Paul Burrows Interview

So you had to re-shoot?

Yes, the whole scene had to be re-shot at a later date with different cast, a different location, and thankfully a different script.  I felt bad for the cast in Bangkok , we had Joe Cummings (who's better known as a travel writer), he'd flown down from Chiang Mai to do the scene, and he was really good. We were also none too chuffed because we had to fly ourselves and cast from Samui and put people in hotels. It was our most expensive single day's shoot in Thailand and was unusable. I felt like giving up when I saw it.

Anything else?

Sure. Lots. We then had a camera fault, which rendered a lot of early footage useless; in fact, we didn't use anything from the opening week of shooting, I just wasn't happy with it. We re-shot all that stuff, which also caused us problems with cast availability as some were returning to Europe before we had a chance to finish their scenes. So we had to recast several roles, which was a pain, but it worked out OK in the end.

The guy who plays Lec is fantastic, where did you find him?

Laurent? Carole and I already knew him very well. He's a really interesting guy, a little bit crazy if you know what I mean. He actually is an artist and he lives between Samui and Phang Ngam, The Lec part was written for him, it kind of is him. I really can't think of anyone else who could've played him.

Did you write the Blanche part for Carole?

Carole and I have been together for years now and she was very enthusiastic when I suggested making the movie. I knew she could act but was worried that as we were the art department, drivers and production crew that she wouldn't be able to do both. During shooting, cast would be buzzing around her saying " I need makeup" or "I've lost my suit", "Can I drink real beer in this scene ?" while she was learning lines and concentrating on the part. That was really hard on her I think.

Did you use mostly first time actors?

In Thailand , yes. We hired an acting coach from Bangkok a good while before shooting, an English guy called Kaprice Kea, who directed Butterfly Man. I think he was a bit shocked at how good they were.

How did you come to cast Morrigan Hel?

Carole and I were just surfing the web one night and we came across this fantastic picture of this girl in a bath filled with blood. We thought, if she can act, she'd be perfect as Elizabeth . So we found out who she was and sent her the script. She read for us in London and she was just great. She also introduced us to Lydia Morgan, Beth Morgan and Delilah which was a stroke of luck.

The pimp, Randall Sparks is an interesting character. Did you base him on anyone you've met?

Thankfully, no. I love that name, Randall Sparks. In early drafts of the script, Randall was a local politician; it was a pretty small role. Our acting coach introduced us to John Lamond Jnr. and we immediately cast him. John created a great Randall, so I wrote him up a bit, he was great, really sleazy, and everyone checked their pockets when he left a scene. John's an independent film maker; he's just finished a gangster movie called Killing Time 24/7. Carole and Troy are in it but we haven't seen it yet.

You used 3 different cameramen. Why was that?

We actually used 5. But you're right, 3 major ones. We had Ryan in Thailand . He was fantastic; when you're doing this for the 1st time you need someone behind the camera who really knows what they're doing. He helped me enormously; most of the really cool shots in Thailand were designed by him. In London we had Fraiser and Gwynn, Fraser did the scenes with the Jaguar, the club scene, the dungeon scenes, and the love scene with Blanche and Elizabeth, which I love. The rest of the scenes in London were shot by Gwynn. He was originally the stills guy, we liked his pictures so much that we asked him to step behind the movie camera. Gwynn is a real techie and learns very fast, so that went really well.

You had some great cars in the movie, how did you find them?

The army jeep and the old Merc were ours, the MKII Jag, the Austin Healy and the Aston Martin we borrowed.

Did you have much difficulty finding locations?

Not really. In Thailand , we used our favourite pubs and restaurants. The owners charged us nothing, although we did buy a lot of drinks. So if you're in Samui, check out Papillon Resort, the Frog and Gecko, Orienteek and the Mangrove and relive the movie for yourself.

What about Blanche's house?

Sadly not free, we had to rent that one. It was a superb place for the party scene with the pool and the dark wood rooms. I'd like to have stayed a lot longer there.

Did you use a real strip club for the Black Rose in London?

No, that was Madame Jo Jo's in Soho . They were great. They're really used to movies and did us a deal to suit our modest budget.

How about Oliver's mansion?

Oh, that one? That belongs to Rita and Les, who I've known for years. I knew they'd turned down movies before so we didn't expect them to say yes, but we saw them in the pub so we thought we'd give it a try. They said yes straight away.

Alien Sex Fiend are doing some of the music, how did that come about?

A mate of mine was in the Demons years ago. That was Nick Fiend's band before ASF formed. He put us in touch and we met up with Nick and Mrs Fiend in Dagenham. I know it's a cliche, but they are just the nicest people. We hope to do a video shoot for them soon.

How did you finance the film?

I used to have a house. Now I have an overdraft.

Was it worth it?

I hope so. I can't imagine not having done it.

When will it be released?

There's a small bit of post production still to be done around music and sound. The Luxembourg and Dublin festivals wanted to show the film having it with a temporary sound track, but we weren't ready, which was a real shame. Soon, though, soon.

What will you do after this?

Another movie, without a doubt.

A sequel?

No, I don't think so. The story doesn't lend itself well to a sequel, not many films do. I have an idea around an old fashioned detective story, shot in black and white, set in Turkey in the 1960's. They'll be belly dancers, old cars, cigarettes, cocktails and black magic. That's all I know so far.

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