One of the most controversial slashers of the 1980s is getting a sequel and it's showing today at FrightFest. Buddy Cooper's Mutilator 2 takes us back to the terror but this time its different. We chatted to Buddy about his long awaited return to directing.
NYX: The big question has to be, why come back to the idea after all this time?
BC: Everyone connected with The Mutilator wanted to make a sequel. We were coming up with humorous ways to do a sequel while we were shooting the final scenes of The Mutilator. The difficulty with distribution of M1 and the cutting required by the MPAA to obtain an R rating took everyone’s mind off the idea–especially mine. Then I had responsibilities to my family. I was practicing law and that required my attention. Then it was one thing and then another until all this time had elapsed. I never quit thinking about it and finally it came down to either do it or quit thinking about it. The things in my life had settled. I had the time. I had saved some money. So I did it–a little late, but it was time.
NYX: How much has the movie industry changed since you were last behind the camera?
BC: Movie making has changed a lot. Whereas before distribution was first theatrical release and then VHS for home video. Now it’s mainly streaming. Production has changed dramatically also. In 1983 we were shooting with big heavy cameras, moving big hot and heavy lights around, putting up netting to adjust or to omit the sun, gelling windows and lights to adjust the colour temperature of the light. Now it’s light-weight very portable cameras, light-weight lights and no big need to gel the lights which can be adjusted for colour. The sound equipment has advanced. While we still use mics and booms, the sound is now recorded digitally and not on magnetic tape. The basic process is the same, though: capture light which has passed through a lens.
NYX: Why did you make it a meta movie?
BC: On Facebook someone decried M2 without even having seen it because he’d heard it was meta. I’m not sure what different people mean by calling M2 meta. I think meta means it refers to itself somehow. M2 is in my opinion a stand alone picture which will be more appreciated by those viewers who have seen The Mutilator. Not because it’s a remake, but because it does refer to the first one and contains many Easter eggs which will go unnoticed by those who have not seen M1. The short answer is I don’t think it is a meta movie. I made it the way it’s made in order to have a few members of the original cast appear.
NYX: What were the original cast members like when you told them you were making this movie?
BC: They were excited, happy and looked forward to doing it.
NYX: As it had been so long since you made a movie, were you nervous the first day on set?
BC: Yes, I was. And I made a few errors in judgement which show up on the screen, but which most viewers thankfully don’t complain about.
NYX: You’ve also managed to get a number of cameo appearances, everyone seemed to be having a ball. What was the atmosphere like on set?
BC: I’m glad that you picked up on that. Making this movie was a lot of fun for everyone involved. Movie making should be fun. Everyone had a good time, got along with everyone else and did have a ball.
NYX: What sort of budget did you have to play with?
BC: “Play” ain’t exactly the right word–ha! I spent a little over $600,000 USD out of pocket cash. There was about another $300,000-$400,000 in like kind contributions such as rooms at the Oceanana motel, breakfasts, location fees, closed businesses so we could control the sets for shooting and my contributions of writing, producing and directing.
NYX: You’ve gone big on the effects, which screen death was the hardest to realise?
BC: Dang, that’s a tough question. I’d say it was a tossup between Olivia’s, played by Eva Hamilton, where she had to be dragged up that nasty piling and then fall back off the pier; and Ann’s, played by Carroll Herring and her stunt double Cody Cameron who got thrown off the pier.
NYX: Do you think you’ll have the same issues with censors as you did with the first movie?
BC: Not really. If it’s picked up by a distributor who wants to show it theatrically, maybe, but things have changed so much, I don’t really have an opinion. Probably it will mainly be distributed on streaming and I don’t think MPAA deals with that.
NYX: Has this given you the directing bug once more?
BC: Yes. Currently I’m in pursuit of the rights to a screenplay I co-wrote thirty years ago with Oscar winning screenwriter William Kelley (Witness, ‘86) and I’m kicking around an idea with Edmund Ferrell who was important to M1 in many ways.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its international premiere at FrightFest 2024?
BC: I’ll be a little nervous, I mean it is FrightFest after all, but there was a large audience at Joe Bob Briggs Jamboree in Las Vegas where it had its USA premiere and the picture was well received. I won’t be so nervous as I will be hopeful that the audience will approve and appreciate Mutilator 2–fingers crossed.
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
BC: Ha, seeking distribution for Mutilator 2, getting ready for FrightFest, chasing the rights to a screenplay, trying to talk Ed into doing his story my way and getting over a mild case of Covid.
NYX: Buddy Cooper, thank you very much.
James, thanks for your interest. It has been my pleasure.
