BGG AFTER DARK: Is it a fair question to ask which of the three films you’re proudest of?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: This one. I know that seems trite and obvious. “Of course he’s gonna say this one”.. but it’s true. I feel like we learned a lot from the first and used that knowledge in the second to make a better technical film, but it wasn’t quite as fun. This one… the third one… is a much a jump in quality again, if not more… and story-wise and tone-wise we managed to focus on just having more twists and fun. I love them all, but this one is easily the best. What I AM proud of is that it works both as a trilogy ender and as a Standalone flick. (Think “Army of Darkness”, it is both Evil Dead 3 and totally its own thing).
BGG AFTER DARK: Which film, then, did you encounter the less trouble on? Was it smoother sailing as they progressed?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: Nope. The downside of making better looking movies is that you have to work harder at it. A lot more sleepless nights and a lot more astoundingly difficult shooting days - but it’s worth it. Its like saying, “what was easier to make, a grilled cheese sandwich or Christmas Dinner?” The better meal is harder to make, but more fun to consume.
BGG AFTER DARK: Have you retained much of the same cast and crew over the three movies?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: With very few exceptions, nearly every cast member from the first two at least shows up in this one. The surviving characters from one film are in the next, and there are even a few surprises if you look carefully. As for Crew, we added a lot of crew, but kept most of the prior members. The inner circle is pretty much unchanged. The wonderful part is, that the new folks in this film are now part of the family and you should expect to see them show up in future productions. We’re much more like a growing family than your traditional film company. Of course the most important add has been Eduardo Sanchez coming aboard as our Executive producer. He was a supporter of our first two but has really stepped up and made a lot happen for us with this one.
BGG AFTER DARK: Who plays Dracula? He’s wonderful!
JUSTIN TIMPANE: Sam Lukowski. I’ll tell him you said so. He’s so perfect for the part, is a Dracula expert, is beautiful (you’re welcome, ladies!), and can exude menace. He’s actually a really nice and dedicated guy. First to show up, last to leave, always wants to help (he did a lot of the Monster makeup in the film) - and is a top-notch DC actor to boot!
BGG AFTER DARK: Where do you find such terrific costumes and masks?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: For the makeup, we licensed some and created some ourselves. Andrew Hartmann designed a lot and led the team of artists. While the main three monsters are impressive, there are scenes with twenty monsters at a time sometimes, and it became a team effort. There’s a lot of talent in that bunch. Our Executive producer Liz Burgess was our chief wardrobe person. Again, she led a team of really talented folks, but her specific artistic contribution can’t be overstated. She’s pretty amazing.
BGG AFTER DARK: How much does the script change from draft to shooting script?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: HA! Depends on who you ask. I can read the script we started with and it looks very much the same to me… but my actors will tell a different story of a tyrannical rewriter who is constantly handing out new lines and expecting them to be immediately memorized. I think the truth is probably somewhere in between.
BGG AFTER DARK: The film is hitting UK and US around the same time. Was that a conscious decision?
JUSTIN TIMPANE: Yup! I’ve never seen such cooperation as I have between our three distributors LEFT FILMS, UNCORK’D and BIG DAMN FILMS. They have all been willing to merge the times and the coverage so we all get to tell the world at one time. They’re great folks.
I’m really happy to have the chance to tell your readers about our crazy flick. It’s fun, and designed to be just a great saturday night watch with a couple of beers and some friends. I mean, if you want to see Frankenstein pop out huge f**king blades and do battle with a sword AND machine gun wielding Ninja (and who doesn’t), then this is the film for you. If youre in the UK, search Amazon for the DVD and if you’re in the US, then you can go to NinjasVs.com for DVD info.. otherwise, enjoy it streaming on iTunes, on Consoles like XBOX and Playstation, on Cable on demand.. just pick it up, you should have a blast!
To learn more, visit the official Ninjas vs. Monsters website.