FRED Entertainment

KILL DEVIL HILLS – The scary season has arrived.

In the spirit of movies that make you fear going to the movies comes The Hills Run Red on DVD. Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrinck) is a film geek obsessed with an ’80s film called The Hills Run Red. The movie was quickly yanked from theaters and no prints or videotapes of the film exist. He finds a clue to the movie by locating one of its stars played by Sophie Monk. After a lapdance, she agrees to take Tad and his two friends to the shooting location. Tad doesn’t realize there might be a sequel in production.

Star Tad Hilgenbrinck and director Dave Parker called up the Party Favors hotline to chat about their grisly horror film about a gruesome horror film recently released on DVD by Warner Premiere.

Tad has been in Epic Movie, Disaster Movie and Lost Boys: The Tribe, but his was his first true taste of vivid horror. While Tad appears to be chased backwoods of California by Babyface, the location is really deep in Bulgaria. What did Tad think of the country? Is it the next big hot party spot like Prague or Dublin?

“The people are amazing,” Tad said. “They shoot a lot there. They’re an inner-circle small family kinda people. I really enjoyed them. But when it comes to off-camera time, there’s really not much to do. Plus you become a zombie, you sleep all day and shoot all night. I know the hotel pretty well, but other than that, I didn’t see very much of it. No matter where you shoot on location, it could be Ohio or Bulgaria. It doesn’t matter because it’s a 24 hour day job when you’re shooting.”

Tad came in late to the project. He was pretty much cast and tossed on a transatlantic flight to Bulgaria for a four week shoot. This meant he didn’t have to comfort of spending months receiving lapdances and considering them research.

“The script is amazing and ready to go when we got there,” Tad said. “The shooting flew by. We shot by the seat of our pants and we didn’t have much time. Once we started, it was go, go, go, go, go. Which is great for a project like this. It’s so intense that you have to let the moment happen. If you think about it too much or have too much time, I probably would have been worn in the ground by the end of it. So it was perfect.”

The question comes up about how does an actor get into the true spirit of a film about shock and fear when they pretty much know what’s going on. How does an actor “unprepare” in order to tap real shock in their eyes at the images around them?

“It is unpreparing,” Tad confirmed. “The one thing I was intimidated about was the whole third act. I’ve done horror. I’ve done suspense. I understand that. Being tortured and going to places, I was just praying to God that I can deliver this. What happens is you get so into the moment that you have to get rid of your self consciousness and just jump in. I’m pretty not method, but when I was being tortured, I was tied into a wheelchair with barbed wire for three days. Between breaks, they couldn’t get me out because it took to long. I pretty much was tortured on this thing, but it’s good and delivers on the final product. It was definitely worth it.

“It really was pretty horrendous, but it’s fun. And that’s the best part of being an actor. You get to play pretend all the time. It’s exciting to walk away and think that never in my wild dreams could I think I could pull it off. Not only did I pull it off, but it’s a work that I’m really proud of.

The actors weren’t able to entertain themselves by watching the other cast members getting faux-tortured. This was a director’s decision.

“Dave (Parker) kept us apart a lot, Tad said. “He’s an amazing director and knows how to steer actors. With the Babyface character, we weren’t allowed to see the actual actor or any sketches of what he looked like until we shot the scene. They would keep a bath towel on his head so that when we see him for the first time, it’s genuinely us as actors seeing this character for the first time. It really creates that sort of reality. When I saw the final cut, I hadn’t seen Janet do all those things and Sophie’s work. It was fun to watch the final product. On set we were incredibly focused on our track and what we had to do and how to deliver. It was fun to come together at the end.”

The fear factor weighed heavily on Tad’s approach to the movie. Having worked on Disaster Movie, he knows what can happen if an actor mugs the fright.

“The one thing we were concerned about was this could get cheesy,” Tad said. “Any insecurities are going to ruin this project. It has such an amazing third act, if we as actors were any self conscious in anyway it was going to just tank. I think what you see is all of us come together on our own levels to make this happens. It’s us as an entire cast getting it done.

The movie allowed Tad to become pals with the TMZ darling Sophie Monk. Because they were cast so close to the production start, the duo had a cute meet.

