Great to talk to Michigan filmmaker Doug Schulze about all things horror movies, and his latest movie called “Thorns’. You can watch the trailer for the movie below. 

Doug is a founder of the Motion Picture Institute, which he compares to the Specs Howard of filming schools. I also included a link to that school below.

He said his love for 80s horror films was the influence for “Thorns”. He says the movie is the “thinking mans Terrifier” LOL. The movie stars Doug Bradley, who horror fans will know right away from the “Hellraiser” series as Pinhead. “His manager actually recommended him, so he brought him the script and he loved it.” 

The movie marries religion and sci-fi. Doug explained the movie to me without giving too much away. The movie debuts at the Emagine Theater in Royal Oak on February 17th with a red carpet premiere, which will include Doug Bradley there in person. Look for it to hit other theaters the following weekend on starting February 23rd. 

We talked about movies he loves. He said he’s a big Stanley Kubrick fan, and he mentioned others movies we should check out. As far as Rob Zombie movies are concerned, Doug had some nice things to say…we’ll say. I’ll let you make up your own mind. 

During the conversation, Doug admitted that the series “Stranger Things” was a big motivator for “Thorns”. He told me about the writing process he goes through developing a film. He talked about having a beginning, middle, and an end, and then expanding it from there. 

Of course, I had to ask Doug if he ever had a paranormal experience. He didn’t hesitate and recalled a story of a film he was trying to make while the soundman kept picking up screams in the background. That happened up near Saginaw. Great story! For more paranormal, check out my Haunted Michigan podcast. 

He finally shared a story with The Stooges’ Ron Asheton. He was in one of Doug’s movies years ago. The story he told about what happened in Ron’s house was pure rock and roll. LOL

A huge thank you to my friend, Kurt Schwarz for the hookup with Doug. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie!

Watch and listen to the entire interview below.