INT: Mike Hurst

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

Arrow in the Head Interviews
Mike Hurst

Writer/Director MIKE
HURST has been a busy genre bumble-bee now of late. In 2005 he gave
us HOUSE OF THE
DEAD 2 and this
year will see the release of
ROOM 6


(Hitting the DVD shelves on June 13, 2006),
a supernatural thriller in the veins of Jacob’s Ladder. Oh did I
mention that he also has
THE HARVEST
in the wings awaiting Distribution, that he’s presently shooting
PUMPKINHEAD 4 and that
CABIN FEVER 2 might be in the
cards for him?
Well…I just did. Mike was kind enough to jab with yours truly and
here’s what came out of the bout.

What are some of your
favorite horror films?

I love a lot of different
horror movies. My favorite film of all time, in any genre, is Jaws, which is
obviously nothing but a brilliantly made giant monster movie. I also love
The Terminator and the remake of The Thing. I am one of those people who
felt the American remake of The Ring was actually better than Nakata’s
original, although to be fair I did see The Ring in a double bill with Ghost
Ship, which probably helped it seem brilliant by comparison.

You co-wrote your most recent film ROOM 6 with
Mark Altman. Who came up with the story?

I came up with the story
whilst walking back from a theater with my brother, after we’d just seen
Freddy vs Jason. I pitched it at a lunch with Mark Altman, who I’d known
socially since we’d met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. Mark told me he
was starting up a new film company so I agreed to write the first draft of
the Room 6 script (then called Room 666, it was Mark who changed the title
to the more subtle ‘6’) and I gave it to him, on the understanding that if
he got the financing sorted out then we’d do a rewrite together and shoot
it.

Well, I kinda forgot all
about it for a while, worked on other stuff when one day I got a phone call
from Mark saying, ‘Good news, I’ve sorted out the financing for Room 6, but
I also need you to come and direct House of the Dead 2 first. So Mark ended
up giving me an incredible two-for-one deal, all because I’d shown faith in
him and written a script on spec. That kinda stand-up attitude is why I like
working with Mark and his partner Mark Gottwald. They have a great
no-bullshit approach and they care about the films they make.

How long was the writing
process and how arduous was it for you?

The script for Room 6 came
pretty easy, my initial pitch to Mark at that lunch was reasonably detailed
and had the twist all laid out etc. The first draft is structurally very
similar to the finished film, but Mark came in and did a great job with the
character stuff, which I personally think is his greatest strength as a
writer. He particularly changed the character that Jerry O’Connell ended up
playing, because in my rushed first draft he was a bit of a bland stereotype
and we definitely needed more from it.

The other big change Mark
implemented in the screenplay involved a change to the lead character’s
backstory which gave the whole piece more depth. Then we had a script which
we showed to IDT, who were financing and they actually had a great note, a
great idea for a change which Mark and I both loved, so we quickly
incorporated that and then we were off and running.

What was it about this
particular tale that inspired you as a director?

The genesis of the idea
started with my absolute and total fear of hospitals, and of any kind of
white-coat wearing type people. I mean, hospitals are full of sick people,
just full of ‘em. And how many buildings are there in society where you go
in and may never come out? Plus they smell funny. The other thing I liked
was the chance to make a film that’s set in a different kind of reality,
giving us the chance to do some hopefully interesting effects and shots.

The sexy Christine Taylor in ROOM 6!

How would you describe
casting the picture? Smooth sailing or a pain in the neck?

The casting on Room 6 went
really, really well. Christine Taylor was the first actress we approached
and she said yes, so that made everything else fall into place. The hardest
thing to do when trying to put together the jigsaw puzzle that is a film’s
cast is finding that one key piece. Once you’ve got that then it gives you a
great boost and then you can around with your head held slightly higher and
say to people like Jerry O’Connell, well, Christine Tayler’s gonna be in it.

She was the lead and the
keystone of the arch. After that we tried to put a few horror names in it,
for the fans, Kane Hodder as a homeless man with an evil alter ego, Chloe
Moretz, the little girl from the Amityville Horror remake and finally Shane
Brolly from the Underworld movies, who came in almost at the last minute,
after we’d been messed about with by another actor I won’t name, and he came
in and he was great and really saved us. He’s a hell of a lot more charming
and real as an actor when he doesn’t have to wear plastic fangs.

Congrats on having cast
the criminally underrated Christine Taylor, she’s a solid and charismatic
actress. What was it about her that made her “the lead” for you?

I remember seeing Zoolander
at the theater a few years ago and getting one of those onscreen ‘crush’
things on her during the movie. She’s a very beautiful lady. Added to that,
and more importantly, she instantly likeable and she’s a very good actress.
I figured that the whole story was one woman’s attempt to find the man she
loves after he’s been mysteriously abducted by other-worldly forces. So…if
you didn’t like the woman and care about her plight then the whole film
would be boring. So we needed someone like Christine to anchor the whole
movie.

How would you describe
her on set? Was she a director’s actress?

As much as I know it makes
great copy I can’t say a single bad thing about Christine. She was an
absolute dream, one of the kindest, sweetest people  I have ever met. She
had time for everybody, even the strange extra who kept insisting he should
be co-starring in  a comedy with Ben Stiller. Christine had great focus and
worked incredibly hard. She said upfront that the nature of the film, where
her character spends a lot of time running from things that weren’t always
actually there on set.

