On Friday, June 3rd, Chiller and Shout! Factory will be airing the premiere of Fender Bender, an original slasher that was directed by Mark Pavia. This marks the return of Pavia, whose last movie was the 1997 vampiric horror film The Night Flier, which was based on a short story from author Stephen King.
To celebrate Pavia’s return and to also hype the upcoming premiere of Fender Bender, we managed to get an interview with the director, who revealed some fantastic and fascinating information about the movie, the changes 19 years can make to the industry, and his future plans, which include a horror anthology film based on the works of Stephen King!
In a small New Mexico town, a 17-year-old high school girl who just got her driver’s license gets into her first fender bender, innocently exchanging her personal information with an apologetic stranger. Later that stormy night, she is joined in her desolate suburban home by a couple of her school friends who try their best to make a night out of it, only to be visited by the stranger she so willingly handed all of her information to — a terrifying and bizarre serial killer who stalks the country’s endless miles of roads and streets with his old rusty car, hungrily searching for his next unsuspecting victim.
Fender Bender stars Makenzie Vega, Dre Davis, Cassidy Freeman, Kelsey Leos Montoya, Harrison Sim and Bill Sage as “The Driver”.
Our own Chris Coffel calls the film a, “…a scary, suspenseful slasher that will make you think twice about how you interact with your fellow drivers on the road.“
It’s been nearly 20 years since you directed The Night Flier. What were you up to in the interim period?
Well, you know what they say — absence makes the heart grow fonder. So you all should want to marry and have multiple children with me by now, right?! Seriously, I was just trying to get my next film made and ran into a series of unforeseen cancelations and false starts. Right after Night Flier, I was prepping my next film Slice in Toronto, which was going to star Michael Berryman, Tony Todd and the late, great Jason Miller, with special effects by the legendary Tom Savini. Two weeks before shooting was set to begin, the financing was pulled. It had nothing to do with the film, per se, but a conflict the producers suddenly found themselves in and the bank got nervous, and pulled the money. This was after three months of pre-production. Boom! Gone, just like that.
Soon after, I had a two picture deal at Warner Brothers with Maysville Productions, which was George Clooney’s production company at the time. The deal was again to make SLICE and also an adaption of the cult classic zombie comic book Dead World, which I had the rights to. We started work on the Dead World script and soon after there was a regime change at the studio. And when that happens, the new bosses come in and flush all the existing projects away, pay off everyone to leave, and that’s exactly what they did with ours.
Now you find yourself three, four years from your last picture and all the executives in Hollywood start asking, “Hey, what’s wrong with Pavia? Why hasn’t he worked in such a long time?” And, you know, there’s nothing wrong with me except for a string of bad breaks, and a dash of bad luck, but they don’t want to hear that. They’re just concerned about that hole in your filmography now. And before you know it, you’re “cold” in the industry’s eyes. I have to say, this was a phenomenon I wasn’t aware of until it happened to me personally, and I found myself in a situation where I had to fight my way back, and fight HARD, and that’s exactly what I did. I put my head down and got to work, every day, all day. And I had a lot of people here in town rooting for me the whole time, too, but I knew I had to do it alone and on my own terms. I also knew it would be with a script, my writing, and that’s what eventually happened with FENDER BENDER. At the end of the day, it’s all about perseverance and passion. Staying focused and never giving up, despite the enormous odds against you. I’m absolute living proof of that. So filmmakers out there, young and old, listen to me when I say NEVER give up, EVER! You can do it. Just believe you can, and work your ass off to make it a reality, and you will get there. Take it from me.
What was it like returning to the director’s chair after so long?
It was absolutely amazing! I felt instantly comfortable and excited and couldn’t wait to dig in and get it done with my incredible cast and crew. Saying it was merely satisfying and fun wouldn’t do it justice. There are no words to describe it, actually. Let’s just say it felt like coming home after a very LONG trip away! And I’m beyond happy to be back.
There have been a lot of technological advances since The Night Flier, such as better and cheaper CGI, digital cameras, etc… Did you find that these were a benefit, a distraction, or not even something you really bothered thinking about?
The biggest advancement, of course, has been with the cameras themselves. The change from film to digital. I was very fortunate to have shot Night Flier with Panavision cameras on 35mm film, and am thankful for that experience, because it’s all but extinct now — except for larger budget films, of course. But the digital revolution has made a lot of things far more simple now than they were back then, especially in the post production process. And for a perfectionist like me, it was very, very satisfying. I enjoyed it immensely, so it was all beneficial, for sure.
You also wrote Fender Bender. Tell me where that idea came from and what you want to achieve with the story.
