I had the great opportunity of interviewing a man you will be seeing a lot more of lately. Todd Farmer is a writer and has worked on such projects as JASON X, THE MESSENGERS, and the upcoming adaptation of the hit videogame series “Clocktower.” With a John Carpenter movie in development and a new comic book series “Alien Pig Farm 3000” created with friends Thomas Jane and Steve Niles, Farmer is sure to gain the notoriety he has long deserved.

WIL and I called him up one night and this is what transpired:

WIL: Hey Todd, It’s WIL and Molly from HYB.

TODD FARMER: What’s going on over there?

WIL: Nothing… I’m drunk.

TODD: Works for me.

WIL: How much involvement did you have with Jason X?

TODD: I worked for Sean Cunningham and have been there for 3 years. They had been thinking of the next Jason for 6 or 7 years and I think he was a little fed up with the development process. I was the writer on staff. Not a glamour story, but I got the job.

WIL: So you wrote most of the Jason X screenplay?

TODD: I wrote the first 40 or 50 drafts. I say that jokingly.

WIL: So one of the first kills was when a woman gets freeze dried and her face is smashed. This is one of the Top Ten Jason kills. Do you take credit for writing that?

TODD: It was actually producer Sean Cunningham’s idea that someone’s face gets dipped into liquid nitrogen, so I said I would write that. I will take a good idea wherever I can get it. I actually wrote it down on paper, but it was Sean’s idea.

WIL: Okay, I’ll just give you credit. So did Sean buy the rights from Paramount or produced it for New Line?

TODD: My understanding was before he made JASON GOES TO HELL he required the rights.

WIL: So are you proud that you wrote JASON X.

TODD: Well, you can’t be too picky in your career. I enjoyed working with those guys. But at the time I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. The production got rewritten a couple of times and a lot of the dialogue was different. After all these years, I’m pretty proud of it.

WIL: This is a great film on our website. I just know a lot of people didn’t like it. (Todd laughing) Well, I mean it wasn’t one of the more popular ones.

TODD: Well, if I was a big fan of the earlier films, I wouldn’t have liked it either.

WIL: No, it was genius. It was the next logical step.

TODD: Well, the basic idea was to put him into the future, so it wouldn’t screw with FREDDY VS JASON. So ours is placed 400 years in the future. Actually, it was supposed to be a BLADE RUNNER kind of world, but we couldn’t afford that. So I thought we could put him into an ALIEN kind of world.

WIL: In the hallway death scene, where the girl says, “Let’s have underage sex and get high.” Was that mocking the series or was that in celebration of the series?

TODD: Oh absolutely in celebration. When thinking of the series, that is one of the favorites. So I threw that in. We were having fun with it. The set was pretty stressful, but for the most part we were having fun. The series would go on forever and this was a big part of my generation. We grew up watching these movies, so we weren’t at all making fun of it.

MOLLY: Why was it stressful on the set? What happened?

TODD: I think at the eleventh hour there were some concerns that the script could have been better, which is always the case. But the problem was, in the attempt to make it better, I think it became a little campier than some of us wanted it to be.

WIL: Really? I didn’t think it was campy at all. The whole dialogue we were questioning; I thought was a throw back to the original.

TODD: Well, some of the stuff was already there. I think when you are shooting a movie and you are under that much stress and you have to memorize lines. You can’t be giving actors new pages every day that they have to learn. Actors need time to think about things and decide what they are going to do there. A lot of the pages were not streamlined and there were new scenes. I think it probably hurt us at the time more than it does now. Now people look at it and think it didn’t hurt it. Well, that is not always the case. I think a lot of people just don’t care one way or another.

WIL: How about THE MESSENGERS (Read Review Here). Did you write the screenplay for that?

MOLLY: No, it was just the story, right?

TODD: I wrote the original screenplay when it was at Revolution Studios 4 or 5 years ago. Stewart who did COLLATERAL and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, which is coming out and he rewrote mine. And then it went into turn around. So Ghost house Pictures bought it and then it went threw several more rewrites until it became a film.

MOLLY: Are you happy with the film or you don’t like what they did with it?

TODD: I think what they did with it is great. It is a completely different story from what I wrote. It is interesting that I got “Story by,” but that is because I was the first writer. I could write STAR WARS and they can make TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and I would still get “Story by.” I liked the movie.

