With New Line Cinema's long-awaited FINAL DESTINATION finally crashing
into theaters across the nation, HorrorOnline sat down on a recent Los Angeles
afternoon with the film's writer and director James Wong, scribe Glen Morgan
and cast-member Kristen Cloke. Veterans of genre cinema, all three have
in some capacity contributed to such shows as THE X-FILES, as well
as the ill-fated and much-adored SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND (created
by Wong and Morgan). Engaging, enthusiastic and witty, the three expounded
upon the initial draft of FINAL DESTINATION, their feelings in regards
to its original versus alternate ending, their superstitions, and the demise
and hypothesized future of SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND. Commenting on the original treatment for FINAL DESTINATION, a film which revolves around the plight of Alex Browning and friends, who are stalked by Fate after avoiding an air disaster due to Alex's premonition of its demise, Wong stated, "Jeffrey Riddick wrote the original treatment. We came upon it by the persistence of our agent. When we took the meeting with New Line the initial treatment had a guy with a dark cloak killing people, and it had all that it implies; a figure in the dark, etc. New Line asked us how we wanted to do it, and Glen and I said that if there wasn't a guy killing people it would be interesting. We were interested in portraying death as being all around us, and in all these things, and they went for it."
It would appear however that the spectacled director wasn't entirely sure at first that such a pitch would be successful, as he stated in regards to their faceless antagonist, "When you go into a studio and say that you want to make a genre horror movie with no visible bad-guy, you can't make action figures!"
After having been given the green-light, the two set out to write a screenplay both frightening and unique, in which death itself, in all its many guises, stalks those who cheated it. Stated actress Kristen Cloke, "I think that with the film what works is that it makes you look at everyday things differently. I think that it absolutely exceeds on that level, and I believe that is what horror is truly about. It's not as scary to see a guy running around in a mask. Slipping in the bath, falling on a kitchen knife or stepping in front of a bus are things that can actually happen to you. I think that this film draws the reality home a bit more."
Scribe Morgan (who incidentally wed the striking actress last June) put it simply; "For me, that's how I see it, that death is cruel and f*#!ing sadistic. I am superstitious, and I wouldn't carry the script for FINAL DESTINATION on a plane.
That whole thing with John Denver (his music is heard emanating from the airport speakers as the cast prepares to board); I heard that before I got on a plane, and I thought if I next heard a Buddy Holly song than I wasn't going to get on."
Apparently Morgan's superstitions exceed that of life-threatening portents,
as Kristen expounded comically in regards to her husband's supernatural
beliefs. "Glen's a little bit more superstitious than I am. During baseball
season, he has this Padres baseball cap, and if the team isn't doing particularly
well he has to go and buy a new hat, because he believes that it's because
of it. I have to say to him, 'Y'know, I think it may be because of the team,
and not your clothing.' I'm always trying to talk him down!" Although Wong wasn't as effected by the content of the script as his was his writing partner, he too held some trepidation while filming FINAL DESTINATION. "With all of the flying that I do," stated the director, "it was always on my mind how ironic it would be if the plane actually went down."
Wong and Morgan's first venture into cinema, FINAL DESTINATION proved to be an enjoyable experience for both, regardless of their apparent disappointment with both the studio's choice of poster art and their decision to shoot an alternate ending. Stated Wong in regards to his big-screen directorial stint, "The difference between directing a film and directing a television series is that with a film you have so much time to prepare all of the details, and to think about it over and over again. It's great in that way. There is nothing about directing a movie that is not good."
> Considering FINAL DESTINATION's harrowing opening sequence, in which the crash of a France-bound jet is brought forth via the point of perspective of its terrified occupants (the scene took over two weeks to film, with the cast and crew strapped into a mock fuselage suspended by a gimbal forty feet from the ground), one would expect that such a sequence would have been the most difficult to shoot. Not so said Wong, who apparently found more difficult a particular romantic interlude. "I think the hardest to shoot was the beach scene with Devon (IDLE HANDS) Sawa and Ali (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL) Larter," stated the director. "The version you see now they just kiss. The version that we shot was really passionate. They really went at it. They were really young, and directing it made me uncomfortable!"
