We’re talked to a lot of great people on Scream Writing Questions but this is the first time that I’ve been so excited to talk to someone that I’m at a loss for words. Adam Marcus directed Jason Goes to Hell (1993), a film which I have vehemently defended in the past (read my thoughts on the film at Daily Grindhouse), and I am beyond excited to present this interview with him for you Scream Writers.
What first got you interested in screenwriting?
I have loved screenwriting for as long as I’ve loved movies. As a child, my best friend was a guy named Noel Cunningham. His dad was the filmmaker Sean S. Cunningham. At 9 years old, Sean was the first person to show me an actual screenplay. I fell in love with the format and they way it looked like a play but so different in that the action took up so much more space than the dialogue. But it’s when I watched a movie that I had a copy of the script for that it was life-changing. Seeing the difference between what was on the page and what was on the screen. Suddenly I saw what a director could do with a screenwriter’s work. Overwhelming. On my thirteenth birthday my parents bought me my first typewriter and I started writing non-stop. I was so in love with creating stories. I wrote incessantly. Dozens of short films and features that would never be produced but ended up being my earliest film school. By the time I got to NYU, I was pretty well versed in the structure of screenwriting but I had so much to learn about story structure.
Do you have an example of a lesson you learned from reading a script (rather than watching the movie made from it)?
The first time I read Bill Lancaster’s script for The Thing (1982, Scriptophobic’s Paul Farrell took a look at the script here) taught me so much before I even got to the first page of screenplay. For anyone who’s seen his original draft, there is a page before the script starts that describes each character in the movie in a sentence or two. There are so many characters in every scene that Lancaster felt it necessary to describe everyone in this shorthand form. It was amazing! Before I read one word of the story I knew these men. It showed me that I had better be able to describe every character in this brief specific way for my writing to connect with a reader.
What’s the strongest piece of advice you have for aspiring screenwriters?
Two things… First – It’s all structure. Every word better contribute to the plot moving forward. It’s not a novel where inner monologue can exist endlessly. It all has to have story-weight. Every character moment has to move the story forward.
Second – Your first five scripts are practice and they suck! They just do. Toss them in a drawer and in ten years read them. You will see what I’m saying. In your first five, everything is precious. And that is death to screenwriting. Until you not only learn to rewrite but also EMBRACE it, you are not a screenwriter.
What is your relationship with genre film (love, hate, indifference)? What led to that?
My whole life is genre so yes, I love it! I grew up in the house that Friday the 13th built. The first film I wrote and directed was Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. I wrote and directed Secret Santa (2018). I wrote Texas Chainsaw (2013). I wrote Cabin Fever: Outbreak. I wrote and I am directing the remake of the Val Lewton classic, I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Not to mention over 50 other genre films I have written that sit on shelves all over Hollywood.
Yeah, I live and breathe genre.
Why do I love it? Because it’s one of the only types of storytelling where the only boundaries are the ones imposed by the imagination of the author. Because it can be the most political form of storytelling and the audience doesn’t realize it until after the credits have rolled. Because it produces passionate fans that are rabid in their defence of their favorites and won’t stop complaining about the films they hate. Because it’s badass. That’s why.
I saw Rosemary’s Baby (1968) in a hotel room in Washington D.C. when I was 6 years old. Yep. That did it. Everything else just fed my new obsession with being frightened. I saw what happened to an audience of people watching the original Friday the 13th (1980) when I was 11. They screamed and jumped and ran from the theatre. Come on now, what other kind of film does that? None! Because it is only akin to Comedy and Musicals in that it gets an audience to have a vocal reaction to what they are seeing. Because that’s what movies are made for. To get an audience to participate emotionally. Because it’s badass!
What was something that surprised you in the process of writing your own screenplay?
How much I am influenced by the writers I’ve read. My all-time favorite writer is William Goldman. That’s scripts and fiction. He’s the man! In his script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), the final scene is an enormous run-on sentence. There is little to no punctuation. It just keeps going with the clever use of ellipses. It makes the reader feel as if they are running a marathon. You can’t turn the pages fast enough. It gives the story momentum. As I look at my own writing I see that I do this all the time. Use this form of leading the reader to work at the pace that I see the film in my own head. Great trick that worked on my writing without realizing I was doing it. Ah, Goldman.
What’s your favorite thing about screenwriting that doesn’t apply to other kinds of writing?
As I said earlier, it’s all structure. Love that. Love that everything is a slave to the story. Love that it’s all about the forward momentum. No lollygagging in screenwriting. Even a “slow-burn” is going in a specific direction and won’t stop til it gets there.
What are some of the films and stories that inspired you?
Other than the ones mentioned above… All That Jazz (1979) is my all- time favorite. It’s an example of author as story. There is nothing more personal, more brave and ultimately, more compelling than that much raw honesty. Jaws (1975, an Scriptophobic classic covered by Paul and Kelly) is perfect! The best directed film of all-time. Marathon Man (1976) is perhaps the film I watched the most. Great storytelling, truly terrifying, and the definition of high-stakes. Fight Club (1999). The Evil Dead (1981). The Exorcist (19743, perfect book, perfect film. My Favorite Year (1982), comedy at it’s best. Straw Dogs (1971). Blow-Out (1981), DePalma, a personal hero of mine, doing what he does best. The Godfather (1972), giving the scum of the Earth regal nobility and honor. Goodfellas (1990), the perfect anti-Godfather. A Clockwork Orange (1971), come on now! I could go on for days but…
If you could adapt any story in any medium into a screenplay, what is your dream project?
I would love to tell you but then I’d have to kill you…
Where can people find you online and support your work (present or upcoming)?
You can find me and my company Skeleton Crew on FaceBook as Adam Marcus or SkeletonCrew, on Instagram @skeletoncrewpro, Twitter at @skeletoncrewpro & @adammarcus13. And you can get all the news about my outrageous, award -winning new film Secret Santa on FaceBook and www.secretsantathemovie.com
