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Mark Adams (Part 2) Go back to Part 1 of this long interview
“For the Farm Segment I knew I wanted Randy Allen to play the man with amnesia, in order to connect this segment to Vandoren in the Stone Ridge segment. Randy was a psychology teacher at Barton County Community College and had acted in several of my previous films, although this would be his first ‘villain’ role. “Andy Battmer played the Apparition and we filmed at his farm, so it was just inevitable that he appeared in the movie out of necessity. It was also an attempt to make the farm segment a continuation of some earlier horror films I had made. One of my earliest films back in high school was 1983’s The Unknown Horror, shot at the Battmer farm and starring Andy as a lost hunter who finds refuge at the farm but is attacked by this strange figure. I made two other Unknown Horror films, each with Andy Battmer reprising his role, so in many ways Minds of Terror is The Unknown Horror Part IV. Andy’s character is now a spirit haunting the farm. “For the Stone Ridge Segment, I had originally lined up some actors when it was going to be a short 10-20 minute segment, shot during the summer of 2002. But when plans changed, I had to start over and find three new college students. The first person cast was Patrick McCaffery. He and Matt Mazouch were drama students at Barton and had acted with Randy Allen in a college play called I Hate Hamlet in the fall of 2002. So Patrick, Randy and I thought Matt would do well as Andy. Nicole Crawford (she preferred to be called ‘Nicci’) had acted in my previous film End of the Line, so the cast fell into place fairly easily. “I guess one thing I probably need to explain is that I had been making independent narrative films/videos for a long time, including one every year while I was working as a video producer/director at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas (I worked there for nearly 12 years...). So by the time I made Minds of Terror I had a lot of things already in place to easily start production on a new film. I had college employees and students willing to help make my films. They had either acted in previous films of mine or had seen my previous films and/or knew someone who had been in one of my films and were eager to be in the next one. Plus no one else was making anything like these films in Great Bend at the time so it wasn’t difficult to find people willing to help me make my movies. It was a unique experience for a lot of people in central rural Kansas to be in a film. And I had developed a reputation as a local filmmaker who made good films. When the opportunity came to make a horror film that might actually get some national distribution, the actors were very excited and wanted to be a part of the production. “One thing I would like to point out is that both Randy Allen and I were very impressed with Joe Estevez. We didn’t know what to expect from him - the only films I had seen Joe act in were Soultaker and Werewolf, seen on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. These weren’t the best examples of his work. But after working with Joe, Randy and I were really happy that we met him and that he was in Minds of Terror. He’s a better actor than people give him credit and he deserves better roles to show off his talents. Plus he was really patient in terms of working on such a low budget film in a farm house with no air-conditioning in 100 degree weather. I have a new admiration for Joe Estevez after working with him.” With films of this level, how important is it to have one or more ‘name’ actors involved? “For me I really had no worries about getting ‘name’ actors in my film before shooting, but I had never worried about such a thing before. All of my previous films were never intended for distribution, just to be entered into film festivals. Originally I was planning to shoot the Farm Segment with my own actors - it was Chris Watson who arranged for Joe Estevez to be in Minds of Terror. But I understand why - it’s all about marketing. Unfortunately a terrible film with a ‘famous’ actor will make more money than a good film with no ‘name’ actors. People will buy/rent a film based on who is in the movie over any other considerations. I’ll admit that I do the same thing. I’ll see a Harrison Ford film just on the fact he’s in it. So from a producer’s point of view that is crucial for making a film a financial success - especially on this level of low/no budget film-making. The only exception may be that there are no name actors, but the filmmaker him/herself is famous enough to draw an audience. But it’s still a name that the audience knows. “It’s the nature of the beast. If you want people to see your film, you need something to draw their attention from the ever-growing pile of other low-budget horror films, as well as other sources of entertainment such as video games and the internet. If it’s not a ‘name’ actor to draw attention, you need lots of sex and gore, a gimmick (3-D, first computer-generated (fill-in-the-blank), glow-in-the-dark DVD cover...) or some publicity during the production that could be used for marketing (filmed on the day of the ’89 earthquake!) or just a really cool poster that usually has nothing to do with the film. “In many ways Minds of Terror is not your typical low-budget horror film. I think it’s inbetween two levels of low-budget horror movies. Below it is the kind of horror film that was literally shot by a guy with a home video camera and some friends. Chris Watson gave me a copy of a film just like this, but they were able to get Conrad Brooks to appear in it. That certainly takes it to a new level for marketing, even if the film looks like a bad home video. “The level above Minds of Terror consists of films that are commercially made with an actual crew and good quality equipment - either video, HD or 16mm film. It still may be a crew of only five and a handful of actors but the cost is so much you can’t just pay for it out of your own pocket anymore. “So there was Minds of Terror inbetween them, where I shot a horror film with friends and barely any money, yet I had good quality equipment and enough experience to make it look like a more professionally done production. My segments didn’t have the sex or gore quotient that Chris Watson wanted so I think he approached his two short segments as purely providing the nudity and gore needed for marketing. Chris also had enough foresight and experience to get some ‘name’ actors in Minds of Terror (Joe Estevez) so maybe that will lead to an audience to watch my little film that doesn’t belong in a convenient category. But is there an audience interested in a low-budget horror film that is more of a thriller and less of a splatter film?”
