Your movie Bleeding
Hearts - in a few words, what is it about?
A
doctor. A lawyer. A pharmacist. An architect. And a shoe model. Five super
intelligent (except maybe the model) - and super hot - sisters. Without
the darling Van Houten sisters, the small 5,000 population town of
Mansionville would have trouble existing. With them, however, some of the
population can't exist.
Every
year, these gorgeous blondes go on a month-long vacation. At the same time
each year, coincidentally, five men from Mansionville disappear. The town
people, all backwards and in denial, never put "two and two
together." More concerned that the town is on a 30-day hold without
their professional backbone (the sisters), they write off the
disappearances as men who left their wives for the big city or exciting
locations. The truth, however, is much more sinister.
The
Van Houtens are sadistic lunatics. Through a deranged pact to
"capture the hearts" of five men every year, they kidnap, rape,
torture and kill their victims with systematic gory success. Their
maniacal rampage may be in jeopardy, however, through an ironic twist of
fate: a documentary filmmaker's car breaks down in Mansionville. While
stranded and waiting for parts in the non-functioning town, he learns of
the sisters, their secretive month-long vacation, and the many men who
have disappeared. As the fresh meat are being brutalized and murdered, the
filmmaker starts asking questions--and he begins making the connection. Is
he on the road to an Oscar? Or an untimely, horrific death?
Bleeding
Hearts is a heart-jumping, heart-crushing - truly demented - roller
coaster ride of mystery, violence, sex and gore. With a raging, climatic
twist, all hearts end up in one place. And it's not where they're supposed
to be...
Ken with Rachael Robbins |
|
Suzi Lorraine, Seregon O'Dassey, Melantha
Blackthorne, Jamie White, Rachael Robbins |
What
were your sources of inspiration for writing Bleeding
Hearts? I just woke up one day and thought of the
story. I had never before watched a movie where five – intelligent and
professional - sisters were mastermind, sadistic serial killers. I
hadn’t seen this movie, and I suspected many others (except perhaps my
wife) would like to as well. So, I came up with the entire story and then
called Rachael Robbins [Rachael
Robbins interview - click here] and told her about it. I asked her to write the
screenplay with me, and we were off to the races. We finished the insane
script in less than ten days, laughing much of the way—the same as we
had done with Scavenger
Killers. Rachael Robbins [Rachael
Robbins interview - click here], your co-writer on Bleeding
Hearts, told me in an interview "When we were writing it,
even when we were filming it, I'd often get the feeling like maybe we
finally went too far. I thought this film was going to face plant." A
feeling you at all shared, and your thoughts on this statement? And when
it comes to violence and perversion, was there at all a line you refused
to cross on Bleeding
Hearts? No... and no... at one point in the movie, a
lead male character gets anally-raped with a wrought iron brush by one of
the sisters. He’s on his knees in a dog cage, which is sitting on the
stage of one of the most beautiful theaters in the country. Now that’s
art... and justice... or maybe neither. But it’s funny as hell—I guess
depending upon your sense of humor. In Bleeding
Hearts, you play a judge, former attorney and prosecutor who has
also written a few books on law - someone not at all far removed from your
real self - so you just have to talk about creating this character and
playing him quite as arrogantly as you did for a bit!
|
I am a critically acclaimed
filmmaker who has written, produced and directed over 20 feature films
that star 100+ film and TV stars, including multiple Academy Award and
Emmy winners and nominees. My films are distributed through industry
leaders such as NBC/Universal, Anchor Bay, Millennium
Entertainment, Cinedigm, Screen Media Films, Vivendi
Entertainment, Midnight Releasing,
Cardinal XD, Green Apple Entertainment, Fabrication Films, and
E-1 Entertainment. I have starred in numerous movies, as well. I am the
founder and chairman of Hoboken International Film Festival, called by
FOX, MY and other major media "One of the 10 Biggest Film Festivals
in the World." I am also the author of some of the nation’s
best-selling legal books, including criminal codebooks published by
Prentice Hall and ALM. A best-selling criminal suspense novelist, I wrote
my first published novel at only 24-years-old.
