When attended the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in September, we knew we'd be seeing some great names of the genre. What we didn't expect was to discover a compelling new (to us) director right in our backyard. Dante Tomaselli, director of two low-budget horror films, Desecration and Horror, showed off footage from his soon-to-be-released by Anchor Bay film Satan's Playground -- and we were instant fans. Just like both this writer and the founder, Tomaselli is a New Jersey guy, born and bred. But more than that, he's a fascinating creator with a unique vision and a pressing need to put that vision on the screen. We were lucky enough to score an exclusive interview with Tomaselli, delving into his influences, his mindset, and his upcoming films. We think you'll agree after reading this, he'll be a director to watch in the years to come.

TOMASELLI: I saw Don't Look Now when I was about three in 1973. That was also the same year The Exorcist came out. Even though I was incredibly young, I absorbed its energy ... the newspaper ads, the commercials, the music. I also loved John Carpenter's Halloween. I saw that on my ninth birthday with all my friends and they were traumatized, but I absolutely loved it.

As far as books, I grew up when Stephen King was just starting out. All his early books and some of the film adaptations were excellent. Carrie. Salem's Lot. The Shining. Pet Cemetery. Christine. I also enjoyed John Saul, horror books like Comes the Blind Fury.

Lovecraft was spectacularly wild, completely unhinged. I loved The Dunwich Horror. I even appreciated the Roger Corman film. The Old Ones. Brrrr...

: At your recent Fangoria convention panel, the works of H.P. Lovecraft were specifically mentioned. Lovecraft is one of the great pioneers of horror literature, yet his tales of fear are driven not by the horror we see, but by what we don't see. How did this “off-screen” approach to fear, terror and darkness impact the way you see the worlds of darkness you create?

TOMASELLI: Well, I think I happen to share some of his obsessions. I'm not sure if I'm influenced by any one entity. But I respect and admire Lovecraft. He was a master. The legend that is H.P. Lovecraft, I admire him greatly. What I like is that his writings are totally abstract. They're unapologetically weird, intoxicating ... and full of pain. They're metaphorical, kind of hazy and dreamlike. I think maybe my films are a bit like that. Of course he's H.P. Lovecraft and I'm not. I'm just this guy from New Jersey who has odd visions. I do have an obsession with replicating childhood nightmares, fears, anxieties. With my films, I'm trying to construct some kind of nightmare where we experience the protagonist's damnation.

: Do you think this drive to bring childhood fears to film is a cathartic thing, an effort to conquer those visions by “owning” them in your films, or is it that you've been drawn to them, to the nature of your own fears and anxieties?

TOMASELLI: It's definitely cathartic, but by me making these films I don't feel I am owning these fears in any way. I wish that happened. If anything, my anxieties are brought more to the surface because I feel so vulnerable, so exposed. I find it very difficult to watch my movies with people. It's almost unbearable. And yeah, I've gotten some positive reviews of my films. But if you ever read any of the horror message boards you'll know that I am polarized. Certain people have said the most hurtful things about my work, really nasty, and sometimes it, well ... hurts ... even if it's only from some failed NYU-film school dropout from Kansas.

And of course sometimes the person behind the screen name really does hate my work. The words become a swirl of taunting voices in my mind. I try not to read message boards anymore. So much of it all is propaganda anyway. I do have some jealous enemies out there, that's a fact. Plus I've made three features, and I'm on my fourth. That drives some of the people who want to see me go down, completely mad.

: How clearly do you think your influences and inspirations come across in your work? Do you, as the writer and director of your films, see clearly from where aspects of your brand of horror sprang? Do you make an effort to mask your influences from the audience, or do you wear those inspirations on your sleeve?

TOMASELLI: I think I'm all over the place. You'll see traces of Alice, Sweet Alice, my cousin's film, in Desecration. Satan's Playground has the Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Shining, Phantasm, The Dunwitch Horror, Mother's Day, The Hills Have Eyes, The House with Laughing Windows, Nosferatu. So many others. I can't help myself. Most all of it is unconscious, but occasionally it's out up front in the open like Felissa Rose's scream in my last film, Horror. There was an affectionate nod to Sleepaway Camp. Mainly, the shocking ending, the final frame. The bulk of my film material comes from my own childhood nightmares, my, um ... unhappy childhood. A feeling of all-encompassing sadness and adults always being monsters.

: Let's talk about your earliest forays into film making. What made you pick up the camera and start shooting for the first time? Did you know right away that you wanted to shoot horror, and did you know early on that you'd like to pursue films as a career?

TOMASELLI: Since I was a little kid I always knew I wanted to be a horror filmmaker. Through my eyes, I'd stalk the terrain and pretend to be a killer or I'd imagine a camera chasing me and I was the victim. I used to purposely go out deep into the woods and try to get lost. I'd do this alone.

I loved the woods. I didn't need anyone with me. I was definitely a quintessential loner growing up. I felt uncomfortable with most social interactions. I was either eager and confident or I had no confidence at all. I played sports but I hated it. I always enjoyed retreating into my imagination. That's when I was happiest.

