John Moore – Exclusive Interview

The Omen remake had a tumultuous run in theaters a few months ago (it broke records on opening day, yet garnered loud criticism from certain fans of the original), and now it's brand new on DVD. The controversy hasn't ended; when I viewed the behind-the-scenes documentary made for the disc, I was impressed by how "warts & all" it was, so when I saw some negative reviews on that aspect of it, my curiosity was piqued.

I was curious to know what the film's director, John Moore, had to say about not always being shown in the best light. Never one to shy away from the maelstrom, he agreed, and even shared some insights about his upcoming film projects (hint: none of them are play-it-safe romantic comedies).

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Staci Layne Wilson / Horror.com: I really liked the extras on the DVD, particularly the behind-the-scenes. It's a bit different from the norm; how did the idea come about to show the good and the bad shooting days?

John Moore: The guy who did the documentaries in named Stephen French. He used to work with me as my assistant. He did the behind the scenes stuff Flight of the Phoenix, and Behind Enemy Lines. He and I have an unwritten rule, where there will be no intervention. If the studio shuts something down, we can't help that — but if he catches us at a particularly bad moment, we can't touch it.

You don't care?

Yeah, I do care because I look like an asshole! [laughs] But I don't care enough to stop him, because too many of those behind-the-scenes things are so fluffy and just bullshit. And they actually do the people that make the movies a bit of a disservice because we all look like cunts, you know what I mean? [affects gaiety] "Hey, yeah, I'm standing around with my paper cup…" The behind-the-scenes things now are kind of corrupted.

Before, it used to be kind of interesting — they've become massaged now, and managed, and the B-roll crew and all that, you know, "Glenn's wonderful, and John's wonderful…" Whereas with Stephen, he's on the movie in prep so he's on-set every single day of photography, he's there a month beforehand, and so people get so used to him being around. A lot of actors won't let their guard down when they know that the EPK crew is around, but Stephen becomes part of the furniture. So you get a much better product. A couple of times you'll watch it and go, "Ouch!" but it's worth it, because I think his stuff does give a better look at what it's really like.

How much control did you have about what would go on the DVD?

Fox does have an editorial department, and with DVDs it's all about real estate — in terms of how much will fit on the disc. There are three real formats: There's the quote-unquote Collector's Edition which can be 2 discs with all kinds of stuff on it; there's the regular released version with has extras on it like The Omen, on 1 disc; then there's the Walmart disc, with is extremely limited and has just the movie. So depending… they'll take over editorially. I mean, if The Omen was huge, or if the DVD became cultish, they might say, "Let's do a 2-disc," and put out everything. But then sometimes that material can get a little thin. I mean, who really wants to see 27 hours of behind the scenes?

None of this stuff is rated. I'm not sure how many people really understand, but the MPAA has no rating control over the extras, so you get to put a lot of stuff in there that ordinarily may not have been viewable. In my experience with Fox, they have not been heavy-handed, they have not been negatively editorial.

When you do your commentary, do you just wing it?

Yeah, you do it live. You just sit around the movie with a mic and headsets and you watch it and just talk about the experience. I've done it three times now and I've never had somebody roll back and go, "Can we try that again? Can you be more interesting?" [laughs] Wine helps.

How did you decide who would do the commentary with you?

Well, I wanted to have people who were actually there day-to-day, and had shared the pain and the joy. I guess in the big movies it becomes a bit of a bragging rights thing, like you're working with a hotshot producer they can get a little… It hasn't been, in my experience, anything that anyone's jockeyed for.

Was it a conscious decision to not have any of the actors participate in the commentary for The Omen?

No. It wasn't conscious, it was logistical. We did the commentary in L.A., and they were in New York. It would have been fun, though, because actually [Live] Schreiber had a big hand in this movie. He came up with some of the smarter concepts that modernized the film a little bit; like Robert Thorn struggling with faith, because he's an educated man and he just pooh-poohs religion… So it would have been fun to have him on, but literally he was in New York and we were in L.A., and there's no modern technology that could possibly have overcome that hurdle [laughs].

In the additional release material, you have some extended scenes. I preferred the more gory beheading scene; I thought it was more effective. So I was wondering, was the scene a deal-breaker for an R-rating in the movie's theatrical release, or did you actually decide to cut back (so to speak)?