In addition, I am the owner of the Criminal Law Learning Center, where I have taught thousands of police officers and lawyers…
and
I am a former judge, who also has tried over 400 cases as a practicing
criminal attorney... not to mention, I have won about 50 bench press
competitions (at my height, I was bench pressing 450 pounds, while
weighing only 175 pounds, which put me as one the strongest
pound-for-pound people in the world – and I never did steroids)... accordingly, I have a GIGANTIC – well-deserved ego.
(: (:
You might want to check out this teaser
trailer for a network judge show set to be produced, with me as the lead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=schWQw1B-f0
What
can you tell us about the rest of the cast of Bleeding
Hearts, and why exactly these people?
Bleeding
Hearts stars: CHARLES DURNING (2-time Academy Award/4-time Golden
Globe/9-time Emmy winner and nominee; Tootsie; O’ Brother Where Art
Thou); ROBERT LOGGIA (Academy Award & Emmy nominee; Scarface; Big);
TONY TODD (Candyman; Final Destination); DUSTIN DIAMOND (Saved by
the Bell); SUZI LORRAINE (Won Ton
Baby; Chiller TV's Can You
Survive a Horror Movie) [Suzi
Lorraine interview - click here]; RACHAEL ROBBINS (An Affirmative Act;
Screaming Dead) [Rachael
Robbins interview - click here]; WILSON JERMAINE HEREDIA (Tony winner; Rent); MELANTHA
BLACKTHORNE (Sinners and Saints) [Melantha
Blackthorne interview - click here]; DENNIS WHITE (Notorious); and ROBERT
BOGUE (The Good Guy; Guiding Light).
I’ll talk
about a few of the actors in the cast:
CHARLES DURNING
– Bleeding
Hearts was Charles Durning’s last film. Charlie acted in
about 10 of my movies, and although he was more than twice my age, there
has been no person in the film business who I was closer with. Yes, he was
a 2-time Academy Award/4-time Golden Globe/9-time Emmy winner and nominee
– but there was much more to this man. The greatest honor in my career
was when Charlie was honored. When Charlie received his Star on Hollywood
Boulevard, there was a Hollywood “who’s who” in attendance at the
ceremony, yet I was the one person he selected to say the words about him
at the luncheon that followed the ceremony. when he received the Screen
Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, he was provided a table of 12
(the best table in the house); the only non-family members at his table
were my wife and I and Charlie’s agent (who is now also my agent) and
her husband. I had great pride in watching this man receive that award, as
everyone from Brad Pitt to George Clooney to Sally Field (and dozens of
the same starpower ilk) visited our table that night to congratulate
Charlie. Why? Because he was a genuine man’s man – and and a genuine
good guy – and a genuine hero (he won the Silver Star for carrying a
wounded soldier on his back for 100 miles after they escaped from the
March to Malmedy where the Nazis were randomly killing Allied soldiers; he
also was shot twice and bayonetted during WWII). He would thank me, with
great gratitude, for every movie I cast him in, but I would always tell
him, “No, it’s you I thank, not the other way around”... To the end,
Charlie would say, “Tell me where to stand, and what to say, and I’ll
do it.” And the man would do it with absolute perfection every time. I
wish I could say that about every actor (or even the majority of
actors)... Now, how fucking funny is it that he lobbied me to play this
role in Bleeding
Hearts – an angry Santa Claus who has a candy cane
penis and Christmas tree balls?! Charlie was just tremendous in this role!
A few one-liners
about some of the other actors:
DUSTIN DIAMOND
– surprise, surprise. The guy is much more than “Screech” from
Saved by the Bell. He turned in back-to-back superior performances
in Scavenger
Killers and Bleeding
Hearts. The dude has a lot of range.
SUZI LORRAINE [Suzi
Lorraine interview - click here]
– one of my best friends in the business. Not only an outstanding
actress who killed it as a the one “dumb” Van Houten Sister in Bleeding
Hearts, but in real life this is one super smart chick. Our
political views are in lock synch: Liberty and freedom all the way,
following the true doctrine of the U.S. Constitution. Government get the
fuck out of faces. Capitalism all the way. Communism and socialism suck...
