Mick Garris Talks Fear Itself, Masters of Horror and Roger Corman: An Interview

Horror site Fearnet.com is hosting a five part interview with director and writer Mick Garris beginning August 9th. In the series Garris talks about his experience of working with another horror icon, Roger Corman. Corman is one of the developers of the original Piranha and the creator of hundreds of sci-fi and horror thrillers. In anticipation of the interview director Garris has taken some time to talk about some of his most recent productions including Nightmares in Red, White and Blue, "Fear Itself," the horror series "Masters of Horror" and working with Roger Corman. Have a listen as Garris talks about creating fear in audiences, sexual repression and a cathartic element that is inherent in horror filmmaking and watching.

(Michael R. Allen): Mick, I really enjoyed the "Fear Itself" series, which you were a writer on. Can you tell readers how you incorporate comedy in to horror, or do you think that these two genres are exclusive to each other? If you think that comedy has a place in horror, how did you use this element in the "Fear Itself" television series and were there any comedic moments on the set of "Fear Itself?"

(Mick Garris): Well, there wasn't a lot of humor in "Fear Itself." Though I created the show as a spinoff from , it was always meant to reflect each individual filmmaker's cinematic personality. "Fear Itself" didn't work out as well in that regard, and horror is tough to do on broadcast commercial TV. But someone like John Landis is expert at laughs mixed with chills. Both go for a visceral, physical reaction, whether to laughter or screams and jumps. Drama can appeal to the intellectual and emotional sides of our psyches, and should be a part of any good horror film. But horror and humor are more primal: what makes us go pale and sweaty, as well as what makes us laugh, often has to do with surprise, with tapping into something more basic and Neanderthal in our genetic makeup.

(MRA): Speaking of the primal, I am currently writing an essay on the repression of sexuality in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost and how the repression of sexuality is unnatural and detrimental to the health and functioning of the characters. In the film Nightmares in Red, White and Blue you talk about Cat People and how the film shows the repression of sexuality through symbolism. What do you think are some of the negative outcomes of repressing sexuality? Do you think repression of sexuality can turn people in to serial killers? Or, simply, in to loners, outcasts similar?

(MG): Repression is a very dangerous thing. Look back to the young girls in 1692 Salem, or to the devoted evangelical Christian serial killers, or sexually repressed virginal suicide bombers. Sexuality is a part of who we are, and to suppress or repress something that is a part of our biology can lead to no good.

(MRA): I am agreement with you; any sexual repression, generally, leads to poor results.

Also, I am curious, how much of our sexual identity do you feel is learned in childhood and acted out, unconsciously, in our adult life and in to film?

(MG):Well, obviously I'm no psychologist, but the more you study about the human condition, the better you might tap into the fears of an audience. Again, our sexuality is a basic part of who we are, and most of our identity is defined early in life. If we're lucky, we're conscious of how to make choices that work favorably in our society, sexual or social. But it's all connected.

(MRA): Then, how does a filmmaker use sexuality and the unconscious to entertain audiences, or show sexuality indirectly?

(MG): Well, you can do it directly or indirectly. Some of our most potent stories and films of effective terror reflect that fear of sex and sexuality in overt or subversive ways. The stories of werewolves, where the character is undergoing unwelcome changes in his physiognomy, growing hair in new places, and subverting to the most animalistic characteristics: what is that but a symbol of the physical changes every teenager goes through at puberty? The phallic blood-sucking organ in Cronenberg's Rabid is a brilliant reverse penis, under a woman's armpit, that draws the fluid of life OUT of the victim's body. Blood is life... and sex... and one of the most potent of storytelling symbols.

(MRA) Also, in Nightmares in Red, White and Blue you mention that human interactions and our connection with the external world is a big part of our identity. How do you think horror films help us cope with the stresses of everyday life?

(MG): That which does not kill us makes us stronger, says Nietsche. Horror stories help us to safely play tag with our fears. Again, back to that damned old repression, we're healthier if we face our fears than hide from them. What safer way than to put them on the screen at a safe distance. So long as your life is not all about immersion in horrific imagery...

(MRA): There is definitely an element to horror films that is very cathartic.

Now, can you talk a little bit about your interview with Roger Corman and the original Piranha? How did Piranha manage to utilize inherent fears in the unconscious to terrify audiences?

(MG): The world underwater has always been a potent symbol of the unconscious. And the nasty little killer fish that rend and tear and kill and draw blood are the nasty thoughts, destructive imaginings, and vicious thoughts that haunt our dreams. But Corman is a fascinating character, very genteel and educated, incredibly intelligent and cultured and well-spoken... but the movies he makes are often some of the most primal and tawdry of B-movies. And I mean that in a good way, of course. He's a master of giving the audience what they think they want, while also slipping in a little social comment for desert.

(MRA): Yes, and we are the desert! Do you think Piranha managed to scare some people out of the water for good?

(MG): No. Jaws had already done that a few years before. No one was left in the water...

(MRA): Jaws is still scaring me out of the water.

Now, I know that you have other interviews and promotional work to take care of for the Fearnet "Post Mortem" interview, so I will say thanks and let you go.

(MG): My pleasure and fans of horror can have a look in to the world of myself and Corman at Fearnet, now.

An exclusive interview with Roger Corman and Mick Garris can be found here:

http://www.fearnet.com/shows/post_mortem/guest/rogerCorman/main/index.html