THE SECOND COMING OF ROB FITZ

interview by Michael McCarthy

Since one Wednesday in June of 2015, Rob Fitz has been hosting a weekly movie night event called Weirdo Wednesday at The Luna Theater located in Mill No. 5 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Sadly, it was recently announced that the mill is closing at the end of the month. The final edition of Weirdo Wednesday in Lowell will be on the 29th of January, something lots of folks (like me) are pretty bummed about to put it bluntly. If you live in the area of Salem, Massachusetts, then there is good news for you because Weirdo Wednesday will be getting a second coming, just at a different location in Salem, a theater simply dubbed Cinema Salem. In many ways, that works out better for Rob since he owns The Magic Parlor in Salem, a shop specializing in everything from pagan related items to professional masks to magic tricks for kids.

After a decade of waiting, Rob finally showed his own movie, God of Vampires, which he wrote and directed, at Weirdo Wednesday in Lowell on January 8th of this year. I had previously seen it on a DVD Rob had given me and I thought it was fantastic. It’s a really fun mix of gun fights, street fighting and vampires with lots and lots of gore. Not surprisingly, the crowd at Weirdo Wednesday loved it. If you weren’t there, you’ll have the opportunity to see God of Vampires at some point later this year as they are currently working on a Blu-ray release that will feature loads of extra goodies. (In the meantime, it is already available on DVD.). In the following interview, we discuss everything from the closing of Mill No. 5 to Weirdo Wednesday to God of Vampires and much, much more. And it’s a long one so I won’t ramble any further. Enjoy!

MM: The big news is that Mill No. 5 is closing at the end of the month. Which, sadly, means The Luna Theater, which has hosted Weirdo Wednesday since you started it in June of 2015, is going out of business.

RF: The good thing is, even though that’s ending, it did create a lot of great businesses. It created a lot of really interesting things. And one of which was us, Weirdo Wednesday.

MM: For those who’ve never been to Weirdo Wednesdays, could you tell us about it?

RF: Weirdo Wednesday came out of me asking the manager of the theater at the time, “Hey, are you interested in doing like a little film festival or a little film night? Something like that?” And at the time, this girl Amelia was there. And she came at me and she was like, “Hey, listen, I have this idea. There was this movie night they used to do down at the Alamo Draft House in Austin, Texas. It was called Weirdo Wednesday. Probably because Wednesday is a quiet night in the theater. And they were showing these bizarre movies. Stuff that no one’s seen. Because there’s a bunch of movies that are so far under the radar. And they were like, “Do you want to do something like that?” I said, “All right, but I want to do it in a way where it’s so counterintuitive that it’s going to be the opposite of what everyone’s used to. You don’t get to know what the movie is until 7:30.” And she’s like, “Wow, really?”

MM: I think the mystery element was one of the reasons it became so popular.

RF: It’s a mystery. And the idea is that everyone comes and they commit. Because in the beginning it was just free. And it’s still free, but they would charge a little membership fee later on. But it was a free movie. And people would come. They would commit because they would buy popcorn and buy soda and buy beer and wine. Because they had their liquor license. And, you know, they sat down and then it was like, “Oh, we’re showing blah, blah, blah.” A lot of times, most of the people didn’t know what it was. But when they watched it, they were like, oh, my God, this is a crazy movie. And it’s highly entertaining. So my idea was to show exploitation movies and a lot of horror films. Because that’s where my heart is. And just weird stuff. So that you could never really guess what we’re showing.

MM: Right. It was always a surprise. And unlike most surprises in life, it was usually a good surpise.

RF: Last night, I asked people, “Anyone want to guess what we’re screening tonight?” And everyone was throwing stuff out. A lot of people said David Lynch movies. And I was like, I’d never be that obvious, right? I mean, David Lynch just passed away. And I love David Lynch, but I’m not going to show a David Lynch movie. Besides, I’ve already shown my favorite ones.

MM: Which ones?

RF: We showed Wild at Heart. We showed Blue Velvet. And we showed Eraserhead.

MM: Are you a fan of any other David Lynch films?

RF: Mulholland Drive is a great one. And what else?

MM: I really like Lost Highway.

RF: Lost Highway is great. Good stuff.

MM: So do you agree that the mystery, where people didn’t know what they were going to see, actually made it more successful as opposed to hurting?

