SA:
Thanks for agreeing to answer some questions for us, Michael. There's
so many questions the SA staff has been dying to ask you. First of all,
what was the inspiration for "Evil Ambitions"? Have you ever met any
Satanists, psychics, or evil politicians?
MF: Interestingly
enough, the idea of yuppies having their souls snatched by Satan struck
my writing partner and I in the mid 1980's, and the original idea revolved
around a trendy dance club that featured very theatrical renditions
of musical numbers that were -- unbeknownst to the patrons -- actual
ceremonies designed to initiate the patrons into the group. We just
never got the characters developed the way we wanted. When it came time
to follow up our first movie VAMPS:
DEADLY DREAMGIRLS (winner, Best Screenplay, B-Movie Theater
Awards) we saw the old NIGHT STALKER format as one that would work on
our limited budget, and with the already established connection between
the tone of the X Files and the old series, we thought that an homage
would work.
Have I
met Satanists? Sure. They're more commonly referred to as "distributors".
Psychics? Only my aunt Blanche who raised lizards and ate them. Evil
politicians? Is there any other kind?
SA:
Why did the background ambient noise fluctuate throughout the entire
scene where the jaded and cynical reporters discovered the first corpse
by the lake?
MF: Very
cheap equipment and a novice sound man who did his best, but it wasn't
enough, and a couple of actors who weren't at their best when doing
ADR (booth work). We tried the ADR approach, but the end product was
actually even more bothersome, if that's possible. (I'm surprised you
picked out that scene. The one that's even worse is the laboriously
long reception area scene where the reporter sits waiting for the councilman.)
 |
|
The
exclusive Satan Fan Club in "Evil Ambitions" meets in
what appears to be the boiler room of the local YMCA.
|
SA:
What was the purpose of the slime
that attacked the lady in the bathtub?
MF: Most
unfulfilling sequence I've ever shot, re: what it could have been, and
what it turned out to be. We just plain overestimated our ability to
pull off a large gelatinous mass that should have oozed out of the pipe
and plopped into the water, and then spread out like a big ameba and
then suddenly wrap itself around the unsuspecting snoozin babe, and
dissolve/digest her. We didn't have the right goo, the right lighting,
or enough smoke and bubbling flesh to communicate what we had intended.
But, a rule of thumb for all B productions: you cut dialog. If there's
any physical conflict -- especially physical conflict involving a lovely
scantily clad nubile -- you save as much of it as you can. Ergo, it's
in there.
SA:
Why did you decide to put this in the movie?
MF: The
Corman formula, which I genuinely admire: You have to have someone being
chased, something blowing up, somebody getting killed, or somebody getting
naked at least once every three pages. B film audiences are looking
for such action/exploitation elements.
Also,
we wanted to put the reporter into even more turmoil over his impending
slavery at the lead lady Satanist's leash. Killing off the closest thing
to a girlfriend for him was one visual way to do that. We purposefully
included it in a montage sequence that we hoped would build to a nice
fevered pitch to get us moving into act III.
SA:
Why were the least
attractive people the only ones that showed their breasts?
MF: OK,
that one I'll argue... Lucy Frashure -- the gal playing the bride of
Satan -- is arguably the most striking beauty in the thing. (She runs
neck and neck with Amber Newman). Lucy's been in Playboy's Lingerie,
and you see her topless and strapped to an altar. And Amy Ballard --
the gal whose dress falls off as she snatches the reporter-- was the
first model in the history of SCREAM QUEENS magazine to get the centerfold
in her first pictorial. Folks at the largest horror convention in the
country (CHILLER THEATER CON) were mistaking her for B-movie diva Julie
Strain.
Now, the
gal in the opening sequence -- cropped blonde hair, passed out -- I'll
grant you was miscast She was someone that we had to throw into the
scene when the booked model stood us up on shoot day, and one of the
down side to producing in the town that threw Larry Flynt out is that
finding a gal who's willing to remove her clothing in front of a camera
ain't exactly like calling a cab. We were up against a very strict production
schedule. We got the scene in the can. End of story. Also, the scene
where the willing bridesmaid licks the blade and then gets stabbed was
written to be in the nude. The actress backed out the day of the shoot.
(The only time in 5 movies, by the way, that such a thing has happened.)
The other
gal -- the kitty chick -- was cast as the "anti-model". If you remember,
she was struggling to find work. Her nudity was not included for eye
candy. It was to reinforce her vulnerability and the irony that the
only folks that wanted to see her naked were the ones who would eventually
rip her heart out of her body.
The
Vortex of Hell, Ohio
You
may know Michael Fox from 
