All language subtitles for The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs S12E02 Terror Train 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264_track3_[eng]

[Static crackles]

-Mm.

-Okay. We are going
to pump it up now.

I did not put on the taco
for just any occasion.

It is too sleepy around here.

-Heck yeah, it is.

-So we're going to by God
do Halloween.

I'm instituting
a costume mandate.

Nobody comes into
this trailer park

without wardrobe,
attire, livery.

We've got stuff -- if you
show up without a costume,

we got plenty of choices here.

You're gonna put one.

Garments, regalia,
suitable Halloween apparel.

-Ooh, a shark.
-I don't care if you're

a zombie version of
Mother Teresa,

that's your choice.

What you cannot do is say,
"I'm not doing a costume,"

because if I can taco,
you can taco.

-Yay. I'm so happy you said that
because I have just not been

feeling the Halloween
spirit yet.

-Well, we never feel
the Halloween spirit.

We suck at Halloween.

-Aw!
Don't be so hard on yourself.

We almost did okay
one part of one year.

-Exactly. Yeah. All right.
Well, you know.

-That's something.
-We got pumpkins.

-We do.
-We got costumes.

You know, we're not bobbing
for apples this year

because that's just nasty,
you know?

And our second movie
is all about costumes.

Every member of the cast
wears a costume.

It was written for some reason
as a New Year's Eve movie,

but it was inspired
by Halloween.

It was released
at Halloween.

It's all about illusion
and magic

and the deception
that occurs when you mask up.

And of course, I'm talking about
"Terror Train".

-Love "Terror Train."

-I know where you
love "Terror Train", though.

-[Laughs] I had a huge crush
on David Copperfield.

-And this is David Copperfield's
the only acting role.

He's been in other movies,
but he's always playing himself

in the other movies.

This is an actual acting role.

-Oh man, he's so dreamy.

[Laughter]

-Dreamy? Did you say dreamy?

-Yes, I did.

-You used a word not spoken
since Sandra Dee used it

in "Gidget Goes to Rome" --
dreamy?

-It's appropriate for David.

-Well, you should
definitely seek David out

because I think he's probably
worth $97 billion.

He owns --
He doesn't just own an island.

He owns chains of islands
in the Bahamas,

where he makes porpoises
disappear and stuff.

-I know. I really want
to do one of those cruises.

-Of course you do.
Also, during the next break,

we're going to be talking
to Jason Blum,

who's probably the number one
horror producer

in the world today.

He's worth $97 billion
more than David Copperfield,

and we're going to ask him
some probing questions

about how he decides
what gets made.

-Probing?

-Yeah, the questions
have to be probing.

-You better be nice to Jason.

-You know what?

I'm sure he will like
the probing questions.

He's a producer.
-We'll see.

-All right.

You know, we should have called
this "Serial Killer Night"

because we have
two serial killer movies,

both of them came out
during the slasher era.

The next one is more
of a traditional slasher.

This is actually
an early version

of what I call
"the Jeffrey Dahmer slasher,"

where the killer dresses up
in a fun costume.

You know, none of these movies
pay much attention

to the real
Jeffrey Dahmer story.

It's just that we all know
Jeffrey dressed up like

Bozo the Clown
and did clown shows.

And so screenwriters
take that creep factor

and they just run with it.

The great thing about
the Jeffrey Dahmer legend

is that he decided
to plead guilty.

Remember that? So that
there was really no trial.

The trial was really short.

And so we didn't get
any specific details.

Bad for the TV movie version,

and maybe for
the big screen, too,

because he was so disgusting.

You know, somebody might have
attempted a feature film.

But, you know,
another guy from Wisconsin.

Why is it that all these guys
are from Wisconsin?

America's original
cannibal monster, Ed Gein,

he was a handyman
from Plainfield, Wisconsin.

They always made
that distinction.

He was a handyman.

Therefore, he could use tools.

You know, he carved up the women

and dressed them like deer
and wore their body parts

while he danced around
in the moonlight.

Ed Gein was the inspiration
for "Psycho",

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre",
"Deranged",

"Silence of the Lambs".

So just when we started
to run out of

Ed Gein material,
up pops this new guy,

and he's from Wisconsin!

You know, somebody
checked the cheese, okay?

Actually, it was
after Jeffrey Dahmer

that those articles
started to pop up

about "serial killers, products
of the 20th century."

And you could hear people,
you know, shaking their heads,

especially really
old people saying,

"What is this world coming to?

These people are
out there multiplying.

They are everywhere.

They're hacking up
bystanders left and right.

What is this world coming to?"

But I got an answer for
the question everybody's

always asking about, why were
there no serial killers

before the 20th century?

Because whenever
anybody says that,

they're implying that something
is wrong with "the modern mind"

or the American mental
health program.

Bullshit!

These guys have
always been around.

The only difference between now
and 150 years ago

is that we used to catch him
after the first gal-darn murder!

Now we just go
bumbling around,

dum, de, dum, de,
dum, de, dum, de.

Like Elmer Fudd.

You know, we're watching
these guys walk

down the street saying,
"Well, that's funny,

that's the 34th 18-year-old girl
who's gone into that house

this month.

Must be some party
they're having over there.

Or we're out mowing the yard,

we catch sight of this quiet,

mild mannered loner who lives
next door, and we say,

"Hey, good job
on those rose bushes."

And he says,
"I shear from the bottom.

Most people shear from the top.

Do you share from the top
or the bottom?"

And so what do you do?

You go back in the house
and you say,

"Honey, you know that
guy next door?

I think he's using
his temporary spare tire."

But you don't really care,
right?

You don't say something like,

"Hey, man, what you just said
don't make a lick of sense.

And it's creepy the way
you said it, you know?

Why are you talking about
shearing from the bottom?

Shearing from the top?

I don't know from top shearing,
bottom shearing

just what
you're driving at, Buster."

In other words,
you don't ever say anything

that's going to freak
the guy out

or make him do something stupid
or say something stupid

so he'll accidentally spill the
beans about the old lady's body

that he stuffed
like a taxidermist

and mounted over a tool rack
in his basement.

You know what I mean?

I mean, if somebody
says something crazy,

we go out of our way
to act like he's not crazy.

You know, there aren't
any more serial killers

than there ever were.

It's just that we used to say,
"Hey, boy, hold on.

You're talking like you
just dropped a transmission.

Come on over here,
and let me take a look at those

3-inch bite marks
on your forearms."

Now we just say,
"I wish that guy would move

to Teaneck," you know, 'cause
it's only after the 48th body

turns up in the Dumpster
that somebody says,

"Uh, dear, would you call
the sanitation department?

There's never enough room
for our hefty bags.

You know, I think our neighbors

may be in violation
of the littering code."

And then you get to be
on Fox News the next day.

"He was always
a little strange," you'll say.

-Well, if he was always
a little strange,

why didn't you say something?

Well, he was just
a garden variety murderer.

You know, besides
everything else,

you let the guy go to the point
where he gets the book contract.

You know, you ever notice they
don't have any serial killers

in primitive places
like the Amazon jungle?

That's because people
are paying attention.

All right, speaking
of underestimating the nerd

with a grudge, "Terror Train"
is the morality lesson

about what happens when you
promise sex with

Jamie Lee Curtis to
a virgin freshman

and you put him in bed
with a corpse instead.

Sure, we've all been there,
but have we been there with him

when he returns three years
later on an excursion train

run by John Wayne
sidekick Ben Johnson

with a costume party
in progress

and David Copperfield
in a dramatic role?

I think not.

The original idea
for this movie

was let's cross "Silver Streak"
with "Halloween",

and that's pretty much
what they did.

So actually, they crossed

"Bronze Streak"
with "Halloween III",

but...
-So it's amazing then.

-...we'll go into that later.

So for right now, let's take
a look at those Drive-In totals

and get this locomotive pumping.

We have 11 dead bodies,
2 breasts,

sword through the gizzards,
sword through the chest,

locomotive corpse mutilation,
spiked to the eyeball,

mirror head bashing,
creature aardvarking,

shovel to the face
with death plunge,

throat slashing,
the old fake hand trick,

random drunkenness,

the old disembodied
finger in the box trick,

levitating magician's
assistant,

head rolls, hand rolls,
gratuitous skeleton,

gratuitous Groucho
stand up routine,

gratuitous dope smoking,
gratuitous bad card tricks,

ax fu,
fire extinguisher fu,

stupid beanie fu,
spiked alcohol fu.

Drive-In Academy Award
nominations for Derek MacKinnon

as Kenny the Dork,

Hart Bochner as Doc, the cruel,
perverse frat boy.

Ben Johnson as
the train conductor

who loves recreational vehicles.

Wondering how he ended up
in this movie.

David Copperfield
as the illusionist

who bitches about
the quality of the audience.

Jamie Lee Curtis as
the final girl for wondering,

"How many more times
can I do this?"

Roger Spottiswoode,
the director,

for nailing his debut film.

Three and a half stars.

Joe Bob says check it out.

You know, they rented
an antique train

to make this movie.

Because it would have been
confusing to use the actual

Amtrak long distance trains.

Because there are already
dead bodies

on those trains, you know?

Have you ever taken the train
from New York to L.A.

or L.A. to New York
or New York to Seattle

or Seattle to New York?
-No.

You have to change in Chicago.
But I have, you know.

Or that train that goes nonstop
from Orlando to L.A.

and back, you know,
the Sunset Limited.

People die of old age just from
how long that takes, you know.

Plus the average age
of the Amtrak patron

on those trains is already
94 to begin with.

So the odds are pretty good
that somewhere in New Mexico,

when the Navajo lecture
guide climbs aboard

to do the special presentation
in the observation car,

somebody is just
going to keel over

right before dinner,
or keel over at dinner,

just face down
in the Salisbury steak.

And nobody will notice
until breakfast the next morning

because they need that seat,
you know,

for the first guy
wandering in asking for grits.

So I mean, I'm used to it,

but can be disconcerting
for first time Amtrak travelers.

[Static crackles]

[Rock music playing]

[Chattering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Happy New Year!

[Chanting] Sigma Phi Omega, hey!
Sigma Phi Omega, hey!

Sigma Phi Omega, hey!
Sigma Phi Omega, hey!

Sigma Phi Omega, hey!

[Cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

-Hey, there she is now.

Will you tell me
what she sees in you, please?

Can you figure this one out, Ed?

I mean, now,
this guy's got some luck, huh?

-[Mock German Accent]
Women are strange, Doctor.

-Very strange.
-Right, Ed.

Sensitive.
He's probably very sensitive.

Chicks go for the sensitive
fellows, you know.

-Yeah, well, I wouldn't mind
going in your place.

-Yeah, you would, wouldn't you,
you devil?

-You want him to fill in for
you? Huh?

-Offensive.

This is true love, old man.
-Touché, Jackson.

Look, Alana's nice.
Confused, but nice.

Hey, there she goes.

Now, what do you say, huh?

Huh?

-You trust me? Okay.

-We're gonna take
good care of you.

-Come on.
-Let's go.

-Don't worry.

-What are you laughing at?
Come on!

-You're gonna love it.

-Give me that. You're gonna
need both your hands free.

-You're gonna be wearing
that beanie all year

if you don't get laid tonight.

-Laid, sir? Me, sir?

-Okay. Bare tit.
See what you can do.

Sorry. After you get laid.

-Still wearing your beanie
I see, huh?

Well, happy New Year
anyway, buddy.

-Hey, same to you, Doc.

[Groaning]

-[Chuckles]
-Is that real?

-Is the Pope Catholic?

I don't know what you're gonna
do when we get to med school.

-I'm losing my nerve.
I don't even know this guy.

Mitchy!
-You look adorable.

-I feel like an idiot.
-You can't chicken out now.

-Why am I doing this?

-Because you're the best bait
we got round here, honey.

-Come on. It'll be fun.
-Fun?

[Door hinges creak]

-Oh, my God. Look at this place!

-I know.

-Who is that?
-I don't know.

Some friend of Doc's.
Anyway, you know what to do.

Okay?
-Yeah, but I don't like it.

-Go get her, tiger.
-Come on, Kenny. Go for it!

-Go on!
-Mitchy.

Don't be afraid, Kenny.

-Hey, what are you doing?
-Mitchy!

-Now, look, you really
want her, right?

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay. Go ahead.

We'll be down here
if you need us. All right?

-Alana?
-Hello, Kenny.

[Hinges creaking]

[Door closes]

Don't be shy.
This is my first time, too.

Kiss me, Kenny.

Kiss me.

Kiss me.

-[Groaning]

[Screaming]

[Laughing]

[Screaming]

[Train whistle blowing]

[Cheering, shouting]

-Yes, it's the opportunity
of a lifetime, my boy!

[Hooting, chattering]

-One more. One more. Hold it.
-Now!

-Ready?
-Yes!

-There you go.

[Cheering]

-Well, you wouldn't let me buy
you a graduation present,

so I got you this instead.

-I love you.
-Here it comes!

[Cheering, Shouting]

[Train Whistle Blowing]

Has anybody seen my girlfriend?

She's the one with
the big caboose!

-Ed. Hey, Pet.

You gonna let him get
away with this?

-No way!

[Cheering, shouting]

-Hey! Now, this is what
I call a party!

-Yay!
-Brewskis!

-All right, I'd like
to propose a toast.

-Ridiculous!

That's not toast, my good man.

-Shut up!

It's a real honor
hosting with you guys.

I mean that.
-Hey, same here.

-My last big college party.
But it's gonna be the best!

[Cheering, shouting]

Hey! To four really great years.

-Oh, yeah!
-Really.

-Yay, Jackson!

[Cheering]

-Let's get the goodies. Come on.
I'll see you later on the train.

-All right, Doc.

-Come on.
Get this show on the road.

-Oh, thanks.
-Are you guys medical students?

-Well, pre-med.
Here's your date, Ed.

-Listen, thank you very much.
Would you like a joint?

-Yeah, I wouldn't mind one.

-Go ahead, help yourself.
-Oh, my God.

[Laughter]
-Thank you very much, boys.

You're really a lot of fun.
-Hey, Doc, gimme.

-Lot of fun.

-Come on.
Let's get this thing into gear.

-All right!
-Let's go!

-[Chattering]
-Let's go! Whoo-hoo!

-Get on the train!

-Hey, Donnelly.
Take a look at this.

-[Chuckling]
-My goodness gracious!

-Happy New Year!
-[Laughs]

-Goodies for everybody!

Come and get 'em, people!

-Mr. Conductor!
-Yeah?

-Did you say "all aboard"?
That's ridiculous!

They can't be bored.
I haven't even started.

-Hey, Fred, forget it.

She's not your type.
Think of the children!