“Sophie and I were on the same flight out,” Tad said. “We hadn’t met. I figured out halfway through that this gorgeous blonde girl has got to be an actor because who is flying to Bulgaria at this hour that looks like that. We sort of connected. She comes from a comedy background. We were both kinda nervous at that point. Our characters go through a lot in the movie so on set and off, Sophie and I went through a lot of hurdles and barriers thrown at us. I felt Sophie and I were sort of like….Batman and Robin is a horrible comparison, but we did help each other through it.

“Sophie is so nice and funny and hysterical. She is so dedicated. She had a lot of stuff to do that any other actress would have choked at. Sophie is so willing to do anything to get what you need and the shot. I really respect Sophie as an actor.”

Her willingness is seen in the movie when they meet at a stripclub. She does more than the usual lapdance scene that appears on SyFy. Tad referred to as one of his favorite parts of the film. But he signed onto the movie for more than just that moment. “We weren’t the teens running into the woods,” Tad said. “We all had these complex things we had to do. We all get a chance to shine that was the best part….also the stripclub. That was a fun day.”

After appearing in this film, is Tad’s netflix queue loaded with Italian cannibal films from the ’70s?

“No. Not really,” Tad replied. “I’m more of a Porky’s, Animal House kinda guy.”

He got a chance to work with Eugene Levy, one of his comedy idols on American Pie Presents Band Camp

“That was my first big project,” Tad said. “I was so nervous because I’m a big fan of his work like Waiting for Guffman. He was so nice. Letting me do my thing and going with me, he’s an upstanding kinda guy.”

Director Dave Parker has worked for the last several years creating top notch DVD bonus features. He views his time lurking on the sets and shooting the behind the scenes action as a help in his journey to helm a film.

“You see how they interact with the entire crew and cast,” Parker said. “It really is like going to a film graduate school.”

In a sense The Hills Run Red was a graduate thesis since his previous work played a major role in him landing the job.

“I was working with Robert Burnett on the Superman Returns documentary “Requiem for Krypton.” This company out of New York, Fever Dreams, had the screenplay. They were looking for West coast to make this movie. They had gotten a couple recommendations from friends of ours. We made a presentation of what we wanted to do with the film and they agreed,” Parker said.

Who made the call to shoot the film in Bulgaria instead of California or Louisiana?

“That was Warner Brothers and Dark Castle. They had made Return to House on Haunted Hill there the previous year. They had a really good experience with the crew over there. It was a way which we could take our budget, which was not a huge budget, and maximize it for the most time and bang for our buck. It was a great experience. The Bulgarian crew was really amazing to work with. It gave us so much more production value than we would have been able to here.”

Why did Parker hide Babyface from the cast?

“It was important to me because I wanted to capture when they saw him for the first time,” Parker said. “That sort of real, honest moment. They’re actors, they’re very capable. They could have given me that performance. It was probably more fun for me to keep him hidden. The night where it was effective was because I kept hiding him from them for days and days. They just didn’t see him. There was this anticipation of what he was going to look like when they first saw him. I think in that sense, it did help the spirit of it when they did get to see him. They were genuinely taken a back. It was great to be able to do that. We have a couple of that moments on the making of on the dvd.”

How smelly was the set with all the rancid looking props in the film? Did the fake blood get a little stanky?

“To me, I don’t mind the fake blood,” Parker said. “I’m the one throwing it around on them. they were probably more irritated by that than I was. It’s more fun for me.

“What was bad was an effect that was done when the character of Lalo (Alex Wyndham) gets sliced in his stomach,” Parker said. “The effects people (back in America) put chicken and bananas in there for texture. They somehow didn’t think that with the shipping and everything else before we shot it that the stuff was going to rot inside. Luckily was one of the last days of shooting. That pretty much made everybody sick. It was awful. The actor had to wear a breathing thing. Everyone was covering their noses.”

What was Parker’s favorite visual in a film full of grotesque moments?

“My favorite gore effect of the film is the opening with the kid cutting off his face,” he said.

As a newbie director of horror, how did Parker get the performances out of his actors to make people believe the fear on the screen?

“It was a really great collaboration,” Parker said. “It was to be able to push them to certain limits and out of their comfort zones. At the end of the day, they were happy with that. Each actor is different so you have to figure out what they need and give that to them. Some need a little more coaxing and attention than others. Other times you just need to give them a look and they get it. It’s all about working on that trust and developing a shorthand so you can get the most effective performance possible – especially when fear involved and showing terror. There are times you have to push them because they think it’s enough, but you know they need to go farther. You keep prodding them till they get there. Sometimes you have to go through more takes to wear them out so they’re a little more frazzled.”
You’ll be frazzled by the end of The Hills Run Red.

