There are a couple of ways that you can really mess up traffic for everybody living in Hollywood, and yes, people do live there. One thing that will bring in journalists, celebrities, hangers on and a whole group of tourists and such is to have a big, old-fashioned Hollywood premiere at Grauman’s
Chinese Theater. First off, it is a historic place to gather glitz and glamor
and whatever other g-word you can think of to celebrate the opening of a film.
And quite frankly, being in the press line for a red carpet event is not
necessarily the most glamorous thing in the world.
You arrive, you check in and
you find your place amidst a sea of white cards placed below the velvet rope
that separates you from the talent. It is usually printed in big, bold letters
so that a publicist can walk by, look at the name and either approach you or
walk away. And when they walk up to you, it is usually a quick, “Hi, would you
like to talk to some guy in some other movie that is not the one premiering
tonight?”
Walk the red carpet!
Okay, I may sound a bit negative from that first paragraph, but it’s not meant to be. The thing is, it is fascinating to be surrounded by the lights, the line of posters from whatever flick you are talking about and of course, the pretty people. But sometimes, when the movie has you excited and ready to talk, it is a fun experience to be had. And when that movie happens to be the first horror flick directed by Sam Raimi in years, you have to find the joy of being in the mouth of madness that is a movie premiere. Especially when the movie is called DRAG ME TO HELL. So there I was, with my friend and all around cool cameraman Rusty E. Lucky we like each other, because when we first arrived, it was way too quiet because we arrived much too early. But it is always good to find your place, check the camera and talk about who is doing what. But for some reason, I was feeling a strange sort of need to listen to “The Bad Touch” by The Bloodhound Gang, one of the many rousing tunes found in my music library. And so I put it on.
I guess a little messed up music was getting me pumped to talk to the man, the myth, the Raimi. And while we waited, a handful of other actors and actresses crossed our path. This included actors from DRAG ME TO HELL, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, Reggie Lee and the great David Paymer. We also got to chat with the lovely Lorielle New and one of my favorite dudes on the planet, Derek Mears. You know, the current Jason Voorhees. Other than that, we spoke with a couple of actors from STAR TREK and a few other people that I am having trouble remembering since it is way past my bedtime at the moment. But most of the folks were all ready and willing to talk about their own fires burning and projects getting ready to be seen, but of course, the love for Raimi was in full force.
So here we are, the movie is about to start, and the big names hadn’t crossed our path yet. I could see Sam Raimi a few cameras away, and the same goes for the films stars, Alison Lohman and Justin Long. I was having a bad feeling about this because sadly, when you work the red carpet, you sometimes get shafted when the show is about to go on. And yes… shafted we were as Sam Raimi walked away just two people before us. We picked up some of that interview, but alas, the man of the hour was gone. Hell, even Justin and Alison had to be “shared” by the journalists. I happened to be near a fellow with devil ears who really wanted to just talk about hell with the cast. Seriously… JUST HELL. And thanks to Rusty, you can check out some of the insanity that went on during DRAG ME TO HELL’s big night.
Once the talent had come and gone, Rusty and I quickly made our way into the theatre to catch the movie (which is rare to get to cover the film and still have the chance to go check it out). But once we were inside, we found a place to sort of lean up against something because all the seats were gone. So it wasn‘t all that comfortable, but it was nice to finally see what Mr. Raimi has been up to. While I missed the first part, I have to say that I was utterly impressed with Sam’s return to the genre. You can check in later for a full review, but honestly, if you are a fan of the EVIL DEAD films, you are going to truly enjoy this. It is an absolute rollercoaster of a movie that is smart enough to deliver the fun but without sacrificing the cast. If you are worried about the PG-13 rating, you don’t need to be. The film delivers on many levels and it really didn’t feel watered down. So while the red carpet was a little hectic and sort of crazy, I am glad to see this film given the royal studio treatment. And seriously, welcome back to the crazy world of horror, Sam. We missed you.