PART THREE:
Post-Production
GREYWIZARD: Can you tell
us anything of interest during post-production?
JIM BERTGES: This
part was the most fun for me because I had some input and participation
with it. The picture was being assembled while we were shooting and
when we realized that we wouldn't have enough footage to deliver a 90
minute film, we quickly came up with the hiker scene to pad things out
a bit. Our original editor, John Travers only got part way through the
editing process before he cracked under the strain. He did a fine job
as far as he got and even helped us shoot some additional scenes. These
were the shots of the zombies working on the spaceship interior. That
set was actually made to be the back drop for the video box cover as
well as those additional shots. I actually built that piece in my
garage and transported it to the photo studio where it was to be shot.
It was about eight feet high and ten feet wide, but it was all hinged
in sections so it could fold up and fit in the back of my Chevy
Citation. Building that set was the only money I saw from this movie. I
was paid $475 which came out of the budget for the video box shoot and
not the film's budget.
When John left the production we brought in another editor, W. Peter
Miller,
who finished the film. As I said before, there was no input from Emmett
Alston at this time, all the suggestions came from Rick Albert, Bruce Akiyama and me. Peter
handled all the picture and sound editing which included all the
special sound effects. Many of the extraneous sounds were accomplished
by a synthesizer played by our composer, Dan Slider. However, our
zombies, Bigfoot and alien were all silent when we shot and it was up
to Peter to give them voices. Well, Peter and me. One night, after he
had a rough cut assembled and transferred to 3/4 inch video, Peter and
I set up a tape recorder in one office and put the TV and VCR on the
other side of the office window and started recording. I provided the
vocalizations for Bigfoot, Peter and I did the zombie moaning and
groaning together and I did the voice for the alien. All the stuff we
recorded was processed somewhat in order to match the creatures better.
On a low budget movie, everyone wears a lot of hats. I had a few
myself. Not
only did I do most of the writing and built one of the sets (the two
things I get credit for), I also did the various voices and finally, I
was the guy who typeset the credits. It's not a record, but I don't
know of any other screenwriters who set the type that put their own
name up on the screen.
G: In the movie, there is a
scene where the zombie Tom confronts Jack and verbally threatens him.
This was not in the script. Did this originate in the same way the
hiker sequence did?
JB: I'm glad you asked about this one. This was one
instance where the actors
worked out some dialogue with each other and Emmett let them do the
scene
that way. I thought it worked out really well and their dialogue was
better
than most of the stuff I wrote in the script. In the script, Tom was
just another zombie threatening Jack. He was to appear with his head
lolling to one side as though his neck was broken and Jack had to
agonize over shooting his friend. I thought it added something to the
movie, even though it took away from the established zombie motif by
making Tom cognizant of his situation.
G: When you saw the finished movie for the first
time, what did you think? What did everyone else think?
Being so intimately involved with the creation of the movie, it was
hard not to be impressed by the finished product. After all it was my
first movie. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. There was
some disappointment in the things that were left out or changed because
of budget or other reasons, but overall, it delivered what it was
supposed to. We never believed Demonwarp would be
anything other than a crappy monster movie and we were not disappointed
by the results.
When we screened the film for cast and crew and several guests we got a
good reaction. However, the guy from Cinefantastique who was at the
screening felt it was horrible crap. We expected nothing less.
G: How well did Demonwarp
do on video and cable?
JB: It did very well on both. As an unrated, made
for video movie it's been on
the shelves and in the catalog since 1988 and people are still seeing
it. It was sold to USA cable and they played it into the ground over
the course of a year. (Did I mention that I supervised the cutting of
the TV version, removing all the cursing and nudity?) It sold well
overseas also, I saw materials created in Japan for its release there
and they made it look like a better movie than the one I worked on.
G: Did the movie make money?
JB: From what I understand Demonwarp
did very well for Vidmark. Of course, with a budget of $225,000, it's
hard to lose money.
G: I've noticed over the years that a number of
people seem to think fondly of this movie.
JB: I can't help myself, when I find a movie web
site or book of movie reviews, I have to see if they mention Demonwarp.
For the most part, people who watch the movie critically trash it
terribly. But those who watch it for fun, seem to enjoy it. I've read
quite a number of positive reviews on the web. People keep finding it
somehow and they seem to enjoy it, if they give it a chance. Since its
initial release, it has been in the rental catalog at Vidmark (which
became Trimark and is now known as Lion's Gate), so it is priced out of
the range of the casual fan. I think it's time for a DVD release, even
if they team it up with another crappy monster movie from their catalog
on a double DVD.
G: If it comes out on DVD, will there be
commentary by the director and/or screenwriter?
JB: I doubt if it would get anything but a low
budget treatment if it does make it to DVD. That's only appropriate
after all. I'd like nothing better than to see a small cult following
develop for Demonwarp. A DVD release would be nothing
but profit for Lion's Gate since they own the film outright.
G: Was there any discussion of a sequel?
JB: Nope. I have a fun idea for one, but there's
little hope of that ever
happening.
G: Looking back, what do you think of your
experience with Demonwarp?
JB: I have to say it was great fun! Imagine being
the film fan you are and getting the opportunity to contribute to a low
budget monster movie. It was great. I learned a lot and I got my name
on a real movie. How could that be bad?
G: One last question: Why is the movie called Demonwarp,
when there are no demons and no warp?
JB: Ah, that is the great mystery of the movie. It
is probably lost in the dark
recesses of the mind of John Carl Buechler. I'm sure it was inspired by
the titles of Charlie Band's movies, it has that kind of a ring to it.
