Not to spoil anything, but “John Dies at the End” is a zany movie. Based on the popular book and former Web serial, the early-year indie hit pits two college dropouts against an otherworldly monster army created by a new, addictive, dimension-warping drug. Director Don Coscarelli, known for his comedy-horror expertise, finds his ideal role, heavily assisted by the team at M3 Creative, including producers Andy Meyers and Brad Baruh. With their film now showing at the Landmark Regent Theater, Coscarelli and Meyers spoke with Daily Bruin’s Sebastian Torrelio about their work with famous actors, time-bending drugs and meat monsters.
Daily Bruin: The story is all about the supernatural. What was it like to bring these non-extant elements out of the imagination into a realized concept?
Don Coscarelli: It was a huge challenge because we didn’t have an unlimited budget, so it was a function of trying to find out what types of effects would work well, rubber, prosthetics or creature effects. … M3 has a bunch of digital artists on staff who are always available to us. The main title sequence was designed in house at M3, (and) it’s a wonderful piece of work. One of the key players is a street drug called “soy sauce,” so Andy’s digital team was really great in creating this strange, black, interdimensional drug hitting the (market).
DB: It seems that you used many different styles to bring some of the monsters and creatures to life, like puppetry in one scene. What was that like?
DC: One thing that was great was, in making a couple of movies, other companies I’ve worked with before had created some fantastic prosthetic effects on several movies. … All of these things are just tools, you need to find the right tool for the right effect. Sometimes you want a rubber creature, sometimes you want a digital effect and sometimes you want to mix the two of them. That’s how we approached it.
DB: Which creature in the movie was the most fun to shoot or to play with?
Andy Meyers: For me, it has to be the meat monster. … (Don) is an icon of the horror genre, a living legend, and to be a part of the filmmaking process with him is an incredible experience. The meat monster scene exemplifies what he does, to take a completely different vision into the process. … A turkey, a sausage and ribs come to bring this monster to life and freak you out. It’s pretty cool.
DC: The meat monster had to assemble himself out of these pieces of freezer meat. I remember working on this for days before with rubber pieces of meat. Two of these guys from Andy’s M3 had created this awesome (effect) … it’s pretty cool to have that support.
DB: It looks like a really fun script, and a really fun movie. What was the best part in creating it, from the view of a creator?
DC: The most satisfying part was working with the cast that we were able to assemble. It started with Paul Giamatti who was a fan of a previous movie I had made, “Bubba Ho-Tep,” and I gave him a copy of the script and he came onboard. He is such a well-respected actor, and a great guy in person. We were in a position, then, to acquire some other veteran actors. This included Clancy Brown, I’ve been a fan of his since “Highlander” and “Starship Troopers.” … And also Glynn Turman was a great actor I’ve been following forever. … And Doug Jones from “Hellboy.” Once we got Giamatti involved, we got all these other veteran actors, they were excited to be in the film with Paul.
DB: Did you work closely with the author of the book? How was the adapting experience?
AM: David Wong wrote a best-selling serialized novel that started on the Web. I met him for the first time at Sundance, and I asked, “How did you come up with all the vignettes that come together so interestingly?” And he said, “The story, to be one click away, it has to maintain the audience … even if that means a naked woman and man (thrown in).”
DC: He’s a brilliant writer. He works on the website Cracked.com – it may be the most popular comedy website on the Web. He’s a brilliant guy and we are so fortunate that he entrusted his first novel with us.
DB: Has reaction to the film been as anticipated so far, or have there been surprises?
DC: I always anticipate the worst. … Andy’s more of the optimist.
AM: I’ve been blown away. A guy in The New York Times said, “It’s a movie people need to see.” Entertainment Weekly, Daily News, all these sites, all these papers, critics said it’s a cult movie that’s incredible. It’s been a four-year journey, and to see other people love it as much as we do, that’s the ultimate prize in making a movie. … This has the support of famous genre actors, but if people really want to see independent films, they should support this one, because this is what it’s all about.
DB: Are there any future unorthodox projects to look forward to?
DC: All I work on are unorthodox projects. It might be my curse and may be my blessing. I’m attracted to strange things. Nothing concrete right now, we’re finishing promotion on this film. But I’d love to work with Andy and the other guys on other things.
AM: For us, me and my friend Brad, he has another film called “Applecart” and we’re in development now, and we’d love to see that have the same mark of success that “John Dies at the End” just had.
Email Torrelio at storrelio@media.ucla.edu.