 “Great writing is not just great ideas, great prose or great penmanship. The greatness is in the act itself. This is one fact I am sure of, even if I am not a great writer and probably never will be. Conception is easy, process is hard.” - Peter M. Bracke
I discovered this quote while skimming through a DVD review of the movie Insomnia at a site called dvdfile.com. And my first thought was, “Excuse me?” It seemed I had wandered blindly into a how-to site for aspiring writers and lucked upon the feel good quote of all feel good quotes. I had visions of breaking it out from time to time, when the keyboard starts looking like a monster and my brain wants to swallow my fingers. Well, it turned out that I was still reading a movie review and the writer had not only started dvdfile.com, but also authored a book called Ultimate DVD, a sort of companion piece to the format that examined a select number of must-owns for the true DVD fan.
His latest project is an extensive, nearly exhausting history of the Friday the 13th franchise, told through the eyes and ears of those who lived it: Producers, actors, directors, writers and effects people. It also acts as a documentation of eras, an eye level look at the constantly changing film industry from the people who make the big machine go round and round. Here, Peter M. Bracke discusses his new work, video formats on the horizon, and a few scatter-shot movies to boot...
First and foremost, why write a book with Jason as the subject? Why not Freddy or Michael Myers? After all, a case for pop culture relevance could be made for any one of these guys.
It’s funny – ever since I wrote the book, I’ve tried to come up with a great one-liner, or a high-concept pitch that sums it up. But it really was due to a number of factors.
I always loved horror as a kid, especially Friday the 13th. Of course, I saw Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street and all the slashers. But Friday – I really liked the more straight-ahead approach of those early movies, and I liked that they were also a bit outside the mainstream, yet still commercial.
Though I eventually grew out of the slasher movies along with my teenage years I still held a nostalgia and an interest that era and the Friday series. Then it was just a series of fortunate events that led me to do Crystal Lake Memories.
I had been doing a lot of web writing in college, and started a DVD website as well, in early 1998. But I started to get burned out on that a few years later, and wanted to plan my next career step. So I started looking around for a non-fiction book idea, something I could really sink my teeth into, something that was long-form and could prove I could write more than just short web stories and reviews.
Then one day, in August 02, my friend invited me to a screening of Friday the 13th Part 3, and it was in 3-D. It was at the Nuart theater in L.A., and I had the most fun I’ve ever had in a movie theater. Some of the cast showed up, who hadn’t seen the movie in years. So there was this real feeling of nostalgia, but at the same time this sort of shared energy among the audience. It was like rediscovering the movie-going experiences you had as a kid. They were so alive and fun and engaging –
I also was excited to do a book on Friday because I felt the series had never been given its due. Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street, though they had their detractors, at least have been given some critical recognition. Friday remains the bastard stepchild of horror, or at least it still was a few years ago. There was just nothing at the time out there on the movies, aside from some genre articles. No DVD box sets, no other books, no Freddy vs. Jason. So it seemed like such a perfect subject – it was uncharted waters, something I was passionate about, and something I felt I could bring perspective to, not just talking about the gore or whatever.
Of course, I had no idea how long the journey would be, but at the time, I was just like, “let’s go!”
For all the writers out there, can you give us a brief history of Peter M. Bracke? How does one go from dvdfile to Crystal Lake?
Oh, it’s definitely a “Don’t try this at home” thing. Seriously, it was all one big accident.
I started the website when I was at film school. Just fucking about, thinking it would be fun to learn HTML. So I wrote a few movie reviews, and sent it to some friends. And DVDFILE was born.
The nice thing, looking back, is that it was organic. I was able to learn and make mistakes, which is what is great about the web – you just keep on going, and no one is gonna hate you for not being perfect. But, eventually, I just felt I said everything I had to say about DVD, at least at that time. So I wanted to branch out, and was lucky enough to get an agent and all that. My first book was Ultimate DVD, which was great in that I got published, although it wasn’t really a creative stretch.
Then it made sense to tackle a long-form non-fiction book. I love horror – it’s my favorite genre – so I knew that is what the book was gonna be about.
Honestly, so far, I’ve been pretty lucky. I don’t know – maybe others are really good at planning their careers, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just making it up as I go along.
Can you talk a bit about the book’s research and writing process? How difficult is it to focus on one project for such an extended period of time?
Boy, it was tough at times. Though, at first, it was great -- I really just jumped in. Spent a good year doing interviews, which was fantastic. I really enjoyed that process, and met so many amazing people. And it also got easier as time went on – my confidence grew, and as I did more interviews, it was easier to convince some of the more skeptical Friday alum to support the book. So that part of the adventure was a real highpoint.
