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Your upcoming movie Axeman 2: Overkill
- in a few words,
what's it going to be about?
Crazed evangelical Christians looking to punish sinners. Murderous,
double-crossing bank robbers in search of their money. Vigilantes
seeking justice for their slain Sheriff. And Axemen out for blood.
It's a feel-good story, is what it is, lol. To what extent will
Axeman 2: Overkill
be a direct sequel to the first Axeman,
how true will you remain to the first movie, but on the other hand, what
will set the new one apart? Axeman 2: Overkill
stays pretty
true to the original in terms of continuing with the legend, however the
tone changes dramatically. Chris Otiko [Christopher
Otiko interview - click here] and I decided immediately
after wrapping the first film that the two sequels have to be darker.
Much darker. Grittier. Edgier. Bigger and
bloodier. We need to drag our audience through muck and bile and
curdled blood and have them repulsed at what revenge can foster - what the
Axeman's revenge is like. This story picks up immediately following
the events of the first film, along with a few characters from the first
film, but that's where the similarities end and the bloodshed begins.
There are no sappy love stories. No trysts or flings or
emotional wranglings. This is a bloodletting. A blood bath.
And just good old-fashioned, bloody revenge. Besides the original
Axeman,
what were your main sources of inspiration when writing Axeman 2: Overkill? Oh, and what can you tell us about your writing partner
Christopher Otiko [Christopher
Otiko interview - click here], and what's your collaboration like?
Chris
isn't just my writing partner, but also the executive producer and my QC
guy, lol. Quality Control. We sat down together and discussed
the journey we want to take our audience on. What kind of movie we
want to make. And he gives me the freedom to play in this world we
create, with the characters we build. And I bring him a script based
on what we've talked about. I plop it down on his desk and ask,
"What do you think?" And he proceeds to show me where we
stayed true to our mission and where we've deviated. Most times
he'll rewrite the sections himself. He never allows me to cheat him,
myself or the audience out of a great film. First time around was a
very good learning experience for us both but now we've grown as
collaborators and have created something truly remarkable. We can't
wait to unleash this new beast on everyone. When we sat down to
write Axeman 2: Overkill, our influences shifted from just the 80's
slashers that we'd modeled our first film after - we delved into Rob
Zombie's director's cut of Halloween 2, the Scream series,
I Spit on Your Grave
and Hitcher. And we picked up some throwbacks in Night of the
Comet, Fright Night and the Friday the 13th series. And what came
out of it was the script for Axeman 2: Overkill. What
can you tell us about your movie's intended look and feel? Realism.
Visceral, unflinching realism in the surreal world of Cutter's
Creek. And that's a tall order for such a small film that required a
huge shake-up while in development. A new production team. A
shared vision between myself and my collaborator and friend Chris Otiko. Axeman
was a really good film for what it was and I'm so excited
with the response it's received. It truly was the Little Engine That
Could, you know? But as Chris and I watched and re-watched it, we
kept saying, "We should've went further there." "Geez,
why didn't we double down of that?" And ultimately we both
turned to each other and said, "It's time to go hard or go
home." And this film will reflect that in a BIG way. The
story has been laid down. Now it's time for Bill "The
Axeman" Talbert and his comrades to go to work! The
original Axeman didn't
exactly hold back when it comes to blood and guts - so what have you
planned for the sequel? As Randy Meeks in Scream 2 said,
"More blood, more gore - carnage candy!!!" When Chris and
I sat to discuss the direction of the next two sequels, he told me point
blank "Go to town on them!" Hahaha, so I did. And
he looked at the script and said, "Nope. Go deeper. Gut
them, every single one of them. Hollow them out." And
that was the process for every moment of the film. Shorter run-time.
