I suppose the blame, were it to be placed, should go to Victor and Sean. Victor wrote a little thriller script and Sean pulled the loot together so that he could direct it. And now, 25 years later, to the sheer horror of Roger Ebert, people still think on it fondly. No one takes it too seriously…
…well other than Adam Marcus, no one takes it too seriously. It is what it is. Just a goofy night out at the movies and a historical entrance into shock and bloody exploitation. I gotta give credit where credit is due. Were it not for this little franchise, I might possibly still be driving nails.
A few years ago, shortly after Jason X wrapped, and long before it actually got a release date, a little fella by the name of Peter Bracke started writing about the history of this little Franchise. Peter came out to Hollywood to be a screenwriter and I’ve no doubt he will be, but this little project came first. We met at a little diner on Melrose and I proceeded to tell him how amazing the experience had been “on the record” and how miserable it had been “off the record”. Of course, this is how it is on every movie that has ever been made, as well as every movie that will ever be made. Such is life in Hollywood.
Now, several years later, with the coming release of Peter’s book, what started out as a very small book release party…got bigger. From Friday the 13th to Freddy vs. Jason you couldn’t throw a duck without hitting an alumni.
While a flock of fans were viewing the original film on the big screen the rest of us where signing books.
That’s only a fraction by the way. It didn’t take long to find alumni stretching their backs and rubbing their hands. During one of those back stretching moments I bumped into Victor himself.
The man who wrote the original. He drives a Harley and works in the Soap biz these days and was a hoot to chat with.
Then it was back to signing. Mel had ventured off with the Cunninghams to watch the movie on the big screen. And after a couple hours of signing I rushed off to the pottie where I ran into Jason Voorhees taking a leak. He was without hockey mask but I know the clothes and he was a big feller. He was there to cut the cake with his machete. New Line’s contribution to the event.
Ken, the actor who played Jason in FvsJ, wasn’t there. Neither was Kane who had made the role part of his very nature. Any of us horror geeks who’d followed the events of that little drama know that story well enough so I won’t elaborate for the rest of the world who simply would never care. However, I will say, had Kane played the part in FvsJ…he would have been at this little party. He would have been under the mask and he would have considered it a freaking pleasure to cut the cake. Oh well. Such is life in Hollywood.
Peter was nervous and slightly overwhelmed at the turnout. But he shouldn’t have been. It’s probably the best “History of a Franchise” book out there. Head to the following link to snatch up a copy while they last, and from what I’ve heard they are selling out all over the place. The Complete History of Friday the 13th by Peter Bracke.
I was joking with Mark Swift, who co-penned Freddy vs. Jason, that I’d only shown up because I like Peter and wanted to be here in case no one else showed up. Mark, also a fan of Peter’s, said he was blown away by both the turnout and the book and that Peter’s book was the sort of History you might expect from Copella’s Godfather…not Friday the 13th.
I spent most of my time signing elbow to elbow with Noel. We go back. We fought in the Cunningham Production trenches together so that sort of bond sticks around through thick and thin. It’s funny thinking back on the adventures. The Cunninghams and the Farmers. High highs and low lows. Working in the maid’s room from day to day I guess we became an odd little dysfunctional family. As a result we know each other’s dirty little secrets. Don’t go feeling all high and mighty, we all got dirty little secrets. But whether it’s the fear of mutual destruction or the simple charm of mutual respect, neither speaks of the skellies hidden in the closets.
The event ended just shy of the cake cutting for us because Mel and I decided to have our first argument in many moons. She later phoned Noel to help her get rid of the body. If anyone has any information on my current whereabouts, please contact Todd@Wendago.com.
After we got our bickering out of the way we ate food because food is life.
So it was back home and back to work. Last week the Mayhem Project announced their entrance into the game of Hollywood movie making. And through Variety announced my writing the film version of Clock Tower III, based on the video game. Of course, Variety spelled Farmer with two R’s, which is completely understandable as there are so many spellings associated with the word “farmer”.
