You know you’re doing something right when you unnerve a master of horror.
Over the weekend, you may have seen one of several photos of Quentin Tarantino posing with the main cast from Reservoir Dogs, all of which were taken at a 25th anniversary screening of the film that took place at the Tribeca Film Festival this past Friday night. Tarantino and stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth reminisced about the film, and Tarantino told a fun story about the late Wes Craven that we wanted to share with you today.
Talking about the film’s infamous torture sequence, Tarantino recalled that many festival audience members – including Craven – walking out during the scene. Naturally, Tarantino took that as a sign that Reservoir Dogs was working, while others were sure the scene needed to be cut.
As relayed by EW, Tarantino told the Tribeca crowd:
There was all this talk about the torture scene. Steve [Buscemi], he comes to me and he goes, ‘Quentin, did you hear what everyone is saying? They’re saying the torture scene ruins the movie!’ And I go, ‘What are they talking about? It’s the best thing in the fucking movie! Did you see how many people walked out? That’s the shit!’
It was the 1992 Sitges premiere that Craven attended:
They showed Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive, which was just drowned in zombie guts and brains. Finally I’ve got an audience that won’t walk out. I even joked about that in the opening introduction for the movie. Five people walked out of that audience, including Wes Craven. The fucking guy who did Last House on the Left walked out? The guy who did Last House on the Left, my movie’s too tough for him.
Of course, Tarantino was right. The torture sequence, set to the tune of “Stuck in the Middle with You,” is the movie’s most iconic. And it’s impossible to imagine it without that controversial scene.
Proof that sometimes, festival walk-outs are a good thing.