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AE: Will you ever feature an out, gay character in one of your films? Other than the actors running around and being terrorized in their tighty-whities, what do you feel makes your films homoerotic?
DD: Of course. I have had out gay characters in my movies. I guess my definition of “homoerotic” is the beauty and provocative situations these characters find themselves in. Watch the three-way in Brotherhood II. The guys look only at each other while they make love to the girl. They are always touching each other, and then they lick tears from each other's faces. How’s that for homoerotic?

AE: Any crazy fan mail?
DD: No. Just amazingly supportive and lovely fan mail. Most of my audience only watches one kind of genre movie — mine. Incredible!

AE: You established yourself early on with a series of low-budget sexploitation movies such as Nightmare Sisters, Creepozoids, and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. How were those first experiences as a young director?
DD: I was just feeling my way through the filmmaking process. I didn’t have any experience, per se, but had enough enthusiasm and tenacity to keep working. I am a white-trash boy from Portland, Oregon, who came to Hollywood at 18 to make B-movies … knockoffs of Death Race 2000 and Crazy Mama. I aimed for this level and got lucky.

AE: On several of those early films, you worked with popular scream queens like Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, and Brinke Stevens. Unlike the scream queens who preceded them, these gals were quite, um, uninhibited onscreen. What are some of your memories working with them?
DD: Well, as a gay man, I love women. Those girls became my buddies. I love and adore them. We had a blast working together. They are also very professional and have terrific senses of humor.

AE: How did your involvement in several of the Puppet Master sequels come about?
DD: I was producing a few movies for [horror director and producer] Charles Band, and he asked me to direct Puppet Master III during the Trancers II shoot … my Helen Hunt movie! His original intention was to shoot in Romania, and I was the only director he knew who would brave an eastern European winter making a period horror movie about Nazis and puppets. We ended up shooting at Universal Studios because the winter in Romania that year became too grueling.

AE: On Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge, you worked with the underrated British actress Sarah Douglas. What do you remember about working with her?
DD: I liked working with Sarah. I became a fan of hers after seeing her in Superman II. Her starring in The People That Time Forgot was also a big plus!

AE: When did you first realize that you wanted to direct horror films?
DD: I fell into it. You take what you are offered and work in a genre that is commercial and easier to get financed. I also like horror movies, but mainly I wanted to make campy, gayer ones. That certainly is a niche market! It is also a genre where you can experiment — which I did quite a bit of.

AE: What were some of your earliest cinematic influences?
DD: Roger Corman, Irwin Allen, John Waters, Andy Milligan … filmmakers who made the movies they wanted to make and didn’t talk themselves out of making them. That happens so much in Hollywood because so many filmmakers are afraid of failure. I’m not! I keep braving through it and get ’er done!

AE: What are your thoughts on those who compare you to a modern-day Roger Corman?
DD: My friend Fred Olen Ray is the modern-day Roger Corman. I strive to be the new Andy Milligan. Here’s a queen who made movies for $7,500 bucks and got them in theatres. His stuff was rough around the edges, but he had such a bizarre take on all the genres he worked in. They are so much fun to watch. If there is any filmmaker I can be compared to, it’s Andy — except for all the cruelty and misery … I’m a much happier guy!

AE: What’s up with some of the pseudonyms you’ve worked under as a director? Any secret meanings to your alt-identities of Ellen Cabot, Victoria Sloan or Julian Breen that you’d care to share?
DD: Just a way to hide from the director union and not give the impression I worked too much. And some of the movies were way too graphic sexually. What would my mother think? Besides, every gay boy should have a drag name! [Laughs]

AE: You also have a wonderful penchant for casting some of the grand dames of the genre in your more recent films. What was working with actresses Adrienne Barbeau and Joanna Cassidy on Ring of Darkness and Witches of the Caribbean, respectively, like?
DD: I love all those ladies. I have always considered myself a fan first and a director second. I am so glad those ladies wanted to work with me. They are so professional and talented and are so respectful of me. Plenty more to come, too!

AE: In keeping with casting mature actresses over the age of 50 in your films, I think the sorely underrated Veronica Cartwright [Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The X-Files] would be a great choice for a role in a future DeCoteau production. Any thoughts on that?
DD: We tried to hire her for Skeletons, but she was tired of playing the crazy old lady, I guess. I’ll try again. I love her!

AE: Any actress and/or actor you’ve gone after for a role in one of your films who has turned you down?
DD: Besides Veronica, it would have to be Bea Arthur for Wolves of Wall Street. Louise Lasser took the role. She was a hoot!

AE: One genre star you would love to work with whom you haven’t yet? Extra points for saying Jamie Lee Curtis!
DD: Well, of course Jamie Lee, but I would also like to work with Christopher Lee.

AE: Tell me about your next project. Personally, I’m still waiting for Desperate Demonic Houseboys in which you’ll persuade Jesse Metcalfe to slip into those boxer briefs!
DD: I’ve got a really weird one planned. Don’t want to mention it now, but it is twisted! Check my website often, and I’ll announce it soon.

AE: What was the last good horror movie you’ve seen — one that impressed you?
DD: Fahrenheit 9/11 — George Bush is the most horrific man on the planet!

AE: Any plans for a companion book to your films — maybe a memoir?
DD: Maybe. And I already have the title: Confessions of a Homosexual, Ex-Patriot, Ex-Pornographer, Atheist and Sex/Horror Movie Schlockmeister. That should sell a few copies, eh? [Laughs]

AE: Thanks so much for agreeing to be interviewed! Best of luck with future projects.
DD: My pleasure! Join my Yahoo forum via rapidheart.com — free sexy pics! Hurry!

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