[movies] Everybody dreams of one day making their own movie, and John Fallon is making that dream come true. You might already know him from his popular movie website ‘Arrow in the Head’ or from one of his roles in the movies he played in, and with his upcoming movie ‘Painkiller’ he wants to show the world, and especially Hollywood, what he can do.
If you have ever been looking for movie news, chances are very big that you know John Fallon, either by his real name or his alias, ‘The Arrow’. He’s the main man behind ‘Arrow in the Head’, sister-site to one of the biggest movie news sites in the world, joblo.com. Every day he and his co-writers bring you the latest news on the newest horror films, with John’s reviews becoming the place to be for when you want to know if a certain movie can scare the shit out of you or not.
But John wants more. He studied in film school and acting school and is dead set on making it in the movies. He has already been acting for many years in his native Canada, and seems to have gotten a foot in the door in the States as well. At one point a screenplay he had written was on the fast track to production in Hollywood, but after one and a half years of being put on hold, finally to be blown off, John has now decided to take matters into his own hands.
In only a few days time he wrote a script for a hardcore revenge movie that he named Painkiller, hooked up with director Christian Viel, got a cast and crew together and started shooting. Just like the leading character from his movie, John Fallon is letting nothing stop him to reach his goals…
Q: How cool is it to be making your own movie? Was it a dream for you as a kid to someday be doing something like this?
A: As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in the film industry. I’ve been working it from various angles for 10 years now and, yes, it was very exciting to finally get past the development stage with one of my film projects as a “producer”. FINALLY! I couldn’t have done it without the hard work, sheer insanity and incredible support of lead Producer and Director Christian Viel. You’re only as good as the people that back you up.
Q: What is the movie going to be about?
A: It’s about an ex-undercover cop turned biker named Rane. He witnesses the brutal murder of his pregnant wife Jamie by his crew, who have learned about his old policemen days. Shot through the head with a crossbow and dumped into a canal, Rane is believed to be dead... but he miraculously survives the ordeal. Upon his exit from the hospital, he teams up with his old crime buddy Kersey, arms himself to the teeth, and goes on a drug fueled, psychotic rampage… All in the name of unapologetic retribution.
Q: Why did you choose to make your first movie a vigilante movie?
A: Both Christian Viel and I had seen the new Punisher flick and we were both disappointed by it. So we started talking about doing our own vigilante flick. The more we yapped about it and the more beers we drank, the more excited we became, so we ran with it. That’s how the project began. Personally, the project was also born out of frustration. At the time I had a script with a big studio. After a year and a half of false promises, countless meetings, flying to LA…what not. They dropped the project. So I was peeved. I had wasted a year and a half of my life for nothing! So it was very important for me to make something happen before people got hurt. Pain Killer was the result.
Q: When you wrote the movie, you already had in mind that the movie was going to be low budget. Does that limit you, or does it make you creative because you have to come up with original ways of telling the story?
A: Both. I did keep the low budget in mind when writing the screenplay. It limited me when it came to how far I wanted to go with the action scenes. But at the same time it inspired me to fully embrace the nature of the film. I mean this is a low budget vigilante flick, not “Remains of the Day”! With that in mind, delivering the violent goods under a tighter than tight pace was my first concern. We don’t have name stars or huge stunts but I doubt anybody will accuse the film of being boring. We’re aiming for a gritty, fanboy pleasing festival of uber brutality that the big budget films DON’T deliver anymore.
Q: You have played in several movies and TV-series already, and I guess you have had to audition for that and also for parts that you maybe did not get, but with this movie you were the one doing the casting. Was that a weird experience?
A: Yes it was kind of odd at first but I got used to it very quickly and learned off it from an actor’s point of view. For example, you’re able to tell a lot about a person real fast. Is he an ego maniac? Is the actor high maintenance? Is he in-experienced? More often than not those questions were answered for us 30 seconds within each individual meeting, before the actual scene reading. That’s nice to know! I’ll be more conscious of that next time I walk in an audition room as an actor.
Q: You do a lot of things on this movie: you wrote it, star in it, handle a lot of the business side of making this movie... How difficult is it to keep an eye on all these different aspects? I mean, did you actually have time to learn your lines?
A: For me it was the first time all at the same time. It was my first produced feature length screenplay, my first producing credit and my first lead in something that I’d written. On one end, it was quite taxing mentally where my brain was everywhere. It was also emotionally draining, especially since the part demanded that I be a wreck 24/7. But I loved every damn micro second of it. When you’re doing something that you’re passionate about, all the hard work in the world is an immense pleasure. As for my lines, funnily enough I got to learn them through the casting process, through reading with the actors who were auditioning. Doing that acted as my rehearsal time.