Come on, baby.
Open your eyes.

Come on. Look at me.
Just my luck. She's a lesbian.

[All groaning]

Wait a sec. I've got an idea.

Let's play charades, and my word
will be "orgy."

[All groaning]

Wait, wait, wait!
I think she sprung a leak.

Either that,
or she's hissing me.

-Excuse me. Excuse me.

Here, let me give you
a hand with that.

-Thanks a lot.

-You the slicker of this outfit?
-I try to be.

-Extraordinaire!
-Hey, fella!

Did you make my date disappear?

-Come on.
Let's check this train out.

-No, I've gotta find Pet

before I forget
what she looks like.

[Soft rock playing]

-You may have some weather,
but the fella who came through

at 6:00 said the track
was clear.

Try and see
they don't tear it apart.

With a party like that,
I'm always afraid

some kid's going
to hurt himself.

-Maggie, I wish to hell they'd
put a radio on that train.

What if one of those kids
got drunk and fell off?

I've been talkin' on that
for two years.

[Waltz plays]

Belknap always puts
the kibosh on it.

[Volume increases]
-He says, "We ain't Amtrak.

We're just a little old
excursion train."

He oughta be here tonight.

Be like ridin' herd on
a flea circus.

[Waltz continues]

[Train whistle blowing]

[Chuckles]

Are you sure
you won't go with us, Maggie?

-With a bunch like that?
Not on your life.

-All right.
I'll see you tomorrow.

-So long.
-So long.

[Cheering]

-You folks ready
for the time of your life?

[Cheering]

You won't be disappointed,
I promise.

-All aboard!

[Cheering]

-Hey, look at Ed!

[Laughter]

Fantastic!

-Fabulous blood!
Hey, did you see Ed?

Pretty good, eh?

Way to go, Eduardo!

[Train whistle blowing]

[Whistle blowing]

-I don't know. I think the bar
car's up this way.

-Anybody home?

-Hi.
-Is this the sink?

-Yeah.
-Looks like a bedpan.

-I think it is.
-Congratulations, by the way.

-Thank you.
-And lots of luck, for sure.

-Hiya, Mitchy.
-Hi. How's it goin'?

My roommate's graduating
early. too.

Maybe then Mitchy and I
can room together.

-You're gonna stick me
with that?

-What's wrong? Bunnies are cute.
-Oh, thanks.

-Hey, come on.

You know I have to work before
school starts.

It's gonna be real expensive.

-Shit. You'll get a scholarship.
You always do.

-Well, I don't have one yet.

-Marry Mo
and you won't need one.

-Have you been talkin'
to him again?

-Come on. I am gonna miss you.
-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Aw, shoot.
You're my only girlfriend.

You know that?

-You're my best friend.
You know that?

-I am gonna miss you like crazy.

Oh! Oh, no.

I'm just an easy cry,
that's all.

I can't let Doc see me
like this.

Where's the girls' room on
this boat anyway?

-Hey, you.
-Hmm?

-We're always gonna be friends.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

[Static crackles]

-So, Jason,
before I introduce you,

you got to do a costume.

I hate these costumes, too.

I can't stand these costumes,
but it's the Halloween show.

We have a costume mandate.
Go through the costume bin.

You know.
-Fair enough. Fair enough.

Fair enough. Fair enough.
Fair enough.

-We got stuff here. We don't
take Halloween lightly here.

-I get it. I get it.

-You're the last person --
-My people are really there.

They're falling down
on the job.

-Okay.

-Okay. I'm very sorry
about that.

Very sorry about that.

-Okay, the particular train that
they're using in "Terror Train",

it was in an antique
train museum in Connecticut,

and they rented it
to the movie,

and they hauled it up the Amtrak
Adirondack route to Montreal.

Because by filming
in Montreal,

they got these cool
Canadian tax credits.

And that's also one
of the main reasons

you may have noticed that

Roger Spottiswoode
is the director.

He's Canadian, even though
he grew up in the U.K.

And if you use Canadians
in your movie,

you got even more tax credits
and rebates.

So this was 1979
when the movie was filmed,

and at the time,
Roger Spottiswoode was known

as Sam Peckinpah's editor.

He was one of the few people
who got along with

Sam Peckinpah, and he understood
Sam Peckinpah even when he was

experiencing one of
Sam Peckinpah's

alcoholic binges.

And so he edited
three Peckinpah films,

"The Getaway", "Straw Dogs",

and "Pat Garrett
and Billy the Kid."

And that connection
is also how Ben Johnson

ends up in the movie
as the conductor.

Because Ben Johnson was
a rodeo champion from Oklahoma

who went to Hollywood
in 1940

to be a horse wrangler
for Howard Hughes.

And then he stayed there
working with animals on movies

until one day John Ford
asked him if he wanted to act.

He was mostly known
for being the sidekick

of John Wayne
and Jimmy Stewart

and other Western stars
until 1968,

when he won an Academy Award
as Sam The Lion

and Peter Bogdanovich's
"The Last Picture Show."

And after that,
he was one of the most

in-demand character actors
in Hollywood.

Spielberg used him
in "Sugarland Express."

And Roger Spottiswoode
was really surprised

when he accepted this role,

but Ben Johnson said
he accepted the role

because he admired
the way Spottiswoode

had worked
with Sam Peckinpah.

So, in fact, Ben Johnson claimed
he saved Sam Peckinpah's life

a dozen times in bar fights
and other confrontations

that could have got him killed.

So they both had
this inexplicable love

for the dysfunctional
Sam Peckinpah,

and I think Peckinpah
fired Spottiswoode four times.

But anyway, Spottiswoode
was not really

a horror guy.

Horror films made him queasy,

and that's why there's
very little gore in this movie,

because he specifically
hated Gore.

But it was his chance to direct,
and he took that chance.

And the way it started,
though, is Dan Grodnik,

who was a fairly well-known
Hollywood producer,

watched the movies
"Halloween" and "Silver Streak"

on the same weekend,
and he had this dream one night

that woke him up, and he turned
to his wife, and he said,

"What do you think about
putting 'Halloween' on a train?"

And his wife said,
"That is a terrible idea."

And so he had a notepad.

He had a notepad on
the nightstand,

and he jotted down the words
"Terrible Train."

And so in the morning,

he changed the title
to "Terror Train."

He wrote out
a 22-page treatment.

And he went over
to Sandy Howard's office

in the Tiffany Theater,

and he had a movie deal
by 3:00 that afternoon.

So with that story,

I want to introduce
our very special guest,

Jason Blum, founder and CEO
of Blumhouse Productions.

[Cheers and applause]

Which is, you know,
I was going to say you're

the Roger Corman of
your generation.

But, Jason, you're more
like the Darryl Zanuck.

-Wow, I appreciate that.
-Of horror.

In that you're all
about matching stories

with the right directors at
all different budget levels.

But you tell me,
have you ever had an experience

like the story
I just told about "Terror Train"

where Dan Grodnik
comes up with the idea at

9:00 a.m. and you make a deal
by 3:00 in the afternoon.

Have you ever done that?

-I wish I could say I have.
I haven't.

But I will tell you that,
you don't know this,

but my first boss in Hollywood
was Roger Spottiswoode.

-Oh, really?
-Yes.

Of "Turner and Hooch" fame.

Although I worked
for Roger Spottiswoode

when he was doing "Air America",

and I was a P.A.
on "Air America" in 1987,

and I actually worked
for a guy named John Gaffney,

who was the associate producer
of "Air America."

And my favorite story
of "Air America"

was either Mel Gibson
or Robert Downey

had asked for gym equipment
to be delivered to Thailand.

And I remember
Roger Spottiswoode

running around the office
the little production office

we had on Sunset Boulevard
saying,

"It's like delivering
sand to Hawaii."

-[Laughs]
-And that was that was my memory

of Roger Spottiswoode.

-Okay. Well, you know,

a lot of these horror guys
in the '70s and '80s,

they seemed kind of
seat of your pants kind of guys

in the way they make decisions.

Sandy Howard, Roger Corman,
those guys.

I mean, they would say,
"That sounds great.

We'll figure out
the details later."

Now, is there any version
of that wild

and wooly indie film world
that still exists today?

-Well, I think there is.
I'm going to take this off

because it's hurting my lip.

I think there is.

I think that low budgets

take a lot of pressure
off of filmmakers,

and they can have more fun

because there's not this weight
of all this money

they have to make back.

And so it's a different spirit.

But I still think there's
a sense of experimentation,

which we do on our movies,
which I think is unusual

for Hollywood.

Usually because the budgets
are so high,

people are scared to take risks.

And if you just are spending
a little bit of money,

you can take risks
on all different things.

You can kill the lead character
at the end of the first act.

You can cast people
who aren't such big stars.

And you can do things
that you can't do

when you're spending
a lot of money on a movie.

-Okay.
Did you ever meet Sandy Howard?

-Never met Sandy Howard, no.

-Okay. Probably 90%
of our audience

already knows you, Jason,
and knows your work.

But for the uninitiated,
you're a New Yorker.

You were part of that
pretty exciting indie film world

of the '90s.

-I was. I was. I was.

-That was that had
very little to do with horror.

The '90s was sort of not
a horror decade.

-No, it wasn't good for horror.

-But you you worked
with Ethan Hawke a lot,

and you you worked with his
theater company in

New York City, and you worked
with Arrow Films.

-Arrow Films, my first employer.

No, my first employer
was a real estate --

Well, my first employer
was Prime Cable.

I sold cable TV
door to door in Chicago.

And I graduated
from cable TV to real estate.

So I got my real estate --
I moved back to New York.

I got my real estate license
in the Bronx.

And I worked for a company
called Cronin Real Estate.

That was my first job
in New York.

I rented people
apartments around...

-You rented apartments?
-Yes, I did.

-Okay. How much was an apartment
in the Bronx in the early '90s?

-Well, no, that was
where I got my license.

I rented people downtown.
It was, a one bedroom --

a studio,
one bedroom was $1,000,

two bedroom was $2,000, and
a three bedroom was $3,000.

-Oh, my God.
-That was the range.

-Our entire crew is fainting.
They're fainting.

-That was in Manhattan.
That was in Manhattan.

It was amazing.

-All right.
Arrow Films we know around here

as one of the last companies
that does physical media,

and they go and they sort of
resuscitate old lost films.

But when you worked for them --
-That was a different era.

-No. Yeah.
When you worked for them,

they were big.

They would go to
the Cannes film market

and buy a bunch of stuff, right?

-Well, yeah, I mean, you're
making it sound very romantic.

We did go to Cannes,
but we would buy

what everyone else didn't buy.

So it was -- we did
about 20 movies a year.

It was run -- Arrow was run by
a man named Dennis Friedland,

who was one of my mentors,
early mentors.

Kind of taught me
the movie business.

And he had started Cannon Films.
Remember Cannon?

-Oh, yeah. Cannon Films.

-He sold it to Menahem.

He worked on Wall Street
during the '80s,

and then he missed
the movie business.

So in the late '80s,
he started Arrow.

And the first movie
I ever produced

was a movie called
"Kicking and Screaming."

Written by Noah Baumbach.

Noah Baumbach was
my roommate at college.

And I pitched this movie,
"Kicking and Screaming",

to Dennis, and I pitched to him
all summer long.

And at the end of the summer,
he said,

"I have good news and bad news."

He said, "The bad news is

I'm not going to make
'Kicking and Screaming.'

But the good news is you
seem to be a good salesman,

and I'm going to
offer you a job."

And funnily enough,
Dennis also had one foot

in real estate
and one foot in movies.

So down this hall was
a commercial real estate company

that he ran, and down this hall
was the movie company.

And so we had a kindred spirit
of real estate and movies,

and I accepted, took the job.

-Jason, be honest,
be honest with me.

If you'd made a million dollars
the first year in real estate,

would you never
have made a film?

-I never would have made --
I would have been --

I would have been the good
version of Jared Kushner.

-[Laughter]
-Okay, so we're lucky that

your real estate career
didn't go --

-Happily, it didn't pan out.
Yes, exactly.

-There was a whole raft
of films during this era

when you were doing
you know,

Arrow Films and the theater
company with Ethan Hawke.

There was a whole raft of films
about 20-somethings

living together in groups
and talking a lot.

-"Kicking and Screaming."
-You know, the '90s

was the beginning of what would
later be called mumblecore.

-Oh, God.

-And you were
part of that world.

You were making those movies.

-I apologize for that.
I was.

We thought we thought we were
so important

that we thought everyone wanted
to hear what we had to say.

But it's kind of
embarrassing now that I was.

And it's funny.

I didn't really get into horror
until "Paranormal Activity",

till I was 35 years old.

But I always say that
when I discovered horror,

like, I finally, I knew I wanted
to be in the movie business,

but I never was comfortable.

I was, should I be a producer,
should I be an executive?

Should I do this,
should I do that?

When I found horror,
I finally found my home,

and I never left.

Mostly because it's fun
and people in horror, like,

we don't take ourselves
so seriously

and we have a good time,
and people making those movies

take themselves way
too seriously.

-So when was a switch
go off in your brain

and you said,
horror is the answer?

-Well, it went off
because obviously

I thought "Paranormal Activity"
was a great movie,

and it was a big success.

But then it wasn't
necessarily that.

Then it was -- like it happened,
like I said, when I was 35,

and I'd seen a lot of people
have success early on

in their life
and make a big mistake,

which is you get
a 25-year-old director,

they do a comedy,
it's a big hit,

and then they want to do
a drama or an action movie.

And 9 times out of 10,
that's a big mistake.

So I was old enough
that when I had a success,

I was like, "Okay, I made
this low budget horror movie,

'Paranormal Activity.'

I'm going to do more movies
like that."

So I started looking
for other horror movies.

And that's when I really met
the horror community,

the community of writers
and directors.

And there really is, as you
know, a community of people,

and we all love these movies.

That doesn't exist.

There's not a community of
like romantic comedy filmmakers.

Like, it doesn't exist,
you know?

-That's true.
-And I really --

So the more I did it,
the more I fell in love with it.

-Well, you came into horror
at about the time

that it was becoming respectable
because, you know,

there was a whole --
-I made it respectable.

-You did make it respectable!
-That's right!

-There was a long period where

you would do your first
movie as a horror film.

-Yeah, and then you
graduated to other things.

But I'm never
going to leave horror.

You know, as people say,

I'll never stop doing
horror movies.

But sorry. I interrupted.

-Well, in fact,
you and Oren Peli made --

how many "Paranormal Activity"s
have you made?

-Seven.
-You've made seven?

-We've made seven.
-Has seven come out yet?

-No, it hasn't yet, but it's
finished, it's completed.

