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With "They", Brendan Hood got his first theatrical victory in terms of one of his script's hitting the big screen. He should rejoice, throw a party and call Hugh Hefner for some female merchandise, right? Well, things aren't always what they seem. Brendan recently contacted me and we started talking horror shop. I found lots of what he brought up quite interesting, so I got this interview going with the man. Anybody interested in the film biz should read and learn.

1- What’s your favorite horror movie?

That’s a difficult question to answer because there are so many horror films that I absolutely love and couldn’t do without. Generally, I really enjoy genre films that work on several different levels – horror movies that seem to be telling one story, but have a great deal of subtext. “THE SHINING” is a great example of that. On the surface, Kubrick’s film seems to be a story about a man being driven to insanity by a supernatural force within an isolated hotel. But the movie, I think, is really about domestic violence. The same holds true for “ROSEMARY’S BABY”, which is more about urban paranoia and marital betrayal than a woman who happens to be living next door to a bunch of witches.

If I had to choose only one film though, I’d probably go with “ALIEN.” That was the first horror movie which terrified me for months. It’s certainly one of the most disturbing films ever made, and I think that’s not only because of the unsettling visual concepts, but also due to the nightmarish scenes of claustrophobia and rape. It’s just brilliant. The movie gets to you, especially if you’re watching it on a ninety foot screen at a movie theatre, and you don’t even know why. That’s what makes for a great horror film.

2- How did you get into screenwriting? Did you stumble into it or was it always your main professional ambition?

I always wanted to be a screenwriter ever since I was a kid. I can still remember seeing “POLTERGEIST” in the theater when I was really young, and hearing the audience screaming their lungs out when JoBeth Williams is trapped in the swimming pool with all of the decomposing skeletons. And I just thought, “I want to get an audience to do that.”

3- Do you have other cinematic ambitions apart from screenwriting? Maybe directing or producing?

I would like to put myself in a position of having greater creative control from now on, where my vision actually makes it to the screen in some shape or form. So I guess producing and possibly directing would be in the cards.

4- Where did the inspiration for “THEY” come from? What triggered you to write it?

I actually came up with the original idea for “THEY” when I dislocated and fractured my knee during a Tae Kwon Do class. I needed surgery and the doctors ended up placing a few metal clamps in the kneecap to pull the fracture together so it could heal. And while I was recovering, just the idea of having metal in my body started to creep me out.

So I came up with the idea that there were a bunch of monsters out there – organic machines who were basically a fusion of metal and flesh that would prey upon human beings and use them for replacement body parts and skin. These creatures existed in our world, but had somehow never been detected for two reasons – they had the God-like ability to alter reality and the power to erase people’s memories.

The original script was about a group of recent college grads who run across one of these creatures, and gradually come to realize that “they” exist. But the monsters respond by erasing the memories of the people around them – including their friends and families – until the kids are totally isolated. They start disappearing from pictures. Their personal identification vanishes. As a result, when the creatures start coming after the main characters and picking them off for their “spare parts,” the students’ identities have been taken away. Nobody knows who these poor kids are, and nobody will care if they go missing.

That was the original idea anyway. “THEY” didn’t refer to the creatures themselves as much as it alluded to the victims and what happened to them. But it wasn’t about “night terrors,” that’s for sure.

5- Although you are the sole writer credited on “THEY”, I heard rumors that many writers had a crack at your script, making all kinds of changes. Is that rumor true?

There were several different writers on the film, but the script was really molded and changed by the producers. For whatever it’s worth, they’re the true authors of the movie.

6- How did you feel about the casting of the picture? Did it fit the characters you had envisioned? I personally loved Laura Regan.

It’s funny, you always get a picture in your head of what the characters will look like and which actors will play them. For instance, I always thought of Paul as looking like Jared Leto (“MY SO-CALLED LIFE,” “FIGHT CLUB”). Additionally, I initially thought of Sarah Polley in the role of Julia. But that’s really just to help you envision the story while you’re writing it. As for the film, I think the actors did the best job they could with the material they were given. Ethan Embry is great. I really love Dagmara Dominczyk and thought she brought a lot to the role. Laura also did a nice job.

