It is based on a very obscure Richard Matheson story that was never published but was ultimately made into a “Twilight Zone” episode. In the early 80’s when a new version of “The Twilight Zone” aired on CBS, the producers went back to a lot of the original writers like Matheson, Arthur C. Clarke [and] a lot of other big writers. Even Harlan Ellison, I think, wrote an episode. It was a really interesting kind of revival of the show, with new material. I optioned one of the episodes that Matheson wrote. The episode was called “Button, Button” and the screenplay that I’m working on with Eli, we’ve retitled it “The Box.” It’s basically a story that I’ve been obsessed with since I saw it when I was probably 11 years old or something.
Why are you obsessed with the story?
It’s one of those moments growing up when you’re watching television whether it’s “V: The Final Battle” or “Twin Peaks” or something, that it just hits you and then sticks with you. “The Twilight Zone” always stuck with me. It was particularly the 80’s revival of “The Twilight Zone” that made me discover that show and then go back and see all the original Serling material from the 50’s. It was just this one episode – along with a few others – that hit me pretty hard and inspired me. I think this is the one that I’ve always wanted to go back to and try to expand into a feature film.
How faithful will you stay to Matheson’s work?
It’s taking the root inspiration of the story and expanding it into a much more elaborate narrative. Matheson is one of my favorite writers and I’m grateful to be able to have access to his source material.
Can you sum up the story?
Eli would probably kill me! It involves a box with a button on it, and bad things can happen when that button is pushed.
Is it a small box?
A very small one.
Eli Roth was quoted as saying you have a very sick mind. Is that a compliment?
(Laughing) I get that a lot, actually. The only way I can live my life without having lots of therapy is to take that as a compliment and not an insult.
Is writing therapy for this sick mind of yours?
I think so. If I couldn’t write or make movies I’d probably be in a mental institution by now.
Did you bring the idea of doing “The Box” to Eli Roth?
Yes. A girl I used to see is friends with Eli and we met socially by coincidence. He said, “I have this movie called ‘Cabin Fever.’ We’re getting ready to take it Toronto.” We made friends, and then I saw his film right after Toronto and I was blown away. I loved “Cabin Fever.” I thought it was hysterical. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. I thought that he’d be a perfect director for this project I had. I pitched it to him and immediately we decided to collaborate on it. I think Eli’s going to have a long career and I definitely want to see his taking this material in the direction that I had been developing it. It seems like it will be a really interesting collaboration.
You two seem to have very different styles.
Well, I think that at the same time I have this longing to just make comedy films for the rest of my career. At some point, maybe that’s what I’ll become. I think that Eli has a really wicked sense of humor and a really smart sense of humor. Applying some of that to a suspense film, or a psychological horror film, is an interesting blend that you don’t see a whole lot of. You don’t see those two things blended successfully very often.
I think that a lot of horror films end up being unintentionally funny. I think that when you see what Eli accomplished and you see what Wes Craven accomplished with “Scream,” and not saying that is exactly what this is going to be, but I think you’re going to see an undercurrent of dark comedy that will hopefully enhance the psychological horror elements of what we’re trying to do.
I think that comedy and horror are a lot closer to one another than one might think. I remember going to see the re-release of “The Exorcist,” the way that people would laugh when Regan was writhing on the bed. People would laugh but it wasn’t because it was funny, it was because they were so freaked out and disturbed by it that their only natural reaction was laughter.
When I see a Quentin Tarantino film, his films are incredibly funny but they’re also very horrifying. They’re invested with incredible amounts of suspense. I think the greatest films – you see a Martin Scorsese film, you see a Peter Weir film, even a Terry Gilliam film, there’s a fine line between something that makes you laugh and something that makes you cringe with, I don’t want to say ‘fear,’ but there’s something about the filmmakers that I admire, they can toe that line, so to speak.
Page 5: “House at the End of the Street,” "Into the Great Wide Open, and Other Upcoming Projects
