Ethan Dettenmaier
By: R O'Donnell |
Saturday April 22, 2006 |
| Sit down and crack a brew as we talk shop with Sin-Jin Smyth's helmer Ethan Dettenmaier and his obsession with creating the perfect horror film. |
| Ethan Dettenmaier is the consummate film geek. He's a cinephile extraordinaire out to make the kind of movies that appeal to the diehards. After all, Ethan truly understands the brood. Like other alternative directors before him (from Friedkin to Kurosawa), he's willing to push the proverbial envelope.
His directorial debut, Sin-Jin Smyth, has all the ingredients for success. He's got the girl (Jenna Jameson), the muscle (Roddy Piper and Richard Tyson), and the likeable front-man (Korn's Jonathan Davis). Most of all, he has the desire and tenacity to fabricate the sort of film fare that creeps inside, nestles in, and keeps you awake at night with the lights on craving more. With regards to your directorial debut with Sin-Jin Smyth I know you don't want to talk plot, so but how about the idea of bringing back the really scary movie? Ethan Dettenmaier: We can talk plot...(opens a beer)... The story follows two federal marshals who, over Halloween weekend, have a prisoner who turns out to be the Devil! The Federal Marshals, one of which is a 'suspected' war criminal back from IRAQ, mann an isolated field office in the Kansas Badlands inside a 'police controlled environment.' Their primary function is to lock down the frontier. One night, they get an emergency message to bolt across the state line and that starts our story... You've said that William Friedkin is an influence on your work. Please tell more about that. I have a lot of respect for Friedkin's earlier work. Not just the documentaries, but The French Connection, The Exorcist...Sorcerer for example. The way he takes a bad situation and continues to make it worse for the audience is a real art! I'm also influenced by the work of James Whale, Curtiz, Ford, Wells, Kurosawa---Sanjuro being one of my all-time favorites---the innovation of Walt Disney, Frankenheimer, (Richard) Lester, Coppola, Milius, early Carpenter...a few others. I am also inspired by the written work of Washington Irving, (Robert Louis) Stevenson, (Richard) Mathison and (Rod) Serling! I would say that they are all responsible, in part, for the creative train wrecks I create and work with today.  Hi-powered design in 7.1 dolby if the theatres can handle it. This film will have a mean sound package! How did the film come about? I was working through a rough draft of an action script called Two Guys From Hell. In an effort to get un-conventional and think 'out of the box', I said "What is the worse thing you can come across on a mission in the Bible belt?" I added the 'roadblock' of the Devil and worked in some additional 'dark' elements to give the script more edge. I shifted the time and date of their operation to land on Halloween because it seemed appropriate. So, what we got to work with---in this film---is a rogue police element working under the banner of a police state, one character with a possible past as a 'war criminal', the other, a trigger happy/bi-polar agent in the sevice of the Federal Government and then, Lucifer. Happy Halloween.......Sucka! Have a good night! You worked your way out of Warner Bros. mailroom to work as a script doctor, what was that like? Ah...(shrugs it off) There was alot of worse things I could have been doin'! In comparision to life in the big city, it wasn't so tough. The truth is, I took the only job in the Warner Bros. messenger service in the only industry that would take me. I took my punches, worked my way through the ranks, and scratched together a script (KnightFever which is rumored to be going into production next year). I battle dsylexia, so I took it to a Story Editor who I delivered mail to and asked her to proof it out. She thought enough of it to recommend an agent who actually took me seriously. From there, I took any job I could get as a script doctor in an effort to advance my name as a writer. (In addition to optioning/selling his own work, Ethan has worked for Jon Divins, Co-producer of the Blade films as well as Steven Seagal and some of his work will be avail. in print later this Fall) So, you battle dyslexia? Yes...but in terms of the real world, it's not a difficult thing to live with. In fact, I have my handicap to partially thank for getting me started. No trailer yet? There 'is' a trailer set to be locked and loaded. Right now you have to ride with the teaser trailer, but you'll get the whole package soon enough. Did you hand-pick your cast? Absolutely. On this film we needed some "bullet proof" players. Three is a lot of heavy action and weather elements. It also takes place at night. You need a cast and crew with alot of character that are willing to get in the trenches and put forward their best effort despite all the shit. Not to mention having a solid weapons team and steel stunt players. 
Stars vs actors... what are your views?
Actors always. An actor serves the story like an artist, a star can be, not always but sometimes, a self-serving pain in the ass. If you give Sin-Jin Smyth (the script) to a star they may say something like, "Ya' know, if I'm gonna play this part, Satan needs more screen time and he shouldn't be more likeable. I want the audience to like me" An artist or actor says, let me do some research and manufacture some ideas and then get back to you (the director) with a few thoughts on Satan and 'become the part' in a manner that may re-invent the scipt in a better way. An actor becomes the character and "lives" the script/story. A star is the same personality they've pretty much always been on screen, who makes the script and re-writes fit their image. They also might lay into you with a bunch of shit like "I only work a four hour work day," or "You need to hire my therapist as part of the deal." What are the advantages of being real Idie horror fare? Freedom of action. We don't have the studio brass riding us to install some formulated "love story" or a marketing blueprint where we have to build a scene around a Pepsi can because they bought some product placement turf. I don't have to cut content so the studio can reach a wider teenage audience with a PG-13 rating. Sin-jin Smyth is a hard R rating, by the way. I replace alot of the corperate politics with financial issues (laughs). On an independant production, there are almost always financial issues to contend with. While we may not have to answer to a studio, committee or board of directors, we have different problems to deal with. What's next? I have a chance to do a western about Confederate raiders who refuse to surrender at the end of the Civil War. I also have another horror film, Respect The Dead - something of a Film Noir set in New Orleans with a backdrop in grave robbing, and a film about CIA Advisors in the Middle East that might include actual footage of the war in Iraq. I most likely will take some time off though and help my wife with her charity work before I take the next step. Any final thoughts on the state of contemporary horror films? I'm waiting to meet the next artist with enough guts to revolutionize the industry and give us something new. Maybe that's you! Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. I appreciate it. |
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