MOLLY: I saw a lot of reviews for it and there where pretty…they were kinda terrible. So do you think if they would have used your script the film would have turned out better or do you blame the direction on the way the film turned out?

TODD: I think from what I wrote, the Pang Brothers went into a more supernatural direction which was probably a smart idea. I thought it was a fun ride. There were a few screenwriting things that I wished were better described or some backstory that I didn’t really understand, but for the most part I enjoyed it.

WIL: So you’re writing CLOCKTOWER right now?

TODD: I finished the CLOCKTOWER about a year ago.

WIL: And is this based on the original point and click game or on all 4 in the series?

TODD: It is based on Clocktower 3. I believe they had the rights to part 3 and our script is loosely based on that.

WIL: Can you tell us something about it?

TODD: Have you played the games?

WIL: I played the first point and click game.

MOLLY: I’m more familiar with the later ones.

[This is the part where all three of us talk over each other, pause, then talk over each other again. We start a gigglefit and I admit defeat by telling Todd to go ahead….]

TODD: I never played the first one, so I don’t know what it was like. The second one has to do with the girl getting the call to return home. And what happens is like a Superman chasing you. The one I played was creepy, so it was great writing it.

MOLLY: So is the movie based on the gameplay? Because in the game, there isn’t much violence. She isn’t able to use any weapons or fight back. She mostly hides, solves puzzles, or runs from the killer.

TODD: It’s the same degree as TOMB RAIDER. You take the idea and build a story around it. So you have a character that is able to react. I put some twists and turns in there, but I really shouldn’t talk about that. I think it ended up being a great story.

[Here all three of us do battle for complete control of the voice recorder and again, WIL and I bow out of the fight and give Todd the floor. Nevermind, I lied. I talked over him.]

MOLLY: Is this the one where she has the dog that helps her?

TODD: [long pause] Uhh. No, but I could put that in there if you want.

MOLLY: Well, I know in one of the games she has a dog that helps her. That warns her when the guy is coming….

WIL: What is the status on it? Is it in production?

TODD: As always, there is another writer brought in. I’m not quite sure. When you’re working on a project, the executives call you every day. But when you’re done, you’re done. He would know more about it than I do.

WIL: Does the killer use the scissors in them? In the first one, he used big scissors to cut people’s head offs.

TODD: In my draft, believe it or not, No. There were some concerns from the producers that there was no scissor man used. But now that I have been replaced, I heard that Scissor Man is back in the mix.

WIL: Good.

MOLLY: Have you heard anything about the casting of the girl?

TODD: I heard rumors early on, but nothing lately.

MOLLY: Hilary Duff?

TODD: There were definitely rumors. But I could never confirm that. They were definitely just rumors.

WIL: How can I say that it is Hilary Duff without getting into trouble?

TODD: I’ll say that I think that is likely.

MOLLY: There is a movie coming out called PSYCHOPATH directed by John Carpenter and I haven’t heard too much about it.

TODD: PSYCHOPATH is the story of about a cop that is brought back on the force to find a serial killer. I came up with the story a couple years ago. Carpenter’s producing company was brought on board. Carpenter isn’t going to go out and just shoot the movie because if you do it that way, you don’t own the film. You get paid to do the work, but we don’t own the rights to the movie. So we made it into a video game first. And I thought that was a great idea and we went with that road for a couple years. We went through the developer, but thought it would never happen. At this point we are probably going to do it as a graphic novel starting in July, then make it into a movie.

MOLLY: Are you going to help write the graphic novel?

TODD: Yes.

MOLLY: I also heard that they were thinking of casting Kurt Russell.

TODD: I think anyone would love to cast Kurt Russell in a film, but that might be nothing more than that he has been in a bunch of Carpenter’s films before. Who wouldn’t want Wyatt Earp in a movie? [Pause] This is fun.

WIL: I know. Molly keeps pointing at things for me to ask you. So can you tell us about the comic book “Alien Pig Farm,” which we know nothing about?

TODD: It is about a bunch of pig farmers that are abducted by aliens, so it is a lot of fun.

MOLLY: So you wrote this for Raw Entertainment?

TODD: Yeah, I met Thomas Jane and Steve Niles a couple years ago and told the idea to them. And we wrote a full comic book, which I think issue 3 came out last week. In the meantime, we are turning it into a movie.

