Q. You serve as a narrator on Weirdo. It is pretty short and easy work?
A. A lot easier than shooting for Museo taurino or The Monster Within. I come ont he screen, procalim that I am a weirdo and dare the viewer to look inside my head. From there is goes to a surreal world, a nightmare, like some LSD trip. You see flashbacks to all kinds of weird things and basically take a mental trip. Then in the end I come back and reconfirm my weirdness. I think BKB is calling this an experimental film. I call it explotive. You are exploiting the curiousity of the marks out there who will be buying it to see what it is about. Hey, I already got paid my cut for doing the narration, so what do I care?
Q. At least you are not one of the editors.
A God, no. Editing this would be a major pain in so many ways, as there are so many scenes. The editors went through old 8mm and vhs stock footage they had, trying to find some of the weirdest of sites they could come up with. I know some of the things include old Erie and Pennsylvania railroad trains at the old depot in downtown Akron, a giant rubber stamp sculpture up in Cleveland, a bunch of damned waterfalls, a homecoming parade from Arizona in the early 1970s, old footage from Mother Goose Land up in Canton, McKinley's tomb in the same city, Disneyland clips I think and who knows what else. The general idea for everyone was to say and do whatever didn't make sense. The whole project is like a nonsense project. That;'s the idea behind it. It is the kind of thing you watch and make fun of or watch when drunk. Some of the footage may not survive editing, but like, does it matter?
Q. In the footage you are seen introducing the film and doing dishes at the same time. Then for no reason , you plop a bowl full of water ovefr your head and smile at the camera. Why?
A It was purely an inspiration at the moment and it seemed like a good thing for a weird person to do. A bout of creativity I suppose..I did not realize there was still water in the bowl though. I got my head wet and water splattered about, but I do not know if you can tell this or not.
Q Yet you all have developed a marketing strategy for this. You actually have reviews set up in several small town papers because their towns are featured in the film and local scenes...
A Not my idea. I have nothing to do with the marketing, but indeed this is something they aimed at and it has paid off. The paper in Chagrin Falls is supposed to review it up by Cleveland because their watrefall is in it and the paper in Snoqualmie in Washington is doing the same, or so I am told. There l are like a dozen papers all going to comment ont his and that is just a warm up. So this should get some press.
Q Why use a name like Mr ??? in your films?
A I got the idea from the Boris Karloff version of Frankenstein where at the opening credit they billed ? as The Monster. I like the mystery it creates about me and I do not give personal details about myself in itnerviews. I do not even like to act. I got roped into it and sadly, people have loved what I have done, even if they hate the films. I would rather have everyone realize I do not consider myself much of an actor. In fact I would not have been heartbroken if they gave the narration job to someone else for this. Well, anyway...
Q. You truly dislike interviews? Why is it you tend to be so secretive
about yourself. Do you hate itnevriews, for real?.
A Yes, including this one. I am hoping we will be keeping it short as I really do not have much to say. I especially cannot talk too much about myself in this film as my part is so short. I also think as far as the theme goes, I have given away more than the producers wanted me to. If youa re weird, this is the film for you. It is the kind of thing you would see at indy film fests, artistic societies and coffee houses. It is not something for the mainstream.
Q Why would you advise customers to buy this dvd?
A Only if there is something wrong with you in the head or tripping out mentally would I advise you to buy this dvd or even watch it. It is not for everyone and not for sane people. I can safely say this and I have yet to see the finished project.
Q. So everyone is hoping people say it is bad?
A. Yes, as people griping about it will help sales. People will buy it when it is praised and others will buy it just to see how weird,s atipoid or boring it is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but controversy sells. Look at Museo Taurino and how everyone bitches about that overlong dreams sequence , yet this is what got people talking in the underground. People stopped to try to figure out what the dream was "really saying" and such. The same will prove true here I think. Marketing is not my problem, but I think the producers will relish bad publicity as much as good.
Q. If you could have anything on the world, pertaining to this dvd release right now, what would it be?
A For this interview to end.
Q. Maybe so, but we have a few more questions. For example, have you guys thought of getting this placed on public access tv?
A. Not my department again, but not a bad idea. Weirdo would go over on various public access tv because there is nothing terribly offensive that would need to be edited and like a lot of things shown on the public access stations aorund the country, it is low budget and strange. One might consider some of the historic footage to be educational as well, so there you go. That is not a bad idea.
Q. What else does BKB have planned?
A A series of documentaries, which should turn out better than the horror films or the experimental things like Weirdo. They are also shooting two horror films this year, Zealot and Forcado, with me in them.
Q. Does BKB have any strong points?
A. Yes. They are great with music, which are sometimes better than the movies they make. The end score for Museo Taurino is a great piece and the music with The Monster Within helps make the movie. They are also great at weird dream sequences so these two factors might make Weirdo very interesting. I have heard some of the sample music from Weirdo and already like it. It sounds like something Goblin might crank out or even Ennio Morricone, way back when, when he still made great scores. So yes, whiel this company has a lot of flaws, they have some strong points. In this case, they could well turn a crappy proiduct like Weirdo is intended to be into a cult classic.
Q. Do you want to be a cult hero?
A Hell no.
Q. Do you think Weirdo will, as you all seem to hope, be considered the worst film ever made?
A. No. As much as everyone loves at the studio likes the idea, there are many horrible films out there that even BKB will not be able to stoop down to. El Santo & Blue Demon Vs The Monsters, Reel Horrors, Night Of the Ghouls, Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla. Jesus Christ no, there are too many films out there that intended to be good, but were horrible. Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Finders Killers, Billy The Kid Vs Dracula. I could go on and on. People with a far bigger budgets have done far worse than anything BKB could ever create, so no, I do not think this will be THE worst film ever made, even though everyone is trying.
Q. Does it worry you that a few people who have seen the rough cuts of the dvd have actually found it creative or interesting?
A. Nothing stuns me anymore. Some fools will probably consider this a work of genius.
Q. Do you wish you ahd a logner part in this?
A. Mo. It works fine the way it is.
Q. There is already talk of a sequal being done?
A. So I heard. Now whether it will be me playing the part or a different weirdo remains to be seen. I also think they would be smart to see how the first one does before running off to do a sequal. I have heard talk of this, but who knows for sure? Time willt ell on that one. Likewis,e do we really need a sequal? How could anyone build off of a fluke if it does become a hit and do we really need a second does of this?
Q. But if it becomes a cult...
A. If I grew a beak I could go peck for worms, but I do not think it will happen. Again, we are putting the cart before the horse, wouldn't you say?
Q. Okay then. If they do a sequal, odds are you will most likely get the narrator's roll. IF you did and we say IF, what would you ask for? Would you make changes in the script?
A. I always make changes in the script, which is why I do not consider myself much of an actor. I cannot remember lines worth anything, but have this way of goignr oight off the toip of my head and letting thigns flow that BKB has always thought of as wonderful. Marvin the screenwriter hates this. Oh well. He is not the one ouit there trying to memorize all this stuff. I even screwe dup the shots in the Weirdo film,w here I only had a handful of lines and managed to deliver them right, as they were so short, but then I did that bowl thing as add lib. It worked out.
Q. So what do you see in the future for Weirdo?
A Go ask Criswell. I don't know? We will have to wait and see.
Q. Closing comments?
A Let's just say it's time to sing the goodnight song, like they always did at the end of the Lawrence Welk show.