I really don't know. I think "Horror" is a better film, personally. It has a faster pace. There's more to grab onto. But then there are some people who like "Desecration" better. So, I don't know. Timing - I guess. The world is in pain...maybe it's a good time for a weird fear film about all-encompassing doom. It's...like a disease of the senses – "Horror" is a serum that slowly is injected into your subconscious (laughs). It's ambient filmmaking...told through a series of dreams, flashbacks and hallucinations. I was going for something completely out-there...not censoring myself...allowing my imagination to run wild. And while I wanted the main character, Grace - real and raw - I knew that everything else around her would have to be stylized and ambiguous...like a mirage. Her universe, everything she knows...it's slowly disintegrating. I think maybe a lot of people can relate to that emotion. The confusion of being alive. "Horror"'s a film about madness, being trapped in your childhood.

So here's an obvious question: Are you a religious man? Your films definitely revolve around Christianity, and the most terrifying characters are the ones who are seemingly Christian on the outside (i.e., nuns, preachers, etc.) -- but really worship Satan.

I'm more interested in hypocrisy, the idea of evil cloaked in religion. I am no theologian, that's for sure. So, am I religious? No. Never really was - I always questioned it, was skeptical about it, at the same time I am in awe of its universal power. Spiritual...yes...I think I am...I try to be. I think when I was growing up I was let down by different aspects of Catholicism...It seemed so sadomasochistic, some of the rituals...the idea of going to confession. I don't go to church anymore. There was also a questionable teacher-priest in my past, a Brother Nicolas-like character, but I won't go into that now.

Speaking of the horrors of religion, do you see 9/11 impacting your new films -- or other horror films that are out there?

Definitely. The world has forever changed. In numerology - 11 - is a master number. I think it was the day the gates of Hell opened...Something pure evil is looming.

What can you tell us about "Inferno"?

I'll direct the film and compose the soundtrack. It's a supernatural chiller. "Inferno" is about an emotionally troubled medium investigating a series of spontaneous human combustion -- people around him mysteriously exploding into flames. It's kind of like "Jacob's Ladder", very hypnotic...a real interior journey. I'd call it an occult horror film. "Inferno" has mythological undertones. I'm fascinated by mediums who channel the dead and I've always been interested in fire...and fire being a symbol for eternal damnation...I realize that Dario Argento had a film out called "Inferno", which I thought was amazing. But this would be my "Inferno". I didn't even come up with the name, "Inferno", the writers did...It was originally called "Spontaneous Combustion"..but that's a Tobe Hopper movie. The writers caught onto that and said, "Well, then let's call it 'Inferno.'" And I said, "Well, that's a Dario Argento movie! I love Argento and won't Argento fans cry blasphemy?!" And they said, "There can be two, and yours would be Dante Tomaselli's 'Inferno'...a totally different movie." In a sense, calling this film, "Inferno", is my homage to Argento...because I think he's a genius and respect him so much. But mainly, the name just fits perfectly. "Inferno". Definitely don't expect a storyline like Dario Argento's "Inferno". It's completely original. The writers, Peter and Bruce, never even saw the Argento movie or knew it existed.

Are the investors shy about really gutwrenching horror?

You mean investors for "Satan's Playground"? Yes, they want to inject comedy. Make it lighter. Less fatalistic. All I need is $350K, and 100% creative control. I mean, only I know how to do assemble a movie with that kind of low budget and somehow make it look and sound like a million bucks. Someone who hasn't done it before...they can't realistically tell me what to do. Basically, I just need someone with $350, 000 and a belief in me. I know "Satan's Playground" has a chance at being the Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre of this generation. I just know it. Just let me make it. The right investor, who believes in me, will fall in place. All I need is $350, 000 and that person becomes an Executive Producer. I just need somebody, preferably a horror fan, to put the money in the bank and say, "Ok, let's do it." I've had a few false alarms. I'm realistic - I'll agree to having no say about the cuts in the theatrical version. I understand that. Hopefully there will be a director's cut DVD, whatever. But I do see this one, "Satan's Playground", as being in the theaters. It will be so scary, so relentless...what "The Blair Witch Project" could have been - if filmed differently...well...no...not really...that's not a good comparison -- but you know, the feeling of being lost in the woods. The raw terror. I'd even be into shooting "Satan's Playground" for only $250, 000 - do it on Super 16 mm and then blow it up for the theatrical version. Things are pending. I'll make "Satan's Playground", like like I made "Desecration" and "Horror"...somehow.

Is it hard to find investors out there for a really gutsy horror film? Are most just interested in another Scream or Ring?

