Taking a break from his own movie work, indie genre filmmaker David DeCoteau talked to Fango about his recent stint with the Code Red DVD company on its upcoming disc of Romano Scavolini’s notorious 1981 gorefest NIGHTMARE (pictured). “I got an e-mail from Walter Olsen at Code Red that they were doing an audio commentary for NIGHTMARE, and he wanted me to participate,” DeCoteau tells Fango. “And it just so happened that I knew Ken Hall, the brother of Cleve Hall, one of the guys who did NIGHTMARE’s special effects, really well, because Ken and I had worked together over years. Walter hadn’t been able to find Cleve, so I contacted him to come do the commentary with us, so he was able to get on there and explain the whole Tom Savini connection, or controversy.”
Said controversy has to do with the FX legend’s much-disputed participation, or lack thereof, on NIGHTMARE, one of the bloodiest of the early-’80s slasher trend. “They explained the whole situation about Tom Savini’s name being used,” DeCoteau says. “Also, the lead actor, Baird Stafford, flew in from Florida to do it, and he was really interesting. Sage Stallone was supposed to do the moderating, but he couldn’t make it and so they asked me to do it. There was another guy there named Lee Christian who did some of the moderating as well.”
DeCoteau first got in touch with Code Red when he saw that one of the films on their slate is the unusual 1978 slaughter flick THE REDEEMER. “I remember seeing the poster for that when I was a kid,” he says, “but I never did see the movie because it only played a week in Portland, Oregon, where I was living at the time. I sent them an e-mail congratulating them on the company and all wonderful titles they were putting out, and how if they ever needed anything to let me know, and I would love to moderate on a commentary. To be honest, I’m kind of frustrated sometimes with these commentaries where the filmmaker, or somebody who worked on the movie, will just tell you what’s happening on screen. They don’t tell you anything you’d actually like to know, and I always have a million questions—especially with the kind of movies Code Red is putting out, these ‘70s and ‘80s exploitation/horror films.”
Now that he has established a working relationship with Code Red, some of DeCoteau’s own features may find their way to disc under the company’s banner. “They asked if I had the rights for a few films I’ve done in the past, like MURDER WEAPON, GHETTO BLASTER and LADY AVENGER,” he says. “I do have those, but I’m going to wait till Code Red gets their new distribution set up.” In the meantime, DeCoteau is keeping busy with his own features, including GRIZZLY RAGE, which debuts on the Sci Fi Channel this fall, and his gay-themed contemporary retellings of Edgar Allan Poe stories for cable/DVD outfit here! “I’ve got THE RAVEN coming on TV in August and then on DVD right after that, and I’m working on THE HOUSE OF USHER right now. I’m not sure what will be next; I’d like to do PIT AND THE PENDULUM, and a Lovecraft story as well.”
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