“I’ve learned never to schedule one of my shoots the day after another movie’s shoot, because I’ll be screwed every time. “It’s been five years since I made Minds of Terror so I’ve had some time to look back and smile, as well as cringe, at what I did. If I learned anything from the experience of making the film, it’s to push yourself to try to make whatever you’re working on a better project that what you did before. Don’t always rely on whatever feels comfortable or is the easiest way. I could have approached Minds of Terror as just contributing a few segments done quickly to someone else’s low-budget horror film but when it really became almost entirely my film I wanted to do something to make it stand out from all the rest, even with its imperfections.” Finally, I’ve got to ask about Princess Warrior, a film I’ve been wanting to see for ten years now: what was your involvement with that film and is it worth me continuing on my quest to track down a copy? “I don’t think anyone watching Princess Warrior, who wasn’t involved in the making of the film, would enjoy it. It’s a bad film. I don’t mean it’s so bad it’s good, almost entertaining to watch as it fails miserably. I mean it’s just a bad movie. Bad script. Bad acting. Bad directing ... campy yet not campy enough to be entertaining. Just bad. “I had just graduated from The University of Kansas with a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies and decided to go out to Los Angeles and see what the film industry was really like. I thought it was the only time in my life I could just pack up my car and go, with no personal or financial ties to hold me back. Princess Warrior was the first film I worked on in LA. initially hired as a production assistant helping the Production Designer and Producer make the sets for the ‘planet-ruled-by-women’ scenes. (That’s why I was given an ‘Art Director’ credit.) But I ended up working on the entire production, helping in any way I could, even appearing in the film as one of the lead villain’s concubines. Since it was a non-union shoot I could get hands-on experience doing a lot of things. I learned a lot about what to do and what not-to-do on a commercial film. “When I watch the film now I enjoy it purely from the standpoint of remembering the experience of making it and not for the film itself. For someone who is just a general audience/viewer, I don’t think they would enjoy watching the movie. For you, Mike, I guess you should see it once just to have seen it. The ultimate bad, 1980s, low-budget, science fiction, straight-to-video, T&A film. Read my stories about the making of the film on my website before seeing it to really appreciate what it took to make such a thing. “After seeing this film for the first time I was amazed by how good the production actually looked in terms of photography. For $200,000 (which is what I was told the budget was back then) you can make a good-looking film, yet the script was so bad I couldn’t believe people would spend so much money to make such crap. But it goes back to marketing, distribution and making money. The producers wanted a product they felt would earn a profit in the overseas markets - a low-budget, T&A movie made in Hollywood. And that’s what they got. “It was great to hear from Dana Fredsti, the lead ‘villain’ from the film. I hadn’t seen or talked to her since the summer of 1989 when we shot it. She e-mailed me after finding my website a couple of years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. It was fun to hear her side of the story about the making of the film. I included some of her stories on my website. She is now a mystery writer with a new novel coming out - you can read about it on her website. “I can’t believe you’ve wanted to see Princess Warrior for ten years now. Just for that fact, you need to see this film. But you’ve been warned!” Official website: www.adamstarpictures.com Go back to Part 1 of this long interview where Mark discusses how Minds of Terror was made and the differences between the various versions. | ||
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How were the cast and crew assembled?
What have you learned from your experience of making this film?