PAUL & REC

Paul Schneider is in the midst of a promotional triple play. His TV series Parks and Recreation just started his second season on NBC. Away We Go, which features him as a brother of John Krasinski (The Office), is out on DVD. In theaters right now he’s third bill on Jane Campion’s Bright Star. Paul puts on a Scottish accent in this tale of the poet John Keats. He’s receiving the best reviews of his career. There’s buzz that he’s a dark horse for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

He’s come a long way since our time around the editing suites at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Strangely enough this feature film brings things back to school. We had a sneak preview of Jane Campion’s Portrait of a Lady during our time there. Flash forward into the next century and he’s in one of her films like Nicole Kidman. Life is funny that way.

Schneider dropped by my neighborhood arthouse to promote Bright Star. He informed the crowd to not believe his bio at the imdb. While he lived in Asheville, NC, he was born in Northern California. Even after all these months, he’s still juiced from working with Campion. We didn’t have much time to talk since he had a bleary eye flight back to the west coast. We merely caught up on things like old classmates do at airport bars.

In memory of Ben Lyon’s career on At the Movies, here’s a Lyon’s Den shot taken by Paul.

Remember to watch Parks and Recreations on NBC’s Thursdays or they’ll just expand Leno another 30 minutes.

WHAT IS ALEX’S MUSTACHE

Another old classmate from a different college was also recently on TV. Claxton Graham has become the third person I know to play on Jeopardy. Unfortunately he’s also the third person I know to lose. He didn’t lose as painfully as Michael Cudahy, the Millionaire from Combustible Edison. Cudahy had $44,400 on the board at the end of the game. Unfortunately Ken Jennings had $48,801. Ouch. Claxton had the lead going into Final Jeopardy, but the answer was actually tough.

I had a chance to swap mail with Claxton about his time holding the buzzer.

How long did it take you from the audition to being told you’d be on the show, until you got on the soundstage?

Claxton: Altogether, it took three months. The in-person audition was here in Charlotte on April 30. I got the call from contestant coordinator Glenn Kagan on June 18. And I did my taping on July 28.

Did you get enough of a warning to get a good price on a plane ticket?

Claxton: From what I understood, the normal warning time is two weeks. But since we were the first taping group of the new season, we had a good bit longer. As for the cost of the tickets – I’ve got a deal where if I buy one round trip ticket at full price, I get up to two more tickets at a substantial discount, which meant I got to take the Dear Missus with me.

How many different sets of clothes did you bring to the taping?

Claxton: We were requested to bring at least two different outfits, in addition to the one we were going to wear on stage. Being of the School of Just In Case, I had three pair of pants, five shirts and four ties with me. The only piece of clothing I didn’t have a backup for was the sports coat.

How many practice questions did you get to practicing buzzers?

Claxton: We spent about an hour before taping began to practice on the buzzers. We also spent about a half hour after the lunch break, before the last two games of the day, practicing on the buzzers.

How annoying is the buzzer system on the show?

Claxton: Very, especially if you know the answer and can’t beat the other people in. There were times, though, where I had a clear path to buzz in and I was able to take advantage.

Did they allow you to watch other tapings or were you hidden away?

Claxton: I was in the audience for the first three shows taped, and I could’ve stayed for the last taping – the show after mine. We were only in the green room before tapings began and then in between tapings.

What do they feed you on the set?

Claxton: Before we began practice and tapings, we had access to various snacks and beverages in the green room. They took care of our lunch for us at a commissary in an adjacent building. I had a burger and fries with a Coke Zero.

What’s Alex Trebek smell like?

Claxton: I didn’t pay that much attention to how Alex smelled. Sorry.

Is his mustache on display in the Jeopardy offices?

Claxton: Not that I’m aware of. He did, however, tell the audience during one of the commercial breaks that he shaved it off on a whim.

Did you fear Alex doing his impersonation voices and throwing off your game?

Claxton: No.

Will you be applying for Are Your Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

Claxton: Most definitely.

Is it nicer knowing you’ll get $2,000 for your efforts instead of a case of Rice-A-Roni?

Claxton: Absolutely! You know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten Rice-A-Roni?