Unfortunately, I failed to allot enough time to edit. Beginner’s mistake, really. It ended up being a hellish experience – with the release date looming, and a big launch party for the book planned, it was intense. I honestly don’t remember the summer of 2005. 90 to 100-hour work weeks, just going over and over interview text, and having long discussions with my editor on what should stay and what should go.
On top of that, the layouts and the photos all had to work together with the text and captions. We didn’t want to repeat any stories, or leave anything major out. So it was just a huge undertaking, a giant puzzle. We had, in the end, over 2 million words of transcript. Just reading through that and organizing it should have taken as long as we gave ourselves to edit the entire book. So that was a real growth experience, with plenty of mistakes made. I’m grateful to have survived it, but I certainly wouldn’t do it that way again.
What do you think of the current state of horror movies? And how long can the remake trend last?
I think they are almost out of recognizable films to remake. Some of these remakes have been good, some bad. But the properties are just too old now to make more sequels to them, so it was inevitable we’d see so many remakes. They’ll only stop making them when audiences stop paying to see them.
As for my personal opinion, I’m kinda over the ‘70s thing already. Though I liked the Scream films and the whole post-modern ‘90s horror wave, I can understand why many horror fans felt like they were a betrayal, or not good for the long-term health of straight-ahead horror. So of course there had to be a rebellion against postmodern horror, which is why I think this ‘70s revival thing came on so strong.
But at the same time, so many remakes now are doing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre thing – this stock copying of the look and feel of ‘70s horror – that its not shocking or inventive anymore. Quite frankly, stuff like High Tension and Wolf Creek, even Hostel – it is just more of the same. Gritty isn’t gritty anymore when everyone is doing it.
I also think these new remakes are forgetting that part of the power and appeal of the ‘70s films was not just that they pushed the envelope, but that they spoke to the cultural and political climate of the time. Film’s like Last House on the Left, Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween – they all spoke to that generation, to its fears and concerns. But the American of the new millennium is a very different now, so to just recreate these old ‘70s flicks – that’s not going to have the same impact. Sure, seeing someone get their eyeball clipped off in Hostel is gruesome and shocking, but what does it mean? Not that it was a badly made film, but I think filmmakers need to do more than just one-up the ‘70s if they want to make films that resonate beyond the opening weekend gross.
Where do you see Friday the 13th going? And more importantly, where would you like it to go?
Well, obviously now they are doing a remake-slash-sequel. The original treatment for New Line’s original pitch for the new Friday the 13th was, shall we say, interesting. Personally, I’m glad Michael Bay’s company has come on board, and is basically retooling it, at least from what I understand. I’m also glad they aren’t rushing it, trying to get it out by October of this year.
As for where I’d like it to go, well, this might not be so popular. I think it is probably impossible to continue making sequels, at least theatrical sequels that will be popular outside of the film’s diehard fan base. I think it is a real challenge to make Jason scary again when he has already gone to New York, to Hell and to space. He’s become a comic book figure, like the Terminator.
But now, in 2006, I think a remake is a good idea, as you can return Jason to what he was. The real challenge, of course, is that Jason wasn’t the killer in the original Friday the 13th, so it will take some inspired, creative writing to pull it off. But I liked what Platinum Dunes did with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, even if I’m not that sold on that film as much as some other fans. But we’ll see.
Also, I do like the idea of creating a TV series based on the mythical town of Crystal Lake. There was even an idea being pitched around for a series spin-off centering around Tommy Jarvis, like sort of a monster hunter type of thing. I think it would be exciting and cool to take the mythology of Friday the 13th and spin it off into these other properties.
How did you become involved with the Friday the 13th DVD Box Set? And what was it like recording a commentary track?
That was great fun. I was just really lucky, actually. I had been asked by Jeffrey Schwarz of Automat Pictures to help with the commentary for the overseas DVD of the original Friday the 13th, which Warner put out in 2003. Then I started the book, and had been in touch with Paramount to get photo clearances for the book. I was just fortunate that that coincided with work beginning on the Friday the 13th box set.
The folks at Toolbox, who produced the Friday the 13th supplements, invited me to help out with the extras, including the commentaries. That was a great day. I was nervous as hell, but it was so much fun to sit with the Part 3 cast and just talk about the movie. Especially Dana Kimmell, who has not really been all that aware of the popularity of Friday the 13th, so I thought it was great for the fans that she participated.