Pro-life, pro-2nd amendment, pro-gay marriage.
ROBERT LOGGIA
– no actor has a greater presence. A man who has been nominated for an
Academy Award and won Emmys, his acting talents are obviously outstanding.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have Bob act in about ten of my films,
just like Charlie. He always delivers and has become a close personal
friend, simply because he’s a truly honorable man.
ROBERT BOGUE –
watch this man’s work in Scavenger
Killers as “Judge Limone”. truly,
there’s no actor in his age range in Hollywood who has greater talent.
Bogue is at the absolute highest talent level – period. And you see it
again in Bleeding
Hearts and in several other of my movies, including Rock Story and the upcoming
Joker’s Wild and Price For Freedom (where he
plays Ronald Reagan).
What can you tell us
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmorphere? Bleeding
Hearts was one of those movies where everyone had a lot of fun. It was
loose, with a bevy of laughs on and off set. I had many memorable moments
with Bogue and Rich Lounello and Scotty Decker (a couple of the other male
leads who, btw, also turned in great performances) in the men’s hang-out
area; a lot of practical jokes.
Having
mentioned Scavenger
Killers already - in a few words, what is that one about?
Here’s the newest trailer and cover art for Scavenger
Killers:
http://www.justiceforallproductions.com/#!scavenger-killers/c1tq8
Scavenger
Killers has basically made cult-hit status. It was released
last July and has garnered over 50 legitimate critical reviews (almost all
aren’t just great reviews, but fanatical). You can find all the reviews
in the “Critical Reviews” or “Opinion” section on IMDb, here’s
a short synopsis:
Bonnie
and Clyde are reinvented in Scavenger
Killers, where a charming
judge and a hot criminal defense attorney go on a maniacal killing
rampage. With bizarre, yet somehow believable, FBI agents in the hunt, the
deranged duo amp up their rampage, never murdering with the same method
but always with untamed ferocity.
Scavenger
Killers stars: ERIC ROBERTS (Academy Award & Emmy nominee; The Pope of
Greenwich Village; The Expendables); ROBERT LOGGIA (Academy Award nominee;
Scarface; Big); CHARLES DURNING (2-time Academy Award/4-time Golden
Globe/9-time Emmy winner & nominee; Tootsie; O’ Brother Where Art
Thou); RACHAEL ROBBINS (An Affirmative Act; Screaming
Dead) [Rachael
Robbins interview - click here]; ROBERT BOGUE
(The Good Guy; Guiding Light); SUZI LORRAINE (Won Ton
Baby;
Chiller TV's Can You Survive a Horror Movie) [Suzi
Lorraine interview - click here]; ANGELA LITTLE
(American Pie Bandcamp; My Boss's Daughter), and DUSTIN DIAMOND
(Saved by the Bell).
Having
been a judge yourself, what inspired you to make a judge the villain of
your movie? And honestly, how much of yourself can be found in Judge
Limone? And other sources of inspiration when writing
Scavenger Killers? Is
“Judge Limone” really a villain? Haha ...
Your co-writer (and co-star) Rachael Robbins [Rachael
Robbins interview - click here] on both Bleeding
Hearts and Scavenger
Killers - what can you tell us about her, and what was your collaboration
like? And who did the two of you hook up in the first place?
Rachael
worked very well with me in the writing of both films, as well as in the
production of the flicks. She followed my lead, fulfilling her positions
in the manners that I directed—and her contributions were quite valubale
to the successes of these movies. The writing went as follows: In each
movie, I created the story from “a - z”. I explained the story to
Rachael, and then sent her the first few scenes that I had written. Then,
I would tell her to write a specific scene (letting her know the elements
that I wanted in said specific scene) and I would simultaneously write a
scene. Rachael would then deliver the scene to me – sometimes I would
would perform very minimal re-writes to a scene she sent; other times I
would completely re-write the scene. This is how the entire process went.
