Dark Ride

I love set visits. I love walking around the props, cast, and various fretting P.A.'s with my camera, snapping pictures and causing general annoyance as my flash goes off when the film is rolling, or my cell phone rings in the middle of the take. 'It's okay, I'm press! I don't think they care.

Dark Ride, the Lion's Gate film coming out this Spring, was a set visit just like that. Despite my bumbling clumsiness, excessive smoking, and my un-preparedness, (what else is new?) I ended up interviewing the cast and crew and delving into the inner core of the slasher flick that is Dark Ride.

A lot of the good horror that has been coming out recently is not this 50 million dollar, big budgeted stuff. It's stuff like Saw, Cabin Fever, films that are really, like, 5 million and under, really independent.. Dark Ride kinda fits into that category. Not a lot of CGI, No Nicole Kidman, but myself, and a lot of the die-hard horror fans truly believe that when its indie, it's better. we'll see.

Chris Williams, the producer, says 'There are the big budget horror flicks, and there are people who make horror films for 50,000 where the poster looks better than the movie. There was no one really filling the void of the in-between. we feel like, we have a budget level and creative ideas that fill a huge demand for horror from the audiences. It's a gamble.

Chris would like to knock on wood at this point, but everything around us is fake because we are on the Universal back lot.

In big budgeted films the PA'a have PA's have PA's.. but on Dark Ride, everyone seemed to do a little bit of everything in order to get the job done.

It's the last night of shooting, and Peter Block is there from Lion's Gate, as is Chela Johnson, she that is ruler of all films dark at Lion's Gate, so everyone must be really excited about the last day of shooting. Of course, it's at night, and it's freezing, and the back lot so creepy - it's perfect.

My Two Centences is the production company that made this film possible. Robert Dean Klein is the writer, Craig Singer the director, and Chris Williams the producer. Dan Bickel helped produce along with Jennifer Booth.

The film stars Jamie-Lynn Discala, (of Sopranos fame) Patrick Renna (you know him from the Sandlot), David Rogers, Alex Solowitz, Andrea Bogart, Jennifer Kelley Tisdale, and Dave Warden. PD Fred Andrews and DP Vincent Toto (don't confuse DP with PD) have made this film a virtual nightmare wonderland with their artistic input. The Universal back lot makes for a perfect setting for this creepy, and twisted, story.

I would like, before I forget, to make sure I say that Jamie Lynn Discala did decline to do an interview for no apparent reason. However, I would like to say that I saw her in a tabloid newspaper yesterday tagging along with Jessica Simpson on some grand event, so gumdrops for her. She seemed quite enthusiastic about promoting this film. The rest of the cast and crew were absolutely marvelous, accommodating, and fun.

The premise of the story is this: 5 kids get trapped in a Dark Ride, which is a haunted attraction in one of those small amusement parks you find on boardwalks or in traveling carnivals. There, lurking in the Dark Ride, is a deformed killer who stalks the teenagers and subjects them to torture and death appropriate to the setting that they are in. Says Chris Williams, 'It's not Scream: it's not a parody of the genre, It is the genre

If you were thinking Funhouse by Tobe Hooper, the 1981 slasher flick, you'd be wrong. (At least according to the cast and crew) But don't feel bad, that's what I thought too. I mean, Funhouse is about 5 kids who get trapped in a carnival fun house, and a deformed, masked killer stalks the teenagers and subjects them to torture and death appropriate to the setting that they are in..

As I brought this up to the entire cast and crew, they seemed to wholeheartedly disagree that this film is anything like Funhouse. Sure, it takes place in a carnival ride. Sure, the killer is silent, deformed and masked, and sure, there are girls and boys being tossed around like props in a dollhouse. But other than that, it's completely different.

(My second thought was Ghoulies II but I don't think that counts. If you know to what I am referring to you are as lame as I am).

Craig Singer (writer and director) has a better way of telling us what inspired the storyline 'here's a story: At a 6 flags in Jackson new jersey, called Great Adventure, where 7 teenagers were killed in a Dark Ride in a fire. I thought it was a great backdrop for a horror film. When you're in a Dark Ride, it is a return to innocence. Man becomes primal when you're in the dark.if you think about the great Haunted House films; letting the architecture of the Dark Ride becoming a co-conspirator for the villain is really wonderful. The mannequins, the props the gags, in addition to the murderer. Whenever I saw films like House of Wax, or Dario Argento's Deep Red, or Suspiria, the props take an active roll.

Though it is, according to Robert, the screenwriter, ' A throwback to the golden time for horror films; the late 70's, early 80's, when slasher films were really creative.I don't think anybody has really made a film like this in 25 years.

'It's got some similar things, adds Robert Dean Klein, 'but we wanted to make the characters less like lambs going to a slaughter and more like real friends. I am a fan of that film but I think we take it to another level.

