An Animated Conversation with
Jeffrey Combs
Interview by Robert M. Price
Beginning in 1985 with the RE-ANIMATOR, the career of actor Jeffrey Combs has been closely linked with the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
Here, in an exclusive talk with Scarlet Street, Combs discusses his contribution to the Mythos ...
Amazingly, I haven't. In fact, most people are just avid fans of the movies. I really don't get too many Lovecraft aficionados coming at me with diatribes about deiling their deity. There are certainly reasons for people to feel that way, because they're very loose adaptations, but I don't really get that. Lovecraft is very hard to translate to cinemtaic form, anyway, so maybe they put that into the equation as well. I mean, he's very verbal and literary and you can't translate to a visual style without losing a lot.
You used more elements from the original sequence of six stories for the sequel, BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, than for the first. Will there likely be a third "Herbert West" film for which you might use even more?
Well, there is not much left to use, really. Brian [Yuzna, the director] kind of threw into the second one everything that he hadn't used in the first one. If there is a third one, we'll probably just have to go with the spirit of Lovecraft; in fact, the title would probably be something like BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR. Double intention: not only a continuation of the story, but also an acknowledgement that we kind of had to go out on our own here, beyond what we originally had, to keep it alive.
Can you tell us anything about the rumored lost beginning of BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR?
There were actually four beginnings to BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, and Brian had to decide which one to use. In the movie itself, there's actually two beginnings: There's the floating head in the dark, and then there's the war sequence. There was another beginning, which actually happened immediately after the end of the first movie, where Dan is trying to revive Meg and she dies, and then, out of the crowe of feet, you see this slimy pair of black pants and shoes edging its way through and crouching down - and it's Herbert with his glasses broken and he's slimed and everything. Dan says "I thought you die." And Herbert says, "No. Hill didn't kill me; he didn't have the guts." I thought it was a pretty good beginning, but Brian didn't feel good about how he had shot it, and so he opted to go for an action-packed beginning with the war sequence.
What can you tell us about RE-ANIMATOR having been edited into two different versions? There's so much in the R-rated version, by way of transitional continuity material, that the unrated version seems to be the cut one!
What you're seeing is decisions that are made in the editoring room. Brian and Stuart [Gordon, the producer] were not around. We were all over in Italy making FROM BEYOND, and they realized that they could make a little extra money if they cut all the "gratuitous violence" out of RE-ANIMATOR and filled it with footage that had wound up on the editing-room floor. That wasn't something that Brian or Stuart wanted. It's caused a lot of confusion because, if it had't come out, no one would know; no one would have this comparison. The original screenplay had a lot more to do with the love interest between Dan and Meg. There was a whole sequence in which it was revealed that Herbert himself was shooting up the reanimation fluid - which was never my favorite, 'cause I felt Herbert doesn't need anything to be Herbert! He doesn't need anything to give him an edge; he's already got it. And then there was this whole sequence in which Hill hypnotized everybody to get them to do his will. Now, all of those things, they felt when they were editing the movie together, weren't necessary to move the story along. If anything, they slowed it down. I personally think the R-rated version is pretty plodding; I prefer the unrated version, myself. It was pure, "Hey! We can sell this to TV as well, so let's do something that we can put on TV." Because if they did the original unrated version and cut out the violence, the movie would be about 15 minutes long! (Laughs)
Have you read other Lovecraft stories that would make good films?
Well, I'm lousy; I haven't really steeped myself in Lovecraft's writing. I kind of take it as it comes. in fact I've just got through doing LURKING FEAR, which is based on a Lovecraft story. LURKING FEAR was shot in Romania. C. Courtney Joyner wrote and directed it. I hope the story holds up; it doesn't bear too much resemblance to the original one - once again, because Lovecraft does not lend himself to film. You have to take the spirit, the feeling and a few elememts that you can use, and go out on your own.
It's unfair to fault a film for not being the book. If you like the book that much, read it and foget the film.
Right. Sometimes it works, and sometimes they blow it even though it would have worked. MY personal feeling is that THE SHIINING is kind of ... blown. I mean, what happened to the topiaries? And in its place they put a maze? Who cares?
What else have you done that's Lovecraft-oriented?
I did NECRONOMICON, which is an anthology film - three short Lovecraft stories; I play Lovecraft.
How exciting!
I'm the wrap-around; I get into this private library and find the book, and as I read, we dissolve to the stories. That was interesting, because I attempted, with a special-effect maekup artist, to get a resemblance to Lovecraft. It turned out quite well. I mean, we did a pretty good suggestion - a good chin and nose - of Lovecraft. Many years ago, Stuart Gordon wanted to do LURKING FEAR as a movie, and his idea was that Lovecraft himself would be the main character. He wanted me to play it. (Laughs) And here it is years later, and I've done two movies this year. One is THE LURKING FEAR, in which I do not play Lovecraft, but I play a chain-smoking, bourbon-swilling small-town doctor, and then I play Lovecraft in another movie!
You've performed in a different sort of media adaption of RE-ANIMATOR, an audiotape reading of the original short story, "Herbert West - Re-Animator."
It's like a book on tape. I decided to bo back to the original material and edit it, because it was kind of repetitive. I took out the repetition and strung it together on an audio cassette that's a little over an hour long. I tried to do as best as I could, in a way that Lovecraft would have liked to have had it done: no frills, no spooky sound effects - just a book on tape.
What can you tell us about Parts magazine? Is this the flagship of Jeffrey Combs fandom?
I'm amazed! And confused and know not what to say - to quote Shakespeare! (Laughs) If anything has kept RE-ANIMATOR alive in a subterranean way, it's that magazine. I'm thankful for it. It's a little scary, but I'm thankful for it. I don't always agree with what's in it, but I've learned to keep my mouth shut. It's better to keep your mouth shut with the press. Oops! Sorry!