Lucky McKee Speaks. Err ... Types ...

One gets the sense that you’re invested in horror films on a much deeper level than most directors and that you take the subject matter very seriously. What has your own interest in the horror film given back to you besides a career?

Emotional communication with people all over the world. Oh, and a free bag of peanuts on that airplane.

Do you feel a lot of pressure to prove yourself after the problems involving distribution on The Woods?

I never worry about proving anything to anyone. Just myself. The Woods experience will inform me for the rest of my life and personally I enjoy the film.

Reds has an extraordinary cast. What can you tell us about it?

Red is dead.

What was most challenging about working with Angela behind the camera and you being in front of it?

It was pretty smooth. We’re long lost siblings, so we have very clear lines of emotional, psychological, and technical communication. She made me feel comfortable and that’s the most important thing.

You explored body horror pretty extensively in May. What about that story was so compelling for you?

We’re all lonely people in varying degrees. It’s unavoidable. May is the story of a girl who is consumed by her loneliness and tragically lost as a result. That movie (as well as ROMAN) purged a lot of negative things floating around in my heart and mind. They healed me to a certain extent. (I’m afraid I don’t know what “body horror” is…unless you're talking about that rash you got in Turkey last year)

Do you find it difficult to relate to the idea of a horror fan base that also readily unquestioningly accepts many of the seriously flawed horror films that seem to fall out of the studios week after week?

I don’t really think genre is all that important when it comes to the movies themselves. A good movie is a good movie. A bad one is a bad one. Something can always be learned from both types, even if you don’t realize it’s happening at the time. Genre is just a sales tool, and horror in particular is a real hot commodity, so of course there’s going to be a lot of bad with the good.

Do you experience burning during urination?

Strangely enough, only after I eat shrimp.

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?

Are those those hippy people that live together and eat grass and rocks and stuff? If so, yes. I have been.

On a scale of one to ten if a train traveling 62 miles an hour leaves the Bates Motel prior to Norman getting his wig straight how long until Angela Bettis and Rian Johnson beat you to the Academy Awards? And how many blood squibs will they explode once they get to the podium?

11 months, 2 days, 12 hours, 32 seconds for the Oscars. And 1 giant squib encased in Magnum Sized condom.

Will you ever allow me to interview you again?

Only if you print that the Magnum Sized condom was mine. Cheers.