RF: 100%, yeah. The interesting thing is that nowadays, as opposed to like when I was growing up, everything is Netflix and streaming services and all of that. So you can watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it, and it’s all there for you. Full access, right? Except that when they get on Netflix or they get on Prime or whatever, and they’re scrolling through, looking at movies, it takes them a half hour just to decide what they want to watch. Unless they like heard about a movie and they’re there to watch that specific one. Other than that, they’re sitting there, scrolling, because they get addicted to scrolling. Which is what everyone does on their phones, right? So this is the opposite. It’s completely counterintuitive.

MM: Exactly.

RF: You have to go. You can’t even stay in your house to do it, right? Because that would be too convenient. You go to the theater and buy your popcorn or whatever — and you get this weird group of people that are like-minded — and we tell you what you’re going to watch. I don’t even tell them until the day of. Or when I get there. And it’s right at 7:30, so you’re already there. So you’re like, alright, well, I don’t know about this movie, but I might as well stay.

MM: You’re a captive audience by that point.

RF: Sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise. And sometimes it’s a horrible ordeal. And then sometimes poor people are offended, and they get pissed off and they leave.

MM: That reminds me. I wanted to ask you about a movie you showed that seemed to really disturb people. I can’t remember the name of it, but you were showing the movie and about halfway through it, the DVD or something stopped working and you couldn’t finish showing it. It was a movie about witches and there was a lot of torture. And I remember people seemed uncomfortable watching it and when you weren’t able to finish showing it, it seemed like there was a sigh of relief from the people around me. Do you know what that movie was called? I’ve always wanted to finish watching it.

RF: Oh, man, I don’t know what the movie was.

MM: It was about witches and there was a ton of nudity and torture.

RF: Was it Mark of the Devil?

MM: No, I don’t think it was.

RF: Was it an indie film?

MM: I think it had a one-word name.

RF: It wasn’t Witch Hunt? Was it that?

MM: Maybe.

RF: There was a movie called Witch Hunt. Very rarely would I show a local person’s films but on occasion, I would be like, okay, I’ll show this guy’s movie. And a friend of mine was in it, and she kind of talked me into it. I was like, all right, why not? I had never seen it, right? So boom, we’re watching this movie Witch Hunt with the guy who made it. A nice guy, but man, it was bad. And then the guy was up there talking about it. And he was real proud of it, though. I was like, huh, I don’t think he even knows that this was not a great movie.

Rob makes death look good.

MM: Interesting. I don’t think it’s the one I am thinking of though because the filmmaker wasn’t there when you showed it.

RF: Well, some people might have gotten offended by that one. But then again, I would always tell people, listen, if you’re sensitive to this kind of thing, maybe this Weirdo Wednesday thing is not for you.

MM: Right. It’s not for everyone.

RF: That’s also another compelling thing. We show movies that people are not going to be comfortable with. It might be brutal. It might be nasty. There might be stuff you see in the movie that you don’t like. But the artist who made the film, this is what they wanted to put across, and it’s not always nice.

MM: Yeah, exactly.

RF: Sometimes it is, sometimes it’s not. It’s usually a horror movie, so usually it’s not. And that’s it.

MM: I remember when I worked at West Coast Video they carried a series of movies called something like Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS. Some kind of Nazi exploitation movies or something.

RF: Those Ilsa movies — there were three or four of them. Exploitation movies. But actually fairly well produced exploitation movies.

MM: Did you ever show any of those?

RF: I actually never got a chance to show any of those. But now that we’re in another location, we might. Who knows? I mean, I just love showing crazy movies. I went to film school in New York City. And at the time, it was late 80s, early 90s, and Times Square still had the grindhouse movie theaters. And those places were notorious for showing crazy exploitation movies. And I love that in the sense that it’s so wrong and so messed up that it’s kind of fun to show people that stuff. And maybe part of the point was to offend you. And maybe to [make you think] like, hey, this is wrong. You know it’s wrong. Then, you know, that’s good that you know that.

MM: Good point.

RF: When it comes down to it, these are just movies. They’re not real. And they’re supposed to get you going. You know, stir in some passion so you’re not sitting on your hands doing nothing.

MM: Did you ever show any documentaries or anything that was real?

RF: Yes. Some of the documentaries I showed were wonderful. There was one called To Be Takei about George Takei and his marriage to Brad and all the things George Takei from Star Trek was doing. He did this awesome little documentary. It was very nice. And then I showed a movie called Murder Ball, which is about guys that do wheelchair rugby. And it’s brutal. These guys don’t have use of their legs. They’re paraplegics and quadriplegics. Or not quadriplegics. I don’t think you can do it. But anyway, [it was] awesome. So good. And people would not expect that. Once in a while I would throw in a documentary and they’d be like, what? And then they’d get to see a documentary on the big screen, which is awesome.