WIL: Do you always turn things into movies?

TODD: That is correct. The reason I wanted to turn it into a movie is because I have worked on a couple of movies, but they have always changed. So if I wrote a comic book, then they can make a movie out of a comic book and the script will stick to the story.

WIL: So how excited are you to meet us at SiliCon?

TODD: I am really excited. I am right on the Monterey Peninsula, so we are really close.

MOLLY: You are not down in LA?

TODD: No, we moved out of LA. Too crazy, too crowded. We love it up here.

WIL: We took you over because Silicon got you as a guest. We were brought in to the horror programming. When we found out you were coming and you did JASON X, we were really excited. So now you are Horror Yearbook’s guest. I stole you.

TODD: There will be booze there correct?

WIL: Yeah. That is how I run my website. Are you kidding me? [Eruption of laughter from all three of us.] That is the question I want every person we interview to ask me. I wouldn’t be there if there weren’t any booze. SiliCon is all late night parties.

TODD: Well, I get invites right? You gotta put my name on the card.

WIL: Yeah, you don’t need invites because you are a guest.

TODD: You guys going to San Diego (Comic-Con)?

WIL: No, we haven’t fought over this yet.

TODD: I am going, but it is too Hollywood in my eyes. I am absolutely looking forward to SiliCon because it will be a lot more fun.

WIL: San Diego is bigger, but SiliCon will be one big party from start to finish. I guarantee you will have a great time.

MOLLY: What about the odds of Steve and Thomas coming to SiliCon.

TODD: I don’t know. I’ll ask.

WIL: Did you like THE PUNISHER?

TODD: I know Thomas really well and I know Jonathan really well.

MOLLY: Oh, so then No…

TODD: I read one of the first drafts a couple years ago and I thought it was a fantastic script.

WIL: Is there any dirt you want to tell me about Sean Cunningham? Or any great things about him?

TODD: Sean is the first guy that gave me a chance. He is an interesting character. He puts his arm around your shoulder and walks you things and shows you how the business works. And what he is really fond of is showing you the tricks…and then a week later he will screw you using the same techniques.

MOLLY: Do you play Halo 2 online? We can play together.

TODD: I play Warcraft.

MOLLY: They are turning that into a movie too.

TODD: The moment I heard that I called my agent. A whole bunch of us wanted to write that. But they worked with a screenwriter when they made the game.

MOLLY: Were you a fan of CLOCKTOWER before you wrote it?

TODD: Yeah, I played a bunch of those scary games: Fatal Frame…

MOLLY: Ooh that is a good one too. Because you don’t have a weapon, only a camera. What about Resident Evil?

TODD: I love Resident Evil. I wasn’t a fan of the movies. Well, I kinda liked the first one, but not the second one too much.

MOLLY: Didn’t they make Nemesis cry in the second one?

TODD: I blocked it out. Well, back in the day I was a huge Tomb Raider fan and when the movie came out…Anytime a movie comes out and there are huge fans, it is hard to win them over.

MOLLY: I thought Angelina Jolie was a perfect Lara Croft. But I don’t think the writing was very good in either of the movies.

TODD: I have no problem with Angelina Jolie. Well, the writing was a little lacking. But when you have a movie of that size, then you run into conflict and come up with a jumble.

MOLLY: Can I pay you a compliment? I saw you online and you look hot. You kind of look like Stone Cold Steve Austin. When you come to SiliCon, Will you arm wrestle me?

TODD: Absolutely. And I may even let you win. Unless of course you actually win, then I will just tell people I let you win.

MOLLY: Do you have any other projects you want to talk about?

TODD: I have several things in development, but it is too early to talk about them. I will talk to Steve and Thomas.

MOLLY: And if you run into Hilary Duff, tell her to come to SiliCon and represent CLOCKTOWER. Okay, we’ll let you go now.

TODD: You guys have fun drinking.

MOLLY: Actually, I was the sober one. It just sounds like I am drinking all the time.

If you hated THE MESSENGERS, you cannot blame Todd Farmer. And if you loved JASON X, then give him all the credit. Make sure to pick up a copy of “Alien Pig Farm 3000.”

You can see Todd Farmer at SiliCon this year! Visit Silicon’s Website For More Info!