And her character has to go
through all these emotions and be in different stages of distress and
awareness, meant that she had to place herself in my hands entirely and she
did that. I actually found out while we were shooting that she was 5 months
pregnant at the time, which was amazing. We obviously used a double for
anything too physical but otherwise Christine was 100 percent there every
day, working incredibly hard.

The film’s nature
somewhat gave you carte blanche in terms of trying new things on a visual
front, what would you say was your favorite visual effect in the film?

One of the things we all
liked about Room 6 was that it was a very different kind of film than House
of the Dead 2. You see, we’d all just filmed HOD 2 maybe four weeks before
we started filming Room 6 and we used 90 percent of the same crew. So,
although we’d had a great time on HOD 2 and were proud of the movie, we all
embraced the chance to do something different this time. Room 6 is set in a
much more recognizable world most of the time, with supernatural flourishes
and moments.

My favorite effect involves
the building that can only be seen during flashes of lightning, that was an
idea for a shot I’d actually had years before (I try and keep notebooks full
of little ideas for shots or effects or characters or lines of dialogue or
even whole concepts) and this was the time I got to use it. I thought the
CGI guys really did a great job with it.

Kane "Voorhees" Hodder in ROOM 6!

ROOM 6 Part 2? A
possibility for Mike Hurst?

I don’t think there’ll be a
direct sequel, but in many ways the film Mark and I did next, The Darkroom,
was a follow up in terms of style and genre, and in fact the first draft of
that script was called, just as a private joke, Room 7. And there is a Room
7 in the film.

Where are THE HARVEST
and THE DARK ROOM at in terms of distribution?

I don’t know much about The
Harvest, it was shot for a very low budget and I’ve never seen it, I just
wrote the script. The Darkroom is the film we made after Room 6. IDT were
happy with Room 6 and asked Mark and I to come up with another one. I had an
idea, Mark added to it, we pitched it and IDT said yes. It’s a psychological
horror movie with, I think, our best twist at the end. We made it literally
a few weeks after we’d wrapped on Room 6, with the same crew again.

It was an amazing
rollercoaster rise, doing 3 movies inside 9 months. The Darkroom stars Lucy
Lawless from Xena and Battlestar Galactica, Shawn Pyfrom from Desperate
Housewives, Reed Diamond from Good Night and Good Luck and Greg Grunberg
from Alias. All the actors were great, with both Lucy and Greg playing waaay
off type. I’m really proud of the film and look forward to completing
post-production when I get back from Romania, which is where I am right now.

You’re also presently
directing the fourth installment of the Pumpkinhead franchise. What
direction are you taking with the film? Will you keep the original’s tone or
go for something new?

Right now I’m halfway
through shooting Pumpkinhead 4: Love Hurts, from a script I wrote. It’s like
Romeo and Juliet, set in the midst of a feud between two familes in the
American South. Basically our “Romeo” decides to call on Pumpkinhead to
avenge the death of his sister and wipe out all of his lover’s family so
they can be together. It’s a dark horror movie, with a lot of blood and a
lot of action. Almost like a Western, except there’s a big killer demon in
it.

It should be a lot of fun.
Lance Henriksen is reprising his role as the ghost of Ed Harley and he has
been just great to work with. A great actor and a great guy. The chance to
work with him was a major reason I took on the project and was able to write
the script so fast. I actually have to go on set in, er, 3 hours time, for
another all-nighter in the Romanian woods. (I have to stop writing EXT.
WOODS/ NIGHT at the top of script pages. I MUST start writing EXT. BEACH /
DAY, if only for my health!)

You’ve been working
non-stop now of late, what does Mike Hurst do to relax?

I have been very, very busy
but I’m definitely not complaining. Before House of the Dead 2 I spent 2
years failing to get anything off the ground and ended up directing a truly
terrible TV show in England. To be able to make so many movies in so short a
time has been great and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s hard work but it’s what
I want to do. I used to be a kickboxing champion and still find time to
train with the Californian State Champion from time to time and I enjoy
that.

Apart from that I ride my
bike a lot, go to see a LOT of movies, buy DVD’s and write a lot of scripts,
sometimes with my brother Andy (who is a great writer with loads of credits
now) and sometimes on my own, as potential directing gigs.

What’s next for you
after Pumpkinhead 4? Any other projects in the works?

I’ve written a script for a
potential Cabin Fever movie, and I’ve met with Lions Gate (who I did HOD 2
for) about that. They’re great guys and great to work for, so I hope
something will come of that. I’ve written Vampirella for Mark Altman and
Mark Gottwald and I know they’re working towards getting that up and running
and I’d love to do that.

I’m also trying to write up
a new idea, for a Sci Fi action film. I’ll finish writing that as soon as I
get back from Romania, and intend to finance and shoot a short
proof-of-concept promo for this, to show people the idea better than I can
just pitch it.

What was the first drink
you consumed at the ROOM 6 wrap party? And don’t tell me apple juice : )

Honestly, because of my
kickboxing and martial arts background I don’t drink at all. Boring, I know,
but at least I get to remember everything. So it probably was apple juice,
sorry!

At least you remember
the last 5 years of your life bro…AND I DON’T! Then again, for me, its
probably better that way…thanks for the chat Mike!

One ugly mofo…in…yup…ROOM 6!

I’d
like to thank
Mike for stopping by the
site and wish him the best with his present and future projects! One
thing is for sure, the man is on fire now of late! Keep it up bro!

 PRE
ORDER THE ROOM 6 DVD HERE