I've always thought of The Omen as royalty in the horror genre. And it doesn't sit too comfortably, I would debate, as a horror movie because it's such a psychological thriller as well. I was very conscious of protecting that royalty status, so when it got too gory I was worried that would infringe. Look, the last thing I wanted to do was remake a movie that had even the slightest self-reverential camp connotation. It wasn't attempting to be a remake in that sort of self-conscious, fun way like some of them have been recently. You know, Texas Chainsaw was great fun and there's a self-referencing sort of tone to it. A lot of fans are in on the joke and everything, but I was worried that if The Omen got a little too gory, that that might tip it over and I really didn't want to do that.

Ultimately, when the guy's head it cut off I think you still get that reaction. I would rather err on the side of keeping the classiness of the film than overdo it for the sake of a couple more-bloody shots. Even though they're a lot of fun, I decided to pull back. The moment of horror really is the horror that you register on Thorn's face — because everything that he just dismissed seconds ago comes to be proven right in front of him. And so if we'd stayed with Jennings editorially, we would have missed the actual moment on Thorn.

And besides, the great thing about the DVD format is, you're conscious of it when you're cutting that there's a second chance. There is an outlet for that; you can craft something really beautifully, but it doesn't fly, sometimes for rating, sometimes for flow of the movie, but you do know it'll get a respite on the DVD.

One thing I would like to explore with you a little bit is doing remakes, now that you've done two of them and they're behind you. The movie's come and gone in theaters, the reviews are said and done. Any regrets about remaking The Omen?

No. But it's not to say that… I would be lying if I said to you that when I read — mostly online in comments or [message boards] — something negative, it does have a personal effect. You do get the shit beaten out of you. It's hard. It's silly and you shouldn't read it, but…

So, I don't regret making the movie, I think we did a good job, but I'd be slow to do another remake because I think I would be unfairly judged now. If I tried to do another remake, the story is, "What the fuck is it with this guy? Three for three," or whatever, you know? You don't even get out of the box, and they're shooting at you. So I don't regret making The Omen, but at the same time, it was painful. I stupidly read some stuff before the film was completely finished and that does knock your morale a little bit. I mean, I guess it's understandable that people get upset because they particularly love the original. And you can defend it all sorts of ways, you know.

It's like the private painting collection; you know, some fucking asshole owns a Renoir and you don't get to see it because it's his. The story isn't going to end with The Omen in terms of the remake debate. In fact, I think we might look back fondly ten years from now and remember when there were only 12 or 13 remakes a year [laughs].

OK, so what are some good remakes you've seen recently?

The Departed was superb. Hey, I wonder why Marty doesn't get beaten up for that? [laughs]. Most of the Asian remakes have been really good. I liked Dark Water, The Ring, and The Grudge were pretty well done. Dark Water was pretty much the most underrated, both the original and the remake, I think.

Did you see The Hills Have Eyes remake?

No, and that's from our own studio. We were busy doing our own remake at the time! [laughs] It's funny, I guess there's going to be a league of good remakes now.

Yeah, I hope so. Rob Zombie is doing the remake of Halloween. Which does not need to be remade at all, but if anyone's going to do it I am glad it's Rob.

Yes, and the other thing is, if these things are made cheaply enough, there's two kinds of traffic for them. There's the hardcore fans who are loyal even to the point that they will go and see a remake even if they're disgusted by the fact that it's being remade, and then there's the incidental traffic made up of people who really don't know the original or are just in the mood to see a horror movie.

But they all seem to be a little self-reverential, and this may be a controversial remark — but, fuck it — I'm not sure that they take their source material all that seriously. In Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning, there's that South Parkish element to it. Ridley Scott, I heard by rumor, was going to make a new Alien movie until he heard that they were doing Alien Vs. Predator 2. And he just said, "Enough." The source material was serious to him and he thinks that doing sort of ancillary prequels and sequels to mine the material can be detrimental to the source material.

Look, I took a lot of heat for being faithful to the original Omen. Very few people will give you credit for thinking that by default it's a different cast or whatever… for it to err on that side…

Yes, but there are a lot of remakes in name only. And it makes you wonder why they even bother with calling it the same thing, when that's an automatic set up for disappointment.

There's the cachet of the title, though. When you say "Halloween" – that's a million dollar title. Same as The Omen is a million dollar title. So in some ways, your hands are free. Rob could just take the title and go crazy. It's got a lot of value, and I'm sure there have been situations were directors have said, "Well, actually I don't want to call this a remake. This is a completely different movie," and the studio's going, "Uh-uh."