Rachael, however, came up with multiple great, innovative and
original ideas of her own for each of these scripts. As an actress in Bleeding
Hearts, she played the leader of the Van Houten Sisters and
served in that leadership role on set as well (among the actresses). Like
her performance in Scavenger
Killers, she was skilled and totally
believable in her character’s maniacal behavior. Also,
do talk about Bleeding
Hearts and Scavenger
Killers' director Dylan Bank [Dylan
Bank interview - click here] and your collaboration with him for
a bit!
Dylan Bank is an absolutely amazing filmmaking talent. Where I lack, he
excels. He has an exceptional technical mind; I don’t know shit about
the technical end of filmmaking (I have no idea how to light a scene or
even how to turn on the camera). Accordingly, he takes my writing and
makes it even better through creative and clever shot set-ups. Dylan
creates a visual mood that ranks with the best of the business... He’s
also a total fucking psychopath when it comes to horror. If I didn’t
make it sick enough, he’ll find a way to make it ‘sicker’ (not a
word, but it makes sense here)... This guy is also one hell of a writer
himself. He co-wrote the scripts with me for two of my most recent movies,
Price For Freedom and Joker’s Wild... And he directs, with great
precision, more than just horror: He’s also my director on Price For
Freedom and Rock Story.
Here’s the trailer for
Price For Freedom:
http://www.justiceforallproductions.com/#!price-for-freedom/cv3k
Here’s the trailer for Rock Story:
http://www.justiceforallproductions.com/#!rock-story/c1sfg
In Scavenger Killers,
you also play one of the key characters - so what can you tell us about Agent Truman, what did you draw upon to
bring him to life, and have you written him with yourself in mind from the
get-go?
I did write the role for myself! I thought it would be a blast, but I
never realized the critical acclaim I would get for acting. Perhaps these
critical quotes will tell it best:
“The
best horror comedy I’ve seen in years… Agent Truman [Kenneth Del
Vecchio] is a mute cripple and his character is hilarious. The dialogue
that Del Vecchio is saying is gut-busting funny, both by his delivery and
the dialogue itself…Definitely top 10 of the year material.”
--Horrorphilia
“The
Truman/Templeton tandem (Del Vecchio & Allen) deliver some of the
funniest exchanges ever set to screen in a horror film.”
--Mid-Hudson News
“Agent
Truman, played by Ken Del Vecchio, is
something else. He could easily have his own comedy show.”
--Horror Movies Uncut
"Del Vecchio,
so removed from law that he has already written/produced over 20 movies
and penned several best-selling books, turns in one of those outstanding
acting performances himself.”
--Empire State News
“There’s
also a really great FBI agent character [Kenneth Del Vecchio] who’s in a
wheelchair. And he’s super strong and super smart. And he uses sign
language and he just such a chauvinistic asshole, but he’s also really
entertaining as well… Check this one out - for a wild thrill ride of
insanity, for dark humor and horror, and for lots and lots of fun.”
--Beneath the Underground Films [MrParka]
“Agent
Truman was another one that was really well acted. All of his dialogue was
done purely through hand gestures and facial expressions. That’s a
pretty hard character to pull off, and Del Vecchio did an excellent
job… Also, not moving his legs at all. A lot of people who play
quadriplegics can’t grasp that they’re not allowed to move their legs.
Del Vecchio did an excellent job by not forgetting to do that.”
--B Is For Best
“Del Vecchio
and Allen are a hoot and know how to feed off of one another well”
--Modern Day Horror
What
can you tell us about the critical reception of both Bleeding
Hearts and Scavenger
Killers?
Bleeding
Hearts has just been released, so the critical reviews are now
just coming in – thus far, they have been outstanding (in the same vein
as Scavenger
Killers). Here are some review quotes from Scavenger
Killers:
“Scavenger
Killers wins the hunt as craziest horror-comedy… The brainchild of a
former judge and criminal lawyer Kenneth Del Vecchio, Scavenger
Killers lets loose two of the most demented fictional serial killers in recent
memory. Anyone who loves Natural Born Killers, Scarface, or a good
National Lampoon flick - in addition to those who love their slasher and
fright fest films - will love Scavenger
Killers. It's just one hell of an
entertaining movie.”
