Sisters remake - Exclusive Interview with Douglas Buck, Part Three
Staci Layne Wilson/Horror.com: Now that you've wrapped Sisters, are you wanting to do more genre films?
Douglas Buck: Well I'm always ... I must say I'm always a little hesitant to say genre film. Because the only hesitation that I have is that "genre films" puts you into some kind of category. I've been offered other horror remakes through my agent you know, and I thought that they were just so shitty and so catered-to like some kind of expected commodity genre project, which I think most horror films are today. So I hate to be attached and like, what does that mean, "genre pictures"? Slashers?
Let's put it this way, I'll always want to do really perverse films and almost always they will be bloody. Almost always they will be violent in one manner or another and they probably will be put under the horror label. But you know, when you say "genre pictures" like a slasher film or another Halloween or most of the shit like the House Of Wax remake, I have no interest in it whatsoever. If that answers your question at all. I realize that it wasn't very clear but... [laughing] What was the original question?
Q: Well, just for your immediate plans, are you looking to do more genre films in the horror area?
Douglas Buck: My great influences are always with filmmakers like, let's say Roman Polanski. Let's say Repulsion. Do you know Repulsion?
Q: Yeah.
Douglas Buck: Would you call Repulsion a genre film?
Q: Ah, no. Not strictly. I'd say it's more of a psychological thriller, I suppose.
Douglas Buck: But you'd probably find it under "horror".
Q: Yeah, I think you do.
Douglas Buck: But at the same time it skirts other areas. I think I'll always lean towards horror in my work, but I find horror to be much larger than the way it's labeled today. So that's why I'm hesitant about it. You know, Ingmar Bergman films are the greatest horror films cause they deal with existential dread greater than any other films that I know of. I would say that Ingmar Bergman films are horror films. Hour of the Wolf is just an amazing horror film of dreamscape, hallucination and dread. So in that respect, yeah. Always, and I will always want to use the trappings associated with the horror genre. You know, the experience of dread, and images of violence, and images of perversity. So I think in one way or another, I will always be flirting around that genre. Yes, absolutely.
Q: And what do you think of all the horror remakes, lately? I'm sure that your movie will be lumped in with them in the same breath, so...
Douglas Buck: Yeah, I know. Exactly. Ah, in general, I'm probably like most horror fans. I roll my eyes when I hear something like the Dawn of the Dead remake, I go "Oh my God!" It just sounds like horribly cynical marketing, economic decision more than anyone saying, "I just have to make that film," and "I have to find a way to get it made." It sounds more like a producer going, "Ah! Let's remake Dawn of the Dead! Now let's find a writer, now lets find a director, and let's do it!" you know? Which isn't the best way to make great movies.
So like every one else, I'm very cynical about remakes, but like every one else, I think that... There's a general consensus, I don't know if you agree or not, that Dawn of the Dead remake wasn't terrible. I think the first twenty minutes actually is pretty close to brilliant. Then the rest is kind of shitty, in my eyes. Still, the first twenty minutes is quite brilliant, the drive through the suburbs and all that kind of strange metaphoric landscape that's created there.
The Texas Chainsaw remake wasn't god-awful either. I would never touch either of those movies with a ten foot pole, you know. Like if somebody said, "Would you want to remake these movies?" I'd say, "No way. Absolutely not!"
But with the Sisters remake, as soon as I heard about it, something in my mind went, "Oh yeah. That makes sense for me." So I think there's room for these films. I just wish that it didn't feel so cynical, you know, just didn't feel so economic and so cynical like it does overall.
All I can say is with my remake, I sought it out and pursued it because it really made sense for me. It has ideas that I like to explore. It made sense, in my eyes, to do it. And it was never an economic decision. So in general, I understand the hesitation in these remakes and how come no one wants to make anything original and everyone's relying on remakes. It just feels like you know, cannibalism in the worst way rather than in a good way.
Q: Also I think Sisters is probably not as well known among the general public as say, The Omen, is which as you know has been remade and coming out soon.
Douglas Buck: Yeah, like that one, my first thought immediately was, "That movie's going to suck!"
Q: Actually, I recently saw a good half hour of it and I liked what I saw.
Douglas Buck: Oh, you did like it?
Q: Yeah, I was actually favorably impressed. Yes. I agree that the first one doesn't need to be remade at all, but since no one's going to stop remaking at least the new ones can be good in their own right and not just a retread.
Douglas Buck: Aren't they calling it The Omen 666?
Q: No. I think that was just the working title.
Douglas Buck: Oh, good. That sounded like a cheap… like some producer going, "Oh, We'll put 666 on it cause that's all devil stuff and the kids will love that!" Is that going to be PG-13 or R?
Q: It's R.
Douglas Buck: I make a distinction there, too. It's unfortunate that's where we are now in our landscape, that it's all marketing… so if it's PG13 I'm suspect much more, than if it's R.
Q: Any final thoughts on Sisters?
Douglas Buck: It was a really, really grueling shoot. I wish I had more time and that I could have done more things. But as I watch the dailys and as I'm getting people's reactions, I have the feeling we have a very special and interesting film here. Whether it's this big splash showcase, I'm not sure, but I would say that it's going to be a very interesting film.
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Be sure and read interviews parts one (the making of Sisters) and two (the casting of Sisters)