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You've said before that it was actually the relationship at the core of 30 Days that attracted you to it originally, correct?
When I read Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's graphic novel 30 Days of Night, I thought it was really gripping and powerful, both visually through the illustrations, and the concept seemed just great. It seemed, really, like it should have been thought of before. That you'd go up to a place like Barrow, Alaska, where it's dark for 30 days, and you have to survive that time period with vampires at your throat. But, nevertheless, I had never heard of it before, it was original. Maybe that's how great ideas are, they just seem like someone should have thought of them before. So I was struck by the originality of it, what a great concept it was, but the thing that really connected me to it were the two characters at the center, Eben and Stella, and their love story. And at Ghost House, we're always trying to find something that's new — recently we've been going to the Far East for filmmakers and their newer visions that they can bring to films. But this was a homegrown picture, which was very exciting. The thing that connected me to it were those characters. I really liked the fact that they were having problems, but they loved each other, they were real human beings. And that it was a love story at its heart. And I loved the bookends, how it began with the sunset and ended with sunrise and the two of them, and the journey they had taken during this one long night. Those were the things that I thought made it really new.

Director Sam Raimi on the "black" carpet at the New York premiere of Spider-Man 3 in Astoria, Queens on April 30, 2007 Photo by Jennifer Cooper

This was one of the first movies you picked up after forming Ghost House, but only now has gotten made. Was it worth the wait?
I wasn't pulling the oars, I wasn't the writer or the director, so it's easy for me to say, "Sure, it was worth it." [laughs] I was watching the boat from onshore going, "Keep rowing, fellas! You're almost there!" I think it was worth it, because what I really wanted to do was make sure that Ben Templesmith and Steve Niles felt that their work was being properly adapted to the screen. And I hope that the fans feel it was a faithful adaptation.

Do you feel like you've come full circle — having started your career in horror and now…
At the end of my career? [laughs] Yeah. I didn't always love horror films. When I started out, I only loved comedies and dramas. Then, I had to learn how to make a horror film because my buddy [Ghost House coproducer] Rob Tapert said, "If we're going to break into the business, we have to make a low-budget horror film. Because we can probably only raise a couple hundred thousand dollars in Detroit, and the only films that are made and shown for that amount of money are horror films." And he said, "Do you like horror films?" And I said, "No. I don't actually. They scare me." And I didn't have fun being scared back then. So I watched them to see if I could do them, and I grew to admire the craftsmanship, and then I grew to really love them. Now Ghost House pictures allows me to dabble in horror films without having to do the hard work of directing them. I get to work with amazing artists, and I get to put my 2 cents in without having to take the bruises myself. It's lovely being a producer. It's really a lot of fun. And I can learn a lot. I get to see dailies of David Slade or dailies of [The Grudge director] Takashi Shimizu, and I think, Oh, that's a really smart idea, the way they got that performance from that kid, I never would have thought of that. Or, How interesting that he doesn't play this as a scare, but he lets that creature quietly move out of the darkness, to give you a chill. Not how I would have thought to do it, I'm so much louder and brasher and uglier in my approach. So I learn a lot. I feel like I'm going to school again.

Did you ever consider directing 30 Days?
I never thought about directing it because I was so busy with Spider-Man 2 at the time. And I just thought that the company Ghost House Pictures is really for other directors to direct their horror films and for me to help protect them or help them get the resources they need.

Any plans for more Evil Dead?
We don't really have a plan for Evil Dead. I know I've talked about finding a young filmmaker to re-imagine or reinvent it at some point. Because as Rob said to me, "The movie came out in 16 mm, it was a blow-up to 35 mm, we only had 60 prints. No one really ever saw it in theaters, so why don't we make a big-screen version of Evil Dead with really great actors and great cameras and a great soundtrack?" And I thought that was probably a good idea because it was so crudely made. Once, we said that publicly, [but] we haven't spent any time actually looking for anybody. It's been all just talk, and it is still just talk because I've been so busy.

Director Sam Raimi discusses a scene with stars Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and Kirsten Dunst on the set of Spider-Man Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Where are things with Spider-Man 4?
Right now, Sony is meeting with different writers to try and bring a fresh new story and approach to the Spider-Man franchise, so I've been in meetings with Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin (our producers), and [Sony Pictures Cochairman] Amy Pascal, and different writers have been coming in and spinning different tales of where Spider-Man could go from here.

Are you contracted to do Spider-Man 4?
No, I am not contracted to do Spider-Man 4, and that will depend on a lot of things — Sony would have to ask me to do it, and the story would have to work. It would be great, because I love Spider-Man, if we could find the right story, but whenever it is, I'm sure it'll be a great story because a lot of people are working very hard to make sure of that right now.

Your name has also been mentioned in connection with a possible adaptation of The Hobbit. Is that true?
To me, there's no better choice to direct The Hobbit than Peter Jackson. I'm a giant fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Peter Jackson's a brilliant filmmaker, and he's the guy I think everyone would love to see direct it. Hopefully he will direct it. If he doesn't direct and decides to produce it, I would love to be considered.

Is there a different pressure on a blockbuster movie like Spider-Man than on the relatively smaller Ghost House movies?
It's much more fun and relaxing making the movies at Ghost House. Because, really, it's about a limited budget, relying on the smarts of the filmmaker, and the craft of building suspense and scares, and pretty much the old-fashioned formula of making a horror movie. And sometimes we fail, and sometimes we succeed. But I really like that back-to-basics approach without the big budget. But it's a lot more fun to work in an environment where there's less expectation. It's kind of a dastardly, fun thing…like being in a spookhouse. It's a blast.

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