Horror movies &stuff Interviews "Alone In The Dark 2" writer/directors Peter Scheerer and Michael Roesch
We talked recently with Writer/Directors Peter Scheerer and Michael Roesch who's latest genre effort, "Alone In The Dark 2"...will hit DVD in January. The film is the standalone sequel to Uwe Boll's 2005 horror release "Alone In The Dark", and while it does share a title and continuation with Boll's film, that's all it shares -- as Roesch and Scheerer reveal in this interview. The film is truly a standalone picture in the series, and shares no story connections with Boll's film whatsoever. Starring Bill Moseley, Lance Henriksen, and Danny Trejo just to name a few...the film has Edward Carnby joining forces with a team of witch hunters to track down the dangerous witch Elisabeth Dexter.
MR. H:"Alone In The Dark" wasn't received very well when it was released three years ago. What things were you guys looking to change going into writing and directing "Alone In The Dark 2" to appease atleast half of those people who hated the first movie?
Michael:Our idea was to tell a story which is closer to the game series, to work more with suspense then with big action sequences-
Peter:The budget was much smaller than the for the first one. So our only chance was to keep it smaller and to focus more on the characters and their internal fights.
MR. H:What even made you guys decide to take on a sequel to "Alone In The Dark"? I'm sure when you guys revealed the news at first people thought you were crazy to even bother considering the first one got poor reviews and tanked at the box-office. Most people would've ran in the opposite direction, but you guys didn't....why? Did you feel it necessary to try and save the franchise rather than quitting on it?
Michael:We think that the ALONE IN THE DARK series is a great franchise, and we should use the possibility to shoot a sequel which is closer to the games.
Peter:And we knew the critics can't get much worse.
MR. H:You guys have a great cast in this movie, some vets, and some known up and comers. How difficult or (easy) was it to pull this particular cast together?
Peter:We're fans of Lance Henriksen for a long time, and he was from the beginning our favorite actor for the role of Abner Lundberg. He was the first actor we had sent the script to, and he liked the script and immediately accepted the role.It was astonishingly easy to get these names. At the end there were even some more great actors who liked the skript - but we just had no roles left.
Michael:Another actor we had in mind for a long time was Bill Moseley. We knew that he would be perfect as the leader of the witch hunters. For some of the other roles we had also a extensive casting, We worked very close with our casting director, to get the best cast possible.
MR. H:What's the basic premise of "Alone In The Dark 2"?
Peter:Edward Carnby, the main character in the series, joins forces with a group of witch hunters, to track down the dangerous witch Elisabeth Dexter.
Michael:We thought that it would be interesting to have a real dangerous witch as the opponent for our hero.
MR. H:Will "Alone In The Dark 2" pick up right where "Alone In The Dark" left off, because at the end of that film, it was suggested that Carnby was about to be attacked by something in the final scene?
Michael:No, the producers and we agreed that it would be the best to start completely from the beginning - with a new story, and new characters.
Peter:The producers never asked us to continue with the old storyline. We came with our idea for the new movie, and they immediately liked it.
MR. H:What surviving characters from "Alone In The Dark" are returning other than Edward Carnby?
Peter:Edward Carnby is the only character which is returning.
Michael:As he is not only the main character in the first movie, but also in the game series, it was clear from the beginning that Carnby would be in the movie.
MR. H:Were there ever any attempts to get Tara Reid, Christian Slater, and Stephen Dorff to return in their roles as Aline Cedrac, Edward Carnby, and Cmdr. Richard Burke?
Michael:No, the plan was to start with a new cast and a complete new storyline. And the budget of the sequel is also much lower then the budget of the first part.
Peter:Christian Slater would have been too expensive for a movie in the budget size of "Alone in the Dark 2"
MR. H:Will we see any of the monsters from "Alone In The Dark" returning in the sequel?
Michael:No, they didn't fit into the story of "Alone in the Dark 2"
Peter:And they did not fit in the budget. One important thing if you make a movie is to be honest to your budget. You can have dreams and great ideas, but in the end there is a fixed amount of money from a producer and you have to make what is possible.
MR. H:Speaking of the monsters, if there's one thing I liked about "Alone In The Dark" is was those awesome and vicious monsters that Carnby and the military guys encounter...what was behind the decision to go with a witch as the villain in this film, rather than having a sequel where the monsters are running amok within the city and it's pandemonium everywhere?