MM: You don’t get to see those on the big screen very often.

RF: I always say, if I won the lottery and had the ability to do whatever I wanted, I would have a theater and I’d have a night — maybe Tuesday nights or Monday nights — where it would be like Weirdo Wednesday, but it would be all documentaries. I mean, you can watch a documentary at home and it’s compelling. But seeing it with an audience is a whole other deal.

MM: One thing I always liked was that at Weirdo Wednesday people felt free to laugh at things that it might be considered inappropriate to laugh at elsewhere. The dark comedy or shocking horror and stuff. Do you think it’s still possible to make what they used to call black comedies? I’m thinking of movies like American Psycho or Falling Down with Michael Douglas.

RF: I guess there’s a different sensibility with it now. But, I mean, one of the reasons the new Deadpool movies work is that they are really black comedies. The reason they work is because they go too far, you know?

MM: Right.

RF: They’re still doing it, but they’re just doing it with a different sensibility. There’s a lot of good stuff out there. But sometimes people don’t pick up on it. Sometimes movies can be clever, and they can just do stuff and get it in there, and people will just be like, oh, that was a wonderful film. Last night we watched Dawn of the Dead at Weirdo Wednesday. And my favorite thing about that movie is that it is a social commentary, but it’s wrapped around an exploitation horror film. It makes their statement so much better because you don’t even have to really watch it for that. You can watch it for the zombies and the action and the crazy slapstick quality of the movie, but if you look at it, you go, wow, like, this is all about consumerism and capitalism and all of that. And it’s from the time when shopping malls were just really starting out [in the] late 70s. And that was a social commentary taking a shot at that, which he did brilliantly. It’s my favorite Romero movie.

MM: Did he make another one that took place in a mall?

RF: No, no, he made his zombie trilogy but then he made a couple of other ones after that, towards the end of his life, that weren’t as as good. Day of the Dead took place in a bunker. It was military. And then Night of the Living Dead was on a farm. But, yeah, there was a remake of Dawn of the Dead, 2004.

MM: Yeah, I was thinking around that time there was a zombie movie that took place in a mall.

RF: Yeah, that was a remake of Dawn of the Dead. I think James Gunn made that? Who went on to do Guardians of the Galaxy and all those. I forget, but that’s a great remake. But it did lose the theme a little bit because I think that they didn’t really think on that. But it was a great movie.

[Editor’s note: The 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake was directed by Zack Snyder but it was written by George A. Romero and James Gunn.]

MM: One thing I thought was interesting when you showed Dawn of the Dead last night was how the characters didn’t believe the media. It’s kind of like how it’s almost become today where you could be telling people about a zombie outbreak and half the population is just going to completely disregard it. Because they think the media is lying.

RF: Yeah, yeah, things haven’t really changed that much. [It’s like] when you watch the beginning of that movie. We’re still disbelieving. We’re still like, no, I don’t buy that, you know, even to their detriment. It’s probably even more nowadays because most of our news and the media is opinion based. If you don’t share the person’s opinion, then you completely disregard everything, which isn’t the consumer’s fault, it’s the media’s fault. They’ve created this monster [and] they don’t know how to bring it back. I only watch local news. I watch the local Channel 5 or 7 or 25 News. And it’s just like, okay, it’s going to snow tonight. And they might be wrong, but at least I know they’re trying to tell you [the truth]. Just the facts, man.

MM: So how and when did you find out that Mill 5 was closing?

RF: Funny thing. I came in one Wednesday and the manager just walked up to me and he goes, yeah, by the way, this is happening. This was in November. I think it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I remember exactly. Happy Thanksgiving. And by the way, this is all going away. And it wasn’t even just the theater. I was like, so it’s just the theater? And they’re like, no, everything. And people were like, what? Right before Christmas? They’re going to tell these businesses that they’re done?

MM: Yeah, I heard about it when they posted the news on Facebook on Thanksgiving Day. And I just thought that was horrible timing to post that. Why couldn’t they wait until the next day? Because this is obviously going to upset a lot of people.

RF: Yeah, they didn’t wait. I heard the night before. And I had to tell [people]. I’m not holding back big information like that with my crowd. I’m just not doing it. I said to the managers, “Can I tell people this? I mean, is this totally official?” And they were like, yeah. I’m like, okay. So I told everyone. You know, so sorry. And then I said, “But I’m going to find a way to make Weirdo Wednesday continue on elsewhere.”

MM: And you’ve already found your new location.

