Finally got to watching this interview, which comes as an "extra" on the "Der Schreckensturm Der Zombies" DVD set I reviewed a few months ago. If you're a Robin fan, it's worth getting this just to watch it! He is as engaging and interesting as ever, and it is quite long, somewhere in between 45-60 minutes, I didn't keep track.
Darrell keeps the interview flowing without the same tired old questions. There was barely any "Confessions" talk, thank goodness! Glad to not have to sit though another account of how difficult the "bubbles" scene was to do. He starts out by telling Robin he looks great and asks what he secret is, to which Robin is quick with an amusing reply. Then they briefly touch on some of the projects he had just been working on up to that point: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dead Funny, Coronation Street, and Benidorm, with stories to tell about each, including a really hilarious one about him finding out he had rehearsed the wrong part in Dead Funny!
They then visit the past, with Hans Brinker stories (most of which can be found in his book), the "Confessions" record he put out and how he came to do that, and his subsequent appearance on the Marc Bolan show to sing it.
Tower of Evil is then talked about, and how he had originally wanted the larger role of "Brom" in it, since after all, he had been the star of a few movies by this time. (I've always thought that myself!) - He didn't explain exactly why Gary Hamilton was given the role instead of him, but to make up for it, Richard Gordon went on to write the part of Jason in Horror Hospital just for him, so all turned out okay in the end. Just recently, Robin said, Richard Gordon had sent him the latest digitally remastered DVD copy of Horror Hospital. Although he said he honestly couldn't tell the difference he gained a new appreciation for how artistically the movie had been filmed. He then added a few memories he had of filming it, but nothing we hadn't heard before.
"Let's Get Laid" and "All Coppers Are" were briefly touched upon before they went on to discuss the flurry of new horror movies he was involved with that he was never able to get copies of: "Evil Calls", "El Dorado", and "Back2Hell" (the last two of which I still have to see as well) and how funny it is that their titles keep changing.
"Bottle Boys" and "Bless this House" are talked about for a bit, and then finally "Confessions" - but not the same stuff you always hear. Robin says how "Window Cleaner" was a real story and the others were pretty one-dimensional with no real story, which is true. And when he went on to film "Stand Up Virgin Soldiers" people expected it to be a continuation of the "Confessions" theme, which it definitely was not, and Darrell points out he thinks it was Robin's finest acting work. Another "Confessions" project in the plans was supposed to be one called "Confessions of a Haunted House" - something I'd never heard about before and something that sounds pretty interesting. I wonder what that would have been about! Guess I'll have to read the book. ;)
Robin so easily slips into such humorous tales, it's such a treat to watch him speak. Hope it'll be possible for me to go to one of these appearances one day.
