PAUL
DAVIS

British born and bred Paul Davis has taken his love for a classic horror film and has elevated it to one of the most talked about documentaries on the horror scene today.

The writer turned filmmaker decided after writing an article about the film to make a feature length documentary on why the film is so special some 26 years after it was first released. Shooting it in a rather unconventional way with a different approach than seen in other films, BEWARE THE MOON has already established a rabid fan base with Paul's teaser videos on his Myspace page.

As he sets out to Los Angeles to film a plethora of interviews, Paul took time out of his schedule to stop by the Crypt to discuss how the road has been thus far in making his dream documentary a reality.

COLONEL’S CRYPT: What is it about AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON that appeals to you?

PAUL DAVIS: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is not only my earliest memory of watching a horror movie, but I am pretty certain it was perhaps one of the first movies I actually saw and acknowledged as something pretty remarkable. Watching it now 26-years later I still gasp at the horror and I still laugh at the humour. I genuinely think that it is a movie that transcends generations; and I am all the more convinced by this now more than ever as I get emails from fans all over the world who tell me that they’re just seeking the movie out for the first time because they’ve read about my documentary. That – and of course finding out that they really enjoyed the film – really speaks volumes to me as there are very few movies that can still find an audience over a quarter of a century after its release without ridicule.

CC: Explain the first time you saw WEREWOLF and how many total times have you seen the film?

PD: The first time I saw the movie, I must’ve been approaching my 4^th birthday, and my mother taped it from BBC 1 on a Saturday night, I still remember that it was the UK television premier of the movie – a lot of stuff cut from it, but there you go. I watched it with my older brother the following morning and I didn’t know whether I was terrified or enraptured… I was just gripped! This was something new and exciting for me… “Mummy, what’s that red stuff coming from the man’s neck?” I didn’t know what blood was at that age J  It was after seeing the making-of Michael Jackson’s THRILLER probably about a month later that I learned that movies were make believe, that there was a director and that the monsters were created by special effects make-up artists. Again, it was exciting and I could watch the movie with a completely different attitude, knowing that it was all an illusion of story-telling – even at that early age I grasped that they were telling a story. It’s kind of fitting that with John Landis and Rick Baker being the first guys I ever connected to cinema that I get to work with both on my first film.

CC: Why decide to make a documentary on the film?

PD: The idea for a documentary came around after I had written a rather extensive retrospective article on the movie for issue 5 of HorrorHound magazine late last year. For years I have been a big fan of British critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode and loved the documentary that he did on THE EXORCIST nearly 10-years-ago. I personally felt that AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON deserved something like that, and that I wanted to be the one to do it. That’s really how that all started. I took a shot in the dark and hit eight people with the bullet! It’s been unbelievable.

CC: What format are you filming BEWARE THE MOON on?

PD: We’re shooting in H-DV. It’s a pain in the arse to edit with but looks beautiful on a High Definition TV and gives off the same look as it would shooting on film. Anthony Bueno who’s doing the camera work on the documentary really is doing a superb job in shooting this. We really have a lot of fun designing the look of each individual interview.

CC: Do you feel the new wave of digital technology and MiniDV is essential for documentary filmmakers?

PD: I don’t think it’s essential, but it sure as hell makes it easier for any body to give it a shot – and not just documentaries, but movies too; I mean, 28 Days Later was shot in DV. Doesn’t take a Danny Boyle to point and shoot.

CC: Who have you interviewed so far and who is coming up?

PD: So far we have in the can: Jenny Agutter, John Woodvine, David Schofield, Bob Paynter, David Tringham, Mike Carter, Brenda Cavendish, Joyce Herlihy, Joe Ross, Beryl Lerman, Robin Grantham, Linzi Drew, Vic Armstrong, Dennis Fraser and Ray Andrew. Coming up over the next few weeks, we head out to LA this week to film Rick Baker, John Landis, Les Dilley, George Folsey Jr., Tom Hester and Bill Sturgeon. After five days in the California sun we’re heading to New York to catch up with editor Malcolm Campbell and then we have some more UK interviews to finish up in July. And before you ask, we ARE interviewing both David Naughton and Griffin Dunne later in the year. Scheduling has been tough with those two but it is going to happen.

CC: The list of interviews you have set up are amazing. Which interview has been the most difficult to obtain?

PD: Hardest interviews to obtain are the ones I haven’t got yet (laughs). There are some people I have approached and may still get on board but at the moment I’d say guys like Paul Kember, Frank Oz, and Rik Mayall are proving to be tough cookies. In honesty, all the people we’ve obtained have been so much fun to find, so no one has really caused any headaches.

CC: The still lovely Jenny Agutter was one of your first interviews. I understand that you had a certain time limit in the interview?