The aforementioned ardor wasn't the only thing the studio deemed to cut from the final print of FINAL DESTINATION. Although DVD owners will have the option of witnessing the original ending upon its home release, theater audiences will experience a finale less spiritually emotional than what was originally scripted and lensed. Stated Wong, "Larter's character (Clear) had become pregnant with Alex's baby, and the tone was different; There is another life after yours… there is another life for you after this. The first ending was more spiritual and thoughtful. The second ending is more of a thrill-ride. We fought for the first ending. The studio had said that they didn't want to ram anything down our throats, but just wanted to try something else. So we went back and thought about it and shot the second ending, and the audience reaction was so much more visceral. After the test screening on the second ending there wasn't any ground left to stand on (in regards to fighting for the original)."
Actress Cloke, while although agreeing that the tone of the initial finale was more thoughtful, seemed to be nevertheless ecstatic in regards to the finished film. "I saw it with both endings, and I think the scenes that really worked were all of the death scenes. To sit in the back of an audience and to watch them jump out of their seats is so great! I love to watch their reactions! When they scream and clap and yell, 'rewind it!' I think that is actually what works. At first I didn't think a new ending would. I liked the original statement that the movie made; I liked the idea of love lasting forever. But after seeing the new ending, I think it's invigorating and exciting and fun."
Expounding on her character, a high school instructor by the name of Valerie Lewton bound with her classmates for France who is one of the few to survive (at least temporarily), the actress who has previously demonstrated her impressive ability on both THE X-FILES (Field Where I Died), MILLENNIUM and SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND) stated, "She's obviously never left town. I think she left to go away to school, but then came back. Y'know, that's were her parents lived, and they weren't alive anymore. The house she lives in is where she grew up… everything was familiar and safe, and then it becomes dangerous. At the beginning of the film she was strong and capable, but the plane crash just rocks her, and I think she becomes a little sketchy and unglued towards the end."
Anyone familiar with Cloke's role of Lt. Shane Vansen on the defunct television series SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND wouldn't ever attribute such adjectives as 'sketchy' or 'unglued' to the aforementioned character however, and as her personality demonstrated, the actress herself is relatively fearless. While other cast members of FINAL DESTINATION lamented their time spent shooting the crash sequence, Cloke stated that, "It was fun. SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND was much more difficult to shoot. We were always running about with gun-fire and flash bombs, and in one episode when we jumped in a fox-hole the wind blew the fire into the trench, and we were all singed!"
Although the Wong and Morgan created and scripted television series lasted merely one season (from 1995 to 1996), it during that time procured a large and loyal fan-base. Said Cloke in regards to what followed the show's cancellation, "The fans made dog-tags with their names on them and sent them to the studio in a huge box when they canceled the show. People loved it. The characters were great, and I think Glen and James did a really great job. The part I will miss about the show were the characters. Shane Vansen was such a great person; I'll never be as good a person as that character (was)."
While the series certainly possessed a sci-fi element, the show revolving around Earth's war for survival against a daunting alien enemy, at its core were a group of all too-human characters struggling with their own humanity, loneliness and loss beneath the violence about them. Said Morgan in regards to it, "We had a very passionate fan base. More than any other show it was like a family. The ideals (in it) were more than anything I have ever worked on."
The final episode of the series held many a surprise for fans, as in addition to the show's cancellation came the death of many of its main characters. Said Wong in regards to scripting such a gut-wrenching finish, "The deaths weren't in the final episode when we wrote it. When we were cutting it we knew for sure that we were canceled though, so we changed it. When we asked the effects guys to blow the character of Wang up, they said they wouldn't do it. But we started killing everyone off anyway."
Added Morgan, "Actually, the first time Joel (who played the character of Wang) knew that he died was when he watched it on the air with James. The original scene was that he was drifting in space and firing and it was supposed to just cut away, so that you didn't know what happened to him, but we cut to the next shot were the Chig fighter just smashes into him, and he said, 'Oh my God!'" Will the fans of SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND ever be treated to a revival of the series? Possibly, as Wong concluded enthusiastically, "Well, if FINAL DESTINATION makes a ton of dough and they ask us what we want to do next, I would love to do a film version of it.."
All site graphics, original texts, and content other than specified © DrkNite. Fan art, fan photos, and other contributed materials © to their respective owners. All rights reserved.