Kitley’s Krypt: How did you get started in makeup
effects?
Tom Sullivan: I
was watching the original KING KONG at age five with my 4 year old brother Mike
and when the giant gorilla and dinosaurs showed up a bolt of lightning struck me
and I knew making movies and monsters was what I would do for a career. So
I just started doing it.
I was always sculpting and
drawing and playing King Kong as a kid and when I discovered Famous Monsters and
learned about Special Effects, Stop Motions Animation and Make Up Effects, my
journey had begun.
Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien were
my masters. In art it's Frank Frazetta.
I took a
serious interest in Make up effects after seeing PLANET OF THE APES.
Everybody's first make up experiment back then was the PLANET OF THE
APES.
In the 1970's Don Dohler published "Cinemagic" a
magazine that featured "how to" sections on head casting, making foam
rubber appliances and building stop motion armatures and puppets. I
could not have made Evil Dead without it.
KK: How did the EVIL DEAD job come about?
TS: Sam
Raimi and Rob Tapert had been in talks with the leading make up artists in the
business but discovered that they would actually have to pay them. I was
drugged and beaten. And then we made history.
Or. I was at Michigan State with my wife Penny (who appeared in ED2
getting off the plane) and I read in the MSU paper about Sam, Rob and Sam's
brother Ivan's MSU Creative Filmmaking Society. Being students they could
get a cheap rate renting an auditorium and show Sam's Super 8mm comedies.
They would make enough for rent and an after show pizza.
We would have movie parties and I'd show my animation stuff and Sam would show
his stuff. Sam came up with a script called "Book of the Dead" and the
guys came up with a strategy to make a feature. Produce a high impact
horror short in Super 8mm and sell investors into backing a full-length
film.
Thus WITHIN THE WOODS was born. Everybody
worked for free knowing Sam had it in him and I jumped at the
opportunity.
For it's 30-minute length I had a lot to
do. There is a lot of gore, body parts and make up that took about two
weeks to prepare. I actually had more preproduction time on WITW than EVIL
DEAD.
KK: What exactly was your involvement with EVIL DEAD?
TS: I was
Creator of Special Effects Make Up, Uncredited Art Director, Uncredited Prop
Creator of the Dagger and Book of the Dead. I also performed as the Demon
arms bursting out of the melting Cheryl and Scotty in the Evil Dead
finale.
Along with Bart Pierce, who was the Director of
Photography for the Animated Meltdown sequence as well as Co-Animator, I
designed, constructed and co-animated the stop motion finale.
KK: What about EVIL DEAD 2?
TS: I
built and animated the Demons, Books of the Dead and Book being written opening
sequence. I created the new Lost Pages and Books of the Dead for stunts
and Glamour shots (they were never returned to me after filming). I animated the
Henrietta head that pops up in the basement scene. I animated Bruce's hair
turning white. I animated the withering flower at the beginning of the vortex
scene. I designed built and animated the Flying Deadite at the finale. I
also appear for about 12 frames at the Airport
scene. I am behind the couple
chatting with the Lost Pages case and loading
luggage into a taxi
trunk. Rob Tapert, Dave Goodman and others are there as well.
KK: ARMY OF DARKNESS?
TS: Rob Tapert called when AOD was beginning and said they had lost the Books of the Dead (they never returned) and needed me to create another for the film. They needed it rushed so I spent three days making another and off it went. Three months later I was wondering where my check was and Rob told me their Art Director said they needed another bigger book because Ash had to get sucked into it. They made a derivative cover and pasted together four of my pages to make one big one for the interior. I got a big credit and did get my check.
KK: As for the work you did in EVIL DEAD, did you have a lot of time for pre-production, or was there a lot of "on-the-spot" work?
TS: I had about two weeks with Sam's script to break it down, figure out how I might do them, and buy the supplies. There was a rushed face casting session with the actors in Sam's parent’s basement. That was a pretty messy. The make up designs were for the most part made up as needed. I'm glad it worked.
KK: What were the working hours like on EVIL DEAD?
TS: UGGGHHH! During my work on the picture it was running the whole time. That’s how it was for everybody on the film. And that’s pretty much it for the film industry. I worked for seven months average of 6 days per week including Prep and production time.
KK: Is there a certain effect or prop that you are most
proud of?
TS: Without
a doubt my favorite prop is My Book of the Dead 1 and 2 and Lost Pages
(ED2). As far as I can tell it's the first unreadable book. There was the
Voynich Manuscript but that’s had progress in deciphering. I based the
text on the ancient language of Bullscript. Coded messagescrept into the
text on ED2. The Anchor Bay DVD Book is all coded. I had to
draw the original in the late hours during production of EVIL DEAD (then Book of
the Dead) usually while talking with Josh Becker about
movies.
KK: What is the best thing you remember from the making of EVIL DEAD?
TS: That I survived it and am proud of my work
considering the conditions. That and hearing applause twenty-three years
later.
KK: What is the worst thing you remember from the making of EVIL DEAD?
TS: I tend to empathize too much with people. So when the actors were uncomfortable and that could go to extremes, I felt hyper responsible. Not that there was a lot I could do. Make up is fun for the first hour. For weeks on end it becomes torture. That has not changed. A lot of actors are really suffering for their Art (see Carrey in Grinch).
