PART THREE: Post-Production

GREYWIZARD: Can you tell us anything of interest during post-production?

JIM BERTGES: This part was the most fun for me because I had some input and participation with it. The picture was being assembled while we were shooting and when we realized that we wouldn't have enough footage to deliver a 90 minute film, we quickly came up with the hiker scene to pad things out a bit. Our original editor, John Travers only got part way through the editing process before he cracked under the strain. He did a fine job as far as he got and even helped us shoot some additional scenes. These were the shots of the zombies working on the spaceship interior. That set was actually made to be the back drop for the video box cover as well as those additional shots. I actually built that piece in my garage and transported it to the photo studio where it was to be shot. It was about eight feet high and ten feet wide, but it was all hinged in sections so it could fold up and fit in the back of my Chevy Citation. Building that set was the only money I saw from this movie. I was paid $475 which came out of the budget for the video box shoot and not the film's budget.

When John left the production we brought in another editor, W. Peter Miller,
who finished the film. As I said before, there was no input from Emmett Alston at this time, all the suggestions came from Rick Albert, Bruce Akiyama and me. Peter handled all the picture and sound editing which included all the special sound effects. Many of the extraneous sounds were accomplished by a synthesizer played by our composer, Dan Slider. However, our zombies, Bigfoot and alien were all silent when we shot and it was up to Peter to give them voices. Well, Peter and me. One night, after he had a rough cut assembled and transferred to 3/4 inch video, Peter and I set up a tape recorder in one office and put the TV and VCR on the other side of the office window and started recording. I provided the vocalizations for Bigfoot, Peter and I did the zombie moaning and groaning together and I did the voice for the alien. All the stuff we recorded was processed somewhat in order to match the creatures better.

On a low budget movie, everyone wears a lot of hats. I had a few myself. Not only did I do most of the writing and built one of the sets (the two things I get credit for), I also did the various voices and finally, I was the guy who typeset the credits. It's not a record, but I don't know of any other screenwriters who set the type that put their own name up on the screen.

G: In the movie, there is a scene where the zombie Tom confronts Jack and verbally threatens him. This was not in the script. Did this originate in the same way the hiker sequence did?

JB: I'm glad you asked about this one. This was one instance where the actors worked out some dialogue with each other and Emmett let them do the scene that way. I thought it worked out really well and their dialogue was better than most of the stuff I wrote in the script. In the script, Tom was just another zombie threatening Jack. He was to appear with his head lolling to one side as though his neck was broken and Jack had to agonize over shooting his friend. I thought it added something to the movie, even though it took away from the established zombie motif by making Tom cognizant of his situation.

G: When you saw the finished movie for the first time, what did you think? What did everyone else think?

Being so intimately involved with the creation of the movie, it was hard not to be impressed by the finished product. After all it was my first movie. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. There was some disappointment in the things that were left out or changed because of budget or other reasons, but overall, it delivered what it was supposed to. We never believed Demonwarp would be anything other than a crappy monster movie and we were not disappointed by the results.

When we screened the film for cast and crew and several guests we got a good reaction. However, the guy from Cinefantastique who was at the screening felt it was horrible crap. We expected nothing less.

G: How well did Demonwarp do on video and cable?

JB: It did very well on both. As an unrated, made for video movie it's been on the shelves and in the catalog since 1988 and people are still seeing it. It was sold to USA cable and they played it into the ground over the course of a year. (Did I mention that I supervised the cutting of the TV version, removing all the cursing and nudity?) It sold well overseas also, I saw materials created in Japan for its release there and they made it look like a better movie than the one I worked on.

G: Did the movie make money?

JB: From what I understand Demonwarp did very well for Vidmark. Of course, with a budget of $225,000, it's hard to lose money.

G: I've noticed over the years that a number of people seem to think fondly of this movie.

JB: I can't help myself, when I find a movie web site or book of movie reviews, I have to see if they mention Demonwarp. For the most part, people who watch the movie critically trash it terribly. But those who watch it for fun, seem to enjoy it. I've read quite a number of positive reviews on the web. People keep finding it somehow and they seem to enjoy it, if they give it a chance. Since its initial release, it has been in the rental catalog at Vidmark (which became Trimark and is now known as Lion's Gate), so it is priced out of the range of the casual fan. I think it's time for a DVD release, even if they team it up with another crappy monster movie from their catalog on a double DVD.

G: If it comes out on DVD, will there be commentary by the director and/or screenwriter?

JB: I doubt if it would get anything but a low budget treatment if it does make it to DVD. That's only appropriate after all. I'd like nothing better than to see a small cult following develop for Demonwarp. A DVD release would be nothing but profit for Lion's Gate since they own the film outright.

G: Was there any discussion of a sequel?

JB: Nope. I have a fun idea for one, but there's little hope of that ever
happening.

G: Looking back, what do you think of your experience with Demonwarp?

JB: I have to say it was great fun! Imagine being the film fan you are and getting the opportunity to contribute to a low budget monster movie. It was great. I learned a lot and I got my name on a real movie. How could that be bad?

G: One last question: Why is the movie called Demonwarp, when there are no demons and no warp?