RF: Because I own a store in Salem, Mass called the Magic Parlor, I immediately went to Cinema Salem. And I said, “Hey guys, I do this thing called Weirdo Wednesday.” And they’d all heard of it. And I was like, would you like to host it? Because Mill Number 5 is going away. And they were like, 100%, we want you. They didn’t even think about it a day.

And they said, “When does it end?” And I thought it was ending on the 22nd, right? So I’m like, the last one’s going to be on the 22nd. And the guy was like, well, why don’t we do a little test run on the 15th? And then you can finish in Lowell on the 22nd. And I was like, absolutely.

MM: That’s awesome that you found a new home for it so soon.

RF: As soon as I heard that, I told [the audience in Lowell], guys, sad news. This is all going to go away at the end of January. But the good news is, I’m going to give you an incredible lineup of films. We’re going to show some huge, huge, great movies. Just finish it off on a super strong note. And so I started playing all the coolest stuff. Movies that are, in my mind, iconic. And there’s some stuff that some of the younger people had not seen. Because it’s from the 80s and 90s and movies of that era. Think about it. A lot of these kids grew up just watching Marvel movies and new Star Wars movies. And there are great things that inspired these people. I can’t believe a lot of people had never seen Robocop.

MM: Do you ever find that the younger people that attend Weirdo Wednesdays end up preferring the older movies you show over what’s popular right now?

RF: Well, absolutely. What’s really great about doing Weirdo Wednesday is that I inspire the younger generation to explore the movies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. You know, there’s a really great sweet spot in the 70s and 80s where it’s really like a golden age for cinema. And they get into it, which is great. I love it.

MM: You showed Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things at your first night in Salem, right?

RF: Yes.

MM: How did that go?

RF: It went very well. The first one was free. And the cool thing about Cinema Salem is that you can purchase your ticket ahead of time. There’s more seats, too. It’s about 150 seats in the theater. And it was filling up. And [the cinema management] were like, oh, my God, we might have to move to the even bigger theater. And I was like, well, whatever you got to do, that’s fine.

MM: That’s awesome.

RF: Because the Luna is only 80 seats, I think. But [in Salem], we had about almost half the theater full, which when you look at a movie theater and you see half the theater full, it looks bigger. You know, like it looks pretty packed. And the funniest thing was that I didn’t even tell people what the movie was. I was so excited that I went up there and just said we’re going to do this Weirdo Wednesday thing and it’s going to be awesome. And I left the stage. And the lights went down. The preview started. And I was like, fuck, I didn’t tell them what the movie was. And then the title came up. And they were like, oh, great choice.

MM: Does the audience in Salem laugh at things the way we do in Lowell?

RF: Yes, 100 percent. Especially Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. The director of that movie is listed as Benjamin Clark. But it’s actually Bob Clark. Bob Clark went on to do Christmas Story. And he did Death Dream. And he did a bunch of other movies. He did Black Christmas. And it was his first movie. So it kind of has a cheesiness to it. It’s actually fun to watch. There’s a lot of, you know, funny things and very dated things. It’s early 70s all over this movie. Everything from the costumes to what people say. And they did find it really funny. Especially, the lead actor in it. His name is Alan Ormsby. He was a super annoying theater director guy. He was controlling and insulting and everything else. And the whole movie builds up to his demise. And they cheered at the end. And that’s one of the cool things about Weirdo Wednesday. Here are movies that hardly anyone watches nowadays. And we have them clapping and applauding at the end.

MM: It’s pretty special.

RF: And some of these movies, I don’t think anyone has cheered at this movie or clapped at the end of this movie ever. Which is great. We’re bringing it new life, you know?

MM: So how many movies in total did you show in Lowell?

RF: 414 movies. That’s it. 415 will be the total because there is one more day, the 29th. And I’m going to step out and do Salem. But I think when I finish introducing the movie and get it going, I’m going to go drive up to Lowell and catch the last one because there are some regulars that may not make it all the time. And, you know, saying our goodbyes is important. I’m not super sad about it, but I know some people are. They’re really, really bothered by it, like really devastated. I know my right-hand girl, Becky, is. I look at her and I’m like, do you need a hug, you know? You want to hold my hand? I mean, she’s really upset.

MM: I think that, unfortunately, where Salem is at least a 40-minute ride from the Lowell area, a lot of people won’t be able to make it to Salem, at least not very often.

