Tom Savini

I had the extreme honor to interview the master of horror himself, Tom Savini. Be sure to check out Tom Savini's official website, www.Savini.com, for up to date info. Tom Savini has a special effects and make up program at the Douglas Education Center. More info on the program can be found at the Douglas Education Center website HERE. Also Tom recently was the host of a Friday The 13th documentary entitled "His Name Was Jason", you can get more info on the documentary here www.Myspace.com/HisNameWasJason.

1. Did you always want to be in special effects growing up?

Always?...can't say that but pretty much ever since I was eleven years old and saw Man Of A Thousand Faces...the story of Lon Chaney starring James Cagney. It flipped me out...THAT was the turning point in my life. From that very day on I was determined to create characters and monsters with make up.

2. Were you a big horror fan growing up?

Yes, I loved horror movies. I was only a little kid when my older sister took me to see everything. I was eight years old in 1954 and saw the Creature From The Black Lagoon when it was released in the theatres, and the Teenage Frankenstein, and Godzilla and many many more. I couldn't get enough horror movies.

3. You and George Romero are good friends correct? How did that relationship come about?

I met George when he came to my high school, when I was a sophomore, to cast a young person in a new movie he was making. I was the only one in my high school he picked for a screen text but the movie never got made. Years later he was gearing up to do NOTLD and I showed him my make up work and he said he could use me on that film, but I had enlisted in the Army and I was in Vietnam when he made that. Years later he was gearing up to do Martin and once again I went to him and I did the make up, played a part, and did the stunts in Martin. After that Dawn of the Dead and rest is history.


4. Can you tell us briefly about Vietnam, like how you came about going and what you did?

I enlisted in the Army to stay out of Vietnam. When you enlist you get your choice of training, otherwise you wind up in the infantry. I chose photograpy. I was already a photographer and had my own working color darkroom, so the training in New Jersey was an easy thirteen weeks after basic training. I must have done too well as when the training was over I got orders for Vietnam. I was a combat photographer there and what I saw, horrible stuff, was a lesson in anatomy for me and why my make up effects afterward garnered the reputation for being so realistic.

5. What inspired you to remake Night Of The Living Dead?

I was not inspired to direct NOTLD...I was hired. George came to me and said they had acquired financing to remake NOTLD and I thought, great, this time I will get to create the zombies and do the make up. He said, "No....I want you to direct it." That was the beginning of the worst nightmare of my life. Granted the film turned out a lot better than the crap I thought it was for years. Now I can look objectively at it and it's good. Back then I thought it was shit cause I only got to do about 30 percent of what I intended to do.

6. How did you get involved with the Friday The 13th films?

I got a phone call from Sean Cunningham who had seen Dawn of the Dead and he asked to do the effects on his new movie Friday the 13th. We met and discussed what he wanted to see and I said it should have an extra scare at the end like what I had seen in the movie Carrie. I said we could have Jason jump out of the lake and then just show that it's a dream....That's how Jason jumping out of the lake at the end came to be.

7. You're a huge influence to me as well as countless others out there, who are some of your influences?

Well Jack Pierce of course the man behind Frankenstein the Wolfman, The Mummy....all the great old Universal monsters, and Dick Smith...the greatest living make up artist on the planet, Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Greg Cannom, Stan Winston.....

8. Coincidentally I've got Maniac on while writing this, what was it like blowing your own head off with a shotgun?

It was thrilling for a number of reasons. We shot that under the Verazzano bridge in New York, and you're not allowed to fire a gun in New York. I had never fired a shotgun through the windshield of a car, and I've never blown my own brains out.

9. Recently you've turned more to acting and directing as opposed to special effects master, is there any specific reason for that?

I've always tried to play a part in the movies I've done effects for, and that has led to more parts, and now that I have my special make up effects school, I just turn all effects jobs over to the students and I just concentrate on acting and directing. It's good for the students, it's good for the school, and it's good for producer's budgets.

10. Do you have a favorite film that you've worked on?

Probably Dusk til Dawn. I mean look who I got to hang out with on that.

11. What are some of your favorite films or work that others have done?

That list would be too big, but some of my favorite films are Ben Hur, Bladerunner, Barry Lyndon...and the list would fill up volumes.

12. What do you think about all the remakes today, do you think they're going a little overboard with remaking everything? What do you think of the remake/reenvision of Dawn Of The Dead and Friday The 13th because you worked on the originals?

The remake of Dawn was very good I thought, except there was no motorcycle gang at the end. The remake of Friday the 13th is just a large mound of shit. Derek Mears (Jason) was very good, but never have I wanted a group of untalented teenagers to die so soon. One character drops his gun in a puddle and actually says..."where are you gun? Every time they are alone they start talking to themselves in the most unconvincing, unbelievable way possible...and the script was very very stupid. They throw Jason in the lake at the end instead of continuing to undo him in the tree shredder, and he's the only evidence that THEY didn't kill everyone, just so he can pop up in the end like I created in the first one. Duh....was this a surprise...no. From the moment he goes in you just look at your watch and wait for when he is coming back up. Completely uninspired and unintelligent shit.

--Interview by Shaun May