Cross-country trek a lesson in fear for 'Exorcism' director

Daniel Stamm's new movie "The Last Exorcism" opens in theaters this weekend. It's a horror tale about the Rev. Cotton Marcus, who confronts what may be a genuine case of demonic possession in New Orleans.

Stamm, a native of Hamburg, Germany, has only made one other feature: "A Necessary Death," a controversial pseudo-documentary following a potential suicide victim.

I talked to Stamm when he came to the Windy City's River East 21 Theaters to host a Q&A after a screening.

Q. You radically changed the original ending to "Last Exorcism." Why?

A. Our first ending had Cotton pulling this whole thing off as a hoax. The end feels like the filmmakers are just trying to be clever and use a twist ending that didn't ring true. It looked good on the page, but when we saw it, we knew we were going in the wrong direction.

Q. What's wrong with current American cinema?

A. I know that for a while, there has been a lot of enthusiasm for the technical side of filmmaking, and people are getting lost in technical advancement and 3-D.

I love 3-D, but while watching a 3-D movie, I've noticed that after 10 minutes, I am forgetting it's a 3-D movie and I'm in the story. If the story doesn't deliver and the characters don't push buttons inside me, then all the 3-D and all the technical hoopla isn't going to save it.

Q. You hitchhiked from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States for two weeks two years ago. Why?

A. I had nothing do in L.A. for two weeks. So I canceled my flight and I just started to hitchhike across America. All I had was an ID. That was the challenge. If you were an alien coming out of the ocean, how would you get from one coast to other? Without any possessions? Without any money? Nothing.

Q. And?

A. I didn't know how terrified people (Americans) were. People are really scared. A lot of people who picked me up would say, "I'm terrified of you right now. Please don't kill me! I will take you with me anyway, because I can't have you stand by the road and not help. I can't drive past you and not help you."

In some instances, they told me that God had told them to take me with them. It was fascinating. You have to talk for the first 10 minutes so they get a feeling for you. Then, they lose their fear of you, then talk for the next eight hours.

Q. They talk to a complete stranger they've picked up?

A. They know they will never see you again, and it's like therapy. They tell you stuff that they haven't told their husbands, wives or children.

Q. Such as ...

A. There was one guy who had planned to kill his wife's lover. He had waited with a gun in front of his workplace. But that day, the guy didn't show up for work. The man was a trucker and he had a schedule to keep, so he couldn't wait around for the guy anymore. I asked him when this was, and he said, "Two weeks ago." I asked him if he was still going to kill the guy and he said, "Naah. I'm over it." Every person out there has a story that you would not believe. If it were a movie, you'd say it could not be true.

Q. As a result of hitchhiking, what can you conclude about the American character?

A. The one thing that struck me about Americans as opposed to Europe was America is a much more spiritual place. God was a topic, always, while traveling. In all of the states, sooner or later religion came up. You could travel all throughout Europe probably without ever hearing about Jesus or God or those being a driving force in people's lives.

In my travels, that seemed to be the one thing that was out there that was connecting the very different lives of these very different people.