE PAGES, about her time in Hollywood. She quotes an overhearing in The
Beverly Hills Hotel: "Writers are the women of the film industry."
7) How much of an
influence was John Carpenter’s Halloween when you first sat down to write
Friday the 13th? |
If it weren't for John
Carpenter and Debra Hill's teaching me the structure of the 1980 hit horror
movie, you wouldn't be interviewing me right now. I have always credited that
film as my model and I thank them for making it so accessible.
8) As an Emmy-winning soap opera writer, how do people react when they find
out you wrote one of the most popular slasher films of all time?
We both laugh. In actuality, though I love daytime and it has been wonderful
to me and my family, I would rather have written with the Zucker Brothers. The
interior of my brain is more AIRPLANE than CRYSTAL LAKE or PINE VALLEY.
9) The first film was a straight forward revenge story, ending with the
decapitation of Mrs. Voorhees by the lake. While I’m a fan of the series,
it’s pretty obvious that the original story ended there. Having Jason actually
alive and killing in parts 2 and onward requires a total lack of reality to
the proceedings if it were to be believed at all. How do you feel about that?
|
The magic of my script is
that THE MOTHER DID IT! Mrs. Voorhees takes apple pie and James Macneil's
Whistler and stands them on their head.
10) Over the years, many writers did scripts and/or rewrites for the films and
some actually had their names removed or used a pseudonym for the credits.
How do you feel about having your name attached to the Friday the 13th
franchise?The same way
Barry Bonds must feel when he hits one into McCovey Cove.
|
11) 25 years and hundreds
of millions of dollars later, did you have any idea that Friday the 13th
would achieve such a level of notoriety?
Are you kidding? A few months before Friday opened I was trying to sell my
blood to feed my family. Sean and I had done two movies that made squat. There
were long odds against us. |
12) What’s next for
Victor Miller?
I'm going to open a
Salvadorian restaurant and gain 300 pounds. 13) Any last words for the fans reading this interview?
|
Read Eleanor Perry. And
learn. |
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