Q: I read on your weblog that the shoot was rather short for a feature length movie. Was it difficult to get everything done on time, and were you maybe worried at some time that you would run out of time?
A: Director Christian Viel shoots freaking fast and if everybody is on the ball, there are no problems. I adored the quick nature of the shoot. Unlike other sets, I wasn’t sitting around for hours, eating bagels while waiting to be needed. I was always on the move! I loved it! The only drawback is that yes if major snags happen along the way (like conflicts within the fold), then you’re in trouble time wise. A couple of scenes in Pain Killer had to be shortened or changed due to the time we lost at the hands of “internal conflict”. But that’s the nature of the beast. You have to roll with it and move forward. Improvise and finish shooting the film! I learned the meaning of compromise on this shoot.
Q: How did you hook up with Christian Viel?
A: I had auditioned as an actor for Christian Viel eons ago but we really met when I covered the Samhain set for “Arrow in the Head”. We kept in touch after that, we got along, shared similar affinities (like beer and Paul Verhoeven films) and eventually time got us together on a “work level” and here we are.
Q: Didn't you want to direct the movie yourself, or is that something you might see yourself doing in the future?
A: Pain Killer was always meant for Christian to direct, but directing is definitely the Holy Grail of what I’m aiming for. I directed my first music video this year and I’m still trying to get my directorial debut off the ground.
Q: How cool was it to see your own creation come to life during shooting?
A: The shoot was so overwhelming that I rarely thought about it. But it did happen once or twice where I said to myself: “Damn, these people are actually saying my dialogue and are interpreting characters that I created”. Trippy stuff!
Q: You're killing a lot of people in this movie. Was it difficult to keep coming up with new ways to dispose of them?
A: Not at all! It was actually quite fun thinking up new and fresh ways to maim scumbags for the film. It helped that Viel is also one sick squirrel and he helped me out when it came to coming up with the crazy kills for the film.
Q: The first trailer is out, how have the reactions been? Was it tempting to maybe put in material that would have given away too much of the story?
A: The trailer was always intended to be a ‘Teaser’, hence to tease, not tell the story. We will have a full ‘story’ trailer down the road. We actually premiered an extended trailer at the Fantasia Film Festival in July. That same trailer should hit the web eventually. It will give people a clearer idea of what the film is really about. As for feedback, I would say that 95 percent of the feedback was positive and 5 percent negative. So I was pleased with what I heard.
Q: How are you going to distribute the movie when it's finished. Do you already have contacts with distributors, or will you go at it alone?
A: We’ve already been approached by various distributors but there’s really nothing to talk about until the film is done with Post. To be honest, I’m not worried about locking distribution but I am concerned about what might have to get cut out to attain an “R Rating”.
Q: How did you come up with the whole Arrow in the Head theme? I saw that in the beginning of the movie you get an arrow in your head and it's of course also the name of your website. What is your thing with arrows in heads?
A: My good friend Berge Garabedian (aka JoBlo) used to call me ‘Arrow’ before AITH began. Once he hired me, ‘Arrow in the Head’ was the first name that came to my mind as a title for my section, so I went with that. As for the ‘arrow in the head’ gag in Pain Killer, that was actually Christian’s idea. Initially I didn’t go for the idea, cause I wanted to distance the film from the site. But Christian finally convinced me to go with it and I’m happy I did. For better and for worse, the film often references the site. We’ll see if it works in its favor or not!
Q: Since you are of course very well known as a reviewer, how weird do you think it Will feel when other people start reviewing your movie?
A: To be honest, I’m expecting to get nailed hard when the film comes out, for the right and the wrong reasons. But that’s fine, if I can dish it out, I can take it. At the end of the day, if I’m proud of the film, that’s all that truly matters to me.
Q: Any new projects planned for the future?
A: Well I just did a small part in SAW 2, so you’ll be able to see me in the film in October 2005 when it comes out. I’m also presently writing a screenplay for Blood and Bullets Productions, am supposed to act in Dante Tomaselli’s next film The Ocean and got a few roles up in the air that I’ll address when they’re 100% locked.
To stay up to date on this movie and support John Fallon in his quest to rule the movie world: check the Painkiller website here: http://www.painkiller-movie.com/index.php.
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