Stuart Gordon is the director of such horror classics as From Beyond and Re-Animator. People may not know this, but he actually started out in theatre and has been nominated for the Joseph Jefferson award multiple times.  He was kind enough to talk to me about how he got his start in genre, what he’s up to now, and what he’s been watching lately.

What got you started in theatre?

I started doing theatre when I was at the University of Wisconsin; I discovered how exciting, you know, it could be.  So, we started a theatre company called The Organic Theatre and moved to Chicago.  We did all sorts of plays over the next several years.

That theatre is actually still up and running.  Do you plan to make a return the theatre?

I’ve actually got a play up and running now in Los Angeles called Nevermore, and it stars Jeffrey Combs as Edgar Allan Poe.  It’s been running for 4 months.

Having worked in all these mediums–theatre, television, film–is there any one you prefer?

Well, I like them all.  I think each of them has their strengths.  It’s like trying to sort of match the right project with the right format.  For example, we did an episode of the Master of Horror for television where where Jeffrey played Poe in an adaptation of “The Black Cat”.  He was so great and bawdry, we started thinking about, you know, how could he keep going with this, and so theatre seemed like the obvious answer.  And, me and Jeffrey started doing this one-man show.

Well, speaking of Jeffrey Combs and his involvement with you, especially with projects like the Re-Animator series, there was supposedly a 4th film in the works entitled House of Re-Animator.  What’s the status of that?

Well, it’s actually not gonna happen.  It was really, the point at the time, it was about the Bush administration.  And so, now, that time seems to have come and gone.  Thank God.  (laughs)

Exactly!  How about horror films that have been released lately, any favorites?

I really liked District 9.  I thought that movie was very smart, very effective.  And, very powerful.

Yeah, it actually had a message.

Yeah, and I think that’s one of the great things about horror, and science fiction,  is that you talk about things.  You’re able to get ideas across.

Definitely, it’s a good platform to get people’s attention, too.

Yeah!  And if you announced you wanted to do a political movie about apartheid, no one would come to see it.

(laughs) Exactly.

As long as it’s about aliens, and you know, flying saucers, it’s like you can reach (people).