-You finished seven.

Plus you did
the "Insidious" series.

-We did four --
yeah, five of those.

-Okay.

-Five "Purge"s.

-And five "Purge"s. Okay.

And so you tend to stick
with the same guys.

Once you discover guys who love
horror, you stick with them.

-Yeah, I like that
at the company.

We have a good --
if we find a director

that we like to work with,
we stick with them.

And same thing with actors.

We've work with actors
a bunch of times.

I think it's the best
PR a movie company

can have or a television company
can have is if you work

with people again and again.

If you work with artists
again and again,

it shows that they at least
kind of like what you're doing

or you treat them fairly
and you pay them.

So we try and do
all those things.

-All right, well, we're going to
talk about "Halloween Kills",

which comes out next week,
and I'm going to bring you

some questions
from your fans a little later.

But right now, we're going
to go back to "Terror Train".

-Oh, boy.
-Which was, Jamie Lee Curtis,

I think this was her
fourth "final girl" film

at this point in her career.

She had already made "Halloween"
and "Prom Night" and "The Fog",

and then half of her films
in that period

were these Canadian
tax shelter things.

She was up in Canada a lot.
Okay, roll the film.

Do people still go up to Canada
to get the rebate money?

-They do. They do.
-Do you go up there?

-Yeah, we shoot a lot
of movies up there?

-Okay.

-You know what was scary
for filmmakers, though?

Back in 2008, a Canadian dollar
was worth a dollar!

[Laughter]

-That was terrible.
-And the film industry was,

"What?! Why are you Canucks
ripping us off?"

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

[Rock music playing]

-Hi, Pres.
-Hey, Pet. How you doin'?

-Have you guys seen
Eddie around?

-Ed?

Check the car back there.
It's open.

-Okay.
-Mm-hmm.

-She still runnin' hot on you?
-Nope.

Cooled down the grade.

She's really beautiful,
that old engine.

They don't make 'em
like that anymore.

-Thank God for little favors.

You're gonna see a train on the
cover of Timemagazine

one of these days, and I'm gonna
be in that cab in the picture.

-And I'll be up in the concorde,
and you'll be on welfare.

You're diggin' your own grave
with that shovel career-wise.

-What's the price of gas
right now?

Pretty soon, the only way you'll
get that beer can someplace

is you load it on a flat car.

Guess who'll be driving
the train?

-You can cook, you can take
a shower, you can watch TV,

and, by God, you can hang a left
if you feel like it.

That poor, deluded boy.

[Rock music playing]

♪ You can spot him in the crowd,
he's always talkin' loud ♪

♪ And you never know
what he's sayin' ♪

♪ He's the one with the power,
the man of the hour ♪

♪ And everyone's callin'
his name ♪

-It's a rotten crowd.
Listen to 'em.

-Well, it beats
a 6-year-old's birthday party.

-I have to have it quiet
when I do my illusions.

-You know, it pays better, too.

Hey, I thought you said you'd
played frat parties before.

-They're not gonna watch.
-Oh, they'll watch.

Go out and do some close-up
magic.

Warm 'em up.

-I'm not ready.

-Okay, here we go!
Stimulation for the nation.

-Yahoo!

-Hey, host lounge
for seniors only!

-Get out!
-What do you think this is?

Come on. Seniors only.

We are gonna be remembered
forever for this one.

-Happy Hog Night, children.
-Hog Night?

-Hog Night! That's right.

-That's what they used
to call it.

Big bonfire, and all the pledges
had to get laid.

-It's true.
They had to abolish it.

Something happened one year,

and they had to kick a whole
bunch of guys out of school.

-Well, almost kicked out.

-Christ, did we do that?

-You're the guys?
-Oh, no, it wasn't us.

It must've been somebody else.

-Look, it was supposed to be
a simple joke,

and it sort of got out of
control one year.

Just forget about it.

-You want to know what really
happened?

-Yeah!
-Doc, will you please drop it?

-We were freshmen. Alright.
It's Christmas vacation.

And I got a job at the medical
center, practically a janitor.

So I go into this lab one night.

It's unlocked, and there's this
lady there,

poor soul, who'd just
fallen apart.

-Yeah, literally.

-Now, I promised these dorks
I was gonna come up

with something truly special.

-Yeah, really special.

Put a kid in the hospital.

Oh, I'm sorry.
Did I ruin your punch line?

-You tell them.
You were there, remember?

-Hey, Alana.

[Squeaks]

-Sucks to you.

Hey, come on. It's New Year's!
Let's be happy!

Why don't you let these
poor children go?

-Okay, children, run along.
Another time.

Leave the women here.
Thank you very much.

-Thanks for the booze, sir.
-Yeah, thanks.

-Booze?

Well, that was actually
nice of you.

Now, what are we gonna drink?
-What are we gonna drink?

♪ What are we gonna drink? ♪

-♪ What are we gonna drink? ♪

-♪ What are we gonna drink? ♪
-Champagne!

[Laughing, chattering]

-Absolutely there's
a future in it.

People got to come back to rail.

-I'll bet you read
a lot of science fiction.

-Hey, Shovels,
you know what we call him?

Winnebago.
-[Laughs]

-How is the R.V.
business these days?

-How the hell do you
think it is?

I wouldn't be here if I wasn't
up to my hind end in inventory.

But I'll move 'em sooner
or later.

Should've got out 10 years ago,
not 5.

Now, think on this.

When's the last time
somebody built a shopping mall

next to a train station?

Think about that.

-[Humming]

-[Gasps] Jesus!

Oh. It's you.

You about scared the pants
right off me.

You are bad, Eduardo.

What's this? Oh, that thing.

Not only is that gross,
but I know who gave it to you.

Mm-hmm. Somebody else
is looking for you.

Mm-hmm.

[Chuckles]
You want to know who she is?

Uh-huh.

-Well...

...a cute little thing.

Now, tell me, what's her name?
Pet. That's it.

Are you stoned?

Surprise!

[Woman Squeals]

-[Laughs]
-Get lost!

-[Gasps] Ow! That hurts!

-How you doin', Eduardo?

-[Sighs] Jesus.

-Hey, Ed, that number
at the station...

[Laughing]

With the sword?

Better than Doc could have done.

Super fantastic, man.
[Laughing]

Hey, Ed, want a drink?

Shh!

I've got the good stuff, Ed.

Hey, where do they keep
the glasses?

Ah, here they are.
Now we're talkin'. Whoops!

Easy, Jackson.

Here we go, Eduardo.
How's this?

Hey, hey, hey!
Take it easy, man.

What are you doin'?

Oh, my God!

No! No, no!

[Whistle blowing]

-Very classy.

-You like this, huh?

-You know, I've always
wanted my own toy train,

but this is ridiculous.

You know, you're very
imaginative, buster.

-I have my moments.

-I know.

Hey, Mitch, I may have
to marry him after all.

-Marry me.
-[Chuckles]

-It was my idea.

-Aw, Doc.

-I cannot tell a lie.
I'm sorry, buddy.

It got stuck in my throat.

-I thought you said
it was your idea.

-Look, I know I suggested
letting her think otherwise.

-That's real generous of you.
-Thank you.

-So you're the one who's paying
for all this.

-Oh, no. Mo's the one
with the bread.

I've got all the ideas.

For instance, guess what I put
in the stuff I gave those dorks?

-You asshole!

You can't have a good time

without hurting somebody,
can you?

Is that why you told me
it was your idea?

'Cause I said I'd never go to

another one of his
fucking parties?

-Alana, you're always walking
out on my parties.

But this time, you can't.

[Squawks] I'll get you
for this one, Doc.

-I mean it this time.

Now, look.
This was a good idea, right?

Right?
-Yeah.

-So what the hell
does it matter who --

-It matters a lot!

-I'm sorry.

-I know.

I just can't wait for the other
surprises he's got planned.

Whoopee cushions,
exploding cigars.

[Sniffing] Oh, Jesus.

-What?

-Somebody broke a bottle in
there already.

I told you it was gonna be

another one of these
stupid parties.

-Aw, come on!
Give it a chance, will ya?

[Static crackles]

-Okay, so everybody was
making slashers or trying

to make slashers
at the time of "Terror Train",

and each slasher had
a little different twist.

The twist in this case
is that the killer assumes

the costume of whoever he kills
so that you never see his face

and so that the party
goers never suspect

that he's among them.

Even more surprising than
Ben Johnson being in this movie

is the cinematographer,
John Alcott.

He was very, very famous.

He was Stanley Kubrick's
camera guy,

and he was generally
given credit for shooting

the most beautiful film ever
made, "Barry Lyndon", in 1975.

But he was a legendary guy

because he never used
a light meter.

He would look at the back
of his hand to judge the light,

and he was a big believer
in natural light.

Even at night,
he specifically used a camera

that could supposedly film
one candle power,

which was the darkest image
you can put on film.

So a great guy for horror.

Anyway, Alcott was
a London Eastender

who worked his way up
in the camera department

at Gainsborough Studios, where
his father was an executive,

started as a clapper boy.

And then when Kubrick was
shooting

"2001: A Space Odyssey",
his director of photography

had to leave half way
through the shoot

because the shoot
took two years,

and so Alcott was promoted
straight from focus puller

to head cinematographer.

And then Kubrick used him again

for "A Clockwork Orange"
and "Barry Lyndon"

and the film this audience
will know best, "The Shining."

Now, why was he working
on "Terror Train"?

Because he wanted
to move to the U.S.,

so he would take
any American job,

and he also shot
"My Bloody Valentine",

"Fort Apache the Bronx",
"The Beastmaster", "Vice Squad",

which we mentioned earlier,

and another
Roger Spottiswoode film,

the one that was really
his breakthrough film,

"Under Fire" with Nick Nolte
and Gene Hackman.

And he was just starting
to get prestige assignments

in America when he died
suddenly of a heart attack

at the age of just 55.

So, Jason, now, you're an expert

at getting A-list people,
like John Alcott

and like David Gordon Green,
to work in your movies.

-And Jamie Lee Curtis.

-And Jamie Lee Curtis.
For low wages.

-That's right.
-What is the secret to that?

-Our magic sauce
is we actually pay them

when they're owed money
for back end.

You know, it's a crazy idea.

-You mean they have a percentage
of a movie.

-Well, yeah, but that's common
in Hollywood.

A lot of people
get a percentage,

but rarely do people pay it.

So we do this wild thing
where we make an agreement

and we actually stick
to the agreement.

And I actually came up
with this a long time ago.

When I first started
producing movies,

the reason that
so few people get paid

is because you have
a piece of the profits,

and the definitions of
a movie's profits,

in 2000, and it was 10 pages.

Now it's 150 pages of contract,

which basically make
the profits down to no matter

how much the movie makes,
there are no profits.

So I did this thing at the very
beginning of the company,

right after
"Paranormal Activity",

the next movie we made was
"Insidious."

And I said to the lawyers,
who were very upset by this,

because if the contracts
aren't long,

as you know,
they don't get paid.

So I said,
"We're going to take out

the 25-page profit definition.

We're going to do
something very simple.

If the movie hits $50 million,

the person gets $50,000
or $100,000 or whatever it is."

If it's $55,000,
they get another $50,000.

If it's $60,000,
they get another $50,000.

Or whatever it is,
so that when they open Variety,

they, in the old days
when they opened it,

they would see if the movie,
what it would gross,

and they would know
they would get a check.

And what I used to do
and I still do,

I haven't done since COVID,
but what I still do,

because we haven't had
a movie released.

The minute the movie hit
that box office level,

I'd take a check for 50 grand,

I'd film myself
outside of FedEx.

I'd film myself
going to the FedEx,

putting the check in the mail,
which I did.

And then I would e-mail the
film, the little video of me

to the actor or the director
or the writer or the producer

and say,
"This is coming tomorrow,"

and they'd get their check.

And guess what?

People work with you again
when you pay them!

It's amazing!

-Oh, wow.
[Cheering]

-See, I would love that.

You know, I have a whole career

of working with
nightclub managers.

And so, you know, if I ever had
a nightclub manager

who like went to the FedEx
and took a picture

of himself mailing a check, I
would just have a heart attack.

[Laughter]

-I have a theory that if --
it's not really a theory --

but it's like people
complaining about

paying third party participants
in your movies

or paying a lot of taxes.

If you're doing either one
of those things,

that means things are probably
going very well for you.

So I feel like
if I'm paying other people,

we're all winning together,
so I don't begrudge it.

-Well, you know, there have
been many famous lawsuits

involving the big studios,

you know, Paramount,
Universal, all those studios,

because they put studio
overhead in the deal.

And so, as you say,
there's never any profits.

Do you think we're entering
a period

where the big studios
don't matter so much anymore?

You don't necessarily need them?

-No, we're entering
the opposite period.

They're just not
the big studios anymore.

They're big tech companies.

But Apple, Amazon, Netflix.
-Okay.

They matter more --
they're, unfortunately,

even more powerful,
much, much, much more powerful

than the studios
even used to be.

-So we have a different array
of overlords.

-A different array of overlords,
and they're much more --

the profit sharing
has become much cloudier

as opposed to
the other way around.

-Really?
-Yes, because you're not paid

anymore by -- they don't even
pretend to give you a piece

of the profit anymore.

They just say,
"Here's your big check.

You're working
for this much upfront,"

which, granted, is oftentimes
very generous, but that's it.

If 10 billion people
see your show

or one person sees your show,
that's all we're giving you.

They don't even -- there's
no contract definition.

There's no profit definition
anymore because it's gone.

When you work for a streamer,
you get paid up front,

and that's all you get.

-Okay, well, I mean,
you're talking about Netflix,

Amazon, all these companies.

These are guys
from Silicon Valley.

They're from
Northern California.

-Yes.
-They came down to

Southern California.

-Like they did every
other business.

-And they --
-They ruined it.

-They sort of invaded
old Hollywood,

and they took over
the distribution system.

-Just like taxis.

-So let me ask you,
these guys who came from

San Jose or wherever they live.
-Yeah, wherever they live.

-Do they love movies?
Do they care about movies?

-No.
-You've met all these guys.

-No, no, movies are
widgets to them?

No, they don't.
-Really?

-So it's just the same
as selling groceries?

-But it's the exactly the same
thing as selling groceries

or selling toys.

It's the same thing.

They're widgets, but they do...

they have come to appreciate
people who do love movies.

So when they first
came to Hollywood,

they just said, like they did
in every other industry,

the truth -- "We do this better
than everybody else.

We don't need anyone else.

We're going to take --
we're going to do this."

That didn't work
that well in Hollywood.

So then what they did
is they hired people

from Southern California
to go work for them.

They hired Hollywood
insiders to work for them.

