You probably remember Henry Rollins from his punk-rock days with Black Flag, or as an out-spoken human activist, but filmmaker Jason Krawczyk has a different vision of Rollins as a troubled, undead, possibly vampiric – well, I’m still not entirely sure WHAT he is. In the movie He Never Died, Rollins plays a man who just can’t seem to die no matter what torture he endures. Is he a hero? A villain? If it’s up to Rollins’ character Jack, he’d be neither. He’d just sit around all day watching television, visiting a local diner, and drinking blood to quell a dark secret swept safely under a rug of normality.
He Never Died is an interesting movie because it never demands to be classified. No matter what conflicts present themselves in Jack’s life, he always seems bothered by whatever thugs may attack or which family members are taken hostage. We want to assume he’s a vampire based on his actions, but we can never fully tell because he’s able to walk around in the light, eat food, and take part in human activities. He’s no zombie though, nor any other monster. He’s just a badass, cannibal dude with some serious night terrors and a nifty skill that makes him a prime problem-solver.
Both the film’s creator, Jason Krawczyk, and Henry Rollins were attending South by Southwest to promote their new project, and I was able to chat with them about He Never Died. Henry was extremely enthusiastic about the film, which came out through his animated responses to numerous questions along the way, but you could already tell his investment simply by witnessing his performance as Jack. Jason was more tight-lipped about what to call Jack, but his admission that He Never Died came about in response to Twilight‘s sparkly vampire culture made it all better.
Check out what they had to say in the video above and stay tuned for a release date for He Never Died, as we’ll keep you posted when we hear of one.