Quotes

[asked what his epitaph should read] He seen somethin' different. And he done it.

I see filmmaking as a business and pity anyone who regards it as an art form.

[about Connie Mason during an interview with John Waters] She never knew a line. Not ever. Nor could she ever be on the set on time. What we did in 2000 Maniacs! (1964) was to pull about two-thirds of her lines in order to finish on time. I often felt if one took the key out of Connie's back, she'd simply stand in place.

I've often compared Orgie sanglante (1963) to a Walt Whitman poem; it's no good, but it was the first of its kind.

Way, way back in prehistoric times I saw the original Dracula (1931). Bela Lugosi's watermark on the pages of cinematic history. I recall only a few scenes, plus my insistence that the lights in my bedroom be left on all night long. The motivator had to be purely cosmetic, the way he glowered, plus the strange accent atop brutal word delivery. Some years later I saw this film again and laughed at the characterization. That's how sophistication spoils pseudoreality.

[about the making of Orgie sanglante (1963)] It took me about 12 times longer to score that picture than to shoot it.