7- Are you happy with the way the film turned out compared to your initial screenplay?

Well, the original screenplay that I wrote is my vision for the film, and what got made was really the vision of the producers. Those are two separate things. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of cheap scares or endless scenes of people sitting around and giving exposition that doesn’t advance the plot. Great horror films work because of four important components: a strong story structure, three-dimensional characters, original concepts, and most importantly, tension. “THEY” was developed in such a haphazard manner that it really didn’t allow for those four qualities to be addressed in a logical approach that championed creative thinking. Stuff was put into the script and thrown out very arbitrarily, and it ended up hurting the final product.

However, on the flip side, the producers bought the script and changed it into something that they wanted to make. You absolutely have to respect their right to do that. They did pay for the material, after all. But regardless of how you might feel about the film, I think audiences and movie critics alike also have to be aware of where the blame or credit lies.

8- I’ve seen both the UK and the USA cut of the film and they sport different endings. Did you have anything to do with either of them? If not, who did?

I actually had nothing to do with the endings. The original ending of the film, which I didn’t write, had Julia waking up in a mental institution and realizing the entire film was a hallucinatory dream. I think people became concerned that scene would feel like a huge cheat, so they filmed a few different endings for the UK and United States cuts of the movie. Ultimately, an ending is only going to work if you’ve got an interesting story that engages people. I loved the idea of the downbeat conclusion in the U.S. version, but in order for that to fly, you’ve got to have a main character that the audience cares about. Additionally, many people also found the ending to be terribly abrupt since there were several glaring plot questions that were left totally unanswered. But there again, that’s a development problem, and certainly not my fault or Robert Harmon’s fault.

9- If I say the words “Robert” and “Harmon”. What thoughts spring to your mind?

One of the most talented directors and nicest guys around. Anyone who claims to be a horror fan has probably seen “THE HITCHER”, which is possibly the finest cult thriller of the eighties. Fortunately, when he directed that film, Robert had a great script by Eric Red to work with. I’ve already mentioned subtext as being vitally important to a horror film, and whether it was intended or not, “THE HITCHER” has got it in spades. That being said, there are few directors who can create atmosphere or mood like Robert can, and I really think that he did a nice job with “THEY.” Again, you have to realize that the script was always changing and he didn’t have a solid foundation to work with, so Robert really had to pull a story together out of almost nothing. That’s a horribly difficult thing to do, and he really did as good a job as anyone could, I think. But he’s a terrific director, and a fine individual as well.

10- What’s next on your plate in terms of screenwriting? Are you tackling another horror script?

I’m actually developing one of my original scripts with Stan Winston Productions and Brian Gilbert, one of the producers of “WRONG TURN,” who’s been wonderful. They’re just great and I’m looking forward to bringing that project to the screen, if possible. It’s an amalgam of a horror film and a classic hero myth…sort of a comic book superhero movie that’s operating within the realm of the horror genre. I’m also working on a couple spec scripts and will be pitching another project early next year. So I’m staying busy.

11- Since this was your first script made into a theatrical feature, what can you say that you’ve learned from this experience?

Never compromise on the creative side. I think anyone who’s considering becoming a working writer should consider forming relationships with creative people in the industry -- producers and studio execs who get their writing and will fight for scripts -- and try to get movies made with them. Obviously the film business is a collaborative medium with a lot of individuals bringing their ideas to the table. But despite that, you also need voices in the room who will try to support the original material. And those voices are definitely out there. That’s partially what I learned from the experience on “THEY.”  The movie industry is a lot like going through high school all over again. Some people are going to have great experiences, and other people end up having a hard time. But you always try to learn and grow stronger. No matter how rough it is, you don’t give up. You never give up.

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In my review of "They", I blamed Brendan for the outcome of the film, not knowing about the screenwriting tune-ups from others that took place behind the scenes. I'd like to apologize to Brendan for taking things at face value and blaming the film's shortcomings on his script. I learned through this interview that we don't always know all that goes on behind the curtain. I, for one, am happy that Brendan took the time to chit-chat with me because it cleared up a lot of things. Good luck on your next project dude, I hope it's a smoother ride than this one was.

READ ARROW'S THEY REVIEW HERE