RF: No. But they will, once a month, twice a month, you know? We’ll still have some people from Lowell, but then we have a lot of [new people]. In some ways, it fits in Salem even better because of the artistic-type crowd. The musicians, the comedians… A lot of the kids are going to be like, oh my God, we’ve got to go to this. They’re going to discover Weirdo Wednesday.

MM: Yeah. It’s going to be another generation of it.

RF: So it’s good. That’s cool.

MM: On another note, are you still working as a make up artist on movies?

RF: Yes. I’ve been a makeup artist for over 30 years. I did makeup for films. But I own a store so I stepped away from makeup partially. But on occasion, if a job comes up and it’s really cool, I’ll have to do it. Earlier last year, I worked on The Walking Dead, Dead City, the Negan spinoff, Negan and Maggie, and that was an awesome experience.

MM: Did you get to do zombie makeup?

RF: Actually, they have a dozen makeup effects artists, or even more, that do the zombies. And they’re all wicked hardcore. And they’ve been doing it since the first season. So I got to hang out and talk with those guys. But the department head of the makeup team, just the regular makeup, hired me to do the background people. Most of them were survivors. And the survivors were just dirty. We had to do different levels of dirty. Post-apocalyptic type things. There’s a lot of dirt and grime and blood.

MM: You finally showed your movie, God of Vampires, at Weirdo Wednesday a couple weeks ago.

RF: What did you think?

MM: Oh, you had given me the DVD when I interviewed you in 2019 so I already knew that I loved it, but it was great seeing it on the big screen. Were you nervous about showing it at all?

RF: No. You know what’s interesting? Some people are different, I guess, when they are filmmakers and they show their movie. Sometimes they’re all worried. And I’m like the opposite. Yes, I want people to like it. But if they don’t, I don’t really care. It’s already done. It’s on film. It’s a recorded thing. It’s edited and everything else. There’s nothing I can do about it. So why be too worried? So I show the movie with almost no expectations. And when people respond, which they did, then I’m like, oh, wow. And the best part of it is that I brought the lead actor, Dharma, my good friend, to the screening. And he watched it with us. And he was like, oh, my God, people went nuts for this movie. It was like so, so nice to see people appreciate us and to see what we did and to really show people how passionate we were about making it. And he was floored. It was really nice to see that.

MM: Do you have any ambition to write or direct any other movies?

RF: Yes. With God of Vampires, we got like a release back in 2010. And it didn’t set the world on fire. It wasn’t like a huge, you know, big thing. We did OK. We won some awards at some film festivals and all that. But eventually what happened was that the industry changed and these little boutique type release companies started coming together. And a friend of mine who is a musician ended up becoming half partners with a guy who’s been doing it for years. It’s called Cauldron Films. And he came up to me and he said, hey, Rob, what’s going on with the rights of God of Vampires? And I said, “Well, they just reverted to me.” And he asked, “Can we release it?” And I was like, 100 percent, because I knew this guy.

MM: How has the experience working with them been going?

RF: They are so respectful. They’re so excited about it. They do everything they can to make it the best possible. It’s not just like a shitty product to them. And which is interesting, because most of the time with these movies back in the day [companies would] just pump them out like this is all crap anyway. And these guys respect it and they love it. So Cauldron Films is releasing God of Vampires later this year.

MM: And working with them on that has inspired you to want to make something else?

RF: It got me thinking. I mean, I have a bunch of scripts, but I want to write something I really want to do. And try to get another movie going. The only thing is I can’t make it like I made God of Vampires. God of Vampires was made for so little money.

MM: It’s like guerrilla filmmaking.

RF: Total guerrilla filmmaking. Even the film we shot on was used film, like short ends to make it cheaper. And it was crazy. We did things that were potentially harmful to us just so we could do it. Because most of the time, if you did it right, it would cost you way more money. But if I can get someone to back me up, which I probably could do, I would love to make another movie.

MM: Have you ever thought about doing a God of Vampires sequel?

RF: I do have like a concept in mind. The concept would be something along the lines of making it another person’s story. But having the main character, God of Vampires, enter it. Whenever I approach a movie, I always have an underlying theme.

MM: How would you describe the theme of God of Vampires?

RF: The underlying theme of God of Vampires was, to defeat the monster, you must become the monster. Right? At the end of God of Vampires, not to ruin it, spoiler alert, the guy becomes a vampire and that’s how he’s able to defeat the bad guy. The other vampire. And now he’s the monster. He’s lost his humanity. We’re going to take that and go somewhere else with it.

MM: It sounds like a great idea.

