It's Coming!

I've known Richard Jefferies, the writer/director of "Living Hell", for a long time, so when the production was shooting near Santa Fe last year, I decided to take a vacation out that way, and spend at least a little time on the set.
They were using an abandoned wing of the New Mexico State Penitentiary as a stand-in for the interior of a (also abandoned) military research facility. That was a little surreal, since I could walk a few feet from the activity on the set into these huge, empty cell blocks -- not to mention a gas chamber. No sleepovers there, thanks.

I'd read the screenplay, and it's always fun to see what's on the page come to life (I'm a great fan of 50's and 60's sci-fi, and "Living Hell" echoes my favorite science-run-amuck movies, with an 00's update). I also found out it's much better to visit a set as a friend of the director, rather than, say, the writer. I got the V.I.P. treatment from the staff and crew, which didn't hurt my feelings. Richard introduced me to just about everybody in the cast, too. The big surprise there was not that Erica Leerhsen is beautiful -- that was no surprise -- but that the comic in the bunch was James McDaniel. I mostly knew him from his ultra-serious Lt. Fancy on "NYPD Blue", and his offscreen personality is more laid back and funny than I expected. You won't be seeing that side of him in "Living Hell".

I noticed some other people on this board were talking about release dates. Even though principal photography's been done for awhile, they're still working on effects shots. That process is supposed to be done fairly soon, and then I guess everybody will get serious about getting this pup into theaters. Even if I turned down the opportunity to put on a camouflage suit and be a background soldier (hey, they said I had to shave my beard! -- okay, I'm an idiot, but it seemed important to me at the time), I'm looking forward to seeing the result.