He's been stuck in an insane asylum, become reformed, and then turned back to his malicious ways after nearly getting taken out by an entire town. He's committed vicious acts against teen girls he met online and attempted to off himself by hanging from hooks in the back of a BDSM/nü-metal club. Snider knew the character inside and out, and was clearly willing and able to get into not just the physicality of Captain Howdy, but his mental state as well.īy the end of Strangeland, Captain Howdy has run the gamut of human experience. He's shredded, covered in faux-ink, and has his body covered in modifications, branding, and scarification. It's obvious from the first time Howdy appears that Snider threw himself into the part. I’d like to think I could, but I wouldn’t say I’m an actor’s actor and I can play anything. As a writer, I created him from the ground up, so I don’t know if I could be as effective as an actor in another part. Since I wrote "Captain Howdy," I envisioned it as being more, and I’ve always seen myself playing this part. That being said, when it came to casting Captain Howdy, Strangeland's ripped, tatted-out bogeyman, he couldn't imagine anyone in the part other than himself. After spending the 1980s as a hair metal god, he's since said that writing appeals to him because he doesn't have to look a certain way or be a certain kind of person as long as he can craft an interesting story. There is rhyme and reason, the way people do things in the body mod community.Īccording to Dee Snider, he loves being a writer. I didn’t want to just throw a bunch of metal in a face. He’d say, "Read this book, watch this video, check out this website." He was paid to be the consultant and help design the piercings and brandings for authenticity. On these long drives between gigs, we’d just talk for hours. He’s also hooked deep into the S/M and fetish world and was kind enough to share much of that with me. He’s a premiere brander and does scarification. He has his own shop called Modern American Body Arts in Brooklyn. I met him when I was researching the film. Keith was in the band Carnivore, which was Pete Steele’s first band of note. Alexander gave him advice and pointed him toward various research materials to help him flesh out the design of Captain Howdy. Snider was able to chat with Alexander about the body mod scene on long van rides. Keith Alexander, a body modification guru, was playing guitar for Snider in his live band, Dee Snider's SMF. Luckily, Snider had an ace in the hole when it came to research. There are no random pieces of metal in the character's face, and according to the film's writer and star, he did intense research to make sure he looked the part. The accuracy in the film extends to the tattoos, piercings, and scarifications of Captain Howdy. That means no one coming back to life, no unstoppable slashers getting up again and again, and no dream demons (unless you count an appearance by Robert Englund). Snider has made it clear that he wanted Strangeland to be as factual as possible. Contains extreme violence, nudity, profane language," they made us add, "and scenes of torture." No movie’s ever had that put on it before. He explained the new warning, and his fondness for pushing the MPAA, to Lollipop magazine: The final edict from the MPAA arrived close to the film's release when the board insisted that the film required more edits than previously established, sending Snider and the rest of the post-production team back to work. Rather than completing another re-edit, however, Snider simply had to add an extra warning to the film's rating descriptor. Snider has spoken at length about his back-and-forths with the MPAA and having to make cut after cut - in some instances removing scenes that simply suggest something happens without actually showing it. Released in 1998, long before Saw and Hostel brought extreme gore to the mainstream, Snider's film was a shock to the MPAA when the initial edit of the film arrived on its doorstep. Even for seasoned gorehounds, the film's images of women with their mouths sewn shut and people kept in cages can be hard to watch. Strangeland isn't an easy movie to watch.
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