I’ve been in the middle of and will continue the pitching process surrounding the adaptation of the book, “Grave’s End”. Next week is Fortress and Sachi at Lions Gate.
Of course, every night is a battle for dominance and control of the bed. I feel outnumbered and envious of the sheer amount of hair surrounding me.
“Alien Pig Farm” continues to move forward. Chee’s first 12 pages of art are complete and the search for the next artist is underway. Niles is making his pass through the outline then I’ll begin the official script. We have a first look deal with Lions Gate for the film version but we’re going to release the comic before heading down the film development road.
I finished the outline for book one of “Sleepers” as well as the rough outlines of books two and three. I shot those over to FJ at Branded a couple of weeks back. Tokyopop found an artist and I dug her art. She should make a perfect fit.
And as always there are a dozen other little project screaming for attention but those are the one’s I’ve been thinking about today.
This weekend, Mel and I ventured out with Allen in search of the butterflies. They’ve flown down from Alaska to make sex in our local forests. It’s a dirty business but life always finds a way. It was cold and getting dark so we didn’t see many but they were there, in the tree limbs above us.
Obviously we stopped at Starbucks first because any viewing of butterflies requires caffeine.
Then it was off to Don’s house for the Pumpkin carving. We three spent most of our time in the kitchen where Allen poured the hot apple cider and I topped it off with the Chopin vodka for the more adventurous party goers.
Although this entry may not reek of it, I have been stuck with my nose mashed against this computer screen for several months solid and it was nice to have a couple nights out between all the work.
We left the party before the winner of the Pumpkin Carving was announced but this was my and Mel’s favorite.
Then it was back home where we ended up hooking up with Dean for some Warcraft.
Now, we hadn’t been playing the Warcraft very much, if at all, over the last few months. Professor Lorey vanished into his 17 hour days on Arrested Development and Mel and I had vanished into our assorted writing projects. But all work and no play makes Jack chop doors with axes. So we’ve been trying to find the time, if for nothing else, as a stress reliever.
The above and next three screenshots were taken before we took our last break. I’d “deathed” my way into an instance which had not yet gone live. Zul’Something. It went live while we were AFG (Away From Game).
So these are some pics for the beauty of the environment only. There were no evil trolls present at the time I took them.
The truth is, since our return we’ve been playing our younger characters who aren’t nearly “ubah” enough to visit this place. But there’s plenty to do elsewhere so we’re not losing sleep over it.
And next year the expansion comes out so there will be whole new worlds and environments to explore and I can’t for the life of me figure out how we’re gonna find the time to see it all.
What little time we have had has been spent playing our Hunters. That’s Woodrow and his faithful kitty, Scar.
That’s us fishing cuz Scar likes the tuna.
For Halloween the whole world has been decorated accordingly. You can also trick or treat at any innkeeper. In some cases you’ll get a prize, in other cases you get turned into something. In this instance I was turned into a gnome pirate.
But I have been turned into a bat from time to time.
Or an Undead Pirate while cute little Melanie was turned into a demon.
Here, I became the stupid gnome again while Mel became the more lusty looking female ninja. Figures.
We’ve basically been adventuring around with Mel and I being Hunters and Dean playing his Paladin. Of course, you can never tell that because we spend all our time turning each other into other Halloween beings. That’s Mel and I as leper gnomes. Dean should have been pictured as well but he ran out of frame as I took the screenshot.
We’d traveled here to get our carrots. In that real world that sounds silly so let me clarify. “Magic” carrots.
See? Makes more sense now. With these carrots on your person your mighty steed runs a bit faster…so they are worth having.
Not to be outdone, the Horde have also decorated. This is outside the UnderCity, the home of the undead.
Most of our guild is now fighting as members of the Horde, but we’re hanging out on the Alliance side since our lack of time would only frustrated our more loyal playing friends.
So, that’s the statusquo. It’s back-to-work time.
Love and kisses, mean it.
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