Chris Williams, 'We made a big attempt to avoid eye rolls. As students of the genre, it really is more about homage than any specific similarities to Funhouse. It pays homage to TCM, to Evil Dead, to Waxwork, to Last House on the Left, all of them. Funhouse is just one of the movies (and not one I would single out). This is not a funhouse, this is a Dark Ride. It's different. It's a very specific horror attraction.

Robert and Chris have not exactly convinced me, but they're letting me smoke during the interview so I'll let it slide.

Robert continues, 'Dark Ride is a throwback, we're kinda trying to re-invent the genre. Most of the horror films that have been coming out are Asian remakes, they're sequels or they are remakes. We wanted to create a new character rather than remake something that was old.we've really put a lot of time into the killer in the film.there is an innocence about him. He was deformed and a freak, he has lived inside this Dark Ride all of his life. He was growing up all around these sets that were going on, he always watched these people get so excited about these great sets, so he just started playing with the people as if they were mannequins. He was really killing them, but in his own mind he was just playing with them.he would just mimic something he'd already seen in the dark Ride.

Chris Williams says it rather more concisely, 'Dark Ride is a hardcore horror film in an age when people are remaking and doing sequels. It's an effort to create something new and unique and to shock and titillate.

What is a Dark Ride?

'Dark Ride, says Robert Dean Klein, 'is a term for a type of attraction you would find, say, on a boardwalk, like a funhouse, things pop out at you, sometimes its people, sometimes its puppets. That's a Dark Ride.

Chris Williams says, 'a haunted house where people get into carts and you slammed through doors and driven through these vignettes in order to scare you.

One thing that has been a trend in serious horror lately is a high gore level. Saw and Haute Tension have raised the bar for horror films this past year in terms of violence and blood. Can Dark Ride compete?

Robert Dean Klein says, 'There is a lot of gore, but there is also a lot of suspense. We wanted to scare the crap out of people.David, who plays Jonah, the killer, even though he doesn't speak, is so creative in just the way he moves. It's creepy."

What's the budget? Judging, from what I've heard, I'd say somewhere between 1 and ten million..

Robert; 'I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.

One aspect of horror films I am preternaturally obsessed with is the issue of women in horror; not just the actresses, but the women working on the film in other contexts, and the characters that the women play. Slasher flicks are notorious for making women out to be idiotic sex toys.how would the filmmakers justify and explain their portrayal of women in Dark Ride?

Chris Williams on female characters in horror.'You start with cliché and develop it into a character.

Andrea Bogart and Jennifer Kelley Tisdale play the two lead girls who end up meeting Jonah, the killer, inside the Dark Ride. I really wanted to explore how they saw themselves and their characters in this movie. Andrea said of her character Jen, 'I will be as blunt and as honest with myself as I can be: My character is the 'sexy thing in this movie.Jen is the free-spirited one who pushes the envelope. She is much more free with the men. I am the one in the mini-skirt with my shirt tied up. She's a hippie, earthy, lets smoke pot, lets trip mushrooms, everybody loves everybody kinda girl. I knew who my character was because it was put so bluntly to me: I am there to please the teenage boys.

Jennifer Kelley adds, 'She has no qualms, lives her life how she wants to live it. She's actually exactly the opposite of Andrea in real life.

Andrea, if she had to describe her character in one sentence, said 'Wooooooo can I gettta ride?

So Andrea represents individuals who don't try to follow..

'I hate her, Jennifer Kelley elaborates, 'My character does, that is..
Me and one of the guys used to hook up in college, so when she comes in it's like I don't exist anymore and I automatically don't like her.

Andrea; 'I change my clothes in the first 5 minutes of knowing them, in the van, in front of them. Any girl that's normal wouldn't like me, immediately.

Jennifer Kelley; "When you form a bond or a friendship, and a new girl enters, all of a sudden your claws are out! It's natural instincts.I am described as the Hot Librarian. kinda a feminist, good head on my shoulders, sarcastic, hard to get anything by me.I am the only one who fights back in the dark ride.

How do the women see the killer?

Says Andrea Bogart, 'he doesn't understand that he's killing, he thinks that he's exciting them by replaying what he sees in the dark ride.it's what he's seen his whole life, these beings dying these horrific deaths.

Is this film rife with female cliches, Andrea? 'You could say, if you wanted to analyze it, Andrea elaborates, 'The cheater goes first, my character goes second. and so we shall assume that the evil are always punished first.

Jennifer Kelley actually had quite a personal relationship to the script. 'My great grandfather owned half of Asbury boardwalk in NJ... There was a dark ride in Asbury Park that was very similar to this Dark Ride. My mom grew up going to it, and when she read the scripts she said that there were rumors going around that someone lived in there.While its not a true story, there are a lot of Urban legends behind it.There's a lot of history to it, it's a really cool part of history.

Like many women facing careers in Hollywood, especially in the low budget horror arena, Andrea Bogart and Jennifer Kelley definitely fear being typecast as 'Scream Queens.

Andrea; 'This is my third.horror film. This will be the one I am most proud of and hopefully I can do away with those other two.but I am nervous about doing more after this.