KK: While making EVIL DEAD, did anybody ever think it would become as popular as it did, or was the feeling of more of just making a little film project?
TS: I had a
fair understanding of the odds against what Sam, Bruce and Rob were trying to
do. And it's to their credit the film actually got finished. It took three
years to get it into theaters and a lot of films don't last that long. I
recall the general feeling from everybody during production was that if it
played in some drive-ins in the south for a
couple of weeks we should be
satisfied.
KK: What other films have you worked on?
TS: THE FLY
2, the sequel to the Jeff Goldblum film. That was working with real
professionals on a big budget film and I learned a lot. One of the things
I learned was I was getting diminishing returns of satisfaction on my creative
side.
So I went back to Illustration painting Lovecraftian
monsters.
KK: Care to expand on that?
TS: By "diminishing returns" I mean that my role as an artistic collaborator or significant contributor to a film was being reduced in the bigger films. I was getting more satisfaction, illustrating and having something specific to point at and say I did that. I am working on building my own Production studio.
KK: Any particular effect that you worked on in THE FLY 2?
TS: I sculpted about 60% of the Fly 2 creature's head
based on Chris Walas's superb design. I also sculpted with Howie Weed, the
Cocoon and with Howie and Jon Berg (the Great) on the screwed up
dog. I helped out with mold making and some creature
fabrication.
KK: What are your thoughts about Anchor Bay's newest edition of EVIL DEAD? Weren't you supposed to have a commentary and / or featurette on there as well?
TS: I am
pleased with my work and overwhelmed by it's reception. The project got so
big and expensive, things had to get cut.
However Anchor
Bay is talking about yet another Evil dead release with more audio
commentaries. I'd love to do one. The Ladies of the Evil Dead and Rich
Demanicor have not told their stories. It's important to hear from Joe La
Duca and Joel Cohen as well. I'd like to see an EVIL DEAD DVD
documentary. There is lots of unseen material.
KK: I personally think that Anchor
Bay has released enough versions of the movie. Fans are getting really
pissed off of having to buy the newer version, since it has something new on
it. I know people would like to hear more about the film from you, and the
ladies from the film, and others, but enough is enough. I think your idea
of a documentary is much better. I think they could make a nice 2-3 hour
documentary about the film, and that would be much better received by the fans
than yet another version on DVD.
TS: I agree with you
about the documentary not another EVIL DEAD release and I will pass your idea
along to Anchor Bay. Lots to tell.
KK: Who or what were some of your influences?
TS: I mentioned Harryhausen, O'Brien and Frazetta, Jim Danforth, Dick Smith, Rob Bottin, Stan Winston, ILM, and Karel Zeman.
KK: I heard that you might be releasing your own Book
of the Dead. Can you give us some more info?
TS: I
have been creating replicas of my Book of the Dead from the original Book's
pages and a new cover sculpting since the original is a glob of butyl
rubber. I have had valued assistance from my talented and resourceful
friend Patrick Reese. He is also an EVIL DEAD historian. I improved the cover
and it's now what I wish it could have been with preproduction time. The
original cover was a slush rubber latex casting of one of the actors faces and
glued onto a piece of corrugated cardboard. Instant movie history.
It melted over ten years ago.
The Books have been selling
in eBay and the response has been swell. The plan is to make more
affordable books but that kind of publishing in bulk is outside my means.
So I'm making sturdy collectables for now. The pages are printed on
Archival papers with archival inks. I am told the colors will not fade or
the paper yellow for Two hundred years. Of course they are printed
yellowish, so you'll be able to impress your friends for centuries.
KK: Any other new projects?
TS: My company DARKAGEPRODUCTIONS is publishing
archival prints of my artwork from my EVIL DEAD collection and my Lovecraft
years as well as lots of new stuff.
I'm working towards
getting the equipment to have my own Film Production
studio. Digital
is where it’s at. Then I'm off to make my own films. I have some
great stories waiting to get made.
KK: Can you elaborate a little more? What type of stories are they? Horror? Sci-Fi? Lovecraft?
TS: Horror, Action, Adventure and very
Lovecraftian. I've always wanted to do a stop motion Lovecraft film since
my association on the never produced "Cry of Cthulhu". I love CGI FX
but I have some ideas for stop motion and digital compositing. I think
Lovecraft will work with the eeriness of stop motion.
I have a ripping zombie story that I've worked up. I was always
working towards directing and producing; being a FX guy was a means to an
end.
I want to tell stories with film and art.
KK: You've been doing the 'convention circuit' the last couple
of years. How do you like it?
TS: I enjoy
the conventions a lot. So much so I have put together Tom Sullivan's Movie
Memorabilia Museum. It features the props, photos, masks and Artwork I
created for the films. I sell prints and talk shop with
Fans.
It's odd how life goes. I made this little
movie twenty years ago and suddenly my weekends are very busy.
KK: Thanks Tom for taking the time to talk to us.
TS: Nice talking to you, take it easy.
You can visit Tom's upcoming website at the below address. Keep checking on it, as I'm sure it'll be really cool once it's up and running.