Attack of the Clonus: An Interview with Robert Fiveson

Judge David Johnson

August 15th, 2005

Back in March, Judge David Johnson reviewed the cult scifi flick Clonus, a.k.a Parts: The Clonus Horror, a.k.a "That Clone Movie with Peter Graves That Was Lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Judge Johnson was able to track down producer-director Robert Fiveson and chat about putting together Clonus on a tiny budget, proto–product placement, filming in Los Angeles without a permit, what he's been up to since, and, in a dose of tasty gossip, his take on The Island, the glitzy summer film that seems to sport a lot of similarities to his own clone movie.

DVD Verdict: Talk about Clonus. Where did the idea come from?

Robert Fiveson: I attended USC film school and received my master's in cinema in 1972. During the time I was in school I had a friend who was very focused on the screenwriting aspect of the program. His name is Bob Sullivan. He let me read a draft of a screenplay he had written called Clonus.

I loved the premise and thought I could use this as a launching board for a career as a feature director. Over a period of years we stayed in contact, and I would periodically bug him to let me have a crack at raising the money to do the film as an indie. Finally I prevailed. He and I, along with Ron Smith and Myrl Schreibman (my co-producer), batted the script around until we had it into a form which was deemed shootable. I began my fund-raising activities. Helped by my father who served as the major seed money, I managed to find (I believe) a total of seven investors. The film was touted in the Hollywood press via paid advertisements, as well as frequent casting calls and announcements of castings.

We shot the film in 1978. The entire shoot schedule was 18 days, and we brought the film in at $257,000. The only deferments were to my coproducer Myrl and myself (as I recall). The film was ultimately released theatrically in 1979 by Brandon Chase of Group 1 Services, the distributor.

It subsequently was played worldwide as a feature film, as well as on CBS television twice, the Sci-Fi Channel a number of times, as well as achieving a new level of notoriety and fan base when it was lampooned on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It also was awarded a "Saturn" in 1979 or 1980 on a nationally televised awards ceremony of the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror. The award was handed to me by Roger Corman.

In all these years Clonus has remained a popular cult scifi favorite and has been available on VHS. Posters are for sale on Ebay and elsewhere. In the last six months a digitally remastered DVD version has been made and is now available through a boutique distributor known for their adherence to quality and love of worldwide and underrated cinema "classics." [That would be Mondo Macabro.]

Verdict: Describe the process of making the movie. What were some of the ups and downs?

Fiveson: The budget was the most daunting factor. We had what most movies today spend on catering -- to do a "futuristic" scifi film! We shot in 35mm as well! The key was in "the board." That's the schedule that determines what actors work on what days and in what order. The only way to get the "stars" we had was to work them as few days as possible.

The other trick was costumes and props. We got a million companies to throw in. This was well before the current trend of product placement, but we were all over the concept. If you look you will see all sorts of products -- Huffy Bikes, Adidas clothing, Dr. Pepper, Old Milwaukee Beer, etc. The end credits look like Let's Make a Deal. That was the brilliance of Myrl Schreibman, my producer. Today he is a professor at UCLA teaching other young hopefuls the tricks of our trade.

The schedule was killer. We would work until the crew was either ready to quit or the actors were in overtime. Mostly we would work until we had to stop because of turn-arounds (the minimum number of rest hours between days). Then we would go back and try and figure out what to do the next day. A lot of the movie was either improvised on the spot, based on the location (like all of the chase/escape scenes) or was stolen (shot with no permits at all) like all the stuff shot in L.A.

Then there were the two lead clones -- but let's stop here lest I get sued for saying there were any drinking or egomaniac problems. No, they were a pleasure to work with. True pros.

Verdict: The film is an example of a piece of hard science fiction that has become an almost eerie possibility, what with human cloning approaching a viable reality. Did you have any idea you'd be dealing in realistic subject matter?

Fiveson: Yes. All along. The science was sound, the story and the conjecture it rested upon were sound.

Verdict: What is it about science fiction that you find appealing?

Fiveson: Nothing. I am not a scifi fan at all. But I eat science up like it's candy. I have done about 800 nonfiction programs over a 30-plus-year career. The last 20 years I have been doing National Geographic, Discovery Channel–type programs, almost all science oriented. When people doubt or do not understand it they call it science fiction. It's like genius; when it's not understood or proven it's called kooky or crazy, then it gets proven and suddenly it's prescient.

Verdict: The new big-budget Hollywood film The Island seems to have a lot of similarities to Clonus. What are your thoughts on that? Are you flattered? Angry?

Fiveson: We are filing a suit in federal court. We have identified 89 individual points that are the same in both films. This is like a simple DNA test. How many markers line up, how likely is it that this could be chance in a random sampling? Have you read the reviews? Go to Rotten Tomatoes, or the Village Voice, or Premiere magazine, or the Seattle Times, or Decentfilms.com. The list is long and the vox populi consistent.

Angry? No. Bemused and amazed? Well, yuh!

Verdict: So, do you think Hollywood is struggling for new ideas?

Fiveson: Apparently, and I cannot understand why. There is a rich pool of brilliant and creative people out there who would love to get a shot. Back in the days before computers I used to hear the sound of people typing at night in the summer when the windows were open all over L.A. (I really did!) I guess between lines (of coke), the Hollywood moguls are so paranoid to fail that they ensure films' success by being derivative.

In my experience the people calling the shots are afraid and so they try for sure things; if it was funny once, if it made us laugh once, if it was brilliant at one time... well, you can't go home again. There is no such thing as a second first impression. Credibility is a nonrenewable resource.

So we will see more and more "small" films get lauded because they will seem like miracles. Why? They are good ideas, well told and done in a way that is resourceful. And that is the same thing we tried to do. Our failure was we were too ambitious in a time when ethical debates and morality plays were not the vogue (still aren't, as evidenced by how The Island glossed that whole element) and we came out in the era of the "slasher" film. Oops.

Verdict: What are you doing these days?

Fiveson: After producing and directing Clonus, I was never offered another feature to direct, though I did write several screenplays on assignment. Subsequently I drifted into the world of nonfiction. I am still executive producing nonfiction (doing an hour special right now for National Geographic International and three other foreign broadcasters). My wife and I also operate a real estate company here in Virginia. Between the two I seem to exist on six hours of sleep a night. In three years I hope to be in a place where it's warm year round and English is a second language.

(Of course, I still have a screenplay that would do well, but then again it's a good story well told, so perhaps not!)