And that worked a lot better.

-But don't a lot
of those Hollywood insiders

work for him for four years
and get vested in

their profits and then quit?

-Well, some do, but there are
a lot still in there.

Just there's a lot still working
for those guys.

-All right, now, you call
yourself, Jason,

a micro-budget guy.

You use that term in your bio.

Now, what do you
call micro-budget?

Because we have a thing called
Mutant Fest in the summer.

We had two excellent films this
year that were both made for

under $50,000.

-That's a whole other
something else.

-Something tells me,
that's not what you mean

by micro-budget, even though
you have the original

micro-budget horror film.

-That's $15,000.

-Which was $15,000.
-Yeah.

-So what do you mean
by micro-budget.

-Micro-budget to me
is if you take a stand --

I get we are coming from.

But how we look at it

is if you look at the Cineplex
on your corner or in your mall,

the average price
of a studio movie release

there is $70 million.

-Okay.
-And for me,

anything under $10 million
compared to that

in a movie theater
is much less,

so that, to me, is micro-budget.

But maybe we should move
to the term

"low budget", "small budget."

-Well, I don't know.
We like the term micro-budget.

-Okay, good. All right.

But "Halloween Kills",
now, that's --

-No, that's more expensive.
-That's not micro-budget.

-For sequels, you go up, right?

-Exactly.
If we have a piece of --

If we have a title
that's working,

all the "Purge" sequels,

all the "Paranormal Activity"
sequels,

all the "Insidious" sequels,
those are much more expensive.

If we have a piece of known IP,
known intellectual property,

that already exists,
those are more expensive.

But our originals...

-All right.
What about "Get Out"?

That's a very successful
original.

-4.5.

-Okay, so under --
-That was micro.

-That was under five.
-So under 5 million

is your micro-budget?

-Yeah, exactly.

So, Jason,

you've become the go-to guy
for indie projects,

especially in horror.

What does it take
to get your attention?

What does a filmmaker
need to do?

We have many filmmakers
who watch the show.

-Watching this show.
-Yeah.

What does a filmmaker need to do
to get your attention,

get a meeting with you?
-All they got to do

is make a great movie.

-One great movie.
-One great movie.

Make it 5 grand.
-So you don't want to make

their first movie?

Rather not make
their first movie, no.

If I see it and love it,
I'll distribute it.

I'll help it get distributed,

and then I'll make
their second movie.

-Well, you should come
to Mutant Fest

because that's where
the first movies are.

-Well, clearly I should.
Clearly I should.

-Would you make
any genre of movie?

Or you seem to be sticking
to horror pretty religiously.

-Well, our TV business is 50%
of our business.

And TV, we make only about
20% horror, 80% other genres.

Our movie companies is
the reverse.

Movies 80% or 90% horror,
10%, 20% other.

So we occasionally stray
from horror,

"BlacKkKlansman", "Whiplash",

but I don't like to stray too
far or too often from horror.

And I also think
that even the projects

that we make that
aren't horror movies,

they have dark themes in them.

You know, obviously,

"BlacKkKlansman",
obviously "Whiplash",

there's a darkness
in those movies,

even though
they're not horror movies.

-Okay. All right.
Well, I want to bring back

David Gordon Green
at the next break

and get you guys talking
about your creative process.

But right now,
we're going to go back

to the best tax credit movie
in Montreal for the year 1980.

You know what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about
"Terror Train",

and I hope everybody enjoyed
the extended scenes

of Ben Johnson discussing
the future of train travel

with the engineer
and his assistant.

Ben Johnson, what's surprising
about that is Ben Johnson

does not like
extra words in a script.

Ben Johnson's philosophy was,
John Ford didn't need words

and most of the words
in movies are unnecessary.

Which actually Ben Johnson
never took an acting class.

But most acting teachers
would actually agree with him.

So having him hold forth
at great length

on the virtues
of recreational vehicles

or whatever he was talking about

probably did not
sit well with Ben.

Because he was a genuine cowboy
from what is now a ghost town

Foraker, Oklahoma.

But Ben actually left Hollywood
at one point in his career

because he wanted to go back
to his rodeo career.

This was 1953.

And he became the world steer
roping champion that year.

But by 1954,
he was back in Hollywood,

asking John Ford
if he had any work for him,

because he discovered
that steer roping champions

don't make as much money
as character actors,

which would be something you do
have to discover for yourself

if you grow up
in Foraker, Oklahoma.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-Hey, Carne, what about those
smart alecks in the back?

Shouldn't we take a look-see?

-Nah. I'd be a wet blanket
if I walked through there now.

They can cool down by
themselves.

-[Chattering]
-Good evening.

-Admit it. You're impressed.

-Okay, I'm impressed.
-[Chuckles] Mwah.

-Mo.
-Good evening, ladies.

Welcome aboard.

-Hello.
-How are you?

So where are the guys?

-Weren't they with you?
-No, I didn't see 'em.

Jackson was there for a while,
but he must have --

-[Scattered Applause]
-Look, he's doing magic.

-A magician.
-What a great idea. Come on.

-I want to get some peanuts.
-Thank you.

-There's a ton of peanuts.
-They're not hot.

-"They're not hot."
Excuse me?

Uh, could I borrow
that coin you have there?

Yeah.

Watch this.

If I take your cigarette
and hold it up to your quarter,

it'll seem to be sticking to it,

just like that.

And if we keep turning it,
it'll look like

the cigarette's penetrating
the quarter, just like that.

Could you, um, take this lighter
here and, uh, light it up?

-It'll give you cancer.
-It's for effect. It's okay.

-Okay.

-[Mock German accent]
You may have relatives

in ze old country.

-[Giggles]

-[Normal voice] This is
the best part of all.

If we take the cigarette
and start to remove it,

the quarter will seem
to, um, seal itself up.

-Whoo!
-That's great!

That's great. That's fantastic.

-Thank you.
Have you ever seen a quarter

that, um, allows a cigarette
to go through it?

-No.
-Well, there's no such thing.

[Applause]

-Now what about my peanuts?

-I've got that taken care of.

Come over here.

-[People gasping]

-Smart aleck!

-Uh, pick a card. Any card.
It don't matter.

Come on now. I-I gotta go.
Show's about to start.

-Uh-huh. You gonna be
part of it, Carne?

-Ain't you gonna pick one?

Free Will Baptist.
We never touch 'em.

-[Chuckles] I use 'em all
the time in my work.

Helps break the ice
for my customers.

-This always happens to me.
Always.

-Aw, come on, Pet.

You're always looking for that
kind of guy, right?

I mean, what you have to say is,
"Fuck 'em."

Listen, if Jackson shows up,
tell him I went home.

-Me too. Ed was on the platform.
I bet the shit missed the train.

-Hey, remember me?

[Sighs] Alana, come on.

I said I was sorry,
and I meant it.

It was stupid to let you think
it was my --

-It's not that.

-[Chuckles] Well, would you mind
telling me why you're so upset?

-You let him set you up again.
Mo, you're worth 10 of him.

Just because you belong to
the same stupid fraternity --

-Hey, hey, I happen to like
this fraternity, okay?

You don't get it.

You have no idea
what I'm trying to tell you.

-Oh, yes, I do.

I understand, Alana.

You have just never forgiven him
for setting you up with Kenny

in the frat house.

You've always gotta be
Little Miss Perfect.

Just because he gets you
in trouble --

-Look, I'm not gonna listen
to you cover for him all night,

all right?
-Alana, please!

I know Doc can be a jerk
sometimes.

I'm not stupid.

Doc's my friend.
-You don't need an enemy then.

-Very funny. Did you think
of that one all by yourself?

-Excuse me.

-[Groans]
-You pulled what?

-I didn't know
there was a muscle there.

-Oh, excuse me, sir.
-Okay.

-Uh, just a minute there.
-Yeah?

-Got a little trick I'd like to
show you.

-Oh, great.
-Okay.

-Now, think on a card.

Oh, now, don't tell me.

-You got it?

-You got to concentrate
on the deck.

-Okay.
-Because it's the power

of the thought
that makes it rise to the top.

-[Laughs]
-Let me show you how to do that.

Five.

Four.

Three. There it is.
[Chuckling]

Now, what was your card?

-[Laughs] Jack of hearts.

-Not only has it risen to
the top of the deck,

but now, it has become
the jack of spades.

-[Laughs] Nice one, sir.

-[Laughs]

Just a gag.
But kinda clever, wasn't it?

-I'm gonna wet my pants
if I don't stop laughing.

Emergency!
-Emergency room, right here.

Locked.
-Oh!

-There's another one down
at the end of the car here.

-Thanks. We'll just sit
this one out.

-I can't wait.

-Now, you tell the good doctor
just what's troubling you.

Come here.

[Disco music playing]

[Applause]

[Song ends]

[Cheers and applause]

[Jazz music playing]

-My, that was pretty.

Very well done.

-You know how he does it?

-Yeah.
-How?

-We're sworn to secrecy.

-Hey!

Where is everybody?

-Watching the magician.

-Where the hell are Jackson
and Ed?

-I don't know.

-Hey, wait a minute.
We didn't hire a magician.

-Well, maybe somebody else

had a good idea for
a change, hmm?

-I want to see what he does.

-Mwah! Isn't she adorable?

-[Laughs]

-Is she still mad?

-Yeah, she's still mad.

-She'll get over it.

-You know, Doc,

I'm not so sure this time.

-Well, if she dumps you,
you've always got me, you know.

-[Chuckles]

-I mean it.

[Applause]

[Applause]

Whoo!

-Let's get out of here.

Excuse me.

Watch your toes, Mitchy.

-Uh, what's with
the snit sisters?

-Wait a minute. Excuse me.

One of my girlfriends thinks her
boyfriend was left back

at the platform before we left.

-Oh, I don't think so.
Not if he came with you all.

The platform was clear.

You know, they might've --

they might've
switched disguises.

You know, it'd be hard to tell.

-You talking about Ed?
-Yeah.

-He's here. I saw him.

He's in the Groucho costume.

-He's here?
-Yeah.

-I'm sorry. False alarm.
-It's all right.

-[Humming]
-Hey, guys.

You should've seen that
magician. He was fantastic.

Poof! Just like that,
the woman was gone.

-Think he knows
how to make one come?

-I hate magic. It's just tricks.
-Come on. You love tricks.

-I love jokes.

-You're just pissed off
'cause you can't figure it out.

-These girls look faint.

Can we do anything
to revive them?

-I don't know.
Maybe some kind of injection?

-You girls better come back
to the consulting room with us.

We may have to do
an exploratory.

-Yeah. You sure you guys have
had any experience?

-Experience? Us?

Oh, come on. Tell 'em, Doc.
We got experience.

-Mo and I worked in an emergency
gynecological ward last summer.

-Really?
-Yeah, that's right.

Doc won an award.

-Best Pap smear in
a supporting role. Come on.

-[Groans]

-♪ Now, baby, you're wrong ♪

♪ It's on my mind ♪

♪ Well, there ain't no need
to push and shove ♪

♪ I just want your funky love ♪

-Let's go get some champagne.

-Uh, I want to stay here. Okay?

-Enjoy yourselves.
-Thank you.

-Let's dance.
-What about the men?

-The men can obviously
take care of themselves.

♪ And only you can feel it ♪

♪ You know, it's up to you ♪

♪ Baby, say you will ♪

♪ 'Cause you're the one
I'm thinkin' of ♪

♪ I just want your funky love ♪

♪ Funky love,
I just want your funky love ♪

-I feel sick.

-This little lady cannot
hold her liquor.

-No, but there's something else
I can hold.

-Anyway, when in doubt,
cut it out, right?

-Or cut it off.
-Hey, hey, come on.

-Not in there.
-Not again!

-So, anyway, we look in the jar,

and there's the tattoo
around the nipple.

-Oh, stop!

-Uh-oh.
This one looks serious, Doc.

-I agree. Get her in here.
Aw, shit, it's still locked.

-Uh-oh. Look who's here.
-Oh, hi. Hi.

Medical problem.
You think it's serious?

-Smells like an alcohol problem
to me.

[Laughter]

-We know you can handle it,
Captain. [Squawks]

-Come on. Get out of here.

-Anybody in there?

Speak up if you're in there.

Otherwise, I'm gonna
use the pass key.

All right, I'm coming in.

My God.

[Slow ballad playing]

-If you want to talk, we can go
back to my compartment.

It's quiet there.

-Probably very private, too,

with red lights
and satin sheets.

Mood music.

-Yeah, I had the pledges
install a hot tub.

-It's very nice.
-Mmm!

-Seriously. If you want to talk,
I'm around, okay?

-You really have a hot tub?
-Oh, geez.

-♪ Will we win ♪

♪ Will we lose ♪

-You all right?

-You got somethin'
to put in this?

-Are you sick?

-There's a boy dead back there.
He's in the sleeper toilet.

He must have --
I don't know what happened.

I-I just don't know.

-No doubt in your mind?

-Oh, he's dead, all right.

I never saw anybody
so dead as that.

I got to sit down, Charlie,
for a minute.

Will you watch that car
while I call Walter?

-Of course.

-Uh, nobody knows, so...

...don't say nothin'.

-Sure.

[Rock music playing]

-Hi, guys.

Hey, where have you been
all my life?

Just this once.

[Laughing]

-Well, I can say
we crossed the line.

Oh, we can back into town,
sure we can.

But that'll green that switch
and that freight,

and we'll be backing up a hell
of a lot slower

than he'll be coming towards us.

-I guess the closest way out
is straight ahead.

-Is all hell breaking loose
back there or what?

-Just an accident.

-Let's put on a little speed.

-Can you believe that guy?

Yeah, but do you know
what he asked me to do? Oh, hi.

Could I get in there?
-I'm sorry. It's out of order.

Would you try the other side,
please? Thank you very much.

[Chattering]

-Did you look?
-No, sir.

-Sorry to put this on you,
Charlie.

-What?

-What the hell?
There was blood there before.

I could've sworn it.

Something's happened.

Some kind of practical joke.

Dead drunk. That's what he is.

-Whoops-a-daisy!

-Damn kids.

-All right, up.
Come on. Up we go.

-Whoops!
Bad choo-choo.

[Humming]

Oh, wow. D-Jack!

Do you know how gross that looks
when you're stoned?

Were you in here all this time?

Were you sick?
He gets, you know, sick.

-I guess so.

-Well, look, folks,
he's a-walkin' and a-talkin'.

Weighs a ton. At least that's
what his girlfriend says.

I mean, you know what I mean.

Oh, he'll be all right.
I'll take care of him.

Easy does it, right, Jack?

That's a boy.

-Damn medical students.