REALITY WHORES

Is L.A. Laker Lamar Odom having a mid-career crisis? Why would a guy in his position have a quicky marriage to Khloe Kardashian? Did he not see what happened to Reggie Bush while he was hooked up with Kim Kardashian? Reggie’s agent can’t even get the guy on milk cartoon in New Orleans. Three games into the season, he’s got as many rushing yards as Adrian Peterson gains in a half. Does Odom not watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians or Skanks Over Miami on E!? Khloe is beyond headcase. Perhaps Odom is blinded at the act of getting his own Ryan Seacrest reality show. Nothing says, “Long happy marriage” like a reality show.

I’m not too excited by Hef pimping his new ladies on The Girls Next Door 2.0. The twins have all the personality of their implants based on their previous visits. The third girl is a complete cipher. Maybe Hef has had them in the Dorothy Stratten Star 80 finishing classes to keep them from looking like a trio of fishsticks with blond wigs and fake boobs. I’ll watch, but mainly to see if Hef can get the twins to go beyond the “safe zone.”

SAVE YOUR PENNIES

This fall just got more expensive with Shout! Factory putting out G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero The Complete Series (Nov. 10) and Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVI (Dec. 1). On G.I. Joe, you get all 95 animated episodes inside a footlocker. The MST3K 16 contains The Corpse Vanishes, Warrior Of The Lost World, Santa Claus and Night Of The Blood Beast. There’s a mini Tom Servo and the video of the Turkey Day ’95 intros.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition Blu-ray brings Walt Disney’s animated masterpiece to the world of high definition. Snow White is a sweet innocent gal who doesn’t get along with the Wicked Stepmother. She ends up shacking up with 7 dwarfs who all have personality issues. The evil queen decides to put Snow White out of her domestic misery by making her eat a poison apple. The evil Queen is so tempting. I’d take an apple from her. The new 1080p transfer is stunning in clarity and color. It’s watching a moving painting on your TV set. This would have been how Walt would have wanted it. The bonus features include Hyperion Studios, a tour into the original Disney studio that lets you see everything about the production with vintage photos, audio interview and Walt talking about the project. It was a major risk for the man and it paid off royally. “Magic Mirror” lets the reflective character act as your host. He even remembers where you stopped watching. “Disney View” has Toby Bluth expand the edges of the screen so you can watch the movie as a 16:9 image. This might be seen as controversial by animation purists. But it is an option. There’s also a way to stick your own face on a dwarf. There’s other games for kids to stay busy. As a major bonus, you’ll also get the new transfer on a DVD. This should keep the kids quiet in the back of the car. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition Blu-ray lives up to the Diamond of its name. A worthy upgrade from the Special Edition put out 8 years ago.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut – Blu-ray brings a high def image to a low budget creation. Cartman looks sliming in widescreen mode. In case you haven’t seen this feature length animated cartoon in the last decade, it’s all about hating on Canada and gay sex between Saddam Hussein and Satan. The parents of America have had it with Terrence and Phillip so they capture the Canadian comics. They plan to electrocute them as part of an all-star spectacular. It’s up to Cartman, Kenny, Stan and Kyle to save their idols. Saddam just wants to keep having gay sex with Satan. Do you think the real Saddam is now having gay sex with Satan? The movie features Winona Ryder popping ping-pong balls out of her lady parts. The bonus features include a new commentary track with creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They now want to upgrade the film. They also complain how they’ve yet to see a single dime off the film since Paramount claims the film hasn’t come close to making money. There’s also the “What Would Brian Boitano Do” music video. Remember when people cared about music videos that ran on MTV? This animated musical has aged like vintage wine.

Varsity Blues Blu-ray gives us a quick view of big time high school football. Has it really been a decade since James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek) was the back up quarterback when Paul Walker (Fast and Furious) went down? James sacks up when he gets to the huddle and proves he’s not merely a clipboard cowboy. He’s got enough mad skills to land him hot girlfriend Amy Smart, but he’s got hotter cheerleader Ali Larter yanking on his jock. But no matter how much the ladies want him, he’s all ears for coach Jon Voight (Fearless Frank). This was part of the craze that gave us Friday Night Lights. The Blu-ray looks sharp in 1080p. The include a commentary track from director Brian Robbins and producer Mike Tollin. There’s a few making of specials that are ported over and still in standard def. The original trailer has been buffed up to HD.