The
Arrow interviews
Al Magliochetti

Visual effect supervisor Al
Magliochetti has worked on various, groovy genre efforts. Think
“Jason goes to Hell”, the cult classics “Brain Damage”, “Basket Case
2”, “Frankenhooker” and the cheese-ball “Prom Night 3”. Arrow
recently had the opportunity to get into a verbal match with the man
behind the visual goodies and here was the result.

ARROW:

What’s your favorite horror movie?

AL:
Believe it or
not, “Jaws,” if that counts. To me a good horror movie is one that
steers the audience in the direction of a scare, rather than just
startling them with a quick “Boo” and I feel that film did it
admirably.

ARROW:

What was the trigger that launched
you in the visual effect business?

AL:
I’d always
been into effects to some degree. . My first films were cut out
animations made in 6^th and 7^th grade not
dissimilar to the original South Park shorts.  When I got into film
school I started using effects to make my films stand out a bit from
my other classmates and somehow it was just something I gravitated
toward.  Also, Star Wars came out when I was in film school so it
was a great inspiration at the time.

ARROW;

You worked on Prom Night 3; how was
your stay in Canada and how would you describe your experience on
that said picture?

AL:


What’s the phrase?  If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all? 

ARROW:

You’ve applied your craft on big
budgeted and small budgeted films. Which ones do you enjoy working
on the most and why?

AL:
It’s kind of a
trade-off.  The smaller budgeted films are less rewarding,
financially, but generally they’re much more appreciative of
anything you can give them and they tend to let you input a lot of
creativity.  Whereas the higher budgeted films help pay the bills a
lot better but it’s sometimes far more frustrating dealing with the
plethora of egos involved. . All in all, I prefer the lower budget
work . . It’s generally far less stressful.

ARROW:

As we all know effects are often
created to then not make the final cut. Is there a particular effect
that you had a hand in where you were really disappointed to
see hit the editing room floor?

AL:
A few years
ago I would’ve said the ear-pulling scene from Brain Damage, but
happily that’s since been restored to DVD. Since effects generally
cost proportionately more than the rest of the film it’s fairly rare
for them to be cut out altogether once the effect has been
completed. . Usually any hacking like that happens during the
budgeting phase and the effect is never shot in the first place. 
One scene that comes to mind is a character from Basket Case 2. . A
member of the freaks named Spider-Boy.  He was originally supposed
to be a stop-motion character that crawled up the walls in a few
scenes. . I was really sorry to see that get dropped from the
script.  Come to think of it, Little Hal from Basket Case 3 was
supposed to be a stop-motion character as well.

ARROW:

You’ve worked for the great (in my
mind anyways) Frank Henenlotter on Brain Damage, Basket Case and
Frankenhooker. How would you describe your experience working with
the man on three of his most twisted and unique films?

AL:
Actually I met
Frank after the original Basket Case, so I didn’t have anything to
do with that one. . However I did work on part 2 . . .Frank is one
of the more amazing filmmakers I’ve ever worked with. . His scripts
were hysterically written and no matter how good they were on the
page there was always ten times as much detail in his mind that he’d
not have the room to write down.

Walking onto a
Henenlotter set after reading the script was literally like walking
through a looking glass. . No matter what you’d previously imagined
it was taken to a bizarro level you’d never have thought of. .
Especially when Gabe Bartalos was involved!  It’s an incredibly
creative environment to be immersed in and I sincerely hope he’ll
get to make some of the other scripts he’s written. .  All of the
ones I’ve read so far are incredible. .

ARROW:

Of all the movie’s you’ve
contributed to, is there one you wish you go back and do things
differently?

AL:
Most of the
visual effects shots in Brain Damage and Frankenhooker were done
only once. . We never had time or money to tweak the exposures or
soften some of the mattes a second time so basically most of what
you’re seeing as a final product is an educated guess on my part.  I
wish I could’ve had a chance at doing a second or third take on some
of those shots just to make them a little better looking.

ARROW:

What’s next for you in terms of
visual effect work? Any films on your “upcoming” plate?

AL:
I have
recently been talking with Sonny Chiba about making the ultimate
Samurai movie.  . . I hope that one comes together. .

ARROW:

You had an acting role in “Spookies” which you also
worked on in terms of special

photographic effects; what was your part and how was the experience
on the other side of the camera?

AL:
In the
original incarnation of “Spookies” when it was still called Twisted
Souls the character I played, Lewis Wilson, was originally killed by
a flying squadron of ghosts. . The strategy was that since the death
occurred by visual effects, it’d be more efficient if I played the
role.  I thought it would be a good experience to act if just to
help me direct actors better in the future, but it wasn’t something
I was very comfortable with, as you can tell from the finished
product.  If you’d like more insight on the Spookies experience you
can read some letters that both myself and director Tom Doran wrote
at:

http://www.pulsingcinema.com/feature/spookies/index.html

ARROW: Is there a genre film
franchise that you’re dying to contribute to but have yet to this
day?

AL:


I’d have liked to contribute to a Freddy movie. .
maybe it’s not too late

J

Actually I
think I’d really like to contribute to whatever the next cool
monster is. . We haven’t had a good one in awhile… Although wait
till you guys see Skinned Deep when it’s released later this year.
. 

ARROW; What is your favorite and least favorite Friday the 13Th film?

AL:
I liked the
first Friday just because it came from out of nowhere and scared the
hell out of everyone. .although I did also like the 3D gimmick in
part 3. . 

As to my least
favorite . . Why call it Jason Takes Manhattan if he’s on a boat for
the whole movie and its shot in Canada?

I’d
like to thank
Al
for his time and for bringing the slick “Jason Goes to Hell” footage
to the last Fango Con in Jersey. It was much appreciated by many
Voorhees fans! Keep up the great work lad!