-Oh, no. No, no.

-So, are you breaking up
with Alana?

-Only for the weekend.

-But I thought you two were
getting married.

-Well, we are, but --
-Hey. Whoa.

-Hey, guys, more booze.
More booze.

-Thank you.

-A toast to us.

-Hey, there's Jackson.
-The old yearbook.

-Let me see.
-Hey, look at Mo.

-I look like an idiot.
-Well, you still do.

-Thanks a lot, old buddy.
-That's the pres.

-Hey, who's that?

-Oh, that's just Kenny Hampson.

He couldn't handle it.

Say, sweetheart,
let's take a walk.

-Hey, Doc, where are you goin'?
Doc, don't leave me alone --

Hi. Hey, Ed,
is that you down there?

-Boo!

D-Jack, you can make it.

Up! I mean, if you've never
tried an upper berth before --

[Gasps] Scoot!

You old faker.

-Jackson's with another girl.
I know it.

You and Mitchy, you know,
you have an understanding.

But this is a first for us.

-Could be a first for us, too.

Right?

Like, uh,

you and I have never really

gotten to know
each other and, uh,

could be our last chance.

Right, D-Jack?

[Giggles]

Think, uh, you could manage
without the flipper?

Ooh. [Chuckles]

Well, uh, you know
what they say.

Cold hands, warm heart.

[Muffled screaming]

[Whistle blowing]

[Static crackles]

-Okay. Having sex with

the Creature from
the Black Lagoon

doesn't bother her at all,

but a few strokes
with the disembodied hand,

and she's a basket case.

Meanwhile,
we have David Copperfield

doing a whole lot
of magic tricks

that would probably be
impressive in person.

But any time you're
watching magic on film,

you're kind of thinking,
"So what?"

You know, if he disappears,
I'll just assume,

you know, it's the same way
they did it in

"The Three Stooges",
you know, so.

Right? I mean.

And speaking of movie magic,

we have the two men responsible

for the $255 million.

Is that the right number?

$255 million box office hit,
"Halloween."

-Sounds good.
-In 2018.

But, David, it's Halloween.

-Oh, yeah.
-You got to choose something

out of the --
-Oh, okay.

-Out of the costume box.

-Oh, see, he's got
the "Terror Train" glasses.

-Where did you get that shirt?

-When I was about
14 years old,

when I was a subscriber to the

"We Are the Weird" newsletter...

-My newsletter?

-And a frequent reader
of your column.

And I just remember
there was a --

"Frankenhooker" was playing on
midnights at the Inwood Theater.

And there was an opportunity,
you sent free junk in the mail.

I've got "Frankenhooker"
T-shirts and posters

for anybody who wants one,
if you can justify why

you'd be the recipient
of this treasure.

-You wrote in for the
"Frankenhooker" T-shirt?

-What did you say?

-I can't remember my essay.
-Buddy, come on.

-I head my English teacher
proofread it,

and I sent it to Joe Bob.
-[Laughs]

-So I sent you that shirt?

-You sent me this very shirt.
-In the '90s?

And you still have the shirt.
-I do.

-How often have you worn it
since the '90s?

-Honestly, it was too large
when I got it.

I put it away in a nice box,

in storage with some
of my movie memorabilia.

I worked at a movie theater
in Dallas,

and so I was always
collecting shit.

-All right.
-And this is

one of my treasures.

-Well, that counts as a costume.

That counts as a costume.

-All right.
-All right, Jason,

why did you want
to take a chance on "Halloween"

with this guy
when it had sort of been ruined

by a bunch of lame ass sequels.

-I think there were 12,
right? Plus "Halloween."

-"Halloween Kills"
is technically Halloween 11

or "Halloween 12."
-"Halloween 12", right?

So there were --
"Halloween 12" --

so there were 10 bad ones.

The first one was good,
obviously.

Some people would say
the second one...

-I think "Halloween II"
was good.

-Some people say
the second one.

So there were 10 bad movies,
and then came David's.

And I love
the challenge of that.

I love the idea of like,

and everyone thought we were
going to fall on our face.

But I knew we were more
than halfway there.

When I reached out to David,

I sent him an e-mail,
and it said,

"Halloween, question mark."

And he said,
"Yeah." He said, "Yeah."

-It was your idea?

-No, no, no, no, no.

-You met the guy who owns
the rights?

-No, after I got the rights,

I wanted David to write
and direct it.

So I sent him an e-mail,
and just one word.

It just said "Halloween."

-And I remember vividly
where I was reading an e-mail

because I get up very early
in the mornings,

and I just remember it was
that early morning hour

and my legs felt weird.

Like, you know,
you develop a hundred things,

and, you know ideas,
barroom napkins of ideas

that are discarded
and disposed of.

But for some reason,
my legs knew that

that was going to happen,
and my legs were like,

"Here we go."
-Really?

-And it was just a one word,

-And your only answer
was "Hell, yes"?

[Laughter]

All right.

What makes the "Halloween"
story different?

Because it's a generic title.

I mean, you could you could call
100 movies "Halloween",

you know?
-For sure.

-It's a generic killer.

You know, he's just a killer.

That's, you know...

So what makes the "Halloween"
story attractive?

-What do you think?
And the movie?

Why is the movie, the original
movie still such a big deal?

-I honestly think it's because
it's so relatable,

whoever you are,
wherever you live,

it's not so spectacularly
supernatural

that it couldn't happen to you.

And so that's what really
triggers something primal in me

is because every time you come
home and the lights are off

and it's late at night,
you know, those moments,

or you go reach into a closet
or you go into your bed,

those very elemental,

terrifying moments of life

that you have from
the day you're born.

-Right.

Do you think it's
an American story?

I mean, it's set
in Haddonfield, Illinois,

you know,
the typical Midwestern town.

Or does it play just as well
in Pakistan and Korea?

-Everywhere.
-It plays everywhere.

-Yeah, I just think
if you're afraid of the dark

ever in your life
for the movie,

if you're afraid of the guy
with a knife in your house,

it speaks to you in a way
that, you know, Freddy does,

but maybe not.

You know, like, if once
you're talking about things

that are so spectacular
that they are very unlikely,

you lose some people,

and I think "Halloween"
can keep that intimacy of...

-Okay.
-I mean, there's a high concept

idea buried in the notion of
the night that everyone

dresses up as a monster,
there's a real monster

lurking within everybody else.

-So that's the high concept.

But that's actually
the concept used in a lot of...

-In "Terror Train."
-Yeah.

-And even in a lot of
non-horror.

-But that was post.

But who did that
before "Halloween"?

-Who did that idea of a monster
lurking in a place

where you don't
expect a monster?

-No, no, no, no, no.

A monster lurking on
on Halloween night,

when you're all dressed,
you're dressed up.

Everyone's a monster, but one
of them is real on Halloween.

Did that happen
before "Halloween" in a movie?

I'm sure it did, probably.

-I don't think so.
I don't think so.

And you know why?
Because Halloween was

not considered a sinister thing

until the "candyman."

In the early '70s, you know,
a real guy in suburban Houston

put poison in the candy.
-Right.

-He was killing his own son
for the insurance money.

So it really wasn't
a, you know,

poisoning the whole, you know --
it wasn't the myth.

It wasn't the legend
that the poison is everywhere.

The guy went to death row
in Texas for the crime.

-And then there were
razor blades in apples, too.

-Razor blades in apples,
that was part of the legend

and the myth,
and then it became real

because there was that
real situation

where at first they thought,
"Oh, all the candy is poisoned."

But then they found out,
no, the guy was just,

you know, the guy was just
doing it to a specific child.

But it was so horrifying
that I think now Halloween

becomes really dark.

It's not like -- they're
celebrating Halloween

in "The Spirit of St. Louis",
you know?

But in
"The Spirit of St. Louis",

you know, it's like, you know,
all the kids

are running around
playing pranks,

and there is absolutely nothing
scary about it, you know?

-I mean, you can see the roots
of what Carpenter was doing

in Bob Clark's
"Black Christmas."

-That's true. That's true.

Yeah, that was another --
Yeah, but it was --

But that's Christmas.
That's still not Halloween.

So you wrote the first one,

and the first one,
you guys did together.

And I assume you also wrote

the next one, and you're
writing the third one

that you're going to do, right?

-Right, yeah,
so had a collaborator,

Danny McBride and I collaborated
on all three,

and then we have
different co-writers

for each of the three to kind of
bring a new perspective

to each one.
-Okay.

So first meeting where you're
meeting with your collaborators,

I mean, the question's
got to be,

what are we do
with Michael Myers?

-Right.
-Right?

Who is he, and how
do we portray him?

So what was the answer
to that question?

-Our first conversation was,
let's honor everything that

Carpenter did in
the first movie.

Now, what movie
do we want to make?

Let's have some fun.

If you're going to play
in that world, where do you go?

And, you know, you could do
a period piece,

you could do an origin story,
you could do anything.

But for me, it was the idea
of inviting people

that weren't necessarily
familiar with the 1978 film.

So trying to create something
that's its own unique story

that related to that mythology.

So that if you've seen it,
it's it's twice the fun.

But if you haven't seen it,

you're still invited
to the party.

-But for the idea
you came up with,

the next thing you would have to
do is call up Jamie Lee Curtis

and ask if she
was game for it, right?

-We had written a draft
that we were very proud of

before we went to her.

We sculpted that to think,
that's the way to go.

Because she was publicly
and vocally not interested

in contributing
anymore to the franchise.

So we thought we had
to go in there

with an arsenal of creative work
to be able to show why we

were the story to bring

Laurie Strode back
into the action.

-So that's a lot
of work if she says no, right?

-Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

-If she said no,
would you go to another actress?

-Or you reinvent how it's
not about Laurie Strode.

It's about, you know,
her cousin Betty.

-Oh.
-But John Carpenter

came before Jamie Lee Curtis.

-Yeah, yeah, right.

-Oh, yeah, we pitched the idea
to John before we even wrote it.

-Yeah, we didn't want
to do it without John.

-Okay, so he was a consultant.

-Now, it's a good story.
I went to go see John Carpenter.

And the meeting was 21 minutes.

I went to his house.
Actually, I went to his office.

This is before David,
and I said...

I said, "We, Blumhouse, we're
doing a 'Halloween' movie."

He said, "Get out," you know,
"Get out of my office."

And I said, "Well," I said,
"We'd like you to be involved."

And he said...[Grunts]

And I tried all my charm on him,

and he grunted at me
and he grunted and he grunted,

and he grunted.

So like after 12 minutes
or maybe 14 minutes,

I said, "John, let me put it
a different way.

You have hated all these
'Halloween' movies

that have come out.

They're definitely --
I don't know if we are,

but they're definitely
going to make this movie.

They're going to make
another Halloween movie.

They're either going to make it
with us or without us.

And I don't think I'm going
to do it without you.

So you could decide now to,
like, be a part of this

or not be a part of it.

But whatever you decide,
it's happening."

And he said, "All right,
let me think about it."

And then he called. We left.

He called half an hour later,
and he said,

"All right, I'll do it,"
which was great.

That was a big piece.

When I talked to
the original rights holders,

Miramax owned a big piece
of the rights.

I said I really didn't want
to make a "Halloween" movie

unless John Carpenter
was going to kind of

executive produce
and grandfather it.

So that was a big step.
That was a big --

And the first thing David asked
was what's John Carpenter --

you know, and I think
if John Carpenter

had not supportive
of what we were doing,

I don't think, you know, you
might have been less interested.

But then David had
a tricky job of getting --

He didn't have script approval,
but also, we weren't --

David wasn't going to do a movie
that John didn't like.

So, David, these guys wrote
the script and sent it to John,

and John was really,
really excited.

-Did John Carpenter
contribute any story ideas

or anything or shape
the story at all?

-He gives notes on the script.

Yeah, sure.

Questions certain things.

Like we had some elements
that he was pondering why

we wanted to take that
kind of detour,

some of which we'd justify,
others which we'd change.

And then on the edit, too.

So, you know,
he's an amazing collaborator.

And the honor of having
that accessible creative tool

is just incredible,
so I use it as much as possible.

-How did you two meet?

-"George Washington"?

-It's been that long, huh?
-It's been a long --

-Yeah. Was that your
first movie?

-That was the first movie.

-Yes, so David made
this great movie,

"George Washington."
-Yeah.

-And I remember I saw the movie
at Searchlight,

on the lot at Fox,
which I still remember

and we had a general meeting
after that.

-Okay, so you've been together
since you're very --

since the very beginning
of your career?

You've known each other.
-Yeah.

-Okay. And you both have
a background in comedy.

Is there a possibility that
either of you would collaborate

on comedies?

You've both made comedies.

-Yeah, why not?

There's no rules here.

-Because they say comedy
is the most dangerous

form of filmmaking.

-The difference between me
and Jason,

Jason is a brand that you have
to be somewhat conscience of

a Blumhouse model and
the perception that that brings.

But then I feel confident
that I could say,

"We've got a comedic take
on something

that fits into your brand,
and we're going to --"

-I agree. David's version
of a comedy would work.

-Okay. Well, because
I've heard producers say

comedy is the most
dangerous gamble

that you can have
in movie making.

So, but you're both daring.
You've gone there.

-Yeah, we're very daring, right?
-Yes.

-So, David, you had
final cut on "Halloween kills",

because you're famous for giving
your director's final cut.

-For sure. We do. Yeah.

-And are you 100% happy with
what's up there on the screen?

-Well, so that's --
yeah, it was funny.

So I haven't seen the movie
in a year now at this point,

and I haven't -- you know,
a lot of directors would say,

"Let me edit,
let me tinker with it."

But once we locked it
and did the color correction

and the sound mix
and everything,

I was just waiting
for someone to say,

"But we want to do this,"
or, "How about this idea,"

or the world wanting
to tinker with it.

So I was very protective of it,
and I put it on a shelf.

And I haven't touched it, and no
one's bothered me about it.

-And you haven't
even looked at it?

You haven't been tempted to say,

"I want to go back
and look at scene 3.

-No, I was just --
It's the first time

I haven't had a panic attack
watching a first cut of a movie,

working with the lovely
Tim Alverson, who's our editor,

and I always --
I just understand

that I'm going to get ill
when I watch a first cut of

any movie because of the --
it's not what I was thinking

and, you know, whatever.
It's too this, too that.

-Jason, do you give notes?
Do you give creative notes?

-Very few.

-You ever have any squabbles?

-Squabbles?
Have we ever had a squabble?

-I don't think so.
-Really?

-Yeah.
-I don't believe you.

[Laughter]

How much do you monitor?

-I have a lot --
Believe me,

I have a lot of squabbles.

But we don't --

-I don't really squabble
too much.

