Yesterday I was allotted the chance to spend a few minutes on the phone with Dolls director Stuart Gordon on the latest Blu-ray release from Scream Factory.
In the 1987 classic, a group of people stop by a mansion during a storm and discover two magical toy makers, and their haunted collection of dolls.
Here’s what he had to say about the new release.
What are your thoughts on Scream releasing Dolls? Was it something you had been waiting for?
I’m so happy it’s available on Blu-ray now. There was so much work that was involved, detail I mean. A lot of the animation is more noticeable.
Were all of the dolls made specifically for the movie?
Most of them were, a lot were characters. There were a lot that were just for background purposes. One time both of my daughters are on set and my youngest asked “Are all these dolls bad?” and I said, “Yeah, they all are” and she asked “Even this one?” and pointed to the doll with the white buttons. I asked if she wanted that one and she nodded so I told her, “That one isn’t bad, it just fell in with the wrong crowd.” So she took it home and named it Violet. She still has it.
Are you hoping to get any other films you worked on released through Scream?
[Excitedly] I just heard that next year they are going to be releasing Robot Jox! So I’m pretty happy about that, there is a lot of animation in that one too. That’s sort of an unknown one.So what have you been working on lately? Any hope for a new movie soon?
Well, I’ve been doing a lot of work on the Re-Animator musical, we are going to be in Las Vegas coming up in January. I’m hoping to take it on a tour, we may be in New York again.
Any chance Jeffery Combs would do a special appearance?
[Laughs] No, he’s not in it. He still does a lot of acting in films.Are you planning any other stage adaptations? From Beyond maybe?
Actually, I’ve been told to do a From Beyond musical before. Right now I want to focus on Re-Animator but it would definitely be interesting to do something for From Beyond.
Obviously you are known for your great adaptations of HP Lovecraft stories. Is there one in particular that you are still trying to get made?
I do have a script for “The Thing on the Doorstep” and I’d love to get that made. There just isn’t money for it right now.
Have you considered crowdfunding?
I have but I think it’s just too big of a movie to raise money for. We would like to get a wide release of it when/if it gets made. Hopefully one day.
Re-Animator is your most well-known movie in the genre but what do you consider your most successful?
Well people usually forget that I was involved with Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. It was the biggest success financially and I consider it a sort of horror movie. There are giant bugs and a mad scientist type character. It’s more of a family friendly horror. Even Honey, I Blew up the Kid has a Godzilla aspect to it, and then there is the question of how to stop a giant baby.
I never thought of them as horror movies but you make a good point. The ant scene still haunts me today.
[Laughs]To wrap up, where can we find you in the near future?
Well, I’ll be in Las Vegas in January for Re-Animator and in March I will be in Ohio at Horror Hound with my wife. You should come introduce yourself!
Thank you! I will. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for another movie.
Thank you, me too!
In addition to being an awesome filmmaker, Stuart Gordon is also the nicest guy in the world. I’ll be going out to see him in March for HorrorHound but in the meantime I must read “The Thing on the Doorstep” and get out to see Re-Animator the Musical. Has anyone seen it? And here is the trailer for Robot Jox, apparently heading to Scream! Factory next year.
