Shock: What was the genesis of Twisted Tales?
Tom Holland: Peter Block over at FEARnet gave me the chance to do it and it was a chance to experiment with the form of doing shorts. I learned a lot of different things by writing them at different lengths. You need at least a minimum of 22 to 24 minutes to satisfy me, if I went less than it really turned into a monologue. You don’t have time to build the complexity of character that I found satisfying. I just learned about film making by dealing with it at a different length.
Shock: Because of the challenges of doing continuous short features, did you find yourself second guessing the project?
Tom Holland: Yes I did. I did and at the same time it was a lot of fun. In order to get the name actors, you have to write something that is heavily about the characters. So, it takes you back to doing the old half hour anthology shows. I did three Tales From The Crypt episodes so I sort of knew the challenges in writing them. In fact it was almost a bigger challenge than directing them. It was a challenge in every area.
Shock: You put together a fantastic cast of actors. Where any of the stories written for particular talent?
Tom Holland: Oh, yeah. I wrote “To Hell With You” for Danielle and Will, they wanted to work together. They knew each other from other shows and from conventions. I knew if I gave them something, I knew that I could get them. Of course they’re two terrific names in the genre so I wrote specifically for them and they were thrilled and came out and did it.
Shock: I felt that “To Hell With You” had a real mean streak.
Tom Holland: You’re dealing with primal emotions and that comes out of jealousy, the thirst for revenge, and sexual betrayal. In order to make the stories have real punch quickly, you have to deal with emotions that are recognizable to everyone. There is nothing more hurtful than the betrayal of a lover. Then the challenge becomes how do you put a twist or an evil grin on it? How do you make it new?
Shock: BOOM! Which starred Noah Hathaway is one that I particularly enjoyed.
Tom Holland: As far as a psychological thriller, BOOM! Is probably the best as I’ve ever done. It’s the best reversal I’ve ever written. You really don’t see it coming. When he takes that finger off that button and lets it run down you don’t know what the hell is going on.
Shock: If you had the chance to turn any of the segments into a feature, which idea intrigued you the most?
Tom Holland: The Pizza Guy. That is already 50 minutes and I could have easily made that last for 90. The one I think is the most serious and really has something on its mind is Shockwave. I think all of them are brilliant including my own son, Josh. That’s a hell of a cast.
Shock: Are there more stories coming?
Tom Holland: The ones that I didn’t get to make are available as Tom Holland’s Untold Tales and are available on Kindle.