Less dramatics. More intensity. Bloodier kills. And
an unflinching look into the eye of madness. Your character Darren from
Axeman
will return in Axeman 2: Overkill
- so do talk about him for a bit,
what have you got in store for him, and why did you want to return him of
all the characters? Oh, and what will you draw upon to bring him to life,
how much of Joston Theney can we find in Darren? I think
Darren and I are one in the same. As much as I'd like to say I'm
acting, I'm really not. I'm that hopeless romantic. I'm that
nervous guy around the beautiful girl. And I'm that level-headed guy
- mostly - in the face of danger. So, for him I just draw from my
own personal experiences to make him feel real. And Darren returns,
simply because the movie picks up where Axeman
left off, with an axe
coming down on him. Will he catch it in the face, or will he be
whisked to safety? You'll have to stay tuned to find that out. What
can you tell us about the rest of your projected cast, and why exactly
these people?
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Bryan Clark |
Need is the ultimate monkey, right? Well, we have a larger release
planned than most micro-budget horror flicks these days. And
because of that, we needed a cast of performers that could sell our
world and our characters to a mainstream audience in a matter of seconds
- whether they are to loved, pitied or hated. This led to casting
household names / media darlings who could hang with the most-skilled
performers we could throw at them. The first to be added to the
cast was Rachel Reilly from Big Brother who blew us away
with her audition for the role of "Breaker", a double-crossing
bank-robber whose only loyalty is to a paycheck. Then next was
Farrah Abraham, who had us cracking up as "Fannie Rae Baker",
a crazed evangelical Christian hellbent on beating the word of God into
anyone who turns a deaf ear to it. Angelica Bridges emerged as the
unlikely front-runner to play a character of "Dungie". I
say unlikely because Angelica is known for her Baywatch and
Bold and the Beautiful-characters who were gorgeous and sexy
and here she's playing this dirty, gun-toting, potty-mouthed henchman in
search the big bag of loot - and she sells it. And then there's
the casting of big Bryan Clark aka WWE's 'Adam Bomb' / WCW's 'Wrath' as
Bill "The Axeman" Talbert. As I'd said earlier, we were
looking to go darker, grittier and more brutal, however grounded in a
very real world. This guy is SUPER athletic, agile, fast and
powerhouse. And incredibly talented. There was no one else
to take us in the direction we were looking to go as a team. He
was just incredible in the audition and left us saying, this is our guy.
This is our guy.
And there are so many other talented performers that I would love to
acknowledge, because their tireless efforts and dedication to their
craft and applying it to this film will give us the an incredible Axeman
2: Overkill. Monique Parent as Mrs. Marla Whitfield - been dying
to work with her. Arielle Brachfeld returning as Deputy Darlene
Whitfield, so stoked to work with her again. The always awesome
Jacqui Holland [Jacqui Holland
interview - click here] as Sunshine. Alisha Seaton perfectly cast as the
smarter, self-aware horror victim and tour guide Maureen O'Bannon.
The lovely Hannah Landberg as Kesha. The terrifically
talented Edward Gusts as David Manly. So happy to be working with
Maria Olsen [Maria Olsen
interview - click here] finally as Adele. And the skillful Sasha Higgins
plying her trade and filling the shoes of a presumed-to-be-dead-but-obviously-isn't Tammy, who returns from the original film.
As far as I know, Axeman 2: Overkill
is as we speak still in pre-production - so what's the schedule, and any
idea when the movie might be released onto the general public yet? We
start filming this October in Frazier Park, CA with a scheduled theatrical
release in early 2015. Home video will follow soon after. Stay
tuned to the Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/axemanatcutterscreek. Any
future projects beyond Axeman 2: Overkill?
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There's
Axeman 3: Absolution, which starts filming next spring. The events
of Cutter's Creek spill into the big city - Big Bear, lol. It's a
return to camp counselors, short-shorts and tube socks. Oh, and a
murderous, bloodlusting psychopath with an axe. Wish I could say
more but it would give away stuff from Axeman 2: Overkill. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else? You can follow up
on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/axemanatcutterscreek,
just make sure to click GET NOTIFICATIONS or FB will make sure you don't
get them. Also we're on Twitter at @AxemanTheMovie. Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? You've
asked great questions. And as always, you have given a small film a
very big break! I thank you for that, sincerely. Thanks
for the interview!
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