: This idea of retreating into imagination, escaping reality, sort of ties into an image you recently showed me, a promotional picture for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. You said it was something of an obsession for you.

To me, the image is like a door linking the known world to the unknown; just beyond that hill is something, a step beyond the world we know. But that's just my take. What is it in the piece that drew you in so strongly?

TOMASELLI: I was only seven years old, 1977, when that film came out. I was completely obsessed with the image. I mean really, really obsessed. For years, I had it as a huge poster hanging over my bed. I'd draw and paint it over and over again. The endless road with an infinite horizon leading to a spectral light. Wow. It did feel like a doorway to something ... and a journey, too. I have such fond memories of the visual I ought to go out right now and buy the poster and frame it. And of course I loved the movie. As a seven-year-old, I had my parents take me to Close Encounters many, many times. It was such a treat.

: Talk for a moment about creating your first film, Desecration, both the short and the feature. Obviously the experience (and the film's critical success) prompted you to move ahead with a second feature film. What lessons did you learn from that first film that you've taken with you to your second, third, and soon to be fourth features?

TOMASELLI: Well, I've learned that I don't have to do everything. Even though I still write, direct and score my films, I'd rather not produce. It's best to leave the promotion stuff up to someone else.

Although so far, I always have a hand in my posters. I do think that's important. I really just want to be, I guess, the artist (laughs). As far as writing, I'm much more open to collaborating. In the beginning I would never be that way, but it's different now. In fact, Michael Gingold, the managing editor of Fangoria Magazine, is co-writing The Ocean with me. He's helping me with dialogue and characterization. I'm more of a visualist and a musician. My screenplays tend to be completely surreal, untamed, and that's not always a good thing all the time.

: So is it a matter of learning to rein yourself in, to almost work against your instincts as a creator?

TOMASELLI: No. I don't see it that way at all. I have 100 percent creative control. I make sure, legally, that I have “final cut”. For example, I knew for The Ocean that I wanted to collaborate with another writer. I don't need to be the sole writer. It's all about making better films. Maybe I'm good with visuals and sounds and themes but the actual writing of the screenplay has always been torture for me. Unless the characters are Italian-American from New Jersey or people from the Jersey Pine Barrens or the East Coast in general, I need help with dialogue. I've made three films so far (Desecration, Horror, Satan's Playground) and I've written all of them. It was time to work with a co-writer.

: Is this a move towards trying to satisfy an audience more than trying to satisfy yourself as an artist, or is it simply that you want to tell a story in a way you haven't before?

TOMASELLI: Definitely both. But really The Ocean tells my original story. What's different is the amount of dialogue and characterization. Michael Gingold brought that to the mix. My style is minimalist. I keep everyone and everything a dream symbol. Love it or leave it. The early films were pure surrealist experiences. Satan's Playground was my most entertaining so far. It's a wild ride. And the pace is faster. But I want to grow. I want to take it further. I don't know - I just, I want each film to be more pleasurable and satisfying than the last in terms of pleasing an audience looking for surreal terror. I'm here for horror and surrealism. I love to do what's not expected. I want to always try something different yet remain the same, stay true to who I am. I seem to tell the same story of abusive parents, mute children, guilt and damnation over and over again

: Unlike your first two feature films, Satan's Playground has more of a traditional narrative. Was it a challenge to tell a story in that manner after two not-very-traditional films, or did you find that the change came pretty naturally?

TOMASELLI: Oh it was a challenge. In fact I think it's almost impossible for me to do a straight movie. But Satan's Playground is the closest. It starts off conventional but becomes very strange, nightmarish. The New Jersey Pine Barrens provided me with the perfect setting. The woods looked so fairytale-like on the set of Satan's Playground. The texture, it inspired me. And everything had a whimsical, yet evil-tinged “Hansel and Gretel” feel to it. The actors, the sets ... the house. Irma St. Paule as Mrs. Leeds really is spellbinding. And Christie Sanford as her mute daughter is evil, evil, evil. Unlike Desecration and Horror, Satan's Playground tells a story that goes from A to Z. It doesn't skip all over the alphabet. At same time, though, it's extremely “imagistic” and psychedelic, and there's a strong emphasis on sound design. I composed the soundtrack like I was making an album.

: This really comes across in the five-minute preview shown to audiences at Fangoria Weekend of Horrors. How important an element is sound design and soundtrack to creating the kinds of moods you want to create?

TOMASELLI: It's so important. It means everything to me. I find the soundtrack to be literally 50 percent of the film's equation. I'm a sound collector, always hunting. I have a library like you can't imagine. I love mixing samples and musical compositions and manipulating them on my Roland Synthesizer.

: And in turn, you're manipulating the audience through the compositions you're creating, mounting fear or tension or terror. Do you have this in mind when you're writing, or do you just, well, let the music flow and see what comes out?

TOMASELLI: Yes, I already have the music in my mind as I'm writing. Before I'm writing even. Music and sound design I feel should be treated with special respect. The sound mix is actually my favorite part of the filmmaking process. I love it more than shooting or editing. The sound mix is always an intense, blissful period for me.

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