Interview with Jim Wynorski, a long time exploitation director (Lost Empire, Chopping Mall etc.)

This interview wouldn't been possible without the help of Mikko Kojo, who helped with the tough questions.

According to IMDB, you have been directing since 1983 . How much has the film industry changed during these years? What are the clear differences between 1983 and 2005?

Well, for one thing, home video took complete hold in the mid 1980s, theatrical releases of low budget fare declined, and almost every exploitation film ever made found a home on home video. My first directorial efforts, Lost Empire, Chopping Mall. Big Bad Mama 2, Not of This Earth and Return of Swamp Thing had wide theatrical releases, but then the switch over occured and most of my(and other medium budget) efforts went straight to video.

It was part of the changing Hollywood landscape. People wanted to stay home and watch whatever they pleased - without the hassle of going to a far off drive-in or downtown hard top theatre to see exploitation.

Throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the mid 1990s, it got harder to market lesser titles. Although my films found solid distribution, many other marginal titles and film-makers found it difficult to get their product into the stores and on pay cable TV.

The action/exploitation market almost died toward 1997-8, untll a few film-makers (myself included)discovered that by using stock footage from big studio picture, you could create a major-looking epic on a mni-budget. This pleased buyers worldwide or were getting more picky about what they put out in their respective markets.

But as usual, this trend fell too around 2001, when CGI replaced stock footage. The development of computer generated images actually leveled the playing field between the independents and the major studios. Now everyone can afford to blow up the world or bring on the world's scariest monsters - as long as you've got talented artists working behind the scenes on the graphics.

I've recently delivered four original movies to the Sci-Fi Channel here in the USA. They include Project Viper, Gargoyles, Curse of the Komodo and the sequel Komodo vs. Cobra. Also just finished Robot Island for Sci-Fi, which tells the story of a horde of giant robots set loose on a South Pacific Isle.

Seems like everyone these days is asking me to do a creature movie for them. I'm going into production soon for Roger Corman on The Winged Serpent, then moving on to Athens, Greece to do a pic called Hydra.

You joked(in Filmmaking on the Fringe) that you didn't even audition women with less than a breast size of 36D on "Lost Empire". Can you tell more about the casting of this film?

This was my first directorial effort, but I had already written and co-producted three exploitation pictures, Forbidden World (aka Mutant), Sorceress and Screwballs. Each one of these films featured very beautiful women, Naturally, I was involved with casting on all of these, and my taste runs to very sexy girls. So naturally, when I got to direct Lost Empire, I packed it with the most beautiful and chesty girls in Los Angeles. I think you'll agree I found some nice ones.

What do you remember of shooting of "Lost Empire". Were you nervous,
since it was first full feature you directed?

I was a bit nervous, yes, but I surrounded myself with solid behind-the-scenes talent, like cinematographer Jacques Haitkin, composer Alan Howarth and designers Lord & LeDoux. The filming went extremely smooth, and I finished without a hitch. I originally planned to shoot the film in 3-D, but this went bad the first day of shooting when the lenses failed to work properly. It was my first crisis, and I handled it like a pro - I immediately discarded the 3-D and decided to film in Cinemascope instead. I think it was better idea ultimately.

It must have been a somekind of dream come true for a heterosexual young adult?

Working with such beautiful, sexy girls: I can't deny I had a good time. I was dating Raven De La Croix at the time, but it was hard not to get distracted by the other fine ladies in the cast. I've been a fan of busty babes since I was a little boy, and I guess Lost Empire was a collection of all my childhood sex fantasies rolled up into one crazy movie. I remember thinking, if I never get to make another film, at least this pic will sum it all up for Jim Wynorski. Thankfully, God in Heaven must have liked it, since he allowed me to go on and make more.

Do you find that it's easier to work with (for example) Julie Strain -who seems to be familiar/comfortable with her roles - than with actresses/actors who would like to work for totally different kind of productions?

Actresses fall into two catagories - nice and not nice. Just like people everywhere. I've worked with some of the sweetest, most beautiful women in the world (ie. Julie Strain, Traci Lords, Angie Dickenson, Heather Locklear, Shannon Tweed, Talisa Soto, Kelly LeBrock and many others. I've also had the displeasure of working with females who I firmly believe were spawned by the Devil to torment the world. Legality forbids me from mentioning any names, but if you want, here's some initials - terrible T.R., horrible R.S., and the always angry J.B.