Though, personally, I did hope, like many fans, that the box set would have included the uncut versions of the film. Unfortunately, it came down to economics, and some other political issues involving the original producer of most of the Friday the 13th movies and Paramount. It is too bad they didn’t work with him to have him involved, because I think he would have ensured those uncut versions would have gotten on there. But, in the end, Friday the 13th is not as huge a property as say Star Trek, so Paramount just did not allot a huge budget for the Friday the 13th box.
How about some extended word association?
1) HD-DVD or Blu-Ray or neither?
Hmmmm. A tough one. Certainly, in terms of raw power and storage capability, Blu-Ray trumps HD-DVD. But as we saw with Beta vs. VHS, and Laserdisc vs. VHS, quality doesn’t always win out.
For a while, I actually thought neither. DVD is still a fresh format for much of mainstream America. They’ve just started converting their tape libraries to disc, so to ask them to upgrade again? And the fact that to invest in a high-def DVD format also means investing in a whole new HD system – that’s expensive. It is a huge obstacle for both formats, and I think it will take years until the U.S. truly makes the conversion over to HD.
But, at the moment, even given the delays with the PlayStation 3, I’m going with Blu-Ray. I think the younger generation, especially the gamers, are really going to drive HD. They are the ones, in the next few years, that will be investing in new home theaters, and will remain on the cutting edge of technology.
2) Indiana Jones 4?
Nooooooo! It was called Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for a reason. The original three films form a very nice arc – why not just leave it at that? And, no offense meant, but quite frankly, Harrison Ford is now older than Sean Connery was in Last Crusade – I’ll just leave it at that!
3) Favorite DVD in your collection?
Well, this is a tough one. I will assume favorite DVD doesn’t necessarily mean favorite movie. There are plenty of discs I watch over and over again, but not for the extras. But just going based on the quality of the disc itself, I’m very old-fashioned so I love a good, straightforward documentary. I just got this Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection box set, and I’m enjoying all the full-length docs on that. I also finally sat down and watched Empire of Dreams on the Star Wars Trilogy box set – I know, I’m a bit behind. I really appreciated its strong narrative arc, and that it told the story not just of the films, but of George Lucas. I just can’t get into many of these newfangled DVDs that have all these short vignettes, but no sense that the information has been organized into a cohesive whole.
4) The Thing or Videodrome?
Well, I would say neither, ha ha! Videodrome is a very interesting film with some complex, challenging themes, but I have to say it is one of the more unentertaining films I’ve ever seen. I also do like The Thing, I but feel it is a bit overrated. Great effects of course, and a great concept, but the characters are formulaic, and I never got the sense Carpenter cared much what happened to them.
But I’m assuming you pitted those two against each other because they share the common thread of paranoia, and an overridingly nihilistic sense of dread and atmosphere. So I’d still go with The Thing – I think, on the level of sheer atmosphere and tension, it is more successful than Videodrome.
5) CGI or Stan Winston?
Give me Stan Winston any day! I think CGI is a great tool, but more for compositing and merging live elements together, not “photorealistic” creations. Sorry, but The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, the new Stars Wars flicks – I laughed all the way through those. They are cartoon movies – I never believed a frame of the CGI effects. To me, Gollum looked just as phony as Jar Jar Binks.
I think the real problem is that today’s CGI artists, though incredibly talented, no longer obey the laws of physics when they are executing effects, so nothing seems remotely “real.” To me, that is not good effects work – a great effect should be seamless, and not call attention to itself.
I also am not a big gamer, so I think that mentality influences movies a great deal. I love games, even if I don’t play them much, but I’m not so sure about this merging of the two mediums. Usually, it results in crappy movies. But again, what do I know?
What’s next for the author?
Well, aside from being flamed because of all these answers, I just started work on a new site, panandscan.com. It’s the first DVD and Digital Video blog. I edit it, and it is sort of the next step on from DVDFILE for me. We just launched last week, so check it out.
Also, I’m working on my first fiction books, a couple of teen horror/thriller tales. Real throwbacks to the kind of stories I loved as a kid, very I Know What You Did Last Summer stuff like that that’s still fun, but a bit more modern, maybe.
Also, the second printing of Crystal Lake Memories is due out October 13, 2006. We just inked a deal with Titan for worldwide distribution. So I’m very excited that the book can now be read by fans outside just North America. Also, the book sold out so fast, many people missed out, so it’s great to be able to get it out to all the fans that want it.
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