The remake phenomenon is probably 98-1/2 percent fueled by a concept that making money works. It's like, "A hamburger works, let's put a bit of cheese on it and call it a cheeseburger. Great." Occasionally you'll get some people who think it's a story worth telling again, if you get a good enough script.

So, do you have any happy stories to share about good fan feedback on The Omen? Although negativity makes for good copy, I know a lot of people did like it.

I'll tell you what's really heartwarming is on these comment pages when you see somebody hit back. I don't think it's wise for, say me, to indulge in a fight online with somebody. They liked the movie, they didn’t like the movie, I don't believe I have the right to comment. I don't believe I should defend anything; [what's onscreen is my defense]. Here's the movie. You know, you can't go around explaining yourself to every movie fan or hater online. But it is incredibly uplifting when somebody hits back and says, "Whoa, wait a minute…" One good comment will get you through the day and will wipe out 150 negatives. Especially when you see someone's written, "This is my favorite movie. Fuck y'all!"

We showed clips from the movie at Wondercon. And I'll admit I was a cynical asshole, thinking, "Oh, what's some guy dressed in a Storm Trooper uniform going to know?" And I'll tell you, the minute you get there, the cynicism evaporates because these fucking people, they're really into it. They make you feel like you want to work harder, you don't want to screw around, because their expectations are [high]. You know, you're sitting there signing posters or whatever, and you'll have some guys give you a hard time, but it's good. You want to engage with them, because they're fans, they've bothered to come here, they've spent their money, so you genuinely feel, "I'm going to learn something from this guy; I should listen." If someone's giving you a hard time, it's OK because they are engaging on the movie. It's this online stuff, where people are just being mean.

Sure. They have anonymity. It's easy to be mean at your keyboard, miles away.

Yeah. But actually one guy came up to me at the Fangoria convention in Burbank, I was signing a one-sheet for him, and he said to me, "You'd better not fuck this up." And I was [affects light tone] "Oh, yeah, I hope I won't." And goes, "You'd better not. I will find you." And for a moment, I was freaked out, then I was like, "All right dude, I promise you I will try not to fuck it up." See, this was precious to him. He wasn't kidding.

OK, so for some it's precious. But then there are those who never saw the original The Omen. Do you feel at all that doing a remake might benefit the Richard Donner version — they might seek it out, now?

I know Donner certainly hopes so! [laughs] I'd say yeah… I have personal anecdotal experience of having seen The Ring or The Grudge or whatever, and you hear it's a Japanese remake. I know a lot of people who certainly would do that. I think it's more of a provable phenomenon in language-remakes; people would be more inclined.

Probably less so with American remakes, but you never know. The thing about The Omen is, you can't go wrong. If you look at the original, you're really going to love it. It's so damn good. I mean, it's got a sort 70s kitschy-campiness to it or whatever, but it's every bit as terrifying.

What's next for you? Not a remake, I take it?

It might be The Pilgrim. It's a movie about a CIA operative who gets screwed around in the war on terror and decides to take things into his own hands and kill everyone. Another happy little piece!

Nothing too controversial, huh?

This one, I have high hopes for being extraordinarily controversial. And that's not lost on the people who have to spend tens of millions to make it, so I don't know if it's going to happen. It's a risky proposition. There's that, and there's another movie that's really scary, called Crossing. So it's probably [between the two].

Is Crossing scary in the horror-genre sense?

It's about a very cynical TV presenter who has a show where he fakes being able to see to the other side. And it's very clever, because his green room is micced. So he'll hear you talking and saying, "Oh, I wonder if they'll talk about Rusty?" And he'll later say, "Oh, is there a Russ… a Rusty, the dog?" So he's an asshole. And what happens is, he has a heart-attack and dies momentarily and crosses over.

When he comes back, he finds that he really can see to the other side now, and it is not fun and it ain't about Rusty the fucking dog. It's about some very, very negative things and he can't switch it off. His life falls apart, he loses his show, and it's very, very scary. I was very attracted to it because it reminds me of The Shining, where you just see a guy turn, and lose it all because of his perceptions.

So it's not a script you wrote?

No, the writer is called Josh Cole. It's good. It's going to be a very scary movie; much more atmospheric than bloody or gory.

Sounds good to me! Well, thank you, John. Good luck with those projects.

Thanks.

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Read our DVD review of The Omen, then check out our other Omen exclusives.