Alan Jones is an internationally renowned reporter on the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres in all media and extensively travels all over the world to cover the making of movies in production. He was the sole London correspondent for the seminal American magazine ‘Cinefantastique/CFQ’ from 1977 (when he interviewed the entire STAR WARS cast and crew) to its final issue in 2005.
During the past 30 years he reviewed every genre release for Great Britain’s ‘Starburst’ and he is currently a film critic for ‘Film Review’ and the ‘Radio Times’. Other magazines and newspapers he has written for include ‘Empire’, ‘Fangoria’, ‘Total Film’, ‘Wonderland’, ‘The Dark Side’, ‘Heat’, ‘GQ’, ‘Vogue’, ‘FHM’, ‘Preview’, ‘Shivers’, ‘Femme Fatales’, ‘DVD Review’, ‘The Independent’, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘Premiere’.
He, along with Paul McEvoy, Ian Rattray and Greg Day, also organises the world renowned FrightFest horror film festival that takes place in London and Glasgow every year, and it was at this years Glasgow FrightFest where I managed to track down Mr. Jones for a chat where we discussed all things horror, including the Saw series:
What do you think of the Saw franchise?
I thought the first one was good and the second one was fine, but three, four and five were a bit like a soap opera [where] it all got a bit confusing actually with the box, the letter, the will, and you’re thinking “what is going on?” Because I had to review them all I used to watch them all again every time I watched a new one, just so I could get it all in my mind and people would say to me “How do you remember this?” and I’d say “I didn’t actually because I been back and had a look [at the previous films]” and they do actually all follow through… I do think they made a mistake with Tobin Bell, the fact that he became such a big character and they bent over backwards to include him in every [film], and it de-mystified him. The fact that he’s been in it more since [the character] died says it all.
What do you think of the latest film - Saw VI, which is about to hit UK DVD?
I do like the last one, I did think it was quite good fun and it felt like they’d got back on track, to me it was a bit more relevant. The first one was quite good, it was very well done and we hadn’t seen that before. The Saw movies are pretty much of their own self-contained universe to me, but I do like them. I do like Saw VI, I think the whole allying it to the banks and the recession was good fun, it gears it up for [the last film] in 3D and that’s it I think…
Do youy think Saw VII will really be it?
Because [Saw VI] didn’t do as well, unless this [new] one does do well, I think any more films will go straight to DVD. But at the moment it still props up Lionsgate, and they make an absolute fortune from it, so they must be doing something right.
Saw VI is released on DVD and Blu-ray March 8th by Lionsgate. You can find more info on Saw VI on the films official website or at the Lionsgate Fright Club.
Look out for the second half of this interview where Alan and I discuss all things FrightFest and just how it has become THE place for horror fans…