RF: I’m a firm believer in, when you make a sequel to a movie, you’ve got to try to make it at least 50% different. Or completely different. And that’s what will be successful. There are certain movies that, okay, it’s going to be the same thing over and over again. And they’re successful, fine. But I think to keep people interested, you should do something different. Take risks. You know, that’s my opinion.

MM: You’re working on a God of Vampires Blu-ray release. Is it going to have any extras, like an audio commentary or anything?

RF: Yes, it will. We’re going to be working on a lot of that stuff. Actually, later this month, we’re going to be getting together and doing a whole thing. We’re going to do extra footage, like little scenes that are not in the movie, things we shot, little clips. There should be a lot of stuff. Photographs from the movie. I mean, God of Vampires took us about ten years from the beginning of coming up with the idea to releasing it. It took us about six or seven to actually film it. So that’s a long time. There are people that died that were in the movie during the course of making the film. That’s a whole other subject. There’s a million things about God of Vampires that I can tell you about. A lot of that stuff will hopefully be covered in the special features.

MM: Have you directed anything since your second feature film, 2015’s Blessid?

RF: Between God of Vampires and Blessid, I did some music videos. Since Blessid, I haven’t really directed anything. I’ve written some scripts. Well, I had some ideas and we did a couple of things. Like we shot some little things that we never kind of pulled together. So not really. I focused on my career as a makeup artist and I did a lot of movies. And you can see my name on IMDB. And then I ended up buying the shop in Salem. And I’ve been focusing most of my efforts there and making it a successful business, which it is. And we’ve been doing good. But, you know, maybe it’s time now to do another movie?

MM: And that could potentially help bring people into the store.

RF: So it’s a double whammy.

MM: I was just thinking of Kevin Smith’s comic book stores, for example.

RF: Yeah. He’s famous for making movies.

MM: I’m sure some people go to his store hoping that they’ll run into him.

RF: Yeah, why not? I’m sure people come in and he’s probably like, yeah, sure, I’ll sign that. Why not, you know? He seems like a really good guy.

MM: About 30 years ago, I did a series of interviews with people from his movies for his website. And I interviewed him a bunch of times and we were kind of becoming friends. And then Chris Gore from Film Threat approached me and my friends about doing an email newsletter for Film Threat.

RF: Interestingly enough, when Film Threat was a magazine, way back in the day, my short film got reviewed in Film Threat. I made a little short called Lost Face based on a Jack London short story. And it got a good review too. And that was an issue where they had just interviewed Marilyn Manson when it was Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids or whatever. So it was interesting. I got a little review on my short in that magazine way back then. And now if I read through that magazine again, I’d find all kinds of things where people have gone on to do bigger things.

MM: Internet Movie Database says you have an upcoming project called I Don’t Want to Drink Your Blood Anymore. Is that accurate?

RF: Oh, that hasn’t been released. It was a movie I did, some teeth. I did fangs for the girl who’s in it. I had to cast her teeth and give her a fang, like one fang. But I don’t want to tell you anything about it. But it’s a vampire movie.

MM: Okay, so it’s a full-length movie then?

RF: Yes.

MM: Do you think it will get released at some point?

RF: I hope so. Yeah, [but] that’s got nothing to do with me. I was just a hired hand. I was probably cheaper than everybody else. So that’s why I got the job.

MM: What were some of the most shocking movies you showed at Weirdo Wednesday?

RF: Shocking movies? Okay, I kind of made it a point to show something really nasty on the Wednesday before the very first Thanksgiving. So I showed Pink Flamingos. And if you know that movie, the end is pretty shocking, right? And it was the funniest thing because I’m sitting there laughing and having a good time and then at the end of the movie the credits come up and I look behind me and almost the entire theater had cleared out. They all split. They had enough.

MM: So they’d left before the end?

RF: Yeah, I think so. I think they left before the end. It got them before any of that. And then I showed Cannibal Holocaust. That’s a hell of a movie to see unbeknownst, right? Just get hit with Cannibal Holocaust out of the blue. And then one of my favorite stories about Weirdo Wednesday is when I showed a movie called Necromantic. And I didn’t know this, but later on one of the regulars told me that this guy was on a blind date and they were like, oh, let’s go to this cool little quirky thing called Weirdo Wednesday. So I sat down and I started showing Necromantic, and it’s about necrophilia if you don’t know about this movie. It’s really nasty and gross. And I guess the girl was glaring at him saying, like, take me out of here. And he was like, oh, give it five more minutes, ten more minutes. He didn’t want to leave and she wanted to leave. So I think the date was over. Either I ruined a nice romance or he dodged a bullet.

