Ford Austin may be known for films like “Dahmer vs. Gacy” and “Gothic Vampires from Hell,” but he got his start studying theater of the absurd masters like Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco.
It’s partly what drew him to the “Dahmer vs. Gacy” screenplay.
“The whole script for me was absurd, which is why I wanted to do it,” Austin tells WWTW during his recent trek to Starfest ‘10 in Denver.
He goes one step further, comparing movies like “Dahmer vs. Gacy” to the kind of material that echoes the absurdist pioneers.
“I look at this micro budget level of production and horror films and comedies … as the equivalent of a post-modern absurdist playwright’s work,” he says.
The very notion of cloning serial killers, the focus of Austin’s new film, does have a surreal ring to it. And while plenty of faux blood is spilled along the way, the movie also pokes fun at a culture which makes criminals into quasi-celebrities.
And consider one of the film’s juicier subplots featuring an emotional news anchor in the Glenn Beck mode.
“I was raised that you’re weren’t supposed to comment on [the news]. Let the audience have their own opinions rather than inform them,” he says.
Austin’s next project is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe called “Morella,” and the period piece will likely have a higher price tag than “Dahmer vs. Gacy.“ If that sounds too highbrow, consider another Austin project in the works – “Buggie Babes Get Revenge.”
It’s also unlikely he’ll abandon the horror genre any time soon.
“The fan base of horror, science fiction and fantasy, they’re the best fans in the world. They’ll spend a year making a costume of your character. Those are the fans that we need as filmmakers,” says Austin while costume-clad Starfest guests mill around him. “I want someone who’s gonna put a hockey mask on and walk around with it – especially if it’s my character they’re playing.”
(Photo: Ford Austin and Jed Rowen, who co-star in the horror comedy “Dahmer vs. Gacy,” strike a post at the Starfest ‘10.)
Related posts:
- WWTW Interview: ‘Dahmer vs. Gacy’ director Ford Austin – Part I
- WWTW Interview – ‘The Burrowers’ director J.T. Petty – Part 2
- WWTW Interview: Writer/director Liz Adams (Side Effect)
- WWTW Interview: ‘Frozen’ writer/director Adam Green – Pt. II
- WWTW Interview – ‘The Burrowers’ director J.T. Petty – Part 1
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