HDC Idol 2008-09

[missmacabre]

*applause from the audience*

[Roderick Usher]

I'm going to approach all of these like a producer who has heard everything before. I've been in the room with dozens of them on dozens of pitches.

Bwind - The pitch isn't bad, but it isn't terribly good either. Your acting choice was off and material wasn't really suited for Hitchcock.

Cactus - Pretty solid pitch. Good source material. Lovecraft was certainly an unknown back then and discovering him qwuold be quite a coup...but an "unseen force" doesn't sound very cinematic.

Freak - the first and last thing you say (write) are the thing that a producer remembers most. Upi opened tenative and closed with an apology. Negativity reaps negative results. And What piece from Citizen Kane? I'm not really seeing anything here.

Dude - all good choices, but what are YOU bringing to the table? A director needs to steer the ship and have ideas. I'm not seeing any.

Roshiq - excellent job sir. I agree with Neverending that you probably won't be able to neil down Lancaster and Douglas in a horror film, but the idea is exciting and getting a producer excited is the first step in getting a film greenlit. A Lewton/Tourner EVIL DEAD sounds fantastic. Great job!

[bloodrayne]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

- Bloodrayne : It is the year 1955. Universal Pictures have gained a firm foothold based on their monster/iconic horror movies, and Hammer is slowly but surely getting a grasp in the genre. You are an enthusiastic producer with lots of cash, and have the best director of the moment in your pocket. Which movie would you make, and what would be your budget and cast? How will you make your flick saleable with the audiences?

With an unlimited budget, I can do anything I want, so of course I would do something new and exciting...Something that hadn't been done before, that would pique peoples' curiosity...Thanks to the time machine, I have hindsight AND foresight, which should make this so much easier, however having so many perceivable opportunities makes this even more difficult for me because there is so much to choose from.

I have to keep in mind the era, the sensibilities of the time period, and possible negative reactions due to viewer sensitivity at that time.

As much as I LOVE zombies, I'm not sure that a good zombie movie would be made or received as well as when Romero made his, and I also would never want to take away from Romero what was rightly his with Night Of The Living Dead in 1968...THAT was the right time for it, and he did an amazing job.

I feel that any demonic possession related movies would be a bad idea and not received well, because America was still quite religious at that time and it could very well be seen as disrespectful, repulsive, or even blasphemous (The Exorcist hit opposition even in the 70s, when movies were becoming more experimental)

As 'new, exciting and shocking' as I would want my film to be, I would be constrained by the time period...Even in the 60s, as innovative as Herschell Gordon Lewis was, he was banned all over the place...I want my movie to be SEEN, and the 50s just wasn't the time for hardcore gore...So, how do I push the limits without stepping over the line?...That would be my motivation.

In the 50s, creature films and movies that depicted things that were larger than life were quite popular:

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Thing (1951)
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
It Came From Outer Space (1953)
The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
Them (1954)
Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)
Creature with the Atom Brain (1956)
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Fly (1958)
Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman (1958)

Aliens were also beginning to take their own place in the movies...People were constantly reminded how small and powerless we are in the grand scheme of things, with the radio broadcast of War Of The Worlds still fresh in peoples' minds...Playing on those fears was paying off in the horror industry...In 1955, a time of relative peace when people were scantly remembering the end of World War 2, just 10 years before, and Russia wasn't yet a real problem (although the Cold War was just beginning to heat up, and air raid drills were common), we began to look outward to other sources for a possible threat to our human existence and security....And of course, the fear of the unknown would always be mankind's greatest fear.

Taking all of these things into consideration...I would produce a movie that combined all of these elements...A never-before-seen, giant, alien, indefinable, amorphous creature, that I would call THE BLOB!

I would be bringing it to the screen only 3 years sooner than it would have been released, but I think that people would be ready for it, curious and excited about it...Unlike the other classic films already popular by that time (Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, Frankenstein, et al), I would draw in the Horror crowd AND the Sci-Fi crowd, with this amazing combination of both genres.

My unlimited budget would allow for even more spectacular effects than what the original 1958 movie contained, and of course my own personal input would crank it up a notch or two...There would be a higher body count, and more on-screen, up-close kills, with 'melting' skin, and a greater emphasis on the threat of total earth destruction...While still taking viewer sensitivity of the 50s into consideration...Pushing the limits, but not crossing the line...Walking the edge.

For my cast and crew, I must keep Steve McQueen for the lead...It was no accident that he won awards for his role in The Blob...Prior to this movie, Steve McQueen would have only appeared in small parts in the movie Girl On The Run in 1953 and a couple of TV series episodes in 1955, so I believe this would launch his career in greater roles.

