Q&A with Erick Wofford, author of Krull

Q&A with Erick Wofford, author of Krull

1. How did you become a fan of the movie Krull?

1A. I was born quite a few years after the release of Krull but my parents were voracious collectors of VHS tapes and I actually stumbled upon the Krull VHS tape merely because I was drawn to the awesome cover artwork. The artwork was both intriguing and horrifying to me as a child of maybe 6 years old but after minimal arm twisting, my father let me watch the film with him and I was hooked forever!

2. Why did you decide to make a book about the making of Krull?

2A. I've made several award winning short films and a handful of feature films but I've always wanted to try my hand at writing a book. I've written several short stories and movie scripts but never something non-fiction. I read a lot of filmmaking/film history books already and I realized there really wasn't much about Krull. The more I dived into the backstory, the cast and crew attached to the film and also the absolutely bizarre onset antics and marketing ploys for this film, I knew I had to write it!

3. Who did you interview for this book?

3A. I reached out to literally everyone I could find contact information on, from Liam Neeson, all the way down to Production Assistants on the film. I found out that a lot of the cast and crew have passed away over the years and dozens of surviving members of the film, avoided my interview like the plague and politely (mostly) turned me down. I did manage to interview Graham McGrath (Titch), Derek Lyons (The White Slayer), Lindsay Crouse (The voice of Lyssa), Nick Maley (creature designer), Andy Armstrong (Assistant Director/Stunts), Gareth Tandy (Visual Effects), Alan Church (Optical Camera Operator), Jamie Harcourt (Optical Effects), Bob Bridges (Video Operator) and Jeffrey Schwarz (Krull Digital Comic Creator)!  I also interviewed some celebrities and filmmakers that were huge fans of the film including Rocky Gray (drummer for Evanescence), Kent Hill (filmmakers and cinephile) and Joshua Krebs!

4. Do you get annoyed by the constant argument that Krull is just a rip off of Star Wars?

4A. Yes! This is a major pet peeve of mine and also most of the people I interviewed. Yes it is true that a lot of the crew on Krull also worked on the Star Wars films but the UK film scene at the time was still a relatively small pool of filmmakers and crossover was always going to happen. I also personally believe that Krull stands on its own and is more of a hybrid science fiction/fantasy film, much closer to Excalibur than Star Wars. I really delve deep into this topic in the book and I found some VERY intriguing facts about all 3 of these films, but I don't want to spoil that on here :)

5. Who is your favorite character in Krull and why? 

5A. That's a tough question but I'd have to say "Torquil." His character has the best arc in my opinion and Alun Armstrong just oozes machismo and charisma in this role and by the end of the film, you are really rooting for him!  A close second for me would be "Rell" the cyclops.

6. What is one of the bizarre marketing ploys they did to boost this film that you talk about in your book?

6A. The most bizarre marketing scheme was an ad in the newspaper to "win" your own Krull wedding! The wedding included Lyssa's wedding dress in your size, an armed guard procession and much more!  

7. Why do you think the film didn't succeed at the time of its release?

7A. I think it came down to a bit of bad marketing and also bad timing. Krull was competing with the likes of Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi and other fantasy films around that time and I think the marketing team didn't give audiences a clear idea of what Krull was about. Was it a science fiction film, was it more of a fantasy film or was it a horror film, the general public couldn't tell from the trailer.

8. I've heard there were several nearly deadly injuries while making Krull, can you give us some examples?

8A. One example is the scene in the swamp where the Slayers come up out of the swamp and attack Colwyn and his band of heroes. There was a small platform beneath those slayers but just beyond it, there was a deep drop off and one of the stuntmen accidentally stepped off the platform and nearly drowned! 

Another example that Graham McGrath talks about in the book is the fact that they used a real Tiger that was merely drugged while his character "Titch" is holding it in his lap after it is struck by one of the Slayers lasers. Derek Lyons also had an even more terrifying encounter with the tiger during the scene where it attacks the "White Slayers" but you'll have to read the book to hear more.

9. Who was your favorite interview and why?

9A. That's tough, everyone I interviewed was so gracious with their time but I'd have to say Graham McGrath was a particularly excellent interview and was actually the first I completed for this book. His interactions with the tiger, a young Liam Neeson and just his on set experiences was amazing to hear! 

I also loved talking to Nick Maley because I'm a huge special effects/monster fan. Hearing how he came up with a lot of the creatures was amazing and even more amazing was the stuff he made that DIDN'T MAKE IT INTO THE FILM! And the fact that he helped create the original Yoda puppet just blew my mind.

10. Why should people purchase your book?

10 A. I think anyone who is even a casual fan of Krull or even scifi and fantasy films of the 80's will really love the behind the scenes information I was able to gather. Not only do you get to hear about all the amazing work that went into Krull but you also get to hear about working on the Star Wars films, Aliens, LifeForce, Superman, the Bond films of the era and tons more! A lot of these people either had or went onto make huge careers in the film business and seeing how they all are connected to Krull is a real treat.

Even if you've never seen Krull (which I highly recommend) there's so much film buff history and snippets of that era, that you'' love it! Plus I have a recipe for delicious "Krullers," doughnuts shaped like the glaive!