It's all about doing a clone of the last big hit. Yes, they want do something like "Scream" where it's very ironic and clever with little jokes sprinkled about...Something hip. I had three different producers say, "Kids like comedy in their movies." I was like, "NO THEY DON'T!" True horror fans want something subversive, something genuinely disturbing. It's a shame the people in power, the Hollywood money people, don't understand that. They just don't get it. That's why the best horror films will always come from the independents.

Who wrote the script for "Inferno"? Why did you agree to accept it?

Well, the co-writer is Peter Jordan, a very well known parapsychologist. You might have seen him on TV, being interviewed on 20/20 or Unsolved Mysteries or some other show. He's written articles in Omni Magazine. Peter Jordan is considered an expert in the field of the paranormal. He tours and lectures...For me -- ideas come from my imagination. His ideas come from being a parapsychologist, concrete investigations into the supernatural...He brings a legitimacy to the strange tale. The other writer, Bruce Sakow, is a screenwriting professor at School of Visual Arts. He also co-wrote Friday the 13th part 4. Bruce is incredibly imaginative...a spectacular writer. The script blew me away when I read it this past Easter. I'm very excited to be working with these guys. They contacted me after watching the trailer for "Horror" online. Bruce emailed me, got my address and sent the script. After they both saw "Horror", it was confirmed: I was the director/composer for the project. It will be the first time I'll be directing a movie without me actually writing it. It'll be a fresh experience. We're raising the funds for the film right now.

What's it about?

It's very creepy. There's a moral conflict at the core, which reveals itself as the film goes on. A medium, whose specialty is creating bridges between the living and the dead...ends up channeling a victim of spontaneous human combustion. The medium, named Jeff, has carved a successful career for himself uniting sad people with their deceased loved ones. It's his job. During a channeling session, Jeff, who is going through his own emotional problems, inadvertently unleashes something...an evil force...imprisoned within a mysterious glowing fireball...It seems to have a purpose...Think "Phantasm"...that deadly flying orb...but different. Eventually, this fireball threatens to burn those around him. The entity is calling its victims to Hell...or is it? What is it? What's going on? I don't want to give away too much -- but the film builds to a shocking climax. "Inferno" is enigmatic...with undercurrents of "The Exorcist" and "Don't Look Now", very atmospheric...At the core there's a trauma -- a spiritual crisis...It's a puzzle film. The ambiance reminds me a little bit of "The Changeling"...kind of elegant and brooding. The opposite of "Satan's Playground", which will be frenzied, straightforward, very gory...and created for hard-core horror fans, to please them. I want both films to be very frightening.

Is Victoria Gotti cameo-ing in "Satan's Playground"? How did that come about?

I read and enjoyed her column in the NY Post. One day, I just sent her an email -- because her address is at the end of her column...and she got back to me. We became friends online and I asked her if she'd be in my new movie. She gave me her home address to mail out a DVD of "Horror". I sent her a copy of the "Satan's Playground" screenplay with her small cameo outlined. She read it, watched "Horror" and basically said, "I'll do it. Just let me know when and where you're shooting."

The film marks a horror comeback, of course, for Felissa Rose and Ellen Sandweiss? How did you get them involved in the project?

Very naturally. I met Felissa on "Horror", as you know, and we are now extremely close. And Ellen...I contacted initially online -- through her Ladies of the Evil Dead website. I wanted her to play Felissa's sister in the film. I thought she'd be perfect. After communicating through email and then the phone, I met Ellen this past October at a Chiller Convention. Felissa was there too. We all met at the Cafe Bistro in East Rutherford New Jersey. As we sat during lunch, I glanced back and forth between Felissa and Ellen and got more and more excited...they are sisters. This is so surreal. It was meant to be. We are all looking forward to shooting "Satan's Playground" this year...This fall -- we better! Michael Berryman from Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" will also have a staring role. I'll try with all my might to make "Satan's Playground" as scary as possible.

What do you think of the state of horror today? I'm curious if you saw "Identity", "Frailty", "Ginger Snaps", and "Dog Soldiers".

Frailty...I thought that was disturbing -- that disturbed me -- more than anything I've seen in 15 years. It's not a film I'd want to watch again. It's odd though, some people around me whose opinions I trust, found the film to be dull. I don't agree. For me, it was a very claustrophobic emotional experience. "Ginger Snaps" was very entertaining- I was impressed. I didn't see "Dog Soldiers" yet or "Identity."

Finally, any advice out there for fans hoping to break into the horror movie biz?