MM: What do you think about how they’ve got trigger warnings all over everything now? You know what I mean? Like it’ll say if something contains violence or rape or incest or whatever. Even if there’s smoking in a movie, they’ll warn you beforehand on streaming platforms and such.

RF: Well, it’s like the rating system, but with details, right? It’s like the rating system was put there because, you know, children are going to see these movies and it’s going to be a bad influence. And then they were like, whoa, wait a minute, Steven Spielberg wants to make a movie that has this guy’s heart being ripped out. So we’ve got to create a new rating for him, PG-13, so it can make more money. It’s a weird blend of commercialism and morality. And people are inserting their morality into what we watch. It’s a form of censorship. I mean, me, personally, I don’t care, right? If people need that because they’re so sensitive… But they’re going to watch a movie, which is fake, right? It’s not real. If that’s going to make them upset, which I guess it’s supposed to, then, you know, if they need that, that’s fine. I remember when I was a kid watching horror movies. To us, it was a badge of honor that we saw, you know, a classic like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That was so cool. It was intense. That had trigger warnings. That means I’m seeing it, you know? It inspires people. It made it more desirable to some people. I mean, NC-17 or Rated-X, I’m going to go to that movie. I’m cool for watching it, you know? As far as [Weirdo Wednesday] goes, I’m going to show people what I’m showing. And if they don’t like it, don’t come back. You don’t have to come. But there’s some people that really will love it. And, you know, I’m against censorship, first and foremost.

MM: Are you still teaching makeup classes at your store?

RF: I was just talking about doing that and getting them back going. We do them on the weekends. But it’s so damn cold in Salem right now that we just got a shipment of some of the makeup that we use and some of it was frozen.

MM: It’s been so brutally cold. Does that ruin the make up if it gets frozen?

RF: Some things. Like latex. If it freezes, it’s done. Acrylic adhesive. If it freezes, it turns into a lump of goo and you can’t use it. And it’s funny you ask that because I have to call the a company later today and say, “Hey, look, 75% of the stuff you sent me froze and it’s like a big glob in the jar. Can I get replacements or maybe ship something in March?” It sucks. But I think we’re going to do classes. I have to wait a month or two because it’s not really practical to do it in this temperature. Plus, we have heat in the store, but it’s limited because it’s expensive. And most people are coming off the street and they have their winter coats on anyway.

MM: Aside from Weirdo Wednesday, what movies have you seen lately?

RF: Let me see. I saw Wolf Man. The new one, the Blumhouse Wolf Man.

MM: How was it?

RF: It was pretty good. The acting was very good, and they did some interesting things with it that made it a little different. They had some concepts in it that were like, okay, he’s a wolf, so all his senses are going crazy. And everything is loud, and he sees things differently and all that. So they do some really cool stuff with that. It’s not a perfect movie. It’s just decent. I love that actress, though, too, Julia Garner. You ever see the show Ozark?

MM: Yes.

RF: She’s the girl who says, “I don’t know shit about fuck.”

MM: I know who you mean. She’s awesome. She was on the show The Americans.

RF: Oh, I haven’t seen that. Is that good?

MM: Yeah. One of the main characters is played by Kerry Russell from Felicity. They’re Russian spies living in the U.S., and they have kids who don’t know that they’re spies. It’s really dark and mysterious. And Julia Garner plays the daughter of a guy that they need to spy on. So the guy who’s married to Kerry Russell’s character seduces the character played Julia.

RF: Oh, okay. Yeah, she’s terrific, and all the other actors in [Wolf Man] are really good. But what’s interesting about her in this film is she’s very understated, and she’s not as wild a character as in the show Ozark. And then she’s faced with this crazy event where she has to fight werewolves to survive.

MM: Did you see that new Nosferatu movie?

RF: Yeah.

MM: How was that?

RF: That was very good. I liked it. I think that’s Eggers’ best movie. I haven’t seen The Lighthouse, though. But I’ve seen the other ones, and I thought Nosferatu was excellent. Some people don’t like it. I can see why, but I loved it. What I like about it is that it’s one of those things that’s kind of uncomfortable, right? It’s like an uncomfortable movie to watch, and it shows Nosferatu or Dracula as not just an individual but like a force of nature or a concept, which I love. What’s funny is Dan, one of my regulars, he said to me, “I liked Nosferatu as well, but he’s my second favorite director from New Hampshire.” Basically saying that I’m his favorite director. Because Robert Eggers is from New Hampshire. And so I was like, wow. I mean, thanks. I don’t know if I agree with you that I’m as a good director as Robert Eggers, but thank you for the vote of confidence anyway.