-- Empire State News
“Here’s
a trivia question for you: what do you get when you combine the surrealism
of Twin Peaks with the hardcore bloodshed and ruthlessness of
Natural Born Killers? The answer is Scavenger
Killers… If you’re a fan of either
title I mentioned, I will wager this film will be next on your list of
Must See Movies. And it should be… it’s a crazy, twisted fun-ride of
mayhem and massacres!”
--Shattered Ravings
“Scavenger
Killers is definitely an instant cult classic… The prose has Kenneth Del
Vecchio and Rachael Robbins coming off like the
super-hetero-bastard-children, of some twisted love affair between Quentin
Tarantino and John Waters… Scavenger
Killers creates a wicked, modern
spin on the Bonnie & Clyde concept with total homicidal depravity.”
--A Southern Life In Scandalous Times.com
“Scavenger
Killers - one of my favorites of the year… I dare anyone to watch this
movie and not be entertained… I thought it was wildly entertaining…
This movie’s loads of fun… Just a complete wild insanity, Natural
Born Killers-style thing.”
--Beneath the Underground Films [MrParka]
“[Scavenger
Killers] blew me away. It is twisted, brutal, hilarious and down right
demented… Robert Bogue and Rachael Robbins are sensational as the
crooked judge and the just as demented attorney. Their idea of bringing
"criminals" to justice has to be seen to be believed… Scavenger
Killers reminded me of ‘Bonnie and Clydemeets The Star
Chamber’, with its main characters serving up justice the craziest way
they know how.”
--Video Views
“Scavenger
Killersrocks with the best of them with just the right amount of
nastiness!... Director Dylan Bank combined with Ken Del Vecchio and
Rachael Robbins writing style makes for a perfect cult-horror-centric
product… Robert Bogue is one crazy ass acting talent that seems almost
inspired by the same fountain that Bruce Campbell and Jim Carey drink
from… Ken Del Vecchio seems to be the main brainchild of this whole
project who also does a bang up job as an eccentric mute FBI agent.”
--HorrorNews.net
“Scavenger
Killers could turn into a franchise for sure… It is a hilarious little
slasher film created by director Dylan Bank and writer Kenneth Del
Vecchio… The gore here was pretty damn on key. One scene in particular,
using garden shears, actually made me sick to my stomach and I’m a
seasoned professional as far as horror is concerned. Bravo to these guys
for that!... I’m really looking to seeing what else these filmmakers
bring to the table.”
--B Is For Best
“Del
Vecchio, an indie film veteran often known for controversial crime
thriller and political flicks, is also a bestselling author and was once
the youngest judge in the state of New Jersey, inked a marvelously fun and
likely unforgettable horror gem.”
--Mid-Hudson News
“A
no-holds-barred, wickedly modern spin on the Bonnie and Clyde
legend, Scavenger
Killers features a stellar line-up of classic
character and veteran genre actors including Eric Roberts (In Cold
Blood, The Dark
Knight), Charles Durning (The Sting, North Dallas Forty), and Robert Loggia
(Scarface, Independence Day) along with a quirky
appearance by Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell), among others.”
--Dread Central
“Screw that
watered down take of Bonnie and Clyde that recently aired on Lifetime and
get ready for a full throttle attack of the senses in Scavenger
Killers, a new kind of crazy that takes a dark, twisted, macabre
approach to reimaging Bonnie and Clyde.”
--Indiebration
“Psychotic
couple? check. Good supporting characters and beautiful women? check. A
good story? check. The right amount of gore? check. What more do you
need?... While I have to
admit I haven’t seen some of Ken Del Vecchio’s other work, I’ll be
putting it on my to do list.”
--Dead, Buried, and Back!
“Scavenger
Killers is
an outrageous exploitation picture that takes all sorts of controversial
liberties and never shows an ounce of fear… Everyone involved in this
production cut loose. Few quite like Robert Bogue though, I’ve got to
say. Talk about giving it 110-percent, well, Bogue doubles up on that,
clearly having a major blast as one unruly, untamed freak of nature.”
