Lance Warlock interview (Son of the best Shape...)
Dick Warlock's son, Lance, is probably most memorable to you horror fans as the "Boom Box Boy"
in Halloween II, who bumps into Myers. After interviewing Lance's father, we thought it would
be cool to do a follow-up interview with his son...read on...
1: Lance, many people will remember you as the "Boom Box Boy"
in Halloween II, rubbing shoulders with your father, the legendary "Michael Myers,"
Dick Warlock. Can you remember much at all of being on set with your father?
Any fond memories or anything insightful you can share with us Halloween fans?
I remember everything that happened during the time I spent on
the Halloween II set. I was there for three days of additional shooting by John Carpenter. During
the first night I remember the crew had brought in some “I Love John Carpenter’s Escape
From New York” T-shirts to pass out to the cast. Most of them had all just completed that
film together and were excited about it. The second night was the night I worked and we
had a blast. Mostly Dad wearing the Michael outfit and scaring all the people who were
there to watch the filming. During one of the takes John told me that when I bump into
Michael, look up and say, “Hi Dad!" That was fun! The last night was the Alice death
scene, which turned out to be the first death in the film. Jamie Lee Curtis was there
that night and read the phone voice over part to the actress who played Alice. Bet
not many people knew that!
2: How has your father's prolific career as a stuntman altered
or influenced your own life? Is it something you dwell on, on occasion, that your "dad"
was involved in a movie such as Jaws for example? One of the greatest movies ever made,
in a very memorable scene at that! That would blow my mind! Not to mention a cult hero
after playing Michael Myers in Halloween II, one of the best horror sequels ever made
without a doubt. What are your thoughts in regards to your father's career?
It’s very interesting because that is how I grew up. That was his
job. I remember that he worked very hard. The cool thing was there were lots of times
that I was able to go and watch him work. I remember being on a variety of different
movie and TV sets. From “Baretta” to “B.J. & the Bear” to Jaws. Funny you mentioned
Jaws because I went to the tank where they filmed his scene in the cage and saw
“Bruce”. I have, to this day, an original “Bruce” shark tooth! I have held on to that
for all these years. I think I was six or seven years old. Those were my childhood memories.
Seems weird in some respects, but that was normal to me. I remember when dad doubled
Kurt Russell as “Dexter Riley” on those Disney shows when Kurt was seventeen years old. I have
several times in my life wondered why I did not choose to go into his profession.
I always liked hanging around the set with everybody. There are certainly worse ways
to earn a living!
3: I understand that you, like myself, are a drummer. Would you mind
sharing some details about that? How long have you been playing? Your heroes? Your band?
Any big future plans in this field?
First off…right on! Glad to hear you choose a great way to make
music! I am 36 now and have been playing drums steadily since the age of 13. I had my
first run in with the drums when I was 6. Get this….my dad brings home a set of drums
to practice “air drumming” for a scene in a Disney show! I was hooked! As I got older,
I couldn’t stop. I played in a band all through high school. After school, I got into
touring and playing as much as possible. Up until about 7 years ago, I have played in
bands. One thing I really love doing is studio work. That I still will do. Also I have
been teaching drums for almost 10 years. So, it has been a big part of my life! I have
always been into movie soundtrack music. I have loved it all my life! I still have the
Jaws record also! As I got older, I thought I would try my hand at that style that I
have admired for so long. I now own a production company called Unit 12 Productions. My
partner and I are working hard at getting our names out there to the industry and showing
them what we can do. We have made several contacts and have a few really cool projects in
the works. We’ll see what happens!
4: To get back to the horror side of things. What do you think of
the Halloween series as a whole? Personally, I really only have time for the original
and the first sequel. Two of the best horror movies ever made in my humble opinion.
What do you think? And at that, what do you think of the other big franchises such as
Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Hellraiser and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
The original Halloween was it for me. I was sold! The way that it
was done is right up my alley. I think it set the standard for a lot of films after that.
It was sure borrowed from a lot! I’m not sure what to think of the rest of the Halloween
series. I have seen them all. Resurrection was interesting because they used a
contemporary idea at the time with the internet and video cameras. That was a nice twist.
I have seen most of the other horror series. The first Elm Street was just plain
creepy! I got sucked in. Same with the Friday series. That did get a little interesting
in the latter years. Seems to me that they all lost some new and interesting concepts.
It was all about killing and death. Not so much shock and suspense! That’s my thing!
Recently I saw the new Texas Chainsaw. Very cool! Andrew Bryniarski was great! I’d love
to hang with that guy! I hear they are making another TCM. I’d love to do the music for
that!
5: I understand that you are currently involved in some independent
movies. Could you elaborate on this? Tell us what you are currently up to and what your
future plans are?
We are about a month away from releasing a science fiction short
film called Radio Mechanics. This project we wrote, produced and directed ourselves.
My company scored all the music for the short. I also had a small role in which I play
an escaped mental patient. Seemed fitting! See the similarities to Michael Myers? Once
it is ready, we will be selling copies on the movies website, www.radiomechanics.com
We will also be using these as a calling card for industry people to see what we can do.
Also what we can do without a budget. Our main focus is music composition, but we are
always going to dabble in the movie making side if the story is right. We are in the
process of getting our website up and going so we can start making ourselves and our
projects more known. The address is: www.unit12productions.com At this point the goal
is to keep working and get out there. We just finished some tracks for the new
Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD. That was great to be involved in a project that
got me in this business all those years ago! I’d also love to hear from any of the fans
out there. For anybody interested, you can contact me at lancewarlock@charter.net and
anyone interested in our musical ability, please contact us at unit12@charter.net.
Thanks for the great interview, Lance!
Rich, thank you very much for your great questions! I really enjoy telling the fans about my memories and experiences! Take Care!
-Lance Warlock – “Boom Box Boy”