-Incredibly, incredibly
pragmatic.

-Because of the nature
of this particular franchise,

I would think you almost have
to monitor fan reaction

on social media.

Do you?
Do you pay any attention?

Do you know what people
are saying?

Do you know what
comments are trending?

You know, "Michael Myers
would never do that!"

You know, "That's not
the Michael Myers I know."

Do you ever -- do you look
at that stuff at all?

-I don't look at it.
I don't seek it out.

But I think occasionally

people that are close to me
that say, "This is something

you should read or this
is something you should know,"

or, "This is something that's
going to make you feel good."

So if there's a bad review,

I don't want to read a bad
review, unless somebody says,

"Here's something --"

You know, my mom sends me
something and says,

"You might want to think
about this, David."

You know, then that's great.
-[Laughter]

-But just someone
reacting to the movie,

I'm into the cultural
experience of a theatrical --

Like, I use the test screening
process very --

I take that very personally
because when --

-You sit in the back
and watch people react?

-I love it.
And you learn so much,

you know, where you thought

you're a genius,
you're an idiot,

and where you thought
they'd never go,

they take you there.

And so I love
that type of experience.

I don't know that
I've learned too much

from reading negative reviews
of my work.

It just makes you feel crappy,
so I don't really do that.

-Well, the thing is,
we live in an era

where there's -- you know,
there used to be,

you know, 10 major reviews
when a movie came out.

Now there's
a thousand reviews

from all kinds
of different sources,

and a lot of those are going
to be negative on any movie.

It doesn't matter what it is.

-My ego doesn't need
that wormhole.

-Okay, well, in relation
to "Terror Train",

they seem to have done some
stunt casting in "Terror Train"

because they hired Ben Johnson
as the conductor.

Do you guys ever put a person
who's not quite right

for the role in the movie,

but is really, really great
for promotional purposes?

Have you ever done that?

-I'm sure we -- I'm sure I have.

-Yeah, I'm sure youhave.
Have you ever done that?

-David, no.

I mean, you know, clearly,
I'm the sellout of the two.

I mean...

[Laughter]

-Have you ever said, "David,
you know who would be really,

really good for this part?"

You do that?
-Never.

You never call him up
and suggest casting?

-No, he's a great director.
Why would I do that?

You got a lot of producers
who want to be directors.

-I don't believe you.
-I don't want to be a director.

No, the reason I think
I'm a good producer

is because I don't have any --
I don't want to be,

I'm not interested
in directing.

You know, that's his job.

-I mean, usually when
you're doing that,

you're asking an actor
to reproduce

something you've already seen,

which, you know, is probably
not always the best thing to do.

-Yeah, boring.
-But, all right,

one more question
about "Halloween kills"

before we go back
to the movie.

You have this long term deal
with Universal.

You have a 10-year first look
deal with Universal.

Now, do you have
meetings with Universal

where you decide
what constitutes success

and what constitutes failure?

Like, is there some
box office number that --

I mean, they have
all these numbers --

-Always. Every movie,
we have that.

-So Universal is looking at it,
and they're saying,

"You should make
this much money."

-No, I do it myself.
-Oh, you do it?

-Yeah, I look at it, and I say,

"This would be a single.
This would be a double.

This would be a home run."
-Okay.

-Yeah, we know that
before every movie opens.

-Are you disappointed
if you get a single?

-Always.

But I mean, if we strike out,
I'm really disappointed.

I mean, that single is better
than striking out.

Single means you make
a little bit of money.

There's not a lot,

but there's a few movies
where we've lost money.

Those are really --
I'm very disappointed by those.

-Oh, okay.
-Yeah, that's

a terrible feeling.

-All right.
Well, we know who the killer is

in the movie
that we're watching,

but we don't know where he is
in "Terror Train".

So roll the movie.

You know who never got
enough credit

for her movie career?

Vanity.

Who plays the belly dancer
in "Terror Train."

You know, they always just call
her "the protege of Prince"

because she was in that all girl
group that Prince created,

but she was probably
in this movie

because she was Canadian,

because she was from
Niagara Falls

on the Canadian side.

But she would go on
to make two other movies,

"The Last Dragon"
and "Action Jackson",

that really showed
a lot of range.

So the strangest thing I've
ever heard about her, though,

is that she became
an evangelist in her later life

and she disavowed everything
that she'd ever done in media.

Prince had given her advice
on her stage name,

and he actually said
her stage name should be Vagina.

She did not agree.

-That would have gotten
a lot of attention.

-Well, it probably
would have been a draw

at the revival tent, for sure.
-Sure.

-Definitely there.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-I don't want to get involved
in any controversy

on the situation
in the Middle East,

but as senior senator from my
state, I think I can speak for

my constituents,
indeed all Americans,

when I say, "Fuck 'em!"

[Laughter]

You know, there are certain
phrases in American history,

that have caught the fancy
of the American people.

The phrase that's always caught
my fancy or aroused me,

as it were, is,

"Let's bomb them suckers
into the Stone Age."

You know,
it wouldn't be like Vietnam.

They don't have no jungle to
hide under, just sand and rock.

To my way of thinkin',
if the United States Cavalry,

can take care of Paiutes
and Comanches,

a B-52 ought to do just fine
with those camel jockeys.

Of course, this is strictly
off the record, you understand.

-Yeah, sure.

-Of course, you're all aware
of my campaign platform,

which is a return to the gold
standard, euthanasia for

all welfare recipients,
and six N.F.L. Franchises,

each with its own stadium,
for the state of Louisiana.

And our campaign slogan which
is, "Let them eat brownies."

What's that, ma'am?
Course I can kiss a baby.

Here, baby.

Whoops. No problem.

-I liked your show.
-I remember you.

Do you believe in magic?

I'll have to convince you.

-Do you do this
for all your fans?

-No. This is
my first time, Alana.

After the next show.

-Alana?

[Bell dinging]

Mo's waiting for you.

He said to tell you he's sorry,
and so am I.

You seen Mitchy?

-I thought she was with you.

-I must've missed her.

Anyway, go talk to the guy.

He doesn't want to argue.

-Thanks.

-Mo. [Giggles]
-What?

-Here, Mo.
-[Chuckles]

-[Disco music playing]
-Thank you.

Hey, do you know
they drink out of these things?

-Why don't you come join me, Mo?

-No. I'll stay here.

-Come on. Does that mean I have
to come to you?

-Mmm.

-Hey, you want to dance?
-No, I'll just watch.

-Come on.
-No, no, no. That's okay.

-You want to watch, eh?
What do you want to see?

Come on. Let's dance.

-[Coughs]
No, I don't want to dance.

-Come on.
-No. That's okay.

-Does that mean
you want to do something else?

-No, no, no! I'll dance.
I'll dance. Just don't do that.

-Oh, you're so cute.

-Hey, hey. No. Come on. Stop.
Let go of my pants.

-Uh-oh.

-[Chuckles]

-What happened to that blood?

And how the hell
did he bust that mirror?

With a hammer?

-Shuffled. Laid on the floor.
There.

Not only will I find the card

that was selected and signed
by our skeptical friend here,

but I'm gonna do it

without looking.

-That's third-grade stuff.

-Oh, Doc, shut up.
-Really?

[Gasping, exclaiming]

-He's getting violent.
That's pretty sharp.

-I wonder what's gonna happen.
-What's he got? What's he got?

-Oh, my God!
-Whoa! Great!

[Applause]

-Take that, Doc.

[Applause continues]

[Shoe thuds]

-My God.

-Are you okay?

-Do you know whose this is?

-Yeah, it's Mitchy's.
Michelle, my girlfriend.

I'll take it. Thank you.

-Don't.

-What's going on?

-Will you go with me, please?
-Where did you find this?

-Let's go, miss. Please.

Come on.

-[Singsong]
Not letting you out!

-Will you at least put your
clothes on, please?

-No.
-We're missing the magic show!

-[Singsong] Boring!

-No, no, no. Not boring. Fun.

-Boring.
-Fun, fun, fun!

-[Knocking]
-Shh!

-Mitchy! Mo?

-Oh, my God. It's Alana.

-I know he's in there.
Doc told me so.

-[Knocking]
-Doc?

-Mitchy!
-That fucking bastard.

-I have an office.
It's in the car up ahead.

-Now, come on.
-Mo!

-Come on. That's it.

-[Whispers]
Sit down and stay put.

[Lock clicks]

-Mitchy? Mitchy!

-Let's sit down.
-Now just wait a minute.

Did something happen to her?

She didn't fall off the train,
did she?

-No, ma'am.

Now, listen to me, honey.

She's dead.

-I don't believe you.

I don't believe you!

-Hey, anyone can do that!

[Laughter]

-Well, rather than argue
with you,

I'm going to prove
that you're right.

-Have you seen Alana?
-I'm going to turn someone

in this audience
into a magician.

-No.
-Bullshit, you haven't.

-I want to talk to you.
-Hey, relax. Watch the show.

[Cheering, applause]

-[Chuckles]
-I didn't get caught, okay?

-You've made a mistake.

It can't be Mitchy.

She's my goddamn best friend.

-Please.

-N...

Oh, God! Mitchy!

[Sobbing]

Oh, no!

[Whimpering]

-We're gonna try a little
mental telepathy.

-[Chuckles]

-First, you're gonna cover me
with a cloth so I can't see you.

-Mm-hmm.
-Then, hold up as many fingers

as you want behind my head.

On my command,
pull away the cloth.

-Hey, you seen Mitchy?

-And I'll be holding up the
exact same number of fingers.

-I don't know.
She's around somewhere.

-Okay. Cover me up.
-[Cheering]

-Hey, why don't you
stay under there?!

[People groaning, laughing]

-Can anybody make him disappear?

[Laughter]

Shall we begin?

Good. Now, hold your fingers up.

Are you sure that's the number
you want?

Then take hold of the cloth.
Ready?

-Wake me when it's over!

-One, two, three. Go.

-Whoa.
-[Cheering, Applause]

-Seven!

[Cheers and applause]

-[Snoring]

-Who did that to her?

-Probably some kid,
messed up on dope, alcohol.

-I know these people.
They wouldn't do that.

-No, of course not.

Probably some nut
just climbed on the train.

I saw her half an hour ago with
a fella.

Fallin' down.

Drunk.

Sweet Jesus.

-At the end of my last show,

I, uh, dematerialized
my assistant.

-[Snoring]

-Well, for my next show,
I'm gonna need to have her back.

So watch.

[Cheering]

[Cheering, applause]

-Wake up, buddy. It's over.
-Thank you.

-Hey.
-Thank you!

-Oh, that's a good one.
That's a good one.

-You're great. Thank you.

-Get up.

Come on, Mo. Come on.

What are you doin'?
What are you doin'?

Mo?

[Cheering continues]

Mo? Mo?

Mo, get up. Mo, wake up.

Help!

[Cheering continues]

Wake up. Help!

Somebody help me, please!
Wake up!

Help me!

Wake up!

Help! Please!

-[Laughs]
-Help! Help me! Help!

-[Laughs]
-Help me!

Somebody! Help me!
He's bleeding, you bastards!

Help!

-Doc?

-Help!
-Put him down, man.

-Mo?
-Put him down.

-Mo? What's wrong with him?

-Get back.
-Mo?

-Come on, now.
I need this from you now.

Come on, Mo.

Alana, come look at his chest.

-He's bleeding.
-It could be his heart.

-It's not his fuckin' heart.
-Come on!

Come on, Mo. Come on.

-Get back. Give him some air.

-I'm a doctor, goddamn it.

Mo! Oh, no! No!

Oh, come on, Mo!

Come on, buddy.

-What's going on?
-Get 'em outta here.

-Mo!

-Move!

[Chattering]

-Get 'em all down there together
and close that bar.

[Whistle blows]

-Where's Mitchy? Where is she?

-She's dead.

She's dead.

-What are you talking about?

-She's dead.
-Mitchy!

Mitchy! Mitchy!

I'm getting out of here.

-Brace yourselves!
We're gonna lock up!

Walter.

My God, what's
the matter with Walter?

He should've hit the brakes.

-♪ Another hour ♪

♪ Without ya, babe ♪

-Emergency!

♪♪

[Brakes screeching]

[Screaming]

-We're gonna derail!
Ease off on the brakes!

[Murmuring, chattering]

[Whistle blows]

-Brakes now.

[Clamoring]

Stop, damn you. Stop.

[Groaning, chattering]

[Woman Sobbing]

[Engine slows]

[Woman sobbing]

[Static crackles]

-And so the murders accelerate,

and this is the third time
that Doc keeps undermining Mo

with his girlfriend
and telling him,

"You'll always have me,"
indicating Doc is more

interested in Mo than he is in
his own girlfriend

or any other woman.

These are very loose
relationship situations

in this movie
because apparently Alana

also feels comfortable making
eyes at David Copperfield,

even while she's searching
for her man.

So meanwhile, we have here
with us two experts

on horror, Jason Blum
and David Gordon Green.

And what do you think of the
"Terror Train" script, David?

-What do you think about it?
-Yeah.

-Um, I think it's fun just
to put an ensemble together

in these -- I mean, it's like to
me, it's like "Under Siege 2."

Like, how do you take
a concept that's kind of

a preexisting slasher movie

and then put it in a new
environment and, you know,

it's "Die Hard" on a train
or whatever the pitch

going into it was.
-Right.

-And I think that --
It's actually "Halloween"

on a train is exactly
what they're doing.

All right, we're going to do
the lightning round

with you guys,
so we have asked our fans,

and Darcy has been talking
to our fans on social media,

and they're sending
in their questions

about the "Halloween" franchise.

And you know, some of our fans
can be smart asses.

So, you know,
just keep that in mind.

Although, usually when it sounds
like they're being a smart ass,

they're just so far
into the weeds on, you know,

"Halloween" lore that they sound
like smart asses,

but they're just very,
very convinced that

they've discovered something
that no other fanboy knows.

Okay? So, all right. Okay.

So, here we go,
from Michael Roche.

Why are the masks from
"Halloween III" in the film?

I assume he means the new film.

In the trailer, we seem to be
seeing the masks

from the very controversial

third Halloween movie,
"Halloween III."

-Right.

Well, Danny McBride and I are
big fans of

"Season of the Witch"
-You are?

-Yeah, I love it.
-Whoo!

[Laughter]

-And so it's just our
Easter egg nod.

We did it in the original film.

Some kids run by in their
Silver Shamrock outfits,

and then here, we take it
to the next level,

and they're a little bit
more featured

for some of
Michael's art projects.

-Okay, now, "Halloween III"
was the one

that sort of broke up
the partnership

between Moustapha Akkad
and John Carpenter.