What were her other horror films? Sorry Andrea! They are; Dark Wolf, from 20th Century Fox, straight to video, directed by Richard Friedman, and a film called Greed.

Hey man, any film that ends up in a video store, that's a fucking success! Don't fret Andrea.

Have the girls ever heard of Tobe Hooper's Funhouse?

Andrea; 'There's clowns in that, isn't there?

Hmm. But there's a Frankenstein mask.anyway, moving along.

Jennifer Booth and Lorena David are the producers of this film. I cornered Jennifer and made her expound on her role as a woman in horror in Dark Ride.

What I wanted to know most was, when women watch this film, are they going to be rolling their eyes?

'It's going to depend on the individuals, says Jennifer. ''Cause I have girlfriends who love horror movies and the shock value. I like being scared, and I think everybody likes to be scared on some level.. I know at night if I watch a horror movie I just shut all my windows and my door, cause I guess we translate it to the threat of real society? Maybe that's why horror for some women in much more frightening.

Women fight back in this movie. A woman is the hero of this movie.Liz (Jennifer Kelley) has a whole kick-ass fight scene with the killer.

On why there are so few women making horror films, Jennifer said, 'I don't know why? Maybe overall more men are interested in horror? They're raised with guns and knives. Maybe something with aggression and testosterone?
They maybe relate to it more.In general there are fewer women in the business. I work mostly with men. There are a lot more women producers now, but creative people, women are still struggling. I know many women DP's who are very talented, but its considered a male role.More and more women that go in, the more women role models there will be in the business, and the more accepted it will be.

Now, when I had a chance to interview the actors, that would be the MALE actors, I was more than happy. The Unnaturally hot David Rogers was the most fun interview I'd had on set yet! David was fun. He plays one of the main characters in the film, and producer Dan Bickel and myself had a great time making fun of him during our interview. Fun in a nice, in front of your face.Patrick Renna, who plays 'Bill, didn't seem to have much to say about his character.

Patrick; 'What is interesting about my character in the movie?

Or, maybe there is nothing interesting?

Patrick, 'There's nothing interesting about my character

David Rogers spoke up to help Patrick, 'Dude, I'll tell you what's interesting about your character; Layers, man. Then David Rogers turned to me and asked, 'Is this going well?
I told David it was going very well, and asked him to describe his character instead.
'My character is like, college frat boy dickhead.

I asked if David likes working in horror. But David misunderstood and instead repeated, 'Do I like whores? (It was very loud and a bad place to be holding an interview)

I made sure to repeat the question..
'Horror is difficult, says David, 'because so much of it depends on the director and the sound designer and the atmosphere that they create.it will be a very different finished product that what I am experiencing.

David took great care to explain to me the most difficult aspect of acting."When you're standing around and you know that she's not really dead, but you have to scream like she is really dead.

So, its almost as if you have to, pretend, in a sense, when you're acting? How fascinating. Isn't that.what acting is?

The producer, Dan Bickel and the director, Craig Singer, both had interesting stories for me about strange and funny goings-ons on the set..

'At the mental hospital scene, describes Dan Bickel, 'That was our heavy blood day, and we really decided to get a Big Bang that day...and we loaded it up, and when we were done we were a little surprised at just how much blood there was all over the place.we had to return a camera lense that was covered in blood.It had been pushed through a body cavity, and as much as we tried to clean the little bts fo flesh off of it, it wouldn't come off. We had to take it back Panavision filthy..

Craig Williams' tale was slightly creepier. 'Camera has rollout, and usually you roll out to 1000. And four times in this film, it's never happened before, the villain and the film have rolled out at the exact same moment, and the rollout is at 666. And it freaked everyone out!

So you want to know what the general look and feel of the set is like? The person who can best describe it would be Fred Andrews, the uber-sexy Production Designer, in charge of the entire artistic feel of the film.

'I wanted a dichotomy between the horror behind the scenes, and the Dark Ride itself, relates Fred, 'Cause you know, the Dark Ride isn't the Haunted Mansion. It's supposed to be 60 years old, in Atlantic City, on a pier. It's kind of run down, it's built in the 50's, it probably also has a few updates from the 70's.we've been really successful in combining both those styles in the actual ride. So we've got the really cheesy stuff mixed with a more Hollywood type horror as well.

Fred has done an incredible job with the lighting, the aura of the Ride, and the general creepiness onset. Working with the FX and lighting crews, the Dark Ride itself seems like something out of Knott's Scary farm or a Halloween Haunted House thrown together for the season.It's also contrasted greatly by the gore and violence that takes place around the sets of the dark ride, making everything seem like a demented dollhouse. That's what it is really, a Dollhouse that Jonah, the Killer, plays in. The teenagers are his dolls, and he creates what must seem like real art when he mangles them, tortures them, and kills them in order to express himself. Pretty creepy.

Dark Ride looks like it will be, albeit its similarities to Funhouse, a really fun film. I can't express enough how damn cool the cast and crew were (except Jamie-Lynn) and how much I am genuinely enthused about seeing this movie.

Dark Ride Official Website

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