Exclusive: Filmmaker Jack Perez Discusses Some Guy Who Kills People, Blowing Vegas Off the Map and More
Steve Barton
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This week Some Guy Who Kills People, the indie horror comedy hit that wowed audiences at numerous film festivals worldwide during 2011, has finally made its way home to DVD shelves everywhere courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Produced by John Landis and written by Ryan A. Levin, Some Guy was helmed by director Jack Perez (Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus) and features an all-around brilliant ensemble including Kevin Corrigan (The Departed, Pineapple Express, Unstoppable), Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Spin City”), Karen Black (House of 1000 Corpses), Ariel Gade (Dark Water, Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem, “Invasion”), Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead, the original BBC version of “The Office”) and Leo Fitzpatrick (Kids, Bully).
Recently Dread Central caught up with Perez for an exclusive chat about Some Guy Who Kills People, and while we were at it, we also checked in with the filmmaker about his upcoming Syfy project called Blowing Vegas Off the Map, which has Perez reteaming with Bostwick for the supernatural disaster flick.
Check out the highlights from our interview with Perez below, and make sure to check out Some Guy Who Kills People which is out on DVD now!
Dread Central: I know John Landis was originally attached to this project; can you talk a bit more about how you ended up landing the project and what initially attracted you to it? Was the comedic element to the story a huge appeal to you to as a storyteller?
Jack Perez: It wasn’t just the comedy stuff- everything about it made this such a great script to read. I really didn’t know that Landis had been attached to direct the movie at first; he had to step away to take the reins of Burke & Hare. which was something he’d been wanting to do for some time so it was totally understandable. John did stay on board as a producer, which was definitely great.
So then [writer/producer] Ryan [Levin] and everyone ended up having to look for a director, and lucky for me, my manager happened to know one of the co-producers on the project. And once I got hold of the material, I immediately fell in love with it. I’ve made some fun movies over the years, but I had been looking for a movie that spoke to me like Some Guy Who Kills People did. I just HAD to do it and knew I had to tell Ryan’s story.
I had already started sketching storyboards even before we had a meeting in place because I needed to show them that I could really serve Ryan’s story. Thankfully, they really liked my approach and I got hired; I was so psyched.
Dread Central: Did you work with Ryan at all on the script before shooting to give it your own touches, or is everything we see all his magic?
Jack Perez: You know, you always end up tweaking things to fit locations and things like that, but overall the magic in the script is all him. The only things that weren’t really specific in the script were the murder scenes so I elaborated on those more and gave them a bit more of a dramatic flair. I just thought that going for a far more theatrical approach to the murders would help the tone of the movie, and Ryan completely agreed. But all of the dialogue, those comedic touches- all of those were there from the beginning, and they are really what made that script so great.
Dread Central: I absolutely loved your cast in this; can you talk more about working with them to hit all those subtle comedic notes throughout the film?
Jack Perez: I love them, too! I’ve known Kevin Corrigan for a few years now, but we had never had the chance to work together but always wanted to. So when this project came along, I immediately saw him as Ken Boyd and knew he’d be great. Luckily, Kevin responded to the script as enthusiastically as I had, especially the relationship aspect of it. But I knew he had to be Ken- I don’t think I had a back-up plan had he said no.
Dread Central: I’m a huge Rocky Horror fan so I immediately lit up as soon as I saw Barry onscreen.
Jack Perez: He really steals this movie; even Kevin will tell you that. What’s really funny is that both Barry and Karen (Black) actually auditioned for this movie. I mean, had I even considered for a moment they would have even been available to us, trust me- they never would have had to audition. But they came in and read for us, and they both just nailed those roles perfectly.
And Ariel [Gade] was great, too- she’s such a pro for being so young. She’s just terrific.
Dread Central: So what’s coming up next for you? Are you planning on sticking around the horror genre for a while longer?
Jack Perez: Definitely; I actually just wrapped on a Syfy original movie called Blowing Vegas Off the Map if you can believe it. It’s a supernatural disaster movie, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I love Barry so much I just had to work with him again, and he’s in this as a lounge singer that is the expert on what’s happening in the movie. He’s really funny in it; I think fans will have fun with it.
I’m also working with Ryan again, and we are developing our next thriller so that’s in the works, too. Our ultimate goal is that we want to try and form our own production company to keep making movies together. That’s our primary focus for the future.
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