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Terry Wickham: Tell
me a little about your feature film debut THE
ASTROLOGER. What was it
about? Can I see it anywhere?
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James
Glickenhaus: It was based on the Book The Astrologer and was really a
training film for me. I
realized that the
action scenes where what interested me and set off in that
direction for my next film
The Exterminator. It's no
longer in release so far as I know.
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TW: What
spurred you to write THE
EXTERMINATOR? At the time, where you frustrated with the
legal system?
JG:
Real life news stories and the frustration I felt with
the legal system not seeming to be able to provide
Justice.
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TW: How
did you put together cast for THE EXTERMINATOR?
You’ve got some good leads and real
strong supporting actors.
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JG: After The Astrologer I set out to write a more commercial
script and found investors who were will
to take a shot.
I tried to cast a lead that was more of a everyday hero than a
action hero.
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TW:
What
was it like working with Special Make-Up Effects
wizards Tom Burman and the late Stan Winston?
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JG: Stan
was great. The opening dummy he made for us was really
special.
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TW: The
aerial photography around NYC
was awesome. Was that stock
footage or did you shoot it for your movie?
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JG: We shot all of the footage in the film.
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TW: What
was it like working with the late Christopher
George? I’ve always liked him
in movies.
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JG:
Chris was a very nice guy and very professional. He was
classy and really helped me hone his
character.
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TW: What
made you choose the late Robert Ginty? His clean-cut demeanor really worked well
in contrast to what his character ends up doing in
THE EXTERMINATOR.
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JG:
Exactly for that reason. I wanted a regular All American
who only became The Exterminator when
he was pushed too far.
Not someone who was born to be The Exterminator.
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TW: Tell
me about your visual approach as a director.
How involved were you in terms of
composition, film stock you shot on, use of lenses
and other cinematography tools?
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JG:
A
lot. I was a visual artist (Sculptor and Photographer)
and had shot film. I was very interested in
composition,
flow and contrast.
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TW: The
stunt work and physical action always stands out
in your films. Did you come
from any sort of background to achieve that?
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JG:
Just that I wanted them to look real and something that could
be done by real people rather than
special effects.
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TW: I
read you had some difficulties on THE PROTECTOR.
If you don’t mind me asking, what
happened?
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JG:
Not really. I wanted to make more of a mainstream film
than a pure kung fu film and as I had total
control that's
what I made. I let the studio add more kung fu for the
Asian release but thought those
scenes were silly.
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TW: SGE
Entertainment put out some films I really enjoyed;
MANIAC COP, FRANKENHOOKER and THE BASKET
CASE sequels. Talk a
little about your involvement in getting those
films made.
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JG:
I enjoyed working
with other filmmakers and distributing their films.
Frank and I are still friends.
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TW: What
made you leave the film business? Do
you miss it?
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JG:
Twenty years was enough and as Dino said by the time I could
get into all of the parties I no longer
wanted to go to them. I miss parts of it but it's changed a lot and I'm very happy with what I do these
days.
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TW: I’ve
read you are an avid collector of former racing
vehicles. How’d you get that
interest? I’m big into NHRA
Drag Racing because my Dad raced and I grew up
around that sport.
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JG:
I've always loved Sports Racing Cars and enjoy campaigning P
4/5 Competizione in the 24 Hours
of Nurburgring as Scuderia
Cameron Glickenhaus.
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TW:
Lastly,
can we expect to see all your films get released
on Blu-ray & DVD?
JG:
I hope and think so.
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