Isn't that right?

'Cause like John Carpenter
wanted to go towards more

in the "Halloween III"
direction.

-Right, make it more of
an anthology type of --

-And Moustapha Akkad said,
"No, you got to have

Michael Myers in the movie,

you got to have Dr. Loomis
in the movie."

and they kind of
like parted ways.

-Who directed the third movie?

Who directed
the third movie?

-But you're a "Halloween III"
supporter?

-Was Tommy Wallace, right?
Who directed the third one?

-Who directed it?

-I think it was
the production designer.

-Yeah.
-And then the fourth one was

Dwight Little came in.
-Got it.

-And then that's when
they brought back Loomis,

or Donald Pleasance.

-But you're a fan
of "Halloween III"?

-I love "Halloween III",
but I mean,

it's a different thing.
I mean, it's not --

-Yeah, yeah, no,
it's completely different.

-Okay. So it's an Easter egg
for the fans, is the answer.

-Um, it's an Easter egg
for the fans, yeah.

-Okay.
-[Laughter]

-But it's also, you know, I get
to relive my childhood fancy

and recreate these masks
and put them on,

and I get to geek out
a little bit.

-Okay.
-That's fine, too.

-It's an Easter egg for me.

-What is Michael Myers?
Is he human?

That's from Austin.

-Is he human?

He is human.

-He is human?
-Yeah.

-It's not a supernatural story.

Like Jason tends to become
supernatural in

the "Friday the 13th."

As the as the story progresses.

-Is there a difference between
impossible and supernatural?

-Um...

Are you saying
that he does impossible things?

-I think he does
spectacular things,

but I don't think Michael
does supernatural things.

I think he does
spectacular human behavior.

-Okay, I'll accept that.

Well, I mean,
there's a certain amount

of suspension of disbelief

when he when to appear
in a place

that geographically he could not
have gotten to that fast.

-Or his art projects
that he assembles very quickly.

-Right. Okay.
-[Laughter]

The Misfit Movie Maniac
asked this question.

Why did you change
the brother/sister dynamic

in the "Halloween" 2018?

If they're
no longer blood related,

why is he still after
Laurie and her family?

-If you if you watch our 2018
"Halloween" closely,

he's not necessarily after her.

I use the analogy of "Jaws"
because I think he is,

he's out slashing.

So if you're in his path
or if you are...

Yeah, in the way,
you're going to get killed,

and to me, that's what's scary.

I think the second he has
a psychological motivation

for a specific victim
that is more than momentary,

I'm not as afraid of him.

And so if he's after her
and she's a sister,

then all of a sudden,
I'm not scared

because I just have to stay
clear of her and him,

and I'm all good.

-Okay, so he has no goal.
-He has no goal.

-In your world, except he must
go back to Haddonfield.

He does have
some kind of inner GPS

that sends him back to
Haddonfield.

-He does have a little radar,
just so he's got that,

yeah, that shark sense.

And in "Halloween Kills",
we'll explore some of his,

uh, not motivation,
but how the radar informs him.

-Okay, Jonathan Wilson asks,

with a year passing
from the original release date,

did you go back and do reshoots
or make other changes?

I think we already
answered this.

Dredd universe says, how much of
a pain in the bum

was working around
Michael's half a hand?

Did you fudge the scenes
to avoid showing the hand,

or was his new disability
embraced?

-So, yeah, so Michael
gets shot in his left hand

and loses a couple of digits.

Uh, and, you know, we just
taped his fingers down,

and, you know...

-He can do everything
with that hand

that he could do
with his good hand?

-Some very strong
fingers remaining.

-Okay.

[Laughter]

-Horror Puppy says,

what's your vision for the
source of Michael's dark power?

And then he quotes me, saying,

"Is he the face of evil
or just crazy?"

-I would just augment
that a little bit.

He's the essence of evil.

And the sources is maybe
you know, is either nothing

or it's spiritual
or it's something

in the essence.
-Okay.

-But I will say,
back to his hand,

it does get infected,

-Okay, it's infected
in the second one.

-It gets, yeah,
it gets infected.

-Okay. That just makes
him mad, though?

-Yeah, it pisses me off.

[Laughter]

-All right.
Where is Ben Traymor?

He was mentioned
in the original film,

and since "Halloween II"
does not happen in this

new universe -- I think he's
referring to --

Ben Traymor is the boy in
high school that Laurie Strode

had a crush on.

So I guess he's asking
is Ben Traymor still alive,

and did she get involved
with Ben Traymor?

-Ben Traymor is alive.

Um, and so, Will Patton plays,

Officer Hawkins in our movie,

and Officer Hawkins,
we'll come to learn,

was a little jealous
of Ben Traymor.

-Oh.
-Because he was the object

of Laurie's affections,
and their flirtation

that was unfulfilled
kind of feeds

Officer Hawkins a little bit.

-Okay.
-So there's romantic

underpinnings to this trilogy
of terror that we've created.

-Will we ever see Ben Traymor?

-You'll just have to watch two
more movies and figure it out.

-[Laughter]
-Okay.

And one more.

Do you feel like you're doing
the Lord's work?

[Laughter]

-Definitely not.

-All right, David, Jason,
thanks for being here.

Well, bring us some movies here.

We don't have enough Blumhouse
titles around this show.

You know?

And, you know, we got to go
through Universal.

-Oh, no. So...

-No, don't go through
them anymore

-And bring us some --
-Come right to me now.

-Bring us some
Rough House Pictures

because we want
we want all of them.

So...

All right. So thank you, guys.
Thank you for being here.

And right now, we're going to go
back to the screen debut of

David Copperfield and the final
film of David Copperfield,

the pride of
Metuchen, New Jersey.

The man who made
the Statue of Liberty disappear,

the man who walked through
the Great Wall of China,

the man who floated
over the Grand Canyon,

the man who levitated
an Orient Express dining car.

No doubt he got the idea while
working on "Terror Train".

And the man who not only has
a star on Hollywood Boulevard,

but he has his own category.

David Copperfield is
the only star that's not

film, television, or radio.

He's "live events."

They created that category
just for David Copperfield.

So okay, roll the film.

David decided he didn't
really like movies.

He wasn't in total control
of his environment.

Who's in total control between
between you guys?

Who's in total control?

-We're both out of control.
-We're both out of control.

No, David's in control.
David's in creative control.

-Have you ever gotten irritated,
and have you ever gotten

irritated, David,
and called him "the suit?"

You ever said he's the suit?

-Do I look like a suit?
I mean, come on.

-He was wearing
a sombrero earlier.

-You got to be afraid somebody
is going to call you

the suit, though, right?

-Only when I'm wearing these.

[Laughter]

-Alright, let's do the reverse.

Have you ever called David
"the talent"?

I'm sorry.
I'm talking to the talent.

-Talking to the talent.

No, you're really hoping for --

Maybe we'll have a fight
here on your show.

-No, when I first heard that,

I used to think
that was a compliment

when they would call you
"the talent", you know,

meaning I am the talented guy.

When actually it means,
you know, that annoying

actor/writer.

-The little talent, the talent.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

-What the hell happened here?

-I don't know.

He must have got 'em both.

Don't go back through that train
without this.

-Watch your step there.
Stay together.

Don't go too far.

Come on.
Keep on moving, everybody.

Come on. Get along.

-Get yourselves a couple
of fire axes and search

every damn inch of these cars.

He could be anywhere.

And he's lethal,
so stick together.

And don't try to be heroes.

If you just think you
hear somethin',

you come hollerin' for help.

-Okay, chief.

-Keep moving.

Watch the step, please.
-Stand close to the car, buddy.

-Hey, careful there.
-Stay together.

-Christ, the lights are gone.

-[Thud]
-[Gasps]

-Everybody, take off your masks.
I want to know who's who.

-Tell us what's goin' on.
-I will.

Right now, I'm tellin' you
to stay with your dates.

Stick by your friends.
-Elaine.

-Look out.

-That's one of them
little mothers.

-Hey, asshole.
-Jackson!

-Jackson? Jackson!

-If this turns out to be
another one of your stunts.

-Hey, you there. Let go of him.

-Toomey!
-Here.

-Herbie Green.
-Okay?

-Dan Irwin.

-I want the rest of those masks
off now.

-Gayley.
-Hurry along there.

-How come it's just all my best
friends in the fucking world?

-Doc, what do we all have
in common?

-Jackson.

-You and me and Mitchy
and the guys?

Doc, we hurt him!

-What are you talking about?
-Kenny Hampson.

Your stunt with the corpse?

-Nobody would do that for
a goddamn prank.

-It wasn't just a prank.
Doc, he was sick.

I went to the hospital just
afterwards.

They wouldn't let me see him.

They said he'd killed
somebody before.

They said it might have
been an accident,

but he killed somebody.

-Johnson!

-Shit.

And we're next, aren't we?

-Come on!
-No.

-Come on! Come on!
-I am!

-I'm trying to save your life,
for Christ's sake.

Get going.

Here goes nothing.

-Now listen to me.

I don't want to get back
on that train.

-[Shouting]
-I'm staying here! Right here!

-Nobody does!
-No way!

-But we have no choice!
-No way!

-Nobody can make it
if we stay up here.

[Shouting continues]

-Couldn't find a thing.

-No!
-On a train with a killer?

-I'm not gettin' on that train.

-There are no roads up here.

Now, we'll put you all
in one car.

-With a killer!
-[All exclaiming]

-We can walk!

-You'll die.

At this temperature, you'll die.

-What the hell do you think
you're doing?

He could be in here!

-Lock, damn you.

Creep. Fuckin' animal.

Can't do this to me.

Lose your head while
all around you are losing theirs

and blaming it on you.

-We are gonna die
unless we get some help!

But I don't know who
to trust anymore.

I don't even trust you.

-You're so slow.

-Presto chango.
The same little shit.

Good old Kenny Hampson.

[Chuckles]
I knew I never liked magic.

-The magician?

-We'll sit tight.

When the train stops,
we'll play a trick on old Kenny.

-The train is stopped.

-Well, then they'd better
start it up again.

'Cause he's gonna
drive me crazy.

-He's back there with
all of our friends!

-Let's hope so, huh?

-I don't believe you.

He's gonna kill everybody!
We've got to tell them!

-I'm not movin'.

Every man for himself.

Alana, don't.

Don't!
-Let go of me!

Doc! Doc!

Doc! Doc! Doc!

-Hey! You there!

Go back outside, miss.

Please.

-[Breathing heavily]

Oh, shit.

[Breathing heavily]

[Gasps]

[Screams]

[Grunting, whimpering]

[Chuckles]

No! No!

Help!

[Whimpering]

[Gasps]

Mitchy.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

It's a joke.

A goddamn practical joke.

-[Knife clicks]
-[Screams]

-Come on. We're the brothers
of Sigma Phi Omega, right?

Brothers, remember?

That means we're gonna
stick together.

We're gonna look out
for each other.

We're gonna protect each other.

Now get on the train!

-Have you seen the conductor?

Has anybody seen the conductor?

I know who it is.
-What?

-Where's the conductor?
-Back there. Come on.

-God, it was cold out there.
My feet are numb.

-I told you to stay in the car.

-Well, they made me get off.
I mean, they had to search here.

[Clinking]

Oh, I'm sorry.
Is something missing?

Geez, I was scared out there.

I couldn't find you,
and I'm thinking

this wacko's gonna jump out
at me any minute.

Hey, I should have used
one of these.

[Chuckles]

Yeah, this would have done.
What do you think?

[Whistle blows]

-Let's get back, Alana.
They'll be coming back.

-Doc? It's okay.
I'm with the pres.

-Damn it.
-[Train engine chugging]

-Yeah. Yeah, I know.

Well, whatever.

-Have you ever
shoveled any coal?

-No.
-He's on the train.

-Why isn't she lying down
somewhere?

-The magician!
-Magician?

-I'll show you. Come on.

Doc's got the picture.

[Knocking]

-Doc, open up.

[Knocking]

-Open up in there, please!

-Doc?

[Knocking]

Doc?

I just left him in there.

-Keep her outside.

-Don't go in there, miss.

[Thumping]

[Whistle blows]

-[Screams]

[Whistle blowing]

[Static crackles]

-And so the head of
the frat boy you love to hate,

Doc, the guy responsible for
the stupid prank to begin with,

rolls out on to the floor.

That's Hart Bochner as Doc.

He had made his film debut
just three years earlier

in "Islands in the Stream",

and then he got noticed
in "Breaking Away."

So he was on his way
to becoming an A-list actor,

although his big breakthrough
was still eight years away.

That's when he played the
sleazeball Ellis in "Die Hard."

He was also in this movie
mainly because he was Canadian.

Did you notice how they told us
the engineer and the coal guy

are dead?

They just have Ben Johnson
find the engineer's cap.

And they say,
"Must have killed both of them."

[Laughter]

You hardly ever see a kill
in this movie.

You occasionally see
the aftermath of the kill.

But when you do see
the aftermath,

it's likely to be corny,
like that head of Doc.

I hope they didn't pay more
than 50 bucks for that head.

Roger Spottiswoode
was just not a horror guy.

He would go on
to direct 30 more movies,

including several that
were critically acclaimed,

like "The Pursuit of
D.B. Cooper",

"Shoot to Kill",
"Turner and Hooch",

that Tom Hanks dog movie,
"Air America", which Jason Blum

mentioned he was working
for Roger Spottiswoode

at the time,
a Mel Gibson movie.

Roger Spottiswoode released
a movie just this year,

"Either Side of Midnight."

His James Bond film was
"Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997.

One of the Pierce Brosnan
Bond films.

The thriller,
that was his strong point.

Horror? Not so much.

He also made two
acclaimed docudramas,

"And the Band Played On"
in 1993,

and "The Matthew Shepard Story"
in 2002.

I'm afraid he was
one of those guys who

looked down on the genre.

He just didn't take it
seriously enough

to make anything
truly meaningful.

All right.
Is David Copperfield Kenny?

And if not, who is Kenny?

Because most of the obvious
suspects are dead by now,

so we're heading down the home
stretch of what was called

"Halloween on a train,"
the 1980 slasher film

"Terror Train."

So roll it.

You know, they only took the
train out of the barn one day.

[Chuckles]

They did that scene where
everybody is standing

in the snow outside
of the train.

All the rest of the time,
they just had some way

to shake the cars and make it
seem like the train was moving.

But the day they did move
the train outdoors,

it was 25 degrees below zero
because some genius decided

to shoot the movie
in Quebec in December.

So that observation car
that they used in the film,

by the way, is now in the
Arizona Railway Museum

in Chandler, Arizona.

So you can go see it
if you want to go see it.

