A Whore for Horror: Patrick Lussier

Interview by Clint Morris

Interview with Patrick Lussier
Editor on the movie Red Eye, Scream.

Patrick Lussier's partner in crime, Wes Craven, directing Rachel McAdams to the bathroom while she daydreams

Patrick Lussier wears many hats: Writer (Dracula 2000), Director (Dracula II : Ascension, The Prophecy 3: The Ascent), Visual Consultant (Darkness Falls), Music Consultant (Reindeer Games), Second Unit Director (Cursed), and Editor (Scream, Mimic, Music of the Heart) - the latter making up the preponderance of his day-to-day crust.

As horror master Wes Craven's right-hand man in the editing booth, Lussier's back behind the panel of switches for Red Eye, an intriguing new psychological thriller, helmed by Craven, and starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy.

"Red Eye is a Hitchcock-styled thriller about 'strangers on a plane.' Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy play Lisa Riesert and Jackson Rippner respectively.

"The story starts out as 'one thing' then gradually twists darker and darker," explains Lussier, from his home in Hollywood.

"We're all immensely proud of it and our involvement with it. It's a rollercoaster ride with a long ramp that suddenly takes off with enough twists and turns to keep the audience on edge."

Lussier explains that he wasn't originally attached to edit the film with Craven. "I came onto the film late into production. Wes had wanted me to start from the beginning but I was in pretty active development on a project to direct over at Lions Gate. Gradually that began to go south and Wes and Marianne Maddalena, his producer, came back to me asking if I'd still be interested in assuming the editing duties. One thing let to another rather quickly and I came on board to re-cut and finish the film," said Lussier.

"It was a great experience to cut such rich performances. Wes did a fantastic job with Rachel and Cillian, really delving into the nuances of each of their characters. In Rachel's case you have this mysterious and somewhat damaged woman who shies away from personal connections, drowning herself in work and with Cillian you have this very charming and ruthlessly determined 'business man' who must meet certain deadlines at any cost.

"A portion of the film takes place on the flight itself with our lead characters sitting side by side. Their conversations, with performance, Wes' direction and Carl Ellsworth's great writing, were riveting to construct, allowing the tension to tease out or suddenly explode depending on the moment. Rachel's magnificent. She's a real beauty with great acting talent. Her performance with Cillian's completely drive the movie."

Lussier's relationship with director Wes Craven begun a few years back, when Lussier was hired to work on a short-lived TV series that the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' director was doing.

"I first started working with Wes in 1991 on 'Nightmare Cafe' for MGM television and NBC. It was a cool, quirky anthology-like show with wrap-around characters (I think that may have been the pitch or something like it). Robert Englund, Lindsay Frost and Jack Coleman were the stars. I cut Wes' episode which was called 'Aliens Ate My Lunch'. It was about aliens abducting cows for their milk. We hit it off and have worked together since then."

Among the projects Lussier and Craven have worked on together - Vampire in Brooklyn, Music of the Heart, Scream, and the world-renowned floperoo, Cursed. The film's a sore spot for Lussier.

"I think everybody involved was disappointed in the performance of Cursed. How could we not be? We all spent a very long time, some spent well over two years on the film, and to have it open the way it did was disheartening. The film itself went through such strange journeys that in the end it was just a relief that we got to complete it," Lussier says of the film, a Frankensteinian-effort about a werewolf terrorising Los Angeles.

Craven has also returned the favour, producing some of Lussier's directing efforts, including Dracula 2000 and it's sequels Dracula II: The Ascension and Dracula III: The Legacy. Lussier loved doing the films, he says.

"I had a great experience working with Joel Soisson, Keith Border, Ron Schmidt, Nick Phillips, Andrew Rona and everybody on the Drac pack films. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be intrigued to delve back into that arena. Joel and I have certainly discussed continuing adventures. But with the Dimension/Disney split I believe the rights have been left to Disney so I can't really say if they'll be interested in a few more adventures. I hope so."

A fourth Scream - the first three of which Lussier edited - is also up in the air, he says. "Scream 4? You'd have to ask the lords of Weinstein Co. if they have plans for that. But given the success of the first three wouldn't you be surprised if they didn't?"

Meantime, Lussier's trying to get a few of his own projects off the ground. "I've got a few things I'm pursuing directing-wise. We'll see which comes in, if any do. Beyond that, who knows?"

Red Eye commences on September the 1st.

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