PD: That is true. We shot that interview immediately after Jenny had come off stage in a matinee performance of EQUUS with Daniel Radcliffe in London. We only had about 40 minutes with Jenny as she had to go BACK on stage for the evening performance. Her dressing room was tiny – well, not really as far as dressing rooms go, but doing a full interview set up and fitting four people in the room, it was pretty tight. Her interview was nothing short of fantastic though, and she was genuinely one of the loveliest and most patient people I have had the pleasure of meeting.

CC: I love the scenes you put up on Myspace, with the WEREWOLF images superimposed in the background. Is this the look for the final film?

PD: Yup. I wanted the look of the interviews to be both atmospheric and gritty. The idea of filming against green screen and then throwing images on in post production was discarded VERY early in the design of this project as I wanted everything done on set. So what you’re seeing there isn’t in fact a superimposed image, but rather an image that we are project while on set. We’re using a standard Over Head Projector that you’d find in an office or school and throwing an image in to the background using transparency film. Everything in AN AMERCIAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON was achieved on set. There were no opticals. Same rule applies in BEWARE THE MOON.

CC: You will be at Horror Hound in July. What are you going to be doing at Horror Hound?

PD: HorrorHound is going to be groundbreaker as we’re going to be showing some edited footage for the first time. In addition I’ll be doing a Q&A with the HorrorHound fans about the making of the documentary, PLUS making a very special announcement regarding the release of the documentary – so watch this space.

CC: Settle a bet with C.J. Burton and I. He swears that in a FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine in 1981, there was a still where the Nazi Werewolves invade the Slaughtered Lamb. I say there isn't. Who wins?

PD: Funnily enough he emailed about a month ago asking me the same question. The image in question, having that issue to hand, is a shot of one of the Nazi demons stood beside the fireplace in the Kessler’s living room – very easily mistaken for the Slaughtered Lamb. Interesting fact, world’s most famous stunt man, Vic Armstrong (Harrison Ford’s double on INDIANA JONES among others) was the Nazi monster in the helmet that shoots the kids, kicks in the TV and stabs Alex in the hospital room.  

CC: When should we expect to see BEWARE THE MOON completed?

PD: I hope to have a finished cut done by November. Their may be a screening, I’m not sure yet. As for it’s release… I’m hoping next Summer, but that’s all I can say right now.

CC: Will you continue working on documentaries when this is completed?

PD:I do actually have another documentary project lined up after Beware The Moon. After which I’d like to make my first horror movie – literally cannot wait to make a movie.

CC: What is the overall goal of BEWARE THE MOON?

PD: As a whole, remember An American Werewolf In London. It’s an important movie in my opinion and well over due for an extensive making of documentary. Hopefully Beware The Moon will fill that void and go down as the ultimate video chronicle for this movie.

CC: What's next for Paul Davis?

PD: Lots I hope (smiles). Immediately after shooting wraps on BEWARE THE MOON I am starting principal photography on a second documentary project. I am still in talking stages at the moment so can’t really go beyond that – only that it is another horror project. After that, I really want to direct a horror script that AWIL assistant director David Tringham penned a few years ago. It’s a great story… kind of reminds me of a mix between THE SHINING and AMERICAN PSYCHO – so fingers crossed we get to do it.

CC: On a different subject, I read on your Myspace page a blog about the Amityville horror. Being an Amityville native, what is your take on the legend?

PD: For the longest time I wanted to believe the hype. I wanted to believe the ghost story. Having spent A LOT of time researching the case, the only real horror, in my humble opinion, was the DeFeo murders.

CC: Where do you see the horror genre in the next five years?

PD: Hopefully somewhere different. Don’t get me wrong, I love the work of Eli Roth, Darren Lynn Bousman, Rob Zombie etc, but I think the torture porn horror flick has run its course. Horror is having a tough year and I hope that large studios will have the insight to allow the genre to go in different directions rather than green lighting projects just because they’re like another movie that made x-millions of dollars. I’d like to see some that taps into the human psyche… really gets those hairs going up on the back of your neck and creep you out, 21^st century equivalent of what Robert Wise did with THE HAUNTING and Kubrick did with THE SHINING. That, personally, is what I’d like to do.

CC: I leave the last word for you. Thanks for your time Paul.

PD: Just thought it would be fun to mention that we also have a transformation sequence in the documentary itself. With me hosting from the original locations – in chronological order to boot – we had the idea of having me turn into a wolf in the middle of the alley where the movie finishes. World renowned sculptor and long time friend of Rick Baker, Mike Hill, will be handling make-up duties, so I expect we’ll see something pretty sweet. On that note I would just like to say thanks to all the fans that are supporting the project… for supporting horror by going to see these films at the movies and I hope that everyone enjoys BEWARE THE MOON as much as I have enjoyed making it. Has been a pleasure talking with you. Stick to the road!