Director Adam Gierasch Talks Night of the Demons

By Marc Shapiro
 

If you’re wondering what to expect from the upcoming Night of the Demons remake, here’s what director Adam Gierasch told Penny Blood: “It’s going to have a lot of punk rock and a lot of weird, nasty demons. This is going to be a lot racier than the original. I look at this movie as being the living incarnation of a Scooby Doo cartoon chase scene. It’s going to be like Return Of The Living Dead on Crack.”

            Mother Of Tears writer (and occasional actor) Gierasch has heard the stories for years. But the now director of the film Autopsy and the soon-to-be-lensed remake of that 80’s chestnut Night Of The Demons insists that it was not the ‘whinny writer’ cliché that pushed him behind the camera.

            “I did not decide to direct because I was tired of other directors mangling my scripts,” he says. “I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do it. It finally got to the point where I decided ‘It’s time to give this a shot and see how I like it.”

            Autopsy, penned by Gierasch and writing partner Jace Anderson, tells the tale of a woman who tries to find her injured boyfriend in what can best be described as a bizarre and dangerous hospital. The film, which toplines genre vets Robert Patrick and Jenette Goldstein left the first time director bloodied but ultimately unbowed. “The movie is bloody and fun. I think people will like it. The process of making the film was very difficult but the actual directing and dealing with the actors felt very natural. After making that film I can see why people want to direct. Because it allows you to be the Big Boss Man.”

            Next up on Gierasch’s directing plate will be the aforementioned revisiting of the 1988 Kevin Tenney splatter fave. It was a job that Gierasch initially said thanks but no thanks to. “I swore to anybody who would listen that I would never do a remake but when I was approached about doing Night Of The Demons I thought, ‘well that might be cool.’ It’s still kids in a haunted house being chased by demons on Halloween but, for me, this is going to be a fun one to do.”

            Actress Shannon Elizabeth has recently been cast as series baddie Angela, with Diora Baird and Monica Keena co-starring.