Talisa Soto looked damn good in Vampirella (but I was hoping more of outfit). How was it to work with her and what did she think of her role - was she familiar with original comic books?

Talisa Soto did a very nice job, but she was certainly not my first choice for the role of Vampirella. She knew about the comic book character but never actually read any of them. Her figure was so petite that the original costume design wouldn't fit on her well, so we were forced to alter it so she could so the action stuff.

You have made mostly low-budget movies, which are often either sequels or fun clones of big budget mainstream films. According to IMDB, there's 57 movies directed by you.

I've completed or "fixed" about a dozen more that have never been reported. I'm not at liberty to say which ones, but they're all action or horror flicks.

What is the main motivation for you for making these films, as I have an impression you like very much of what you do?

The main motivation, eh? Tough question. I do like what I do very much. I don't consider it work. The pay is nice, the fringe benefits(women, travel, perks) are wonderful. But I get the most satisfaction from actually finishing a movie and sitting back to watch it completed - like any audience member might. If it came out the way I expected, it's a great experience. If not, then I usually let it go and hope I get it better next time. Some of the pics I consider failures are Victim of Desire (horrible script), Sea Ghost (horrible CGI) and The Legacy (horrible everything). This last pic is still unreleased, and hopefully will stay that way forever.

Do you have moments when you dream about making either big budget blockbuster or original & artsy-fartsy low-budget indie hit?

No I don't. I dream about better things.

You have been making films also in Romania, like many other low-budget horror/sci-fi/exploitation veterans like Charles Band and David DeCoteau. How does the locals re-act to American film makers nowadays and does everything work fluently when working there?

I only made one film in Romania, Gargoyles, and I hated every minute of the experience. Although I consider the film a solid entry in my creature-feature catalog, the time spent in Romania was very tough. They're just not accustomed to the American way of making a movie, so it's an uphill battle to get things done.

On the plus side, it was a dream-come-true to actually film in Dracula's castle and deep, dank crypts that hadn't seen the light of day in hundreds of years. And I must say that all the Romanian people I worked with were very gracious and welcomed me as a film-maker.

What are the stories behind and motivations to use pseudonyms like Jay Andrews, Harold Blueberry, Bob E. Brown, David Gibbs and Noble Henri?

I use additional names because I do so much work during the course of a year. I don't want so many films coming out with just one name. International buyers sometimes aren't willing to pick up several films by one director.

And by the way, I've never used the name David Gibbs. Mr. Gibbs is a real person who flies helicopters on my productions.

Documentary "Some Nudity Required" gave the chauvinist/sexist impression of you, although Fred Olen Ray defended you and your thoughts. How serious were you in these comments you made, or was it the black humor (as I doubt)?

The film-makers on this documentary misled many of the participants and took their words out of context. Along with Roger Corman, I filed a suit against them and the judge sided with me. Outside of the initial vhs release here in the USA, the film has an injuction against it. Unless it's bootlegged, it will never appear on TV or DVD.

Was this an image, that you wanted to show to the world - or did the filmmakers Johanna Demetrakas and Odette Springer use their power of shaping the material for the purpose they wanted to?

See above. I was told by Ms. Springer that she was doing a benign documentary on low buget film-making. Instead she produced this slanderous and outlandish mock-umentary that throws in everything but the kitchen sink. Thankfully, it was their first and last effort to date.

Many of the male readers have this question on their lips: how often do you have a chance to get in bed with actresses of your films?

It happens quite a lot, actually. Over the last twenty years or so, I've dated my fair share of the beautiful women in my films. You can usually tell who I'm in love with by the number of times they appear in my pictures.

Is it still a common way for unknown actress (or actor?) to get in the film business - what are your impressions?

My iron-clad rule: Never go out with an actress until after the film is wrapped. That way, no nasty scenes on the set(at least on the first film anyway).

What does Jim Wynorski do in everyday life, when he's not working on a new movie?

Just like the rest of us, I go to movies, watch television, go out to dinner with friends. I also spend time writng scripts and working on my life story, a book I've tentatively titled BURNING BRIDGES. I also love movie soundtrack music, rock and traveling to exotic locations.

What can be expected of your upcoming movie Crash Landing?

Crash Landing is Die Hard meets Airport in a Hurricane. It stars Antonia Sabato and a bevy of - you guessed it - beautiful girls.