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| Witchouse III Introduction by director J.R. Bookwalter To hell with an MPAA rating! I think movies should come with details about their budget, format and schedule emblazoned on the packaging. If the movie is bad, we might respect it a little more. And if the movie is good, everyone will be impressed! Following on the heels of what was apparently a marginally-successful run for my Full Moon directorial debut, WITCHOUSE 2: BLOOD COVEN, the movie you hold in your grubby little paws started life withoout me -as a $6,000 video-lensed retread of THE CRAFT shot with a 3-D lens. Charlie Band planned to acquire it for $15,000, then pay another $11,000 to have it Filmlooked and "gussied up" with a new sound mix and computer FX to be christened as WITCHOUSE 3: DEMON FIRE. (Note: The film was later released by Brain Damage video as THE COVEN) I did the mental math and figured for $26,000, Full Moon ought to be able to do better. It was soon revealed that "flattening" their 3-D video process created an undesirable image that negated the costly yet popular Filmlook. Around the same time, I happened to let it slip to Full Moon that a more-polished movie could be made quickly for the same loot. That was on a Friday in early May, 2001 and by Monday of the next week, Charlie called with a word that the acquisition had been kicked to the curb and I was now expected to make good on my challenge to produce an all-new WITCHOUSE 3 - and to have a screener in retailer's hands by mid-July for an October release! I have been criticized in the past for allowing my reach to exceed my grasp - my meager budgets never allow for the grandiose ideas I want to put on film (or video, as was often the case). So I designed this movie for simplicity and for the limitations of the budget. The concept of three girls in a beach house was mine (we couldn't afford to go back to Romania)... the cast was mine (I sent out five e-mails and wha-la! - instant cast)... I even co-wrote the screenplay (in particular the ending which became "SEX & THE CITY on acid" as one of my friends called it). I was producing (with Tammi Sutton, who had been production designer on my previous two shows), I would be editing (because I couldn't afford anyone else, and because my coontrol freak nature wouldn't allow me to anyway). I was my own assistant director, my own script supervisor. There was no money to pay more than a handful of crewmembers, so it was gonna be my movie, like it or not. Thanks to the invaluable assistance of the bare-bones cast & crew, the 9-day WITCHOUSE 3 shoot in various Los Angeles locales was a smooth and enjoyable one. After the previous year of producing four DVD features that weren't always creatively satisfying, I really needed this project to recharge my batteries! Everyone rose to the occasion and we all had a lot of fun on top of the hard work and long hours. Continue Witchouse 3 Introduction |
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