Adam Green will present Victor Crowley in person at the Alamo Drafthouse Richardson on Sunday, Oct. 1
Filmmaker Adam Green has emerged from the worst phase of his life with a new movie and lease on life.
Green’s breakout film was 2006's Hatchet, a loving tribute to splatter flicks of the '80s. At a time when most horror films were either torture flicks like Saw, or bad remakes of Japanese films and American classics, Green's film stood out for its old school, practical effects and gross-out humor.
One of the first conventions Green, a native of Holliston, Massachusetts, did was Texas Fear Fest in Dallas, so he’s happy to return here to present his latest flick, Victor Crowley, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson on Sunday.
Getting to this point has been a long and painful journey.
While Green was finishing his last movie movie, Digging Up the Marrow, his marriage fell apart; one of his best friends, Dave Brockie of GWAR, died of a drug overdose; several other work projects fell apart; and his TV show Holliston was ditched by its network.This year, Green surprised fans with a fourth Hatchet film called Victor Crowley, under the guise of an anniversary screening of the original film. Legendary stuntman/actor Kane Hodder reprises the title role, a seemingly unkillable monster.
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On his Movie Crypt podcast, Green openly talked about his struggles with depression during this time with co-host and fellow filmmaker Joe Lynch.
Whether or not you have an interest in Green or Lynch’s own work in film, the podcast is an engaging listen every week. Half a million people tune in to the show, which has now produced 226 episodes.
Some listeners are struggling independent filmmakers, others are simply people working toward a better life. The Movie Crypt offered frank advice about how to keep going in the face of rejection.
As soul-baring as Green and Lynch are on their show, they are often rather tight-lipped about what they’re working on. This year Green announced a new season of Holliston, but he's been vague about his film projects.
Two more Hatchet films were released in 2010 and 2010. When Hatchet III came out, Green said he was done with the franchise.
“There was never meant to be any more of them after III. I was done,” Green tells the Observer from his office in Los Angeles. “I did not want to see any more of them get made, but life sort of takes some turns.”
But this year, Green surprised his fans with a fourth Hatchet film called Victor Crowley, under the guise of an anniversary screening of the original film. Legendary stuntman/actor Kane Hodder reprises the title role, a seemingly unkillable monster.
Green says it was difficult to keep the movie secret in the age of social media. “It was hard because the secrecy wasn’t about pulling one over on people," he says. "It was about surprising people."
The fourth film was inspired by a conversation Green had with the late filmmaker George Romero, who made the pioneering zombie flicks Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Romero encouraged Green to make films that matter to his audience.
Green decided Victor Crowley was the right one to make. “It did save me in a lot of ways,” he says. “This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done for a number of reasons, where once it’s been out for a while I can start telling the stories of how we did what we did.”
He’s not publicly said what's next, but moving forward, Green is sure he won't forget these last few years. “I think it took getting knocked down a dark, dark level to appreciate the stuff that’s really important and just let the rest of it go."
Victor Crowley with Adam Green Live, 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, Alamo Drafthouse Richardson, 100 S. Central Expressway, $12.99, alamodrafthouse.com/dfw.