HOUSE OF THE DEAD was without a doubt one of the most poorly received genre entires in recent memory, however the films sour reception has done nothing to slow the career of its prolific director Uwe Boll or his desire to adapt more video games for the big screen. Boll currently has several video game to film adaptations in various stages of development, including BLOODRAYNE (Due out later in 2005 and featuring T3's Kristanna Loken as a bloodthirsty vampire!), FAR CRY, HUNTER: THE RECKONING, and the soon to be released ALONE IN THE DARK.

Based on the hugely successful Atari video game series, ALONE IN THE DARK stars Christian Slater as Edward Carnby, a paranormal investigator whose latest case sees him battling a supernatural enemy (with the help of his old flame Aline Cedrac) whose existence could spell the end human civilisation as we know it.

While preparing for the films impending US release director Uwe Boll along with screenwriters Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer took time out to talk to Digital Retribution.net about large scale action sequences, the process of bringing a story from a gaming console to the big screen, and Boll's notorious reputation among genre fans.

Digital Retribution: Judging by the trailer the scale of this film is pretty impressive. Gunfights, explosions, helicopter gun ships, monsters.... It looks like we can expect special effects galore from "Alone in the Dark"?

Uwe Boll: Absolutely. It is a action-sci-fi horror trip.

Michael Roesch: We have really huge battle scenes between our heroes and the creatures. You can expect a lot of special effects and gunfights!

DR: You've managed to put together a notable cast for "Alone in the Dark" with names like Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff. Is it difficult to get these sorts of actors to look at genre scripts?

UB: It is not easy but Slater is a video gamer himself and after he was in - also Tara and Stephen said yes.

DR: "Alone in the Dark" certainly looks like your biggest film to date. Does working with bigger budgets and name actors bring a whole new set of challenges as opposed to working on smaller films like "Sanctimony" and "Blackwoods"?

UB: It is a different set up and more pre and more post production because of the CGI work. But in general it is the same. Funny thing is: whatever money I have it is never enough - I hear always: This we cannot do. That we cannot do etc.

DR: Tara Reid has a somewhat notorious reputation, at least according to the tabloids. What was she like to work with?

UB: She is a totally easy character and a nice girl. But she is also a party girl. So it is better to start in the morning the first scene without her.

DR: While we're on the subject of Tara, on behalf of males everywhere I have to ask – do we get to see any nudity in the film?

UB: We have a cool love making scene with a song we paid a lot of money for.

DR: Ok, we've discussed the flesh, now how about the blood. What can you tell us about the gore in the movie?

UB: It is R-RATED so it is gory and hard. We have some really interesting practical effects. Bill our specialist did also FINAL DESTINATION 2.

DR: What has the reaction to the film been like so far from those who have seen it?

UB: Very good. The real version nobody saw today. In our test and marketing screening was a first version showed with a lot of stuff missing.

DR: Censorship and studio tampering are big issues these days. Was anything removed from the film for ratings purposes, or is the version we will be seeing in cinemas essentially a "Director's cut"?

UB: Now it is a directors cut.

DR: Video game adaptations are fairly popular at the moment. What is behind this fascination?

MR: Today a lot of people are spending more time playing video games than watching TV. A popular video game can make more money than a movie. So successful games are perfect for movie adaptations.

Peter Scheerer: The people know the game, know the characters. So you know that you will have a huge audience, waiting for the movie.

DR: Can you talk us through the process of bringing a story from a video games console to the big screen? Is it a case of playing video games for days on end and scribbling down a few ideas here and there, or is there actual hard work involved?

MR: It´s both fun and hard work! I like video games, but I´m not such an avid gamer like Peter. When we start to work on a new video game adaptation, Peter won´t stop until he has completed all levels. First we start to work on the basic story line. We work a lot on the characters and the story.

PS: Then the hard work starts. Especially if we have not much time like for ALONE IN THE DARK. We needed to write the script in only 8 weeks!

DR: How faithful were you to the video game, and was remaining true to the game an important issue throughout the scripting process?

UB: Yes. In regards of the sense and mood and characters.

PS: Before we started to work on the script, we discussed with Uwe, which elements we should bring from the game to the script. The idea was to tell a new chapter in Edward Carnby´s life.

MR: So we took the main characters, and are telling a new adventure, which is set one year after the game. Of course it was important to keep the mood of the game.

DR: One of the things I enjoyed most about "House of the Dead" was the mix of traditional horror elements and full-on action, particularly the large scale sequence in the graveyard. Can we expect a lot of action and gun fetishism from "Alone in the Dark" as well?

UB: Absolutely. We have a big battle where we fired 10,000 bullets per take.

DR: The soundtrack to "Alone in the Dark" features some fairly extreme metal bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Dark Tranquility, and Death Angel. Is there any particular reason why you went with artists like this as opposed to, say, The Village People?

UB: We have a great pop song on our sex scene - the rest is classical score and harder stuff. The soundtrack is made by NUCLEAR BLAST a real metal label. I like this music.

DR: The "Alone in the Dark" video game franchise has been quite successful over the years. If all goes well with this adaptation could we possibly be seeing more of Edward Carnby in the future along with the introduction of other popular characters from the series?

UB: Hopefully. First I hope ATARI is finally releasing ALONE 5 - after 4 years of developing.

DR: Looking at films like "Sanctimony", then "House of the Dead" and now "Alone in the Dark", the budgets seem to be increasing significantly with each movie. Will we see Uwe Boll directing a $250 million blockbuster in a few years time?

UB: You never know. It depends on the story.

DR: I know it's early days yet, but what can we expect from the "Alone in the Dark" DVD?

UB: We have special and deleted scenes and Behind The Scenes footage. Especially Tara in her honeywagon etc....

MR: We have tons of cool behind-the-scenes coverage. So expect a lot of bonus stuff!

DR: Can you tell us more about your forthcoming projects?

UB: BLOODRAYNE will come out in fall and DUNGEON SIEGE I will shoot in summer. DS is $70 Million budget.

MR: We have just finished the first draft for FAR CRY. It´s based on the popular video game, and it's a horror action movie. Right now we are working on a horror project for two European producers - a movie about a serial killer, which will be shot in Scandinavia.

PS: And we are preparing a low budget vampire movie, which we have written. We will shoot the movie this spring in L.A.

DR: Uwe, it might be fair to say that you are one of the most unloved directors currently working within the genre. Is this a status symbol, or is it something you don't pay much attention to?

UB: I like and I hate this. The people will judge differently after they saw ALONE. It is ten times better as HOUSE.

Time will tell I suppose. Alone in the Dark opens in cinemas across the US on January 26. We wait patiently for news of an Australian release...

On set with Michael Roesch (Left), Christian Slater, Uwe Boll, and Peter Scheerer.