--Best Horror Movies
“Scavenger
Killers is crass. But, it’s crass in a way that all great B-Cinema
aspires to be. Whether it’s Robert Loggia getting carved up or Dustin
Diamond playing a federal agent with Tourette’s, I appreciate it when a
creative team plays for real with their crazy setups.”
--AndersonVision.com
“The
movie follows Judge Taylor Limone and attorney Clara Lovering who
are about as sick, twisted and perverted as you’ve ever seen anyone on
film before. These two characters are a mixture of a modern day Bonnie and
Clyde and long lost relatives of the Firefly clan from The Devil’s
Rejects.”
--Alien Bee Entertainment News
“Dylan
Bank’s Scavenger
Killers is
an insane film in every regard. It’s over the top with gore, sex and
violence, with barely any elements of true calm.”
--Film
Threat
Any future projects you'd like to share?
Rock Story will be released in August by Green Apple
Entertainment... I
listed it earlier, but here is the trailer for Rock Story:
http://www.justiceforallproductions.com/#!rock-story/c1sfg
My most recent films are Price for Freedom, 12 Angry Men and
Women, and Joker's Wild – all three will have their worldwide premieres at
Hoboken international Film Festival at the end of May. Here’s the trailer for Price
for Freedom, which will be the Opening
Night Movie at Hoboken international Film Festival on May 29:
http://www.justiceforallproductions.com/#!price-for-freedom/cv3k
**Each one of these movies are totally different, in every manner,
though they all have great casts, including multiple Academy Award and
Emmy
winners and nominees in each film.
What
got you into the filmworld to begin with, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? No training whatsoever – except
in the real world... I went to law school, seeking to be a criminal defense
attorney. I wrote a novel in my second year of law school, and got lucky:
It got published soon after I graduated and became a little best-seller,
wherein I was getting publicity as the “Young John Grisham”. I
capitalized off this and began making movies that same year (1997)... I’m
not much for the “school film” types, nor do I have any empathy for
the whiny/complaining actor/filmmaker types. “This is fantasy world,”
I tell those idiots. Go lay bricks for 60 hours a week or be a lawyer for
60 hours a week, then tell me hard it is making movies. Though we may have
long, tedious hours while making movies, this shit is fun. It’s what
everyone dreams of, so those who complain how “tough” the work is, my
response is clear as: “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” That’s what my training
– in the real world – renders. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Scavenger
Killers? **Here’s the link to my Filmmaker
Highlights Reel (which has clips from all of my movies):
www.justiceforallproductions.com
Besides making movies, you have also
written quite a number of both fiction and non-fiction books - so what can
you tell us about Kenneth Del Vecchio, the writer? See my
response to #4 above, where I describe – with great ego – my writing
(and other) accomplishments (: (: Writers,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you? God and the
Bible. Your favourite
movies?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Here
are some of my all-time favorite movies (not in any particular order):
Ben-Hur, Last of the Mohicans, Planet of the Apes (original),
The Seventh Sign, Burn After Reading, Blazing Saddles, 12 Years a Slave, All the Right
Moves, Schindler's List, Angel Heart, Gone With the Wind, The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valance, Nixon, The Aviator, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, All
the President's Men, Enchanted, Star Wars, The Godfather, Raiders of the
Lost Arc, The Firm, Rocky, Lethal Weapon, Troy, Dirty Harry, The Usual
Suspects, Clueless, Pulp Fiction, It's a Wonderful Life, The Contender, A
Time to Kill, Good Will Hunting, Legally Blond, True Romance, Year of the
Dragon, A Beautiful Mind, The Shawshank Redemption, The Devil's Advocate,
Apocalypto, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, The Fugitive, Donnie
Brasco, The Outlaw Josey Wales, LA Confidential, Les Miserables (1979
version), Jerry Maguire, and The Passion of the Christ.
... and of course, films you really deplore Her,
Requiem For a Dream, Trainspotting – any movies that are bout losers,
and most ultra-liberal movies... most studio films made in the last five
years or so. Thanks
for the interview!
|