Not too long ago, I was out driving in LA with a good friend, cruising around town enjoying our afternoon, when suddenly we were hit from behind by another car. Nothing too serious, just a fender bender. So, naturally, the cops weren’t called, and my friend climbed out to address the situation. A few minutes later, he climbed back in with a piece of paper in hand and off we went. After a moment, I looked over at him and asked what he had just done? He shrugged, saying they just exchanged information, that’s it. “What kind of information?” I pressed. “What do you mean? Everything, of course.” he answered, now slightly annoyed. “Name, address, phone number, insurance info, you know… everything.” I paused, smirked, then softly replied “What if he did it on purpose?” My friend looked over at me, concern seeping in. “Did WHAT on purpose?”, he asked. My grin widened even more. “What if he hit you on purpose to get all of your personal information and tonight he’s coming for you? Coming to KILL you!” His eyes instantly bugged out of his head. “SHUT UP! YOU’RE FREAKING ME OUT!” And that instant I had it. My next project. Absolutely terrifying and instantly relatable, too. See, everyone has been in a fender bender before and has given away their personal information without a second thought. And after they see FENDER BENDER, when they’re in their next accident, they’ll be like… DAMN THAT MOVIE! Which, of course, will make me very, very happy. I live to give people sleepless nights.
Shout! Factory is considered a bastion of horror, where the respect and admiration they give to the genre is acclaimed. What was it like working with them?
Everyone at Shout! Factory and Scream Factory have been absolutely amazing and incredibly supportive. Jordan Fields, Gus Krieger, Jeff Nelson — all amazing people. And that also goes for my producers at Echo Wolf Productions, too, Carl Lucas and Josh Bunting. Chiller Films, as well. They all love the movie and I feel exactly the same way about all of them! Before working with Shout! Factory, I was already a huge fan of theirs. I mean, they are the best in the world at what they do, by far, and when they decided to start making their own films, Fender Bender was the perfect fit. I was introduced to them by my good friend Nick Ekum who had just started working there. I went in, talked with passion about the movie I wanted to make, and that was it. They completely understood the retro ‘80s slasher vibe I was going for because they have put most of them out as Blu-ray special editions already. Without a doubt, the stars lined up perfectly on this project, and I beyond thrilled that they did. I’m sure we will all work together again.
Several years ago, there were talks that you were working on a Stephen King anthology film. What’s the status on that project?
Yes, ‘The Reaper’s Image’ — a Stephen King horror anthology film I wrote. Kind of a modern Creepshow, you know? There hasn’t been a Stephen King horror anthology film like this in almost 30 years, so it’s all very exciting. So, where it’s at right now… as I mentioned, there is a script, and the project is currently being handled by Stephen’s agent, Rand Holston, a really terrific and supportive guy and one of the best agents in town. A lot of people have been asking about it lately, tremendous interest building, so we’ll see. It would be an amazing project, no question about it.
Coming back to the time between The Night Flier and Fender Bender, the horror scene has changed quite a bit. There was the rise of the found footage and “torture porn” subgenres, as well as returns to more ghostly and supernatural themes. How did the new horizon of horror influence your script and your direction?
Not at all, actually. I never chase trends, or what other filmmakers may be doing, because when you do that, you always end up losing the race. And the audience can sense it, too, so why even go down that road. It’s a very cynical way of making movies. I write and make what I love, what excites me and stirs my imagination, and that’s exactly what I did with Fender Bender. And that’s what I’ll do on the next project, and the one after that.
What drew you to creating a slasher over some other kind of horror subgenre?
I wanted to celebrate a type of film that I absolutely LOVED growing up in the ’80s in the suburbs of Chicago. John Carpenter’s Halloween, Friday the 13th, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine, Terror Train, Happy Birthday To Me, The Burning, Maniac, Silent Night Deadly Night. The list goes on and on, and all of them were my bloody inspiration for Fender Bender. Simple campfire stories told honestly and without pretension. And for a brief moment in time, there was A LOT of them, too! Man, it was fun being a young horror fan back then and waiting for the next one to open on the approaching Friday, cutting out the big ads in the Sunday paper and hanging them on my bedroom wall, watching TV all night just to catch the scary commercial. And that is exactly what I want for Fender Bender. To tap into that dark joy all us horror fans have inside and hold so dear. It’s my love letter to the slasher genre — my bloody valentine for all of you who are just like me.
What else does the future hold in store for you?
Well, there are a lot of exciting things happening right now as people start seeing the film. It’s been getting a very positive response, which of course makes me extremely happy, and people seem to be genuinely excited that I’m back. Which, naturally, is very nice, too. So, scripts are coming in, I’m taking a lot of meetings around town, and I’m sure we’ll have some scary news to announce very soon. Look, this is my Part 2 right now, and I guarantee that it’s going to be that rare occasion where the sequel is far better than the original!