MM: So tell us a bit about your movie collection. How many DVDs do you own? Were you ever into Laserdiscs?

RF: Yes, yes, yes, and yes. And if you see my movie collection, it’s insane. I have over 3,500 movies all throughout the house. I invest in, not cabinets but shelves. I have them surrounding my house and all around in different rooms. I categorize them by genres. The biggest is horror. And there were many Weirdo Wednesdays where I just walked over and [picked something] five minutes before I was leaving the house. But, yeah, I have a ton of movies. And I have Laserdiscs. I started really having resources towards the end of the Laserdisc age. And I was able to buy, I don’t know, maybe about 50 or 60. But I have some notable ones. I have like an Evil Dead 2 Laserdisc that’s blood red. So that’s kind of cool. And I think I have The Empire Strikes Back Laserdisc. But it’s the original cut before he started doing things, adding his own stuff to it. And I have, you know, tons of DVDs, obviously. And then Blu-rays.

MM: Have you gotten really into Blu-rays?

RF: Now instead of buying DVDs, unless they’re like thrift shop finds, I’ll get them on Blu-ray. [But] honestly, I don’t have any 4Ks. But I have been toying with the concept of biting the bullet and getting a 4K player and going all out. But I’m like, man, it’s more money. And is it really necessary? Maybe not. But, you know, I love it so much. So it’s, to me, it’s worth it. And then all of this stuff is going to probably go away anyway. You know, physical media, which is a real shame. But as long as I’m around, I will always have these. And I just love it. And think about it. Paul Reubens died, right? And everyone was like, oh, I want to watch Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. And no one had it on any streaming [services]. I had it on DVD, which is hilarious. But that’s the problem with streaming. I’ve got stuff that you’ll never see on streaming. Ever.

MM: Do you buy a lot of foreign DVDs?

RF: Yeah. You know, I love a lot of Japanese movies and Chinese movies. Korean films, too. There’s some amazing filmmakers. And that’s the only way to get them. Whenever I get a DVD player or a Blu-ray I have to get a region-free one so I can watch the crazy stuff from foreign, different regions.

MM: The only other thing I wanted to ask you is, have you ever thought about writing a memoir?

RF: About myself? Yeah. Maybe about working in makeup and, you know, Weirdo Wednesday?

MM: You’ve done so many different things.

RF: I guess if it was in someone’s interest, I would. But I never even thought it would be like something anyone would be interested in. Because I don’t feel as though I’m famous, you know?

MM: Do you feel like a local celebrity sometimes? Do you ever get spotted in public and people are like, oh, you’re the Weirdo Wednesday guy?

RF: Well, when people come to my store, they’ll be like, oh, I go to Weirdo Wednesday. But I never thought of it as me being famous. I guess I’m too self-conscious. I don’t feel as though I’m a local celebrity even. I don’t look at myself that way. But maybe some people who are famous, sometimes they don’t look at themselves that way either. But I’m far more interested in money than I am fame. I don’t care about attention. I would like to make films, do my art, and make money doing it. You know, I think that anyone should agree that it’s way better to have money than fame in our world. But there’s a lot of people that are into it.

MM: Have you ever thought about doing a podcast? You could talk about your adventures in doing make up for movies and Weirdo Wednesday movies and such.

RF: You know, you’re like the second person who’s told me that in the last couple weeks. It was a customer who came in and I was looking at him, and I’m like, I know this guy. He might have been an actor or something. But he looked at me, and he goes, you know, you’ve got a really good voice for a podcast. You could just naturally talk about stuff and all of that. So, I don’t know. Maybe that’s, you know, you saying it, this guy saying it, other people might say it. Maybe I should explore that.

Extra special thanks to Rob for coming all the way to Dracut to do this interview in person with Mike! And extra, extra special thanks to Rob for sharing so many movies and laughs with us at Weirdo Wednesdays over the years. Lowell will miss you tremendously.

Comments

5 responses to “THE SECOND COMING OF ROB FITZ”

  1. Slovac Avatar
    Slovac

    Great interview!

  2. Scott B Avatar
    Scott B

    I am really going to miss Weirdo Wednesday. It’s been the highlight of my week for years.

  3. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    That was a nice read. Weirdo Wednesday for life!

  4. Iffy Avatar
    Iffy

    I wonder how early Weirdo Wednesday will sell out tomorrow night?

  5. XXIS88 Avatar
    XXIS88

    Can’t wait to see what they show at the last night of Weirdo Lowell.

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