Peter:One reason was of course the budget. To have the monsters run amok in the city, we would have need an even bigger budget then the first movie. But like with many sequels, we had - unfortunately - a lower budget. So this was never an option.
Michael:And we thought it would be very interesting to have a dangerous witch as the opponent. There are many movies with zombies, ghosts, vampires or creatures out there - but not many movies with a dangerous witch. This was something we wanted to see as fans and as filmmakers.
MR. H:Allison Lange plays the villainess Elizabeth Dexter in the film. What connection if any does she share with the villain from the first film, and will she be seeking to control the same forces Professor Hudgens was?
Michael:The witch has no connection to the villains in the first part.
Peter:There are more evil forces in the world - so we were free to take something else...
MR. H:Tell us about the films main baddie Elizabeth Dexter, what kind of personality will she have, what's her backstory, and what kind of witch will she be? In Horror films, we normally have three different sorts of witches, the seductress type, the violent bloodthirsty type, and the ugly, old, decrepid type who resides in a lair and causes trouble from afar. Which category does she fall into?
Peter:Well, she is kind of seductress. The core of the movie is about eternal life but at the cost of lives of others. So its about the question if you can resist eternal life and eternal pleasure at the cost of destroing other people.
Michael:And how far would you go to stop people from getting this knowledge.
MR. H:In the film, Elizabeth's arch enemies are a team of witch hunters. Tell us about this team, and who is the glue that holds them all together?
Michael:The leader of the witch hunters is Dexter, played by Bill Moseley. His family is fighting the witch for a long time, and now the witch is back - she wants the body of his daughter Natalie, played by Rachel Specter. Dexter leads a small team of witch hunters - played by Danny Trejo, Ralf Moeller and Brooklyn Sudano.
Peter:And then there is Abner Lundberg, played by Lance Henriksen. He was working with Dexter's father, and knows more about the witch then anybody else. He retired from witch hunting many years ago, when he found out that he slowly was becoming the same evil that he wanted to fight. But now, that the witch is trying to get Natalie, he know that he can't stay at the side line any longer.
MR. H:Can we expect any treachery or defections-to-the-other-side in this movie from any of the good guys?
Peter:There is a century old dagger, which was owned by the witch. Everybody who is injured by the dagger, turns into a door to the other side: The witch can see through him, can find out where he is, and will come and kill him. Carnby gets injured by the dagger, so he knows, that it will be only a matter of time, till the witch comes and kill him and everybody who is with him.
Michael:But not only the witch can see through him, he can also see through the witch eyes'. Dexter knows, that Carnby is dangerous, as he attracts the witch, but that he is also their only chance to track down the witch, as he can see what the witch sees.
MR. H:."Alone In The Dark" wasn't a very bloody movie, although it did have some blood. How far is part two going with the blood and gore?
Michael:The second part is also not a very bloody movie.
Peter:We like blood and gore, but in this movie it is more about the witch, so there is not so much blood and gore involved like when we would do for example a zombie movie.
MR. H:What is the official title for "Alone In The Dark 2" at this time, when will it be released to dvd, and will it see a run on the SCI-FI Channel before it hits disc?
Peter:The official title will be just "Alone in the Dark 2" - there was a rumor in the internet for a while that the movie will have the title "Alone in the Dark - Fate of Existence", but this title was never considered. It is sometimes interesting to see which rumors are on the internet.
Michael:Alone in the Dark 2" will be released on DVD in January 2009 by Vivendi-Universal. It will not be broadcasted by the SciFi-Channel before - this was a special deal which Lionsgate had for "House of the Dead 2".
MR. H:Any early plans for "Alone In The Dark 3" or "House Of The Dead 3" at this time?
Michael:As far as we know there are currently no plans for another "Alone in the Dark" movie, but you never know. We had some ideas for another "House of the Dead" sequel, but it seems that the movie will be not realized right now.
Peter:At the moment we are working on a script for our next movie, which will like "Brotherhood of Blood" be based on an original idea of us, and not on a game franchise. And of course we are busy with the promotion of our movie "Brotherhood of Blood", which comes out on October 14th by Sam Raimi's label GHOST HOUSE UNDERGROUND at Lionsgate.
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