While we were at the Festival of Darkness, we had the great opportunity to ask director Stuart Gordon a few questions. Here is the transcribed interview.

Interview with...
STUART GORDON

NOTfilms: First of all, Mr. Gordon, what has attracted you to the horror genre all these years?
GORDON: Well, when I was a kid my parents wouldn't let me see any horror movies, and I think that made it forbidden fruit. So I of course had to run out whenever possible and see some, and I ended up getting terrible nightmares from them, and I think they say that you are always attracted to the things that you fear, and maybe by becoming a horror movie director I was able to control the fear in some way, or conquer it and at least know what scared me so I could scare other people.

NOTfilms: And you also tend to inject a lot of comedy in to your horror films. Does this help to cope with some of those childhood fears?
GORDON: Well laughter is the antidote to fear, and the thing I found with horror movies is that audiences want to laugh. You know, you'll never have an audience that wants to laugh more than an audience at a horror film. So, I think it's a good idea to give them a few things that they can laugh at.

NOTfilms: I know that you started off your career directing theater, so what made you decide to direct film?
GORDON: I've always liked film, and I still do direct theater from time to time, but film is a way of reaching a worldwide audience, which is sensational. Festivals like this one, you get a chance to talk to people who have seen your movies, and I've been able to travel all over the world and it's been a pretty wonderful thing to communicate with such a wide audience.

NOTfilms: A lot of the filmmakers who are submitting films to our website are not film students and do not have any previous training. Did you yourself go to film school, or having any previous training before you jumped into movies?
GORDON: No, I never went to film school. When I was a university student I tried to get into a film course, and it was full so I took a theater course instead, an acting course, and it completely changed my life. I got into theater, and I was a theater major in college, but I was lucky when I started making movies to be surrounded by people who had done it a long time, veterns who kept me guided--on the right path, and my director of photography Mac Ahlberg was a huge help.

NOTfilms: Did you get a chance to make any short films yourself?
GORDON: I did. When I was a teenager I would just grab an old 8mm camera, and we ran out and we made some movies with titles like, Mental Illness For Fun and Profit [he laughs]. And they were fun, so I think I've always really liked the idea of movies.

NOTfilms: Which is the whole point of movie-making, to have fun.
GORDON: Exactly.

NOTfilms: Can you tell us a little bit about your next project?
GORDON: Well, the next project is called Dagon, and it's an H.P. Lovecraft story like Re-Animator. It's a project that Brian Yuzna, who produced Re-Animator, and I have been talking about for literally fifteen years since we made Re-Animator. And now Brian is going to produce it and I'm going to be directing it this summer if everything goes according to plan.

NOTfilms: You're obviously a big fan of H.P. Lovecraft. Can you give us any insight as to why you've been attracted to his stories so much?
GORDON: Lovecraft I think wrote the scariest stories, and theres a kind of idea of his that man is lucky to be ignorant because if he knew the truth he would either kill himself or go mad. It's a pretty bleak world view, but one I think people these days can kind of relate to. His stuff is very disturbing.

NOTfilms: I suppose that's why we're all here at the Festival of Darkness.
GORDON: That's right! We're celebrating darkness.

Coming soon to NOTfilms...Stuart Gordon's Mental Illness For Fun and Profit?

Stuart Gordon filmography
Born August 11th 1947
Chicago, Illinois
USA

Director - filmography

1. Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, The (1998)
2. Space Truckers (1997)
... aka Star Truckers (1997)
3. Castle Freak (1995)
4. Fortress (1993)
5. Robot Jox (1991)
... aka Robojox (1991)
6. Daughter of Darkness (1990) (TV)
7. Pit and the Pendulum, The (1990)
8. Dolls (1986)
9. From Beyond (1986)
... aka H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond (1986)
10. Re-Animator (1985)

Writer - filmography

1. Progeny, The (1999) (story)
2. Space Truckers (1997) (also story)
... aka Star Truckers (1997)
3. Dentist, The (1996)
4. Castle Freak (1995) (story)
5. Body Snatchers (1993)
6. Robot Jox (1991) (story)
... aka Robojox (1991)
7. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) (story)
8. From Beyond (1986)
... aka H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond (1986)
9. Re-Animator (1985)

Producer - filmography

1. Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, The (1998)
2. Space Truckers (1997)
... aka Star Truckers (1997)
3. Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992) (executive)