But why it is stuck on this movie, only Beuchler can tell for sure.
Thank you, Jim, for another great
interview!
UPDATE: Rick Albert sent this in:
"Please let
Jim Bertges know that Bruce Akiyama named the picture Demonwarp.
Beuchler called it Crafton Woods on his screenplay. We
wanted a title that reflected more sci-fi, and not pure Pumpkinhead-type
horror."
UPDATE 2: John Travers wrote in
with this:
"I just read Jim Bertges's interview on
the making of Demonwarp, and enjoyed it. As the film's
original editor, however, I thought I'd clear up a few things that Jim
touched on with regard to the film's post-production.
"For the record, Jim's comment that I had only gotten "part way through
the editing process" is not accurate. Perhaps Jim was looking at the
editing process as encompassing sound editing and mixing, too -- since
the editor, as I was told when I took the job, would be responsible for
not only cutting the picture, but editing dialogue, sound effects,
music -- and be required to do foley walking! (Welcome to the world of
extremely low-budget movie-making.)
"As most people probably know, the editor is responsible for cutting
the picture -- not sound effects and music. So in that capacity, I had
pretty much finished the job. I had just ordered a Moviola flatbed that
I was planning to cut the sound on, so the picture was considered
nearly locked. In fact, several weeks before the idea of re-shoots ever
came up, I had completed a rough cut of the entire movie (this is how
we found out the picture was running short -- about 75 minutes instead
of 90). After the re-shoots, I edited all the new material, did
additional photography of the spaceship interiors, as Jim correctly
stated -- and then ran the new scenes for the director, Emmett Alston.
One of his only real communications with me during the entire editing
process, in fact, took place at FotoKem labs in Burbank after we
screened the hiker sequence (which I had cut together on my Moviola in
under two hours): "Congratulations, John," he said. It was one of the
best compliments I've ever received, and I appreciated it. But that was
the last I ever saw of Emmett Alston. Emmett was not very present
during the editing of Demonwarp, unfortunately, but my few
meetings with him -- such as this one -- were quite pleasant and
positive.
"If only the same could be said about Rick Albert!
"It would take a book to tell the full story of Mr. Albert -- and
perhaps a an experienced psychoanalyst. The short version, though, is
that about a week into the job, the production manager, Nancy Paloian
(who, along with Emmett, had seen my Student Academy Award-winning
short film and decided to hire me), came into my editing room,
panic-stricken. She warned me that the producer, Rick Albert, was a
complete madman. I wondered if she was being serious; the terrified
look in her eyes told me she was. Then, in classic horror-film style,
she essentially said, "for God's sake, get out!" I asked her what had
happened -- but all she could say was that Rick was out of his f**king
mind, and that she had to get away -- and fast. "Oh, my God, you have
no idea," she kept repeating. I had met Rick; he seemed perfectly
normal to me -- so I took what she said with a grain of salt. I told
her I'd keep her warning in mind, but I planned to stay and edit the
film. It was my first 35mm feature, after all, and I intended to finish
the job. She looked amazed by this, shook her head, looked straight at
me, and said three words I'll never forget: "God help you." She then
turned and left the room. I never saw her again. I recently learned she
has gone on to become a successful producer.
"It wasn't until about a month and a half later that Nancy's warning
came true.
"As I say, there is quite a long story here, and I won't go into all
the gory details now (perhaps I should save it for a book!) The bottom
line, though, is that I did not "crack" from the strain of editing this
film, as Jim was quoted. Rather, I decided to escape the editing of
this film before the producer cracked me over the head with a baseball
bat. As I say, this was my first feature, and I was thrilled to get it
-- so you can imagine it would take quite a bit to make me quit. It
did! Ultimately I realized that the misery of working for an
unpredictable lunatic -- and possibly a dangerous one -- just wasn't
worth the five hundred bucks a week they were paying me. "Cracked under
the strain," then, is untrue. "Escaped with his life" is a bit more
accurate.
"So after Rick's final, frenzied outburst in my cutting room (actually
a converted storage locker), when I stood just inches from a rabid,
frothing animal -- a man who I felt must have been possessed, a man who
seemed fully capable of crossing the line from psychotic ranting and
raving to physical violence -- I decided to say goodbye to the crazed
world of Design Projects and Rick Albert and hello to the relative calm
of planet Earth. In a way it was unfortunate -- I loved working with
Jim and Bruce and Nancy and Emmett, and I even liked the film. It was a
fun little B-movie, and I enjoyed cutting it. I even thought the
performances were pretty damn good, better than they had any right to
be. But Rick the Prick, as those in the business affectionately call
him, turned what started out as a little slice of heaven into a
demented journey through the bowels of hell.
"As it turned out, Nancy was exactly right -- though I hadn't believed
her at first. How I could have known? Madness -- true madness -- must
be experienced first-hand to be believed. That was what I learned. With
Rick Albert, I experienced his sort of sickness, his sort of dementia
-- and I hope I never encounter it again. "Abandon hope, all ye who
enter here!" a sign on the editing room door might have read as I
closed it a final time. When I left, I, like Nancy, had nothing but
prayers for the next victim. I fully respect and admire W. Peter Miller
-- though I have never met him -- for stepping in, surviving, and
escaping with his life. I almost didn't.
"Thanks for your time, for your interest in Demonwarp, and I
shall look forward to future enjoyment of your most interesting
website."
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