 With
the imminent release to theatres of Uwe Boll's
newest video game to movie opus, Alone in the
Dark, it seemed like a good time to ask the man
himself a few questions about House of the Dead
and Alone in the Dark, as well as future projects
he has lined up.
I should also take this opportunity to
thank Uwe Boll for agreeing to this interview,
as well as big thanks to Calum Waddell (The Dark
Side, Fangoria, Shivers) and Marco Loehrer (Theatrical
Senior Consultant) for making this interview possible.
And so to the interview with the man
himself…
CJ: You have
decided to follow up House of the Dead with another
video game to film adaptation in the form of Alone
in the Dark. What factors caused you decide on
this as a successor to House of the Dead?
Uwe Boll: ATARI contacted me during I shot HOUSE OF THE
DEAD and I jumped into the development right after
I finished the shoot of HOUSE OF THE DEAD.
CJ: Are you at all worried that
you may become labelled as a director of video
game adaptations and that this might restrict
future directorial
choices?
UB: It
is a mix - on one hand it is good to be labelled
and to have a branding - on the other hand I will
not do only video game based movies. I'm totally
different from Paul Anderson. I did two comedies
(German Fried Movie and FIRST SEMESTER), a drama
like HEART OF AMERICA, a docu-politthriller MURDER
IN GENEVE (based on a real case), two thrillers
(BLACKWOODS and SANCTIMONY) and one horror shocker
(RUN AMOK) before I did HOUSE OF THE DEAD.
CJ: When preparing for Alone
in the Dark, what elements of the existing material
did you decide to include and why?
UB: The characters,
the mood of the game and a few story points from
A NEW NIGHTMARE. But for ATARI and me it was clear
to create something new, what they can see also
for ALONE 5.
 CJ: House of the Dead received mixed reviews upon
its release, did this cause you in any way to
change your approach when preparing for Alone
in the Dark?
UB: No,
because ALONE is totally different. You cannot
compare it and I was not involved in HOD development,
but in ALONE totally.
CJ: How do you feel about some
of the harsh criticism that has been levelled
at House of the Dead and do you think any of it
was justified?
UB: A
few critics were fair and right and also a lot
of bad points are true. HOD lacks on good characters
and dialogue - but so the game. The Hollywood
Reporter wrote "the closest movie to a video
game ever made".
CJ: Can we assume that you're
a big fan of video games? If so, do you have any
favourites?
UB: HITMAN,
SILENT HILL, METAL GEAR SOLID, HALO
CJ: Aside from the obvious console
game influences, what other films and genres have
influenced you?
UB: Hundreds
- but in general I'm a big genre fan and so I
love a lot of thrillers and horror movies, like
THE SHINING, SEVEN, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ROSEMARY'S
BABY, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
 CJ: Are there any video games that you consider would
be impossible to tackle for the big screen treatment,
due to the sheer scope and budget that would be
required?
UB: HALO
could be tricky and even is not making a great
movie. We have to see the FACES of our lead actors.
People under helmets - nobody wants to see.
CJ: Your next release is to
be Bloodrayne, could you tell us a bit about this
film?
UB: Very
dark, great actors, disturbing, bloody, sexy.
The totally opposite to clean PG movies like CATWOMAN
and ELECTRA.
CJ: Do you plan at any point
to move out of the arena of video game adaptations
and try your hand at something else?
UB: In a few
years in every case
CJ: After Bloodrayne, what's
next?
UB: DUNGEON SIEGE. Shooting start in summer. Budget
$70 Million.
Visit the Alone in the Dark website
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