Fruet Of The Doom

by
David Grove
Fangoria #213
June 2002. pp. 64-68; 82


(excerpts from article)

Choosing the top episode of those he directed isn't hard for Fruet. "My favorite was 'Wax Magic,'" he says of the story of a wax sculptor and his wife, who is imprisoned and enslaved by the mad artist via a cursed handkerchief. "That's partially because the producers said we'd never be able to find a carnival, and it turned out there was one right in the city. I was also struck by how great the actors were. Everything came together on that one. The set turned out well, and the whole thing lookedlike it cost a lot more than it actually did."

Fruet also has kind things to say about Friday stars John D. LeMay and Robey. "Robey was very inexperienced and I don't think she was very comfortable being in Toronto, but she was grateful for the job," recalls Fruet, adding, "When John left the show and the new guy [Steven Monarque] came in, it didn't change anything, though I enjoyed working with John.

Since Friday's cancellation, Fruet has worked exclusively on television over the past decade, helming episodes of War of the Worlds ("That show was just finding itself before they pulled the plug," he laments), Poltergeist: The Legacy, Goosebumps, the Canadian serial-killer drama Da Vinci's Inquest and the currently airing Tracker. But he's not wiling to settle into the stigma of being "a TV director" and abandon all hope of making more features without a fight.

"I'd like to do a mystery-thriller," says Fruet. "My first film was really simple and I like what's been done now with The Blair Witch Project. I'd like to do another movie someday, maybe using hi-tech stuff. Who knows, maybe I'll go digital."