JB: Ah, that is the great mystery of the movie. It is probably lost in the dark
recesses of the mind of John Carl Buechler. I'm sure it was inspired by the titles of Charlie Band's movies, it has that kind of a ring to it. But why it is stuck on this movie, only Beuchler can tell for sure.

Thank you, Jim, for another great interview!
 

UPDATE: Rick Albert sent this in:

"Please let Jim Bertges know that Bruce Akiyama named the picture Demonwarp.  Beuchler called it Crafton Woods on his screenplay.  We wanted a title that reflected more sci-fi, and not pure Pumpkinhead-type horror."
 

UPDATE 2: John Travers wrote in with this:

"I just read Jim Bertges's interview on the making of Demonwarp, and enjoyed it. As the film's original editor, however, I thought I'd clear up a few things that Jim touched on with regard to the film's post-production.

"For the record, Jim's comment that I had only gotten "part way through the editing process" is not accurate. Perhaps Jim was looking at the editing process as encompassing sound editing and mixing, too -- since the editor, as I was told when I took the job, would be responsible for not only cutting the picture, but editing dialogue, sound effects, music -- and be required to do foley walking! (Welcome to the world of extremely low-budget movie-making.)

"As most people probably know, the editor is responsible for cutting the picture -- not sound effects and music. So in that capacity, I had pretty much finished the job. I had just ordered a Moviola flatbed that I was planning to cut the sound on, so the picture was considered nearly locked. In fact, several weeks before the idea of re-shoots ever came up, I had completed a rough cut of the entire movie (this is how we found out the picture was running short -- about 75 minutes instead of 90). After the re-shoots, I edited all the new material, did additional photography of the spaceship interiors, as Jim correctly stated -- and then ran the new scenes for the director, Emmett Alston. One of his only real communications with me during the entire editing process, in fact, took place at FotoKem labs in Burbank after we screened the hiker sequence (which I had cut together on my Moviola in under two hours): "Congratulations, John," he said. It was one of the best compliments I've ever received, and I appreciated it. But that was the last I ever saw of Emmett Alston. Emmett was not very present during the editing of Demonwarp, unfortunately, but my few meetings with him -- such as this one -- were quite pleasant and positive.

"If only the same could be said about Rick Albert!

"It would take a book to tell the full story of Mr. Albert -- and perhaps a an experienced psychoanalyst. The short version, though, is that about a week into the job, the production manager, Nancy Paloian (who, along with Emmett, had seen my Student Academy Award-winning short film and decided to hire me), came into my editing room, panic-stricken. She warned me that the producer, Rick Albert, was a complete madman. I wondered if she was being serious; the terrified look in her eyes told me she was. Then, in classic horror-film style, she essentially said, "for God's sake, get out!" I asked her what had happened -- but all she could say was that Rick was out of his f**king mind, and that she had to get away -- and fast. "Oh, my God, you have no idea," she kept repeating. I had met Rick; he seemed perfectly normal to me -- so I took what she said with a grain of salt. I told her I'd keep her warning in mind, but I planned to stay and edit the film. It was my first 35mm feature, after all, and I intended to finish the job. She looked amazed by this, shook her head, looked straight at me, and said three words I'll never forget: "God help you." She then turned and left the room. I never saw her again. I recently learned she has gone on to become a successful producer.

"It wasn't until about a month and a half later that Nancy's warning came true.

"As I say, there is quite a long story here, and I won't go into all the gory details now (perhaps I should save it for a book!) The bottom line, though, is that I did not "crack" from the strain of editing this film, as Jim was quoted. Rather, I decided to escape the editing of this film before the producer cracked me over the head with a baseball bat. As I say, this was my first feature, and I was thrilled to get it -- so you can imagine it would take quite a bit to make me quit. It did! Ultimately I realized that the misery of working for an unpredictable lunatic -- and possibly a dangerous one -- just wasn't worth the five hundred bucks a week they were paying me. "Cracked under the strain," then, is untrue. "Escaped with his life" is a bit more accurate.

"So after Rick's final, frenzied outburst in my cutting room (actually a converted storage locker), when I stood just inches from a rabid, frothing animal -- a man who I felt must have been possessed, a man who seemed fully capable of crossing the line from psychotic ranting and raving to physical violence -- I decided to say goodbye to the crazed world of Design Projects and Rick Albert and hello to the relative calm of planet Earth. In a way it was unfortunate -- I loved working with Jim and Bruce and Nancy and Emmett, and I even liked the film. It was a fun little B-movie, and I enjoyed cutting it. I even thought the performances were pretty damn good, better than they had any right to be. But Rick the Prick, as those in the business affectionately call him, turned what started out as a little slice of heaven into a demented journey through the bowels of hell.

"As it turned out, Nancy was exactly right -- though I hadn't believed her at first. How I could have known? Madness -- true madness -- must be experienced first-hand to be believed. That was what I learned. With Rick Albert, I experienced his sort of sickness, his sort of dementia -- and I hope I never encounter it again. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!" a sign on the editing room door might have read as I closed it a final time. When I left, I, like Nancy, had nothing but prayers for the next victim. I fully respect and admire W. Peter Miller -- though I have never met him -- for stepping in, surviving, and escaping with his life. I almost didn't.

"Thanks for your time, for your interest in Demonwarp, and I shall look forward to future enjoyment of your most interesting website."