As for the other characters, I would most likely keep them the same, except that I would throw in Hume Cronyn for the restaurant owner and Bette Davis for his wife, because I love them both and Hume is always endearing to audiences...They would know him, and be horrified when he died ;)...Also, Bette Davis would HAVE to be in a movie that I made...She would add some element of 'creepiness' to it (as she does with every horror movie she's been in)...There would be hints at possible issues with her sanity throughout the movie, and she would have to experience one of her famous mental breaks (actually flipping out and killing someone herself, blaming them, in a paranoid outburst, for being responsible for the blob - Can't you just SEE that scene and hear her voice as it gradually ascends and builds to that shaky, high-pitched, frenzied shrieking?) before the blob killed her...In one final, stunning actor trade-off, I would convince Vincent Price to be the crazy old man in the beginning, Price does 'crazy' sooo well, and I would never consider doing ANY horror movie without him, while he was alive...He would only be 44 years-old when this film was made, but that's what make-up and good acting is for ;)...Would Price do it? I don't see why not...All that Price was doing in 1955 was a few various TV episodes and a (rather significant) part in Son Of Sinbad...His part in my movie wouldn't take up very much of his time, and he DID add his talents to Michael Jackson's Thriller, so I think he'd humor me...Also, I have lots of money, remember? ;)...Bette Davis and Vincent Price were already quite famous and well-liked by that time, and they would increase my movie's draw exponentially.

As for the director, Irvin S. Yeaworth did a great job, but his 'thing' was religious films (he even worked with Billy Graham) and he was disappointed with The Blob...Yeaworth often struggled with his legacy as director of The Blob (much of which was filmed in his backyard in Pennsylvania), and upon his death, his wife said, "He was not very proud of it"...I want someone who WILL be proud of this movie, and who will love it and remember it with fondness, as I do.

So, my director would be (director and actor) Richard Carlson, who was already quite familiar with Horror AND Sci-fi at the time...After interrupting his career to serve in World War 2, Carlson came home and slowly began to rebuild his career, finding work in the newly emergent science fiction and horror 'B' films of the 1950s...He appeared in a number of horror and science fiction films before 1955, including three 3-D films: The Maze (1953) and the classics, It Came from Outer Space (1953) with Barbara Rush, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) with Julia Adams, and The Magnetic Monster (1954). His success in the genre led him to the director's chair for the 1954 sci-fi film Riders to the Stars, in which he also starred.

The 1950s proved a busy time for Carlson. He also directed in television and documentary films, and he starred in the television series I Led Three Lives from 1953-1956...He was featured in The Helen Morgan Story (1957)...Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans may remember Carlson (now) from the 1960 horror film Tormented...His last film was the Elvis Presley/Mary Tyler Moore film, Change of Habit (1969)...His last acting role was in a television episode of Cannon in 1973.

Carlson would be proud and excited to direct my movie, and rather than 'stealing' a movie from someone else (like if I had taken Romero's Night Of The Living Dead), I would actually be SAVING the director of The Blob (Yeaworth) from a lifelong regret and embarassment :)

[Roderick Usher]

Rayne - A well thought-out and meticuously detailed answer that bugs me. The Blob is a good choice and well-reasoned, but the director... Like you said he's a B-Movie director. He isn'ty a household name and neither was Steve McQueen at the time, so I feel you missed the fundamental elemnt of this challenge "How will you make your flick saleable with the audiences?"

You did a fine job, but I'm just not sold on your lead actor/director choice. I'd like to see a real A-list director like Howard Hawkes tackle this material.

[bloodrayne]

Originally Posted by Roderick Usher

Rayne - A well thought-out and meticuously detailed answer that bugs me.

I got a kick out of that :)

But, I was relying on the film's uniqueness, basic human curiosity, the popularity (at the time) of the type of film it is...and Vincent Price and Bette Davis to hook people








On a side note: I forgot to add Tarantula (1955) when I was making my 'larger than life' point...Not allowed to edit :(

[neverending]

You do answer the question of how would you make it more salable by casting Davis & Price, and spending more on special effects, but I agree with Rod on the choice of director. With so many talented directors working in sci fi in the 50s- Robert Wise, Howard Hawkes, Jack Arnold, Val Guest- the choice of a B-movie director seems odd.

Still- a very solid effort. High marks from me.

[bloodrayne]

Originally Posted by neverending

You do answer the question of how would you make it more salable by casting Davis & Price, and spending more on special effects, but I agree with Rod on the choice of director. With so many talented directors working in sci fi in the 50s- Robert Wise, Howard Hawkes, Jack Arnold, Val Guest- the choice of a B-movie director seems odd.

Still- a very solid effort. High marks from me.

Thanks, I appreciate that :)...I just wanted a director who I felt would love this movie and appreciate it...When you love something, it shows, and the movie would benefit from it...I felt that Carlson would not only love the movie, but also the chance to get back on track after coming back from the war...I think people would also respect that he served our country bravely...I really believe he'd put his heart into it, and I like giving the 'little guy' a chance...Who knows how this might have changed his life for the better?...Those other guys had already proven themselves.

[neverending]

When an audience is looking for a film to go see I'm not sure how much they think about the director's needs in his personal life....

[bloodrayne]

Originally Posted by neverending

When an audience is looking for a film to go see I'm not sure how much they think about the director's needs in his personal life....

Touché...However, many people don't even consider who the director of a film is when they go to see a movie...Especially in the 50s...The average movie goer isn't as sophisticated as some of you guys ;)

[neverending]

Originally Posted by bloodrayne

Touché...However, many people don't even consider who the director of a film is when they go to see a movie...Especially in the 50s...The average movie goer isn't as sophisticated as some of you guys ;)

Exactly- so why not choose a director you know can make a really top notch film?