This Tuesday Dylan Dog: Dead of Night comes to Blu-Ray/DVD. The film was inspired by the comic book series Dylan Dog. The same comic series also inspired the Italian horror classic Cementary Man. The film was directed by Kevin Munroe, the writer/director of the TMNT , we here at Geekscape got a chance to sit and talk with him for a few minutes about Dylan Dog, Ninja Turtles and Monster Squad.
Matt:
So the movie is Dylan Dog; Dead of Night. It didn’t really come to the area in PA that I lived in, but I’ve been excited to finally see it on DVD and Blu-Ray. I loved how much it reminded me of Cemetary Man.
Kevin:
Yeah, it was based on the same source material so that’s expected.
Matt:
Besides the Dylan Dog comic was there any other movies or comics that influenced the way you choose to direct?
Kevin:
There’s a bunch. It’s sort of a product of the 80s so I liked the idea of going in and reintroducing that Fright Night and Monster Squad kind of vibe. It was really fun to do something like that. Something like American Werewolf and something from that Era. I just like it. Growing up with it. To me it’s real and I like that. I think that it’s something that’s interesting. There’s a huge generation of people that grew up not having those monster movies but Van Helsing and the Mummy and CGI creatures.
Matt:
I’m glad to hear you’re also a member of the Monster Squad vs. the Goonies. Was it mostly the 80’s feel and a general love of horror movies that drew you to the project or was there more than that?
Kevin:
It was just a good story. That’s all you’re left with after you’re finished the two years it takes to do something like that. The challenge of doing something that was a genre mix of putting together action and horror and comedy. It’s a fun challenge.
Matt:
You also directed TMNT which I consider the best of the four turtles movies. How did that come about?
Kevin:
I was directing pilots and I was writing shorts and bunch of other stuff. I had a pass on a movie called Cattails and I heard they were trying to do another turtles and I told them I knew exactly what I’d want to do. I even brought in my issue one of Ninja Turtles. Eventually they flew me out to meet Peter (Laird) and I got to talk to Peter and then asked him to sign my issue one. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and talking about ninja turtles. So when I got to the airport he signed “Make a good movie… or else” in my comic and that’s how I found out I had gotten the movie.
Matt:
That’s a pretty great story
Kevin:
Yeah it’s pretty cool
Matt:
Now was it your idea to continue the story from where the previous movies left off as opposed to rebooting it, or was that something you wanted to do as well?
Kevin:
No, I definitely pushed for that. I talked to Peter about it and he thought it was a great idea.
Matt:
It works. You yourself are a fanboy and you know how fans can get about reboots, so it was cool to see you take off where it left off ten years after the fact yet being in a completely new presentation. What drew you to doing it as computer animation instead of live action?
Kevin:
That was sort of my field at the time. I had never done anything live action. So we went with CGI. To them it gave Peter more control and that was a big thing to Peter because he’s seen that franchise get taken away from and screwed around. So he really wanted to control it. That was the biggest drive for him to do that.
Matt:
Well, fans everywhere thank you for giving us the bad ass fight between Raphael and Leonardo that we’ve waited on for years.
Kevin:
That’s funny. The only thing we had to change was the final shot. The final shot like was like 2 millimeters off Raphael’s eyeball. It was intense but it was one of the 3 things that gave us a PG-13 and contractually it had to be a PG movie. So I moved it back to beside Raph’s head and they said that was still too close so that’s why it’s kinda far away.
Matt:
Now after Dylan Dog gets it’s blu-ray/DVD release do you have anything else planned that you’re working on?
Kevin:
I’m actually working on something with LucasArts right now. I can’t really say much more. I can say that it’s all CGI. That’s about it. I can say that it’s a movie unlike any other movie. When I heard about it I was just like ‘I have to do this movie’. But that’s all I can say for right now.
Matt:
Well good luck on it! I’m excited to hear and see more about it when that info becomes available
Kevin:
Yea, it’s going to be cool. When it comes out and you look back you’re going to understand why I couldn’t say anything about it now.
Matt:
They’re doing a remake of Fright Night and I keep hearing rumors of a remake of Monster Squad. Are you going to try to get your name in the bidding for director?
Kevin:
You know it’s funny. After Dylan Dog I kinda wanted to stay away from Monster stuff. But if the budget was right, I’d definitely want to do a Monster Squad remake. In a heart beat. It wouldn’t be to make people forget the 80’s one but more just have to take the tone and adapting it. You don’t have to make it harsher. Look at Dylan Dog. Take Dylan Dog and make it a PG movie and just make it cool and fun for kids. It would work, not for the Dylan Dog Franchise. But with that franchise it could work with genuine cheers. Just fun and scary. It could totally work for it. I’d absolutely do Monster Squad.
Matt:
Well I’ll be sure to be pulling for you if you get the offer.
Kevin:
Thanks
Matt:
Thank you Kevin for your time.