But if you go there
to check out the --

You know how there's a lot of
location tourism these days,

especially in horror,
so you can go to the location

where Jamie Lee Curtis
was chased by a killer

and engaged the killer
in a fight to the death.

But they don't even mention
"Terror Train" in the museum.

I mean, it's just
"antique observation car."

And that's what's wrong
with railroad museums,

to tell you the truth,
they're all the same.

You know, here's a car,
you know, here's another car,

You know, here's a caboose.

[Chuckles]

Here's a locomotive.

You know, here's
17 more locomotives.

And you got to be a railroad
nerd to get into those museums.

And somebody like me,
I love trains, but, you know,

I don't really care whether
the train is being pulled

by an E8 locomotive
or a Model BLW locomotive,

or whether the Union Pacific
dining car had

Sterling silverware
and a convection oven in it.

You know, railcars sitting
on a siding are in

the final analysis,

rail cars sitting
on a siding, you know.

So it's one of those museums
where you're constantly going,

"Wow, let's see
what's inside this next car."

And then you climb up inside it,
and you go,

"Oh, okay."

You know, it's -- I call that
an "oh, okay museum."

Okay, I'm done.

[Static crackles]

-Jesus.
-[Murmuring]

-You move out real quiet,
darlin'.

-Hey, what's going on?

-[Chuckles] Well, we got
the coffee maker workin', miss.

[Whispers] Come on.

[Whispers] Where is he?

-He's right back there.

-Come on.

-Ken.

They made coffee out here.
I'll bring you in a cup, okay?

What's going on,
for Christ's sake?

What's happening, huh?

-This is only for
your own safety.

[Chain rattles]

-I guess nobody's been in this
one for a couple of years.

You'll be able to get some rest.
Yes, sir.

It's a little dusty in here,
but it's clean.

Come on in.

I hope you don't mind
no sheets and no pillowcases.

I'll get you some.

-No, please.

-Okay, okay, don't worry.
I won't leave this car.

I'm gonna be right outside
that door.

[Tapping]

-Come on, now!
-Stop pushing!

-Let us go, you guys.
Get out of my fucking way.

-[All Shouting]

-Come on, asshole.
We can take this guy now!

-What did you say, boy?
-Let me through.

-Say that again.

-Let us through,
or we'll break the door down.

-Shut up, all of you!
-[Shouting quiets]

-I said move off, sir.

He killed a couple of ours.

-You aim to kill him.

Give me the ax.

Before you go,

you take a look at the bodies
of some of your friends.

Is it worth that, son?

Well, is it worth it?

I'll check it out myself.

-Hey, Ken.

Come on out here.
I want to talk to you.

Gotta turn the heat off
back there.

You want to come up
to the lounge?

I'm gonna turn the lights off,
too.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Squeaks]

-[Groans]

-[Panting]

♪♪

♪♪

[Screaming]

[Gasps]

[Glass shattering]

[Grunting]

[Grunts]

[Grunts]

[Grunting]

♪♪

Ah!

♪♪

No.

No. No.

[Screams, gasps]

♪♪

[Gasping]

[Screams]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Groaning]

-[Whimpering, screaming]

♪♪

[Screaming, gasping]

[Gagging]

♪♪

-[Groaning]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Grunting]

♪♪

♪♪

Stop!

♪♪

-[Breathing heavily]

-[Screams]

♪♪

♪♪

Kenny.

♪♪

Kenny!

♪♪

Kenny, please!

♪♪

♪♪

-[Screaming, groaning]

-[Grunting]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Groans]

-[Grunts]

♪♪

♪♪

[Grunting]

-[Screams]

-What happened?

-He killed Mo.

-Clear out!
-Get out of the way, you guys.

-Back up!

-Come on. Back up, damn it.

Get out of the way.
Come on!

-Clear the way back there.

[Whistle blows]

-We'll be there
in about 15 minutes.

Would you like a cup of coffee?

-No, thanks.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Hi. Listen. Why don't you
come on back now?

It's mellowed out and, well,
this place gives me the creeps.

-Okay.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Gasps]

[Rattling]

♪♪

-Why don't you come back
and join the --

Join us. Come on.

♪♪

♪♪

-There's the light.

Lord, that's beautiful.
[Chuckles]

Go back and start the report,
Charlie.

I'll bring her on in.

-Okay.

Got it?
-I got her.

-Okay.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[Screaming]

-What the hell?

♪♪

[Indistinct conversations]

-Hey, Alana!

♪♪

-Carne!

Oh, thank God. Charlie.

[Panting]

Magician's dead.

Jesus, I don't know who it is
anymore.

♪♪

♪♪

No.

♪♪

♪♪

It was you.

♪♪

Kenny, I'm sorry.

♪♪

I never told you. I'm so sorry.

-You haven't changed.

♪♪

-I saw your picture
in the yearbook.

I never knew you liked magic.

-I watched you tonight.

You liked him.

-No.

Kenny, you're better than he is.

I'm sure
you're better than he is.

-I am.

He didn't know how
to cut a woman into pieces.

-You don't have to do this.

You don't have to do this,
Kenny.

[Grunts]

-Kiss me, Alana.

-Kiss me, Kenny.
-Kiss me.

-Kiss me.

[Grunts]

-Kiss me.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Whimpering]

[Sobbing]

[Screaming]

[Screaming continues]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Whistle blowing]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Static crackles]

-You know, you got
to give them credit

for that final spectacular kill
of Kenny,

when he plunges
into the icy river.

That was an actor named
Derek McKinnon.

He was a drag queen
from Nova Scotia

who had been performing
in Montreal clubs for a while.

In fact, he was part
of a female impersonator troupe

that traveled around Canada,
and he did a pretty decent job,

given the number of different
masks and costumes

that he wore
without ever identifying him.

In the scene
where Jamie Lee Curtis

rams the spike into his eyeball,

they were using a stunt man,
but she really did puncture

the stunt man's face
with the spike,

and she was so upset
that she left the set

for a couple of days.

Movie was made for $2.5 million.

It was released
at Halloween in 1980

and it earned back its money,
plus a little bit more,

but it was generally
considered a disappointment

because Sandy Howard
was expecting a monster hit

like "Halloween."

Darcy, come on over here.
I don't --

Darcy, what is this outfit
that you're wearing?

What is it?
I don't get it.

-I'm cauliflower pizza.

I had to counter
your meaty taco.

[Laughter]

-It's a pizza
with cauliflower on it?

-It's made of cauliflower.

-It's a pizza made of --
-Plant-based.

-It's a pizza made
out of cauliflower.

-Right, like the crust
is cauliflower.

-Like an art project?
[Laughter]

Like a -- Like a --
Like third graders do it or...?

-[Sighs]

-Okay.

What does it say
"plant-based" on your head?

-Because I'm plant-based.
-Okay. Alright.

-Vegan.
-Darcy, I know

you're violently opposed
to watching

season-themed movies
in the wrong season...

-Yeah, actually.

-...but I'm gonna make
an argument for this

really being a Halloween movie.

-It's a New Year's movie.

-No, it -- I mean,
you told me yourself,

you think the year starts
and ends with Halloween.

-Well, that's true.

The calendar I'm planning starts
in October and ends in October.

-So we should just say
this is our New Year's movie

and we're showing it
on the true New Year's holiday.

You know, I don't understand why
they chose New Year's anyway.

Since when do college students

celebrate graduation
on January 1st?

Aren't they going back
to school three days later?

I mean, "Here's our last
big party," really?

Are you that dumb?
You know, are you waiting --

Are you doing it
five months early?

They're not gonna be no parties
in January through May?

The -- The facts
don't add up on it,

unless they consider Halloween
their New Year's.

So give me the mail, and then
we'll do the countdown.

Alright?
-Wait, the countdown?

-Yeah, we're gonna do
a countdown.

We're gonna countdown
to the new year.

-That's silly.
-No, it's not silly.

Nothing is silly
if you believe in it.

-[Sighs] Okay, well,
first we have a letter

from Travis Daniel
of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.

-Okay. Travis.

Oh, and he enclosed some...

-A present.
-...some stuff.

But you forgot
to put the letter in here.

Oh, here it is.

It's in the CD --

It's in with the CD.

Okay.

Oh, "Dear Job Bob Briggs,
I wanted to thank you and Darcy

so much for coming
to The Mahoning Drive-In

this past weekend
for the Jamboree."

He wrote this in July.

"But it was pretty hot,
humid, and rainy,

but it was really
a great weekend

to meet a lot of nice new people
and geek out over movies.

I had an amazing time,

especially during
'The Last Drive-In' taping.

It was kind of
a religious experience

and it has made me contemplate

about starting to mess around
with short films.

We'll see what happens
from there.

On another note,

since it interrupted you
and Darcy a little,

I wanted to apologize for
clapping just a little too much

when you mentioned
Edwige Fenech

during the Jamboree taping."

Edwige Fenech being
being an actress

who was working in Rome
during the Giallo Era.

"Since I'm rather
big fan of hers,

I wanted to mention
two of her films

in case you've not
already seen them.

The first of which
is 'Top Sensation' from 1969,

also stars Rosalba Neri,
who is, in my opinion,

the hottest Italian actress
that ever lived.

That's not super hard to find

since Shameless released it
in the past few years."

You know Shameless?
I guess that's a distributor.

"Edwige is, I think,
17 in this film.

This next film, however --"
-[Chuckles]

-What?
-Just sayin'.

-Oh, alright.
You think that's bad?

-No.
-Alright.

-It's appropriate for tonight.

-Alright.
"This next film, however,

I don't think has had a proper
U.S. release.

It's 'Cattivi Pensieri,"

also known as "Evil Thoughts,"
from 1976,

a sex comedy that,
in my humble opinion,

a pretty damn good film
portraying

just how crazy our inner
thoughts can make us.

I've included a burned copy
of the English-dubbed bootleg."

And indeed he did.

"In case you wanted to watch it
and have not seen it already.

This film really deserves
a legit release.

Thank you so much
for mentioning films

during 'The Last Drive-In'
that are outside the cult

and horror genres.

I consider myself
a student of all film

and was excited
when you mentioned

'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane'
on one of the recent episodes.

That movie
is ridiculously good

and almost uncomfortably
suspenseful.

I've gone and bought
some of Michelangelo's --

Michelangelo Antonioni's films
based on your mention of him."

I wasn't really saying
I like Michelangelo Antonioni.

I was just --
-He just said you mentioned him.

-You know. Alright.

"Since I was not familiar
with his work.

Also, I am a ginormous fan
of the Giallo genre

and look forward to you playing
more of Sergio Martino's films.

If you can somehow sneak
in a poliziotteschi film --"

that's a police crime thriller,

police gangster crime thriller
in Italy --

"I will throw my hat
in the ring

for a favorite,
'Brothers Till We Die.'

Hail Erman Eza.
I hope you and Darcy --"

I don't always understand
everything in the letters.

I wish I did.
"I hope you and Darcy are well

and I hope to see you
at the next Jamboree.

Sincerely, Travis Daniel.

P.S. 'Halloween III' is awesome.
Haha."

-That's why I picked it.
-Okay.

[Laughter]

Okay, Travis, really appreciate
the DVD of the unreleased

Edwige Fenech movie.

I don't know where you got it,
but I won't tell anybody,

and I appreciate these letters

where people are burrowing
into movie history,

trying to find
the last undiscovered gems

that haven't yet been released
by Vinegar Syndrome

or one of the other
retro companies.

So that's about it.

-Alright.

We're done?

-Guy from North Dakota.

[Laughter]

-Yeah, okay.

-Moves to Florida.

And don't look at me like that,
this will be worth it.

-Mm-hmm.
-Young guy from North Dakota

moves to Florida,
goes to --

goes to one of those big
everything-under-one-roof stores

looking for a job,
and the manager says,

"You have any sales experience?"
And the guy says,

"Yeah, I was a vacuum cleaner
salesman back in North Dakota,"

and the boss
is really skeptical,

but he kind of likes the kid, so
he decides to give him a shot.

He says, "Okay, start tomorrow

and I'll come down after
we close and see how you did."

So the kid's first day
on the job is really rough,

but he gets through it
and the boss comes down

to the sales floor
and the boss says,

"How many customers
bought something from you today?

And the kid kind of frowns
and he looks down at the floor

and he says, "One."

And the boss says, "One?

Our salespeople average 25
to 30 customers a day.

One sale a day, that might
be acceptable in North Dakota,

but you are not
on the farm anymore, son."

So the kid is, you know,
is taking a tongue lashing.

He's staring at his shoes,

and the boss feels
kind of sorry for him.

So he says, "Okay, so how much
was your one sale for?"

The kids says, "$124,548.88."

And the boss says, "124,000?

Is that what you said?"

He said, "Yeah." He says,
"What the heck did you sell?"

And the kids says, "Well, first
I sold him some new fish hooks.

And then I sold him a fishing
rod to go with his fish hooks.

And then I ask him
where he was going fishing

and he said down the coast,

so I told him he was gonna need
a boat for that.

So we went down
to the boat department

and I sold him a twin engine
Chris-Craft.

And then he said he didn't think
his Honda Civic

could pull that boat,
so I took him over to automotive

and I sold him
a Chevy Suburban 4x4."

And the boss says, "A guy came
in here to buy a fish hook,

and you sold him a boat
and an SUV?"

So the kid says,
"No, the guy came in here

to buy tampons for his wife,

and I said, 'Man,
your weekend is fucked.

You should go fishing.'"
[Laughter]

Alright. Well...

-[Sighs]

-Why are you
looking at me like that?

I guess we -- we ruined
another Halloween.

And we weren't scary enough,

but I still want to do
the countdown to the new year.

-Shouldn't we do that
on October 31st?

-This is Halloween hoedown,

we can pretend
it's October 31st.

So here, take this pumpkin.

And when we get to zero,
throw it up in the air,

and it will fall like the ball
in Times Square.

-Why?

-Because it's like the ball
in Times Square,

only it's a pumpkin.

-Alright.

-Let's have everybody do it.

-Alright.

-I literally throw this pumpkin?
-Everybody grab pumpkins.

I'll grab one.

Alright?
-Okay.

-Austin, grab a pumpkin.
-Throw it again.

-Alright.
Okay, everybody ready?

-Yeah.

-10, 9, 8, 7, 6,

5, cuatro,3, 2, 1.

Happy New Year!

["Auld Lang Syne" playing]

♪♪

-Why did that happen?

♪♪

-Darcy.

If Tim Capello
from "The Lost Boys"

were here right now,

what would he be saying?

-"I still believe"?

-Exactly.

[Fireworks popping]

The drive-in will never die.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Fireworks popping]